Warning: Potential SPOILERS for Action Comics #1055DC just revealed that Superman's latest big threat is someone very familiar to the Man of Steel and his fans: Cyborg Superman. This iconic 1990s Superman villain returns to destroy Superman and his allies once for all in this May's Action Comics.
Superman is entering a brand new era in 2023, but that doesn't mean that DC's Superman line of books has completely forgotten the character's long history. The solicitation for May's Action Comics #1055 reveals that everything Superman and the Super Family have worked for is under major threat from none other than Cyborg Superman, otherwise known as Hank Henshaw. Superman will have to team up with his one-foe Metallo to defeat Henshaw once and for all. The full solicitation, including the main cover featuring Cyborg Superman, follows:
ACTION COMICS #1055
- Written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON, DAN JURGENS, and DORADO QUICK
- Art by RAFA SANDOVAL, LEE WEEKS, and YASMIN FLORES MONTANEZ
- Cover by SEBASTIAN FIUMARA
- Variant covers by RAFA SANDOVAL and DAVID TALASKI
- 1:25 variant cover by AL BARRIONUEVO
- 1:50 foil variant cover by SEBASTIAN FIUMARA
- AAPI Heritage Month variant cover by BERNARD CHANG
- $4.99 US | 48 pages | Variant $5.99 US (card stock)
- ON SALE 5/23/23
- Superman’s true enemy has been revealed: the Cyborg Superman, Hank Henshaw! Everything the Super-Family has built stands on a knife’s edge, and Superman and Metallo become the unlikeliest of allies as they hunt for Metallo’s missing sister. Can they prevent the inevitable devolution of Metallo’s mind and body long enough to save his sister from Henshaw’s monstrous plans?
The Superman Books Have Been Embracing the '90s - And For the Better
Cyborg Superman, of course, was a key player in the '90s-era Superman books, especially during the iconic Death and Return of Superman saga. Hank Henshaw was once a respected astronaut who had to take on a cyborg body after a deadly accident in space. He decided to pose as Superman after Clark Kent was seemingly killed by Doomsday, but Henshaw never had good intentions, and that evil streak means he's still a real threat in 2023. Even as Superman (and the Superman line of books) enters a new era as part of the "Dawn of DC" storytelling initiative, the creators behind these revitalizations haven't forgotten Superman's history, and they're embracing the '90s-era Superman traditions in particular.
That's apparently especially true in Action Comics, which not only currently features a massive Superman Family-wide team up—including fellow '90s characters Steel and Superboy Kon-El—but now will feature Cyborg Superman in a major villain role. This Action Comics story continues to honor a majorly influential Superman era, and that honoring says everything about the current Superman era: it moves the character forward by embracing and updating traditions.
Hank Henshaw is an essential part of that tradition; Superman writers like Phillip Kennedy Johnson keep referencing the so-called "Triangle Era" from the '90s in interviews. This era was seen as a heyday for Superman comics, and one can't harken back to that time without also including Cyborg Superman. Readers can look forward to learning about his nefarious plans against Superman in the upcoming Action Comics #1055.
Action Comics #1055 will be available on May 23 from DC Comics!