Some thoughts about Superman #1

 

Can Superman and Lex Luthor work together?

Lex is finally in prison but that won't stop him from trying to manipulate Clark into his plans, plans that will reach the city of Metropolis and maybe even the whole world.

Superman didn't have the most consistent direction in a while. Aside from the work by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, the Man of Steel still suffers the consequences from the atrocious and mindless work by Brian Bendis and so Joshua Williamson arrives to try to fix some of the mistakes made during that forgettable era and so far, so frikking good.

The story opens with Superman protecting Metropolis as usual while we're slowly introduced to the new status quo of Lex Luthor being in jail and Lois Lane being the new Editor in Chief of the Daily Planet, both of these directions were created a few months ago but the writer does a pretty solid job at presenting them in an interesting manner, nailing the characterization of the people involved and how they deal with their respective situations.

Even more interesting though, is the brand new direction Williamson cements. Lex still wants to have a handle on the future of Metropolis and the world, even from prison and so he decides to make an offer to Clark, an offer that he's forcing on him and in a way that feels very in character for the kind of egomaniacal businessman that Lex is. Is pretty interesting to see the concept of a "Supercorp" being explored and how Lex can't help himself to play with Clark's past in a way that inflates his already inflated ego (and is one of the few instances where were see Clark genuinely mad and with good reason).

This all leads to an intriguing new choice of antagonists for the protagonist and a last trailer page that is very reminiscent of Geoff Johns' work from a few years ago (once again Williamson showing how much of a fan he is).

Jamal Campbell handles the art and of course he's amazing thanks to his vibrant style that depicts every expression perfectly and is even better at action scenes.

Promising beginning. Williamson is not perfect but when he nails it, he totally nails it.