Action Comics #23.4

Intro

It’s time to read about my favorite Superman villain, Metallo! Yup, you heard that right he’s one of my favorites. I always liked him because he was of Superman’s well developed villains. Whether it was from the comics, or episodes of Superman or Smallville, he always had a story that driven his hate for Superman. He’s really up there with Brainaic and Lex Luthor as a threat to Superman. I was always felt that he had a human side tie him of remembering what he used to be and what he has become. That’s the main reason why I always loved this villain. Plus, the terminator look with the green kryptonite heart always looked awesome. But sadly, it looks like it’s one of disappointing Superman villains’ book here. They really turned him to some cheap knock off villain that hates everything. So, I’m not sure this one was worth picking up.

Story

John Corben has been in a coma for numerous years without a heart. But now he has another chance at life with a green kryptonite heart given by Sam Lane. After an argument with Sam Lane about a failed mission he wreaks havoc and become a man called Metallo.

The Good

Sadly, I don’t think this issue has anything good. There was good art in some places but in some there wasn’t. The story also had a good premise at the beginning but it falls real fast by the issue’s end.

The Bad

The main problem I had with this issue is that we don’t get enough detail on what happened to Metallo. We just know he was in an experiment to defeat Superman but he failed. So, the story just starts right when he’s in a coma. There’s no flashback or origin story to fall back on. So we have no idea how he ended up here. We also get to find out he had a relationship with Lois Lane. But we are unaware how it came to a break up. We just know they broke up in the talks of the dialogue. The story is written pretty badly here as well and I can’t seem to understand if he likes be called Metal Zero or Metallo. He gets angry when people call him Metallo. But then by the end he wants to be called Metallo? Then why hate it on the first place. It’s just a bad inconsistent issue all together.

Verdict

I gave this issue a 2/4.5 out of 5/10 stars. It’s a real disappointing issue with bad writing and storytelling. I wish I can like this book because it’s about one of my favorite villains but I can’t. It’s just that bad. It needed more detail on his origin story and we need to know why he hates Superman. We don’t even if he even has hate for him. We just know he’s angry all the time and he hates Sam Lane. The only reason I see worth picking this up is if you want to know his story. But other than it’s not a good book at all.