Superman: Action Comics, Vol. 4: Metropolis Burning

Action Comics (2016)

by Brian Michael Bendis, John Romita Jr. (Illustrator), Klaus Janson (Inker)

An epic collection of the most action-packed and DOOM filled Superman adventures by comics icon Brian Michael Bendis!

There's all-out war on the streets of Metropolis--The Invisible Mafia, Lex Luthor, and the Legion of Doom all take their stand to take over Metropolis--and the heroes take theirs to defend the city. This will lead to one of the biggest Superman events as the Man of Steel...reveals his secret identity?! Will our hero be able to defend the city? And if he can--will anyone stay safe with his identity out in the open?

You won't want to miss these historic and world-changing SUPER adventures collected from Action Comics #1017-1021!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superman, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 29, 2020

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bendis has some good ideas as individual concepts. Like the Legion of Doom attacks Superman in the middle of Metropolis because they know he will hold back. The problem is when he tries to bring in to many of these ideas. Bringing in Leviathan was a mistake. None of it made any sense. The constant flashback storytelling also sucked any wind out of the story's sails.

What has happened to John Romita Jr's art? It's gotten worse and worse as he's worked for DC. He can't draw animals at all. Gorilla Grodd looks like a sasquatch and Cheetah a short haired dog. That's a problem when they appear in half the panels.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

"This is NOT awesome!" -- an innocent teenage bystander, inadvertently stealing my GR review

Oh, how the mighty have fallen -- after greatly enjoying both volumes 1 and 2 (and arguably even the lesser volume 3 had its good moments) of the Superman: Action Comics series, the goodwill train arrives at a grinding halt with the disappointing Vol. 4: Metropolis Burning. (Yeah, that ain't ALL that's burning here.) Except for a very touching, intriguing, and well-written multi-page scene where mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent reveals his super-heroic secret identity to a trusted new friend, the ginger-haired and intrepid Metropolis fire chief / arson investigator Melody Moore, the narrative here otherwise oddly felt like a huge disconnect from all that had transpired in the previous books. While there were lots (or more like an over-reliance) of bruising comic book action scenes, it mostly came across as a 'full of sound and fury / signifying nothing' sort of feeling. Surprisingly, not even special appearances by Batman and Wonder Woman could help save this lackluster volume.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comic with so many ideas thrown into it I was both confused but atleast never bored.

I don't really have much to say at this point for action comics. This volume is pure, well, action. The first volume of this series was far more "News reporter/family" time but now we have Superman with the Justice league and Young Justice taking down Luthor and Red Mist and more. It's SO much, and with the art going back and forth between "That's pretty good" to "Why does everyone look like block people" it's hard to suggest this as a must read.

A 3 out of 5 at best for me.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I’m reading this and I’m like wait, these arcs have come to a close already. What is going on? So I looked it up and I was supposed to read this before Superman: The Truth Revealed. Dammit man!! Anyhoo, Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom has seen how Leviathan wiped out the secret agent community right under Batman and Superman’s noses and they want to meet with him and try to join forces cuz they like how he was moving. We also get the back story on how the Red Cloud came to be. But at the end, Leviathan (or the leader of Leviathan) makes a speech to the Justice League and I’m not sure what he was trying to say. I went back and read it a second time and was still not sure what he meant. So needless to say the ending didn’t leave me with much satisfaction. Plus JRJR’s art these days aren’t my cup of tea. Some panels look ok and some not so much. Also, when did Lex Luthor gain powers and change the way he looks and become half Martian?? How did I miss that? Well, continuing on to the next volume.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 1 out of 5]

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.

We often see allies join forces to bring about greater chances for peace around the world. But what happens when enemies shake hands, each getting their due, and all achieving a common goal? As writer Brian Michael Bendis rushes to bring his time with Superman across both of his ongoing comic book series, he finds himself at an impasse, juggles too many balls at the same time, and delivering one of the most unmemorable stories to date. Collecting issues #1017-1021, this latest volume brings all of writer Brian Michael Bendis’ ideas into one place, telling the story that leads to Superman to unveiling his true identity to the world.

