The Codename: Patriot cross-over got off to a solid start last week in Superman WONK, but I was nervous about the second installment in Action Comics. I was a big fan of the first couple issues but Barrows leaving the book and a general lag in storyline have made me lean towards dropping the book after this issue.

A lot of important characters pop up in this issue, and the writers did a good job of balancing all the different story arcs contained within the cross-over. The most enjoyable scenes were those involving General Lane who will hopefully get spotlighted more as the overall story in the Superman line moves forward. Scenes dealing with Superman’s return to Earth were dealt with nicely albeit exactly as one would have expected. Unsurprisingly the parts of the issue I find myself feeling most “blah” towards were the ones involving Nightwing and Flamebird; whatever appeal these characters had seems to have worn off.

While this was a solid installment in the cross-over and new artist Julian Lopez is an improvment don’t expect to see any more reviews of Action Comics for the time being.