ACTION COMICS #11

STORY: Grant Morrison
ART: Rags Morales, Rick Bryant, and Brad Walker

Writing complex, labyrinthian, enigmatic, totally relatable, emotionally engaging stories is Grant Morrison's game. His first arc on Action Comics, "Superman and The Men of Steel", explored Superman's early days, his origins, his future, and his most deadly villain, Brainiac. In the span of eight issues, Morrison took the Man of Steel we all knew and felt comfortable with, and reinvented him with a new audience and age in mind. While other titles couldn't handle the reboot (see Green Arrow), Morrison's adept navigation of Superman's earlier days has been nothing if not fantastic reading, whether you like the new direction or not.

Perhaps Grant got the memo about readers understanding the ongoing tale because Action Comics #11 seems to go at a more deliberate and cohesive pace, while still keeping the Morrison charm by throwing us a curveball with a new villain at the issue's end. In fact, this issue feels a lot like Morrison is throwing readers a bit of a bone with some fan service, including a two-page conversation between Supes and Batman, some history of the universe with Brainiac in Superman's (apparent) new base of operations, a look into the life of Johnny Clark - Superman's new alter ego.

Last month's Justice League revealed that Superman is the only member of the League that Batman actually trusts; a bold claim that deserves some narrative to back it up. Their conversation focuses on Superman changing his alter ego and the ramifications of his decision. Superman laments about losing the personal connections he didn't think he would miss, and how his responsibilities as the Man of Steel somewhat prevent him from realizing goals like building a new life for himself and/or rebuilding his old one. By the end of Batman's allotted five minutes, he agrees to take care of the problem of the dead Clark Kent. This revelation that Batman somehow orchestrates the 'return' of Clark Kent is quite exciting, as it signifies a greater cohesion in DC's 'New 52' universe.

Things start to get a bit murky near the end of the issue, when a new villain shows up to assume control of the planet. He goes on a (psychic) rant about his supreme intellect and how little Superman's brawn can stand up to an attack on the mind. Within moments, this mysterious new player is able to defeat a  Metalek monster similar to the one Superman was fighting at the beginning of the issue. He uses his psychic powers to take control of the nearby civilians and siks them on Superman as Lois Lane lays on the hood of a car, possibly dead. Morrison, if nothing else, has a flair for the dramatic and leaving the issue is one hell of a cliffhanger.

GRADE

A

(COMIC) SUPERMAN #10

STORY: Dan Jurgens
ART: Dan Jurgens and Jesus Marino

Creating a cohesive, meaningful comic book universe isn't always glamorous. Sure, DC and Marvel would have you believe that these superheroes literally spend 24/7 fending off aliens, mad scientists, or other world-conquering threats. And these days, it wouldn't be a far reach to say that these heroes really are burning at both ends of the candle. But to really make a narrative world that readers can relate to and want to read about, un-amazing things must happen as well. Dan Jurgens understands the this basic ideal and works to make sure his stories are grounded in some sort of reality. Superman #10 finishes up the fight between Superman and Anguish while having that narrative intersect with Lois and Jimmy's attempt to debunk the claim that Spence Becker is Superman's alter-ego near the end.

Last month, I was sorely disappointed with Anguish as a Superman villain. She seemed, for lack of better words, weak. Her only characterization was her ability to shift the density of her own mass when necessary. It's a cool ability, but Anguish didn't have much else going on for her until this month. We come to find out that this woman is only really after a locket, nothing more. She's made a mess out of buildings and cars nearby, but that seems more like a cry for help than a criminal mastermind executing a robbery. And while Jurgens usually does a great job telling stories without telling stories, he makes Anguish explain her own powers simply for the sake of describing them, which is a bit narrative "no no" for me. Then, we get a big expository dump about Anguish's stepfather and how horrible he was. Yes, it's less exciting than, say, a battle with Helspont, but using a minor, fairly low-powered character is a good thing: if 'epic' was the standard, all these heroes would be dead from exhaustion by 30. We need characters like Anguish to flesh out rogue galleries and give these heroes something to do when magic is going crazy or owls aren't infesting cities.

Lois and Jimmy's task involves proving that Spence Becker is not Superman. Last month, paranoid blogger Victor Barnes went on national television to claim he knew the true identity of the Man of Steel. As the fight between Superman and Anguish winds down, Anguish hears about the 'true identity' of Superman and takes off for the suburbs to kill (or at least hurt badly) the Becker family. Obviously, Supes shows up and saves the day, but Anguish escapes at the end, pointing to a future for the character, something writers of the 'New 52' haven't been thinking about a whole lot as a lot of initial villains are getting taken out of the game pretty early.

Superman may not be the flashiest series, or the most interesting book in DC's 'New 52' lineup, but it serves a greater purpose. While titles like Aquaman and Batman are creating major villains and story elements that will resonate for years, Jurgens is making sure Superman won't burn out; there will always be someone for Big Boy Blue to fight, they just might not be cosmic-level threats every month.

GRADE

B-