The Red Cloud is taking down Superman with her newly gifted powers. Thankfully, Naomi arrives just in time to help him out. Minor spoilers for Action Comics #1016.
With Action Comics focusing heavily on the events occurring in Event Leviathan, its been hard to really glom onto any singular story. It’s been a generally solid series regardless, but there has really been anything to ground this story in Metropolis lately. Thankfully, that looks to be changing with this issue as plot threads that began at the beginning of the series are coming back around.
One of the most interesting things about this issue is the way that it was framed. Much of the story is not from the perspective of Superman or Naomi, but rather it’s being recounted by different citizens of Metropolis. As mentioned, one of the problems with the series, as of late, has been its lack of presenting Superman in his hometown. By grounding most of this issue in second-hand accounts of the fight that we’re seeing, it really re-establishes the presence that he has within the city. It’s something so incredibly small, but it manages to make the issue drastically better.
Then there’s the act of actually presenting a proper story, rather than simply set-up and tie-ins to Event Leviathan. Not that those issues were bad, far from the contrary, but this series hasn’t felt like its own thing for several issues. Now, especially with the way the issue ends, it’s starting to stand on its own again, actually with thanks to the “Year of the Villain” tagline going on. It’s really been the only time where “Year of the Villain” has felt worth it so far in any capacity.
Where this issue feels off though is with Superman and Batman’s treatment of Naomi. They just feel very nonchalant with her. It doesn’t feel right for either of them. There’s lip service given to how she’s untrained and everything, but that lack of training is never really expounded upon. Both of these guys would force her to train before even thinking about letting her back in the field. Sure, they set up a S.T.A.R. Labs base to keep an eye on her, but still, their nonchalant behavior toward this newfound, almost demigoddess is a bit offputting.
Szymon Kudranski yet again kills in the art department though. More noticeable than anything is his use of layouts throughout the issue. He manages to perfectly capture and pace and the dichotomy of the grand fight going on with the smaller stories being told by the people interviewed. His art does as good of a job at building up Metropolis as the writing, if not better. Plus, it really helps that his fight scenes are incredible.
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