Last time I did a review of the "New 52", the first issue of the new Justice League had just hit and I was excited about the reboot, and I bought most of the next week's books via Comixology. But I fell away from it because of work and just never got back to the New 52 hoopla. So I'm just now getting around to reading some of the books I bought about 6 months ago. Going alphabetically, I started with Action Comics #1, written by Grant Morrison and with art by Rags Morales (I hope Rags is a nickname).
From what I remember of Golden Age reprints I've read, Superman never really faced off against exotic super-powered super-villains in the early days. He fought against wife-beaters, common crooks, and even saboteurs. This first issue of this new series is a throwback to that time. Superman doesn't even have an official costume at this point. Instead, he flies around, or rather leaps, in a Superman top and cape mismatched with jeans and work boots! There's not even an origin story in this first ish. Instead, Superman mysteriously appeared in Metropolis 6 months ago with no explanation and is fighting against injustice and crime Batman-style, except without the darkness of Bats' personality. If anything, Supes reminds me a lot of Spider-Man so far, dropping quips and playing around a lot, even though his job is very serious. Since he's such a loose cannon the cops and the military see him as a very dangerous man and want to find a way to control his power since his powers seem to be evolving and becoming stronger. Enter Lex Luthor, who has been called in by Lois Lane's dad, who happens to be an army general, to either capture or destroy Superman.
I enjoyed this first issue. If you can believe it, I've never read a comic by Grant Morrison. I try to avoid overhyped writers and I also believe people like Morrison do not allow room in comics for up and coming talent, since they control so many titles. But I guess I could call myself a reluctant possible fan after reading this first isssue. Time will tell. The art by Rags was good as well. I think it's hard to come up with new designs for such iconic characters but he handles that burden well. It's nice to see Superman, Lois, and Jimmy look so young. I think DC always controlled their images a little too much so that the Superman Family became the most conservative looking cast in the comic world. I also thought it was cool that Morrison didn't start off the series with the same boring origin story that we already know so well. He started Action Comics off with "ACTION". Wow, who would have thunk? Am currently downloading issue #2 onto my Ipad.
My Grade: A
Published by DC Comics
Digital copy price: $2.99
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