Action Comics #1 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Rags Morales (penciller), Rick Bryant (inker), Brad Anderson (colorist)

The Story: If he falls, a Superman has to get up, dust his jeans off, and hit even harder.

The Review: For those of you desperately attempting to push back the memories of Grounded into the far-flung recesses of your brain, don’t fear—I bring it up to make a brief point.  A lot of that storyline was about getting Superman back among the little people again, both figuratively and literally “grounding” him.  Yet despite rubbing shoulders with some of the homeliest homebodies in America, he wound up seeming more distant and out of touch than before.

On that note, we may call this series, “Grounded: Take Two.”  Morrison spoke a great deal of wanting to evoke the original, semi-socialist Superman, the figurehead of the masses, a man seemingly embodied with their collective strength.  An interesting premise, if nothing else, and Morrison certainly executes it well here.  Much as Superman’s powers unnerve both The Man and The Establishment, the everyday folk have an awed sense of pride over their bejeaned hero.

This public trust not only gives confidence to Superman’s actions, it actually affords him some physical protection.  His immature abilities give him some much welcomed vulnerability, and allows him to experience what we haven’t seen from him in a long time: peril.  Limitations may be hindrances, but they let a character display ingenuity and fortitude in overcoming them.  For Superman, we get to see him channel the tough, farmer boy inside to grit through his obstacles.

Anyway, you’d hardly expect a significant (and likely temporary) downgrade in power levels would stop Superman from doing what he does best: saving innocents.  But more than just standing on the sidelines, waiting for an opportunity to do his work, this Superman is more proactive—activist, in fact.  He has a strict agenda and a bone to pick, both very good for a character who’s mostly shied away from taking sides and being personally motivated.

WCBR’s Picks Of The Week

Best From The Past Week: Secret Avengers #16 – This series hadn’t sucked or anything like that, but it hadn’t been awesome very often (probably not since that stand alone issue ~#5 where we met Max Fury).  Mix in some Warren Ellis and don’t bind him too strongly to Fear Itself or whatever else is transpiring in the Marvel U. and you get something pretty magical.  This read like Global Frequency starring Steve Rogers, Black Widow, Beast and Moon Knight as they checked out a Secret Empire facility under Cincinnati.  Great art by Jamie McKelvie too!  Runner-up: Amazing Spider-Man #668

Most Anticipated This Week: Swamp Thing #1 – A LOT of good looking comics coming out this week (see below), but I just know that Swamp Thing is going to have me seeking the weak Wi-Fi signal in our office suite to I can download Swamp Thing to my iPad.  Can’t say I’m an expert on Swamp Thing although I’ve read a little bit of the old Alan Moore stuff, but Scott Snyder hasn’t written a poor issue yet and Yannick Paquette’s style seems very suited to drawing a swamp monster.

Other Picks: Action Comics #1, Animal Man #1, Men of War #1, Sweet Tooth #25, 50 Girls 50 #4, Hack/Slash #7, Morning Glories #12, Hulk #40, Thunderbolts #163, X-Men #17, Atomic Robo: Ghost of Station X #1, Cavewoman Snow #3, Critter #2, Irredeemable #29 (and these are just the one’s I’m “excited” about on my pull list)