I really didn't know what to expect from this prestige-format limited series, and to be honest, I'm sure most people felt the same way. Still, I was a bit intrigued by this title based on comics expert Scott McCloud's involvement and based on the strength of the last high-end series to feature the Superman brand: Secret Identity. Well, McCloud and Amancio's efforts pale in comparison to Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen's on that previous limited series. No, here, a more traditional and conventional approach is taken. For the most part, McCloud tells a rather ordinary Superman story here... until offering up a surreal twist toward the end of this first chapter.
The son of a superhuman thug sets out to prove he's better than his old man, who once tangled with the Man of Steel. The guy may not have his father's brawn, but he's gifted in the brains department, and he's gathered a gang of mercenaries to help him pull off an impossible heist. He aims to break into a LexCorp facility and steal back from Lex Luthor a teleportation device that was stolen from him. The problem is how to keep the impossibly strong and fast Superman from foiling this robbery just as he has every other major crime in Metropolis.
It's nice to see Aluir Amancio's real work. He was the regular artist on Superman Adventures a while back, but here, he's not required to follow the animated style pioneered by Bruce Timm. His work here is highly remininscent of Kieron (Last of the Independents) Dwyer's style, with the strong influence of such artists as Jack Kirby and Keith Giffen shining through as well. His character designs here are rather uninspired, especially the one for Hopper, who's a dead ringer for Nick Fury from Bryan Hitch's Ultimates. Amancio's cartoony style really isn't in keeping with the more mature, reflective tone for which the script is striving.
Of course, just because the script aims for that more grown-up tone doesn't mean it hits its mark. The point of the flashbacks to Clark Kent's youth isn't at all apparent in this first issue. It gives me the impression this book was written as an original graphic novel as opposed to a three-parter. The event to which the chapter title refers is of a minor nature, leading me to believe that we're missing far too much with this opening script.
It's a shame McCloud didn't include that relevant information here, and he could have. Is it really necessary to go over Superman's origin? The nature of his powers? Of course not. We're talking about one of the biggest and most lasting icons in pop culture here. It seems as though McCloud is trying to say something new about the Man of Steel here, but there's nothing new to be found. By the end of the issue, the heist story gets much more interesting, though, but it's certainly not the kind of fare that merits the high-end price tag found on this book. 5/10
