The Lois And Clark Reunion We’ve Been Waiting For In Action Comics #1004
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Clark Kent attempts to report on the possible new rogue in Metropolis, the Red Cloud, to Perry White when Trish, the Daily Planet’s gossip columnist, tries to get a reaction from Clark about Lois Lane being seen with Lex Luthor. We flash back to the night before, when Superman found Lois Lane hiding out in another town, and Lois and Clark have the reunion we’ve for which we’ve been waiting. They have a lot to talk about and to work out.
I am, embarrassingly yet shamelessly, invested in the relationship between Clark Kent and Lois Lane in the current Superman comics, so I’ve honestly been waiting for Brian Michael Bendis to repair the rift opened in his Man of Steel miniseries.
Honestly, I’ve been more interested in this than the Red Cloud and Metropolis mafia story.
What Bendis delivers is something of a “having one’s cake and eating it too” situation. Without spoiling too much (hopefully), he seems to want to have the Lois and Clark relationship without having to write a Lois Lane story in every issue.
Honestly, I can dig it. I dislike most writing truisms, and the “superheroes can’t have a stable relationship” truism perhaps most of all. That’s short-sighted, and a stable relationship can technically mean anything. Bendis finds a clever workaround in this issue.
The Red Cloud story receives little advancement, but the comic justifies that by working out the Lois and Clark situation. We do have a weird instance with Copperhead where I can’t tell if its foreshadowing a major story or is just an instance of Bendisian pseudo-meta humor. It’s probably both.
Also, the Infinity Gauntlet might exist in the DC Universe?
Ryan Sook does some amazing work in this issue, and his artistic prowess allows the subtler moments to stick the landing. He also nails the iconic Clark Kent/Superman look. There’s also a two-page spread of Superman–well, being Superman–that looks absolutely gorgeous. Brad Anderson provides excellently-balanced color work to boot.
Action Comics #1004 is a gift for the fans of the Lois and Clark relationship, and the book shows that Brian Michael Bendis really does get what people like about Superman and Lois Lane. Add to that some phenomenal work from Ryan Sook and Brad Anderson, and you have a book well worth reading. I definitely recommend this one.
Action Comics #1004 comes to us from writer Brian Michael Bendis, artist Ryan Sook, color artist Brad Anderson, letterer Josh Reed, cover artist Steve Rude, and variant cover artist Francis Manapul.
