Review: Action Comics Vol. 4- The New World
Quick Summary
Pros: The opening chapters successfully refine Superman’s history while building tension for the main story arc. The main story arc is wonderfully exciting. The volume’s artwork is positive.
Cons: Some small elements of the storytelling are negative.
Overall: This is a fun comic book that does a lot for Superman as a character. It helps refine Superman’s past and present, specifically in the aftermath of the previous volume’s continuity changes. It also manages to do this while building up and executing an exciting and engaging story arc. Readers who like epic Superman stories or who are interested in the aftermath of Superman: Reborn should check this book out.
Story
Action Comics Vol. 4: The New World, by Dan Jurgens, continues to deliver engaging stories while also building on the foundation of this series. This comic centers around a battle between Superman and some of his most powerful enemies. The resulting conflict is intense and exciting, delivering on the super-powered action one would expect from a Superman book. Meanwhile, aspects of the New 52 and pre-New 52 histories are rectified in a way that is likely to please both old and new fans of the character. There are a few negative aspects to the storytelling but, for the most part, this is a fun book that is easy to enjoy.
(spoilers start here)
The first few chapters of The New World deal with the fallout of Superman: Reborn and essentially redefine Superman’s history. I really enjoyed the way this was done and felt like it was a great way to approach the issue. It brings back plenty of Superman’s most important moments, like his death, while still indicating that some events from the New 52 happened.
While this is being explained, an army of Superman villains is being gathered. This portion of the book builds suspense and begins setting up the next major story arc. It allows pieces of these chapters to focus strictly on exposition, since there is still something exciting building in the background.
This then pays off as The New World begins detailing the “Revenge” story arc. This arc is a massive clash between Superman and various villains from his past. These villains are each immensely powerful on their own so, together, they give fans an immediate sense of the danger in this situation. This allows for an even bigger clash once Superman’s allies enter the picture, which causes the situation to erupt into an all-out war. It is exciting all the way through and there are enough twists and turns to ensure that readers are never quite sure exactly what will happen next.
The negative aspects to this end up being pretty minor. I felt like the story relied on chance and coincidence too often simply to push the narrative forward, like when Superman’s blindness is cured or when Superman is somehow able to return from the Phantom Zone when Zod was the one in charge of bringing people back. However, there are not major problems and they do not have a big impact on the read as a whole.
(spoilers end here)
Art
The artwork in The New World looks great and easily matches the level of quality present in the storytelling. Patrick Zircher’s work on the main storyline is detailed and realistic, allowing the volume’s narrative to capture the right levels of intensity and suspense. This is clearly seen in the variety of heroes and villains seen through this arc, all of whom look great on every page. Meanwhile, other chapters feature equally impressive work from other artists, providing accurate depictions of Superman’s past and present. I particularly enjoyed Viktor Bogdanovic’s work, which provided an excellent climax to the “Revenge” story arc. All in all, the artwork in The New World looks nice and helps this collection overall.
Continuity
Action Comics Vol. 4: The New World continues the story from Superman: Reborn (Review) (Reading Order).
The story here continues in Superman- Action Comics: The Oz Effect.
This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:
- Clark proposed to Lois in Superman Vol. 2 #50
- Superman fought Doomsday and died across Superman: The Death of Superman.
- Superman’s enemies took over in the wake of his death across Superman: Reign of the Supermen. This story arc also saw Cyborg Superman and Mongel collaborate.
- Clark and Lois’ wedding is shown in Superman: The Wedding Album
- Mongul was, presumably, left under the control of a Black Mercy flower at the conclusion of Trinity Vol. 1: Better Together (Review).
- Mongul lost control of War World in Sinestro #11, collected in Sinestro Vol. 2: Sacrifice (Review).
- The recent history surrounding Hank Henshaw and Blanque is detailed across Superman: Lois & Clark (Review).
- Superman and the rest of the Justice League discovered the existence of the Suicide Squad (Reading Order) in Justice League vs. Suicide Squad (Review) (Reading Order).
- This event also lead to Batman and a former member of the Suicide Squad creating the Justice League of America (Reading Order).
- General Zod’s involvement with the Suicide Squad (Reading Order) is explained in Suicide Squad #16-17 while Cyborg Superman and Eradicator’s actions in the Black Vault are shown in Suicide Squad #18-19. All of these issues are collected in Suicide Squad Vol. 4: Earthlings on Fire (Review).