Cover Art for Action Comics #1096 - Written by Mark Waid, Art by Skylar Patridge, Colors by Ivan Plascencia and Letters by Steve Wands.
Cover Art by Dan Mora
Action Comics #1096 continues Mark Waid’s strong run on one of DC’s flagship titles. In the wake of the DC KO ending and the search for Superman now beginning, the Superman family of comics is going through some changes over the next little while. From Superman to Supergirl to Action Comics there are going to be some wild stories on the way for fans of the Man of Steel and his allies. Action Comics #1096 takes place at a time when Clark and his relationship with not only his friends but the town of Smallville has undergone some big changes. This issue not only has a great mystery driving the plot but it features a very intriguing cliffhanger and some wonderful art from Skylar Patridge and Ivan Plascencia. Spoiler Warning now in effect for Action Comics #1096
A shocking scene in Smallville
We open issue #1096, with Superboy coming to the rescue of Lana Lang’s father, Lewis Lang. On an extremely stormy day in Smallville, a tree explodes right in front of Lewis and the ensuing debris from the explosion would’ve killed him if not for the quick actions of Superboy. Sounds like a fairly normal beginning to a story involving Superboy/Superman but the only issue here is… the tree spontaneously combusted BEFORE anything was actually done to it. After Superboy saves Lewis, only then does a lightning bolt strike a now empty area. How and why did the explosion come before the lightning bolt? That is the question that drives this issue forward as we follow Clark, Lana Lang and Pete Ross to Metropolis for the Expo of Tomorrow.
We’ll get right back to the high flying Kryptonian adventure but there is something to note here. Over the course of the last few issues, it’s been made abundantly clear that Lewis Lang has some secret that he’s hiding and that only intensifies within the first few pages of this issue. After Superboy saves him from the aforementioned tree explosion and before he departs the scene, he asks Lewis about the concerns some people have around town of him writing in little notebooks as if he's observing them… naturally Lewis doesn’t answer but promises Superboy that he is going to find out soon enough before he departs.
Now I’m not quite sure where this is heading with Mr. Lang but I like the fact that this small mystery is beginning to gain more traction. Since Superman has been narrating this run (presented in the form of yellow text boxes) we know that whatever the secret is, it's “pretty awful.” What could Mr. Lang be up to? Why would the father of one of Clark’s closest childhood friends be up to something so terrible? I’m very eager to find out why and what he’s doing. With a writer like Mark Waid, I'm sure the payoff is going to be something really interesting and hopefully we will find out about it sooner rather than later.
Something isn’t right at the Expo of Tomorrow…
We now re-join Clark, Lana and Pete during a beautiful day on their visit to the Metropolis Expo of Tomorrow. Everytime we have visited this location during the course of Waid’s run something crazy has gone down and this time is no different. Lana and Pete begin to notice that no matter how much they eat their ice cream cones that they never seem to get any smaller. Clark notices a mother showing concern for an injury on her son’s arm but he swears he didn’t fall until moments later… he does. The weirdness only continues as Clark surveys the Expo more.
He passes by a crowd applauding a street musician but hears no sounds coming from their applause. He witnesses a boy walking with his father and hears the boy’s balloon pop moments before it actually does. Finally, Clark witnesses a construction crew lowering a massive crate and the rope snaps but the crate decides not to fall just yet. It takes a few seconds but the box finally falls but with thankfully no injuries. Just what is going on at the Expo? Before Clark can really put it together he looks down and all of a sudden he’s in his Superboy costume and then quickly flies away before anyone sees him. Clark begins to realize one important fact as he surveys the Metropolis sky line: Cause and effect have seemingly become “untethered” and he has a feeling Superboy is going to be needed throughout Metropolis very soon.
Waid’s choice to make the Expo of Tomorrow one of his most important locations during this run has really resonated with me. It's an area of Metropolis that offers the promise of a brighter future and a better tomorrow; it’s a location that seems to be symbiotic with Superboy. Why do I say that? The Expo is filled with some great ideas and concepts that could help push the world forward but aren’t quite ready yet. It’s a place that can show what the best form of life can be like for people in Metropolis and beyond someday. This is very similar to Superboy’s arc because yes, he isn’t Superman yet, but one day he will be. One day, all the promises for a brighter future will become that bright future for Metropolis when Superman takes flight and makes his home there. Am I looking too deep into this? Maybe, but it's an interesting dichotomy that I wanted to address for sure.
