You know, with the creative team of We3 tackling the best known and most iconic super-hero of them, you'd think I'd have gone into this debut issue with more anticipation and excitement. I'm surprised I wasn't more psyched about this project, but the lackluster experience of the other title in this imprint -- All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder -- loomed over my subconscious, I suppose. Well, my subconscious is a dumbass for leading me in that direction, because this book boasts all of the inventiveness we come to expect from a Grant Morrison-penned sci-fi-/action book, the surreal splendor of Frank Quitely's art and a strong respect for traditional super-hero storytelling. This title really lives up to the "All-Star" name.
An eccentric scientist and his team have embarked upon an ambitious and perhaps impossible scientific journey to the surface of the Sun, where it's hoped a sample of the star can be harvested for study. Unfortunately, the risky venture becomes much more dangerous when it's discovered that Lex Luthor, who's recently been freed from prison to work for the U.S. government, has sabotaged the mission. The only one who can save the day is Superman, of course, but proximity to the Sun has an unforseen effect on the Man of Steel.
Quitely's style brings a radically different sensibility to bear when it comes to the depiction of the Man of Steel and his world. Luthor boasts a serpentine nature that communicates just how sly, intelligent and malevolent he really is. Quitely grants the title character a massive frame that eclipses all others, but there's a softness to his appearance as well that reinforces his pure and innocent nature. The colors dazzle throughout the book, and that reinforce the surreal and quirky nature of the scientists Superman rescues and consults with toward the end of the issue.
I think my favorite part of the book -- or at least the elements that ignited the imagination the most -- is Morrison's science-fiction dialogue. There's a genuine, believable quality to his explanation of the impossible here that not only enables the reader to suspend disbelief more easily but just adds to the fun of the story at the same time. The writer bridges the realm of the theoretical to the applicable when it comes to physics that adds credibility without sacrificing the fantasy of the cosmic super-hero adventure.
It's clear there's no connection between this vision of Superman and the one that stars in three other titles and is immersed in the Infinite Crisis. And that's fine. Marvel's proved with its ULtimate that two conflicting continuities aren't a problem. Morrison's is a deightful mix of the traditional and the modern. His Clark Kent has a lot more in common with the bumbling, campy Silver Age incarnation of the character, but Luthor is clearly a blend of the mad scientist of yesteryear and the more devious, subtle manipulator of today. As a newspaper reporter, I'm thrilled with Morrison's more idealistic and bulldog characterization of Perry White, and I hope we see more of the jouralistic side of Superman's world incorporated into the plotting in future issues. 9/10
