REVIEW: Action Comics #1085
Action Comics #1085, “Solitude: Part One” begins the final story for the Superman Superstars initiative. Current ‘Poison Ivy’ scribe G. Willow Wilson and ‘Superman ’78: The Metal Curtain’ artist Gavin Guidry combine forces to give us a Superman adventure with an unexpected adversary. This is sure to be a fun read as anything can happen when an obscure villain like this shows up.
The standard cover is by Brad Walker and Trish Mulvihill. Entitled “Artic Assault”, we get a defensive pose of Superman in front of a stylized Fortress of Solitude and Aurora Borealis. The wind whips Clark’s cape up to blend in with the celestial light display for a fun overall affect.
Danny Earls and Trish Mulvihill’s variant is nothing less than stunning. An art deco inspired take on The Daily Planet building with Superman creating an ‘S’ trail while flying around it is sumply a spectacular piece of art.
The variant by Davide Paratore is a realistic depiction of Superman hovering high above Metropolis. The way Paratore plays with the lighting of the clouds adds a sense of majesty to the piece.
Cully Hamner’s variant highlights Superman’s compassion as he takes a young child for a flight of a lifetime. The blanket of yellow and blue background helps accentuate the foreground image making the feeling of joy stand out that much more.
Gavin Guidry and Colorist Trish Mulvihill make up the art team for this issue. Having worked on the “Superman ’78” sequel, it’s interesting to see Guidry’s designs for these characters when not having to model them in an actor’s likeness. Superman’s costume also gets a surprising design change that works for the context of the story but so far seems a bit unnecessary. That being said, their art definitely lives up to their standard of quality. Mulvihill’s color work is particularly impressive as there’s an abundance of white on white yet nothing looks washed out or boring. It really is a great looking book and these two compliment each other’s work well.
G. Willow Wilson, lettered by Dave Sharpe, does a deep dive with their villain selection for this story. Considering their powerset, it wouldn’t be surprising if a more well known Superman villain makes an appearance later, but that’s pure speculation. As with every arc in the Superstars initiative, there’s some question as to where this adventure lands in Superman’s career and the editorial note does little to clarify. Regardless, Wilson has an impressive track record in the industry so it’s doubtful it won’t be an exciting or poorly executed arc for the Superman Superstars finale.
(7/10) There’s a couple of old Silver Agey tropes for Superman in Action Comics #1085 that Wilson uses that I’ve never been to fond of but so far they play well with the story she’s crafting. Other than that, it’s a solid chapter one with some genuine unexpectedness.
