REVIEW: Action Comics #1061

Action Comics #1061 is here and with it comes a new creative team. When they were told it was going to be Action Comics, they must’ve taken the “action” part in every literal way because this issue is already a crazy start to what can be a crazy battle for Superman. Of course, it’s all because of Bizarro.

Even though it’s not an anniversary issue, interior artist John Timms makes it look gold with his cover. The whole point of Superman’s blue suit is to make him pop against the complimenting orange-yellow sun that gives him his power and this cover does it justice. It’s also been a good while since Bizarro has graced a regular cover of a mainline Superman series.

Chris Bachalo’s variant isn’t just a unique Bizarro illustration, but also the sales pitch for the issue if you are fluent in Bizarro language, which is just speaking like it’s Opposite Day. The use of just red and white and textures as hard as Bizarro’s skin seems to give it a hard rock look. Bizarro is just as versatile, if not more, in several different art styles as Superman.

Joelle Jones gives us another unique variant that features Bizarro and Superman. It’s just phenomenal pencil work and goes in the same category as modern movie posters. She also does an awesome job of making Bizarro look like a rampaging monster through Metropolis with a faded Superman in the background. The use of the environments is symbolic too, with Superman’s upper side of the picture looking up at the Metropolis skyline while Bizarro’s side looks down – keeping with the inverse theme.

Several Bizarro and Superman featured variants are also by Kaare Andrews, Jorge Jimenez, Nathan Szerdy, Paolo Rivera, and Tom Reilly.

Out there, hidden in the vast cosmos of the DC Universe, is Sorcerers’ World. It’s a magical place full of witches and wizards that live on floating islands and fairytale-like castles. It’s also under attack by Bizarro. He effortlessly pushes past the armies into the War Wizard’s fortress. Standing their ground, the sorcerers hit him with everything they got but are unaware of one of the major Bizarro rules as Superman’s inverse – as magic usually does affect Clark as it would anyone to a degree, it does the opposite to Bizarro.

Later on, Superman encounters Bizarro above Metropolis. The next thing he knows, he’s been swatted 25 million miles to Venus. A struggle all the way across the solar system occurs as Bizarro attempts to buy himself some time to cast a spell on all of Metropolis. The entire time Superman didn’t fight back but rather attempted to talk him down. As all of Metropolis watches, Bizarro reveals as he keeps attacking Superman that Bizarro World, his home, is one of many planets that doesn’t usually get spared during Crisis events, which he blames Superman and the Justice League for. Using his newfound magic abilities, he now has the power to make Bizarro World eternal and destroy Superman while he’s at it.

Superman Superstars is right as some of the comic’s big names come to Action Comics. Jason Aaron hits it out of the park (or rather orbit) with his debut as a Superman writer after headlining so many iconic heroes’ series at Marvel. Again, he took the “Action” in Action Comics as a writing prompt and got crazy on the very first page in Sorcerers’ World. Then again, when Bizarro is involved the story simply has to be crazy. Aaron also treats the readers to some narrative prose that is nothing short of thrilling and dramatic.

John Timms crafts some of the most out of this world Superman fight scenes among the hardest that Clark has ever been. It’s no joke as each panel takes the struggle at least 10 million miles apart each. A panel even shows one of Jupiter’s moons getting destroyed in the struggle. As with any cataclysmic battle in Metropolis, Lois and Jimmy are not hesitant to put themselves in danger just to get those good coverage shots. It’s everything that makes Action Comics the truest Superman stories. Timms also had his work cut out for him with environments in this issue with Sorcerers’ World, the Milky Way, and Metropolis. Colors are by Rex Lokus.

Action Comics #1061 is a wild ride right out of the gate with Bizarro making his grand return to the main Superman comics after a couple of years of absence. The first panels alone make up for it and it only gets better with each page turn.