Superman: Action Comics #1098 – Mark Waid, Writer; Skylar Partridge, Patricio Delpeche, Artists; Ivan Plascencia, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Superboy’s biggest adventure yet continues, as the trio of Martian Manhunter, Mary Marvel, and Booster Gold arrive in the past to protect him from the mysterious time master Epoch. The sinister armored villain attacked Superboy directly at first, but now he’s struck by stealing the ship that brought him to Earth – potentially reverse-engineering the technology to create anti-Kryptonian technology. That leads them back to the Kents, seeking answers on the ship and what it can do. Patricio Delpeche steps in to retell the story of Superman’s arrival on Earth, but with some modern twists – finally explaining just how the Kents were able to adopt Clark without anyone answering questions. I did notice a few glitches in the art as it jumps between the two artists, though, such as J’onn randomly switching between his alien form and his human disguise in between flashbacks.
There are so many great details in this issue, such as the interactions between Clark and Mary. She’s used to dealing with younger boys with incredible powers, so she seamlessly slips into a big sister role with him – even helping him smooth things over with Lana Lang via a classic high-school trick that was pretty funny. There were unexpected character moments like the conversation between Booster and Jonathan Kent. By the time Epoch shows up, it’s almost a shame to have the issue shift right back to fight scenes, but the final showdown has some interesting hints towards the villain’s identity, as well as a twist ending that threatens to rewrite history in a way that will affect the whole DCU. We know Clark is headed for the present soon for the upcoming “Reign of the Superboys” event, but this has been a great story that sets up his interaction with the present-day DCU first.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
