Art by: Rafa Sandoval, Lee Weeks, Marguerite Sauvage
Colors by: Matt Herms, Elizabeth Breitweiser, Marguerite Sauvage
Letters by: Dave Sharpe, Rob Leigh, Becca Carrey
Cover art by: Steve Beach
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: March 28, 2023
Action Comics #1053 delivers three new chapters in the on-going adventures of the Kryptonians. The Super-family fights against a Metallo-family. Young Jon Kent is captured by an android bounty hunter. And Power Girl plans to find out who's behind the psychic attack on her friends.
Is It Good?
Well, two out of three ain't bad. With few exceptions, anthologies are a mixed bag of good shorts and bad shorts. Action Comics #1053 is no different as the shorts showcasing Superman and his family come out of the gate swinging, but the Power Girl short is a disaster.
Unmade, Part Three
Metallo brings his new "family" to destroy Superman's family in retribution for Corben's kidnapped sister. Unfortunately, Corben's body begins mutating into something monstrous, and the voice in his head may not be his sister after all.
As the primary story in this ongoing anthology, Phillip Kennedy Johnson's take on the Man of Steel is still the best, with plenty of Kryptonian versus Metallo action, an uplifting speech from Superman about doing what's right, and a threat that's bigger than anyone suspected. Even Jon gets a character-building moment when he's confronted about his potentially resentful feelings toward the twins.
Action Comics #1053 Video Review
Home Again, Part Three
Superman and Lois desperately search for Jon when Doombreaker shows up, drawn by a compelling force. When the powerful robot assigned to capture Princess Glyanna takes Jon as an accessory to her treason, it's up to the Super Son to escape, preferably without killing everyone in the attempt.
Kudos to DC for putting an ace writer like Dan Jurgens on a Super Son story. For all the serious drama and potential danger, Jurgens nails Jon's boyish, can-do, mildly reckless attitude that made him such a hit in the first place. Overall, I prefer Sandoval's art in the first story, but Lee Weeks turns in a great set of visuals with hard-hitting action and great panel compositions.
Head Like A Whole, Part Three
Karen... err, Kara... err, Peej.... err, Paige enlists Jon Kent for a mind meld as bait to draw out the psychic attacker using other heroes to get to Power Girl. The plan works, and the weird attack that uses a language-not-language leads to the discovery of an old JSA villain with a score to settle.
Oy! What a convoluted mess?!? The last chapter showed promise for introducing the prospect of a villain to liven up the therapy-session-of-the-month model Leah Williams adopted. Now, the path to finding and introducing the villain is filled with equal parts nonsense psycho babble and CW levels of teen angst as Power Girl (now named Paige) laments not getting included in any Kent family activities.
If the goal was to make Power Girl as unlikable as possible, Williams is on the right track.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces:
Action Comics #1053 delivers three stories to whet your Kryptonian whistle. The strongest stories center around Superman and his family as they fight against an assortment of threats. The Power Girl short, however, is a mess.
7.5/10
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