Action Comics #962 (2016)
Action Comics #962 (October, 2016)
“Path of Doom, Conclusion”
Writer – Dan Jurgens
Penciller – Stephen Segovia
Inker – Art Thibert
Letterer – Rob Leigh
Colorist – Ulises Arreola
Associate Editor – Paul Kaminski
Editor – Mike Cotton
Group Editor – Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.99
Super busy day/weekend of writing papers… let’s discuss a recent Super book.
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Picking up where we left off Lois, Jon, and Wonder Woman watch the Superman/Doomsday battle from the Justice League Satellite. They watch while Doomsday makes short work of Mr. Oz’s geek brigade… They’re not the only ones watching, however, as we see Mr. Oz himself observing as well.
Superman and Doomsday continue to battle until Superman breaks away and plays a bit of cat and mouse with his monstrous foe. Jon is concerned that his Pop’s running away, but Wonder Woman assures him he’s actually luring Doomsday somewhere. Seems we’re getting that “Hey, is Superman running away?” thing a lot these days, no?
Doomsday catches up, and Superman proceeds to throw him halfway across the world… to a specific location… where a special secret Fortress of Solitude is hidden. Inside the Fortress, Doomsday is blasted with rays… but it’s not enough.
At the satellite, Lois and Jon plead with Diana to return to Earth and help her husband. They assure her that the Smiths will be just fine while she’s away. Too bad Lois doesn’t have her mecha-Batman costume, right?
Wonder Woman begrudgingly goes Earthbound, and joins the fight. She is able to distract Doomsday long enough for Superman to give him a blast of pure “Go to the Phantom Zone” rays. Job well done, they fist-bump (?) and breathe in a sigh of relief.
Back in Metropolis, Super-Lex and Normal-Kent are still playing damage control. Superman arrives on the scene and asks Luthor for a moment of his time to chat. They have a… pretty uncomfortable, but not totally contentious talk… and at least for now, part peacefully.
Superman heads up to the satellite and rejoins his family. They have an emotional reunion, while Jon asks if they can ever visit the Phantom Zone… cuz it sounds like a cool place. Superman’s reply is simply, “Never”. Ha! The story ends with Mr. Oz walking away from his observation deck, and over to… the intercepted Doomsday!
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We wrap up our first post-Rebirth story arc in a more or less satisfactory way.
This is pretty much the standard wrap-up issue and I really enjoyed it. I’ve harped at length my distaste for the formulaic done-in-six story structure DC (and Marvel) has been using for quite some time now, but taking this issue on it’s own as a concluding chapter, it was very good.
The Clark Kent mystery is still interesting… as is the semi-heroic Lex Luthor. Really looking forward to what’s to come… hopefully as the Rebirth hoopla dies down we can just start telling some one-off’s again to flesh out the cast… outside of the Kent-White-Smith family.
Not a whole lot more to say that I already haven’t. I always enjoy reading a Dan Jurgens story, and Steven Segovia’s art is… as usual, top notch. Regardless of how much I dug this, I am honestly quite glad our opening story is now behind us.
While I’m running short on things to say might as well share a theory I’ve got… and it could be/probably is completely off base… figure I may as well share it anyway. This story arc started with Doomsday’s arrival… and he was in his pre-breakout duds from the Death of Superman/Superman: The Man of Steel #18 era. Over in the Titans book, it’s been mentioned that Wally and Linda shouldn’t meet each other for a few years… I gotta wonder if somehow the universe has been shifted in time to… I dunno, around the time that Watchmen came out? Like, we’ve got the contemporary heroes… just during the post-Crisis era… but like, not 1986… it’s still “today”. No? Ehh, who knows?
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