Superboy saves the day… with some help from Martha
Over the next few pages Superboy goes into overdrive mode and saves the day as many times as he possibly can. He helps save a mother and child from a fire as the Metropolis Fire Department cheers him on. He stops a woman from being mugged. He finds a missing child and returns her to her family and he stops a robbery. He saves a cat from a tree and stops some construction workers from being killed by their own wrecking ball. Superboy is the water putting out all the fires in Metropolis but panics when he begins to think this is how every single day is going to be as Superman in a few years. His panic attack makes him leave Metropolis and fly back home but… something makes him turn around and get right back to being the Superboy everyones knows he is.
Superboy thinks of his mother and the wise words she told him when he was younger: “Stay centered on what’s right in front of you and you can do anything.” It’s a very poignant moment and its a great reminder to Superboy that even he can’t be everywhere at once and he needs to focus on saving one person, one animal or one building at a time. On his return to Metropolis, Superboy continues to help everyone in need including a puppy in danger from a moving truck and a victim of domestic violence. After saving a car from falling off a bridge, Superboy notices that the cause and effect time dilation has ceased but he realizes the effect gets stronger as he gets closer to the Expo. When he uses his super hearing to zero in, he hears a voice crying out for him…
Before we get to the third act of our issue, I wanted to point out another highlight in Mark Waid’s writing in this issue. From all my reviews of his run on Action Comics so far, you guys know I love Waid’s take on this character; he just has a great feel for who and what Superboy/Superman is. This issue takes that another step forward. The scene of Clark flying away after being unsure of himself as he panics about his present and future really hit home for me. Yes, Superboy is essentially a god-like alien from outer space who doesn’t have much to fear but at the end of the day… he’s just a person who needs to remember the advice of his mother to calm down. Just like so many of us in this world who deal with issues of anxiety, Superboy does as well. When you have the weight of the world consistently on your shoulders it's no wonder you may suffer some mental issues sometimes, it's only human. As someone who deals with massive anxiety himself, it somehow makes it easier knowing Superboy/Superman needs that extra boost sometimes too. I’ve consistently gushed about Waid on this run and this issue is yet another really powerful one for reasons like these.
A Wild Ending, Art Team Shoutout and Concluding Thoughts
In this last act of the issue, all the threads finally come together. Superboy hightails it back to the Expo of Tomorrow and zeroes in on that voice that's calling him for help. As he gets closer to the source of the voice, time begins to act very strangely. Clark floats by a future Fortress of Solitude, back to a moment earlier in the day with Lana and Pete, through a scene from a much earlier arc with Captain Comet and finally he seemingly becomes Superman for a moment before reaching towards the wibbly wobbly timey wimey object that is causes the distortions. As Superboy touches the object, out shoots Martian Manhunter, Booster Gold and Mary Marvel from a time portal with explosions and bullets following them. When Superboy asks who they’re running from, Booster Gold simply says “HIM!” and on the very last page we see a Golden Robot come through the portal after everyone!
Before we get to my final thoughts and rating it’s important to acknowledge the incredible art team of Skylar Patridge and Ivan Plascencia. There are some real highlights in this issue that I want to point out. Superboy saving Lewis Lang from the tree explosion in the beginning has some great panels that accompany the scene and the darker color choices in the opening scene are a great choice by Plascencia. As I noted above, Lewis Lang is a very mysterious character at the moment and combined with the thunderstorm, it was a good choice to make this opening darker than the rest of the book.
The next scene I really want to put a big emphasis on from the art team perspective is when Superboy is racing around Metropolis saving everyone he can. The art looks fantastic and the color choices, which include a much brighter palette from the intro, suit this section really well. I even liked the choice to make the panel borders slanted and diagonal in this section to give a feeling that this is all moving very fast. A great art team is just as great of an asset as a great writer and little details like that are what separate good ones from great ones. The panel of Superboy saving a puppy with a big smile on his face is just pure Clark Kent/Superboy/Superman energy.
The last two specific panels scenes I want to highlight from an art perspective are when Superboy is slipping through time at the ending of the story and when we see the reveal of the big golden robot at the end of the story. The slipping through time section is really cool because we see Superboy not only go through some big moments in his life but the panel boarding is all warped and Superboy seemingly slips through them at one point. Just a great artistic choice with some fantastic color choices to boot. Finally, that giant gold robot design on the last page made me think of 90’s cartoon villains, especially someone who looks like they could’ve fit right in on an episode of Power Rangers.
Mark Waid continues his great run on Action Comics with a time-bending issue that sees Superboy continue on his path to becoming the Superman we all know he’s going to be one day. We get some great plot developments that hint at a wild next few issues and an art team who is firing on all cylinders. With Action Comics #1100 quickly approaching, I’m very excited to see the continuing adventures of Superboy written by one of comic’s greatest writers.
RATING: 8.5/10