DC Relaunch: Superman and The Final Four

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s plane! Wait… is that Superman? Today, DC Comics announced the final four titles in their line-wide relaunch of 52 comics being released in September. And those four titles showcased a very different take on The Man of Steel and his Kryptonian cohorts.

This is what we’ve all been waiting for! The big Superman announcement that DC made us wait an entire week for! Aren’t you excited?? I was! And in my ongoing coverage of DC’s relaunch, lovingly dubbed “The Relaunch of Doom,” I’m listing all of the titles announced along with my running commentary, so join me as we discuss the fab four Superman family titles.

Action Comics #1 – My favorite writer Grant Morrison, writer of All Star Superman, will team with one of my favorite artists Rags Morales to bring us a story unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Superman will be existing in a world that doesn’t trust The Man of Steel, but how will he react? Obviously by wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but what else? Well, since it’s a Superman story “unlike any you’ve ever read before,” I assume that we’ll be seeing The Man of Tomorrow saving the world by day, while spending his nights dealing with people’s mistrust by frequenting local Metropolis night clubs! Superman will be enjoying mojitos while dancing the night away! Oh joy! Of course, I’m only kidding, I would totally read that, but I’m kidding. The only reason I speak in jest about this is we’ve seen Superman interpreted in many different ways, especially on other Earths in the DC Universe, so I’m not sure that they can actually deliver on this promise. I know that Morrison loves and respects the character, so I just hope he doesn’t make Superman dark. The rest of the company’s comics are dark, let Superman the beacon that we can all look towards again. Please. Fans deserve it after the past few years.

Superman #1 – George Perez, the legendary artist of Crisis on Infinite Earths and The New Teen Titans and writer of one of the most important runs of Wonder Woman, will be writing this title alongside the artwork of Jesus Merino, who I love, will be showing us the new status quo on Superman and how it effects his (former?) girlfriend/wife Lois Lane and his pal Jimmy Olsen. This title, I assume, will focus more on Superman and his relationships with those in Metropolis rather than the big storyline that Grant Morrison is concocting on Action. I have no reason to doubt this book, so I’ll probably check out the first couple of issues to test the waters, but if this goes the way of so many other Superman stories, then it runs the risk of a muddled creative direction tied to the standard story of alien attack on Metropolis, Superman fights them, game over. There’s only so many times that can happen before it gets a little old. So, I’m cautiously optimistic in regards to Superman.

Supergirl #1 – DC describes this new characterization from writers Michael Green and Mike Johnson and artist Mahmud Asrir as having “the unpredictable behavior of a teenager, the same powers as Superman and none of his affection for the people of Earth.” Well, doesn’t that just sound spectacular? Another dark take on Supergirl! Hopefully, that’s just a misdirection. I mean, how dark of character can someone be with knee-less boots on? But does anyone actually like Supergirl when she’s written like an angry brat? Because I sure don’t. I prefer a fun, light take on the character while also never losing the sensibility that she kicks ass, much like we’ve been seeing from James Peaty’s recent arc on the title. Judging by the look of these announcements, it seems like DC doesn’t seem to realize that their characters can be fun and be tough at the same time. And if I’m being honest, I’m not interested in this title in September. Until then, however, I will be purchasing every issue of Kelly Sue DeConnick and Chriscross’ upcoming arc.

Superboy #1 – The other new DC golden boy, Scott Lobdell will be teaming up with artists R.B. Silva and Rob Lean to bring an all sort of new take on the character of Superboy. And that’s really all I can think of saying regarding the title. Although I typically enjoy Silva’s art, I’m not terribly interested in this title. The strange thing about what we see from the cover of this is that this character design is a far cry from what we see from the cover(s) of Teen Titans. So, how knows? The one thing I know is that I probably won’t be picking up this title in September. It just doesn’t really grab my attention, at all.

That is finally it for all of DC’s titles coming in September! YAY!! We’ve finished this chapter in our lives together! Wait… are you telling me this is only the beginning of DC’s relaunch!? In the immortal words of Kel Mitchell from Keenan and Kel, “Awww… here it goes!”