Publisher: DC
Writers: Greg Pak, Aaron Kunder
Artist: Scott Kolins
Colourist: Tomeu Morey
Editor: Andrew Marino
Release date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

In Action Comics #45 Superman is tracking the supernatural threat Wrath who feeds off anger, and there’s plenty to go around. Superman’s Clark Kent identity has been revealed so he’s gone to ground, ditching his glasses for a Waynetech “light refractor”, and hiding out in a cabin at the Talladega National Forest. Superman’s lost most of his power and half the population hates him. In his new identity, as Archie Clayton, Superman delivers laundry while he searches for the villain.

If you think this sounds like a Spider-Man plot, you won’t be far behind. Superman whines just like Peter Parker, and Perry White has morphed into J. Jonah Jameson, ranting about how Clark Kent put them in danger.

Still, Superman has always been a difficult character to write, Greg Pak and Aaron Kunder handle the complicated storyline with a certain panache. In their combined hands Superman shows more humanity than many of those around him. And a Marilyn Monroe analogy explaining how Superman got away with hiding behind glasses all those years brings the issue’s most memorable lines.

Scott Kolins’s art, while sketchy and stylish, is well drawn. Still, with a story line this important for Superman, it would have been nice to see one of the top-gun artists handle the tale.

Love or hate the new direction Superman has taken, it breathes life into the old boy, and has caught our attention. Bring it on.

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker