As Superman and his rebellion make headway, Mongul prepares a counterstroke in Action Comics #1043, by writer Philip Kennedy Johnson, artists Riccardo Federici and Will Conrad, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Dave Sharpe. Johnson and company keep building the story in this one, adding new wrinkles to the whole thing.

Superman and company attack the compound holding Manchester Black and free him. As that’s happening, Mongul and his forces take apart the Necropolis, and Mongul uses Apollo to drive Warworld to attack another planet. Superman and company discuss where to attack next as Mongul holds the UP to rather hefty terms. Later, Byla tells Superman a story about the origin of Warworld. In the backup, Byla tells the children a story about the origin of Mongul and Warworld.

This story represents the third phase of the Warworld Saga, with Kennedy chronicling the battle against Mongul. In many ways, it’s more of the same, with Superman and company making moves against their enemy and Mongul making his own. However, where things gets really interesting is the origin story of Warworld, a tale that stretches back to its creation in the time of the Old Gods.

Any reader worth their salt can see where this section is going. Superman’s current status quo was never meant to last forever. However, the fascinating thing about this little development is that it’s almost certainly not going to go the way anyone expects; instead, Superman will make the Superman choice, and that will be that. It adds a little extra wrinkle to what’s already been a great story. The backup is rather interesting as well, telling how the Warzoons got to be what they are today and where the Monguls started.

Federico splits art duty with Conrad with one this issue. Both of them are top-notch as usual, even though the page turn from Federico’s art to Conrad’s is a bit jarring. Their styles are very different, but both work very well, with Federico giving readers scenes of battle that look amazing and a beautifully creepy scene. Conrad does the two origin stories, first of Warworld and then the backup, and both look amazing, his art style really working overtime to get across what the script needs him to. Loughridge’s colors are amazing, changing styles as artists and scenes change. His colors are the glue that holds the art together.

Action Comics #1043 adds some more to the story, but other than that, it feels very much like the other chapters of this story so far. The art is phenomenal, and all in all, this issue definitely makes things more interesting than they were before.

Grade: A-