SPOILERSRegard the return of Mon-El - yes, he's now named Mon after Monday and El after the Els of Krypton; he and the young Superpowered Clark had grand super adventures, and Mon regained his memory, was exposed to lead, and had to be sent to the Phantom Zone for his survival - a modern retelling of the original story with a couple of motivational differences. BUT (and here's the big BUT): Clark has apparently not adopted a Superboy costume or name in this continuity - he just flies really fast so that no one can see him (ala Man of Steel, only now he's younger): So we've got a Clark Kent, in normal street clothes and
GLASSES, flying around and performing super-feats alongside a costumed Mon-El!
How CRAZY is that? If Clark has no secret identity at this point,
why in the world is he wearing glasses??!?? Don't get me wrong - I love the fact that he's got them again - but it just doesn't work unless he's also Superboy. Without a secret identity to protect, there's no reason to wear them. In fact, you'd think that he'd remove them whenever he's performing super-feats, just on the off chance that someone might catch a glimpse of him and he might not be recognized as quickly if he isn't wearing them. I think this glaring inconsistency was already pointed out by another forum member in an earlier Superboy thread about the final Superboy television comic. So this issue of
Action marks the 2nd time this bizarre idea has been used.
Just because I think it's crazy doesn't mean I don't like it, though - I think it's crazy and fun in a wild, Silver Age kind of way.
"Secrets of the Fortress of Solitude" brings back classic Silver & Bronze Age coolness to the fortress with a few updates. Key, science lab, Kandor, and are those Legion statues, oh my?! Phil Jiminez and Andy Lanning pencil this two page spread with Krypto faithfully by his masters side.
An incredible page, I hope to add it to the site at some point. A wonderful fusion of pre-crisis goodness with some post-crisis elements. The Bottle City of Kandor is present, but it's the post-crisis Tolos version populated by assorted aliens. A bit strange, since elsewhere in the issue, it's mentioned that Brainiac has a penchant for going around shrinking cities. Perhaps the new continuity hasn't completely settled down yet; or perhaps this is a fusion of the two cities.
The Fortress has the crystal computer from the movies; from the classic comics it's got the interplanetary zoo (now "habitat") that includes the thought beast; it's got the trophy room and museum with the LSH statues and that giant tyrannosaurus rex (I
still don't know where that's from); the PZ projector and portal, the super science lab, and the super-weapons room. Then from the post-crisis comics it's got the post-crisis bottle city and what
looks like the Kryptonian War suit that he used during his "Reign Of/Death Of" arc (which is referenced as having taken place), only now the suit has been designed and built by Lex Luthor.
To answer
Telle's earlier question about "where is the giant golden key," Superman still has it, he's just moved it inside to his Trophy Room. It is described as "The Key. A landmark from the original Fortress of Solitude, this once unlocked its giant doors."
"The Criminals of Krypton", artwork by Rags Morales and Mark Farmer, retells the Superman the Movie interpretation of General Zod, Ursa, and Non. Secret's and lies abound before Krypton's imminent destruction, poor Non.
Not completely from the movie. It's shown that Zod and Non worked with Jor-El as he discovered Krypton's imminent doom, and were amongst the few people that believed him. Sort of adds a whole Doctor Doom/Reed Richards element to their relationship.
Tony Daniels illustrates head shots of "Superman's Top 10 Most Wanted" with a short synopsis. What no Bloodsport, come on! ::)
In addition to Zod, Non, Ursa, and Lex - it's got the original Parasite, Mxyzptlk (although looking a bit darker and malevolent), the original Metallo, and the original Toyman. The best part is seeing that the entire Iron Age Brainiace has been deleted and replaced with something very like the original: "Brainiac is from the planet Colu. His 12th level intelligence makes him the smartest being in the entire universe. He is also the coldest. From shrinking cities to annihilating entire alien races, Brainiac views the universe as his own personal lab and will commit any act in the name of science. He is especially fascinated with Superman and his wealth of Kryptonian knowledge." I don't think we've seen him sporting his green skinned, bald electroded head; nor wearing that funky big collar outfit in
quite a long time. Nice to see him back.