Issues 1 and 2 of Superman are out although I have no clue why the restart. Something about a New 52 but that is never explained in the comic. It would be nice if it was in the preface but its not which makes me think of it as just a new marketing ploy since readers will more likely pick up a first issue than a seven hundred and twenty first issue. So onto issue 1 of Superman.
The problem I have always had with Superman is that he is invincible. Yeah I know kryptonite will make him as frail as grandpa’s hip but last I heard that is an alien mineral found on a planet that blew up. If there is no sense of danger to our underwear exhibitionist friend then the reader is just going through the motions. You can't shoot, stab or burn him so this issue makes me wonder why would they pit him against a fire elemental from a different planet. Most of the time is spent lamenting over the merger of the Daily Planet with the Globe which seems to me like some half assed commentary on Rupert Murdock. The part that really got me punching babies is the amount of text splattered throughout this story, it’s like the writer and the artist we competing for attention and ended up with a comic feels chaotic, cluttered and pretentiously verbose. There are hints of larger storm brewing near the end so onto issue 2.
Issue 2 is still a mess of past tense narration by Superman and overly cumbersome dialog crowding the art. I think the worst part of it is that a lot of the text describes what we are seeing in the panel as if the writer felt the artist could not properly convey that what he drew was in fact Superman being punched. Here we get another brawl between Supes and this time a green alien except now it is a far more interesting adversary then the previous human torch rip off. You also get the feeling that Superman is one headline away from being shunned by Metropolites as being a magnet for extra-terrestrial super nogoodniks. The writer, whose super persona must be Capt. Obvious, also drives home the point that Superman is an alien and not in fact human. There is also an unrequited love triangle between Lois Lane, Clark and Superman but that concept is about as novel as a Lindsay Lohan being outed as a skank or the Olsen twins being spawns of a satanic ritual.
I did some research and found out that several other comics are labeled as the New 52 and so get to be rebooted as issue 1. Its not a completely new overhaul of the DC Universe but just a restart of the numbering scheme as an older book was referenced in Superman #1. So not much is different except Superman has body armor for some insane reason, I guess he is not invincible enough. There is one cool thing that would prompt me to buy all the #1 of the new 52. A pink hooded figure is rumored to be hidden through out all of the first issues. Not much is revealed about her she is just chilling in the Superman background of issue one being all mysterious and pink and out of place but hey it worked for Where's Waldo so why not try it with the DC universe re-launch.
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