Review: Action Comics #1072
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writers:Â Mark Waid and Mariko Tamaki
Art:Â Clayton Henry & Michael Shelfer and Skylar Patridge
Colors:Â Matt Herms and Marissa Louise
Letters:Â Dave Sharpe and Becca Carey
Reviewed by:Â Matthew B. Lloyd
Summary
Mon-El recounts the intervening years in the Phantom Zone since he last saw Superman when he was a boy, including the difficult choices he had to make.
Positives
Mark Waid shows his knowledge and love for Superman lore in Action Comics #1072 as he retells Mon-El’s origin from Superboy #89. Waid references many of the details including the fact Superboy (YES WE SEE SUPERMAN AS SUPERBOY!) thought Mon-El was his brother at first and that his name came from the fact he found him on MONday. He doesn’t go as far to make the “Bob Cobb” reference, but that might be too much. It’s a real joy to a longtime Legion of Super-Heroes fan to see the classic origin of Mon-El retold with so many of the same details. It seems to fully divests the DCU of Bendis’ failed Legion reboot from a few years back and solidifies the original continuity as part of the team we saw wo recently in Justice Society of America #11. Â
Clayton Henry communicates a lot of the interaction between Superman and Mon-El with his faces adding an emotional layer almost purely through visuals. Waid gives Mon-El a little extra gravitas with some of the decisions he had to make in order to help save some of those in the Phantom Zone. There’s more to the mystery with Xa-Du and an even bigger surprise at the end of the issue. Skylar Patridge is the highlight of the Supergirl tale. She continues to give the reader a lot to enjoy even if the script is starting to trudge.
Negatives
Mariko Tamaki continues to play it close to the vest in the Supergirl story in this issue. It may be time for Tamaki to give the reader a little more, the reader knows even less about this mission than Supergirl and it feels like it’s time to let the readers in on what’s going on. It almost feels like the hypno-vision was created solely for this story. It’s not something Supergirl needs and Tamaki seems to be keeping that at the forefront of Kara’s abilities.
Waid doesn’t fill in any of Mon-El’s history with the Legion after he is released from the Phantom Zone. It seems like this would’ve been a natural memory for Superman if it was in Superman’s past even if it’s still in Mon-El’s future. Hopefully, Waid will touch on this by the end of this story arc.
Verdict
Action Comics #1072 is another great outing for Superman. Waid’s love of the character and his history is tantamount to enjoying this story, especially for old readers. Hopefully, new readers will find something to love about Mon-El and the friendship between these two Legionnaires. The Supergirl story is stumbling a bit, but looks great. Overall, Action Comics is still a great read!
