By Zack Quaintance — I don’t want to belabor this, so I’ll get right to it — it is time to talk about Action Comics because the current War World Rising story arc whips all kinds of ass. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and now with art by Riccardo Federici (colors by Lee Loughridge and letters by Dave Sharpe), it whips ass and people have noticed, so as a Very Important comic book web site, it is our responsibility to Discuss it (capital D). We simply cannot in good conscience ignore a book achieving this level of ass whippery.

Consider this Tweet from long-time friend of the site, rising star comic book writer David Pepose:

Action Comics was trending. Trending! And not because of a movie tie-in or weird drummed up controversy (the usual things that get comics to trend). No, Action Comics was a rare comic that a whole lot of people were Tweeting about because they liked it. Below after the jump, we lay out why…

Why Does ACTION COMICS War World Rising Storyline Whip so Much Ass?

First, let’s talk about what’s happening in Action Comics for the uninitiated. Clark Kent has assembled a team of young heroes (branded as the Authority) and departed Earth (leaving his son Jon Kent as the resident protector and Superman) to free the oppressed residents of Mongul’s War World, thereby ending a threat to peace in the galaxy. That plan didn’t go well because a recent battle (see Action Comics #1029) diminished his own powers. He’s now essentially a bonded gladiator, trying to both stay alive and free the planet from within. It rules.

Let’s get into specifics…

Reason No. 1: This story is built on a solid foundation. The last run on the Superman titles, which was helmed by Brian Michael Bendis, took several (somewhat controversial) chances that pushed both Action Comics and the Superman main title into new territory. During that run, Jon Kent grew up (even if the plot contrivance to do it was weird), Clark Kent unveiled his identity to the world, and the United Planets was formed, elevating Superman to the role of galactic ambassador, almost formalizing his duty to protect the wider cosmos outside of just Earth. That run drew mixed reactions, but the ideas have lasted.

Kennedy himself also did a great job setting this arc up with his own work on last year’s Future State: Superman Worlds at War and Future State: Superman House of El. Those books used Future State, which gave readers a glimpse at dark futures, to elevate the stakes of what we’re reading now, much like writer James Tynion IV did with his recently-concluded work on Batman. We’ve seen exactly what’s at stake here and how bad it can get, now this arc is teasing us with the edge of that outcome.

Those ideas are all now building blocks the current run stands upon as it relentlessly whips ass. But there’s more. Concurrent with the start of this Acton Comics story, writer Grant Morrison and their collaborators laid down a four issue Superman & The Authority miniseries, which put together the team in this book and started Superman on this path. And that team — which is refreshingly diverse and varied, both in terms of powers and representation (see the image above) — combines a 2022 progressive sensibility with old school heavy metal space epic. Which brings us to our next point…

Reason No. 2: This War World Rising story arc is essentially a deep space heavy metal gladiator epic, and it #*@&-ing rocks. You can find hints of Heavy Metal in here with pulpy sci-fi, all of which plays off the idea that Superman must team with the new generation if they’re ever going to get out of this.

I can ramble on, but the visuals do it better. Just check out artist Riccardo Federici’s cover for Action Comics #1042, due in April…

That’s Superman, dressed like a space gladiator, bringing down two giant hammers on the grotesque skulls of cosmic abominations. What else do you want?

Reason No. 3: Finally, I think part of what super-charged the Action Comics buzz this week was the addition of Federici to a title that was already interesting and well-done. Federici has previously collaborated with this book’s writer, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, on the very underrated DC Comics Black Label fantasy comic, The Last God. Now he’s bringing his detailed-yet-pulpy sensibilities to this book, leveling the whole thing up. Even better, Loughridge is coloring the hell out of these comics.

Just check out the dual two-page spreads illustrated by Federici and Loughridge below:

Anyway, if you want to get in on all this, you can order some of the comics involved with the links below, which also helps to support this site via the Amazon Affiliate program:

• Future State: Superman

• Superman Action Comics: War World Rising, Vol. 1

• Superman and the Authority

Read our Comics Bookcase FULL investigation into WHICH MOON KNIGHT COMICS TO READ FIRST ACTUALLY.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.