Let it be said that when this title was first announced, it became a sort of anticipated "Knight in Shining Armor", the title that was finally going to restore the Superman character to some semblance of high adventure and unambiguous, charismatic heroism. Sight unseen, just knowing Grant Morrison was to be at the helm of this new title made tolerating the disappointments of the regular Superman titles a bit more bearable...knowing relief was "on the horizon".
However, since that time, DC's Infinite Crisis hype-machine seems to have stolen alot of the All-Star line's thunder, to the point where All-Star Superman's debut seems to have quietly snuck in through the back door amongst all of the flash and thunder of "Crisis".
That said, it was still a great feeling to finally get to read Morrison's All-Star Superman. I've always believed the scale of Superman stories should be bigger than any comic book character's. Of course, the last several years' worth of Superman stories have been small-scale, almost claustrophobic ant farms of Oprah-fied navel-gazing....so Morrison flinging open the shutters to big ideas was a real Mormon Tabernacle Choir "Halleluja" moment. From Superman's rescue in the heart of the sun to the bioengineered "Photosynthetic Giants", a sense of epic adventure and sci-fi spectacle was undeniably back.
Though I'm typically not a fan of Frank Quitely's art, I thought he delivered pretty well. Yeah, the faces of his people still put me off, but I have to say his unique version of Clark Kent was inspired. After nearly twenty years of a cool, sophisticated Clark in the comics, it was fun to see a return to a much more humble and harried interpretation.
And...what's this? A Luthor who's a dangerous genius relying on his own wits and not a company of lackies? A Luthor who straight-up wants to kill Superman, and doesn't care who knows? Ahhh.....that's Lex Luthor, folks. Welcome back, Lex.
Were there examples of "Morrison Excess"? Oh, I suppose there were....here and there. But, on the whole, I found the debut issue of All-Star Superman a wonderful and welcome return to form for a character that had grown remote and unfamiliar to me over the past decade or so. I look forward to more wonder from a team that instinctually and entusiastically seems to "get it" when it comes to my favorite character.
Grade: A
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