Superman: Action Comics #1099 – Mark Waid, Writer; Skylar Partridge, Patricio Delpeche, Artists; Ivan Plascencia, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Ever since Booster Gold, Mary Marvel, and Martian Manhunter came to the past and encountered a teenage Superboy, there’s been the risk of a time paradox – and now it’s come true in a big way. Epoch the Time Master, the mysterious time-traveling villain who has stolen Superboy’s spaceship, has figured out how to hit Superboy with a ray that blocks his cells from absorbing yellow sun energy – possibly depowering him permanently. The heroes from the future have no idea how to remove this, leaving Clark to figure out how to be human for the first time in years. He immediately gets kicked in the head by a cow, to illustrate how it’s going, but then he slowly starts to find the little joys in being a normal person again. He doesn’t have to worry about hurting his friends, he has time to spend time with Lana – and he’s starting to wonder if he doesn’t like this better.
There’s just one problem – if Superboy never becomes Superman, time is broken beyond repair and the Golden Age of Superheroes never happens. As they try to figure out how to fix time before it’s too late, three become two and the stakes of this crisis become ever clearer. That convinces them to seek outside help in the form of Dr. Bruce Gordon, a scientist who specializes in solar energy. We know he’s destined to be possessed by the Demon Eclipso, of course, but right now he’s just a curmudgeonly doctor who doesn’t particularly believe in superheroes and doesn’t want to be pulled away from his work. But as he’s convinced to assist and starts trying to figure out how to unblock Superman’s energy, they all come under attack by Epoch again – and a powerless Superboy has to decide what kind of hero he wants to be, powers or not. Another strong issue in Clark’s coming-of-age.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
