REVIEW: Action Comics #1094

Action Comics #1094 continues to follow Clark’s life as Superboy. This series is something I didn’t know I needed to read, it has been a while since we saw Clark as Superboy in comics and this series has nothing short of fantastic.

But before we get into the issue itself, let’s take a look at the main cover, which is by Ryan Sook. It perfectly captures the contents and soul of the issue itself, which is always a bonus for me. This gives a real sense of danger due to the fiery hues in the background, the detail on Superboy’s new suit is great too as he leads charge in a warzone.

The variant by Chris Samnee & Matheus Lopes is just perfect! I love the classic style of the artwork and especially the linework, and I also really love the vintage colour palette that has been used here. It gives a real sense of timelessness.

Elizabeth Torque & Sabine Rich have brought us a really fun piece featuring Krypto and Superboy in space. It feels as though they are taking a selfie with a rather suprised astronaut. Despite the humour of this issue I love the detail on the atmosphere around them and also the linework on the suit and Krypto to create a sense of texture.

There is also a variant by Annie Wu, which brings us punk rocker Clark which ties into the Punk Rock variant series inspired by the recent Superman film.

Action Comics #1094 opens up with Superboy taking on small but great deeds, here we get a nice little name check tying the series to the wider DC Universe. But in all honesty, I love seeing Superboy use his powers this way, in this case he helps out at a local library, for me it’s the small things that go a long way. We are also introduced to Mr Lang, Lana’s father in this issue, this is really the first time we see him in the series and it seems that he and Clark aren’t on good terms. Mr Lang makes him nervous, he follows him around the house taking notes and so far, this feels quite sinister, though we are going to have to wait to get more answers on their dynamic. The interior artwork is by Patricio Delpeche, with colours by Delpeche, and letters by Steve Wands. The artwork is great in this issue, it has a playful element to it which is very cartoonistic, but at the moments we need it we get some great depth and detail.

This issue is essentially a ‘day in the life of’ type issue, we see Superboy barely getting any time to relax and instead takes on tasks both big and small. The big task? Being drafted into the army by General Lane, who is starting to use up the favours that Superboy owes him. In this moment Superboy isn’t quite expecting how prepared the General is… he has a new suit for him and everything! Here we see him deal with a kidnapping and is sent on a search and rescue mission. As he crash lands to the location, both we and he come to realise that this mission isn’t quite going to be as easy as they first though. The Modorans are up to something big, creating a weapon that can even harm Superboy himself. Despite the hinderance, Superboy gets straight to work putting the lives and safety of others before anything else, peak Superboy! With so much at stake and of course the unexpected weapon, Superboy makes mistakes on this mission, arguably they are all unavoidable, but to Superboy it really hits home. A lot happens for him in this issue, both physically and emotionally. As well as dealing with the burden of his powers, one of them is being lonely as he is unable to talk about what happens in his day freely with his peers and that really hit home for me.

(9/10) Action Comics #1094 is such a great issue! Superboy’s mission really brought him into himself, considering he is still so young here he has some incredibly difficult decisions to make and seeing his workings out and tactics was just a joy to read! We also get to see a lot of his compassion and respect here in this issue and I’d go as far as to say that this issue showcases EVERYTHING I adore about this character, it’s safe to say that writer Mark Waid, just gets it.