Superman: Action Comics #1078 – Mark Waid, Mariko Tamaki, Writers; Clayton Henry/Michael Shelfer, Skylar Partridge, Artists; Matt Herms, Marissa Louise, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: After eight chapters of exploring the Phantom Zone and the Krypton of the past, Superman is back on Earth – just in time for the world to collapse around him. Aethyr’s mad, self-destructive quest has led him to compromise Earth’s sun, and the effect could kill all life on Earth. The only option? Destroy the Phantom Zone itself. Superman wants to empty it first, but there’s just one problem left – there’s still a pocket of Krypton left, in Kandor, and it is currently led by a mercurial councilwoman with unwelcome ties to the House of El. She threatens Superman with permanent exile from Krypton if he goes against Kryptonian law and releases them. Even Superboy is hesitant – but for Superman, lives always come first, innocent or not.
This leads to a fairly epic last act, where Superman dons a new suit of armor designed by the Steels to fly him into the sun, while his family is tasked with releasing the Phantom Zone prisoners safely. But there are other wrinkles here too – like Mon-El not being able to leave and having a very narrow window for survival. This scene is the most emotional of the issue, and shows how good Waid is at fusing DC continuity with a human touch. But the issue builds to a cliffhanger that delivers one of the biggest threats to come to the DCU in a while. It’s amazing how Waid is perfectly navigating the pace of a weekly comic that flows much more smoothly than it would in a monthly book.
The Supergirl backup is excellent as well, with Kara facing off against this mysterious being who claims to be the killer of multiple worlds. And she wants one thing – for Kara to kill her and end her threat. But she’s not the only one – her mysterious brother looms in the background as an even bigger threat. There are some great flashbacks to Kara’s past and the sources of her trauma. I wasn’t expecting this story to be a direct sequel to Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, but this has been a fascinating if somewhat slow-paced read.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
