Okay, so, before I get going, a word about spoilers – yes, I will be discussing what happens at the end of this issue, so if you don’t want to know, then look away now. On the other hand, despite what CBR might say about the New York Daily News’ story yesterday, if you’ve actually been paying attention to Action Comics over the past six months, it’s not a surprise at all. Hell, I actually thought it was going to happen last month, based on the cover – and indeed, based on solicitations of this month’s one, which shows Clark at a funeral (a funeral which, incidentally, is nowhere to be seen in the issue – I get the feeling the covers are a month ahead of the actual story).

So, yes, as we’d all guessed from the “hints” dropped in previous issues (let’s face it, subtlety has never been Geoff Johns’ strong point) Jonathan Kent bites it in the closing pages of the story. But while it’s been on the cards for months – all those lingering camera shots, and indeed the simple fact that the Kents were spotlighted in a story that apparently had nothing to do with them – I’m still struggling to figure out exactly what the point is.

See, in the previous versions of the Superman story in which Jonathan has died – that’s the first movie, Smallville and All Star; I’m not counting pre-Crisis continuity, because both parents died almost off-camera originally – it’s been a defining moment in a young Clark’s life. It’s the point at which he realises that there are some things that he is simply powerless to prevent, and some people he will never be able to save. I really don’t see, though, any reason for him to go through that lesson as an adult. What does it add to the character, with everything he’s already experienced? Worse, this is the first time we’ve seen Clark’s father die as a direct result of his being there. A heart attack seems to be the standard way of killing the character, and it works because it’s something that Clark just cannot prevent. Here, though, said attack is suffered after Jonathan has exerted himself saving Martha from an explosive device launched by Brainiac as a final act of revenge. In other words – if the Kents hadn’t adopted Clark, Jonathan would still be alive. And that just doesn’t work with Superman. You can’t go piling that kind of guilt onto his shoulders – he’s not a Marvel character, you can’t ever have him question whether he should be doing what he does. Coming from someone who’s generally shown a good grasp of the background and motivations of DC characters, it’s a disappointing misstep.

And of course, coming so soon after All Star, the issue can’t help but invite comparisons to Morrison and Quitely’s version of the same story – it even features the near-identical image of a previously-unaware Clark suddenly flying home at breakneck speed (Gary Frank does well here to convey the torment on his face as he does so, but it’s still not quite up there with Quitely’s flame-licked image). The thing is, while this Action run is superficially a technically well-crafted story (and I don’t mean that as an insult – many people struggle to make comics any good even on that superficial level), it doesn’t have the heart that it thinks it does. I found Morrison’s version genuinely moving – I feel like this, however, is trying to yank at my heartstrings with the payoff, but without putting in the effort to earlier get me emotionally invested in the story.

As a conclusion to the “Brainiac” storyline, meanwhile, this feels a bit weak. After building up the threat of Brainiac for months, it transpires that he’s… well, not much of a threat at all, really. Superman ends up defeating him rather easily, and it’s only by virtue of the closing pages that he’s left having any kind of impact on things. There’s a nice moment with Clark and Kara (her rehabilitation continues), but little else of any weight – and indeed, it feels like the death of Jonathan has been tacked on to the story to give the impression of a substance that isn’t really there beneath the surface. It looks great, and it apparently does the job that a straightforward superhero story should – but call it heart, or depth, or resonance, or anything else: there just seems to be something lacking.