ACTION COMICS #1075 delivers a nice retcon AND a fun new status quo

THIS WEEK: Action Comics #1075 is split between three great Superman-family stories. Plus, we have our usual round-up of blurbs about other DC books hitting shops!

Note: the review below contains spoilers. If you want a quick, spoiler-free buy/pass recommendation on the comics in question, check out the bottom of the article for our final verdict.

Action Comics #1075

Writers: Mark Waid, Mariko Tamaki, and Joshua Williamson
Artists: Clayton Henry, Michael Shelfer, Skylar Patridge, Jon Bogdanove, and Norm Rapmund
Colorists: Matt Herms, Marissa Louise, and Hi-Fi
Letterers: Dave Sharpe, and Becca Carey

It’s a great time to be reading Superman comics. To me, it feels like the current line is robust, varied, and interesting. Last week saw the first issue of Absolute Superman, to much critical-acclaim and buzzy fan reactions. Meanwhile, Superman #19 continued an excellent run on the flagship Super title in October, making full use of the mythos while doing its best to add fun new twists. And on top of those two books, we’ve also been getting a great weekly story in the pages of Action Comics, complete with excellent back-ups.

This is perhaps the most consequential issue yet of the current Action Comics arc. This main story by Mark Waid, Clayton Henry, Michael Shelfer, Matt Herms, and Dave Sharpe has largely been about the Phantom Zone, and how to save it, Superman must travel back in time and interact with his parents on Krypton. Throughout, he’s voiced misgivings about his father’s role in turning the Phantom Zone into a prison. Well, in this issue we get a great retcon, wherein Superman learns that his father discovered the Phantom Zone…but it was a rival of his who was ultimately responsible for using it as a prison.

It’s a very well done retcon, one that doesn’t feel like it cuts against the grain at all. Part of Superman’s story has always been slowly discovering what his parents and his home world might have been like, so it’s natural for him to learn new context around things he had once taken as established truths. He is moved and relieved when he discovers his father’s real role in the Phantom Zone, and I felt like I was right there with him as a reader. Great stuff.

Meanwhile, this book also delivers a couple of excellent back-ups. The first is the continuation of the fun Supergirl/Power Girl story by Mariko Tamaki, Skylar Patridge, Marissa Louise, and Becca Carey. This is the type of back-up that’s so good, you cross your fingers and hope it will eventually spin out into a proper miniseries or even an ongoing title.

But it’s the second back-up story here that has major ramifications for the Metropolis status quo. This one is Memory Lane by flagship Superman writer Joshua Williamson. It sees him teaming with all-time great Super artist Jon Bogdanove (one of my personal faves, for that one issue during Zero Hour alone, you know the one), inked by Norm Rapmund, colored by Hi-Fi, and lettered by Dave Sharpe. 

This back-up gives us the end of Perry White’s campaign for mayor. It’s a really touching story, in which Perry takes a stroll through Metropolis and sees the many events that have shaped his memories of the city. He proceeds into the Daily Planet offices, reminisces a bit more there, and then ultimately wins in a landslide with his campaign for mayor. I found this to be a sweet and hopeful story, during a week in which such a thing is extra poignant, and I’m excited to see what Williamson and co. have in store for Mayor Perry White.

The Round-Up

• Absolute Batman #2 is another banger single issue, and I maybe even liked it more than the opening chapter. Once again it’s written by Scott Snyder, with art by Nick Dragotta, colors by Frank Martin, and letters by Clayton Cowles. With the hard work of having to establish a new take on Batman already begun, this second issue is better able to hit us with context, character moments, and action sequences. It’s also doling out more set pieces aimed at getting people talking (the giant construction site Batmobile, mainly), and it all adds up to a second issue that delivers promises made in the first.
• We get a very different take on the same character this week in Batman: Dark Age #6 by writer Mark Russell, artist Mike Allred, colorist Laure Allred, and letterer Dave Sharpe. This is the finale for a miniseries that follows the same creative team’s work on Superman: Space Age. Both of this series approach their characters as having aged in real-time, from the mid-century on through to Crisis on Infinite Earths event. It’s a fun setup, and Russell and Allred deliver a more introspective, personal take on Batman and all that surrounds him. This finale in particular feels heartrending and well-earned. 
• Finally, Black Lightning #1 is a fun debut comic from writer Brandon Thomas, artist Fico Ossio, colorist Ulises Arreola, and letterer Lucas Gattoni. It’s a good, family-driven story, but it’s also a must-read for anyone following the larger story threads in the main DCU continuity after the events of Absolute Power.

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