Review: Action Comics #1078 Superman Story

Action Comics #1078 came out last week, continuing the weekly story by Mark Waid with art by Clayton Henry and Michael Shelfer. With our side trip to Krypton's past over and Aethyr defeated, it is time to pick up the pieces.

The cover sums up the biggest plot point. Aethyr has a device draining the sun of its energy while simultaneously ripping the Zone apart. But things are even more complicated. Saving the Earth will doom the Zone completely. How can the heroes save everyone? And what about Mon-El? Leaving the Zone dooms him.

I have enjoyed this story a lot. Waid has a great grasp of the super-family and their dynamics. He has a wonderful reverence for DCU and shows it by continuing to tweak some classic DC history to update but not eradicate. This whole issue shows just what a team our heroes are as they work together to save as many people as they can.

The art is once again split between Clayton Henry and Michael Shelfer. With the Kenan/Conner subplot over, Shelfer gets to help tell the main story and gets some good Supergirl moments. His style is a bit more stylized than Henry's, more energetic and manga-like. But the two shine here. 

On to the story!

With the sun fading, all the super-family's powers are weakened. 

An old enemy, Grax, has decided to take advantage of this by driving a massive ship into Metropolis to kill millions. This is for no reason other than to irk Superman.

I like seeing the super-family all working together to try and keep the ship aloft. Jon is present trying to make Grax stop the madness but to no avail. 

There is a lot to like in this little scene. How great to see the supers working together. It is good to see Jon again and see him doing standard super-hero stuff. But the big win is seeing Grax, a small-time villain in the Bronze Age, best known for multiple stories in Super Friends.

The family is able to push Grax's ship into space but it taxes all their remaining energy. They begin to fall to their doom only to all be scooped up by the arriving Superman.

 

Such a great panel of Superman being Superman. 

He swoops in and saves all 4 of his family, grabbing some and others being draped on him. 

It is great to see the whole family in one panel. I love the action of Superman swooping in. Great work by Henry. I love the shocked and fearful expressions on the looks of the younger heroes. 

In the Fortress, Mister Terrific sums up the problem. In the center of the sun is Aethyr's device, sucking out energy and converting it to mass in the Zone. To turn off the device, someone has to head into the heart of the sun, saving Earth. But the backlash will destroy the Zone. So who does Superman save? Earth? Or the Zone?

We see how Conner is a bit more cavalier about having the criminals of the Zone die. Conner is certainly the brashest of the family but hearing him be so blase about death seems a touch off. But it does set him apart from the group. 

Superman is a bit different. Perhaps the criminals can be let out on a red sun world? Perhaps he can be protected by armor, fly into the sun, and turn the device off?

The discussion is interrupted by Bry-Zan, the head of Kandor's Science Council. 

She says Superman doesn't have the right to release the prisoners and if he does, he will be banned from visiting Kandor. 

Bry-Zan, daughter of Ro-Zan the nemesis of Jor-El. Intriguing. She must have been a baby when Krypton exploded. But why is she on Kandor? Did they live there when Brainiac came? Did Brainiac come after Kal's recent visit? 

Is there a Zan/El family feud ... even these years later? What happened to Ro-Zan after Kal left? Why do the history books say Jor-El wanted the Zone to be used as a prisoner? 

I hope we revisit some of Krypton history in this story.

But that 'exiled from Kandor' moment is brutal. You see how it impacts Kal, his shoulders slumped.

Far and away, this is my favorite moment in the book. I love how Kara supports her cousin. That low 'Kal' and the hand on his back, a physical manifestation of affection and support.  She knows what this means. Even her guarded body language as he storms off shows how she can feel the impact.

I love seeing the cousins being so close. Recent writers have understood this. I love how Waid shows them like this. 

Armored up, Superman flies to the sun.

The plan is Kara and Jon will release the prisoners on a red sun planet. They'll be armed with the plan to release and skedaddle. 

But what of Mon-El. Released from the Zone, he'll die from the lead poisoning in his blood. He can't leave the Zone. 

Communicating with Jon, Mon says he has been living on Bonus Time. 

This version of Mon-El has been morally grayed a bit. But I think there is a resilience to him. 

I talked about that moment with Kara earlier.

On the ship to the red sun world, she tells Jon about how Kandor revered Kal as a savior. How the looked on him and raised statues to him. But Superman loved Kandor, a connection to his other life, a way to feel less alone. It is important to him and so that exile is cutting.

That Kandor reverence is very Bronze Age so it felt classic to me. And that background made me understand why Superman would be so impacted.

Shelfer's art is a little 'twee' here with Kara looking like a Kewpie. But I wouldn't mind seeing more of his take on her.

Luckily Superman's suit stands up and he is able to destroy Aethyr's tech. The sun reignites. 

On the alien world, Supergirl uses the projector to open up a portal to the Zone. But ... no prisoners come out.

There is a solid cliffhanger. And if you have read enough comics you can guess it. If the prisoners aren't here, they are somewhere else.

This has been a great story, bouncing us from Earth to the Zone to the Krypton and back. The art has been solid throughout. Add another solid cliffhanger making me want more and this has been a winner.

Overall grade: B+