More Powerful Than A Locomotive
I would throw myself underneath the wheels of any train of thought
Roaming the rails or sailing through the roadways of your brain.
If I could bring a light to shine upon the dark and disobey
The night so young, but I still say we're too old for cliches.
Oh, and I can only dream of he dreams we'd share if you were so inclined.
I would love to be the one to open up your mind.
- Jeff Tweedy, "Open Up Your Mind"
Story/Writing
Perfect. This issue does everything that is needed for a retelling of the Superman tale in an inventive approach that doesn't make anything feel like tired or hackneyed. Grant Morrison wishes to not just glorify Superman from the start, but to test him and from that testing, rebuild him as an even stronger character than before. And within the pages of the first issue, that not only means testing him to see if he truly is faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and yes (in a climatic and heart-stirring ending) prove whither or not he is more powerful than a locomotive, but also testing his morals by showing his brashness and naivety in the young years of his career. There's something pure here in Grant Morrison's writing. And in a DC Universe that is increasingly gravitating towards horror, it's a relief to find an issue that is just filled with humor and joy.
Art
I've heard a lot of criticism of Rags Morales' art on this issue, but I have to disagree with his detractors. I think that he did a wonderful job of imbuing this issue with a great deal of joy. With the exception of a few cases of "fishy-eyes", where the eyes would go off-center from time to time, I felt that his draftsmen-ship was spot on and the pacing of scene to scene, from panel to panel, was just perfect. Although, knowing how Grant Morrison likes to work (he typically fills notebooks with pages after pages of how pre-visualizations of the comic before writing the script, and will sometimes send them to the artist for reference), I can't be sure how much of the direction was Rags Morales and how much of it was Grant Morrison. Even still, Morales did a wonderful job and deserves credit. However, he shouldn't be given the whole credit here. Rick Bryant's inks and Brad Anderson's colors were phenomenal. Bryant's subtle cross-hatching gave the issue a very early 20th century illustrative touch that instantly made it feel classic while Anderson's colours gave it the glisten and high-polish of something strictly 21st century (giving it a strong resemblance to the lens flares in the new Star Trek film.)
A Bit of Speculation
I wonder what it is that Luthor sees coming towards us, past the orbit of Neptune...
Final Rating - 5/5
