We're into the second month of DC's 'The New 52.' We've been seeing familiar faces while also seeing some changes made to the characters we've known for years. In the first and second issue of ACTION COMICS, we're seeing Superman earlier in his career.

The SUPERMAN series takes place in the present. There is a gap between the two and we're seeing updates and the evolution of several characters.

In ACTION COMICS we've already seen Lex Luthor and General Sam Lane conspire against Superman with John Corben, John Henry Irons and Lois Lane also playing roles in Superman's life. Superman will go from a brash young hero wearing a t-shirt and jeans into a more brooding Kryptonian armor wearing guardian of Metropolis.

The second issue of SUPERMAN adds more to Superman's character and some of the changes are setting the stage for a new angle to the Superman stories. There will be some minor spoilers if you haven't read SUPERMAN #2.

Superman and General Lane Get Along

General Lane has pretty much always hated Superman. As an Army general, he feels it's his duty to protect mankind from all threats, including alien ones. It made perfect sense that he and Lex Luthor would team up in ACTION COMICS. Lane is untrusting and always has his guard up. There's also the fact that his daughter, Lois, immediately showed interest and affection towards the Kryptonian. Fathers will always be protective of their daughters.

Yet in this issue, he's actually civil with Superman. It might not have been by choice. Lane would likely be one to follow orders but he's also one to bend the rules a little and take command in order to form his own orders. For a man that must hate Superman with all of his fiber, it's curious to see them talking. You have to wonder what occurred in order to make Lane put aside his hatred for him.

Lois Lane No Longer Needs Saving All The Time

Last issue we saw that Lois was getting a promotion. The Daily Planet has merged with The Globe. By accepting the position of Executive Producer of the Nightly News Division and Executive Vice-President of New Media, Lois is no longer a street reporter. That means she won't be going to extreme measures in order to try to get the big story herself and, at the same time, put herself in harm's way which resulted in Superman needed to save her time and time again. If Lois isn't being saved by Superman all the time, will her affection towards him lessen? We saw her 'old friend' Jonathan Carroll pay her a visit last issue. The Lois we knew was completely focused on trying to win Superman's affection until she started falling for 'Clark.'

Speaking of Clark, he and Lois used to be competitors, trying to get the big story. Now that Lois has more responsibilities, they no longer are trying to out do each other. Lois has said they are still friends and things shouldn't change but they are basically in different circles now. Spending less time in the trenches together could mean they won't become more than friends in the future.

Is There a Fortress of Solitude?

We've haven't seen Superman or Clark in Smallville in the 'New 52.' We got a glimpse at his apartment in ACTION COMICS #1. We don't know if he's headed north and built a hidden fortress away from everyone. Here he makes a mention of his 'fortress.' Could this mean that in the time between ACTION COMICS and SUPERMAN he does go out and build one? Or is he referring to the old abandoned printing press seen in JUSTICE LEAGUE #2?

How Does Superman's Hearing Work?

This isn't really a true 'revelation' but many have often wondered how Superman's super-hearing works. We've seen scenes where Superman will calmly float in one area and use his super-hearing to locate a specific person in need of help. If his hearing is so great, how are his eardrums not blown out when he's concentrating and jet plane flies by?

It makes sense that it's something he can control. It would be the same with his vision. He doesn't have his super-vision or x-ray vision "on" all the time.

Somehow as his body, while adapting to the Sun's yellow rays, allows him to have this kind of control over his functions. I've always said that he should have a super-brain as well so it could be that having higher brain function allows for more precise control.

Those were the major revelations in this issue. Definitely more action and surprises than the first issue. We'll have to come back for the third issue to see what other secrets we can learn about Superman.

nice

wait didn't they show him in his fortress in this issue?

@sentryman555: I think they did

It would be kind of cool is superman and general lane had a relationship like batman and commissioner gordon

@kal-el09: That would be very cool.

Not mind-blowing divergences than how Supes was pre-New 52 (like the reveals from the earlier Superman title this and last month)

If Lois does start moving in different circles to Clark (and no longer really needs rescuing by him as Superman) and that any romance between the two characters becomes effectively shelved for the time being, I wonder what role her character will start to play as the Superman title unfolds, it'll be interesting to see what new place they create for her character if it is no longer that of love interest.

