Action Comics #1022
Scheduled to arrive in stores: June 2, 2020
Cover date: August 2020
“The House of Kent” – Part One
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Klaus Janson
Cover: John Romita Jr.
Variant Cover: Lucio Parillo
Reviewed by: James Lantz
Superman and the greatest minds in the DC Universe are doing everything they can to help Conner Kent learn of his origins. Meanwhile, a grown Jon Kent and Brainiac 5 arrive from the 31st Century. The Superboys, Superman and Brainiac 5 visit Jonathan and Martha Kent, only to discover a new mystery. Clark’s parents remember Conner after a few minutes with him. Yet, Superman has no memory of Young Justice’s Superboy. This is just one of the many enigmas that the entire Kent family will have their hands full trying to resolve.
It’s been revealed that Marisol Leone, publisher and owner of the Daily Planet, is head of the Invisible Mafia. This leaves the newspaper’s staff wondering about the fate of their jobs and future. In an effort to save the Daily Planet, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen are trying to get a story on the truth about Leone and her criminal organization. However, Red Cloud is about to attack them before they can uncover anything.
Story – 5: Okay, Bendis is clearly looking at and planning a grand arc spanning his DC comic books, much like he did on his Avengers books. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, I like that. Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium was a confusing mess, but if it’s a small plot thread of a grander event throughout Legion, Young Justice and the main Superman titles, I could let that slide.
On to this issue, I feel like we’ve been given a jump-on point for new readers with this first chapter of “The House of Kent”. It’s reader friendly, giving us a taste of what’s going on in other books and other issues of this one while introducing elements of things to come. Bendis has written an entertaining story influenced by his predecessors while taking a new look at a classic character. Action Comics is one of the best comics for this and many other reasons. Buy it if you don’t already.
Art – 4: The art has improved since the previous issue. The only problem I really had with it was Romita needs to work on the size of his S-shields. Superman’s especially looks too small.
Cover Art – 4: The cover suffers from the same problem as the interior art in spite of being well done.
Variant Cover Art – 5: This is another beautiful cover from this amazing artist.
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