“The Golden Age” reaches its conclusion in this issue that continues directly from Superman #29! Following an almost-deadly attack by an alien foe, the new Superman realizes that any threat could be the one! Neither Superboy nor Superman know what’s behind this latest attack. Two words: the Wall.
Plus, in an all-new backup “Tale of Metropolis,” writers Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad continue the Midnighter story they started in DC Future State. But is the DC Universe ready for Trojan Solutions?
The Golden Age and The Passenger together form a one-two punch of different themes and moods that form an incredibly satisfying whole. If you have children (or parents honestly) consider bringing tissues. Read Full Review
This new run on Superman has a lot of promise. It is able to juggle things like mystery and action, while not becoming so heavy that it holds the title down. Superman is a fun and interesting comic again, thanks to the new team that seems to really grasp the character. Read Full Review
In a short backup story, we follow Midnighter as his story from Infinite Frontier continues and he has to deal with some timey wimey stuff that would bother just about anyone. Read Full Review
I'm loving this new direction of Superman and Kennedy's take looks to restore the focus on the Man of Steel and what makes him such an engaging character. Read Full Review
Phillip Kennedy Johnson is taking a leisurely approach to the start of his Superman run"which is funny to think about, given that he's starting out by pitting Superman and son against an army of interstellar invaders. But the backdrop to the battle against the Breach is a nuanced father-son story about what happens when children realize their parents aren't invincible. Read Full Review
Action Comics #1029 gives the payoff to the last issue, trading parental anxiety for parental triumph. Kennedy does a great job in this comic of playing with the emotions of the scene. This issue also raises some questions about the future and Amanda Wallers role in everything, as well as setting up a great cliffhanger. The back-up story is interesting if a little weird. All in all, this is a satisfying comic that is building something interesting. Read Full Review
The whole issue feels genuinely like Superman and the Action Comics title is back after a rather lackluster run from Brian Michael Bendis. Read Full Review
Action Comics #1029 continues to tell the story about the shifting dynamics between father and son. Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Phil Hester keep the plot simple and brisk, to allow the focus on the lead characters and Jonathan's emotional journey, while still providing a healthy amount of action. Read Full Review
This issue feels a bit rushed, but the quiet conversation between father and son really helps to pull it all together. Read Full Review
The set-up for Superman's new era concludes here. It goes in an unexpected direction, that points to an interesting future, both near and distant for the Man of Steel. Read Full Review
We know Warworld was a big part of Future State. Superman being 'lost' while stuck on Warworld is also a big part of this. Maybe that is why Superman is 'missing' in the history books. He doesn't die. He is kidnapped. So this story is over I suppose. But it sets up Jon becoming Superman. It sets up Amanda Waller as an antagonist. And it shows that Mongul and Warworld are on the horizon. And while I don't mind seeing Jon mature and step up, I wish it wasn't at the expense of Superman himself. Read Full Review
Action Comics #1029 is a mixed bag. The Midnighter story is the highlight with a really interesting premise and twist that should provide some good character work and engaging storytelling. The Superman tale feels a bit flat and haunted by Bendis's additions to the mythos which don't add anything positive to the characters. Fan or not, the Midnigther tale is a good read and may be worth the price of admission alone. Read Full Review
Action Comics #1029 on its own is a serviceable issue, but when considered within the context of the previous issue, it comes off as redundant. The emotional core that Johnson brings to the characters remains, but loses some of its punch here. For concurrent Superman readers, this entry will fall short, but if one were to pick up this issue standalone it would read much better. Read Full Review
If you read Phillip Kennedy Johnson's first official issue of Superman or the first part of this arc running between Superman and Action Comics..... then you pretty much read this one. Yeah, we're progressing our story a bit but it feels like we're trying to tie ourselves into Future State a little too soon to me, not to mention that I hope you read and understood what we got out of Midnighter in Future State because we'll be continuing it here. Overall, I wasn't a fan of either of our stories in this issue of Action and the art wasn't for me either. Read Full Review
Z
Hey, I loved this! I honestly was lukewarm on the idea of a PK Johnson Superman, but so far I'm pretty into this. It's nice to see some ambition and heart in this book after the disappointing Bendis years Treating Superman as being the age at which one's son is 16 is a perfectly good and interesting direction to go with the awkward leftover of aged-up Jon, and it plays to PKJ's strengths. Also, I was actually was pretty into Hester's art here — that cyborg-homunculus thing in the later pages wouldn't be out of place in a Mignola comic.
