Comic Review: SUPERMAN #1
Superman #1 has been given the short straw in establishing the entirety of Superman’s modern day continuity while Action Comics continues its story five years in the past.
Written by George PérezBreakdowns & Cover by George PérezArt by Jesús MerinoPublished by DC ComicsPrice: $2.9932 pagesIn stores now! Superman #1 has been given the short straw in establishing the entirety of Supermans modern day continuity while Action Comics continues its story five years in the past. A lot of parallels can be drawn between this and the first issue of Spider-Mans Brand New Day run. It is clearly doing so many new things that change the entire set up of the book that it does it to varying levels of success. A real sense of out with the old and in with the new is struck throughout and is symbolised quite well with the unveiling of the new Daily Planet and the demolition of the original building (on a side note, when reading the first page which shows the Daily Planet building falling in the same manner as the World Trade Centre and released at a time so close to the tenth anniversary of 9/11 I was quite worried about the direction this book as heading, but thankfully they didnt go that route). The demolition of the original Daily Planet was to help emphasise a recent change to the company and that it has been bought out and now part of a Media Conglomerate in the DCU. From this we get sprinkles of subtle references to News Corp and the current problems it faces, subtle moments such as when Lois Lane requests Jimmy Olsen to patch into CCTV cameras throughout the city to catch better footage of Superman fighting off the books villain: You mean hack into them? Hack is such an ugly word. I prefer interface. Im sorry DC but when you make ties to Lois Lane and the recent News Of The World Phone Hacking Scandal, then have Lois try and justify those actions as the rightthing to do, I become extremely nervous about the correct way to approach these characters and this tender topic. One last negative point on this book and I will try to be brief is the out of place connection to Stormwatch #1. Earlier this month during Stormwatch #1, a small editors box appeared saying SEE SUPERMAN #1 ON SALE SEPT 28TH in relation to a plot development in that book. Well today is the day Superman #1 is out, and what ties the two books together you may ask? An alien blows a horn in the Himalayas and then drops it on the ground. DC can I have a page of story that is actually relevant to this book please? In regards to length Superman #1 feels like a longer book and it is, at 25 pages it is 1/5 bigger than most of the other books on the New 52 list and the Stormwatch connection can be forgiven as it did not dig into the minimum 20 pages of story I was expecting. There is a high level of dialogue throughout fight scenes, primarily in the style of a newspaper report of the incident. This narrative and overall dialogue by long-time comic writer George Pérez helps the book have a more silver age and Fleischer Superman like feel. This classic approach to story telling greatly helps to ground the book in its new setting and keeps things familiar. Superman still feels and acts like the last son of Kyrpton and Clark is still this new and strange loaner who we still know very little about in this new universe. Also I am glad to see a true one-shot issue amongst all of the new #1s with a strong beginning, middle and end. By the final panel, every player is in their new starting points with the world established around them and ready for the true story to begin. Art by Jesús Merino also helps bring a classic feel back to the book and works well with the new Superman costume. I can imagine Merino has had a real mountain to climb with this book, simply due to how busy the story is and how compressed pages can become (up to 13 panels a page!). Merino handles the issue well and even with it feeling somewhat cramped at times, makes the book an enjoyable read. With all of its faults this is an enjoyable read and sets up the characters new status quo fairly well (primarily the dynamic between Clark and Lois in a very effective final scene). It has its problems but if you want to see what is happening in modern day Metropolis its worth a read. It wouldnt be at the top of my stack every week to but I will be continuing to see where this goes for the near future. 
rating: 3.5