Mild Mannered Reviews – Action Comics #1010

Action Comics #1010

Scheduled to arrive in stores: April 24, 2019

Cover date: June 2019

“Leviathan Rises” – Part 4

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller: Steve Epting
Inker: Steve Epting
Cover: Steve Epting
Variant Covers: Francis Manapul

Reviewed by: Mario Bennese

DEO Director Bones is being held in a secret location where he is interrogated be a woman named Kate Spencer. Spencer is trying to learn who was behind the attack on the DEO. She leaves Bones in what is revealed to have been a van as her face changes to (I think) Talia Al Ghul. Elsewhere, Lois and Clark in their disguises arrive in London to investigate Leviathan and Spyral. Amanda Waller and Jimmy Olsen remain at the Fortress of Solitude.

Lois and Clark meet up with their contact, a man named Tiger who happens to be an agent of Spyral. Suddenly, a massive suit of armor appears in the streets. Unconcerned with Tiger knowing his secret, he changes into Superman and flies off to handle the situation. The battle is brief as the Man of Steel grabs the figure and punches it into space where it explodes, sending a wave of blue energy to Earth. Superman returns to Tiger’s location where he discovers Lois and Tiger are missing.

Story – 3: I’ll put this simply: I don’t think this story is bad, but it’s definitely a slow burn. There are some cool things going on, but the rate at which things are revealed makes this a bit of a slog to get through. If we were still on a twice-monthly schedule, the pacing would probably feel a lot smoother. There may have been a financial reason to switch back to a monthly release schedule, but the change has impacted not only this book, but a large number of other DC books. It doesn’t help that Bendis has a tendency to write sprawling epics that likely read better in collected editions.

Speaking more to the latest issue of Action Comics, I felt that the issue was just okay. It feels like connective tissue. Not inherently a bad thing, but it’s a little trickier critiquing them. However, I will say that this issue raises some questions that I would like to know the answers to. Why did Superman leave Waller and Olsen in the Fortress? What’s Talia’s endgame? Despite being disguised, why was Clark so okay with changing to Superman in front of Tiger? Hopefully, these questions will be answered. Unfortunately, it will be a while and I might forget about them by the time they’re addressed.

Art – 3: Alfred, Director Bones, and The Question were the best looking characters in a Superman book. I’m still trying to process that.

Cover Art – 4: I quite like this cover. It feels mysterious and reminds me of some Golden Age Action Comics covers. There’s good use of shadow and light here, and the life-like nature of the art style adds texture to the piece.

Variant Cover Art – 4: Images of Superman flying come a dime a dozen, but Manapul always makes it look fresh. The shadowing on Clark’s cheekbones is a little much, but the colors and mood are so bright and vibrant that it’s easy to overlook.

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