Review: ‘Action Comics’ #1021 Fights One Last War
by Tony Thornley
As the repercussions of the last year of DC Universe stories shake Superman’s world, Action Comics gives the Legion of Doom one last hurrah before Dark Nights: Death Metal. What does this mean for the world of Metropolis to follow?
Brian Michael Bendis, John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson, Brad Anderson and Dave Sharpe bring Metropolis’s war to its end in Action Comics #1021.
Luthor has brought Metropolis and its protectors to its knees. However, he didn’t plan for his plan to fall apart. Can the betrayal of his ace in the hole and the arrival of a wild card turn things for the Man of Steel?
Bendis turns things around quite a bit for the story, wrapping it up in a satisfying way that sets several plot threads up for the near future. He quickly forms a bond between Superman and Superboy, playing to his strengths in character work. He also makes Leviathan a fascinating threat by giving him shades of grey that we haven’t seen in his appearances to date.
Romita and Janson gives this final battle a fantastic sense of scale. In the fight scenes, they use extra wide panels to drive the action and set the pace of the read. When they use splash pages, they use wide angles in the point of view, making the threat of Leviathan’s floating city loom large over the heroes at any given time. It’s the team’s strongest work on the title so far, and has me excited to see what else they can do in the near future.
Superman is on a new path, and Metropolis needs to rebuild in the wake of the Legion of Doom. The title has an exciting future ahead, and I’m thrilled to see where it goes from here.
Action Comics #1021 is available now from DC Comics.