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Action Comics #992 is the aftermath issue of the Oz Effect storyline and the connector between that arc and the next arc which involves Booster Gold. This issue has the story written by Dan Jurgens but the script by Rob Williams with art by Will Conrad. The story itself is nothing special but the art is really great to look at.
So what’s it about?
The official summary reads:
“AFTER EFFECTS”! Crippled by the events of “The Oz Effect,” Superman struggles to regain a sense of hope for humanity. As a strange new threat brews in the background, a faithless Son of both Krypton and Earth must make a choice: stay and fight for his adoptive homeworld, or answer a call from the stars.
The issue revolves around Superman’s reactions to the previous revelation that Mr. Oz was his father, and involves him trying to discover whether it was really Jor-El or not. As mentioned, the issue’s story is written by Dan Jurgens but is scripted by Rob Williams and it feels like it. The story goes beat to beat with not much weight behind each of the plot points and feels like it’s trying to get from point A to point C with some minor reasoning for other things happening while the story meanders through point B. While each character feels like themselves, it feels like they were trying to get as many cameos and references to other Justice League members as possible. Superman’s fit of rage followed by the sudden appearance of Batman felt rather off as some of the dialogue from both of them felt stilted at times, and a reference to The Button only served to give Batman the chance to say he knows what Superman is going through.
Green Lantern’s inclusion felt more natural with the Green Lantern Corps being used so Superman can check out Krypton’s destruction and have a reason to go back in time. One thing that felt extremely out of place was the Daily Planet scene that felt like it was just there to explain why Superman hasn’t been Clark all that much and to give a reason why he won’t be there for the next arc. The high point of the issue however is the final page that reveals Booster Gold, who unfortunately wasn’t there through the whole issue. All together this issue feels like an epilogue of Oz Effect rather than its own issue.
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And the art?
The artwork by Will Conrad was the highlight of the issue. Each page was incredibly nice to look at and the way he has drawn the characters captures the looks of them completely. His backgrounds look great too, with detail being where it was needed and not being where it wasn’t. The only downside is the page that includes Jon makes him look a lot younger due to the perspective. His art of Batman and Green Lantern look incredibly good, especially when Batman lowers his cowl. He draws Superman and Batman as having faces that could pass for one another, which is great, as personally I feel like they should look similar enough that that situation could happen while looking different enough to be able to be told apart.
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