Happy 75th birthday Superman! As a gift, this week you get a brand new summer blockbuster film and a brand new ongoing monthly comic book series! How’s that for perfect timing? It’s like it was planned or something!
Oh! And did I mention that the new comic book series is both written and illustrated by two of the biggest names in comics?
It is!
Superman Unchained #1
Written by: Scott Snyder
Illustrated by: Jim Lee and Scott Williams
Published by: DC Comics
The month of June is definitely being painted blue and red. You can’t go outside and not see a bus shelter poster without a giant-sized “S” displayed on it. Right now, you can’t turn on the television or open the newspaper without seeing actor Henry Cavill’s handsomely chiselled jawline and, uh, steely blue eyes staring back at you. With huge buzz over this Friday’s release of the Man of Steel film, DC Comics has hitched its wagon to the fervent excitement built up by director Zach Snyder’s long-waited-for summer movie.
Under the stewardship of writer Scott Snyder, who, over the last two years, has given us wonderfully fresh stories staring the Dark Knight Detective within the pages of Batman, there’s a lot of hope that Superman Unchained will have the same feel and success. It’s a big gig. A huge responsibility. And DC is showing a lot of faith in Snyder, a hot writer capable of becoming an industry legend over time, to knock this series out of the galaxy!
To double down on those chances, the publishing company has paired him with fan favourite illustrator (and already an industry star) Jim Lee. His kinetic style should bring a real sense of “action” to the character that premiered in Action Comics #1, seventy-five years ago.
Superman Unchained #1 is a great jumping on point for those that love the character but missed the DC Universe re-launch two years ago. It’s a fantastic place to start reading comics for those that were always curious of the art form, but had never picked up a monthly superhero periodical before. It’s a perfect opportunity for you to pick up and start reading a Superman book again, for the first time. If not for you, then pick up a copy for a son, or a daughter, or grandchild, or even a friend. Heck, give a copy to a stranger!
Besides, the issue comes with a bonus pull-out poster, nearly 12” x 19” in size! Great to display on the back of a bedroom door! (Ah, I remember doing stuff like that as a kid!)
So make the run to your local comic book store today. Superman Unchained #1 is the reason why we excitedly read comics!
Every Wednesday, JP makes the after-work run to his local downtown comic book shop. Comics arrive on Wednesdays you see and JP, fearful that the latest issue will sell out, rushes out to purchase his copy. This regular, weekly column will highlight a particularly interesting release, written in short order, of course, because JP has to get his – before someone else does!
At present the best comic book starring Clark Kent is Superman/Wonder Woman, in my opinion. It’s my favorite comic book right now, along with a Dark Horse series called simply X.
Hey wwayne – good to hear from you! I haven’t gotten around to reading the first two issues of Superman/Wonder Woman yet. I haven’t been completely enamoured with Charles Soule’s writing on Swamp Thing, which has made me a little hesitant, I suppose. I do see that Faora is making an appearance in a few months. Having her played against WW might be well worth checking out.
I’m still loving Snyder’s Batman and I’m a big fan of Brian Wood’s The Massive from Dark Horse alonside Mind MGMT by Matt Kindt. Haven’t been reading X. It’s good, huh?
X has all the things I love most in comics: urban setting, dark atmosphere, street level and non super-powered leading character, action packed scenes, a highly entertaining yet very simple plot, a fast paced narration… X is a 5 stars series, that’s for sure. I bet you won’t be disappointed, if you give it a try. Thank you for your reply! : )