Adventures of Superman #627

[MudshovelForYou]

Adventures of Superman #627
Written by Greg Rucka
with Art by Matthew Clark

First off, I really liked the first three pages. Superman "saving" a lost little girl in the mall was a great way to show his interaction with everyday people. And then, at least IMO, the issue dropped down a level from there.

First, the issue seemed really short and to have way to much set up to it. It's not that I wanted to get to the action faster, but the ride-along doesn't actually start until half way through the book, and then within two more pages we're dealing with the issues baddie. Now I'm all for development of characters and plots, and normally, I think Rucka does a good job of it, but I think it hurts this issue, although he does have some fine dialogue.

Clark's a good artist, but I think the artwork is hurt by the muted coloring of the book. Even the opening sequence in the mall feels like that.

It's not a bad book, it's just not what I was expecting from the hype that DC is giving the Superman line, and sad to say that at times it doesn't feel like a SUPERman book, either.

Final Grade: B/B-

[MatthewSmith]

I completely agree with what Mudshovel just said. In fact, I was just about to post my own review of this issue, but Mudshovel beat me to it.

Cursed school work keeps me from being able to post reviews as fast as I would like to. I also had plans on doing Secret Identity, but guess who beat me to that also. But never fear, I'll get around to putting my thoughts on that pretty soon.

Back to this issue, Rucka just didn't do it for me. I guess with my being a fan of Rucka's work elsewhere and the big hype for the Superman books that's been growing ever since this past summer, I had some huge expectations. Hopefully, this issue was just to set things up and things will get more exciting later. I'd rather things start slow and get better than for things to start out great and end with a whimper.

The sad thing is that I gave last week's Action comics from Chuch Austen a better grade than I'm going to give this book. I never thought I see the day when I graded Austen better than Rucka.


Matthew has bestowed upon this book the grade of C+.

[Supreme Convoy]

I didn't read the Godfall (is that right?) storyarc, so I guess I was a little lost going into the newer Superman books. Plus, I'm more familiar with the "crime/detective" Rucka thanks to his Atticus Kodiak books more than the superhero stuff he's done.

While the issue serves as a nice setup for an arc... though I'm confused what that would be because the solicitation of #628 which mentions something about Superman and the Green Arrow in space.

I'll stick around to see where Rucka's going with this.

[Caramuru]

Funny how Clark had to fall off the chopper to change into Superman, just like in last week's Action Comics #814.

I thought having a super-hero's civilian identity be a crime reporter housed in one of the precincts a pretty decent idea. However, I think Rucka shot himself in the foot as far as realism goes by actually mentioning Clark's reputation. Guy's got a Pulitzer, for crying out loud. They might take away his desk at the Daily Planet, but not his high profile. If anything, if you're going to focus on Clark Kent as a reporter - which I think is a really good thing - it would make more sense for him to be given a broader range and scope than the crime pages.

The dialogue was pretty decent, except for the girl reporter who called Kent a "looser." That was a bit gratuitous and came out of nowhere. Is it just me or Rucka writes a lot of generally hostile female characters? That Lupe cop wasn't exactly Miss Sunshine either.

Replikon might be a pretty good Superman villain. The way he was handled was pretty interesting, with someone behind the scenes manipulating him. Using a guy with the combined powers of the JLA just as a test run against Superman shows promise.

I think this was a decent issue, but for the amount of space spent on setting up the down-to-Earth tone, I would have hoped to care more about the human side of Superman and his supporting characters.

[MudshovelForYou]

Originally posted by Caramuru
Funny how Clark had to fall off the chopper to change into Superman, just like in last week's Action Comics #814.

I thought having a super-hero's civilian identity be a crime reporter housed in one of the precincts a pretty decent idea. However, I think Rucka shot himself in the foot as far as realism goes by actually mentioning Clark's reputation. Guy's got a Pulitzer, for crying out loud. They might take away his desk at the Daily Planet, but not his high profile. If anything, if you're going to focus on Clark Kent as a reporter - which I think is a really good thing - it would make more sense for him to be given a broader range and scope than the crime pages.


You know I've actually been thinking about that since I read the issue. And I agree that the contradiction of Clark's rep and the way he's being handled does sit well. You can't have him be "The Pultizer Prize Winning Clark Kent" and still bumble around like a new guy.

[Moonbeam]

I really enjoyed this issue -- not a perfect Superman book, but a good start to a new exploration of this character. We're obviously going to get lots of human interaction and characterization in this series, and I'm pretty excited about the way it's started.

I was so thrilled to see Lupe again -- I thought her story was one of the most intriguing back-up stories during the last storyline. And it just got better and better as we saw her interact with Clark AND Superman separately.

I liked the scene in the reporter's room. The newbie reacting the way she did to the invasion of their little "world" by a top-notch name is understandable, as is the respect given to him by the veteran.

I loved the little mystery -- who is observing Superman? And what information was being extracted via Replikon?

The flow/pacing of this story was outstanding. I liked the way it transitioned from Clark's world to Lois' world, where we were given even more of a mystery to follow.

