REVIEW: Action Comics #1096
With the end of ‘DC K.O.’, the search for Superman begins after saving the multiverse. We, as the readers, know where to look and it’s Action Comics #1096 in the continuing saga of Superboy. But the real question is, does the DC Universe know where to look? What seemed like a fun flash back series could now become the key to DC’s next big chapter.
Dan Mora’s cover is simple yet powerful –a young Clark laying eyes on his future self with no background necessary. The crazy thing is that it’s not an exaggeration. This is plausible after DC K.O. Maybe it’s meant to point us in the young Clark’s direction. There are stories where a young Clark becomes aware of the hero he becomes and feels he is living in a shadow or can’t live up to those expectations. That may or may not be the case in regular DC canon…but maybe it can be.
Alex Cal Oliveira (ACO) is putting together a connecting image with his variant covers and it begins with this one. The shading and glowing texture is just immaculate. It almost looks as if it’s been traced over a photograph, especially with Superboy’s face. With the story just kicking off, it’s anyone’s guess what the entire image will turn out to be. It looks like he and Krypto are in space. Like Grant Morrison said, Superman takes his dog on walks in the Asteroid Belt.
Other variant covers are available from Ryan Sook, Skylar Patridge, and Ethan Young.
On a rainy evening, Superboy saves Prof. Lewis Lang, Lana’s dad, from a lightning strike. What was strange about it was that the bolt seemed out of sync with the rest of time with the tree it hit exploding before. The next day, he, Lana, and Pete return to the Expo of Tomorrow. Clark continues to notice time glitches around him. They continue until he finds himself in costume, meaning that something was going to happen that requires his help. Superboy takes to Metropolis, adverting every possible disaster that could be the reason for his future However, he does find it –just a huge helping of overwhelmingness from trying to support an entire city as opposed to Smallville. As he returns home, the time glitches only intensifying. What could be happening or who could be trying to reach him?
This is the beginning of Mark Waid making this series apart of something bigger. What started as a fun way to celebrate Superman as the movie was coming out in the summer can now lead us into DC’s next chapter. The time glitches are a surreal mystery. There are no super villains or big bads, it’s just Superboy trying to figure things out –which is what these adventures are all about. The strong point is him in Metropolis, wrestling with his future at a time when he is not ready. This could shape up to be the definitive story in this flashback series. Letters are by Steve Wands.
Skylar Patridge, with colors by Ivan Plascencia, starts us off on a dark and rainy night and takes us into the daytime of Smallville and Metropolis. The best action panels are Superboy’s Metropolis adventures, which are great images on their own. We even get a really crazy time skip towards the end that we see for the first time since the Superboy stories began.
(8/10) The search for Superman after DC K.O. begins in Action Comics #1096, so of course this adds a dash of urgency and tons more interest to the Superboy stories which have largely been fun to go back to while events like ‘We Are Yesterday’ and ‘DC K.O.’ raged on.
