Action Comics #1056: Family Is Where The Kryptonite Heart Is

It’s the finale of the Metallo Rising arc by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Rafa Sandoval. Meanwhile, Dan Jurgens and Lee Weeks continues giving us a tale set in the past featuring Clark and Lois are searching for a kidnapped Jon, whose trapped in a lead box, fighting to alert his dad of his whereabouts, and finally, the Steel family is joined by Mr. Terrific, where the two tech giants have a heart to heart about what John Henry Irons wants to do in this new era of Metropolis, leading into his new mini Steelworks.

PKJ and Sandoval are continuing what looks like it’s going to be one hell of a ride as the team continues to revitalize Clark’s world and march Metropolis and its citizens into this new Dawn of DC era. Not only is the team revamping Metropolis, but also giving us fresh takes on some classic bad guys and introducing some threats, like the xenophobic human rights group Blue World (not to be confused with the Martin Attenborough documentary), which has been slowly spreading their influence through here, as well as the previously launched Steelworks mini (first issue out now at your local LCS & favorite digital retailer). 

Johnson’s putting the work in, revitalizing and rebuilding Clark, and returning to Earth after his lengthy run in space fighting against Mongul, transformed Warworld. He’s using the rest of the Superfamily, but they do not take up space in the story. This is about Clark and how he’s willing to give anyone, even Metallo, a second chance to redeem themselves, which is what he (Metallo) is trying to do. Especially after what Cyborg Superman did to his sister. Could this be a real turning point for John Corben? Only time will tell. Plus, this new threat, the Blue World movement, slowly working its way through the rest of the Superfamily line, has much potential. I like the idea that they’re not a physical threat to Superman, but an ideological one, which we don’t get a lot in the Superman titles. 

Next up is the Jurgens and Weeks story, an untold tale from the past, when Jon was still just a kid, and Clark and Lois were out here trying to save their son from Glyanna, an alien empress that looks like the citizens of her planet don’t care for her. Seeing an alien try to blackmail Superman is an interesting take, but it’s rather boring for the most part. When one thinks of the definitive Superman writer, Jurgens is often one of those names tossed around who was responsible for what can be considered one of the biggest stories in comics history: The Death of Superman, so seeing him still working on Big Blue 30 years later, and still telling some great stories is quite the accomplishment, this story just doesn’t hit the mark. Hopefully, the ending will land and change my mind. 

Finally, it’s the battle between two of DC’s most giant brains! John Henry Irons, aka STEEL, and Michael Holt, aka MR. TERRIFIC! Big things have been going on in Metropolis, and Irons’ Steelworks has been a big part of that, leading to Holt coming to see his friend and ensuring he’s not going down the wrong path. Dorado’s script is fun-light and helps these two highly intelligent men be friends and have mutual respect. The fact that they fight is the least exciting part of the story. Hopefully, his solo mini sells well enough to get a Steelworks ongoing. Black lead ongoing comic series is unfortunately not as big a piece of the market as it should be.