Batman has always been my go-to superhero. I've dabbled in Superman stories here and there, but generally Action Comics and Superman aren't on my regular pull list regardless of who's writing them the way Batman and Detective are (although I think that's gonna change for the first time in like 5 years). Superman stories often seem stuck in the mud, with his altruism and near-invulnerability making it hard for him to be put into new and interesting situations. I didn't read it, but it seems as if that was the case with J. Michael Stracynski's "Grounded" storyline, where Superman decided to spend year walking across the entire United States to... I dunno, more closely identify with regular people or something, because that's apparently something that would make sense to Superman instead of using his amazing powers to fly around saving a bunch of said regular people from getting killed or maimed.
The last Superman book I really read and enjoyed the hell out of was Grant Morrision's 12 issue out-of-continuity toy box, All-Star Superman, that's regarded by many as one of the best Superman books ever. Morrison showed his love for some of Superman's old, wacky, silver age exploits, throwing in everything from Superman having to escape the Bizarro planet with a scrap-metal rocket to Jimmy Olsen briefly getting transformed into Doomsday. Along with all of that, though, the book also had a lot of heart, was clearly one of the best takes on the character put onto paper, and it was a good reminder of why the character still exists after 80 years or so. So, suffice to say, the announcement of Grant Morrison writing a rebooted Action Comics alongside artist Rags Morales--whose art in Identity Crisis was better than Brad Meltzer's story-- was enough to pique my interest, especially after preview images started coming out showing a jeans-clad Supes getting pelting with police bullets. Huh?! Clearly this is was going to be a reboot involving more than just sticking a #1 on the cover.
Indeed, the events of this Action Comics arc take place five years previous to "present day" in the current DCU, and Superman's first appearance is pretty jarring as he shows up at a business meeting on the top floor of a highrise, deplores the "rats with money" in attendance, and dangles a dude off of a ledge. It feels more like Batman than Superman. I'm told that this is actually accurate to early characterizations of Supes. I honestly don't know enough about his history to confirm as much. Some cops show up, but have no idea what to do, as Superman takes Mr. Glenmorgan, the businessman who's the subject of his ire, and jumps down to the ground, leaving him alive and unhurt but scaring the crap of him enough for him to confess to skirting labor labs and giving bribes. Superman tells Glenmorgan, "treat people right or expect a visit from me." He's the goddamn Superman.
Supes flies off and we learn that Lex Luthor is with a bunch of military big shots monitoring Superman's actions. Lex has devised a trap where a building scheduled for demolition but not yet abandoned will be straight-up wrecking balled down with people still inside. Supes helps those inside escape and so here we get a much more traditional image of Superman: He still saves people first and foremost. An armored tank shows up and tries to capture Supes by firing an electrified net at him to no avail, Supes takes the wrecking ball to the tank, the residents that Superman just saved get pissed and do the whole "if you're gonna get to hit you gotta get through us" bit, and Superman flies off and grabs his Clark Kent clothes off a clothesline before entering his apartment. This is roughly halfway through #1, by the way. It moves fast.
In this "five years earlier" period, Morrison and Morales depict Kent as young and shaggy-haired, looking more like Peter Parker than the usual design of the character. Superman calls Jimmy Olsen, who is apparently at this point already Superman's super pal even though Jimmy and Lois are working for the Daily Planet while Superman is working for the rival Daily Star. Jimmy and Lois are tailing "Guns" Grunding, an "enforcer" who worked for Glenmorgan. The train's brakes are sabotaged and it careens down the tracks at full speed, while Grunding pulls a pair of pistols on Jimmy and Lois. Amidst a bunch of commotion, Jimmy manages to subdue Grunding, while Superman gets between the train and the wall it's about to ram into. Everyone on the train is safe as Superman blunts the impact, but he ends up being knocked out, impaled up against the wall. Luthor, monitoring things once again tells General Lane, Lois's father, "I give you Superman." What Morrison does with Luthor is pretty great. He really gets his time in the spotlight in the second issue, but here he has a nice beat when he mentions to Lane that it was his daughter who christened the name Superman, but "the creature" didn't go out of his way to refuse it. Later at the end of #1 he has a great rant to Lane about how is a non-native species that's going to threaten humans the way cave toads upended the ecosystem in Australia. It's always fun when Luthor is filled with this sort of jealously-tinged disdain for Superman. Luthor, while just a wee bit of a bastard, is an undeniable genius and his achievements reflect the absolute pinnacle of human potential. Suddenly, an alien creature shows up and turns Luthor's word on its head. A lot of Luthor's beef with Superman is just that he sees him and the impossible feats he's capable and sees a cheater, like a 'roided up baseball player. I've always loved that idea.
More on Action Comics to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment