Action Comics #987
DC Comics
Written by: Dan Jurgens
Art by: Viktor Bogdanovic, Jonathan Glapion, Jay Leisten, Mike Spicer and Rob Leigh
Possibly, one of the most anticipated Superman stories ever is finally here. Ever since the start of Rebirth, Oz has been such a mysterious figure and for over a year, fans have asked “who is Mr. Oz?” The story that began in DC Universe: Rebirth begins to end in this issue. Without further ado, let’s jump into Action Comics #987 – “The Oz Effect” Part 1.
For a moment, I want to push Oz to the side a bit and talk about the importance of this issue besides his mystery. This issue explores the dark depths of human hearts and how cruel they truly are. It’s smart social commentary that Dan Jurgen’s brilliantly interjects into the story. From racism to poverty and to pure recklessness, it really explores the terrible world Earth can really be. The way dialogue is written for these terrible people is a true manifestation of what thoughts are going through these people’s minds. The biggest take away for me from all these events is that this feels like our real world. It’s sad to see an exaggerated view of how humans act be an accurate representation of what really happens.
Because all of these tragedies happen all at one, like our real world, Superman is strained and struggles to take care of it all at once. If Superman were a real life superhero, this is the exact problem he would face; he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the chaos. I feel as though everyone should be read this issue to get a grasp of what the darkness of our world looks like, how it affects people and maybe makes them think about what we should do to change as a society of Earth.
It’s revealed that Mr. Oz is generating this chaos as a means to give an option for these humans to choose either light or darkness and darkness prevails. His idea is that darkness prevails in our hearts and he feels that humans don’t deserve Superman’s help. I see Oz’s thought process that he thinks Superman is wasting his time as they are absolutely helpless. The cliffhanger at the end of this issue begins to answer so many questions readers have about Mr. Oz. I won’t spoil it– instead I urge everyone to read this issue and get on board as this will be a huge story for Rebirth overall.
Action Comics #987 is an amazing issue that begins the groundwork for revealing many secrets that Rebirth has been keeping to unravel this Oz mystery. On top of being a huge story for Rebirth as a whole, it features deep social commentary that everyone should experience to get an idea about how humans can change as a group.