Superman- Action Comics: Under the Skin

Finished reading Superman- Action Comics: Under the Skin, dealing with the aftermath of being infected by the Doomsday virus as writer Greg Pak takes Superman back to his home town of Smallville. The book opens up with Clark Kent in Metropolis helping with the rebuilding of the city, while in Smallville Lana Lang and John Henry Irons are helping the towns people recover from Brainiac's attack two months prior. When a strange fog begins to cover Smallville, Superman finds out that he can't get home as the fog keeps teleporting him to the other side of the town. With the help of his friend Hiro, Superman is able to enter the fog saving Lana and John from a monstrous creature using a host to reanimate Lana's parents. After realising that he can't escape the fog Superman teams up with Lana and John, who has suited up as Steel to find the source of the strange goings on in Smallville. The next story has Superman in Bizarroworld when Doomsday appears leading to Bizarro to be infected by the same Doomsday virus that Superman was, creating Doomzarro. The final story set five years in the future where Superman has retired to Ethopia where he is helping to plant new crops in the country. While elsewhere three separate people begin to habit powers similar to that of Superman with a sand like being helping each of the individuals. Overall this is an amazing book as it focuses on the characters emotions and interactions brilliantly by diving into the backgrounds of Lana and Clark with how Lana and her family helped him when his parents died. While the addition of Steel helps to enforce Clarks and Lana's friendship as John and Lana's relationship is at the forefront of the book by showing John's determination in saving her. The Smallville story is brilliant as it plays with Clark's emotions and to a degree Lana's as the monster uses their dead parents after digging them out of the ground against them. While the horror theme of the story is supplemented by Wil Quintana's choice of monotone colours used on Aaron Kuder's artwork while the flashback scene helps to intensify this thanks to Jae Lee's design of the same monster Clark fought years prior but in a less powerful state. While the Bizarro story is very funny and the cartoonish style to the story helps capture the theme of Bizarroworld and it's ocapents. Additionally the future story written by Sholly Fosch helps to solidify the influence Superman has on the world and how he helps people with their lives by inspiring and pointing them into the right direction even though he does not believe in himself anymore. 9/10.