Review: Action Comics #1097

Action Comics #1097 came out last week and was another fun chapter in this ongoing Superboy run in which Mark Waid explores the earliest days of Clark's super-heroics.

This is a fun chapter as three time-tossed heroes from the present find themselves in the past, meeting a very young Superboy and navigating the troubled waters of time-travelers and a delicate timeline. That happens from both sides of the equation. Mary Marvel, Booster Gold, and Martian Manhunter are trying not to relay too much to Clark. And Clark and the Kents are trying not to ask too many questions. It is that tightrope everyone is walking that is the strongest part of the issue for me, even more than the battle with Epoch, the Lord Of Time. I love this Martha and Jonathan because frankly, given my age, I think I relate to them. 

There are even some philosophoical and emotional moments involving Booster Gold that made me think for a while. I don't usually think of Booster spurring on deep thoughts but that is the magic of Mark Waid. 

Skylar Patridge is back on art and continues to shine here. Patridge has always excelled in showing us the quiet moments. But here, her action pages really sing.

On to the book.

Review: Action Comics #1096

Action Comics #1096 came out last week, another chapter in Mark Waid's look at Superman when he was a boy and part of the 'Reign of the Superboys' event. I have thought this whole look back as a sort of 'Superman Year One' has been pitch perfect. This issue has a little bit of timey wimey stuff that was a little tough to follow but continues to show how Superman became Superman.

Waid continues to put a modern sort of take on classic elements of Superman's mythos. Pete Ross knows the secret identity, Lana loves Superboy while Clark pines, General Lane has always been suspicious. It all works. In this issue, we see Superboy dealing with the fact that there is always an emergency he could be dealing with. How does he go about his own every day life when he could always be heroing?

The cliffhanger definitely brings up a time travel conundrum of how Superman doesn't remember meeting other heroes in his past? Hopefully Waid answers that question.

Skylar Patridge is back on art and continues to shine. Clark looks like a teenager. Lana looks like that perfect 'girl next door' who would entrance Clark. And the action continues to be dynamic. To be honest, if there was a 'Superboy's girl friend Lana Lang' special with Patridge art, I would be there!

Dan Mora's cover is fun, with Superboy lacing up his Chuck Taylors. But who is the ghostly hand? The post-KO Superman? Or one of the guests we see at the end.

On to the book.

Review: Superman #30

Superman #30 came out this week, pushing the Legion of Darkseid story forward with some important plot reveals, a possible Crisis homage, and a triple-agent double-cross that works well. 

But I am still trying to work out what exactly is happening regarding Darkseid. I thought that Darkseid wanted to die in the All In Special so that he was the 'hand Krona saw' in the Absolute Universe. Now it seems like he wants to come back and has sent his Legion to try and resurrect him. I thought it was cooler that he was sort of the primal energy of the whole universe rather than a being wanting to dominate. DC is approaching the DC KO mini-series which means Darkseid has to manifest to fight whoever wins the round robin. 

So in this issue, writer Joshua Williamson tells us about the origins of this Dark Legion and what their goals are. These aren't my Legion and, in particular, this sadistic Saturn Girl, killing with her mind and licking her chops over the nihilistic Superboy Prime is about as far away from my Imra as possible. And like last month, Prime is a delight here, dropping creator names and comic references throughout. 

Dan Mora brings the action and frenzy in this issue. The action is wild and crazy. We see the Legion pounding the good guys throughout the book. And his take on Saturn Girl is chilling. It has been a while since Mora hit the scene and I am still in awe of his stuff. 

On to the book.

Review: Superman #29

Superman #29 came out this week and was one of the strangest and darkest and funniest and inspiring and entertaining reads I have read in a long time. And that makes it one of the toughest one for me to review.  But writer Joshua Williamson and artist Dan Mora just bring it this issue. It is complex and wonderful and sad.

