Superman: Action Comics #1064 – Joshua Williamson, Writer; Rafa Sandoval, Artist; Alejandro Sanchez, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: After Jason Aaron kicked off Superman: Superstars with a Bizarro story, the next bold new creative team is… the guy writing the other book! Josh Williamson is essentially crossing over with himself for three months, writing two titles to tell what could be the biggest Brainiac story of all time. The subplot of Brainiac’s involvement in this series has been building for a while, with Luthor’s machinations and supposed redemption arc playing a role, as well as the presence of old villains like Pharm and Graft. As this issue kicks off, Lois Lane is taking a rare day off, enjoying Metropolis and connecting with just about everyone in the supporting cast. It’s great to see the whole Super-family that Williamson and Johnson built over the last few years – but the happy times aren’t lasting. As Clark joins Lois, Jimmy, and Siobahn for yoga in the park, the entire city comes under attack – by Czarnian super-soldiers and Brainiac drones.
The choice of Czarnians for Brainiac’s minions is kind of inspired. After all, Lobo is an idiot – and he’s still one of the deadliest enemies Clark ever faces. What would an army of smarter, crueler Lobos look like? It soon becomes clear that Brainiac is making a total declaration of war like never before, and he’s personally targeting both Superman’s family – and Luthor’s. This, of course, makes sense because Lena is almost as much his daughter as Luthor’s. There are several shocking reveals here about Brainiac’s plan, how deep his influence goes, and exactly what Luthor knew and when. And then there’s the last page, which features a massive callback to decades of Superman stories. The scale of this first chapter is massive, with some spectacular action segments and surprisingly emotional moments, and it sets up another unlikely team-up next month. Fantastic stuff.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
