Action Comics #1094 review

Ryan Sook’s exceptionally strong cover image introduces the best issue so far of Superboy’s run in Action Comics. If that Camo Clark look doesn’t translate to an action figure I’ll eat my hat.

And the picture doesn’t over-promise, Superboy does indeed go to war, having agreed with General Sam Lane he’ll do the occasional job if the Army man will leave him be in Smallville.

Before that, though, present day Clark’s narration tells us of a time he visited Lana Lang so they could do homework together, being greeted by her father.

Homework completed, Clark heads off, only to be speedily summoned by Lane.

In Modora, Superboy finds his hearing vanishes, but he gets on with saving Lane’s soldiers from snipers.

Eventually Superboy completes the mission, but not without experiencing some of the horrors of war, including seeing death. Deeply affected, he knows he can open up to Ma and Pa Kent, but doesn’t, perhaps not ready to talk to anyone about seeing his first human corpse, holding a dead soldier in his hand.

Soon afterwards, Clark joins pal Pete Ross for a camping trip in the woods outside Smallville, and his friend has a question.

Clark reassures Pete, but the matter is on his mind later when he sneaks out of the tent in the middle of the night to rescue a couple of campers from danger. Luckily, Pete is fast asleep…?

Readers with knowledge of the original Superboy stories will have an idea where that plot strand is going, but I think that’s the subject of next month’s Action Comics. This month’s provides enough talking points.

There’s Superboy’s impressive level-headedness when thrust into a war zone. A guest appearance by the father of Teen Titan Cyborg. The likely new secret origin of the technology which gave a classic Green Lantern villain his gimmick. A tease that Lana’s dad is going to cause big trouble.

I wonder if this is the first comic ever to feature the fathers of both of Clark’s favourite girlfriends. Surprisingly, Lewis Lang looks even more jacked than Lois Lane’s he-man pop.

Speaking of whom, what the heck is he doing sending a kid into a war situation? Especially a super-powered one – if he freaks out he could make things much, much worse, never mind the fact you should not be traumatising a teen. From a reader’s point of view, though, it’s really exciting to see, Superman is so rarely seen on a battlefield, never mind Superboy.

So kudos to writer Mark Waid, for giving us a new perspective on Clark’s early years as a hero, and a sense of just how lonely his life could be.

And how fabulous to have General Lane’s secret signal be the same ‘zeezeezee’ later used for Jimmy Olsen’s watch! Thinking on, Lane should get his Army tailors to upgrade Clark’s makeshift Superboy outfit.

The art matches the script in terms of impressing me. I’ve only come across Patricio Delpeche as a colourist but I see he’s done full art – illustrations and colours – in Catwoman, and that’s what we get here. It takes a few pages before the artist gets comfortable with our hero, but once Superboy hits Modora it’s a case of all guns blazing. The style is a little less naturalistic than that of series regular Skylar Patridge but there’s a power to the action beats, such as Superboy’s initial touchdown on foreign soil. And the emotion is economically sketched on character faces. It’s not perfect – the Lang home looks like the Winchester Mystery House, with the world’s highest staircase, but let’s assume it’s a Smallville thing. I hope Delpeche gets a regular Superman Family gig, or at least does more work here.

Someone not lacking for work at DC is Steve Wands, who letters here as well as he does in several other books each month.

When we saw last time that this month was ‘Our Superboy at war’ I wasn’t too excited, but Waid and co have delivered a terrific comic, a done-in-one that works as a slice of DC history and a hugely formative moment for Superboy. Don’t miss it.