All-Star Superman #1-5

All Star Superman! The best book around! Written by the god of all comic writing Grant Morrison, and art from the wonderful Frank Quitely, with beautiful coloring by Jamie Grant, this series is practically everything I want in a comic. The supercompressed pace, the sense of wonder and fun bursting out of every page, the wonderful character moments... this, to me, is the perfect comic. And, to my surprise, it's a Superman story.

As a character, Superman interests me, but never has it been enough to get me to regularly buy a title. Morrison and Quitely have succeeded in getting me onboard, and letting me see WHY Superman is the number one superhero. But the most amazing thing to me is, in issue #4, they made Jimmy Olsen COOL, without it being artificial or goofy. His characterization made complete sense to me; after all, if your pal was the most powerful being on earth, wouldn't that by proxy make you pretty cool? The device of his column being him trying out different lives/personae was also a wonderful nod to the Silver Age Jimmy Olsen stories, where he would get into some outlandish mess in every issue.


Another thing I think this series has nailed is the VISIBLE difference between Clark Kent and Superman. John Byrne, in his Man of Steel revamp, wrote that there is a visible difference between the two in terms of posture and mannerisms, but did not show it in his artwork for the series. Here, Quitely draws Clark as hunched over constantly, and always stumbling and tripping over things (more on this in a bit). When Clark then reveals his identity in the first issue to Lois, there is a very blatant visible transformation from Clark to Superman: he stands up straighter, doesn't fumble his words... it's almost as if you can hear his voice getting deeper and more resonant on the page. Its also visible in issue #2 in the mirror shot, when he slumps down like Clark, but the reflection shows his true "inner Superman". Another facet of this is how Quitely shows Clark's clumsiness as not just a piece of character role-playing on his part, but actually uses it to help people in small ways, like in the first issue he trips and bumps into the old man, thereby saving him from the piece of falling debris. It's touches like this that make the issues immensely rereadable.

Issue #5? AMAZING. This was full of wonderful touches: Lex Luthor as both the anti-Batman (pinnacle of human intellect and strength) and the anti-Superman. Quitely's use of the panel borders in both the stair sequence and when the Parasite crashes through the floor. The eyebrow pencil (set up very early; watch Clark after he saves Lex from electrocution). BiblioBot "boring" through rock. Wow. Just absolutely amazing.


As you can see, I am in love with this title, and wait patiently and excitedly for every issue to be released. I am especially anxious to see more of Morrison's portrayal of Lex Luthor, as I feel Grant has a great handle on him (based on his previous work from JLA: Rock of Ages, and issue #5 of this series). So there you have it. The highest recommendation I could ever give a book. This, in an era of civil wars and infinite crises, Morrison and Quitely have produced a book which is just, plain and simple, fun superhero storytelling. And I love it.