Action Comics #996
DC Comics
Written by: Dan Jurgens
Art by: Will Conrad
Colours by: Ivan Nunes
Letters by: Rob Leigh
The time traveling adventures of Booster Gold and Superman continue as they crash land on a mysterious planet ruled by Zod and his family! Can the two superheroes fix the time sphere and finally return home without altering the timeline? Meanwhile, Lois continues her undercover mission to rescue her father from a firing squad with Jon hiding in tow…
The issue kicks of in Logamba as Lois Lane uses her connections, Hambi and Borhonna, to gain entry into the palace that her father’s imprisoned in. It’s great to see Lois in action and kicking ass while undercover, but this b plot really is dragging. Back to the future and Booster Gold and Superman have traveled to a planet titled ‘New Krypton’ which is ruled by General Zod and his family. The two heroes need to retrieve parts from the Eradicator in order to fix the timesphere’s power conduits to return home, but they soon learn that this Zod has enslaved the people of this World, angering Superman. The Man of Steel lashes out, wanting to free the planet’s inhabitants, but Booster Gold and Skeets warn him about meddling with time, and that he should prevent New Krypton ever getting this bad back in his present time. However the Eradicator isn’t working alone, and the two are ambushed by a figure from Superman’s past – Lor-Zod.
Actions Comics #996 is an ok issue overall, but I feel like this time traveling arc is really being dragged out what with the timesphere continually breaking. It’s pretty interesting that DC are connecting Action Comics with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps when it comes to the looming threat of General Zod and his family. Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner have recently investigated the planet Jekuul, which has been claimed by Zod, his family, and the allied Eradicator, who have enslaved the inhabitants. Superman and Booster Gold have obviously crash-landed on this planet in the future, but if the Green Lanterns can’t take on the Zod family, how will these two fair?! I’m really enjoying this partnership between Superman, who’s being a bit of a douchebag lets face it, and Booster Gold, who seems to be loving the team up! I’m also intrigued by the upcoming war between Krypton and Earth that Skeets let slip in this issue, is Zod somehow connected…?!
The art in this issue is once again on point with some fantastic coloring by Ivan Nunes. The action scenes are also very well done and I particularly enjoyed the couple of panels that featured Lor-Zod, which had a very Flash feel to them. His costume design was pretty impressive and it was great to see him as a grown man. I also enjoyed what we saw of the planet New Krypton – it would be pretty interesting to explore it further!
Action Comics #996 is really stretching the time travel storyline to the limit, but I’m really enjoying the dynamics between team Superman and Booster Gold, their pairing really is a fun read! It’s also pretty interesting to see Lor-Zod again regarding his and Superman’s history, it’ll be intriguing to see how this story plays out between the two of them. Oh, and please tell me more about this war between Krypton and Earth!