Coming soon to Action Comics…
Mark Waid and co. have been doing a marvelous job reimagining Clark Kent’s years as Superboy for a little more than a year now in Action Comics, taking a concept that always stretched credibility — even in a world where people fly and shoot lasers from their eyes — and making it plausible and accessible, while maintaining the Boy of Steel’s inherent charm.
Waid is taking on Superman’s greatest adversary next, beginning in October’s Action #1103, with Lex Luthor: Year One, which given the pedigree, promises to be just as compelling.
But what really caught my eye was this dazzling Ryan Sook variant cover for November’s Action Comics #1104, which simultaneously pays tribute to Luthor’s Bronze Age jumpsuit — still a fan-favorite — and Jerry Ordway’s majestic cover for 1986’s Adventures of Superman #424 (which in turn riffed on Fred Ray’s classic Superman #14 cover from 1941).
Dig this:
And here’s the newly released solicitation info, followed by the other covers unveiled so far:
ACTION COMICS #1104
Written by MARK WAID
Art by PATRICIO DELPECHE
Cover by CHRIS BRUNNER
Variant covers by RYAN SOOK and MANNY VINCENT CARBONILLA
Foil variant cover by MIKE DEL MUNDO
Watchmen 40th Anniversary variant by MAHMUD ASRAR
“Lex Luthor: Year One” continues! Young Clark Kent gains a new best friend as Lex Luthor moves back to Smallville—but will Clark’s influence be enough to turn Lex to the straight and narrow?
$4.99 US | 32 Pages | Variant $5.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 11/11/26
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Main cover by Chris Brunner
Variant by Manny Vincent Carbonilla
Variant by Mike del Mundo
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MORE
— WONDER WOMAN Gets First-Ever Classic TREASURY EDITION — and It’s by GEORGE PEREZ. Click here.
— SUPERMAN #199: The 1967 SUPERMAN-FLASH Race Facsimile Edition Is Speeding Your Way. Click here.
August 22, 2026
Ryan Sook’s cover is beautiful, but shouldn’t it be a hawk on the cover instead of an eagle? Because it’s Lex Luthor? (I was going to suggest a vulture but figured that would be too on the nose even for Lex. Lol)
August 22, 2026
That’s why it works. Lex thinks he’s the hero, even as his city burns.
August 22, 2026
Nothing against Ryan Sook, but why couldn’t DC have asked Jerry to illustrate the cover?
August 22, 2026
It may very well have been Ryan Sook’s pitch to do it.
August 22, 2026
I agree with Rich Seetoo, why not Jerry Ordway?
August 22, 2026
Because homages are nice too?
August 23, 2026
The Jerry Ordway cover was an homage to Fred Ray’s Superman 14, so I say it is fair game. Plus, the cover just looks so fun and 70s. I’m in. I have a T-shirt with the Fred Ray artwork.
August 23, 2026
I love both the Fred Ray and the Jerry Ordway versions, so I don’t mind so much that Ryan Sook is doing his homage to both. And I have to admit, Luthor’s green and purple outfit from the ‘70s looks great too.
August 23, 2026
What you just said.
August 23, 2026
The del Mundo cover makes me think there should be a word balloon that says, “What, me worry?”