Let's start with the darkness. Everyone knows that I am a huge Legion of Super-Heroes fan. It is hard for me to see DC sort of miss the boat with the IP for some time. They just don't know what to do with the team. And now we have Darkseid's Legion, a vicious, brutal, killing team. They are inspired by Darkseid and are more terrifying than people like Vermin Vunderbar and Kanto. What's worse is they kill the 'real' Legion, members from all the Legions we have seen. This isn't the Legion I want to read. But maybe it is darkest before the dawn.

Superman is still inspiring, rallying the ragtag remaining team and talking about hope. And I am here for the Superman and that works.

But the strangest and funniest part of this issue is Superboy Prime's presence. I really despise what DC did to the original kid back in Infinite Crisis. He became dreadful in multiple other events. He got a reprieve in Dark Metal. But here, he is hilarious, breaking the fourth wall, talking about the comics, and winking at us. I actually found him charming! That is saying something!

Meanwhile, Dan Mora continues to crush it. From the mournful cover to the multiple looks of Legionnaires (both Darkseid and others versions) to a very young looking Superboy Prime, Mora is crushing it. 

This was a hard read for Legionnaire fans. But a good read. 

On to details.

Review: Action Comics #998

Action Comics #998 came out this week, ending the Booster Shot storyline and bringing the end of the Dan Jurgens run on the book that much closer. With Brian Michael Bendis' run just around the corner, I am glad that Jurgens is able to finish up some of his storylines. And this chapter brings this story to a decent close, although I suppose we'll have to see what happens in the next couple of months to see if it how it truly wraps up.

I have never been a big fan of Booster Gold and here, at least, we get a sense of how much weight must be on his shoulders. With access to time travel, he is probably tempted to try and change things. We see how much self-resolve he has to resist that temptation.

That said, the nature of time travel never quite makes sense to me which is why I find these stories a bit vexing. Throughout the story, Booster says that events in the past are more concrete and cannot be changed. Meanwhile future events are more malleable. But what is 'past' and what is 'future'? Our future is someone else's past. Sigh. I guess I just have to roll with it.

And this story for the most part takes place in the future. So while Superman and Booster are able to escape a heinous situation, the real question is will Superman change that future now. Is there an issue where Zod's control of a planet is addressed now? Or do I have to read Green Lantern?

The art on the issue is done by Will Conrad and he brings a slick precise style to the proceedings. I wouldn't mind seeing Conrad on a monthly book. His stuff is great.

On to the book.

Review: Action Comics #997

Action Comics #997 came out this week, another chapter in the Booster Shot story arc, the last arc for Dan Jurgens prior to Brian Michael Bendis taking over the super titles. Jurgens has certainly shored up the book since Superman Reborn. There has been a classic feel to the stories. And, while not as extensive as I'd hope, he brought in a feeling of super-family to the proceedings.

So it is a shame that this is the arc he is ending on. Because for some reason, this just isn't clicking with me. It may be that the impetus for this time trip is the fact that Mr. Oz turned out to be Jor-El. Not a fan of that. I wonder if the Oz story is going to be forgotten? Picked up by Bendis? Explained in Doomsday Clock? I think forgotten ... which would mean a several year buildup is just swept away.

And then the rest of the story ...  the trip back to Krypton, a story idea that never works for me for some reason. And, of course, Booster ... a character I've never took a shine to.

Here we have a loud, action filled chapter with Superman fighting General Zod, Ursa, and Lor-Zod. It is visually stunning. It is a good battle. But that's all it is ... a battle.

If anything, the subplot of Lois saving her father is the more compelling of the two storylines. That moves forward nicely.

Brett Booth brings a lot of style and zing the the proceedings. But many pages have wild panel layouts which at times made for confusing readings. I had to decide how to read the word bubbles in oddly angled shots. Still, the art was wild.

On to the book.

Review: Action Comics #996

Action Comics #996 came out this week, the next chapter in the Booster Shot arc and probably my favorite chapter to date. While there is one enormous foreshadow dropped into this issue that made me cringe, for the most part I liked what I read. This definitely veers into the timey-wimey nature of the DCU as the solution to the evil we see in this issue is to go back in time and make it never happen to begin with. My mind is just too awash with possible futures right now to keep it all straight.

