There are a few phrases that should never be used by any character in any story, whether seriously, ironically or otherwise. One of those phrases appears on the first page of Action Comics #1. After Superman interrupts the deal of two presumably evil businessmen he sniffs the air and says “Rats. Rats with money.” When the businessmen’s thugs train their guns on Superman, his eyes glow red and he continues “and rats with guns. I’m your worst nightmare.” Aside from being cliché, it is a clumsy and heavy handed way of letting the reader know that this is not your father’s Superman. The rest of the issue was a process of redeeming itself for this giant eye-roll of an opening. And for the most part it succeeds.
There are several subtle and more effective indications of the Superman’s grittier persona. This is accomplished both by the skilled writing and direction of Grant Morrison as well by the fantastic artwork of Rags Morales, Richard Bryant and Brad Anderson. When Superman first appears we see he is not wearing the traditional Superman costume. Indeed, he not wearing what most superheroes would call a costume at all. Donning jeans and a Superman t-shirt, it is only his cape that distinguishes him from a comic book fan you may see walking down the street. Well, the cape and the superpowers, buff bod and clear skin. It’s not just his outfit. His gait and posture are different. He lurches more. There is a swagger in his step. His movements are rougher and less polished. These subtle indications culminate at the end of the opening scene when Superman holds an evil Donald Sutherland look-alike over his head as he balances on the edge of a building, with a SWAT team taking aim at him and telling him to put the man down. Superman’s eyes glow red in the night as he state that he will put him down “as soon as he makes a full confession to someone who still believes the law works the same for rich and poor alike. Because that ain’t Superman.” He then jumps and crashes to the ground. The evil Donald Sutherland barely survives and makes a full confession to Superman.
Everything that Superman says and does in this opening scene is contrary to what Superman has always stood for. From torturing a confession from a man to using the word “ain’t”. And while Superman is clearly younger, these differences in character cannot be dismissed as the recklessness of youth. The young Clark Kent of old would have known that a hero does not act in such manner as sure as he knows the wonders of mom, apple pie and crop rotation. It is a daring revamp of Superman’s character. He is one part Robin and one part Punisher. The story continues but the story takes a back seat to the lingering uneasiness from such a dramatic shift in character. Over the years so many characters have gotten darker and grittier. Superman was always the one character that we could count on to be the unwavering standard of morality and justice. Now that certainty and simplicity of Superman’s moral compass has been compromised, I am looking to the new DC Universe and asking a question I never thought I would: Are there any heroes? If Superman is no longer Superman than who is? And if the answer is that there are no more idealistic heroes in the DC Universe then I have to ask what I think is a more interesting question: Did DC intentionally design the new universe that way or is it just a result of changing each character one by one to succumb to the short term bump in sales that results each time a hero falls?
The actual story that follows is a bit disjointed, confusing and common. After Superman gets the confession from Mr. Glenmorgan (aka Evil Donald Sutherland) he runs away from the police. After a one-page interlude establishing that our old pal Lex Luthor and Lois Lane’s father are behind whatever evil-doing is afoot (along with Mr. Glenmorgan) in an attempt to capture Superman, we see Superman saving people from a wrecking ball from hitting their tenement home. How or why Superman ended up at this location is a mystery. Did the police chase him? Are the police controlling the wrecking ball? Or did Superman detect the injustice while he fled the police? All we do know is it is part of a trap by Lex. Indeed, Lex even has a camera located inside the building that is getting demolished. Needless to say, Superman saves the people and destroys the wrecking ball as well as two giant tanks that Lex had stationed in the city. As the police arrive, Superman leaves the scene once again and returns to his own Peter Parkeresque tenement of an apartment that he calls home.
Just as the reader is getting their head around what just happened the story jumps to Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane about to get on a train following a thug that works for Mr. Glenmorgan (Evil Donald Sutherland). We don’t know why they are following him but Clark has urgently called them to not get on the train. Again, we don’t know how he knew they were getting on the train or why Clark knows that the train is dangerous. Regardless, they of course get on the train. The train goes out of control and becomes a giant speeding missile that Superman must stop. As Superman jumps in front of the train to slow it down we have another interlude with Lex Luthor and Lois Lane’s father in which they reveal that the runaway train is another part of their elaborate and absurdly circuitous plan to trap Superman. The story ends with what appears to be a success for Mr. Luthor. Superman is pinned to a wall by the runaway train – unconscious.
After you take away the reboot of Superman’s character the story itself is not particularly inspiring or original. It boils down to a familiar Superman story in which Lex Luthor puts innocent lives in danger in the same old fashioned way in order to trap Superman. I almost couldn’t believe that Grant Morrison relied on not just one but two common superhero distress scenarios in the opening issue. I get the feeling that Grant Morrison wrote a brilliant 50 page story that he was told to cut down to 30. Indeed, if you look at the variant cover by Jim Lee Superman is surrounded by giant Lexcorp robots. These robots appear nowhere in the comic. My guess is that the most interesting story regarding this issue is not in the comic itself but rather how this issue came to be. I am still hopeful for issue two. However, that hope is tied to my faith in Grant Morrison’s ability as a whole and not on the execution of the first issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment