Judd Winick and Ian Churchill begin a three-part story arc running through the Superman titles this month, teaming the Man of Steel with the World's Mightiest Mortal, Captain Marvel. Of course, the Big Red Cheese makes little more than a cameo in this issue, so don't expect traditional teamup action in this opening chapter. There are elements to the script that are quite intense and that get the reader emotionally involved in the story. Unfortunately, they're fleeting and give way to a rather generic super-hero genre plot. To make matters worse, Churchill's exaggerated, Liefeld-esque isn't my cup o' tea either. This is an accessible read, and if the violence weren't so over the top and arguably grotesque, this would have made a good read for a younger audience.
Captain Marvel is summoned to the Rock of Eternity by the wizard Shazam, and together, they track the movements of a certain mystical artifact across the globe. The trail goes cold in South America, but little do they know that Superman is unknowingly about to pick up the trail once again far away in Metropolis. Incidents of rational people with everything to live for committing spectacular public suicides prompts the Man of Steel to investigate, but he's soon sidetracked by a crisis at S.T.A.R. Labs, one that's connected to the weird happenings.
Ian Churchill is clearly an artist who falls into a category of artists one could describe as Disciples of Rob Liefeld. Fortunately, Churchill's work is much stronger than that of the artist whom he emulates. Unfortunately, that's really not saying much. The anatomy of the characters is inconsistent, and there's not a lot of variety in the faces of the male characters. Churchill doesn't really capture the power and majesty of seeing Superman in action all that well. There wasn little in the way of awe-inspiring visuals to really grab the eye. The colors are vibrant and full of energy, though.
What stood out as being particularly edgy and engaging in this issue was Winick's cold, distant description of men being overwhelmed by rage they cannot explain or understand. The detached tone of the narration contrasted with the eruption of self-inflicted violence on panel makes for a dramatic and chilling effect.
That's about all that stands out as particularly special about this story, though. The plot is rather transparent by the end of the issue. Any sense of mystery and tension is disspelled by the fight scene that concludes this issue. The inaction of Captain Marvel and Shazam not only makes their appearance here feel somewhat pointless, but it doesn't paint them in the most heroic of lights either. If a "regular guy" such as Clark Kent can spot a pattern in the weirdness, it doesn't make sense that an all-knowing, all-seeing wizard couldn't pinpoint a super-villain. 4/10
