Action Comics #1016 Review

Word On The Street

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis

Art By: Szymon Kudranski, Brad Anderson, Dave Sharpe

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: October 23, 2019

It's time to head back to Metropolis, where we left our hero fighting Red Cloud, who has had her powers enhanced by Lex Luthor's offer.  That might seem like enough for most issues, but we have Naomi's sudden appearance in to contend with too and what she'll do to make her presence in this issue a memorable one.  Let's jump into this issue and see if we get more out of this installment of Action Comics than we did in the previous one.  Let's check it out.

So while we left our previous issue with Superman going toe to toe with a jacked-up Red Cloud, this issue we find out about the fight and how Naomi swooped in to save the day and help our Man of Steel in his fight........ and also that Red Cloud kind of retreated from her attack.  The problem is...... we really don't get to see much of it at all.  Instead of putting the action in Action Comics, we have Trisha Q, the Daily Planet's former gossip columnist, asking people on the street what they saw...... and it's pretty damn boring.

Beyond the many depictions of the fight that people saw, we then head back to Oregon, where we leave Naomi right where she left off at the end of her six-issue mini, learning nothing new about the character.  All we get is the idea that she now knows Batman and Superman and that STAR labs have been contacted to keep an eye on the area and her, even though neither Batman or Superman trust them...... yeah, sounds like the heroes we know and love.  The most exciting part of this whole issue comes at the end when Mr. Strong and Leone discuss Red Cloud's new powers and that Leone wants to go to war.  The only problem, we don't know who they're going to war with since the only thing we've come to understand from the invisible mafia is that they don't say certain words and that they sell drugs to the Mayor.  Good times.

All in all, I still love Szymon Kudranski's artwork and the entire art team's part of the book, but like usual the story is lacking and we've gone another issue without really learning anything, with character depictions that feel completely off.  Hopefully, something will come from this supposed war that Leone wants to start, but since we've come this far without learning anything... about pretty much anything, I won't hold my breath for that.  Each month all I'm really looking for out of this book is any kind of substance, but Bendis continues to deny readers that aspect and sooner or later the cracks have to start showing.

Bits and Pieces:

If you're a fan of Naomi...well, you get her here.  She's not really doing much or giving you any real new information...but she's here.  Beyond that, you might get a cliffhanger that could lead to something, but really, this is just another issue that may look great but offers little else.

5/10