Superman, Year One, from DC Comics’ Black Label imprint, starts at the beginning. So let’s start there too!
How does this new title shape up, and does it do something new and fresh?
Well, the creative team certainly has ‘the chops’ to handle a Superman saga: Frank Miller writes, and John Romita Jr draws. And I believe it’s inked by Danny Miki and coloured by Alex Sinclair, but couldn’t find credits in the book, and had to scour the internet to find out.
What do you get for your $8? Well, it’s Superman’s origin story, the extended version. From the time of Krypton’s destruction, to well along the road. It’s hard not to reveal much of the story when the story is, well, extremely well known. And perhaps that’s what’s letting me down. I’m mildly entertained by the ‘play-by-play’ treatment of The Early Days, but that’s putting it mildly indeed. It’s a bit of a ho-hum story, to be honest. There are some new moments, some aspects are fleshed out nicely, but there are a lot of familiar ones too. Like a TV rerun mixed with a serving of new scenes, I guess.
But to Miller’s credit, his ear for dialogue is impeccable, and he does weave some new strands of story into the well-worn fabric of Superman’s beginnings.
Romita Jr’s art on this one is not really my cup of tea; I find his faces to be a bit cartoony and oddly proportioned. They’re caught between cartoon and reality, but not strongly in either camp. For example, Clark as a young’in has a round head and some mighty huge eyes, goldarnit!
This is the first issue of the series, with new issues appearing bi-monthly.
DC Black Label, Superman Year One, part one, $7.99 for 64 pages of content. Assume Teen rating.
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