“Action Comics” #2 may be the biggest letdown of all of DC’s New 52 #2 issues. I loved the first issue with it’s fast paced action and interesting setup to this new Superman. But in this second issue everything lands with a dull thud. Morrison basically focuses on Luthor’s attempt to figure out what Superman is through a series of torturous experiments. The story muddles along through some pretty flat and emotionless dialogue and at the end I simply didn’t care. It left me with such a different reaction than what I had with the first issue.

The art is an even bigger mystery. I really love Rags Morales’ work but this was all over the place. The issue says he shared the pencil duties with Brent Anderson and maybe that’s the problem. But there was such an inconsistency throughout this issue, especially with the characters. Their facial expressions differ wildly from page to page and there’s also a problem with inconsistent body proportions. Everything looks rushed and without any real cohesion. This art is just as much of a letdown as the story.

There’s so much that goes wrong with this issue. Even the $3.99 pricetag was annoying since we’re shortchanged some story. A bland narrative with no real heart and hurried and poorly executed art really make me question the direction of what should be a fantastic series. I’m certainly giving Morrison another issue but too many more like this and Action will find itself off of my pull list.