Writers: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Artists: Eddy Barrows, Fico Ossio, Eber Ferreira, Joe Prado & Jonas Trindade
Colorists: Matt Herms & Christopher Sotomayor
Cover Artist: Steve Beach
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Superman knows his enemy! After a brief encounter with members of Blue Earth’s new supermen, the Man of Steel now recognizes the true handiwork and identity of Norah Stone, a woman from a parallel Earth who is the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al’ Ghul that he encountered in a previous adventure. And she’s got more than simply taking down Clark and his Super Family in mind. Read Action Comics #1060 to see the true scope of the threat Norah Stone presents to Superman, Metropolis and the Earth.
Review:
Fair warning, there will be SPOILERS in this review.
Okay, I didn’t do a review for Action Comics #1059 mainly because there wasn’t much need for since all I could say was that Superman and his Super Family face off against some of Blue Earth’s new wannabe supermen. Surprise, they win. But we also find out that Norah Stone is actually from a parallel universe where she’s the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Talia and the leader of the Empire of Shadows. And now she’s set her sights on corrupting Otho, and is planning an invasion of this Earth.
For this issue, not much really happens. To put it plainly, this whole issue is just exposition revealing everything you need to really know about Norah Stone’s true identity as Sister Shadow, leader of the Empire of Shadows (a major upgrade for the League of Assassins/Shadows to be sure). This issue is basically for everyone who didn’t read Batman/Superman: The Authority Special #1, which includes me. And Phillip Kennedy Johnson has her explain her history and that of the Empire of Shadows to Otho, who she kidnapped in the last issue to continue trying to lure her to the dark side. Meanwhile, Superman goes to John Constantine to help him find her since Sister Shadow uses magic and Constantine’s basically THE magic expert in DC Comics these days.
However, don’t get your hopes up for a crazy or dark magic-filled journey or anything. It’s really just Superman finds Constantine, they go to Sister Shadow’s Blue Earth HQ and head into her true lair. Once they enter Superman just, rather stupidly, ignores Constantine’s advice and gets sucked into a magic hourglass that was talking to him in Otho’s voice, which transports him to Hell itself. There he’s greeted by Etrigan The Demon and Bloodwynd (who’s supposed to be a big deal, but I’m new to him) who offer to help him rescue Onsul from Sister Shadow. It’s all pretty much, characters go to place A, then to place B, where one thing happens and now the main character is in place C. There’s also a very quick bit of action for one page featuring the Super Family with a little touching scene between Kara Supergirl and Osul. The rest of this story will conclude in the Action Comics Annual 2023 #1 instead of the next issue.
Final Thoughts:
Action Comics #1060 is the penultimate issue of this storyline as it directly sets up the final confrontation between Superman and Norah Stone, or rather Sister Shadow. However, he won’t be facing her and her Empire of Shadows alone as he teams up with Etrigan and Bloodwynd to save his adopted daughter. The thing is, this issue’s main purpose is to explain Sister Shadow’s whole deal and get Superman to where he needs the go for the Annual. The only problem is not much else happens, not with Superman and Constantine, while Sister Shadow’s portions of the comic are mostly exposition with some cool visuals but that’s it. Despite this, I am confident the creative team will deliver a more excitable finale to this story arc.