While action comics is set 5 years ago.  This comic is set in modern DC.  Some of the things that were set up in Action are still in effect here.  Although it doesn’t seem that Jimmy is Clark’s best friend anymore?

The story is written Perez and someone else.  Perez did the breakdowns for the issue.  Which pretty much entails doing stick man sketches of where people should be, and what poses they should be in.  Which is really good.  Unfortunately, if you are looking for Perez art, it won’t be here.  The artist who does the heavy lifting does a good job, but never a great job.  He does buildings, cars and explosions really well, but some of his expressions seem bland.  While the faces have emotions, sometimes they look blank, or too similar to other people in the same frame.  Same head, just with different hair or hats so the audience can tell the difference.

The story is kind of sad.  The demise of the daily planet.  Taken over by a global soulless news corp.  Integrity sacrificed in the name of sensationalism.  Which I thought might be a good counterpoint to Superman.  The bastion of that is good and noble.  We can get moral ambiguity in other comics, in Superman we want what makes him super.  It all seemed a little forced.  He’s a loner down on his luck (like Peter Parker?) and Lois sleeps with strange men.  I’m not sure it belongs with Superman, but maybe some traditions need to be updated.

B-    Don

I know the other Superman book is the one with “Action” in the title, but Superman #1 was much too light on action sequences for my taste (and it’s not that I need to see fights every issue – I’m fine with all-dialogue decompressed stories as long as the writing grabs me). Superman still seems a bit “off” for the character, which was a lot easier to deal with in Action, but I was expecting to see something closer to the classic Superman to show off the differences between the two and I’m still at a loss as to who this Superman really is and what he’s like. If it was a new character, I’d be a little interested in seeing how he develops, but all too often it feels like nobody is sure who Superman or Clark are and what they stand for.

It’s easy to tell that George Perez did the breakdowns, but seeing his name on a book and not getting full pencils from him always registers on the old let-down-o-meter. Which is not the say that it’s a bad looking book, but there’s really no substitute for Perez’s insanely detailed linework. At least that means that the large amount text narration isn’t covering up too much, but it’s still an example of what not to do in comics – telling instead of showing.

These are all minor gripes, though. This is a good comic and it’s more than good enough for me to be interested in the next issue, it just doesn’t live up to what pops into my head when I hear the words “George Perez” and “Superman.”

B-  — Ed