It's hard to find the right words to describe how much I have enjoyed these first two issues of Action Comic. Similar to Alfred Gough and Miles Millar’s highly successful 10 year run with the CW's Smallville, what Grant Morrison has offered up for the DC New 52 re-launch of Action Comics is the man before the myth. Yes, Clark Kent is still faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap a tall building in a single bound, but just as in Smallville, he's otherwise grounded and, as seen in the beginning of this issue, not beyond having his ass handed to him.
As in Action Comics #1, this second issue delivers the unthinkable, a rebellious, badass Superman who is charismatic, funny, and a bit more human than human. In other words, this is a far cry from the Superman that appeared in the comics when our grandparents were thumbing the pages of this title. The iconic man of steel is, in fact, a bit pliable. He is still trying to figure things out. And the world does not know him yet as Superman. In fact, just as Clark Kent is learning more about himself, the world is also trying to figure out exactly who he is.
Morrison isn’t just giving us the evolution of Clark Kent into Superman; he is packing the story with some interesting side issues. In this issue there lead-in’s into the history of Superman’s seemingly indestructible cape, something that has always been taken for granted as well as Superman’s affection towards his ship which leaves one a bit curious without rolling their eyes into the back of their head. Additionally, Morrison’s placement of Lex Luthor who in this re-boot is also young, chugs energy drinks like a pack-a-day habit, and isn’t a total tool, but still bent on Superman like a dog with a bone, seems to suggest that he may be still become Superman’s arch-nemesis but not necessarily.
On the downside, I have an issue with the Clark and Lois sub-plot. Don’t take this the wrong way because the last thing I would suggest is throwing each into each other’s arms right off the bat, but it is made clear that in the first issue of this run that they are not going to get together, so leave it a that for now. Also, concept sketches are cool, but what’s even better is an actual story. If the company that boosted drawing the line at $2.99 is going to start snaking another dollar off these re-booted titles, give us a story, throw in a few extra pages of Superman streaking threw Metropolis saving a little old lady as she walks into the line of a careless driver texting his way through a red-light, or just expand the action board with some extra panels of Superman whipping some ass and having his handed to him in return (you gotta balance it out for it to work or it would simply make Superman a super-dud).
Bottom line, I love the direction Action Comics is heading towards. Morrison’s Clark Kent coping with all his developing powers captures the spirit the show Smallville did, with a little less teen angst and a little more ‘rock’em-sock’em’ action. Clark running around in jeans and cape and powered down while the world around him powers to understand exactly what is going on is slightly reminiscent of the how the original may have taken off if not for America’s need for a hero during that time. Furthermore, the casual drop-in from John Henry Irons (AKA Steel) leads readers to assume that somewhere down the line, one of DC’s most underappreciated characters may pop-up again within the pages of Action. And, the future menace revealed on the last page… well, it has been awhile since anyone has given anything truly intimidating and remotely threatening for Superman to tackle, so, as of right now I, for one, will be reading this title to find out how it all comes around.
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