WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Action Comics #1005 by Brian Michael Bendis, Ryan Sook, Brad Anderson and Josh Reed, in stores now.
Ever since writer Brian Michael Bendis took the reins of Action Comics with issue #1001 alongside artists such as Patrick Gleason and Ryan Sook, there has been a mystery slowly unfolding: who is the mysterious and murderous Red Cloud?
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The new supervillain first appeared at the close of issue #1001, where it was revealed that it was the new enforcer of Metropolis' secret mob, the so-called Invisible Magia. The Red Cloud has appeared in the series in a crimson, gaseous form ever since, with a secret identity kept under wraps. That is... until today.
In Action Comics #1005, Bendis and Sook finally reveal the alter ego of the Red Cloud and, as it turns out, it's someone a lot closer to Clark Kent than we realized. The supervillain is actually a fairly new addition to the book's cast, fellow Daily Planet reporter, Robinson Goode.
Goode first appeared in this summer's pre-event kickoff issue DC Nation #0, in a short story by Bendis and artist José Luis García-López. She was introduced as the Daily Planet's new city beat reporter, who had just moved from Star City. Almost as soon as she was introduced, it was clear that there was more to the character.
Bendis himself teased that DC Nation #0 would see the debut of a mysterious new villain. In fact, the short story ended with Robinson meeting a man at a club, where she revealed that her intentions were less than honorable. But we believed that she had set her sights on the Daily Planet itself, and perhaps that she was the mysterious buyer behind the newspaper's purchase.
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The truth, however, is far more nefarious. Now, we know that Robinson has dangerous superpowers, and that she can more than hold her own in a fight against Superman. Worse still, she's hiding in plain sight -- just like Clark Kent -- in the Daily Planet bullpen. This symmetry could see their already terse relationship tumble into a full-on explosion soon enough!
Robinson Goode may not yet know Superman's secret identity, but her being so close to both Kent and Big Blue means that it's only a matter of time before she puts two and two together -- and when that happens, all hell will break loose.