Superman: Action Comics vol. 1 — Invisible Mafia

Bendis’ other “Superman” title got off to a strong start with its first volume.  Does his first go at “Action Comics” fare the same? Yes.  Yes it does. “Invisible Mafia” makes one thing clear almost from the start:  This is going to be the street-level “Superman” book. Where we’re more likely to see Clark Kent rubbing shoulders with his co-workers at the Daily Planet as he pursues a story about something newsworthy in Metropolis.  Such as the word that Superman is responsible for the rash of fires that hit the city during the events of “The Man of Steel.” It’s while he’s digging into that, other problems start presenting themselves. One is the arrival of a new villain on the scene, the Red Cloud, an intangible enforcer for the city’s organized crime and someone who is looking to prove themselves against Superman.  The other is the fact that Lois Lane is back on Earth and hiding out somewhere in the city.

Between this and “Superman,” it feels good to see that Bendis has a great hand on the title character’s compassion and perception by the general populae.  Not only was it great to see him extend a hand to this latest villain after fighting them to a standstill, but his re-encounter with Lois had the two of them hitting it right off again.  First as lovers, then as adults talking to each other about what’s been happening to them. I truly enjoyed that, as well as how swiftly the mafia’s efforts to discredit Superman were brushed aside since they really were cheap efforts to besmirch his moral character.

That said, Red Cloud and the rest of the mafia are playing the long game here and I’m admittedly curious to see what their plan is for Big Blue.  I’d also like to see more insight into this new villain since their main reason for wanting to take him on appears to be out of a general dislike.  So there’s work to be done there and if it’s as good-looking as it is here that’ll be great. “Invisible Mafia” has three artists attached to it — Patrick Gleason, Yanick Paquette, and Ryan Sook — and they all turn in stellar work.  They can all do the brightness that you’d expect from seeing the title character in action, but they also know how to give the proceedings a shadowy edge when the mafia or Red Cloud come calling. It’s great stuff here and now there’s actually some competition between deciding which is the best “Superman” series on the stands.