DC Comics and Action Comics #1050 Spoilers and Review follows.
BIG Change For Dawn Of DC Prime Earth O! Plus Teasing Who and What’s Next For New Superman Ongoing Series!
What To Expect:
In addition the main cover and solicitation above the title has a few variant covers below.
Action Comics #1050 Spoilers and Review.
This milestone issue also sets up what’s next in Action Comics beginning in January 2023 (full spoilers here) as well as the Adventure of Superman: Jon Kent beginning in March 2023 (full spoilers here).
Lex Luthor has captured Manchester Black who, for a time, was spying on Superman for him, but eventually bought into the Man of Steel’s ways along with the rest of the Authority super-team he was a part of.
Manchester Black is a powerful telepath and telekinetic with Lex Luthor exploiting his ability to create detailed illusions on a vast scale, but amplified by Lexcorp tech to take to a global scale.
Lex Luthor’s plan, and what illusion he is broadcasting to the world, is not yet revealed as we visit various parts of the world to see the Manchester Black wave in action.
That includes Smallville, where Superman’s parents live, whose farm is under a dome recently built by the Justice League.
That appears to have made whomever was there immune from Manchester Black’s amplified powers.
Later, Perry White, Clark Kent and his wife Lois Lane’s boss at the Daily Planet news organization, visits the farm; like the world before he knew that Superman was Clark Kent as this was outed during a recent run on this title.
However, he collapses when he sees Superman and his son at the farm and realizes they are Clark and Jon Kent.
It appears he had a stroke in response to the Clark Kent is Superman revelation teasing the Manchester Black illusion Lex Luthor had amplified across the globe.
Lex Luthor then summons Superman with his own signal watch, like Jimmy Olsen’s old one, but with a signal that can harm Superman to get his attention.
This is part where Lex Luthor explains what his plan was / is.
He grudgingly has accepted due to the recent Warworld arc and the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths event that the world needs Superman.
However, he will be the world’s Superman?!
Which means the world cannot know that Clark Kent is Superman.
A fight naturally ensues as Lex Luthor threatens Superman’s son.
We also learn, in this post Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths reality, that Lex Luthor and Clark Kent were boyhood friends.
He seems hurt that Clark never confided his secret identity to him when they were childhood friends.
Yet, Superman “gave” his secret identity to the world for nothing.
During the battle, Superman learns that the illusion Lex Luthor created and amplified using Manchester Black killed him.
Superman plans to avenge Manchester Black.
A now really powerful Superman, post 2022 Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, similar to his pre 1985/86’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, self.
Superman vows to send Lex Luthor to jail over the murder of Manchester Black.
The book then starts to end with Batman, and even Nightwing, explaining to Superman how we believed Lex Luthor’s plan to wipe Superman’s secret identity from the world had worked.
Those in the Smallville bubble were spared as were members of the Justice League, including reservists, and Titans (Teen Titans, New Teen Titans, New Titans, Titans and likely Young Justice) with their psychic defense skills set up by the Martian Manhunter, and Lex Luthor who made sure he knew that Clark Kent was Superman.
The book ends with Lex Luthor actually in prison with more promised from him in the upcoming Superman series.
Next Up:
2023 is also the year of the Dawn of DC (spoilers here).
The Pulse:
A big issue, literally and figurately, that sets up a renaissance for the Superman corner of DC Comics. There was a creative need to have Superman’s identity be a secret identity again to most of the world and I’m glad that is where the story ended. However, how we got there was convoluted, but served the editorial purpose and fulfilled the creative need. Decent art throughout and I remain intrigued for what’s next. 7 out of 10.
