Written by Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens
Illustrated by Dan Jurgens and Jesus MerinoThe start of an insanely epic arc from the new writing team of Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens! New love interests, new roommates, and a new foe: the wicked Helspont! What does this monster want with Superman, and how does it all connect to the Daemonites?
March 2012 marked the beginning of the second half of the NuDC’s first year, and with it, came a handful of creative team changes. Joe Harris joined writer Ethan Van Sciver on Fury of Firestorm, the Nuclear Men. Ann Nocenti and Harvey Tolibao took over Green Arrow. Paul Jenkins replaced Paul Cornell on Stormwatch. Tom Defalco is the new writer of Legion Lost. And most importantly — for the purposes of this review at least — this week’s Superman #7, saw the debut of Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens as co-writers of DC’s most iconic character.
So how’d they do? Catch up with us after the cut and we’ll give you the scoop.
Do me a favor, and take just a minute to look at the cover of Superman #7.
No really, just look at it for a sec’. I’ll wait.
Say what you want about NuDC, that cover holds the promise of something new. Superman versus Helspont is a pairing we’ve never seen before, and probably moreso than any of the other New 52 books — more than Grifter, Voodoo, or Stormwatch — this one cover represents DC’s commitment to an all-in integration of Wildstorm and the DCU. Less than a year ago, it would have taken a world-swapping-crisis-crossover-event mini-series to get these two on a cover together, but not now. This is the New 52! And this seems like it could be exciting and different! But as we all know, looks can be deceiving, and sadly, such is the case with Superman #7.
Soliciting this issue as “the start of an insanely epic arc” seems pretty disingenuous. So far, there’s nothing “insane” or “epic” about it. In fact, a better description might’ve been “Don’t worry, Superman’s coming out again this month!” As a lifelong Superman reader, I can honestly say, short of his meeting Helspont, there was absolutely nothing in this comic separating it from any other Dan Jurgens Superman story from the last twenty years, which is just sad. And please understand that I’m an enormous fan of both Jurgens and Giffen. I won’t get into the numbers, but trust me, I’ve earned plenty of fan cred where the two of them are concerned. But taking appreciation for their previous work off the table, and looking at Superman #7, and the issues before it, and what you’ve got is just a really weak comic book featuring the world’s greatest superhero in name only.
The worst thing a Superman comic can be is boring, and since the reboot, Superman has been nothing but, and up until recently I was convinced DC was doing it on purpose. Early on, I tried to rationalize George Perez’s six issues as being tailored for the classic DC reader, an entry point comic intended to baby-step old-timers into the DCnU. Afterall, Superman is the icon, and you couldn’t very well have him running around in a jeans and t-shirt in two books. Why, that would be crazy. Offering something a little more palatable made some kind of sense, I guess, so accepted it. Then, it was announced that Giffen and Jurgens were replacing Perez, and that’s when I realized DC has absolutely no idea what to do with Superman.
Consider this: it’s the year 2012 and X-Force, Venom, and Glory are some of my favorite comics. 2012. I’ll freely admit, that with every new issue of Venom, I pause for just a second and reflect on my 12 year old self, and wonder what he might think of my current pull list. “Wow, Venom’s STILL around? Really?” But the modern day critical success of some of comics most panned properties simply proves a point that I’ve argued time and time again, and that is: the right person can make any character or concept work.
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But the wrong person, doing the same thing that they or somebody else has already done a hundred times before, is just lazy, and if there’s one thing I can’t afford, it’s lazy comics.
I’m not saying out with the old guard and in with the new, either. Just a couple years ago, Jurgens was writing Booster Gold, and it was one of the most enjoyable comics on the stands. And while I haven’t read Giffen’s OMAC, most of my friends do, and have nothing but praise for it. So it’s not like either one of these guys has lost it. But when you consider the attention garnered by a line wide reboot, why wouldn’t DC want a fresh voice for the reintroduction of their most recognizable character? Okay, YES, Grant Morrison’s doing some of what I’m talking about over in Action Comics, a book that I’m thoroughly enjoying. But my liking it doesn’t excuse the fact that it’s got the same problem, doing another Superman origin story — the fourth in as many years — which I think we’ve all had just about enough of at this point.
I’m tired of the Man of Tomorrow feeling like yesterday’s superhero. Step up, DC. You’re the only ones who can make this book better.
Final Verdict: 4 — Nothing new here.