What is Superman: Action Comics: Metropolis Burning about? With Leviathan out biding his time, looking for the perfect opportunity to bring an all-out war on the streets of Metropolis while bringing Superman down with it, Lex Luthor, the Legion of Doom, and the Invisible Mafia find themselves at a crossroad, all desperately seeking the end of the Man of Steel’s protection over this world. Fortunately, Superman has friends of his own, all ready to give a helping hand to the man who has inspired countless and given others the chance to see another day. But will it be enough?

You know when you can tell that someone really put their heart into their work, that they cared about the execution and the final product? Yeh… You won’t be seeing any of that here. Writer Brian Michael Bendis has been playing around with too many ideas simultaneously and now tries vainly to bring it all together (from Young Justice to the Invisible Mafia) in this latest story arc without much success. While the premise is what you’d expect from an epic event targeting Superman and Metropolis, what you get is a wet firecracker. As if to emphasize the tragic display of poor story-telling, writer Brian Michael Bendis also sets himself free of any chronology burden, bobbing and weaving his way out of any logical necessity to achieve intrigue, suspense, or thrill.

As an unsuspecting reader who has only had tones of respect for writer Brian Michael Bendis’ career so far, at least his early days, this volume came as a surprise but, in the art department, artist John Romita Jr. strikes again, adding insult to injury with what might be one of his worst artistic undertakings yet. The last time I’ve ever seen such an uninspiring style dates back to Frank Miller’s late-career projects but that’s a subject that’s best left alone. This time around, John Romita Jr. puts in just as much, or less, effort than Brian Michael Bendis and gives us some of the blandest, boring, and blocky panels of all time.

With action sequences being the most prominent in this story arc, his artwork could’ve been the only saving grace of this volume but, unfortunately, nothing he did here could change how forgettable this volume turned out to be.

Superman: Action Comics: Metropolis Burning is an unmemorable disaster, bringing forth a far-fetched and untactfully-handled event with so sense of organization or direction.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Legion of Doom and Leviathan contest for Metropolis? Intriguing!

Oh, and the Invisible Mafia's there too? And Superman's about to reveal his secret? That sounds like a lot.

And we pick up the plot of the kids from Young Justice? Seriously?

And Bendis is going to mess with chronology over the span of a whole five-issue arc? &*)(#@.

This volume is at least 50% a train wreck, which is a crying shame because so many of the elements are individually great. But by mashing them all together, and producing a split chronology that really doesn't work, Bendis drives it all into the ground, forcing you to work very hard to figure out some small share of what he's trying to say.

Extremely disappointing.

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basic plot: The Legion of Doom attacks with Leviathan and Superboy Conner Kent shows up, leading Superman to investigate his origin.

I am less than enthusiastic about this volume. The story was super jumpy and I kept feeling like I was missing something. I think that if I were reading some other books at the same time as this one, I might get more, but there were no indicators in the book as to what else to read. The story did nothing for me.

Romita's art is some of the most inconsistent crap I've seen. It is outright sloppy and awful at times, especially during action sequences. Weird face angles, possessed-looking eyes, inconsistent facial features, and more. I don’t like it. There were some good moments- honestly both Leone and Red Cloud in human form look good (he does POC well, which is awesome and unexpected)- but he doesn't draw Superman well, which is a bit of a problem considering the title.

[Christian Zamora-Dahmen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yet another Bendis story without an real ending. I wonder why I still care...
Oh, of course, this one had Young Justice, Conner Kent, the Legion of Doom. But as impossible as it seems, it was bad, real bad.
I guess I will stop caring and will just wait for Bendis’ run to be over.

[Kirilov Katsura · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF.

Abysmal. Not only Bendis mixed up some events from the continuity and his run on Action Comics, but Romita's art it's awful. I tried, believe me I did. It feels rushed and careless. It's sad, but Action Comics is no more.

[Alek Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

All I can say about this installment of Bendis's Action Comics run, is bummer. I really liked "Invisible Mafia", it was a refreshing new take. That wasn't an elaborate plan by Luthor or some heavy hitter trying to take on Superman. Instead we got a more down to earth and intimate look at Superman and his city. And I am really disappointed that instead of furthering this concept of corruption and power plays for Metropolis that go on right under the boy scouts nose, Bendis focuses on Leviathan.

