I still can't quite wrap my head around the concept that the first issue of Solo in fact features four collaborations rather than a single artist doing all the stories, but the first issue of Solo is definitely a treat for Tim Sale fans. Solo sounds at first blush like one of those really cool concepts that only the diehard fans of the comics medium, rather than the larger casual audience, are going to dig, so maybe it's easy to forgive these guys for fudging the concept a little and as a result, making it more commercial and appealing to the casual fan. Given a blank canvas on which to do anything, Sale has tackled a few stories that are anything but ground-breaking for him, including a Batman tale and a reunion with Superman and Superman: For All Seasons writer Jeph Loeb, but there's also a delightful pre-Crisis style Supergirl tale and a couple of short, slice-of-life pieces that range a little farther afield. None of the stories here are knock-you-on-your-ass fantastic, but almost all of the artwork is, and all of the stories are good at least. It's not the cutting edge talent showcase that fans like me would have liked, but it is a showcase for Sale's established skills and will provide some welcome continuity and character moments for the majority of fans who just want to see a little more of Batman and Supergirl as well.
The real standout story of this issue for me is actually one of the superhero tales, a rare writing outing from beloved editor Diana Schutz that is sweet and tragic and filled with the sense of wonder and innocence of the Silver Age. It's a tale of Supergirl and her true love, a nice parallel to the stories of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, a deconstruction of the Silver Age conceit of the hero's flame trying to figure out their secret identity that pokes gentle fun at the cliche without ridiculing it and relies on an underpinning of simple human emotion. Sale, always an artistic chameleon, combines his larger-than-life Norman Rockwell style from Superman: For All Seasons with an homage to the romance comics of the '60s that perfectly matches the tone of the story, and kudos to Dave Stewart for echoing the coloring of that period as well while still making the story shiny and attractive.
There are two other superhero tales in this volume, and while I'm generally one to wish for more genre diversity in projects like this one, I can't complain too much about these tales. For one thing, it makes the risky book more of a commercial viability, and for another, these are pretty good superhero tales. Darwyn Cooke takes the Batman-Catwoman relationship to a more fun and less tragic place with a playful chase through the city, and it's a tale that shows the difference between a story written by a writer and a story written by a writer-artist. While there are any number of writers in this industry who can think visually, an artist who can really write is something of a rarity, and there are subtleties to this story that show that Cooke was writing as much to show off Sale's abilities as he was to tell a story. The most obvious example being the use of the backgrounds to tell the story of a more typical date, a fun gag that is essentially the premise of the whole tale.
Then there's the reunion of Loeb and Sale on Superman, which is, as you would expect from the collaboration of these two, note-perfect. The story itself is a little schmaltzy, but that's part and parcel of Loeb's take on Superman, and it's a cute little story that makes good use of its short six page length. Sale's artwork here is the same look that he gave Superman: For All Seasons (with Jose Villarrubia rather than Bjarne Hansen handling the coloring chores), and it is as lush and beautiful as the work he did in that volume. Some took issue with Sale's beefy, almost doofy looking Clark Kent, but I loved that it got across both the power and the gentle demeanor that is key to Superman, and it looks great here.
The other three tales are spandex-free, but not one of them really seems to have enough space to really work. Brian Azzarello's "Low Card in the Hole" has a ton of atmosphere and hard-boiled dialogue, but I confess that I'm not entirely sure what happened in concrete terms as opposed to the metaphorical terms that the story mostly works on. "I Concentrate On You" is a gorgeous piece of work and a lovely tribute to Sale's parents, but the silent storytelling doesn't really convey what it was meant to, and I'm left feeling like I heard half of a family story and I have no idea what it's supposed to mean. "Christina" starts off exceptionally well, with a reminiscence of painful childhood and a nice "kick to the gut" noir line when it's revealed why the protagonist brought "Chris" to the cottage, but the ending seems too quick and easy and doesn't have the same punch. None of these tales are bad, they just feel more like unfinished thoughts than stories, while the three superhero tales feel more well-rounded.
All in all, the first issue of Solo is a terrific showcase for Sale's artwork, and leaves me with great hope for future issues of the series. I confess that I would have been happier with a more "arty" take on the whole thing, with Sale handling writing and art on all of the stories and maybe having fewer stories so that he could have a little more depth to them, but what we've got here are several good stories and a ton of gorgeous art, and that's not bad at all. 8/10
