Action Comics #875

So excited!!! I can't wait to see what Rucka does w/AC. I loved hearing his interviews talking about what a wack job Ursa is going to be.

I think that's one funky cover.  A nice departure from some of the others we've seen in the series. 

So I got the trade for SUPERMAN:BIRTHRIGHT a while back and thought it was just a one shot deal. After a long absence of reading Superman (I stopped when he turned blue), I decided to pick up last weeks Superman:WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #1. I loved it so much that I wanted to go back and find out how they got to where they are. After very little research I decided to start with SUPERMAN:LAST SON. But LAST SON seems to follow in BIRTHRIGHTs steps. Was BIRTHRIGHT a retcon of Superman history? I noticed a few things in LAST SON, like how Zod told Kal-El that he defeated the Doomsday Cult before they could unleash their monster. Does that mean Superman never fought Doomsday? Should I go back even farther? Please help me out with this.

I don't want to play catch up or read any of the crossovers. I do want to read Rucka write Action. It's a conundrum. 

Ooooh, Greg Rucka. Can't wait!

@uberlush-I'm sure you can just pick this up and enjoy it.  Just go on wikipedia and get info that way if you don't want to read the stuff before this.

I'm waiting to see if people find this enjoyable, then I might pick it up.  It sounds pretty good though, and I enjoyed the preview I saw last week

@supetrackmonkey: Yeah, BIRTHRIGHT was a retconning of Superman's origin.  They are about to do it again with SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGINS this year by Geoff Johns.  No doubt he will incorporate stuff from all the different origins and distill it down as he is want to do.

@conor: So is the current storyline in continuity with BIRTHRIGHT?

If the upcomming SUPERMAN:SECRET ORIGINS is going to be a retcon, should I spend time and money on the NEW KRYPTON series if everything is going to change?

YES i cant wait!! so excited

I didn't realise Rucka was writing this book solo. I guess I can't drop Action Comics now ...

@supertrackmonkey I actually want to say Birthright has probably been out of continuity with Superman since right before Infinite Crisis. If that's a little far reaching, it's definitely been out of continuity since One Year Later. I remember reading during "Last Son" that Superman fans were upset Birthright was out of continuity because of events from that story. Certainly Johns will cherry pick the best of it, as Conor said, it is his wont to do.

I believe so long as Johns has been writing the Superman/Action Comics title, it's all been moving toward Johns' reshaping of the origin in Secret Origin. I would argue it's probably best to come into New Krypton thinking Birthright doesn't work and being pleasantly surprised when it does.

@Supertrackmoneky-Also, I wouldn't worry about SECRET ORIGINS changing anything in NEW KRYPTON.  If its anything like GREEN LANTERN:SECRET ORIGIN, it will enhance and add to the ongoing storylines.

Between Rucka writing this and Detective Comics its like I'm 15 all over again! Good times. :)

Superman continuity is so confusing.  I just started reading again when they had that Braniac story before New Krypton started.  I don't even know if The Death of Superman, Funeral For A Friend, Reign Of The Supermen stories count anymore cuz that's where I left off a lil while after all that.

I was very impressed by this issue. I went in wanting to give Rucka a chance and it payed off. Also, the reveals of who are in the suits are great and tie all the way back to Johns arc in Action with Donner.

Now we'll just have to see what they cook up to explain this rapid aging for some characters and not others.

Help.  I am a little lost as to who is who.

@Parker - I think Chirs ages faster because of somthing to do with his being born in the Phantom Zone.

Liked this issue, a little let down by the revelation, but still interesting. Happy with the issue and it's nice to see that Action & Superman will have a place in New Krypton.

@gnanniv

I get that, but then why doesn't Mon-El or any of the evil Kryptonians? Thats what I can't wait to see explained. My guess is Zod did something to him while they were in there.

@bean6344

Nightwing=Chris the son of Zod who was trapped in the Phantom Zone. Superman tried to help him and adopt him way back when Johns started on Action a few years ago with Richard Donner. Zod got him back and if I remember correctly Superman was forced to send Chris back to the Phantom Zone with Zod to stop Zods rampage.

Flamebird=Some chick I know nothing about. Sorry. But from what I can guess from this issue her parents were murdered by either Zod or Ursa.

I picked this and World of New Krypton up on a whim. I've never been too interested in the Superman titles, but Rucka's got me hooked now. Now, would I have to start buying all the Super-titles to keep up with the story, or could I just stick with Action and WONK??? 

@EAGLEBAUER-haha, I just realized the acronym of the title is WONK.  Thats awesome.  But yeah, theoretically you should be able to enjoy each title on their own.  Thats the word from DC anyways.  I'm only picking up WONK and Superman, although I plan to pick up this issue and give it a go later today.

@Parker - Zod and Mon-El were put in the Phantom Zone but Chris is the only person that I know of to be born in the Phantom Zone. Remember that Chris is the only known person to age while in the Phantom Zone.

Could be an inverse Phantom Zone effect. Chris ages normaly while in the PZ but ages at super speed while out. It's just a guess.

Why do people care about continuity? The only reason I'm excited about Secret origins is because Geoff  Johns is a beast, and Gary Frank draws Superman like hew should be; Christopher Reeves.

Pretty good issue, I thought the art was awesome, but it was a little confusing to my feeble brain. Is Flamebird/Thara the same Thara Ak-Var, the security chief that Zod & Ursa are after? If so, why does she look so different? And why does she have Chris Kent in chains & has beat him up? And you guys are saying Nightwing is Chris Kent? Then who is the little boy in chains? I'm confused as a nun on her honeymoon.

@WadeWilson I'm pretty sure that image of the two of them was a hologram of some kind.  Ursa said "Prey" and the image appeared.  The last image they had of Chris was being in chains all beat up, because Zod and Ursa did that to him.

@gnanniv

I had completely forgotten he was born in the PZ (lol if you try and say it, it comes out PEZ, I know I'm retarded)  so your theory makes a lot of sense. They better find a way to stop it pretty fast though. I like him as a kid/teenager like he is now. It gives a good perspective on things, kind of like what Sterling Gates is finally doing with Supergirl and what Johns did with Conner Kent. The last thing we need is another adult Kryptonian with the exact same look and line of thinking as Clark.

What a great start to Ruck's run!  And I really liked the art - energetic with clear storytelling, and some of the panels just leapt from the page.  Can't wait for the next issue!

Thanks superchuck, it kinda makes sense now. I still don't get why Thara looks so different when she's Flamebird though, longer hair etc ...

TOMG so good!!