The action starts with Superboy attempting to save a Smallville neighbour who’s restored a classic biplane… badly. The rescue seems straightforward, but Clark is at the beginning of his heroic career and learning his trade – so mistakes happen.
Happily, the Boy of Steel comes through and we catch up with him a few days later, his future self telling the tale.
Meanwhile, General Sam Lane is still seething that his recent plot to capture Superboy didn’t come off.
Later, at the town Harvest Festival, while Clark moons over Lana Lang, dad Jonathan hears some worrying news.
Later that weekend, Superboy continues helping people, and sees an old lady in danger on a zebra crossing.
Yep, she’s blind, and doesn’t have a smidgeon of radar sense. She’s scared, and angry, and that’s what gets us to our cover scene.
Later, back in Smallville, Sam Lane is throwing his own military parade.
It’s a busy week for Superboy, and an exciting one, but none of it made my heart leap so much as a scene with Clark’s best pal Pete Ross, who’s confused as to why his friend has had less time for him of late.
Pete Ross’s tent is an icon of Silver Age DC Comics, and if you don’t know why, come back next month because it looks like Action Comics writer Mark Waid will be cementing a certain scene into modern canon.
As for this issue, goodness me there’s a lot going on. Waid really sells the growing loneliness of Clark as he shrinks his personality and abilities to make space for his Superboy creation. Seeing it from Pete’s PoV, too, is novel for veteran/ancient readers who know that originally Pete moved to Smallville after Clark had been acting meek and mild for a while.
Lana doesn’t get a line this time, but she’s certainly a presence as Clark realises he’s now in a love triangle with himself as his rival.
Jonathan and wife Martha get new worries as a wave of debt hits the town, but a new part-time job might help.
And Sam Lane – Clark’s future father-in-law – finally has the confrontation with Superboy he’s been gagging for.
All this, and a mystery in the final pages connected to an intriguing item in the first issue of this run, Action Comics #1087.
On first read I was delighted to see some resolution to the Sam Lane plot, then recalled the shadowy, robed figures we saw him taking orders from months ago – they’re still out there somewhere, and they’re certainly not the US Army.
It’s sad to hear about the Hubbards, Ben Hubbard being the featured neighbour in Geoff Johns’s Secret Origin story. Are the foreclosures simply a matter of tough times, or is someone behind the scenes putting the squeeze on Smallville’s farming community?
As well as sharp plotting, Waid gives us deft dialogue, particularly in the scene with Pete Ross, they do sound like kids from a couple of decades ago.
And the art is just lovely, as Cian Tormey fills in for regular Action artist Skylar Patridge. The opening scene with the runaway plane is fantastic, with the Boeing-Stearman near flying off the page, while the power of Superboy as he zaps around is thrillingly apparent. Little things like the wind in his hair and extra-long cape getting in a tangle add extra visual appeal. The facial expressions, too, are, spot on, from Clark’s panic in the sky to amateur pilot Eban McElroy’s initial triumph at having got his plane off the ground. A close-up on a relieved Mrs McElroy’s rolling pin hints that while hubby’s not going to die by his own hand, he’s at least in line for the hairdryer treatment.
As for the storytelling, compositions such as the page in which Superboy and Army General have a pow-wow are terrific.
Ivan Plascencia’s colouring brings extra life to the pages, with a scene of fireworks especially impressive, while the letters of Steve Wands are never less than tiptop – a typewriter-style font for our narrator, for example, looks great and fits nicely.
As for Ryan Sook’s cover, it’s gorgeous, just look at the detail on the arms and hands! And it follows a fine tradition of citizens turning on Superboy. But come on, DC, change that ‘Superman’ by the logo to ‘Superboy’.
Action Comics gets better by the month, I hope Superboy hangs around for a good while.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 