Review: Action Comics #1

Now we're talking: After a fairly lackluster debut with Justice League #1, DC has followed up in week two of it's line-wide reboot with an exciting and thoroughly entertaining fresh start for Superman.

Written by Grant Morrison with art by Rags Morales, the Superman in this Action is in many ways similar to the Superman in the original Action #1: a super-powered guy with a passion for social justice.

The early Superman fought for "truth and justice." The "American way" part of the motto didn't get added until the red scare 1950s. Like that early Superman, this new one is shown exposing political corruption and disrupting the work of greedy businessmen while defending the poor. Dressed in baggy jeans, a S-logoed blue t-shirt and a red cape, he comes on like Woody Guthrie with heat vision.

This Superman is a tad younger than the one we're familiar with, and is just starting out in the superhero game. He hasn't yet met Jimmie Olsen or Lois Lane (let alone married her, as in the most recent, pre-reboot Superman comics). However, those characters and his arch enemy Lex Luthor are introduced in this first outing.

We also meet the new version of Clark Kent, who's still bespectacled and meek-looking, but he's no mild-mannered reporter. It turns out he's a crusading journalist, working the same beat as he does while in costume, by writing newspaper articles that expose corruption and injustice.

Rags Morales' art is strong. His visual storytelling is fluid and clear. His Superman has a strong Neal Adams influence but there's a cartoony caricature to some of the supporting characters that's a nice departure from the generic "hyper realistic" art we too often see in superhero comics these days.

Unlike the first Justice League, this story moves along at a fast clip and does a great job laying down a lot of groundwork for future issues. Like Justice League, it's also a continued story, but well-paced, whereas Justice League seemed padded out and deliberately "written for the trade."

I get the sense that a lot of DC's reboot hasn't been thought out beyond "we're going to publish a bunch of first issues." But Morrison has seized the opportunity provided.

His take on Superman draws much from the past and, for that reason, couldn't really be called original. He understands that Superman is a folk hero (although Morrison might call him a "god") and rather than reinventing the character, he has revitalized him, which it seems is what this new initiative should be all about.

Looking forward to seeing more.

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