Review: Action Comics Vol. 3- Men of Steel

Quick Summary

Pros: The main storyline features a unique team-up and tons of action. The moral message here is well done. The subplot is appropriately creepy and builds interest for the future.

Cons: The second half of the book is average in terms of art.

Overall: In this volume, readers get to witness the fruits of a plotline that has been in the works since this series started. This story brings in plenty of action-packed moments, a compelling narrative, and a premise that is sure to satisfy those who have been keeping up with Superman’s recent adventures. It also does a wonderful job in working toward the future and gives readers plenty of reason to come back. If you have enjoyed this series so far, do not miss this volume.

Story

Action Comics Vol. 3: Men of Steel, by Dan Jurgens, brings the Lex Luthor story to a satisfactory climax while also building up continued interest for the next volume. This main storyline has tons of action, derived from super-powered confrontations, and a deep meaning to go along with it. It also features plenty of heartwarming moments between Lex Luthor and Superman, whose growing relationship is compelling on its own. Overall, this is a solid volume that successfully combines fun heroics with touching personal drama.

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Men of Steel starts out by continuing the Godslayer story that was teased in previous volumes. However, instead of being on the hunt for Superman, it turns out that Godslayer is actually trying to kill Lex Luthor. This twist is unexpected and adds a bit more interest in the story from the very start.

From here, the volume focuses on the trial of Lex Luthor. Godslayer and his people claim to see the future and insist that Lex is destined to take Darkseid’s place as a murderous despot. This leads to a number of fierce confrontations between Godslayer’s forces and the team of Lex and Superman. At first they fight at full power but are later forced to fight on a world that deprives Superman of his strength. Having Superman hold his own with no powers impresses Lex and also gives readers an entertaining display of Superman’s ingenuity.

The actual cause of these fights is another factor which really drives the book forward. Lex’s enemies claim to see the future and want to execute Lex for his actions, yet Superman is reluctant to sentence a man for crimes he has yet to commit. These points and counterpoints come together to create a unique paradigm where Superman is forced to actually defend his arch nemesis. Superman’s unyielding moral compass is as inspirational as ever, especially in the face of this atypical situation. This paradigm also allows these two sworn enemies to grow closer and actually part ways on good terms by the end of the volume. All of this proves to be entertaining and helps tie together the Lex Luthor narrative which started way back in Action Comics Vol. 1 (Review).

While all this is going on, Lois and Jon are dealing with repeated intrusions from the enigmatic Clark Kent. This version of Clark is incredibly creepy and gives a general feeling of unease to every page on which he appears. This makes his use here entertaining on its own and allows it to actually add to this volume, rather than just setting things up for the future. Overall, Clark Kent was used well here and successfully got me excited for the reveal of this mystery.

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Art

Men of Steel starts off with some awesome artwork from Tyler Kirkham. These opening chapters are highly detailed and perfectly convey the strength and power of the characters that are depicted. This is especially helpful in the case of Godslayer, whose intense physical presence warrants artwork to match.

However, the second half of the book is not quite as impressive. Patch Zircher and Stephen Segovia do a decent job here but fall short in capturing the intimidating nature of the villains. This is not a major negative but does drop the artistic quality of this half of the book from great to average.

Continuity

Action Comics Vol. 3: Men of Steel continues the story from Action Comics Vol. 2: Welcome to the Planet (Review).

The story here continues in Superman: Reborn.

This volume also references stories from other comic books, detailed below:

• Lex Luthor’s connection to Apokolips is brought up. His time there is detailed in Justice League: Darkseid War- Power of the Gods (Review) and Justice League Vol. 8: Darkseid War Part 2 (Review).
• Lex mentions that his sister is currently unavailable. This is likely a reference to her actions in Superwoman Vol. 1: Who Killed Superwoman? (Review).
• Lex Luthor’s conversion to heroism during the Crime Syndicate’s invasion is discussed. This happened in Forever Evil (Review).
• Superman mentions having to live on a planet without powers for a while. This happened in Convergence: Superman, now collected in Convergence Flashpoint: Book One.
• The enemies seen on the last page of this volume were all previously encountered in Superman: Lois and Clark (Review).