In the epic conclusion, the mystery of Black Zero deepens just as the Man of Steel makes a fateful decision that may stop Doomsday, but also risks the lives of those he loves most.

The battle with Doomsday rages on in Action Comics #962 which devotes about 3/4 of the issue to the fight between Superman and his deadliest foe. But, with all of that punching, writer Dan Jurgens does his usual smart focus by making sure that there’s a lot of character focus too, it’s not all fighting.

Some of that character development involves Superman and Wonder Woman’s situation. There’s also a solid moment between Superman and Lex Luthor. Even Jonathan gets his moments. It all adds to the comic being so much more than it should be. Lets face it, if this was the 90s, there’d be a good chance this would be all punching and nothing else. But, Jurgens has clearly looked back and figured out what worked and what didn’t and has given us this much improved take on something we’ve seen again and again.

Jurgens also gives us mystery! He lets us see the mysterious being watching everything and we get a better sense of the plan, or at least one piece of the puzzle. Out of everthing this has me really entranced as I really want to find out what’s going on and expect it to be a solid reveal.

The art by Stephen Segovia, ink by Art Thibert, and color by Ulises Arreola continues to impress me for the series. It’s a good consistent and solid look for the comic from the start and between this and its sister Superman series, the two comics have a common style that makes them feel like they’re part of the same comic family. It’s really great and the switch between lots of action and quieter more dramatic moments works well. There’s some panels of Superman where the look on his face gives as much as to what he’s thinking as the words he says.

The only bad about the comic is that there’s a bit of an echo with the Eradicator story in Superman’s other comic and the need to protect Lois and Jonathan. They spin out in different ways, but it’s similar in plot.

Overall though, Action Comics continues to live up to its title and continues to also focus on heart which allows the series to sore.

Story: Dan Jurgens Art: Stephen Segovia Ink: Art Thibert Color: Ulises Arreola
Story: 7.8 Art: 7.8 Overall: 7.8 Recommendation: Read

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review