Review: Action Comics #1077 Superman Story

Action Comics #1077 came out last week, another weekly chapter by Mark Waid, Clayton Henry, and Michael Shelfer. The side-trip to Krypton is over so we are back in the Phantom Zone trying to stop Aethyr from torturing the Kryptonians stranded there. 

I have been very pleased with this story so far. Waid is doing his usual polish on a number of people and events in classic DC history, bringing them into the modern age. Jor-El didn't want to use the Zone for a prison and perhaps was a bit daffier than his usual stolid depiction. Zor-El is climate denier and a hot head. Aethyr is a powerful being trying to do good in the worst way. Mon-El has had to do some dark deeds to maintain some sanity.  Somehow these small changes have all worked, although some of them have worked for me more than others. (Poor Zor-El!)

But we are heading to the end of this story so we need to push the plot forward and back on Earth. The events that seemingly get us there are a bit fast and sort of out of the blue. But there are still two more chapters in the arc so maybe more is yet to come.

The side plot of Kenan and Conner also comes to an abrupt conclusion after being a fun diversion all along. Still solid stuff there as well.

The art remains very good throughout with Clayton Henry on the main story and Michael Shelfer on the subplot. I swear Clayton Henry was aping Gene Colan on some Aethyr shots. On to the book.

Last issue, Aethyr decided to basically destroy the Zone from within, bringing in solid mass to make the place unstable. To get that energy, Aethyr needs to drain energy from suns and this time he is using Earth's sun.

Everything is going cold. And the only way to save the sun requires Superman ... and he ain't around.

The way Waid is slow introducing us to Aethyr and his abilities is a nice thread here. Initially, I thought Aethyr was basically self-sufficient, near omnipotent - like a Galactus or Time Trapper type. But here we learn he needs outside sources of energy. And we learn even more later ...

It is a contrast to the odd, metaphysical, universe spirit from the famous Gerber/Colan Phantom Zone mini-series.

Back in the Zone, Superman sees the insanity unfolding with the fabric of the zone being ripped apart by chunks of solid rock appearing throughout.

Mon-El talks about how insane Aethyr has become forcing him to defend himself.

I am very very interested in what Mon-El think of this turn. This is the second time this arc it is hinted/shown that Mon has needed to use extreme violence (murder?) to defend himself here. While we also have seen him remain a beacon of good in this wild place, he is much darker.

It is shown so quickly, and tempered with prior moments where we see him consoling and leading the Zone prisoners. But if you are a Mon-El fan are you happy? Or is this a Tom-King-ification of Lar?

I think it makes a bit of sense given the story. But it is painting Mon-El with a gray brush. What say you?

Mon also knows that Aethyr is using Earth's sun to do this, endangering both places. Superman needs to get out to get to Earth.

Mon keeps dropping the knowledge. He has seen Aethyr using a metallic sphere which might be a transport device of some sort. Perhaps Superman can use it. 

So now Aethyr needs technology to do what he is doing? Interesting.

And Mon basically saying that Superman needs to save Earth more than he needs to save the Zone is also a nice bit of characterization for Mon, willing to try his best to save everyone he can within.

The side plot ends pretty quickly.

Khuperboy (Conner Superboy adopting a little Khund nomenclature given his newly won title) starts sending some of the stolen exhibits in the museum back to their appropriate worlds. It turns out this museum is understaffed without any security.

I really love how the curator says that Conner can't return exhibits that belong to the museum. Even Con knows that is ironic.

In the end, everything is returned and Kenan wonders if he and Con shouldn't go to a real museum.

I thought this was a lot of fun throughout even if this solution is oddly easy.

Meanwhile Superman begs Aethry to stop what he is doing. But Aethyr is too angry to stop. He feels the criminals didn't acknowldge how nice he was.

I include this because that top panel just reminds me of Gene Colan's art and Colan's interpretation of Aethyr from that 80s Phantom Zone mini-series.

But then Aethyr sort of self-defeats himself.

To show his strength, Aethyr begins to gather mass into himself, becoming gargantuan.

The bigger, denser Aethyr ends up having its own center of gravity. Suddenly the chunks of mass he brought into the zone are drawn to him, pummeling him to death.

Will this truly be the death of Aethyr? Seems like a simple way for this near deity to go out. But maybe we'll see that his 'spirit' or psyche didn't die with this? Perhaps this is how Waid will get him to be the 'soul' of the Phantom Zone like in that old mini?

The end result is that Aethyr appears dead but the sun is still in trouble.

The metallic sphere that Aethyr had was a teleporter opening a passage to the 'real world'. So off to save the world goes Superman.

While I know we will be back on Earth for the ending, I do hope we get some other look at the Zone. I'd like to know what ultimately happens to Aethyr and Mon-El. Is Xa-Du really dead?

So this felt like a sprint through the ending of the Zone piece of this story. Overall, this remains a delight of a story.

Overall grade: B