Superman is an alien, who has many incredible powers, and is pretty much perfect. That's a hard character to write, and a hard character to make appealing. I, personally, am not a fan of the man of steel because he feels so perfect, and so going into this book I thought it was going to be the same old Superman stories of him saving the day and getting the girl, but no, Grant Morrison gives us a very different Superman, he gives the Superman that actually acts like he is a real person.
Grant Morrison has created a great story. It begins with a Superman, who's whole life he has been told that he will someday save the world with his powers, and now that his father and mother are dead, he moves to Metropolis and decides to start cleaning things up. People are afraid of Superman, so he tries to win the city's respect. I enjoyed watching Superman change from an amateur unrefined vigilante, to the bold hero he is at the end.
I had one big problem with the story though: Action Comics #6. Action Comics #6 fits no where into the main story of this volume. I features Superman after the events of Action Comics #8, but it's not a flash forward. The entire time I was reading the issue, I was confused. Nothing in this story was introduced well. It felt like part of another story arc.
The supporting cast of this volume were fantastic. The characters were so different from each other, but still they all worked together well. I really enjoyed seeing Lex Luthor in a not villainous role. I liked the surprise appearance of SPOILER: Steel. Now the main villain of this story arc could have been built up a little bit longer, his eventual surprise reveal was kind of wasted.
The art of this book is typical comic book art, it isn't anything special. I dislike this style of art because it looks so realistic. I always enjoy the art from series like Batman (2011-), Spider-man & the X-Men (2014-) and The Flash (2011-) that are more on the cartoony side of things. And as I said in my Justice League Vol.1 1 review, I love the New 52 character redesigns, especially Superman and Batman because they lost the underwear on the out side of the pants look.
Action Comics Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel (wordy title, eh?) is most undoubtedly not the best of the New 52. With stories like Aquaman's "The Trench" and Batman's "Court of Owls", this one pales in comparison, but it is not without redeeming moments. So I will give "Action Comics Vol.1: Superman and the Men of Steel" a 6/10.
Action Comics Vol. 1 info:
Writer: Grant Morrison
Art: Sean Parsons, Jesse Delperdang, Rick Bryant, Brent Anderson, Andy Kubert and Rags Morales
Cover: Rags Morales
Rating: T (DC Comics), 12+ (ComiXology)
Collects: Action Comics (2011-) #1-8
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