Greg Pak is one of the great mysteries in the world of comics. Like a lot of people, I first discovered him through the now-classic Planet Hulk storyline, and loved every minute of it. This was the work of a strong new voice in comics, someone who was able to take an old concept straight out of old Burroughs stories and infuse it with a modern-day touch that not only kept it from feeling dated, it made it fresh and interesting all over again. Then he followed it up with World War Hulk, which, as many are aware, I didn’t much care for. And it seemed like for a number of years afterward, everything I read with his name on it, culminating in (sorry, Mr. Pak) one of the worst Silver Surfer stories I’ve ever read, was pretty bad.
Then he stopped working for Marvel. And now, I promise this has nothing to do with my well-known frustration with that company. But it seemed like he wasn’t heard from for a couple of years, then popped up last year again working on titles for DC, Valiant, and Dynamite, and it’s all been good to great. My particular favorite of his resurgence work has been his run on Action Comics. Much like Planet Hulk took an old idea and made it feel current, his Action run has taken characters and concepts straight out of silver age Superman stories and made it all vibrant in a way reminiscent of Lemire’s excellent pre-52 Superboy run (which everyone should read).
With this most recent issue, we’ve finally put the initially-interesting, but far too dragged out Doomed crossover behind us, and can get back to giant monsters living in forgotten underground cities, ghost soldiers, and living forcefields around Smallville. Lana Lang takes center stage for most of this issue, which is a good thing, considering she’s arguably the book’s strongest character at this point. There’s no shortage of strong female characters in comics right now, from Brian Azarello’s phenomenal take on Wonder Woman to Kelly Sue DeConnick’s much-touted reinvention of Captain Marvel, and many in-between, but Lana is of particular interest to me, in part because her original 50s incarnation was such a non-character, and in part because this version just fits so well in Superman’s world. She’s, in many ways, the ultimate expression of the impact Clark/Superman has on the world around him. She has no powers, and no particularly useful training, but who wouldn’t pitch in against an alien invasion or two and give it everything you’ve got with someone like Clark in your life inspiring you?
While there’s not a whole lot to say about this particular arc at it’s outset from a plot perspective, it’s got the high-concept nailed. Cthulhu invades Smallville? I’m there. There’s plenty of character bits to go around, as well, and while Lana and John Henry Irons’ relationship somewhat dilutes her role as an outsider to the tights-wearing community, they have fairly good chemistry together here. I am, however, ready for Superman to shave and cut his hair already. Long-haired supes gives me Jon Bogdanove flashbacks, and that’s never a good thing.
Since I haven’t before written about this run, much can also be said about Aaron Kuder’s art. Obviously drawing a lot of inspiration from Frank Quitely, he gets the small-town feel across with lots of good usage of space. Often throughout the run, and in this issue in particular, the subject of a panel will be drawn very small in the middle, with a large empty parking lot, or a whole lot of sky around them, emphasizing how much a town like Smallville can afford to revel in the wide open spaces it exists in, as opposed to the packed-in claustrophobia of a place like Metropolis. Additionally, at least in this story, Kuder tends to draw the protagonists and bystanders of the book with spare, clean lines, leaving the detail to be filled in by Wil Quintana’s excellent, vibrant colors, while the villains and monsters are covered in extra wrinkles, veins, and other sketched-in detail, marking them out as the darker forces assailing a simple town. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it.
All in all, this is a strong start to a new chapter in what has consistently been the best of the Superman books since the relaunch. May Greg Pak continue to be awesome.