From Evernote:

Action Comics #17 Review

4 / 5

As an initial heads-up, I didn't even read AC 16 until this week. Until this point, I was disgusted with Grant Morrison. I've come to learn in my few years of reading comics that Grant Morrison is truly divisive - you either love his work or hate it. For some reason it doesn't leave much space for anything in between. I LOVED his initial arc in Action comics. When this most recent arc began, I loathed him. Month-to-month I was getting more and more confused by what I was reading in each issue. It finally got to issue 16, which began in the future with characters I didn't know doing things I didn't understand for reasons I couldn't grasp. After just a few pages I put the book down and decided I'd reapproach the series when it was complete. And I have. Sort of. You see, his run of Action Comics was supposed to end this month. So much so, as a matter of fact, that the end of issue 16 promises the conclusion in the next issue. But DC just couldn't get enough Morrison before he left so we now have an extra issue. For me this isn't a big deal. It gave me a chance to sit down and recap on everything before next month's issue hits the stands, which is good because now I'm excited again. Remember, I LOVED the beginning of his Action Comics run. I'm excited because in a very unexpected way we're seeing some things pulled all the way back from his first few panels in Action Comics #1, which makes this a little rewarding. 

On to the review though. What we get in this issue is more random, back-and-forth in time and space jumps that tie into the idea of Superman fighting a being of the 5th dimension. It's confusing and jarring in a way only Grant Morrison could appreciate. What this issue does cement, however, is the glue that ties this and all previous issues of the series together into a cohesive (if not still super confusing) story. It's very satisfying to see everything coming together, and I'm eagerly awaiting the conclusion now. 

I would say this, however: I think this should have been a graphic novel, not an ongoing series. These aren't stories meant to be read back-to-back. This is one long, involved story meant to be experienced as a whole. There's no way you can read this month-to-month and realistically catch everything that's going on. I remind you once again, I was HATING Morrison and the direction of the book up until this week when I finally sat back down and read the issues from this arc in one sitting. 

And I guess that's kind of the point of where this is heading. Grant Morrison's run on Action Comics can't be judged on a book-to-book basis. It's fair to review and criticize individual issues considering they're being released monthly and people plopping $5 down to read them as they're released, but it's just not that kind of series. This is something you need to read as a whole. I realized that this was the case with Batman Inc as I was reflecting on what led up to its major events this week, and it's even easier to see that reality in this series. As such, I'm inclined to consider and recommend books written by Morrison differently. Happy, Batman Inc, Action Comics - these are stories that you should enjoy in a collected volume. They're fun, and they're sharp, but Morrison is always looking so far ahead at where he wants to go with a given book that sometimes the present can be downright dirty. I'm glad I've had the opportunity to turn my thoughts on him around, but I'll be glad to see Action Comics move into someone else's hands after he finishes this next month. I kind of want good adventures that I can pick up and just enjoy.