The first surprise when reading the new "Action Comics" is the image of Superman on the cover wearing blue jeans and work boots. You'll exclaim "that's not Superman!" and then you'll have to file that thought away so you can get on with it and start reading."You know the deal, Metropolis - treat people right or expect a visit from me," our denim-clad Supes exclaims to a group of onlookers after he's just finished holding a corrupt business man above his head on the ledge of a balcony and then plummeting with him down the side of the building before safely dumping him on the ground as the man dumps his confession. This feels more like vigilante Superman, more Batman-ish. His tactics are a little rougher and his criminals more like the everyday white collar assholes running Wall Street right now than otherworldly bad guys in cool suits.
Like Batman, Superman's first appearance in issue #1 is hard for onlookers to interpret, and they try to arrest him when he takes off running. But one thing that hasn't changed is that Lex Luthor is looking for him. And soon after we get this information, we get the next "what the hell?" moment in the reboot when we learn that Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane do not work with Clark Kent, but at a rival newspaper. Say wha...?
Luthor captures Superman after he prevents a train accident from getting worse, and issue #2 begins with Superman strapped in an electric chair. As part of the reboot, this "Doctor Luthor" seems to be just discovering, as he's running electricity through the Man of Steel, that he is not human. Over the course of the next few issues, expert DC author Grant Morrison begins to build the Superman mythology and origin story back up, rebooted but familiar. To add interest, this occurs in a non-linear fashion, beginning with Luthor's people, who find themselves unable to shoot bullet holes through Superman's indestructible cape.
Lois Lane's father, it turns out, is General Sam Lane, who is working on the Superman case and must fend off his daughter's attempts to call in a nepotistic favor for the benefit of her newspaper reporting. While her father tries to fend her off, Superman breaks free and ends up discovering the small vehicle that transported him to Earth as a baby. He begins to have an other-worldly connection to his past and history while gazing upon the small ship, hearing names from his past.
For something different, Morrison and his crew end issues 2 and 3 with interviews with Morrison and artist Rags Morales about many of the details that have gone into both the "Action Comics" reboot as well as the other characters and titles in the Superman universe. Everything from Superman's new attitude to his revised clothing choices is covered in detail, and this is a must-read for fans of the character.
By issue #3, Superman is facing a hostile Metropolis, and I was reminded of how film director Christopher Nolan ended "The Dark Knight" with people being misled to believe that Batman was the villain. Much of this is thanks to the public relations work of Glen Glenmorgan, the aforementioned business man who was once hanging by an ankle from a building at the hands of Superman and is now riling up the public against him. Police search the apartment of a vaguely Harry Potter-ish Clark Kent, but it is his landlady who makes a discovery when she pulls out Clark's Superman uniform after they leave. In addition, this issue gives up the back story as to what gave Superman's parents cause to send him away, and delivers the creation of potential foe Steel when a lab experiment backfires.
John Henry, the man trapped inside the robot soldier's armor, is clearly possessed by some other force as he takes on Superman in issue #4, and an origin story for the character ends the issue. Morrison and Morales appear to be ending each issue with shorts to supplement the ongoing story, and one of the best things about "Action Comics" is that the issues actually feel meaty, almost justifying the $3.99 price tags, which is the elevated-by-a-dollar marquis amount charged for only the flagship titles.
Issue #5 takes a step back and gives us the detailed origin story of how Kal-El came to Earth and was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent. The issue's touching back story short, "Baby Steps," chronicles the Kents' struggle to conceive a child of their own and makes more rich the bond between them and their eventual adopted son. Meanwhile, in the present, as Superman looks upon the ship that brought him here and relives his history, a few other super-humans arrive. Most interesting among them is a Superman from five years in the future.
The plot of "Action Comics" really begins to thicken at issue #6, and to the point where multiple readings might be required to gain understanding. It's so complex, in fact, that I hesitate to recap some of it for fear of getting it wrong, but one moment that sticks out is when one of future-Superman's traveling companions accesses his memory and we see a young Superman tackling bulls under Jonathan Kent's watchful eye. This is a lovely moment of back story establishing the home-spun, fatherly wisdom of Kent, leading up to us witnessing Superman's first moment of flight. The issue-closing "Last Day" shows Clark Kent unloading his adopted parents' farm after they've both passed away.
Issue #7 connects Superman to the memories of his past as the name of his home planet Krypton is spoken and sinks in for him as more than just a vague recollection. He finds out that he's hearing these things from the "Collector of Worlds," who knows "everything there is to know." The Collection reveals the various forms its identity takes on various planets; on Earth, for instance, the Collection is amusingly revealed as the Internet. But the Collection also poses Superman with a terrible challenge; he can save either his home planet or Earth. This is meant as a test to see where his allegiances lie, but Superman is set on not making a choice. Nor will he join the Collection, which already has Steel in its sway.
In issue #8, Superman rescues Steel from the Collection, and Superman appears to be back in Metropolis' good graces. And then, Superman becomes a black man.
Say what?
Yes. Issue #9 introduces us to "Superman of Earth 23," United States President Calvin Ellis. No subtlety was attempted in drawing comparisons to Barack Obama. The issue is interesting and slightly confusing and includes everything from the apparent death of Jimmy Olsen to the hint at a "multiverse" from which this new black Superman originated, reinforced when he calls in the Justice League and all of them are alternate versions of the characters we know as well. The issue wraps on an amusing note as black President Superman places a call to the leader of a country called Quarac to play hardball over their nuclear program and we see that the president is making the call from a bluetooth headset while on duty as Superman. I'd be lying if I said I understood what was going on here, but unlike the confusion aroused in me while reading "The Savage Hawkman," these are curiosities that I'm actually interested in finding answers to.
The story gets more normal when, at the start of issue #10, a man named Maxim Zarov, who goes by "Nimrod," is milking information about Clark Kent from the farmer to whom Clark left his parents' house and land. Nimrod clearly knows Clark's alias and plans to murder him. But before Nimrod can get to Clark, it appears that Clark is blown up by a suicide bomber outside of the Daily Star where he works. That's what Clark's landlady tells Zarov, too...that is until Superman appears to take care of Zarov, which confuses her further, especially when Superman tells her that Clark is, in fact, dead, and that he'll return to explain things to her later. We're left with the impression that Superman has decided that his Clark Kent identity was no longer safe and had to be destroyed, a nice cliffhanger.
Because another month has gone by since I've collected my first 10 issues of "Action Comics," I've already had the chance to buy and read #11, so I'm including a little bonus summary here. The issue begins with the introduction of a new enemy called Metalek and ends with the apparent mental takeover of some key individuals in Metropolis. In between, we witness Superman discuss the death of Clark with Batman, a really interesting and satisfying exchange.
Like I said before, there's something satisfying about how dense "Action Comics" is with plot, mythos and detail. It certainly keeps me interested. At the moment, I see no reason to stop reading the title, other than the fact that Superman has never ranked at the top of my list of favorite characters in the DC Universe. I am also curious to see how this title compares to "Superman," a book I've also collected this past year but have not yet read. Once I do and post a summary and review for that book, I think I'll have a clearer sense as to whether or not I'll continue on with this title, that one, or both. In any case, I am sure that writer Grant Morrison continues to be one of the most significant DC names holding a pen. And given that Superman's back story is perhaps the most famous one of all, it's been really interesting to see how Morrison and his crew give that famous history a fresh coat of paint. In addition, the "death of Clark Kent" is a bold early move to keep us reading. That said, the black, parallel-universe Superman is confusing and unclear.
For now, I'm still reading.
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