I honestly don't like Leviathan. I think their evil plan makes no sense. And I'm not sure if it was an editorial decision or one that Bendis made himself, but mashing in the Legion of Doom team up with Leviathan was a mistake to lead the plot of this volume. In my opinion it completely gutted the Invisible Mafia storyline as well was the characters Red Cloud and Queen Pin Leone.

To me Bendis birthed to many ideas when he came over to DC. And as he's added to the number if plates he was spinning he's gotten worse. Instead of focusing in on a great concept it seems he's half-assed the back end of his work.

One final nail in the coffin, is John Romita Jr.s art. When his work is good it's good, but 9 times out of 10 it just looks sloppy. Proportions and angles are always ridiculously off and I just don't care for it. I'm no great artist but I'm always puzzled when DC promotes a blockbuster story by putting his art as the headliner.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Talk about a waste of time.

This volume is Action Comics' Year Of The Villain tie-in, so Lex Luthor & The Legion Of Doom recruit Leviathan to attack Metropolis and kill Superman. This plot takes five issues to unfold, and ends with one character having a random change of heart and no consequences for anything. Oh, and Young Justice turn up, and Bendis can't write them any better in this book than he does in their own.

The Legion Of Doom attack during the Justice/Doom War in Justice League literally a month or so after this. There was no reason for any of this to happen, at all.

The art's also not particularly great - I've defended most of John Romita Jr.'s DC work, but this is definitely a mess.

Sigh. This was your good Superman book, Bendis. What happened?

[Mariano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holy crap this was bad. Story, art, all of it. Jr Jr is one of my favorite artists of all time. He blew my mind when I discovered him in the early 90s. It does not work here.

Now, to be fair, his pencils are a lot better than the final art (there are some pages at the end of the trade). What doesn't work is the combo Jr Jr + Janson's Inks + Anderson's colors. Jr Jr pencils are really loose, which means that Janson is doing all the finals calls. And then the color is doing the final delineations, not in the best way for that art.

Anyway, the worst part is the story. We come from a really smart and interesting story with a lot of characters development and relationships and several levels of storytelling, and this is just a huge, boring battle.

It's just bad, the end.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good art from JRJR but I can't imagine anyone reading this volume and thinking it was a satisfying read.

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lot of action which is great but way too many plots from Superman and Justice league thrown in.

[Yoshiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lewiatan mocno odcisnął swoje piętno na wydarzeniach dziejących się na świecie. W realizacji przerażającego planu nie przeszkadza nawet fakt ujawnienia tożsamości szefa tej organizacji. Wszystko idzie zgodnie z założeniami, a nowym celem staje się Metropolis. Do sojuszników sił zła dołącza Lex Luthor z Legionem Zagłady, angażując się na poważnie w wojnę z Niewidzialną Mafią. Dla metropolii oznacza to tylko jedno, stanie się ona epicentrum walk, które mogą doprowadzić do jej całkowitego zniszczenia. Superman wraz z przyjaciółmi z Ligi Sprawiedliwości musi więc zrobić wszystko, aby zahamować postępujące szaleństwo. Nie jest jednak do samego końca pewnym czy uda im się powstrzymać Lewiatana przed zrównaniem Metropolis z ziemią.

Ostateczna ocena albumu mocno jest zależna od tego, czego tak naprawdę oczekuje się od danego tytułu. Jeśli ktoś pragnie prostej, acz widowiskowej dawki superbohaterskiego komiksu, w którym bardzo dużo się dzieje, to Superman Action Comics #4 powinno spełnić jego oczekiwania. Dużo bardziej problematycznie robi się w momencie, kiedy pragnie się czegoś więcej niż tylko „widowiskowości”. Brian Michael Bendis urzeczywistnia bowiem tutaj swoje scenariuszowe pomysły w taki sposób, że bardziej wymagający czytelnik będzie miał wiele powodów do narzekania. Do przedstawionej tutaj historii doskonale pasuje rodzime powiedzenie o trzymaniu zbyt wielu srok za ogon. Bendis bawi się tu zbyt wieloma pomysłami jednocześnie, żadnego odpowiednio nie rozwijając i usilnie próbując z nich stworzyć jakąś logiczną zwartą całość. Na dodatek ukazanie sensownej chronologii wydarzeń nie jest jego najmocniejszą stronę. W jednej chwili przedstawia on akcje w teraźniejszości, chwilę później bez większego sensu wplata pewne retrospekcje (z różnych linii czasowych). Prowadzi to tylko do sporych fabularnych niejasności, które będą zrozumiałe tylko dla kogoś, kto dobrze zna serię i pewne zawiłości uniwersum.

