In 30 years of reading comics, I have never really connected with Superman. There was just something about him that didn’t grab a hold of me. I loved John Byrne’s Man of Steel mini-series in the 80s, but once it came to Byrne’s monthly Superman title, I lost interest after a few issues. Most of my exposure to Superman after that comes from his appearances in other books, mostly Justice League. When I heard that Grant Morrison and Rags Morales were going to be the creative team on the relaunched Action Comics and they were going to be completely reinventing the character from the ground up, I was intrigued enough to add Action Comics to my pull list.
I am certainly glad I did! When Morrison said he was going back to the very basics with the character, he wasn’t kidding. This is Superman at the very earliest stage of his career. Superman is vastly less powerful than we are used to in this point in time. He is very similar to he was when he first appeared in the original Action Comics #1: He can’t fly, instead he jumps really high. He is strong, but not so strong he can do whatever he wants at will. He has limits. He feels pain. He doesn’t even have a real costume. He seems to be wearing a cape attached to a t-shirt, with jeans and construction boots. He looks like what he is: a kid from the mid-west trying to do what he thinks is right.
With Superman’s inexperience and still developing powers, he is a much more relatable character. He is still learning about being a hero while the readers are learning right along with him. We don’t know where he came from or why he does what he does. We have a lot of unanswered questions, and the interesting part is, we also don’t know how much Superman himself knows.
You can’t have Superman without Lex Luthor, and this interpretation of him is just as interesting as the re-imagining of Superman. Lex is an energy drink chugging genius who doesn’t seem to care about harming innocents to achieve his goals. His rationale on why Superman needs to be stopped is also a fascinating concept that I’m surprised as never been used before. i really hope that particular element is explored more fully, as it is one of my favorite parts of the new Superman relaunch.
Lois Lane also makes an appearance here, with jimmy Olsen in tow. The interesting change in the relationships here is that while Superman, in his guise of clark kent, is still a reporter, he works for a rival publication than Lois. They aren’t just trying to compete to impress the same editor anymore. they work for different publications and the competition should be even more fierce this go around.
Seeing Clark as a struggling writer barely able to make the rent is also refreshing. Being a writer is hard work and not one many people make a living at. Seeing Clark struggling to make ends meet is a nice touch. Seeing him bruised after an altercation with some criminals was an even better one.
As excited as i was for Grant Morrison’s take on the character, i was almost as excited for the art of Rags Morales. I thought his clean, throwback style would be a perfect fit for this book, and for the most part, i was not disappointed. for the majority of the book, I thought his character designs, shot composition and story telling were spot on.I only had small issues with the art towards the end, where his layouts made it slightly confusing exactly what was happening in certain scenes. But for the most part, I thought his art was great and I still think he is the perfect choice for this book.
A fresh take on the oldest superhero, strong character and plot, and great artwork, all wrapped up with a killer cliffhanger make Action Comics a success any way you look at it. I am loving Superman as a champion of the people and this take on him has me into the character for the first time in decades. This was a book I can recommend to anyone who is looking for a great read.