Action Comics #966

Written by: Dan Jurgens

Art by: Stephen Segovia

Coloured by: Ulises Arreola

Lettered by: Rob Leigh

In the previous issue, having received a cryptic message from the New-52 Lois Lane who is currently missing, the previous universe's Lois decides to pose as her to infiltrate the Daily Planet. After coming face to face with several people she knew in the previous universe, including Jimmy, Perry White and even Lex Luthor, whom currently owns the Daily Planet, Lois reaches the office of her counterpart and attempts to access her computer. Unfortunately, she is quickly interrupted by the mysterious, powerless Clark Kent who, in a fit of frustration at continually being accused of being Superman, slams her desk, spilling coffee and destroying her computer. Realizing the Lois probably kept her files on her laptop at home, our Lois heads to her apartment, where she encounters the mysterious Red Superwoman and is accused of not being the real Lois Lane.

This issue starts with Superman teaching Jon how to better use his powers, making him focus on a distant object until it comes into focus for him. After sharing a brief moment of father-son bonding, they head home to discover that Lois still has not returned. Superman takes a moment to explain to Jon that this may be happening more as his mother becomes more involved in the outside world, and that it doesn't mean that she cares about him any less. Back with Lois, the mysterious Superwoman once again accuses her of not being Lois Lane, demanding to talk to Clark. Realizing that this is a situation that she can't resolve herself, Lois calls Clark discretely behind her back, still trying to talk down Superwoman. Realizing that something is wrong when Lois isn't responding to him on the phone, Clark rushes off to help her, putting himself between her and Superwoman. With Clark finally there, Superwoman powers down, revealing herself to be Lana Lang having absorbed some of the New-52 Superman's powers when he died. She then reveals that the same thing happened to this universe's Lois Lane, gaining super powers and eventually disintegrating. Finally able to look for the information that she wanted, Lois accesses the laptop of this universe's Lois Lane, revealing a video that she had left in case of her death, revealing that she had suspected that the powers may be killing her and asking our Lois to take her place. Wishing to honour her memory, our Lois agrees to pose as the other Lois, returning to work at the Daily Planet.

The artwork in this issue, while a little odd in facial expressions and odd poses, is generally fairly good, with Lana Lang specifically appearing fairly imposing and powerful as Superwoman. The biggest standout of the issue in my opinion was a page near the end of Clark and Lois simply sitting on the porch together, having discussed Lois' return to the Daily Planet, and simply enjoying each others company. As the panels move on, Clark and Lois slowly move together, eventually ending on a kiss. It's a simple page, but between it and the caption boxes does a lot to show their relationship and how it is built on mutual trust and understanding.

Ultimately, I quite liked this issue, and in my opinion this has been a pretty big step up from the relatively disappointing previous few issues. While this issue has very little action, the small tension that it does have between Lois and Superwoman does a good job of breaking up the character moments of Clark and Jon, and eventually Clark and Lois, allowing both the time they need to breathe and flow naturally. The scenes of Clark teaching Jon how to use his powers and what it means to be a hero continue to be heartwarming, and Lois is finally truly coming into her own, albeit with the occasional and completely understandable need for help from time to time. Hopefully the series can keep the quality up and, although so far it's been a bit of a mixed bag, with great issues mixed in among disappointing ones. Luckily, this was definitely a highlight.