One of the “can’t miss” prospects of the New 52 was Grant Morrison on “Action Comics.” His pitch seemed to be focused, he had Rags Morales on board, and was working five years out of continuity, so he could set the status quo for the character without having to have editorial too involved. And then the book sort of fizzled out. No one really knows why, but the results simply haven’t been there for “Action.”
Until this issue.
Written by Grant Morrison
Illustrated by Ben Oliver
Back Up Written by Sholly Fisch
Back Up Illustrated by Cafu
– Don’t miss “The Boy Who Stole Superman’s Cape” – Grant Morrison weaves the history of Clark Kent’s early days in Metropolis!
As Multiversity writer David Henderson said in an email, this issue is “closest the New 52 ‘Superman’ has been to the real Superman.” He is absolutely correct; this is the first Superman comic since the relaunch that feels like a classic Superman comic. The most important element of this story is what Superman manages to do for the little boy that stole his cape – he inspires him.
The story is a small one – Clark Kent is transitioning from living on Jimmy Olsen’s couch to having his own place, and we see his first foray into costumed superheroics. There is the titular side story about a little boy who steals Superman’s cape after he’s shot at point blank range with a rocket powered grenade, which provides the heart of the book. The little boy believes that the cape is what gives Superman his powers, and so he is convinced that, as long as he wears the cape, he can’t be hurt. While the cape is stronger than kevlar and manages to protect him from a knifing (and add some umph to a punch he throws), it would not stop the train that is about to hit him, and Superman intervenes and saves the young boy.
The interaction between Superman and the boy is particularly what sells this story. In so much of the New 52, Superman talks like a cold automaton programmed to do good. Here, he talks to the little boy like he’s an actual person, assuages his fears and begins his own myth building by telling the boy what the “S” stands for. This is the best sort of early hero’s tale – this isn’t a cutesy wink-fest, letting everything pay off in the future, but it does show some nods towards the future while telling a quality story.
Morrison also gets to play with the main Metropolis supporting cast, and nails each character’s tone perfectly. Lois Lane is presented as a reporter who cares more about the story than anything else; in fact, his Lane reminds me most of Margot Kidder’s performance in the Superman films, which has always read like the perfect interpretation of the character to me. Jimmy Olsen is truly Clark’s pal here – hell, Clark even calls him “pal.” Just a decent guy, helping out his friend by letting him crash on his couch; that sounds like Jimmy to me.
This is such a finely distilled Superman story, that it almost feels like it wasn’t written by Morrison, at least not by the Morrison who’s been writing “Action” for the past year. While so many other writers keep wanting to update Superman, Morrison has consistently stated how he wants to bring Superman back to his roots. This is the first issue where that is more than just lip service. The fact that Supes leaps tall buildings and proves himself more powerful than a locomotive only reinforces this as a true “back to the roots” issue.
That vibe is helped out immensely by Ben Oliver’s artwork. Oliver, who recently completed a stint on “Batwing,” draws the comic in a style that gives the illusion of breathing life into old photographs, which Brian Reber’s coloring enhances by creating an ersatz sepia-tone palette. Nothing looks overtly old fashioned, mind you, everything just seems classic. Oliver, in particular, nails the action (no pun intended) sequences, showing the effortless grace that Clark needs to do incredible things, and yet the character work done in the non-acton scenes (specifically with his body language) shows how difficult it is for Clark to just be a normal guy. It is a great expansion of the idea that Superman is who he really is, and Clark the costume.
Continued belowOliver’s artwork is so detailed and rich that he probably can’t realistically sustain a monthly schedule, but someone needs to get him to do Superman stories a few times a year, because there hasn’t been a Superman comic illustrated this well in quite some time. He manages to work in iconic images without making it seem cheesy, and presents the character as he should always be presented: a symbol of power and responsibility.
In the weakest of Sholly Fisch’s backups yet, Erik Drekken, who was introduced earlier in the series as part of the Anti-Superman Army, is investigating the “first” Superman, the same person that fought Clark in issue #12. While Cafu’s art is fine, after 20 pages of Oliver’s, it pales in comparison. Additionally, the story, while there is nothing overtly wrong with it, seems dull. Part of what has made Fisch’s backups so enjoyable is the way that he focuses in on the little details in Morrison’s stories and explores them in a way that makes the original story even richer. Here, he tackles a topic that, frankly, isn’t made any more interesting after his piece. It fills in a little backstory, but not in a way that is all that satisfying. In issue #11, Fisch took on the burning question of “where did he get all those Superman t-shirts?” and managed to make it a great little story. Totally unnecessary, but fun. This manages to be both unnecessary and dull.
And that is a shame, because this issue seems to present Morrison an opportunity to really turn it on for his last 4 issues of “Action,” and together with a stronger backup, this would have been, hands down, the best issue of the run so far. As it stands, it is still the best issue of the back-end of the year and, hopefully, is a sign of thing to come from Morrison’s last arc.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Buy
