NO SPOILERS: Johns and Romita Jr.’s much anticipated run on the Man of Steel takes off.
I like Superman and I want to read Superman comic books. But I haven’t much cared for him since the New 52 (and for awhile before that, actually.)
Anyway, I wrote the other day that I had my fingers crossed for the new Geoff Johns/John Romita Jr./Klaus Janson run. It’s on sale now. Sow how was it?
It was good and it showed promise.
PLOT: Without giving too much away, a very Perry White-sounding Perry White plays the part of Basil Exposition and asks blogger Clark to come back to the Daily Planet. Superman has a pretty great, brief smackdown with Titano. We get some Jimmy. And we get the set-up of the overarching plot, featuring a funhouse-mirror version of the Superman origin. That last part could work but it’s not an idea we haven’t seen before.
CHARACTERIZATION: This actually is more important to me than the plot right now. Superman hasn’t felt right to me in a very long time. But Johns does just fine here. It’s still younger, angstier Clark — and really, that’s OK because he feels like a person we could like. He definitely feels like he’d grow up to become the Superman we more readily recognize. This isn’t too surprising because Johns is one of the few writers working today who really understands the best parts of the character — and I’m so glad he’s back.
ART: I had misgivings about the match-up of Romita Jr. and Superman. And I’m still not completely sold. There are elements I liked (Clark zipping off as Superman from his apartment looked pretty cool) but overall, it’s going to take some getting used to. Did like the wraparound cover and its intentional-or-not homage to Neal Adams’ classic Superman #233 cover from the 1970s — which also marked a restart on the character.
Overall, did it fly? Not exactly. But it definitely leapt more than an one-eighth of a mile. I enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing what’s next.
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