I should have tempered my expectations for this, it’s been on my Must Buy list and it’s gotten all these great reviews. Hopefully that’s why I feel alittle let down.

This is by no means a bad book, it’s a Scott Snyder book. What I mean by that is that most of his stories tend to start with a slow burn and escalate when setup starts paying off. It’s a good way to go, I think that makes him a good story-teller. However when one of my friends who doesn’t read American comics bought one of Snyder’s books he just described it as “ok”. I felt the same way about “Batman #1”, but it got better after that. We’ve got alot of issues to go before this is over so I’m willing to give Snyder some time here.

The story is kinda familiar, Superman does a major heroic act, Clark Kent reports it, and all the classic characters are here (Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Lex). Snyder writes all of them well, and I enjoyed his Lex Luthor; unconcerned with his surroundings while he plans some great scientific achievement. When Superman shows, he’s still bored and goes back to work. Just what I’d expect from Lex, he’s done this dance again and again, theres no need to flip out or make threats. Even though I’m not reading the other Superman books I get the feeling all the characters are established and recognizable, this world feels “lived in”. Another reviewer remarked how well Lois is written and I agree, she’s not abrasive or crass or pushy; she’s strong and self-assured and doesn’t make excuses for that.

I feel a little tired of Jim Lee, his art is good no question. It’s gorgeous but I kind of wanted a fresh artist for this, someone who’s Superman I haven’t seen over and over. That said the art is great and dynamic, although that “poster” we’ve been hearing about is pretty much a extra large foldout page. Not much to ooggle at. The rest of the visual story-telling is solid and well done, if Snyder’s words were omitted I think the images would tell it anyway.

Overall I felt a little bored by this, just like the first issue of “The Wake”. Like I said, Snyder likes to build up his stories and Im aware of that. If I had to guess, I think this series will follow a similar way to “Batman: Court of the Owls” if that tells you anything. It tells me I’ll probably start loving this series very soon. I liked Andy Diggle’s first issue of “Action Comics” alot more but I have a feeling this will soar miles above it in a few months.