Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Artist: Max Raynor
Colorist: Matt Herms
Cover Artists: Rafa Sandoval & Matt Herms
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
It’s the endgame! Superman and his Super Family are dealing with the Blue Earth movement, but now they know their true enemy: Norah Stone, aka Sister Shadow and her Empire of Shadows. With the aid of John Constantine, Etrigan the Demon, and Bloodwynd, Superman has journeyed to Sister Shadow’s world to not only stop their invasion but to rescue his adopted daughter, Otho. Read Action Comics Annual 2023 #1 to see the conclusion of not only this story arc but this entire Action Comics run.
Issue Review:
Okay, the stage is set: Superman has teamed up with Etrigan the Demon and Bloodwynd to take down Sister Shadow and her Empire of Shadows and save his adopted daughter Otho. All right, game on! This review will indubitably have SPOILERS and there will be a section that covers a mini-review on the entirety of Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s run on Action Comics. For now, this section is all about this single issue as the conclusion to this story arc. Let’s get to the review.
The comic starts off well enough with a family in peril from soldiers of the Empire of Shadows in the Earth Al Ghul universe, before they’re halted by super breath and hellfire from Superman and Etrigan with the imposing Bloodwynd. We get some nice little character interaction between Superman and a little civilian girl they saved, the girl’s family tell them where the Empire of Shadows’ forces are gathered and where Sister Shadow, aka Norah Stone, is located. From there, we get some pages of Sister Shadow trying to corrupt little Otho for her own purposes, but she’s far too late as Superman and his allies arrive at their HQ.
The comic starts with Superman’s battle on Earth Al Ghul before it makes its way to Earth Prime, the main universe, and the fight ends up taking place there. Before that, we do get some brief fights between the Super Family and the Blue Earth stooges, but that’s thankfully short-lived as the real fight shows up with Sister Shadows’ forces beginning to invade Metropolis. During the fight on Earth Al Ghul, we get some cool action with Etrigan and Bloodwynd and of course Superman facing off against Sister Shadow. And the cool art doesn’t stop there thanks to Max Raynor on art and Matt Herms on the colors both bringing their A-game to this issue.
Of course, because this is not only the conclusion for this story arc but Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s whole run on Action Comics, everything is undeniably rushed. The resolutions to the Warworld refugees in this A-Town location, the whole Blue Earth movement, Steelworks getting off the ground, and the whole Empire of Shadows’ invasion. However, despite that the comic still manages to stick the landing where it counts with Superman and his family and friends, who at least get payoffs to things that were built up and established in prior story arcs following the Warworld Saga. There’s even a nice wholesome dialogue to close out the isse between the former con turned construction worker who Superman was having lunch with in a previous issue and the worker’s son. And their conversation, paired with solid visuals, made for a great ending to PK Johnson’s run on Action Comics.
Series Run Review:
As stated before, this is the final issue with Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s run on Action Comics, and it’s pretty sad to see him go. His run was without a doubt one of the best refreshers of Superman content in a long time especially after Brian Michael Bendis’ horrendous run on both Superman and Action Comics. PK Johnson just nails Superman as a character when it comes to his voice, personality, values, flaws, and most of all his strength. He knew how to write Superman as the genuine article superhero that he is, have him tested, have him fail, but also have him persevere, inspire others, and triumph over evil.
Of course, I could go on and on about the good stuff, but even this series had problems. Namely, the bloated cast stretching his character writing, his worldbuilding too often veered into exposition, introducing the Blue Earth movement but doing nothing with it, and the last minute addition of Sister Shadow and the Empire of Shadows as the final villains when they’re so one-dimensional and short-lived as a threat. For every five good things, there was always two or three bad things following them in this series. Also, I just wasn’t a fan of the whole idea of Superman forming any iteration of The Authority when he could’ve easily asked some of the best heroes on Earth or beyond to help him liberate Warworld.
I said that there was some rushed resolution with this issue concerning the more pressing conflict, but there are still some unresolved issues and plotlines. For example, the whole Pahelosian storyline he introduced for the Warworld Saga and their current status. Then there’s the stranger (forgot his name) who manipulated both Superman and Mongul during the Warworld Saga, he is still out and about in the cosmos plotting revenge against the United Planets. Then there’s the problem with Osul and Otho’s power relating to the new Old God that PK Johnson made for this run, on top of the other New God elements he introduced that were just left there on the table. Perhaps he’ll continue some of those plotlines and others in his Green Lantern War Journal series. However, the best thing about this series is that the flaws don’t compromise the run and PK Johnson and the artistic talent he worked with managed to deliver some great Superman stories for the decade.
Final Thoughts:
Action Comics Annual 2023 #1 brings not only this story arc but this entire run on Action Comics to a close. Let’s get it out of the way, the art is great, the action is great, the Super family is great, and Superman is great. There are issues such as the rushed resolutions with Sister Shadow and the whole Blue Earth movement, but that’s sadly to be expected when the run ends on an annual instead of in the main series for some reason. Despite the flaws, this issue still sticks the landing for wrapping up this story arc and Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s run on Action Comics in an action-packed and wholesome comic book.