What is the deal with Merino’s Clark Kent… and, to a lesser degree, his Superman?

Clark looks like an eighties beach bum with the bouffant hairdo and then Superman looks like he’s fourteen. I know the new DC Universe is younger and hipper… but Superman should at least be old enough for a cigarette. And bouffant hair hasn’t made a comeback….

Has it?

Other than those art details, I can’t come up with an actual complaint about Perez and Merino’s Superman.

Sure, it’s retro. It reads like an idealized version of a seventies or eighties issue, but Perez’s writing is surprisingly strong. His Lois has a real voice and so does Superman’s narration. Perez’s Superman is unsure of himself, juxtaposed against the completely assured Lois.

It’s too bad Perez isn’t sticking with the book; it’s some of the better modern Superman ongoing series (i.e. All-Star doesn’t count).

Fine work.

CREDITS

Flying Blind; writer, George Pérez; pencillers, Pérez and Jesus Merino; inker, Merino; colorist, Brian Buccellato; letterer, Carlos M. Mangual; editors, Matt Idelson and Wil Moss; publisher, DC Comics.

The “Ultimatizing” of the DC relaunch continues… with Samuel L. Jackson as the new Morgan Edge. Sorry, cheap shot, but Superman is the first book where there’s an effort to make the DCU more diverse.

I was looking forward to this comic because I figured George Perez could write a decent Superman comic and he does. There are some problems with the newspaper copy he uses as a narrative device (it’s a poorly written newspaper article) and then there’s the art, but otherwise, it’s good.

The art isn’t Perez’s fault. While he gets the breakdown credit, Jesus Merino handles the heavy lifting and Merino’s… Well, he’s problematic.

The action is all good—but I assume it was broken down. The problem is with the regular stuff. Merino’s people look terrible. He doesn’t draw the human head properly.

Still, that problem aside, Perez’s respectful scripting makes Superman a somewhat homely success.

CREDITS

What Price Tomorrow?; writer, George Pérez; pencillers, Pérez and Jesus Merino; inker, Merino; colorist, Brian Buccellato; letterer, Carlos M. Mangual; editors, Matt Idelson and Wil Moss; publisher, DC Comics.