Action Comics #1084 completes the three-issue stint on the series by writer John Ridley — who is also currently scripting Justice League: The Atom Project — and artist Inaki Miranda as part of the Superman Superstars initiative, which marches towards DC Comics‘ Summer of Superman celebration. Clark Kent grapples with ideas of morality surrounding super-beings, as to how difficult it is for some people to stay good in an oppressive system. Comic books often explore themes of reformation in villains turned heroes, at least for a moment, but the truth that Superman uncovers in Action Comics #1084 proves to be more complicated than traditional concepts of good and evil. Superman must face whether he and the public can truly handle the truth, or if justice will better prevail if certain secrets are kept from the light of day.
Previously, Superman learned that Intergang boss Bruno Manheim spearheaded an enterprise committed to extending years of people’s lives by injecting them with an aspect of DNA called telomeres, but its criminal nature is exposed as coming at the expense of harvesting DNA from participating superhumans such as Major Disaster and the Atomic Skull. The extraction process leads to extreme after-effects of depression and despair, robbing the subjects of their hope and desire to better themselves. Clark Kent began his investigation of the story in the wake of a death that occurred as a casualty when Major Disaster recently conducted a bank robbery. His research eventually led him to speak to several of Disaster’s previous associates, like Scorch, who brought Superman into a pocket dimension and confrontation with Manheim.
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Superman Fights An Interdimensional Team Known As The Forevers
The Man of Steel Encounters a Group of Elaborate New Characters
Superman is confronted by a team known as the Forevers, which consists of the Ducorette, Anaka, XS328 and Larry. Superman only wants to bring Manheim back to Earth to face justice, but the Futures are Manheim’s clients, and buy telomeres from him to extend their lives. They want to exist forever so they can assert their greatness as far as possible. Simply said in their words, they can afford the procedure because they deserve it, and deserve it because they can afford it. Superman explains to them how the telomeres extraction robs the donors of their hope, but the Ducorette especially doesn’t care, and believes that Superman is merely wasting his own limited time by fighting a revolving door of crime. Superman won’t allow them to continue to partake in Manheim’s venture, so a massive fight quickly ensues.
Larry charges forward as a large brute-type of brawler, visually on a level like Doomsday, the monster famous for The Death of Superman. However, Superman thoroughly punches back at Larry before the Ducorette blasts Superman with purple energy akin to the Atomic Skull’s skill set, because in fact, the telomeres procedure not only extends life, but also shares the powers of the donor. The Forevers throw fists at Superman while Scorch and Bruno Manheim watch the battle from the sidelines. Scorch considers jumping in to assist Superman, but Manheim cautions her that since she’s already betrayed Superman today, he wouldn’t care about her.
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Manheim urges Scorch to escape with him while they can, but she tells him to go to hell, quite literally, as she conjures a portal to the dark dimension. One by one, Superman pummels the members of the Forevers into the portal as well, though Ducorette vows to return someday, since he has all the time in the world. These short-lived villains possess a lot of potential, and in the nature of comics, everything comes back around eventually, so it would not be surprising to see John Ridley or another writer pick back up with the Forevers down the line to reveal their backstories and rematch against Superman. Since the Forevers are immortal and now bound in a hellish prison, they will surely be hardened and vindictive. Perhaps they wouldn’t even emerge until the 31st century in the era of the Legion of Superheroes.
Truth Is Often Stranger Than Fiction
Maybe This Time, the Truth Can’t Set You Free
Superman demands that Scorch tell him the truth if she wants any leniency for her betrayal, so rather than take her word for it, she teleports herself and Superman to visit a young girl named Penny Booker, the daughter of Paul Booker, aka Major Disaster. For almost all of her life, her father was never there for her; not during his years as a super-villain, nor after his conversion into a hero and joining the Justice League at the suggestion of Superman. Major Disaster prioritized being available for the Justice League over spending any time, care or attention on his own family. Penny in particular was always cast aside, even when she developed super-powers of her own.
However, Paul Booker eventually did make strides to change for the better, and started sending money to Penny as a way to make up for his failings. She was suspicious, so she followed her father for two days to figure out what he was doing to earn money. She watched him approach a building with his therapist Max Boykin and Scorch to donate the telomeres. When she confronts them on the street, Max yells at Penny that her dad is good-for-nothing except selling his DNA, and in her anger, Penny loses control of her powers and brings the building falling down on Max, and explicitly kills him. Major Disaster tells Scorch to immediately teleport away with Penny before Superman arrives, as he did with a vengeance in Action Comics #1082, and Disaster takes the blame for the damage that Penny actually created.
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Superman presses Penny about whether she wanted to actually kill Max. She isn’t entirely sure, though leans towards it being an accident. Scorch vouches for Penny that she didn’t kill Max on purpose. However, Penny is certain that her father is now serving her time and, for the first time in his life, he may feel like he actually has a positive purpose. Later that day, Clark speaks with Lois about the revelations, and how it seems like a choice between truth or justice, rather than “and” per his usual mantra. Penny was sent to spend time with the Teen Titans to learn how to use her powers for constructive purposes as penance for her actions, while Booker remains in prison for the murder of Max Boykin. If the truth came out, it would destroy both Paul and Penny, so at least this way, they both truly have a chance at real redemption.
If Superman hadn’t gotten to the bottom of the story, none of the truth would have come to light at all, because only he cared enough to investigate further, which in itself is an indictment on the systems in place that ignore nuance in favor of more binary lines of thought. Good and evil fall on a spectrum, one where even Superman is fallible on occasion. No one can be a pure good guy every single day, but rarely is that expected of anyone. It is more important to put in the effort and try your best, and in the case of Penny and Paul Booker, that is exactly the lesson that both Clark Kent and Superman personally learned and imparted to others from the experience.
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Superman Superstars concludes in Action Comics #1086 after a two-part story by writer G. Willow Wilson (Poison Ivy) and artist Gavin Guidry (Superman ’78: The Metal Curtain) before the all-new creative team of writer Mark Waid and artist Skylar Patridge takes over Action Comics for #1087 in a brand-new direction that takes Clark Kent back in time to his days as Superboy and youthful adventures in Smallville. Superman Unlimited is another new series by writer Dan Slott and artist Rafael Albuquerque that is heralded as a great starting point for both readers who are fans of the character or have never read a Superman comic, but are excited about the upcoming Superman feature film directed by James Gunn. Needless to say, 2025 is most certainly shaping up to be the Summer of Superman.
