Our story begins with our hero arriving to break up a little party with Mr. Glenmorgan and his associates. Supes, dressed in non-traditional blue shirt with the classic S and blue jeans.(you read right), decides he needs to put a little fear in Mr. Glenmorgan and dives off the roof with him as the Metropolis Police force looks on. The trick pays off as the crooked businessman confesses to numerous crimes. The police aren't too thrilled about his methods, take some pretty bad shots at him and the brash hero takes off, daring the police to catch him.
Meanwhile General Lane and Lex Luthor monitor the situation, noting that Superman is now faster and stronger than he was when he first appeared six months earlier. Another test for the Man of Steel, as he saves a family from a wrecking ball-obviously a test initiated by Luthor and Lane. Superman defeats an armored tank in the process but not without taking some lumps. Yes-Superman gets bruised in a battle with the Army. Clark Kent ends up at his dingy apartment where his landlady is badgering him about the rent. He proceeds to pay her with a good sized wad of cash he claims he got for covering Intergang (nice to see that introduced into the story...seems not everything has been thrown out in the new DC revivals).
Next we meet Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane, who work for the Daily Planet. Clark is working for the Daily Star: the rival newspaper in Metropolis. Nice to see that too as the Daily Star was the first newspaper Kent worked for back in his 1930's origin. Clark tries to warn them about the trains, as they have connections to Glenmorgan and could pose a threat. No sooner do those words exit Jimmy's mouth and the stuff hits the fan. Supes arrives to stop the runaway train and takes quite the beating (well-blood pushing out from his ears could be a clue). Our boy stops the train and the last image we see is our hero slammed into the wall of the Daily Planet building, held in place by the nose of the train, with Metropolis Police ready to take him into custody. And it seems this may have been orchestrated by everyone's favorite bald villain Lex Luthor.
Thus ends issue #1.
I have mixed emotions about this book. Let it be said, I am a huge fan of Morrison's work, specifically his ANIMAL MAN, THE INVISIBLES, his runs on DOOM PATROL, ALL STAR SUPERMAN, BATMAN AND ROBIN and even such underrated work at FINAL CRISIS and SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY. His writing is always innovative and usually full of twists and turns. I just don't like Superman or Clark Kent's characterization or any of the other major characters for that matter. Let's start with Superman. He's young and brash and definitely not the "big blue Boy Scout" we have all grown up with. He's cocky. Okay-I get that he's younger than the Superman we're accustomed to, but he's just punky at times. And the whole scene with the landlady literally made be shout: "He's Clark Kent NOT Peter f'ing' Parker!" I understand where Morrison is coming from. We have been told that his adoptive parents are dead in this continuity and don't get to be that moral lightning rod for him. But Clark Kent of SMALLVILLE was never this cocky.
Lois Lane wavers back and forth, in the short time we deal with her, wavers between Margot Kidder circa SUPERMAN THE MOVIE and Lois Lane from the FLASHPOINT mini-series bearing her name. She's arrogant and competitive and then becomes a shrinking violet. And who decided it was a good idea to have Jimmy Olsen lose his bow tie and get a haircut that is equal parts Justin Bieber and Moe Howard?
General Lane hasn't quite reached the evil status he did in previous continuity and strikes me as somewhere out of an old INCREDIBLE HULK comic, being equal parts Thunderbolt Ross and Glenn Talbot. And Lex? Well, he's Lex: businessman with a plan. Not yet the mad Lex wearing an armored suit or carrying around a Kryptonite ring.
And I'm not quite a big fan of this limited power Superman. I understand it's at the beginning of his career and he hasn't quite got the flying or leaping over tall buildings thing figured out yet. But not invincible? Well, we all know he gained these powers because of his exposure to our sun. So, either that no longer holds true OR he got here 6 months before the comic started and that would mean he arrived as an adult, not an infant.
On the plus side, the nod to history(complete with Clark talking to Daily Star editor George Taylor) is nice and the book is loaded with a lot of action and only a nominal amount of dialogue to get in the way. It's pretty concise storytelling with the proper amount of downtime between adventures. It's nicely paced and a good read overall.
Rags Morales artwork is awesome, as expected. I have been a huge fan of Rags' work going back to his Valiant days on TUROK and ARCHER AND ARMSTRONG
I figure I will give this title a few issues anyway. I mean, it's Superman, Morrison and Morales. It can't get worse(I hope) and can only get better. I'm curious to see where Morrison takes this in the coming months and can't wait to see his take on Perry White.
BTW: if you're keeping score, the mysterious hooded figure from FLASHPOINT #5 appears here as well. Look for him/her in the crowded train car as it's getting ready to crash.
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