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Action Comics Vol 1 1071

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"Phantoms, Part Two": Years ago, a being calling himself "Aethyr the Merciful" discovers the Phantom Zone and is horrified by the prisoners' existence as intangible ghosts. He swears to free every one of them from their hellish existence.

It was once a realm utterly devoid of science. That's clearly no longer the case.
— Superman (Clark Kent)

Action Comics #1071 is an issue of the series Action Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 2024. It was published on October 23, 2024.

Synopsis for "Phantoms, Part Two"

Years ago, a being calling himself "Aethyr the Merciful" discovers the Phantom Zone and is horrified by the prisoners' existence as intangible ghosts. He swears to free every one of them from their hellish existence.

In the present day, Superman materialises in the Zone in front of group of armed men who fire at him with stun-rifles. He still has his powers due to wearing portable solar battery bracelets that allow him to maintain them for a time in the sunless Zone. He ties the men up and asks who sent them, since they were clearly trying to take him alive. They are initially defiant but he calmly tells them they have failed, and asks if they want to face their master with him or without him. They start to lead him to where they meet their boss, and along the way they are attacked by strange alien beasts not native to Krypton. Superman wonders what happened to the Zone, and remembers how he once needed to send his friend Mon-El into the Zone to preserve his life when he was fatally poisoned. Suddenly the group are ambushed by a giant spider.

Meanwhile on Earth Superboy and Kong Kenan are playing a charity exhibition baseball game against each other, using their super-speed to play every position at once. Suddenly they hear the Fortress of Solitude's intruder alarm and fly over. They open the door and are shocked by what they see inside.

In the Phantom Zone, Superman tries to fight the spider but it shrugs off all his attacks; and when he uses x-ray vision to try to determine what it is made of, sees that its genetic structure is completely alien. He stops trying to beat it into submission and throws it as far away as he can, but two more attack the Zoners. Superman tries to stop them as well, but one of the creatures spits venom in his eyes and blinds him. He creates a sonic boom and uses his super-hearing to echolocate the creatures. He fights them while the others escape, but the spiders overpower him and web him up. His eyesight returns just in time for him to see the Phantom King's ship the Val-Kon sail into view. The Phantom King orders the ship to fire and a torpedo strikes the ground next to Superman and the spiders, knocking them down. While Superman is weakened and disoriented, the Zoners take him on board the ship. The Phantom King removes the bandages on his face, and to Superman's shock reveals that he is Mon-El.

Appearing in "Phantoms, Part Two"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

  • Battery Bracelets
  • Stun-Rifles

Vehicles:

  • Val-Kon

Concepts:


Synopsis for Supergirl: "Judgement"

Supergirl travels to the Satellite High Court of Thanagar, a space station in deep space occupied only by a single robotic judge, bailiff and an inmate known as "Prisoner 8912". Supergirl assumes she is there to deliver Prisoner 8912 to trial but the judge tells her the prisoner has already been tried and sentenced and her job is to take them to their final prison. She asks what Prisoner 8912's crime was but the judge replies that is irrelevant to her mission. Supergirl then asks where she is going and the judge tells her that they are coming with her and will guide her on the way.

Suddenly an alert sounds and, as the station has no security, Supergirl says they need to run for her ship. They leave the courtroom but find a spiderlike alien in the corridor, who says they will not leave until they kill Prisoner 8912. The alien charges at them and Supergirl fights them, but the alien is fast and Supergirl's powers are unreliable so far from a yellow sun. The alien manages to get past her and grabs the judge. They dart past her and disappear.

Appearing in Supergirl: "Judgement"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Bailiff robot (First appearance; unnamed)
  • The Judge (First appearance; unnamed)

Antagonists:

  • Spider aliens (First appearance; unnamed)
  • Prisoner 8912 (Behind the scenes)

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:


Vehicles:

  • Supergirl's Ship (Mentioned only)

Concepts:

  • United Planets Blockade

Notes

  • This issue was originally scheduled to be published on October 16, 2024, but was delayed by one week. As a result, this issue was published simultaneously with the next issue because Action Comics was on a temporary weekly schedule.
  • Aethyr's appearance from this story is very different from his original form, which first appeared in Wonder Woman #778, that was inspired by his Pre-Crisis counterpart.
  • This issue is the first appearance of Lar Gand in the post-Flashpoint continuity, and the first mention of his childhood friendship with Superman. It appears he was retroactively added to the history of Earth 0 following the "unknotting" of the timeline at the end of Dark Nights: Death Metal.

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