I swear, every time I hear people describe Superman as "brooding". I just want to laugh, and not in a good way. Your character's personality should vary, Not everyone should be Batman.

Why does someone who's basically invulnerable wear armor? Batman's a human, so that makes sense. It's not bad enough you have such an overpowered character. You have to make it even harder for him to be injured? Something I applauded Action Comics for doing is pulling back on Superman's invulnerability. I also don't understand why people were so pissy that the two series take place in different continuity.

Gee...  General "Thunderbolt" Ross comes instantly to mind.  And, that sure was BORING for about forty years!  
And, yes... the question of why Lois Lane is even going to be around will have to be answered in time.  
Personally, I think that DC's attempt to "shake things up" is going to take years to "fix back up"! Not unlike a self-imposed earthquake.
So far, if there is a "master plan"... I can see no sign of it.  I just think that the "loonies" got the keys to the asylum.  
And, I'm not standing on the sidelines golf-clapping and shouting GENIUS!
They better show me something of interest soon if they want my money.

I love General Lane as a villain, bring that back!

YAWN!

what a boring comic

@Hoboseid: Give it some time. hopefully it will get better. Its hard to make Sups cool these days.

so I just bought read and Superman Last Son for the first time, and other than being amazing it has made me really dislike what DC is doing with Superman right now...

love ACTION COMICS but really hate the main book , never liked superman in comics lol

That is some God awful artwork. Pass

Well I've not read it yet but these changes are of course interesting. The Fortress and hearing do not so much concern me as Superman's relationship with the General and Lois. The former makes me think far too easily of what has gone on in the past between Bruce Banner and Ross, the parallels just too uncanny. Why am I starting to think this is just a facade on the part of General Lane to get rid of the Kryptonian? And as for how things are between him and Lois, with them being in different circles now, its just making the likelihood of "One More Day" all the greater between the two. Its quite sad. I mean I can never say no to a comic regarding the Man of Steel, but this really is kinda disappointing.

I'm still wondderng why Superman needs armor if hes Krytonian... Just Sayin'

@Doctor!!!!! If he went around doing his thing in normal clothes...they would always end up ripped and torn....Just Sayin' He needs an outfit durable enough to withstand the things he goes through.

Anyways... So the Action Comics Superman and the New 52 Superman are one and the same?

@Doctor!!!!!: Action Comics is going to chronicle how he got the armor but to make a prediction I would say that this is his family armor, something from Krypton's past that is part of their traditions and when a Kryptonian comes of age they get an armor like the one Kal and Kara are wearing. Yes they technically don't need the armor under a yellow sun but these armors were created on Krypton where they don't have abilities so it has more to do with a connection to his people than a need for greater defense.

@Doctor!!!!!: It's ceremonial armor. It's not meant to be practical since he's nearly invulnerable. It's like army formal wear for balls and special events. It's a reminder of Krypton. Supergirl is basically wearing the female equivalent of his costume yet no one brings that up. Is it because it's less armor-like when it's drawn?

@Vitality: Yep. One and the same. Just at different points in his timeline. The past & the present.

Please be a fortress of solitude. General Lane will have some sort of angle. I hope they put someone else in line for Clark/Superman's affection instead of Lois, I'm bored of her now.

I like how much the writers are showing Lois trying to connect with Clark and help him through whatever troubles he's going through. Its a nice touch because until they were dating and married older incarnations of Lois never really had her pay attention to or have much interest in Clark's life and this interaction makes the characters feel more real than the stereotypes they once held. The fact they both don't compete over Superman as much since Clark likes to do human interest pieces instead makes alot of sense as well if you consider he's more interesting in setting examples for people to follow (as Clark and Superman) whereas Lois is after the big action of the week.

We get a brief glimpse of the Fortress (or what I assume is the Fortress given the technology shown) and one thing that makes me happy.........no crystals in sight. I never understood the crystal thing. How do you even control them? How do you program them? Very strange.

