Potentials

First Look for January 13, 2018

I suppose when I take a first look at both Star Wars #26 and Action Comics #957 I think of the potentials that are presented in the stories. In Star Wars, Yoda finds a world full of children who very well could be powerful Force uses considering how strong and strange the pull was to get him to this strange planet. While these children are unknown and potentially powerful, in Action Comics we see Lex Luthor trying to impress the citizens of Metropolis that he’s gonna be the new Superman. Oops, there’s already another Superman and another Clark Kent to boot. With 3 potentials vying for the title of Superman I think we’ll see who the real one is as they face off against one of their most dangerous foes.

Star Wars #26

Yoda’s Secret War, Part 1 by Jason Aaron and Salvador Larroca. Published by Marvel Comics! 2016.

In an effort to follow a timeline of Star Wars media I took a look at the Wookieoedia page that covers the entirety of the current cannon. Outside of short stories and novels, this includes comics, movies, and animated tales and I plan on getting up to speed on this chronology. With that in mind, I’m kinda starting in the middle of the current run of the Star Wars comic with issue #26 which actually takes place after the original movie but has a major flashback to events that took place The Phantom Menace.

The beginning of the issue takes place after Luke, Leia, and Han stole a Star Destroyer but in the process, C–3PO is taken prisoner. While he doesn’t have detailed info on where the rebels are, he does drone on and on retelling stories of his adventures to the stormtroopers of the Scar Squadron. Luke wants to mount a rescue mission but they all think better about taking on Vader’s entire fleet just to get a droid back.

All of them except R2-D2 that is. He’s stolen a fighter and is headed out to try to save his buddy all by himself. He’s so determined to go that he convinces Essfour, Luke’s current navigator droid to disable his hyperdrive. That leaves Luke stranded in the middle of nowhere with only Ben Kenobi’s old journal.

This is where the flashback occurs but instead of Kenobi, the journal entries present a story about Yoda. He shows up at a den of pirates looking for a child who can move things with his mind. When the pirates laugh at his diminutive stature, Yoda must show them that size isn’t everything. He quickly takes care of any possible threat the pirates pose and he takes the boy to Qui-Gon Jinn to escort him to Corusant. Meanwhile, he heads off following a disturbance in the Force.

The disturbance was unlike anything he had felt before and it leads him to a planet that wasn’t on any star map. The world seemed lifeless and ominous but there was something to it, just under the surface. A powerful and ancient something that was guarded by…children.

Did Yoda just find a world full of potential Force users? Or are the kids hiding something? Perhaps we’ll find out in the next issue of Yoda’s Secret War.

You can find first looks at other issues in this title linked in my January Reading List.
I rate this issue a B+.

Action Comics #957

Path of Doom, Part One by Dan Jurgens and Patrick Zircher. Published by DC Comics, 2016.

This issue starts where Justice League left off, with Lex Luther claiming to take the place of the deceased Superman. And to prove that, when the issue starts out with a robbery and hostage situation, Lex, wearing Superman’s symbol and cape (along with his armor) easily defuses the situation and delivers the bad guys to the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit.

With this breaking news broadcast all over the television, Clark and his family, who moved upstate to try to hide and live a normal life, see that Luther is trying to usurp Superman’s role. It’s too much for this Clark who’s been hiding in the shadows since arriving from a parallel Earth. He quickly shaves his beard, which I liked BTW, dons his suit and heads to Metropolis to confront Lex. Little Jonathan is pretty excited at these events.

As we see a scene where a green robed mystery being watches everything, including Lois and Jonathan talking at the new house, Captain Sawyer in Metropolis, and Superman flying into the city, I recall the meeting this Clark had with Mr. Oz in DC Universe Rebirth. In that issue, Mr. Oz claimed that this Superman was not what he believes he is. So I think we’re gonna see some movement on what the whole Rebirth thing is about in this series.

Getting back to the story, Superman confronts Lex, who insists that this can’t be Superman since he’s dead. Sups calls out Luther as a muderer and angent of destruction and demands he hand over the symbol and cape. When Lex refuses, the inevitable fight breaks out. As Lex tries to rationalize who or what the new Superman could be another Clark Kent shows up.

So now it sounds like the setup for a joke…Superman, Clark, and Luther walk into a bar…but the story doesn’t seem funny as a hover car carrying something explodes. The only being that survived the explosion is…Doomsday.

As I just read in Superman:Rebirth, Doomsday is the creature that killed this Superman on his parallel Earth. But I suppose things shouldn’t be too bad since we’ve got Superman, Kent, and a super powered Lex to fight him here.

I really enjoyed this issue and can’t wait to get to the next to see what happens. I think Dan Jurgens did a great job tying multiple threads together from quite a few stories that preceded this, and the art by Patrick Zircher was great. I particularly liked the transition from the harsh city of Metropolis during the hostage scene to the quiet peaceful home of the Kents. The switch from the bold lines and colors to the softer drawn country setting was nicely done.

You can find first looks at other issues in this title linked in my January Reading List.

I rate this issue a A-.