After reading Justice League #1 and the amazing Action Comics #1, I was very excited to see what George Perez would do with the highly anticipated #1 of good ol' Supes. While I enjoyed the beginning, and the premise for the issue showed a lot of promise, the middle just became a mess to me, and (even with its pretty stellar artwork) what should've been at least a decent read ended up being what felt like a chore to finish.
The story begins with The Daily Planet being bought out by Galaxy Communications, which is owned by the corrupt businessman, Morgan Edge. From here, Perez shows us how Superman reacts to this buyout, as well as expressing some of his beliefs against the corrupt company. While this portion of the comic was interesting, what left me disappointed was... well, everything else. This issue had so much going on, from unknown alien beings blowing unknown alien conches (which we have to learn about in an issue of Stormwatch #1), to random fire beings wreaking havoc on Metropolis (which I did enjoy, thanks to the artwork). It just felt as if there was no focus on Superman in this issue, which is all I really wanted to see.
Another qualm I had with this issue was the writing. It wasn't necessarily bad, there was just too much of it. Way too much. Half of the dialogue in the story didn't feel necessary, or was just boring, and the other half seemed to be a newspaper article that was giving a play-by-play of the fight between Superman and the fire being, which wouldn't be so bad if we weren't seeing each panel anyway. It just seemed very unnecessary, and it took away from the artwork, which was one of the only redeeming factors in this issue.
Jesus Merino manned the illustrative reigns in Superman #1, and it looked great. From the initial drawings of the Daily Planet building being demolished, to the splash page of Supes floating in the air, and even to the immaculately drawn fire-being, Merino did very well. The only problem I found here, once again, was how much was going into each page. There was so much stuff going on, it felt as if there were around 9-14 panels in each page, which didn't utilize Merino's talent (though he somehow managed to make do). Had there been less panels per page, or had this been a larger comic, the artwork would've been incredible. But, due to the flaws mentioned, the art is just a shell of what it could've been.
Although I wasn't a fan of this issue at all, I will say this: the ending was done extremely well. The conclusion gave me hope that there is still a chance to get to see more of what I came here to see: a comic that revolves around Superman and his thoughts and feelings. If George Perez can manage to calm down with his script and let the artist tell some of the story, then Superman can definitely become a series worth checking out. But as for now, I wouldn't recommend it.
out by Galaxy Communications, which is owned by the corrupt businessman, Morgan Edge. From here, Perez shows us how Superman reacts to this buyout, as well as expressing some of his beliefs against the corrupt company. While this portion of the comic was interesting, what left me disappointed was... well, everything else. This issue had so much going on, from unknown alien beings blowing unknown alien conches (which we have to learn about in an issue of Stormwatch #1), to random fire beings wreaking havoc on Metropolis (which I did enjoy, thanks to the artwork). It just felt as if there was no focus on Superman in this issue, which is all I really wanted to see.