Action Comics #1068: Why We Write

Action Comics #1068 written by Gail Simone with art by Eddy Barrows and colors by Rex Lokus continues a lost tale from early in Superman’s career. An invading alien empire has chosen Superman as a champion to face a series of challenges. With Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen as his (accidentally) chosen team, he must triumph over these challenges to save Earth. Superman was able to complete the first challenge in the last issue and saves the city of Metropolis from being destroyed by a falling alien ship. But now he must use his brains to save two worlds, with fifteen million lives at stake.

I wish I had better things to say about this arc. I’ll start with what I feel works well since that’s a shorter list. I think this issue does try to pay homage to DC comics in the 80s or 90s. Between the narration and harsh ink links, this issue does feel like it fits as an early story in Superman’s career. I also think Simone does a great job with Lois’ characterization, although her losing her professionalism to swoon over the Man of Steel feels out of place. The stakes of this issue felt appropriate, with the weight of two worlds on Superman’s shoulder. However, we spend little to no time with his thought process or feelings in this issue. The greatest failing of this arc is that it’s simultaneously boring and confusing. The motivations of the attacking aliens are unclear. Are they attacking? Why is Superman their champion? It’s confusing but also not entertaining. Suddenly in this issue, aliens are betting on Superman’s challenges, and frankly, the whole aliens making bets worked so much better in the X-Men. Some panels feel like a waste of space (no pun intended), which is heartbreaking considering the whiplash pace of this issue. The conflict for the second challenge is summed up in two pages, and the art is so bad that it’s hard to understand what happened. The team is nailing the feeling of 90s Superman comics because this arc is a slog to get through.

The art in this issue is another thing I take umbrage with. Everything in this issue feels muddy, with shadows that are far too dark for a Superman comic. I can understand that the team is trying to go for a more retro feel but it comes off as sloppy and displeasing. The issue literally has to spell out some of the action that Superman is doing because you can’t distinguish it from the art. To quote the comic itself: “I wish he weren’t so ugly”. The action in this issue is confusing as a result of the poor art. Poor art with poor writing just makes this issue so perplexing.