Action Comics #1030: Warworld Rising

The Infinite Frontier take on Warworld made its debut in Future State Superman: Worlds of War as the gladiatorial prison planet in which Superman had been trapped for years. Even in that smaller space – two issues that took place in the future with little context connecting it to the present – Warworld struck me as a fascinatingly horrifying place… which made me think a bit about how little we know about Warworld after all these years.

“Warworld Rising” to the rescue!

The issue begins at the foot of Mongul’s throne, surrounded by statues representing former Monguls, each killed by his son, who would then be killed by his own son in kind. This has been going on for centuries, with the most recent onscreen death of a Mongul having happened in the Superman: Villains one shot special.

Which brings us to the present Mongul.

Imagine this:

A red sky burns in the distance, forming a backdrop for red flames and red lightning– all is red save the figure of Mongul himself, seated in his great stone throne. The image is that of a scene from Hell – fitting for a world of violence and slavery.

We are immediately given a strong sense of the people of Warworld through the evocative language, the casual cultural references, and the masterful artwork of Daniel Sampere and color artist Adriano Lucas. The pressure in the air is almost palpable – that and the heat. Something is stirring on Warworld, a change in the air, and it comes on the back of a shadowy visitor bearing gifts for the monarch.

Then you turn the page and you’re back with Clark, bathed in light against the vibrant blue of ocean and sky.  It’s a relief, but it won’t last for long.

What follows is a series of great scenes exploring the recent revelation (from last month’s Superman/Action Comics two-parter, “The Golden Age”) that Superman is in his final days. Clark is taking Jon’s concerns seriously and has enlisted Batman and Atom (Ray Palmer edition) in investigating his physical state. Jon, of course, doesn’t care about Clark’s numbers – he’s worried about losing his father, and hashes it out with Damian Wayne, who seems to be taking a brief break from his solo travels to catch a meal with his friend.

The fear of Clark’s impending death or disappearance is interesting to think about because as readers we know that Clark is extraordinarily long-lived – during Future State he lived well past the fall of Earth – but it’s unclear whether Clark knows that.  After all the lifespan is a result of exposure to yellow sun radiation, isn’t it? So even someone like Kara, who grew up among Kryptonians, would have no way to know that. The metaphor changes slightly depending on how much he knows – is his loss of power about illness? Is it about aging? But, in the end, it doesn’t matter. What it’s really about is the most difficult subject matter of all: the ticking down of the great time clock that measures our days on this world, and how we come to terms with it for ourselves and our loved ones.

Daniel Sampere’s art is just fantastic. For all of Johnson’s skill at portraying these characters and their worlds, it is Sampere’s artwork and Adriano Lucas’ stunning colors that bring both Warworld and Earth to life. The dense architecture behind Mongul, the red lighting right down to the lightning bolts, it’s all evocative and lends to that sense of oppression while the first page with Clark back on Earth is an almost physical relief. During my reread for this review, I stared at that page for quite a while, sucked into the gleam of the sunlight and the sparkling water.  Sampere’s Clark resembles nothing so much as a modernized take on Fleischer’s cartoon version, and it works.

That’s not even getting into the sheer beauty of Kandor as seen through their eyes.

My only complaint? Now that I’ve seen Clark struggle with his mortality and still thinking about others instead of himself I want to give Superman a hug, but he doesn’t exist. So I cannot.

Great stuff, though. We’re in a fantastic Superman era and things just keep getting better.

Now, dropping back in on Midnighter, we join future Midnighter in the present where he’s still semi-dodging his husband, Apollo, and dealing with the chatty chip-in-the-head of Andrej Trojan. In the future, Trojan had shed his human body and “transcended” mortality as a sentient robot, but in the present he’s still flesh and bone… albeit with an enhancement or two.

As it turns out, though, being still physically human doesn’t mean that Trojan is any less monstrous.

Midnighter’s dynamic with the voice in his head is kind of hilarious, and I find Trojan’s voice surprisingly likeable considering he’s a horrific person. Oeming’s design on his human form is great – he’s smiling constantly and the meaning of that smile changes throughout the course of the story, becoming less pleasant and more sinister despite minimal actual change at first.

Taki Soma’s desaturated color palette, done primarily in classic flats and subtle gradients, suits the mood of the story perfectly and allows Oeming’s art to breathe and shine.

I do wish Apollo were more prominent, but that’s basically been the cause of my wistful sighs ever since New 52.  Other than that, it’s a strong backup, and I’d love to see it expanded into a full length title eventually.

In conclusion: Midnighter is great, Superman needs a hug, and I’m all in for next month.