I would be remiss if I didn't say that Lois is truly a co-star in this book, taking up half the pages as she goes on her side mission to save her father, and showcasing everything she has to offer. Whether it is brains or physicality or just networking, this is the Lois that fans like me have been craving to see. So kudos to writer Dan Jurgens for giving us this little slice of heaven.

I also would love to pick Jurgens brain to see just how much of pre-Flashpoint DC history has been melded into this post-Rebirth post-Reborn continuity. We saw that Our Worlds At War happened, as seen in Supergirl. Is War of the Supermen also back in?

The art on the issue is done by Will Conrad and he brings a precise nature to the proceedings which work well. Whether it is an alien world, or the back of a cargo plane, or the dimly lit streets of a Logamba, his stuff really sparkles.

On to the book!

Review: Action Comics #995

I've been a bit of a curmudgeon lately with my reviews of the Booster Shot arc here in Action Comics. I am not a big fan of Booster. I am not a big fan of 'time traveling to Krypton' arcs. And I don't know if Superman debating changing history by allowing Krypton to not explode sits well with me. Add all that up and I just haven't been enjoying this book as much as I had been. I mean, even the splash page of a possible future El Family on Krypton didn't grab me!

Action Comics #995 was, for me, the best issue of the arc. The primary reason is that I got a deeper dive into Booster's character, giving me a touch more appreciation for who he is. From his internal monologues where he seems more unsure of himself than his outer demeanor, to Skeets giving Superman a recap of Booster's origins, to Superman realizing that his life with the Kents was extremely impactful, Booster seems brighter and more relatable after this issue.

I also like Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund as an art team and they bring a very polished style to the story here. The action stuff here really crackles!

My two complaints? There was so much Booster stuff in this that in some ways it felt like a backdoor pilot for a solo Gold title. And I don't know if the 'splinter' time line with a surviving Krypton is still moving forward or not.

On to the book.

Review: Action Comics #994

Action Comics #994 came out last week, the second part of 'Booster Shot' by writer/artist Dan Jurgens. And it is another chapter of timeline hijinks as Superman tries to figure out how Jor-El became Mr. Oz. As I said when reviewing last issue, the concept of Superman going back to Krypton before its destruction isn't a favorite trope of mine. And Booster Gold isn't a favorite of mine. So as a result, I am trying to see the positive in this arc despite my disinterest in the foundation of the plot.

There is a lot of timey-wimey stuff here. I actually muttered 'pocket universe??' under my breath at one point. And that always makes me cringe a bit. In particular, this issue has Superman actually wonder 'what if' things were radically changed in the timeline, a question I think maybe he would have moved beyond by now. Still, that quick peek into a possible past was intriguing.

One underlying theme here is dealing with fathers. The Lois subplot with her father does have an interesting wrinkle.

And the art here is pure Jurgens with inks by Art Thibert. It has a classic feel to it, very reminiscent of the 90s.

On to the book.

Review: Action Comics #993

Action Comics #993 came out last week, the second part of an arc where Superman goes back in time to investigate Krypton's destruction and the first part of the story 'Booster Shot' guest starring Booster Gold. After all, who messed with time to pluck Mr. Oz/Jor-El away?

I have never been a huge fan of Booster Gold. And I have never really been a huge fan of stories where Superman visits Krypton before its destruction. There are always too many questions that need to be answered. Does he lose his powers immediately? Or do they gradually wear off? How does he get off Krypton if he is powerless? And what is he hoping to get out of such a visit?

And so I enter this story already a bit on edge. At the very least, this Superman is only hoping to get a peek at Krypton's destruction from afar and only ends up on the ground because of a glitch.

But to add to the mix, there is a continuity error in this book which I feel is almost unforgivable. And that also sort of soured me. Writer Dan Jurgens should know better. But the editor should definitely know better. It may end up being that 'Rebirth' or 'Reborn' has changed things. Or maybe some of the anomalies we see here are new truths. But if it has no one but DC knows it.

Jurgens is also on art with Joe Prado inking which gives this issue a very classic feel to it.

There is a long way to go in this arc and maybe it'll grab me a bit more moving forward.