Superman: Action Comics Vol.1: Superman and the Men of Steel HC [2011-2012] by Grant Morrison

SUPERMAN - ACTION COMICS VOLUME 1: SUPERMAN AND THE MEN OF STEEL HARDCOVER

Grant Morrison and Rags Morales (Identity Crisis) bring Superman and Daily Star Reporter Clark Kent to the 21st century by making him more relevant to today’s generation. Superman is about representing the 99% of America taking down both street and white collar criminals including Glen Glenmorgan who currently owns the Daily Planet.  Clark Kent is also getting secret info from another source to take down Glenmorgan.

Lex Luthor sees Superman as an alien parasite on Earth. General Sam Lane wants Superman captured and Luthor stop Superman with a bullet train. A captured Superman escapes however discovers the military has his ship which brought him to Earth as Krypton was destroyed. Luthor has been secretly working with an unknown entity that knows all about Superman who resides in space.

In the past Jor-EL and his wife Lara escape Kandor before it is consumed by the alien consciousness. In the present Sergeant John Wayne Corben prepares the experimental warsuit Metal-Zero codenamed Steel Soldier to take on the Man of Steel and becomes Metallo. However he is taken over by the same consciousness that attacked Kandor. Now Clark encounters manufacturing robots under control of Brainiac across the country.

Superman deals with Corben in the Steel Soldier suit however fails until its creator John Henry Irons arrives to take it apart. However the battle is short-lived as Brainiac bottles Metropolis for his personal collection.

Grant Morrison has given a verbose first arc of Action Comics exploring the beginnings of Superman. The backups within Action Comics explores Steel holding things together on Earth as Superman takes on Brainiac in space. The first arc takes back prior to the events in Justice League while the next arc focuses on the Curse of Superman on Earth-23. Morrison has yet to right a current version of Superman while Scott Snyder was the first within his book Swamp Thing. Very poor and rush execution on the book giving the 75 year-old character less relevance in today’s world. 

SERIES HIGHLIGHTS

- Superman lifts off into space to stop Brainiac and enters his ship

- Brainiac asks Superman to between Kandor and Metropolis

- Superman wears the Kryptonian white suit and takes on both Metallo and Brainiac

- Metallo turns on Brainiac to save Lois and Metropolis

- Superman uses his ship stolen by the military and shoots it into Brainiac

- Clark Kent secret source Icarus is really Lex Luthor

- Superman makes Brainiac’s ship his Fortress of Solitude

INTERLUDE HIGHLIGHTS

- The origin of Superman is retold but the rocket is captured by the US military

- The Krypton engine within the rocket is taken by the Anti-Superman Army

- Superman the Legion of Super-Heroes arrive on the scene of the stolen engine

- Jonathan and Martha Kent decide to adopt a child just before the arrival of Superman

- The Anti-Superman Army steals the K-Engine from Superman’s escape pod

- Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes find the missing K-Engine

- The Anti-Superman Army is hiding within Superman’s head

- Different variations of Kryptonite are derived from the same source

- Superman restores his escape pod’s power source

This hardcover collects

Action Comics #1-8

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT – 3 OUT OF 5