Duża „przeciętność” scenariusza nie jest niestety kontrastowana przez dobrą oprawę graficzną. John Romita Jr. to dość osobliwy artysta, którego prace niekoniecznie każdego będą musiały zachwycić. Na dodatek z każdym kolejnym kadrem odnosi się tutaj wrażenie, że była to dla niego szybka „chałtura”, do której niespecjalnie się przykładał. Owszem znajdzie się tu kilka stron, gdzie widowiskowa akcja zostaje dobrze oddana i potrafi nawet na chwilę przykuć uwagę odbiorcy. Wszystko to jednak jest dość szybko niweczone przez zwyczajnie brzydkie projekty postaci.

https://popkulturowykociolek.pl/recen...

[Justin Partridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The Hall of Justice or the Hall of Doom floating skull…(which is now mine…). It is all the same to us. It’s ALL crazy. You don’t empower crazy. You don’t humor crazy.”

Kind of a let down here for #SuperSummer but one I can appreciate the transitory nature of I think.

It’s weird, until now, The Bendis Is Coming! Era has been pretty great about the tonal separation between Superman and Action Comics. Superman being the “big” title with the grand scope and Action being the more street level and introspective of the titles.

This however is absolutely not that and it’s a bummer. Though I definitely think having JRJR, Klaus Janson, and Brad Anderson on it makes it a total ball of a visual experience, I feel like a lot of this is batting clean up for stuff happening in other titles.

I appreciate Bendis keeping the “team-up” aspect of this arc relatively contained to just a few characters, so that keeps the whole thing relatively contained. I just…I dunno. This felt like such a shift away from what was working about the title, it feels like an entirely different book. I’m hoping the next and final volume of this (which will also get read in the wake of the last two Superman volumes) will be a return to form.

Gonna take some Super divergences here pretty soon while I wait for the last Bendis things.

[Hayley Hoerner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending is what pulled this rating up from a 3 to a 4. I'm interested to see where it goes in House of Kent. I felt that this series had a lot of potential but it felt like it was dragged out through the 4 volumes. When we finally hit the climax of the story arc it felt rushed and a bit confusing. I'm not sure if I'm confused because I've been struggling to maintain interest in this story arc and just missed or forgot something, or if others also found it so. I have been reading Bendis' other Superman series at the same time and I do tend to get things a bit mixed when I do that, but there are story aspects of each series that overlap and make it difficult to differentiate the two series from each other at times. (Such as Superman preparing to reveal his identity and the plot with Superboy)

[Benjamin Kimble · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bendis manages to make yet another pointless book this time with terrible art! The plot of this is that the Legion of Doom are attacking a park in Metropolis and Superman can’t beat them alone. So everyone shows up and they get pretty trashed but then Superboy (Conner Kent) comes in and helps turn the tide. I don’t like how this book started off with showing all the heroes on the ground defeated and then told us the story in chunks backwards. Bendis really seems to like that but it’s gotten pretty old pretty fast. What I did like was that we finally see Conner and Clark meet so hopefully that goes somewhere. I also hated the art. John Romita Jr is a has been. He did some good Spider-Man like twenty year ago but JRJR should never draw Superman. He looks weird and malnourished and can’t make any facial expressions. This book is not good.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Lots of reading + no time review = Knee-jerk reactions!*

A solid Superman read. The Legion of Doom vs. the Justice League--classic. Superboy from Young Justice back in the Super Family: yay! A bit of redemption for Red Cloud--who doesn't love a redemption story? The only thing is that I'm just realizing (now that I'm actually relatively caught up with current TPB publications... how difficult it is to keep the story straight when you read them in bound collections rather than as they are released in comic book form. Where does this story fit in with the larger story with Perpetua? I'm assuming before the big fight at the Hall of Justice?)

