Superman: Action Comics #1074 – Mark Waid, Mariko Tamaki, Writers; Clayton Henry/Michael Shelfer, Skylar Partridge, Artists; Matt Herms, Marissa Louise, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Last issue ended with a shocker – while Mon-El is left to stand alone against the mad Aethyr, Superman has been catapulted through town and found himself on Krypton. This is the Krypton he was born on – in fact, it’s right around them – and things are already starting to go very wrong. Ground-quakes are shaking the foundations, leading Kal to be quickly injured as he saves a man, since his powers have dwindled under the red sun. He needs his solar bracelets working again, so he gets pointed to a skilled scientist in the area – Jor-El, whose wife and infant son are the ones who greet him when he arrives at the lab. Guess that proves the theory about time collapsing if you meet yourself wrong.
As large as Jor-El and Lara loom in Superman’s mythos, we’ve seen relatively little of them in their timeline, especially of Lara. It’s interesting to see Jor-El in particular as this mercurial genius, driven to near madness by the stubbornness of the Council and the growing awareness that all his efforts may not be enough to save the planet and its people. There’s also a hilarious subplot involving Conner and Kenan as they battle against a Khund invasion of the space museum, but the real heart of this issue is in the very rare interactions between Superman and his parents. At least, it is until they get an unwelcome visit from the head of the council – and Superman’s return trip suddenly looks very uncertain.
The Supergirl backup continues to be strong, albeit more a fascinating collection of strange visuals than a true story in the middle part. Supergirl wakes up in a strange alien facility, trapped in what looks like red spider webs, and finds out that an auction is being held for the very prisoner she was meant to escort. With the help of an unexpected ally, Kara is able to get loose and chase after her target – but some of the things said by the prisoner at the very end make me wonder if we’re in for a massive reveal next issue.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
