Review – Superman: Action Comics #1032 – Refugees

Superman: Action Comics #1032 – Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Becky Cloonan/Michael W. Conrad, Writers; Daniel Sampere, Michael Avon Oeming, Artists; Adriano Lucas, Taki Soma, Colorists

Ray – 9/10

Ray: So far, this has been the better of the two Johnson Superman books by a slim margin. It seems to work with bigger concepts and explore the Superman mythology more—and that continues in a big way this issue, with the arrival of a group of Kryptonian refugees from Warworld. But are they Kryptonian? That seems to be an open question, but they do start manifesting powers—in a destructive way that illustrates the trauma of the one who arrived at the Fortress. This is an interesting story, because it forces Superman to confront the fact that as he tirelessly defends Earth, equally horrible or worse atrocities are going on around the universe that he might have the ability to stop.

This might lead to his decision to leave Earth and put it in Jon’s hands shortly, but for now his hands are full with the fallout of the arrival of the crystal from the Warworld ship. It landed in the ocean and was captured by Atlantis, and their experiments on it have roused an ancient kaiju from the depths of the sea. The ensuing battle pulls Superman, Aquaman, Batman, and Steve Trevor into it—but while the fight scene is pretty great, it leads to a potentially worse conflict. Aquaman is usually a staunch ally of his fellow heroes, but for the first time Atlantis may be a potential threat. Daniel Sampere’s art is perfect for the widescreen action of this storyline as well, and I can’t wait to see what twists it throws at us next.

The Midnighter backup continues to look great, but moves at a snail’s pace. With the robotic remnant of an evil tyrant stuck in his head, Midnighter continues to neglect his relationships and plot to prevent the rise of this tyrant in the modern day. The villain still doesn’t connect with me, as he’s a bit of a generic supervillain, but Midnighter continues to be a compelling lead that has an edge most DC heroes don’t. The return of another hero from the Future State storylines adds a fun wrinkle that should play out as the story advances.

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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.