Action Comics #1011: What Happens Tomorrow?

My first exposure to Superman, like most, were the films starring Christopher Reeve. Reeve’s portrayal set the standard for Superman. It seemed like everything after was either trying to emulate Reeve’s portrayal or move far from it. I was hooked from the first time I saw the original film and began seeking out any Superman merchandise I could find (including Superman 64). My bedroom was filled with trading cards, mullet-clad action figures, and foam-muscled Halloween costumes. I started reading Superman comics around 1998. I was five, so it was more looking at comics rather than reading. Around 2000 I stopped reading Superman and shifted my attention to Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe, and did not return to any Superman until Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman hit the shelves around 2008. I was in high school and didn’t pay much attention to the series because I felt that it was too “Superman,” which makes no sense in hindsight.

I have now returned to Superman with Brian Michael Bendis’ current run with Action Comics, and I am so delighted. Bendis’ Superman is the one I idolized from the worn out videotapes of the Reeve films, the horrible Nintendo Game, and my first comic books. Bendis hits all of the nostalgia that I love but also grounds Superman in 2019. Bendis’ Superman feels timeless in a contemporary setting. It does not seem strange seeing Clark Kent use a computer and cellphone.

The buildup to Event Leviathan, Leviathan Rising, comes to a close in Action Comics #1011. Things are just getting started, though. To me, the highlight of this issue is the art. The action is incredible, especially Kate Spencer kicking some Swat Team butt. I especially love the way Steve Epting depicts Superman in action, and to me, Epting is drawing the Superman from my childhood, including the amazing cover of Superman up a giant concrete block spelling “LEVIATHAN.” Colors by Brad Anderson bring Epting’s art to the next level. Every color seems perfectly placed.

Kid me would be bored by the amount of dialogue, but Action Comics #1011 is intriguing and beautifully written. I was glued to each page and evenly invested in each plotline, including Jimmy Olsen being knocked out by Amanda Waller in the Fortress of Solitude, followed by her somehow escaping in one of Batman’s secret escape pods, Louis Lane’s espionage-esque investigating, and Superman doing his thing trying to figure out who, or what, is Leviathan. This may have been the conclusion of Leviathan Rising, but what it is building up to is going to be incredible.