Review:
2011 brought the New 52 reboot of Superman. What a daunting challenge, to give a fresh start to an iconic and culturally embedded character, that brings newness and excitement while remaining faithful to the more than 70 years of accumulated lore, legend and familiar characters!
DC Comics made the right call in putting the flagship Action Comics title into the hands of Grant Morrison, an established writer with a track record of critically acclaimed reboots, stretching as far back as Animal Man in the late 1980s.
So much is packed into the first 8 issues, collected here. A powerful yet not quite so omnipotent Superman, in T-shirt, mini-cape, jeans and sensible shoes. The secret identity of Clark Kent, reporter. Lois Lane. Jimmy Olsen. Lex Luthor. Brainiac. Legion of Super-Heroes. Crumbling Krypton and a rocket ship to Kansas and the Kents. Morrison touches them all, briefly, laying down markers of what is consistent and what has changed in this new Superman universe.
Unchanged, of course, is his strong sense of morality, right and wrong, justice. And the general outlines of his mythology are also in place. But the relationships, limits on powers (for example he more leaps tall buildings than flies, and he needs to grab an oxygen mask when heading into space), and the nuances of his history have been brilliantly and skillfully reset. I could have coffee with this guy - either as Clark or Superman - without feeling awkward. Such is the naturalness and humanity Morrison gives this character.
Rags Morales does some brilliantly evocative close-up work, packing emotions and hope into faces with subtle skill. And his renderings of our hero have great energy and excitement, with more subtle touches to watch for, rewarding a slow read. Sometimes too subtle, perhaps, as information an image meant to convey can get missed, and you find yourself flipping back to fill in the gap.
This is a superb start to the rebooted DC series.
Description:
DC Comics took a bold step and renumbered the longest-running monthly comic, Action Comics, to #1 for the first time since 1938 as part of the DC Comics The New 52 event.
With this renumbering comes a new creative team featuring comics legend Grant Morrison and fan-favorite artist Rag Morales. While Morrison is no stranger to writing the Superman character, having won three Eisner Award's for his work on All-Star Superman, Action Comics will be something new for both old and new readers and present humanity's first encounters with Superman, before he became one of the World's Greatest Superheroes. Set a few years in the past, it's a bold new take on a classic hero.
Collects: issues 1-8 of the monthly series
Authors: Grant Morrison
Artists: Rags Morales, Andy Kubert
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: May 7 2013
Parental Rating:
ISBN: 978-1401235475
Pages: 256 pages
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