(Rating is for the main story, though the Midnighter backup was the best of the Infinite Frontier backups that I've read so far, although I'm still not convinced that those are worth the extra do more
Finally after some time, I am back to the Superman Titles, so excited for what's on store!
Taken alone it’s a great story that really resonated with me as a person with aging parents, I found it touching and heartfelt. My one complaint would be that it seems like a retread of the first issue of Johnson’s run on the Superman title.
Honestly just... the amount of talking was so refreshing. You know the sense of relief you feel when you stop being in pain? That’s this comic.
Not too bad, quite slow but liked the writing. Of course, given how this was mainly a prelude to the whole run, I'm keeping my hopes up for the upcoming stuff. As for the Midnighter story, it was a direct continuation of the Future State story, which I've enjoyed.
This wasn't bad, but I'm having trouble being interested?
So far, I'm not blown away by the story that Philip K. Johnson has crafted for Superman. It seems like they really want to push Jon into that role, but the character isn't ready for that yet. The story overall is really slow, and the artwork isn't fantastic. There are some interesting ideas here, but the execution is going to need to improve as the months go on. I'm also not a fan of Superman and Action continually crossing over with each other. Let them each tell their own stories, rather than making both of them required to understand the other. The backup story with Midnighter is interesting, and I'm curious to see where it goes. I didn't love the stylized artwork, but that was mainly due to the dark color palette.
A father son tale, that shows Clark slowly handing his role over to ... Jon ? Eh. At least the jagged pencils looked cool with all the neon colors. And the promise of Mongul ... Why'd he look so decrepit? Where's Mongul's son? Why can I not tell him apart from Darkseid? Cancel culture better not touch this character Alan Moore made famous.
Glad to see Cloonan on Midnighter in Action. This back up story just felt right and actually makes sense to have lasted from Future State because of all the time travel shenanigans. I've always loved Midnighter : dude's like Punisher mixed with Batman and pimp slap's the shit out of all homosexual stereotypes. But again, the tokenism is real, give this dude his own title. I don't know what's going more
Terrible art by Hester really kills a lackluster story.
It was better than the first part in Superman #29, but it calls into question why this story needed to be spread across two issues to begin with. If Phillip K. Johnson's Superman/Action run ends up becoming a classic, this could eventually be looked back on as a nice introductory thesis statement.
The Midnighter backup story is an upgrade from the Tales of Metropolis Bibbo story in Superman, though it assumes a level of interest in new villain Andrej Trojan that hasn't yet been earned.
Another issue proving what's been obvious since DC handed BOTH titles to Bendis: DC hates Superman. He's too old. Think about it. When was the last new Superhero created who's age didn't have 1 as the first digit? DC LOVES teen heroes. If they could they'd kill EVERY hero and replace them with teenagers. If I wanted teen Superheroes at every turn I'd watch Power Rangers, BUT I DON"T!!!!! I want the same Superman that was saving the world 40+ years before I was born. Not his son just because DC's stupid-ass editors think he'll bring in teen readers (Which he won't).
Well, moving on, the issue itself was mostly a recap of the last issue of Superman. Couldn't Johnson have come up with enough material to fill 2 issues? The Legion never was more
The art is great. Pencils and colours are beautiful and fit a Superman story. However Superman is stupid in this one, Jon was in the future, of course he knows what happens next. And the backup feature was horrible. Bland story and atrocius art are not a good combination.
Honestly I would give it a zero, this book has gone from bad to even worse. I didn't think that was even possible yet here we are. The art is laughable. Have a look on page 5, there is this thing called depth perspective. I don't know what is on page 22 but if that is intended to be mongul that's just horrible. I could draw better than this when I was in 3rd grade! Then there is the story that they took 22 pages to make a point that could have been made in 3 pages and is repeated over again from Superman 29. This issue is beyond just calling it in, this issue is not even bothering to put in 0.01% effort. Save your money kids.