This issue is the second chapter of the Codename: Patriot story that kicked off in Worlds of New Krypton #6. It picks up where that issue left off. But don’t worry if you missed part 1. Everything you need to know is included in this issue.
Since the “New Krypton” story started, all of the Superman titles have been telling more or less their own stories with very little overlap. That all changes with Codename: Patriot. All of the players from all of the different titles come together for this one. While I’ve enjoyed each of the individual Superman titles, there’s a real thrill seeing them all come together for this story.
Action Comics in particular benefits from this crossover. For whatever reason, it has been the least compelling of the New Krypton books. This issue, things finally start to heat up.
The premise is this: On New Krypton, a Kryptonian assassin made what appears to be a successful attempt on General Zod’s life. After which, he fled to earth with Superman and Supergirl in pursuit. With tensions between earth and New Krypton at an all-time high, the arrival of three Kryptonians sets the military in motion.
Of course all is not what it seems. General Lane has been working behind the scenes. The extent of his planning is hinted at here. It’s not exactly surprising, but it is interesting. I look forward to seeing how his game plays out.
The first half of the book mostly deals with the multiple plot threads of the crossover coming together. In the second half of the book, we catch up with Nightwing and Flamebird as they continue their search for Nadira and Az-rel. In the midst of all the action, we finally get an emotional pay-off to the romantic tension that has been building between the book’s two leads.
The issue ends with the long-awaited confrontation between Nightwing and Flamebird and Nadira and Az-rel. But as has been the case with everything in this storyline so far, all is not what it seems. The issue ends with a twist that I found genuinely surprising.
Two issues in, Codename: Patriot is the rare cross-over that works. If you’ve been reading any or all of the Superman books, this is where it all comes together. And it promises to be one hell of a ride.
The issue also includes a Captain Atom back-up feature. The first installment of this back-up was intentionally confusing. This installment offers a little more coherence, but it’s still a head-scratcher by design. As such, it’s really hard to weigh in until more is revealed. Although I will say I enjoyed the art by Cafu. Hopefully I can form more of an opinion after the next installment.
I’m only reading Superman and WoNK – think I’ll still be able to follow?
I guess we’ll find out come my next review how it’s going for those of us trudging along without the whole picture.
I was suprised how well this issue read if you hadn’t read WoNK. So, maybe you will be able to just read two titles and still follow along. I was actually very pleasantly surprised to see that this issue worked as a stand-alone as well as part of a crossover. That is so rare these days.
I look forward to your next review as always.
[...] Codename: Patriot, the issue hits a lot of the same story beats as last week’s superior Action Comics. After five pages recapping who all the characters were and how they related to each other, we [...]