Comic Review: The Adventures of Superman #1 with Stories by Jeff Parker, Chris Samnee, Jeff Lemire, Justin Jordan, Riley Rossmo

The second story we are treated to is titled “Fortress“. It is written and drawn by Jeff Lemire.  In this story, we meet two young friends playing make

believe.  One of them is Superman and the other gets to be any and all of Superman’s villains.  The boys play for awhile and finally call it quits.  As they are walking away they argue about who gets to be Superman next time.  The boy tells the other: “So? It doesn’t matter if he’s more powerful or not. I still get to win, because Superman always wins.”  The camera panel draws back and we see Superman himself sitting on top of a barn with a little smile.

I’ve never been a big fan of Lemire’s art, but he has the rare ability to make you feel genuine emotions when you are reading his work.  Who hasn’t pretended they were Superman?  Whether you were playing with your friends outside or jumping off the back couches pretending you could fly with a towel tucked into the collar of your shirt (guilty).  Again, I think this is the thing the current Superman titles are missing.  They all feel very bland.  No emotion.  If Jeff Lemire can make me feel nostalgic or make me feel SOMETHING in 10 pages of story, then why can’t the main Superman writers?! Answer me that DC editorial!