It's a bird, it's a plane... it's damn good!

DC comics promised us a reboot to the universe, promised us a fresh new take on things and to do this, they have taken a GIANT leap backwards.  How?  Well, they've given us back the Superman who first appeared in the original Action Comics #1 way back in 1938.  This isn't the Superman who fights against Bizarro, the Parasite or Mongul.  This is the Superman who fights against corrupt officials, slumlords, wife beaters and the rich who prey on the poor and desperate.  This is a man who has great powers and uses them to right the wrongs of the little guy because that's what he SHOULD do.  He's a social conscience in jeans, a cape and a blue t-shirt.

This is a breath of fresh air to me, the kind of book I was hoping it would be. Grant Morrison has always had a way of recreating the old as is evidenced by his run on Batman where he wove stories based on almost forgotten tales from the Gold and Silver Ages into a compelling narrative woven into the modern continuity (or rather the continuity that once was now).  His All-Star Superman run was a fantastic update of the Silver Age version of the character and now, his all-new run on Action creates a Golden Age Superman for the modern age.

This Superman cannot fly yet but only leap tall buildings in a single-bound.  He is faster than a speeding bullet and (probably) more powerful than a locomotive, though that last is left a little in doubt by the end of the issue.  Sure, he has the heat and x-ray vision powers that would be given him later but this really feels like the original Superman from the late 30s.  The story even makes reference to one of his oldest adventures, where the would-be Man of Steel beat up a man who was a habitual wife-beater.

The script by Grant Morrison is a fun, fast read aided by the art of Rags Morales who really gets to play with the Superman/Clark Kent difference in the way he draws the two characters.  Superman is all action, a dynamic force of change while Clark is a slumping nebbish in too-large clothes who plays the schlub to perfection and works for the rival of the Daily Planet while maintaining a friendship with a lowly photo hound from that paper by the name of Jimmy Olsen.

Lex Luthor makes an appearance as well and really makes an interesting comparison between Superman and the invasive species that have devastated native ecologies on our own planet.  You actually feel his concern that the presence of this incredibly powerful alien being might somehow spell the beginning of the end for humanity as we know it.  At the same time, he comes across as aloof, arrogant and just the kind of corrupt, ruthless character this Superman Of The People would despise.  I cannot wait to see the first face to face meeting between these two.

As with the Justice League book, this tale is told in the past of the new DCU.  We have yet to see a book set in the new present, which I find a little strange but if this is the kind of groundwork being laid for the future of the entire Superman Family of books, I cannot wait to see how it plays out.  This is a far, far better book than Justice League and comes with my HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!  BUY THIS BOOK!  BUY IT NOW!!!!