Action Comics #1034
Superman gets embroiled in the hostilities between the US and Atlantis as Mongul’s forces come a-calling in Action Comics #1034, by writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson, artist Christian Duce, colorist Adriano Lucas, and letterer Dave Sharpe. In the backup, by writers Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad, artist Michael Avon Oeming, colorist Taki Soma, and letterer Dave Sharpe, Midnighter and Mister Miracle take the fight to Trojan. Both are fun continuations of their stories, balancing action and plot well.
Lois and Thao-La fight off Mongul’s forces at the Fortress until they get the upper hand. They kill La’s friends, but that just makes Thao flip up and unleash her powers on them, killing them. Seeing what could happen next, she turns her sights on Lois. Meanwhile, Superman keeps trying to talk to the US Navy and the Atlanteans to no avail. He, Jon, and Supergirl stop them from firing on each other before Superman separates them using freeze breath. He goes down to Atlantis to take the Warworld fragment, which Aquaman warns him not to do. After retrieving it and coming back to the surface, Jon tells them he can’t hear anything from the Fortress. They race there to find Lois in Thao-La’s clutches. In the backup, Mister Miracle and Midnighter get the Mother Box back but stay together to get whatever Trojan and company built with it. However, things start to get drastic until a ray of sunshine shows up.
Seeing Lois and Thao-La fight the Warworlders is great because it’s easy for people to forget that Lois can get it done on her own. That’s only part of it, though, as Johnson really uses the whole thing as a lesson for Thao-La. She’s gained a lot of power on Earth, and yet she’s still afraid of Mongul and his forces because they can take from her the few things that matter- her family. It’s hard to blame her for deciding to keep going forward with the plan- Mongul has shown her that he can hurt her regardless.
Later in the issue, Johnson presents that fans aren’t exactly used to Superman being ignored. No matter what he says, the US and the Atlanteans seem to want to fight- none of his usual plaudits matter. His next couple moves are ones he never would have made otherwise, especially taking the fragment. This is the really interesting part of the whole thing. Aquaman may not be in charge of Atlantis anymore, but they’re still his people. That Superman is willing to steal from them over Aquaman’s objections is an action he wouldn’t have taken unless he was pushed past his limits. It’ll be interesting to see where it all goes. Cloonan and Conrad keep things going well in the backup, keeping Midnighter and Miracle together and giving readers a tight little action blockbuster that leads into a comic to finish the whole thing up.
Duce takes over for Sampere in this one, and his art is pretty great throughout. Duce especially does a great job of really getting across just how angry Superman is getting during the stand-off. All of the book’s action scenes are great, and Duce does a marvelous job throughout this issue. Oeming is still killing it with this one. He even throws in some Kirby flare as Mister Miracle busts heads, which is a cool surprise.
Action Comics #1034 does some great stuff. The main story is action-packed and builds the plot up even more. Johnson has shown that he’s great at this sort of thing, dropping great stories in every issue. Duce steps up with the fill-in issue, keeping the art at the high level it had previously been, and the backup team is firing on all cylinders. Action Comics #1034 delivers a lot of bang for its buck.