Reading this issue I wish more and more we had gotten issue 0's for the major characters to give us a very general timeline of the character's life (for instance I don't need to know all the villains he will fight in Action Comics but give me the date he arrived in Metropolis) because the brooding hero we see now could have been a result of Final Crisis, World of New Krypton, a combination, or none of the above. From Lois' conversations with Clark this new brooding attitude is completely different from anything he's (Clark's) displayed before. In her voicemail she says brooding isn't like him. So what changed? Maybe it will be explained through this arc but if it isn't our we expected to wait until Action Comics goes through 5 years of stories? Will we get a flashback of this Superman's life at some point? Just one of those things about the "new 52" that is confusing to both new and old readers.

I won't mention anything about the super hearing and how he processes information because that's been explained over and over again through the decades. The fact he doesn't become super intelligent is also explained by the fact he does gain increased brain activity but its all used to regulate his abilities not gain higher intelligence. This fact is my biggest upset with the second issue of the new Flash series, as I've always thought of what the speed force does to him in the same manner.

@wdchefdave said:

Gee... General "Thunderbolt" Ross comes instantly to mind. And, that sure was BORING for about forty years! And, yes... the question of why Lois Lane is even going to be around will have to be answered in time. Personally, I think that DC's attempt to "shake things up" is going to take years to "fix back up"! Not unlike a self-imposed earthquake. So far, if there is a "master plan"... I can see no sign of it. I just think that the "loonies" got the keys to the asylum. And, I'm not standing on the sidelines golf-clapping and shouting GENIUS! They better show me something of interest soon if they want my money.

I disagree. I hope DC continues to put out self contained stories that are character driven and interesting. If you want huge events there is a company for that.

Im okay with the artwork (except the panel layouts), and the dialogue needs some work. But its not bad. That said, I cant wait for Giffen and Jurgens to come. Jurgens is one of my top five favorite artists

@kal-el09:

Ah. I don't get it.

We have a pro-active, avenging Superman in Action Comics...

Who now has an older partner/mentor to help him on the 'inside' in Superman...

And who displays an initial distrust toward fellow costumed metas in JLA.

They turned Clark into Batman for the most part.

What set Superman apart to me is that he wasn't an avenger, he was always a protector, a savior-figure.

Not saying I don't like the books, I'm enjoying them... but its not quite the 'genius' reboot that people think it is.

@wdchefdave said:

Gee... General "Thunderbolt" Ross comes instantly to mind. And, that sure was BORING for about forty years! And, yes... the question of why Lois Lane is even going to be around will have to be answered in time. Personally, I think that DC's attempt to "shake things up" is going to take years to "fix back up"! Not unlike a self-imposed earthquake. So far, if there is a "master plan"... I can see no sign of it. I just think that the "loonies" got the keys to the asylum. And, I'm not standing on the sidelines golf-clapping and shouting GENIUS! They better show me something of interest soon if they want my money.

I don't think anyone wants money that you wipe your arse with.

"Lois Lane No Longer Needs Saving All The Time." Finally. It's about time.

what i like about DCNU 52 superman is that now clark portion is balanced with superman portion... evenmore in this book superman IS clark and vice versa. I always think superman or even any character shouldn't be static... like superman Must only portrayed like saint savior and never do something wrong, or batman Must only told as a Goddamn batman who always prepare and can almost beat any other JLA mamber, or else... i like how Morrison write Clark as a young man who full of spirit and joy... but i also like (=want to know what happend to) superman after that (in superman comic). Superman as comic character should experience many things and that include an experience of bitterness, joy, spiritfull, hope, etc. So in short, i like how they did with superman in this comic, but i hope superman behaviour is gradually change and bcome more mature with time.

so did with other characters, like general Sam Lane, Lois, Jimmy, etc. gradually changes their role and behaviour will made the story of superman a bit unpredictable and if they put it right might made the story more intresthing then ever. Like kal-el09's idea about gen. Sam Lane bcome like com. Gordon... well, that might be intresthing... but i prefered to see what made him (Lane) bcome one (bcome like Gordon)... and i hope its not a fill-in story.

so does about Lois Lane fate as supermans lover. well, yea... its nice to see Clark and Lois rejoin as lover again... but i hope it took loooong time before it happend. i want to see Clark fall to other girl(s) 1st (or 2nd, or even 3rd, etc). i rather see how clark and lois competitive now... then their-straight-into-aisle story.

