review: "Up, Up and Away" part 1-4 (2006)

Superman #650, 651
Action Comics #837, 838

Publisher: DC Comics
Writers: Geoff Johns, Kurt Busiek
Artists: Pete Woods, Brad Anderson

Rating: 8/10

This is the first half of Superman's "One Year Later" story arc, and I'm really enjoying it. Despite my misgivings about the "heroes on hiatus" premise (or more accurately, the utterly unbelievable way in which it was introduced in Infinite Crisis), and the whole "OYL" gimmick, I have to admit, this story really works. They've managed to make Clark Kent into a fine comic book protagonist, without devolving into some sort of pseudo-superhero cliché. He's not super anymore, and they don't just work around it, they work with it.

In addition to following Clark's continuing "heroic" activities, we get a thoughtful, even touching, glimpse at his personal life and relationships, particularly with Lois. They're really playing up Clark's humanity here. Not only is this a nice change of pace, but it has the potential to make Superman's return (which is presumably where this story is headed) more poignant. It will mean giving up something he's grown to love, something he's rightly proud of. I hope they continue to develop Clark's character, and thoroughly explore his motivations for reassuming the superhero mantle, rather than just copping out with an "oh, his powers are back, he's Superman again, let's go beat up bad guys".

Speaking of which, Lex is here too. And he's up to no good. While this story hasn't been very action-packed so far, I'm pretty sure it's headed to a good old-fashioned smack-down. So if you were turned off by all that touchy-feely humanity stuff I was just blathering on about, you might still want to check it out. Who knows, maybe the touchy-feely will grow on you. With so many ill-crafted (or non-crafted) excuse-for-a-fight-scene books out there, it's nice to also have ones with a more balanced and measured pace.

The art is beautiful, and a good fit to the feel of the story. It's bright and upbeat, and with its somewhat softer lines and graceful, flowing style, it seems more human. But still powerful. Then again, I could be reading too much into it. Maybe that's just the way he draws. Either way, it works for me.

Overall, a very readable, engaging, good-looking story. It's been fairly light on the action, but I don't think fight fans are going to be neglected entirely. In classic storytelling style, it seems to be building up to a climax that is actually climactic. So far, so good.