Review: Superman Vol. 1: Supercorp hardcover/paperback (DC Comics)

Every once in a while, DC releases a comic that makes clear the company’s capacity when they pull out all the stops. If this is full bore, then most of their titles on the stands are only running at half that.

Jeph Loeb’s Superman was like that. Not only was it well written, but the art first by Mike McKone and then by Ed McGuinness rocketed Superman into a new era. No small credit goes to Richard Starkings and Comicraft, who used a thin, rounded font that was a clear departure from everything else DC was using at the time. In 1999, next to Superman, everything else looked old.

Fitting then that, at the risk of overselling it, the “Dawn of DC” Superman feels like another of these inflection points. After artist Jamal Campbell’s star rose at DC on Naomi and Far Sector, he’s where he deserves to be in Superman Vol. 1: Supercorp, drawing sprawling, breathtaking Metropolis cityscapes; I’m not sure there’s been an artist quite this right for the Man of Steel in a while. Joshua Williamson’s story feels like a celebration of the post-Crisis Superman, with enough classic characters and callbacks to keep my heart a’flutter. And as before, kudos to letterer Ariana Maher, who nails it with the extra effects on the different voices and outbursts (“Hey pal” gave me chills).

Every book DC publishes should look this good, and if there’s going to be a book that sets the standard, that book should be Superman. I had my qualms with Williamson’s Flash, but his Superman seems spot-on, a take that’s modern while rooted in the past, and without the existential angst inherent in the Brian Michael Bendis run. This is confident Superman comics done well, and I can only hope Williamson plans to stay here as long as he did on Flash.

[Review contains spoilers]

Perry White. Jimmy Olsen. Ron Troupe. Steve Lombard. Cat Grant. Lex Luthor. Parasite. Silver Banshee. Toyman. Livewire. Within this book, there’s a mention of Imperiex (the Loeb era), an appearance by Red Cloud (the Bendis era), and a reference to the death of Cat’s son at Toyman’s hands (the Triangle Titles) that even meaningfully moves Cat’s character along. In short order, Williamson displays clearly more than a beginner’s knowledge of the modern Superman, and his ability to blend it all is very impressive.

[See the latest DC trade solicitations.]

The set-up is clear, that Superman is the Clark-and-his-supporting-cast intrigue title and Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s Action Comics is the Super-family punch-‘em-up title. In that regard it’s probably not fair to say which book is “better” than the other, though I certainly know where my heart lies. Notably, while Action Comics Vol. 1: Rise of Metallo is a rather standard six-issues/one-storyline collection, here Williamson packs all of the above into just five issues and an annual — a three-part story, a two-part story, and a one-off. Instead of writing to the trade, Williamson’s narrower focus — though the stories feel no less epic — lends itself to bringing more of the cast in, and perhaps not coincidentally, evokes the good ol’ Triangle Titles days.

Again, Campbell is running hot here, kicking off with his depiction of rampaging hordes of zombie-like Parasites. But all around Campbell is an astoundingly good fit for Superman — a bit cartoony, a la McGuinness, but balanced by a fresh approach to the characters, as with the ghostly specters that roil about when the Banshee screams.

Williamson and Campbell collaborate particularly well when it comes to this run’s Jimmy Olsen. Williamson’s Jimmy/Silver Banshee meet-cute is a perfect distillation of Jimmy for the modern era — he comments that her hanging flyers on street posts is “old -school”; she says, “I like old-school”; he says, slyly, “What’re your thoughts on bow ties?” Writers have struggled too often with a Jimmy who was slovenly or nerdy or old-fashioned; here Campbell draws Jimmy with messenger bag and suspenders and, yes, bow tie, and all of the sudden he’s everyone’s hipster college friend. Not to mention he stands up to Superman and straps on a jetpack like a champ.

It’s seemingly a microcosm of Williamson’s Superman as a whole. I enjoyed the Bendis run immensely, but Superman: The Unity Saga Vol. 1 kicked off with Lois and Jon off-planet, Clark sitting lonely at home, and most of the Daily Planet gossiping whether Lois had left him. We maybe couldn’t have gotten back here, Lois and Clark at the Daily Planet, without going there, but still, there’s notably little angst in these proceedings. Clark’s a reporter, Lois is the grumbling editor-in-chief, they’re double-dating with Jimmy; Lex is causing Superman some trouble, but there’s none of the “who is Superman” and “could he do more” that we’ve seen for a while. I knew we’d be back to status quo one of these days, but I didn’t expect it to feel this refreshing.

Williamson introduces new vigilante Marilyn Moonlight by having her show up, attack Superman for seemingly no reason, and disappear, and this felt a bit forced to me. To that end, I’m not quite so interested in that storyline as I am in some of the others — but among Williamson’s track record for strong creations are Godspeed and Avery Ho, plus how good this Superman volume was, so I’m certainly inclined to give Moonlight a chance to play out. There’s a strong theme in this book of turning villains into allies that maybe felt repetitive the third time it happened, but neither can I deny this is a very Superman thing for Williamson to have Clark and Lois do.

I admit I worried a bit with the first “Dawn of DC” collection of Action Comics whether this really would be a new era for Superman and company or just more of the same. But Superman Vol. 1: Supercorp is a great Superman volume and hopefully the start of a great run, especially if Joshua Williamson continues to lean in to the kind of supporting cast-building that we see in the annual. Knight Terrors comes between this and the second volume, so I’ve got a bunch more reading to do before I pick up with Superman again, but I’m excited for what Williamson has in store.

[Includes original and variant covers, including variants thumbnail gallery]

Rating 3.0