Superman: Action Comics #1047 – Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Writer; Riccardo Federici, David Lapham, Artists; Lee Loughridge, Trish Mulvihill, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Superman is back on Earth, but he’s not coming alone. After the conclusion of the Warworld Saga, he’s taken a machine planet containing millions of souls from different planets—and dragged it right back to Earth’s atmosphere. This has plunged the world into chaos, with alien refugees running rampant and causing accidents that Superman is around to prevent. There’s a particularly great scene in which Superman rescues two kids that reminds us of exactly why this character works so well. But not everyone is happy with this—the UN has called Superman in for a hearing to explain his plans for the millions of aliens, which leads to a powerful speech from the Super-family about Earth as a haven.
There’s a major development for Superman and Lois in that Clark seems to have taken in the two children from Warworld who helped save the day, and now they have to decide what comes next. It’s not clear if the kids will stay for them, but Superman becoming an adoptive parent himself now that Jon’s an adult would add a great symmetry to his origin story. The villains are active as well this issue, with Lex Luthor exploring the ruins of Warworld in search of a major treasure, and Metallo being locked up in prison as a shell of his former self. We know that Luthor is going to use Metallo in his upcoming plot, and both these villains are more intimidating than they have been in a long time.
The backup by David Lapham on art turns the clock back to the arrival of Warworld on Earth. As Thao-La awakens after her recovery, the entire Super-family reunites for the first time in a long time and helps to prevent a massive disaster on Earth. But all isn’t well—while most members of Warworld are now loyal to Superman, a small group of loyalists to Mongul remain and are determined to get revenge on those closest to Superman. Lapham’s art is very strong, but oddly colorful this issue—a far cry from his usual style. This is a great coda to the arc overall so far.
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