Action Comics #15 (DC)

(via dccomics.com)

writer: Grant Morrison
artist: Brad Walker, Rags Morales

Earlier this year I was pretty certain that Grant Morrison had written his best issue of Action Comics with #9, which featured some bold variant storytelling.  I may now stand corrected.  This is probably his best issue of the series.

For some reason, Morrison does his best work with Superman by subverting every expectation.  In All Star Superman, he had a look at what a dying Man of Steel would do, and it was pretty much everything he hadn't done previously in his career, living up to all those funny little fan diatribes that say he's too powerful to be taken seriously.

Granted, Morrison launched Action Comics last year by looking at a very human Superman, and that too was a revelation, perhaps a a little too radical for some readers even though aside from the t-shirt there wasn't too much difference between what he did and Geoff Johns in Superman: Secret Origin or J. Michael Straczynski in Superman: Earth One.  What set Morrison apart, as always, was his intrinsic understanding of the mythology.  (That, by the way, is the reason why Morrison and Johns function so well as the head writers of DC, since it's a trait they both share.)

In Final Crisis, and specifically Final Crisis: Superman Beyond, Morrison all but gave a preview of what Action Comics would be like, featuring a Man of Steel who is intrinsically significant, not just because he's the comic book character the majority of the public identifies with superheroes, but because he's meant to be the quintessential superhero.

If you keep that in mind, you may understand why Mxyzptlk has suddenly become the most significant supporting player in Superman lore.

Mxyzptlk may have the most convoluted name in comics.  No, he does have the most convoluted name in comics.  It's so awesomely terrible that it's become plain awesome.  He's a peculiar Superman villain, though, because he forces the Man of Steel to do anything but be a typical World's Greatest Superhero.  He's an imp from the 5th dimension, and has always had, throughout his various incarnations, one of the most cartoonish looks in comics.

So again, why is this guy a Superman villain, and why is Morrison making him the showcase supporting character of Action Comics?

Perhaps not just because JLA previously featured Morrison's efforts to redeem 5th dimensional imps, Action Comics has with notable subtlety been featuring them for much of its run, including Clark Kent's apartment super, Nyxly.  (Yes, because of the precedent, all of these imps have the same impossible naming scheme.  You just have to accept that.)

While there has been building a team of villains interested in eliminating Superman, we've also been watching him figure out his relationship to the world.  In an odd sort of way, this issue shows how the imps have been doing the same, specifically Mxyzptlk.  Well, as I said, it's a pretty remarkable accomplishment.  No one else has ever made this kind of effort to legitimize him.

Rather than going into much further detail, I would simply like to note that as I may have suggested, this is a must-read.  And as his efforts have been from the start, Sholly Fisch knocks his backup contribution out of the park, emphasizing everything Morrison just accomplished in a more standalone capacity.