Animal Man #1

Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Travel Foreman and Dan Green
Cover by Travel Foreman
On sale September 7, 2011 - 32 pages for $2.99

My Rating: 5/5
Will this be in my pull list? Oh hell yes.

Previews Text: Buddy Baker has gone from "super" man to family man - but is he strong enough to hold his family together when Maxine, his young daughter, starts to manifest her own dangerous powers? find out in this dramatic new series from writer Jeff Lemire (SWEET TOOTH) and artist Travel Foreman (THE IMMORTAL IRON MAN).

I admit it, I'm a bad Vertigo fan. Animal Man isn't a title I'd read before. But that just meant I was able to go into the series with fresh eyes and few expectations aside from the fact that I know Jeff Lemire knows how to write a good story.

It may be in the DC universe now but Animal Man still manages to feel like a Vertigo book. And believe me, that's something I'm all for. I'm willing to give just about any title that comes out under the Vertigo brand name a shot.

In-story Animan Man hasn't been doing much heroing for the past few years. Mostly he's been a spokesman for various environmental and animal activist groups, and he recently took on his first acting hob, the lead in a movie we - the readers - know nothing about.

But one night he decides to put on his costume again to try to stop a hostage situation in the children's ward in a local hospital. He manages, but afterwards things started to go strange for him. I'm not going to say what went on in the second half of the issue, just that it threw me for a loop and introduced a new... I hesitate to say evil, but a new dark presence into the universe.

This was a great story all around, but that's no surprise considering Jeff Lemire wrote it (I'm a big fan of Sweet Tooth). Admittedly, the art took a minute to get used to, but once I did get used to it I felt like it fit perfectly with the type of story it was telling.

Action Comics #1

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Rags Morales and Rick Bryant
Cover by Rags Morales
On Sale September 7, 2011 - 40 pages for $3.99

My Rating: 4/5
Will this be in my pull list? Absolutely.

Previews Text: The one and only Grant Morrison (ALL-STAR SUPERMAN) returns to Superman, joined by sensational artist Rags Morales (IDENTITY CRISIS), to bring you tales of The Man of Steel unlike any you've ever read! This extra-sized debut issue is the cornerstone of the entire DC Universe!

Going into this comic I wasn't expecting all that much. I mean, I've never been a Superman fan. Like. At all. I think he's one of the most boring characters out there. He's crazy overpowered and invulnerable to everything but a "rare" rock. It's so rare that everyone and their mom seems to have some of their very own. He tended to be the ultimate boyscout and I'm just not a fan of the boyscout characters.

But that was before this reboot came around.

For Justice League, I'll just say he was snarky and leave it there. And that the Justice League series takes place five years ago.

Action Comics #1 seems to take place even before Justice League though. The tights don't exist, he's in jeans, a t-shirt, construction boots, and a short cape. He doesn't seem to have his full power set yet either, both his ability to fly and invulnerability appeared to be absent in this issue. Yes, he can still leap and speed run, but he didn't fly and didn't try to act like he could. And he's still really durable, but it is possible to hurt him without having Kryptonite in your hand.

But most importantly -- at least to me -- is the fact that he doesn't seem to be quite so boyscout. When you first see Superman in the issue he's standing on the ledge of a skyscraper balcony railing, holding a criminal over his head (very much like Batman's first appearance in Flashpoint: Batman: Knight of Vengeance) then proceeds to step off the ledge, falling down to the street head first and holding the guy out ahead of him the entire way down. No, he didn't kill the guy, he pulled him back before they reached the ground, but scaring the hell out of someone isn't really the way the previous universe's Superman worked.

But considering Superman seems to have three timelines going on at the same time what with Justice League taking place five years ago, Action Comics taking place before Justice League, and Superman taking place in the current time, there's no telling how his personality there is going to compare to his other storylines.

But hey, I can't say anything about Superman yet, but at least Action Comics will be joining Justice League in my monthly pull list!

Plus, Grant Morrison is, as always, a fantastic writer and the art by Rags Morales and Rick Bryant rocks my socks off.