Superman For All Seasons #1

It was some time after Crisis on Infinite Earths before Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale took on the start of Superman's career - but boy was it worth the wait. In this, the first issue of a four issue mini-series, they tell the tale of Clark Kent's final spring in Smallville, as narrated by Jonathan Kent.

This is a very touching story about aging parents, small town life, and the inevitable change that comes to everyone in life. Jeph Loeb's story reads like a comic book version of a Frank Capra film, filled with all the nostalgia for small town Americana, but with a recognition of the bittersweet nature of everyday life.

Tim Sale's art has come a long way in the decade and a half since his crude pen-and-ink work for Thieves' World. While he still lends exaggerated features to his characters, there's a discernible humanity to them that many more photorealistic artists lack. And while his early work like Thieves' World was sparse in detail, his art here is both rich in detail, and detail-oriented - from the weathered wood of a windowsill to miscellaneous objects in a barber shop.

The only thing I didn't like here was Sale's version of Metropolis, which was a bit too futuristic, with large, unsupported skywalks without rails. Aside from that, the book is excellent - and big-blue-boyscout though he may be - the epic-ness accomplished in these pages puts certain other recent #1 issues to shame.