So is Superman still a nice lovable guy? Or is he just a secluded anti-social loner? He seems pretty cool in Action Comics but I'm wondering if he's lost all his friends now that he's an adult?

I think the answer is more the fact he's going through some weird phase at the beginning of this new series. Both Jimmy and Lois have commented that this stoic, isolated, brooding attitude is completely different than how Superman and Clark (Jimmy talking about Superman, Lois talking about Clark) has been in the past. So it would seem that even during the gap between Action Comics and Superman he was personable and at least had close friends in the Daily Planet staff. We just don't know the reason he's become such a loner right now but hopefully that will be explained as this arc goes along.

Some of these revelations are cool. Lois not needing rescuing anymore was an interesting change. I wonder when we'll see this "Fortress" of his.

@FoxxFireArt said:

I swear, every time I hear people describe Superman as "brooding". I just want to laugh, and not in a good way. Your character's personality should vary, Not everyone should be Batman.

Why does someone who's basically invulnerable wear armor? Batman's a human, so that makes sense. It's not bad enough you have such an overpowered character. You have to make it even harder for him to be injured? Something I applauded Action Comics for doing is pulling back on Superman's invulnerability. I also don't understand why people were so pissy that the two series take place in different continuity.

Because being basically invulnerable isn't the same thing as being actually invulnerable. He still gets beat up quite a bit in the myriad of books he's appeared in. It makes since for a melee warrior to wear armor, so he does. I mean, it makes a hell of a lot more sense than wearing spandex and parading around. I don't care if his skin is super-resistant to damage; armor just makes him even more resistant. I mean, in Justice League: Dark, his armor gets punctured by teeth; so it's not like he's untouchable with it. Besides, the DCnU is a universe wear superheroes wear armor, not brightly-colored tights; if Superman dressed like his old self, he would look like he was trying to isolate himself from the other heroes. The Justice League is all about appearing as a cohesive unit.

Cool

I had serious reservations about Supes going into the "New 52" Age of DC. I have enjoyed every page. Even Grant Morrison's job thus far, awesome. I was told by the person who owns the shop where I buy my weekly pulls that Action was Earth-2. Then I thought, "Um, there IS no Earth-2." After getting through the second issues of both Action and Superman, I came to realization when Lois was putting up pictures of her with the "Bibbo-gear" Superman from Action Comics.

Now, I didn't care if Action was set on Earth-2, but now that I know it isn't, it would've been cool to have had the note like JL #1 did revealing right away, "5 Years Ago..." I know DC refuses to make a timeline and that's fine. I guess this is a way of selling comics, and they certainly are doing so.

I think all of the Super-books are starting off well. All of the major books in the New 52 have been really good. It's a good time to be reading comics if you ask me.

As a relivitvely new reader to DC comics (but a fan of Superman because of Smallville), I like what I have read in both issues 1 and 2. I really do enjoy the armor ( I can sense a major reason behind it- and not from a battle standpoint)- I think the armor just makes him more like a solider and not just a peacekeeper. I don't think we are going to see Clark going into a phonebooth and do a quickchange, I always thought that was kind of hokey- but fun. This new Superman with the armor just seems a bit more on edge, like something happened to him in the past that made the armor a needed aspect.

But overall enjoyable stories- glad to get away from Marvel mostly. I wan to read more Superman and see where the story guys.

I always felt that Superman kinda had a love story feel with Lois affecting his decisions, but I'll definitely keep reading.

wait, are they making him a 'Super-perfect' boyscout again? That's what I was looking forward to in the 'New-52' Superman-him being interesting.

love this Superman. Love it.

Dammit, the more I see it, the more I really like this new super suit. But I still dont know why he needs to wear armor :(

@ SexualLobsterhey're not trying to make him into a super perfect boyscout again i beleive they're trying to give him a new personaility. But hopefuly with the whole new 52 thing his kryptonian armor will be morphic to hhis body or something of that nature

The only reasons I am continuing with buying this title are...

1. George Perez is off the title soon.

• 2. The end was intriguing.
  
  3. It's Superman.

  4. The art is really good.