I really like the artwork in this issue -- nice realistic stuff with great human figures. However, the Superman isn't my favorite. I think maybe it's his hair LOL. Whatever it is, it distracted me during the fight with Replikon.

And I have to admit, the dialogue from Superman during the fight with Replikon was a little weird. He seemed WAY too engulfed by anger WAY too quickly.

Overall a good issue. I'm glad I picked it up. I am really intrigued by the story and will definitely be back for more.

[Michael Eidson]

Although Matthew Clark's art usually doesn't click with me, I'm slowly getting used to it. Rucka's first full issue was a little shaky, but sometimes it takes a while to settle in, I guess. I am intrigued about the tone established for the run, as well as the new supporting characters. B

[punkmonkey]

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #627
Title: “Battery” Part 1
Publisher: -- $2.50 / 22 pgs.
Writer: Greg Rucka
Penciler: Matthew Clark
Inker: Nelson
Colorist: Tanya & Richard Horie
Cover Artist: Gene Ha

Reviewed By: Jared Moraitis
Grade: C-

The last page of this issue sums it up perfectly for me:
Lt. Leocadio: What the hell just happened?
Superman: I have no idea.
Two out of three of the relaunched Superman titles are out of the gate now, and I’m very disappointed in the fact that neither ACTION COMICS or ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN has managed to capture my interest enough for me to continue reading them. I don’t see enough being done in either book to ignite interest even in fans of the character, much less to bring in new readers who have never before given Supes the time of day.

The issue kicks off with a bit of sappiness with Superman and then we discover Clark’s new beat, which ruins one of the narrative cliffhangers from ACTION COMICS. I am a bit confused at Clark seeming to be newly appointed to the crime beat because I thought I remembered that being his “new” beat back during Seagle’s run on SUPERMAN. The issue also seems to run afoul of some awkward dialogue and clunky exposition almost from the get-go Instead of allowing the fact that the new SCU Lieutenant hates reporters to come across naturally in her manner and actions, she literally comes out and declares, “Reporters. I hate all of you guys, just for the record, okay?”, which seems to be an unimaginative way to get the point across. There seems to be some subtle, under the surface character interaction between Clark and reporter Bernie Carver that fails to come across smoothly. The two seem to know each other, and it seems as if Bernie may know Clark’s secret, but it’s just not clear. There seems to be some political commentary going on that is also not quite clear. Apparently the president in the DCU is now Pete Ross, which would mean the Luthor-as-stand-in-for-Bush angle is gone. There is an apparent US invasion of Umec (?) going on, which Lois is immediately suspicious of evidenced by her desire to go in non-embedded to “get the whole story”. Okay, so... why is she so untrusting? I doubt it has anything to do with a “question authority” mentality and more to do with some sort of political commentary Rucka wishes to make (as we all know reporters only question authority when that authority represents the “other” political party). It’s not fair to prejudge what he’s planning on doing with this thread, but at this point every comic writer and his brother has shoehorned their take on the current political situation, complete with barbs and jabs at the administration, into their stories and I’m frankly bored with it. One of the biggest problems with both ACTION COMICS and this book is the fact that villains are introduced that carry virtually no dramatic weight. I am completely unfamiliar with the adversary, called Replikon -- he seems to be some sort of android Batman look-alike with the combined powers of the Justice League who is under the control of a mysterious puppet master -- yet he doesn’t seem destined to stick around long and the ending is just too vague and uninteresting to draw me back for more. When Lieutenant comes into contact with Supes, her reaction is strange -- she gets quiet and withdrawn, and it’s hard to tell how intentional this is because the script seems to indicate there is something going on under the surface, but the art doesn’t quite convey those intentions.

Clark’s art is pretty impressive on the surface, but it doesn’t hold up well to close scrutiny. His sequential storytelling skills need some beefing up, as does the body language and facial expressions of his characters -- a character will out of the blue make a facial expression that seems awkward and out of place, as if something is being attempted that isn’t pulled off (page 15, for example). Some of his perspectives and angles and panel layouts also need a bit of tweaking. Clark does bring a nice level of crisp detail to the art though, and he’s certainly one to keep an eye on -- he’s just not quite at “A” level yet.

I’m probably more disappointed in this first new issue of ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN than I was with ACTION COMICS. There was at least some intriguing plot points to go along with the great art, but there is almost nothing to capture or hold my interest here. I don’t like to make such harsh judgments based on the strength of only the first issue of a new creative team, but honestly if their second issue isn’t made available to me as an advance review copy I won’t be spending my money on it to find out if things get better from here.

[Kahooniart]

I really liked those first couple of pages. it kinda defines Rucka´s take on Superman. He cares more about the "man" than the "Super", and that´s OK with me. I´m not interested in the GOD, but in the Man that is under the god´s suit

[arvydas]

I had high hopes for this issue, especially since it was Rucka's first. However, I found it to be lackluster and slow. Given it's the first issue and there was a lot of character development, I just didn't see any redeeming qualities to this issue. Fighting the weird villain using cheesy cliches at the end certainly didn't help.

The art made Supes look like the pristine boy scout that he is. Back to the old stereotype.

But maybe it'll get better. I still have faith in Rucka, especially with what he is doing with Wonder Woman.