Superman: Action Comics #1057 – Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Dan Jurgens, Magdalene Visaggio, Writers; Rafa Sandoval, Lee Weeks, Matthew Clark, Artists; Elizabeth Breitweiser, Matt Herms, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Although Phillip Kennedy Johnson did do a story in the Knight Terrors series, it’s great to have the full book back, with three stories each month covering the gamut of the Super-Family. The main story this month introduces the next greater-scope villain of Johnson’s run—Norah Stone, the mysterious, wealthy, and seemingly very young leader of Blue Earth, the anti-human hate group sweeping the world. Stone is giving her first interview to the Daily Planet—and will only speak to Clark Kent. There are some compelling debates here about legitimizing hate groups with media coverage, and the main interview segment is brilliantly tense as Clark uses his x-ray vision to find anything physically wrong with the youthful tyrant wannabe. Although this is a dark and tense issue, there’s an opening segment involving Superman’s regular visits with an ex-con that sums up why Johnson’s take on Superman is so excellent.
The first backup, wrapping up Jurgens and Weeks’ young Jon Kent story, is a satisfying wrap-up as Clark heads to space to save Jon from the twisted princess who lured him into a trap. This girl’s switch from a hapless victim to a sadistic captor was a little abrupt, but it makes a lot more sense once we see who’s manipulating her. The action is strong, and it’s always great to see Jurgens write Superman again. The highlight here is just the natural, easy way that the Kents interact, more like a real family than they usually appear.
The second backup, a Superboy-focused done-in-one by Visaggio and Clark, is a little more unexpected. It picks up with Conner after his adventures in space—and it hasn’t done wonders for his attitude. He’s dying his hair, mouthing off to Ma Kent (Pa surprisingly doesn’t appear here), and skipping school to meet his secret girlfriend—Miss Martian. But her attempts to help him backfire, leading to an outburst that makes clear he’s dealing with a very intense identity crisis that might lead him down a bad path. It’s a tense, well-written story, but it really does call to attention how wonky DC’s timeline is right now for a number of reasons.
All in all, a fantastic return to form for this series.
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