Action Comics #1036
Scheduled to arrive in stores: November 9, 2021
Cover date: January 2022
Reviewed by: James Lantz
“Warworld Saga” – Part 1
Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Penciller: Daniel Sampere
Inker: Daniel Sampere
Cover: Daniel Sampere
Variant Covers: Julian Totino Tedesco
Superman has faced the Mongul-Who-Was on many occasions. He has been suffering from radiation poisoning since “The Golden Age” story arc. The magic of Enchantress and the mental abilities of Manchester Black have been making everyone, including Warworld slaves whom Kal-El is trying to free, believe that the Man of Steel is at full power. However, the Mongul-Who-Is sees through the ruse. Now, Superman and the Authority will have their work cut out for them if they are to liberate Warworld.
Story – 5: I must admit I’ve never read any of The Authority’s comics. I’m coming into their story completely unaware of their previous adventures. That’s okay though as they don’t seem necessary for the recent books I’ve reviewed. All the “Superman and The Authority” related books seem to be coming together beginning with this issue. I wondered how Superman could look so old in “Superman and The Authority” and “Future State: Superman: Worlds of War”. I figured a lot of time had passed between recent issues of this series and those aforementioned books. I’m glad to see I was wrong. Phillip Kennedy Johnson threw that and all my other theories for his comics out the window with an exciting first chapter to the second arc of what will hopefully continue to be one of the most surprising Superman sagas in recent years.
Art – 5: Sampere is only beginning to give fans an intergalactic epic to rival the greatest science fiction franchises. He has a way of drawing Mongul and other aliens in this series that could give visual effects make-up greats like Stan Winston and Michael Westmore lessons in creature creation.
“Tales of Metropolis: The Guardian” – Part Two
Writer: Sean Lewis
Penciller: Sami Basri
Inker: Sami Basri
Julius, a kid whom The Guardian is interrogating at the Metropolis Police Department, turns out to be Dismember. The Guardian fights him in a Dark Web version of Metropolis. An EMP device is attached to his shield, giving him an advantage over the cloud demon. Dismember fails to use psychology to defeat his foe, for Jim Harper’s inner strength allows him to realize that Julius is merely a troll using the entrapped teens desires against them. The EMP frees the kids, but it leaves Dismember imprisoned in his world. Now. Julius’ victims can get a new lease on life while The Guardian looks forward to his next case in Metropolis.
Story – 4: I expected this to be a longer serial. Yet, it’s still a good one. I hope this is the beginning of a Guardian back-up or lead-in to his own series. Either way, I want to see him reunite with the Newsboy Legion. Anyhow, the psychological aspects are slightly glossed over and not discussed enough. They really could have given Dismember’s defeat a greater impact on the overall story. Perhaps one extra chapter could have made it better. I still liked this. There just needed to be some minor improvements here and there.
Art – 5: There seems to be a great Tom Grummett influence on this story’s art. It also adds a modern spin on characters I’ve loved since seeing the Post-Crisis era of DC Comics. This is clearly an effort to reel in established readers and new ones alike. Yet, it works perfectly even with the simplified Dark Web Metropolis. Making it too complex could turn off readers.
Cover Art – 4: The image looks slightly overinked in places, especially on Superman. It still allows the reader to go into this issue anticipating its contents, and the art is decent enough. It just feels like too much darkness was used for a cover that really doesn’t need it.
Variant Cover Art – 5: Julian Totino Tedesco has a style on his Superman covers that puts a 21st Century twist on the Golden Age with this touching tribute to D-Day. He is a highly underrated artist in my humble opinion. Hopefully, his talent will get more notice with variants like this one.
Check out the Mild Mannered Reviews contents page.
