The Socialist Superman in the World of Greed
I love this book. Issue #3 was my favorite yet. Clark’s rivalry with Glen Glenmorgan is at the heart of this series, and you have to understand it to appreciate it. In my opinion, the worst trait humanity carries from generation to generation is greed. It’s at the heart of the greatest injustices on the face of this planet. In the Congo, rebel factions tear each other to pieces over conflict minerals that power our favorite electronics while the people live in extreme fear and poverty. One of the major points of contention between Palestine and Israel is over the Western Bank Barrier that separates Palestinians from water sources and some of the most fertile (and profitable) land in the area. In the U.S., greedy lenders who ignored rules and regulations for the sake of getting ahead of their competition helped sink the world banking system which created our recent economic problems. Behind each and every one of these global issues is someone making a great deal of money at everyone else’s expense. Glen Glenmorgan is this type of villain. Is he an evil, demented super genius? No. Is he an ultra-powered bruiser? No. He’s a man who allows his greed to control his every action and his dealings with his fellow man. In short, he’s the kind of villain who runs our world.
Why am I ranting about all this? Because it’s been too long since we saw Superman tackling a villain like Glenmorgan. For a long time, Superman fought aliens and super-terrorists while ignoring hot button social issues. In Grant Morrsion’s Action Comics, he is knee-deep in the ongoing battle against the greedy men who control our destinies and he’s learning just how ugly it can be. Clark Kent plays the role of the obnoxious, crusading reporter perfectly. I once argued that Clark would always be better playing the meek, cowardly role he traditionally pretended to. Mr. Morrison is making me eat my words once again. This Clark is like many young idealists straight out of college: Bold, arrogant, and looking to force real change on the system. However, Clark is learning why it’s so hard to force change on a system that gets by on lazy contentment. The police would rather side with Glenmorgan because his wealth and influence can make or break their department. Common men would rather side with Glenmorgan because he can provide jobs and monetary support. All Clark and Superman can provide is truth and justice which mean very little to the everyday world at the end of the work week. Clark is even learning how his proactive approach as Superman can interfere with actual justice as Glenmorgan uses Superman’s alien origins to distract the media from his own crimes. The young hero is in the midst of learning just how hard it can be to make the greedy men face up to their sins (how many of the men who sank the world economy were punished for it?). All of this and Morrison introduced two, revamped Superman villain classics (one whose greed eclipses Glenmorgan’s or any earth-bound villain’s). To me, this issue was perfect.
The art didn’t fail me, either. Yes, there are two artists on this issue just like on the last. But, the way it worked in this one where it didn’t in issue #2 was that Ha handled the scenes from Krypton while Morales continued his work on Earth. The contrast between Ha’s sleek, bold lines and Morales’ sketchy, emotive depictions visually embodied the differences between Krypton and Earth. One is an advanced civilization of supermen while the other is down in the dirty work of becoming advanced. The use of two artists with such differing, striking styles made the contrasts evident in ways that words can’t so the fact that there were two artists actually worked to this issue’s advantage. I’d also like to pause to point out that Superman remembered this scene from Krypton that happened to him as an infant. This harkens back to the Silver Age where Superman had super-recall where his memory allowed him picture-perfect access to all his memories from Krypton as an infant. Morrison has reimagined this far-fetched power in a dream sequence. It was a brilliant way of paying tribute to the past while reimagining for the present. So far, Morrison’s Action Comics hasn’t been what I expected. It’s been better. Issue three gets a perfect 5 out of 5 from me. Did you expect any different?