Art by: Max Raynor, Norm Rapmund, Yasmín Flores Montañez
Colors by: Matt Herms, Elizabeth Breitweiser, Brad Anderson
Letters by: Dave Sharpe, Rob Leigh
Cover art by: Steve Beach
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: April 25, 2023
Action Comics #1054 finds the Super-family facing off against an out-of-control Metallo, a young Jon Kent finds rescuing an alien princess may have been a fatal mistake, and Steel is reminded why he fights the good fight.
Is It Good?
Action Comics #1054 is the best issue since DC moved the title to an anthology series. Why? Read all the way through to the end to find out.
Power Like This!
Jon Kent races to help (stop?) Otho when she confronts the Blue Earthers, possibly killing them. He soon finds the Blue Eart protest was a setup to lure the Super-Family into a Metallo-family trap, leading Superman to rescue the twins with new powers and a new sense of purpose. The chapter ends with Metallo's defeat leading to the resurrection of another Super-villain.
Phillip Kennedy Johnson is firing on all cylinders in this chapter. You get a strong blend of heart in the emotional interaction between Jon and Clark, Superman rises to be the shining example he needs to be in the final confrontation with Metallo, and Superman shows off a nifty new power from his time on Warworld. You get a lot of Super-bang for your buck with this chapter, and this short is (almost) good enough to warrant the cover price.
Home Again, Pt. 4
After sabotaging the Killamek's ship in the last issue, young Jon Kent and Glyanna crash land on a tropical island. While the two wait for rescue, Glyanna explains the conditions on her dying planet and why she came looking for Superman in the first place. However, there are two sides to every story. Meanwhile, Doombreaker finds the missing bone shard Jon was hiding and resumes his full power to give Superman a dangerous fight.
If you had to match them up and rate which story is better - Jurgens's or Johnson's - Johnson would win by not by a lot. Getting young Jon Kent back is a treat for Super Sons fans, but you could tell something was fishy about Glyanna's story from a mile away. Also, the return of a fully-powered Doombreaker is a credible threat to Superman, but Doombreaker's presence feels like a separate and disconnected story from Jon's adventure. Jurgens is telling each plot well, but he's not tying them together in a way that's cohesive.
Engineer of Tomorrow, Pt. 1
Taking place before the events of Action Comics 1051, Steel is locked in a pitched battle against a cyborg arms dealer called Amalgam. When Steel gets knocked out with the mother of all suplexes, readers are given a short retelling of how John Henry Irons became Steel. When Steel regains consciousness and his fire to stop the bad guy, Steel takes out Amalgam and rushes off to begin his Steelworks press conference.
This is my first exposure to Dorado Quick's writing, and it's not bad. The dialog in the opening scene is a bit stiff, and Steel's victory comes with the help of his flying hammer seemingly appearing out of nowhere, but the setup is solid. Of the three shorts in this anthology is the weakest, but it's a close third.
You might also wonder, "Where's the Powergirl chapter?" It's gone. I guess DC decided the third spot in this anthology needed a shakeup with a better writer and artist (and I agree).
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces:
Action Comics #1054 is the best entry in the series since the title moved to an anthology format. There's a clear first-second-third pecking order in the shorts, but they're close enough to each other in story quality and art style to make the end result worth the cover price.
8.5/10
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