Action Comics #1029: Fathers, Sons, and Severed Heads

In Part One of The Golden Age (Superman #29)… Clark and Jon Kent teamed up to venture into nearby outer space and confront creatures pouring from a dimensional breach. What they did not realize at the time, and learned only as the issue closed, is that the breach had opened in the past as well, growing stronger with each repeated opening. They also didn’t realize that this all began in STAR Labs under the watchful eye of none other than Amanda Waller. Having grown tired of falling short against her opponents, Waller is changing up the way she operates. This has already been seen playing out in the new Suicide Squad book; here, she continues to show her ruthlessness she has kept the breach active because it seems to weaken Superman through exposure.

Ultimately, this resulted in Clark suffering a minor injury in Part One. Things don’t improve for him in Part Two, as another opening weakens him further, and he sustains more significant damage. This causes some conflict between Jon and Clark, as Jon is understandably worried for his seemingly invincible father’s well-being.

That’s where the real story of The Golden Age Part Two begins to play out. Because while the plot may be about fighting off an invasion, the heart of the story lies in the hearts of Jon and Clark. In short, The Golden Age is an examination of this father and son relationship, and the pain, joy, fear and hope that it pulls from each of them. It’s about the years they’ve lost so quickly and decisively that Clark still hasn’t reconciled that Jon doesn’t play “ball” with pinecones anymore, and Jon’s desire to protect his father from the inevitability of mortality.

It was Grant Morrison who once said that Superman’s story is a normal life writ large – that when he takes his dog for a walk, it’s Krypto and they go for a fly around the sun. He was right then, and I’m guessing author Phillip K. Johnson would understand exactly what Morrison meant because The Golden Age has that kind of feeling behind it.

Like a father who has lost his son to divorce, or boarding school or anything, really, Clark struggles with the firsts he’s missed, the games left unplayed when Jon was still young enough to love playing them. He is watching his son grow up and is torn between pride at how strong and brave he’s become and sorrow that the child Clark knew has disappeared. I don’t think there’s a sentiment more relatable than that for anyone who has a child or has ever been close to one, and while most parents don’t lose 8 years of their child’s life in a few weeks, it can certainly feel like they have.

Meanwhile, like a son returning home from time at college or visiting after a cross-country move, Jon struggles with the metaphorical grey hairs and arthritis creeping into Clark’s bones. For Jon, Clark has always been indestructible, infallible – he’s Superman, but even more than that, every father is Superman in their young children’s eyes. I think any child who had steady parents growing up can understand this, as well – the first time you really internalize that they won’t be there forever. I was tempted to say the difference is that, having been to the future, Jon knows for a “fact” (this being comics) that his father will die… but that isn’t really a difference, is it?

This is a bit of an odd duck for a review, but The Golden Age was basically a sledgehammer right to my heart, and I’m not afraid to admit it. As much as I understand the controversy over the decision to fast forward over Jon’s childhood, this is the kind of story that will soften the blow. After reading his Superman work during Future State, I figured I could expect to cry pretty regularly during Johnson’s run, and I was right.

The artwork by Phil Hester and Eric Gapstur is deceptively simple, dynamic, and expressive. Accompanied by Hi-Fi’s bright, bold colors, the relative minimalism, the clean lines, allows the emotion to take center stage. This being Hester, it probably goes without saying but his layouts are phenomenal as he uses breaches of panel borders and positioning to create movement and impact. Even the simplest panels are beautifully composed which, along with the equally simple-yet-complex colors and linework, managed to trick my eye into perceiving depth on several occasions.

I have to say I’ve enjoyed almost all of Infinite Frontier to date (well, all the issues I’ve had time to read so far), but this issue stood out to me as one of the best so far just for the pure emotional impact.

What’s more, Hester’s style is a perfect lead in to Oeming’s work on the Midnighter backup. Which is my smooth transition into talking about “The Passenger” by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Michael Avon Oeming, Taki Soma and Dave Sharpe. I’ll be honest, when I originally read the solicitation about a future Midnighter being in the present, I was more confused than anything else… but after reading Cloonan and Conrad’s work during Future State it was a no brainer to just trust them and go along for the ride.

I’m glad I did.

As of the end of Superman: Worlds of War, The Midnighter from the Future State timeline had been deposited in the present day, along with the severed robotic head of Andrej Trojan – last seen impersonating Apollo.

Now we pick up with him and the rather talkative head – still sentient despite everything. Midnighter himself, herein called Lucas, has returned to the home he shares with Apollo but is forced to avoid him, as Apollo is unaware of the bizarre time travel situation that has sprung up in his back room.

If Hester, Gapstur and Hi-Fi’s bright, animation-esque style brought the emotion of Superman’s lead story to the forefront, Oeming and Soma’s dark, stylish work sharpens the blade that is Midnighter – his internal voice and his situation – in The Passenger. Midnighter’s body language is tightly wound, ready to strike, and he holds a screwdriver like knife poised to lodge itself in someone’s throat. The colors are as close to noir as you can get without being a black and white period piece.

It’s a little surprising how well these stories went together, but I’m not going to question what works.