In the heart of the Arctic Circle the machine madman Kilg%re reveals himself to Superman as the mastermind of attacks on a climate change research station.
Kilg%re, realising he’s not going to have an easy time against the Man of Steel, tries another approach – partnership. A chance to inherit the Earth.
You can imagine how well that goes down with Superman. So what do you do if you’re a twisted AI and can’t make new friends?
You bring out some friends you’ve made earlier.
I wasn’t too keen on the first part of this story, but there are no fresh problems here. Sure, the epilogue with Clark being comforted by Lois is a tad overwrought but for the most part writer G Willow Wilson wraps her extremely reasonable message in a big old romp. The fight scenes are bold, beautifully brought to four-colour life by illustrator Gavin Guidry and colour artist Trish Mulvihill (I do hope we see the cool winter super-suit again).
Wilson’s Superman is just as I like him, cocky in the face of some super-powerful pipsqueak, as hard hitting with his morals as he is with his fists.
And Kilg%re – originally a Flash villain – has seldom had so much personality, attacking Superman with words as he assaults him with motorised strength and ray blasts. The robotic font gifted the mechanical maniac by letterer Dave Sharpe helps convey his (Kilg%re has always radiated man-energy) cold, cyber-logic
With lots of action, clever visual gimmicks such as the modified orcas and an environmental message this could make a great animation short – get to it, DC.
Mulvihill is joined on the cover by illustrator Brad Walker and they give us a tremendous image – it’s just a shame the cover copy interrupts the marvelously looming Kilg%re. Anyone else getting echoes of the late, great Gene Colan from Superman’s pose?
Next month this comic is turned over to Superboy – the original, I’m looking forward to that an awful lot. Meanwhile, if this is the last Superman in Action for a while, you could do a lot worse.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
I didn’t mind the missteps so much in the last issue. They were true to her style and that made it flow better than if she had written something not natural to her.
How do you pronounce Kilg%ore anyways? I usually just mumble the last syllable or sarcastically say percent sign in the middle.
I am eagerly looking forward to OG Superboy, especially by Waid. I’m hoping for some classic Legion eventually. I bet you Waid could do a great menacing Matter Eater Boy. BTW, I was wondering what Archie Legion could have renamed Tenzil if he had been a member, so I hit Thesaurus.com. Eupepsia sounds good but Fusion is also a synonym.
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Oh, I always go for ‘Kilpercentgore’, it’s the classy way.
I’m not sure I want a menacing Tenzil, I like him straight or goofy! The names are clever, though.
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Oh, I didn’t mean the Matter part should be like Dark Matter Eater Lad. I just want to see him credible with no goofiness. His eating the bars of their cell way back when type of thing. Do you think his spit could dissolve anything besides his body or inerton? And it just occurred to me Bosmollians must be up there with Kryptonians with body durability considering the chemical processes they contain. The speed he and Calorie Queen (who should have been his replacement in the Legion) eat means it’s a very powerful process.
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Am I imagining a story in which it was revealed that Tenzil’s stomach was like a nuclear furnace? Maybe it was a fan theory in some Legion apa I was in.
Acid spit, definitely. No French kisses for ME Lad’s dates.
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