Action Comics #1067: Challengers

A flashback to Clark Kent’s early journalism career is the focus of Action Comics #1067 written by Gail Simone with art by Eddy Barrows and colors by Rex Lokus. Clark Kent’s first big project as a journalist is interrupted when an alien begins attacking a group of locals.  The alien challenges Superman to a duel, with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen acting as his teammates.  Will the trio be able to save the world from an alien invasion?

Unfortunately, this issue feels more like a filler arc than anything. The writing feels distant, with a basic alien plot that fails to offer the introspection or metaphor seen in recent previous issues of Action Comics. The greatest failure is that the issue is confusing. The attacking aliens having conflicting stories and challenging names just makes the threat feel less menacing. Simone’s focus on distant narration over dialogue makes this story feel too detached. It’s a basic alien-focused plot, which we just had a whole event about, but the main villain isn’t as interesting or effective as Brainiac. The only interesting part was the brief moment when Superman contemplated choosing Batman and Wonder Woman as his allies in his alien fight but that was quickly whisked away. I found myself more interested in Clark’s story than the alien invasion.

The art in this issue was also less than stellar. Something about this art style is just not working for me. I think the main issue is the art is too creepy and gritty for a Superman comic. I don’t think I’ve seen Lois Lane look creepier and dead behind the eyes than in this comic. Questionable facial expressions are mixed with dark shading to make this issue feel too ominous for the man of steel. I will admit the action toward the end of the issue improved my view on the art, as the fight scenes were dynamic and colorful. However, overall, the artwork in this issue did little to help the boring storyline.