DC Comics
Creators: Dan Jurgens, Will Conrad, Ivan Nunes and Rob Leigh
Cover date: March 2018
Most Superman fans are eagerly awaiting next month's Action Comics No. 1,000, a super-milestone, to be sure. But Dan Jurgens and crew made this preceding issue one not to be ignore.
Why?
Because Jurgens shows once again why Superman is the first and one of the greatest heroes ever: his genuine compassion and concern for others, even the villains he faces.
The most recent storyline in Action Comics involved some time travel, both backward and forward from the present. I won't spoil that story either, but information revealed to Superman during the course of that story made him question the humane-ness of sending villains into the Phantom Zone, a dimension discovered by his father, Jor-El. In the Phantom Zone, individuals exist only as disembodied wraiths who can still see and hear events in the real world but never interact or impact those events.
Superman's own experiences within the Phantom Zone have revealed that there is more to it than that, however. That plane of existence actively acts to overwhelm a person's hope and will. That aspect of the Phantom Zone makes exile there a cruel and unusual punishment, Superman decides, and he moves to find another solution for villains too powerful for earthly imprisonment, one that is less punitive, more humane, for the convicted.
Nice job, Superman. You are truly a shining example for us to follow. And kudos to Jurgens and the team for a fine issue!
