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Gary Frank is the wrong artist to draw teens.. unless you like your teens to look geriatric in the face.
The new definitive origin for Superman continues. A young Clark Kent starts his adventures as Superboy; wearing the iconic "S" and setting out to help people while also having his fair share of awkward moments as a teenager. Facing the difficulties of trying to use the powers he's developed is problematic, but trying to befriend the older Lex Luthor is proving to be harder than that whole "flying" and "seeing through walls" thing. Luckily he's about to get some reassurance from three new friends, friends that have traveled all the way from the 30th century to meet him. Clark Kent, meet the Legion of Superheroes!
In a word? Fun. Geoff Johns is smoothly blending elements from the history of Superman into a kind of "greatest hits" origin. Taking a bit from this version and a bit from that version, from Golden Age to Smallville, this is perfect Superman lore. It would work in just about anyone's hands but the fact that he's got Gary Frank doing amazing artwork on every page just cements this as a great project. The insight being shown into their portrayal of the young Lex Luthor makes the character steal every panel he's in and is quickly becoming reason enough to read the book. Luckily for the readers though, that's far from the only great thing going on here.
Is there such a thing as "Origin Fatigue"? Longtime readers may have an initial bad reaction to Superman's early years having to be retold yet again. This time may prove to be different but it's easy to sympathize with readers who may have grown tired of this sort of thing.
Cover art to SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #2 by Gary Frank
Well, the Geoff Johns Bandwagon just keeps on rolling through. His love for the characters is wonderfully obvious by how well he writes them on the page; blending legitimately touching personal moments with the excitement that you probably felt towards Superman when you were a kid; this is the good stuff. By it's very nature, the story of Superman is a reminder of why so many people have fallen in love with comic books and superheroes in the first place. He's the high water mark as far as capes go and the team of Johns and Frank are giving it such heartfelt care that there's no other grade to give this than an A. This is hearkening back to a time when heroes could still be "cool" without having to be all dark and edgy to prove it and (even though cynics don't like that sort of thing) this is a great reminder of how engaging a comic book can be.
Gary Frank is the wrong artist to draw teens.. unless you like your teens to look geriatric in the face.
While I think it's cool they are modeling Clark Kent off of Christopher Reeve, I sure don't remember Reeve's nose looking like he ran into a brick wall.