[Adam Fisher · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars.
Unfortunately, this one suffers for taking too long to be released. I've already read Dark Nights: Death Metal, so the setup of potential consequences of a Legion of Doom attack on Metropolis seems like a stretch. This book has a lot of Apex Lex (before the death of Perpetua) and the overpowered villains, as well as Leviathan. The book ends with Leviathan and the Red Cloud joining forces to take down Metropolis (which I assume is next Volume), and the calm right before the Superman identity reveal.
This Volume has lots of guest stars, but (at least for me) still kind of drags a bit.
Recommend with reservations.

[Emanuel Lopes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um volume extremamente caótico e chato, especialmente nas primeiras edições. A quebra de ritmo das cenas de ação intercalando com "flashbacks" foi algo um tanto desnecessário, e acho que ter escrito o arco de uma forma mais linear teria sido bem melhor.

Fora que a arte não ajuda em nada a disfarçar esses problemas de roteiro. Se as cenas de ação fossem ao menos minimamente bonitas, acho que daria pra fingir que o caos dessa revista não é tão proeminente.

As duas últimas edições ao menos são razoáveis, mas não significa que sejam grande coisa diante da comparação com as outras edições...

[John Yelverton · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has become incredibly obvious at this point that Brian Michael Bendis doesn't get Superman at all. I just read a book where the villains have powers greater than Spectre or Phantom Stranger, and they still can't defeat Superman. Rather, this was just a bunch of people smashing and punching with no real plot or plan, and even less of a conclusion. Can we just get someone who actually likes Superman, and wants to write a story that inspires and makes the reader happy that they spent their hard earned money to buy it?

[Adam Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Metropolis Burning, Metropolis is under attack for reasons as the Legion of Doom, Leviathan, and Invisible Mafia are all somehow involved.

This is...not a great read. Brian Michael Bendis can be a great comic writer but he has bad habits and unfortunately they dominate the book: You have too much dialog that adds nothing to the story, convoluted plotting, and a non-linear story telling for no purpose, and convoluted plotting.

The best thing about the book is the inclusion of Young Justice and how the events in Superman make the meeting between Clark and Connor go smoother than it ought. Still, that's about all I can say about it.

[Néstor Vargas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn’t expecting JRJR in this run, an interesting choice. I mean, he is a legend, but his art style contrasts so much with the previous ones that it makes this feel like a different story. The story starts going down from here. After the mediocre reveal of Leviathan, this whole thing has overstayed its welcome. The Legion of Doom is a big deal, but it did not feel the punch from this conflict with the JL.

[Brie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bendis…

Great characters, poor story telling. First Jon getting aged up in such a lazy fashion, now Conner returns so anti-climatically. There is no emotional awareness in his story telling. He clearly doesn’t care about these characters. This is exactly why these characters should be handled by writers who are actually hardcore fans who are emotionally invested and know the back story. All the big writers getting passed around into all the big name fandoms is a mistake.

[Will Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for Romita's art, whether it's actually good or not. But this writing was a little all over the place for me. Also, I might have read it at the wrong point in the timeline? Eh, whatever. Legion of Doom attacks and Leviathan is there and Young Justice and Red Cloud and we flash back to a lot of stuff I don't care about.

[Clay Bartel · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading reviews I expected a real dumpster fire.

I'm a Action Comics completionist so I was gonna read this either way. As always Bendis can having jarring jumps and dialog but over all I was pretty okay with this. Medium grade writing from Bendis and medium grade art from Romita Jr.

But over all it was a brisk read and held my interest.

[Jeremy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am personally rather put off by ridiculously overpowered villains and extensive obliteration of densely populated real estate (and Leviathan's distractingly idiosyncratic use of the word "exonerate"). Meh, at best.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Might have enjoyed this more had I read it closer to the previous volumes. But still, it's JR, Jr. doing Superman so that's pretty awesome. Not a terrible story but not as good as the concurrent Batman/Superman series which I highly recommend.

[Rob Schamberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Bendis did a cool job of bringing a lot of plots together in a way that freed John Romita Jr up to really cut loose in his best work since World War Hulk. I really enjoyed this.