Superman Unchained #1 Review

SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #1

by Scott Snyder, Jim Lee and Dustin Nyugen

DC missed out on what could have been marketing gold for this book. I never saw an ad for this that said "Life, liberty and the pursuit of the American Way", or "How about Superman? By Scott Snyder and Jim Lee? You had my curiosity, and now you have my attention."

So, Superman Unchained #1 sheds some light on the Nagasaki bombing, revealing that there was no bomb, only something General Lane calls, the 'Real' Superman. Now, this makes for an interesting story. Things have been falling out of the orbit in space, and Superman saves seven of them, but the last one was saved by someone else. And now we have our story. Snyder is perfect for Superman. The voice he writes for almost all of  the characters is pitch perfect. The plotting of the issue is great too. Lex Luthor is suitably menacing, and his portrayal as a Hannibal Lecter type  character is spot on. However, there are some things I couldn't stand. For one thing, the pacing is all over the place. Not much happens, beyond Superman coming close to finding a secret underwater government facility, but it was moving like a cheetah in the first few pages. And the other problem I have with this... Well, I have to talk about the art first.

Jim Lee's work here is very hit-or-miss. Now, I love Jim Lee's art. His work on Hush, Superman: For Tomorrow, even Justice League looked pretty decent. Here, it varies in quality from page to page. It looks well polished on one page, but rushed on another. However, when it looks good, it LOOKS GOOD. But the biggest problem has to be the poster. It's difficult to unfold perfectly due to it being glued together, and don't even TRY to pull it out, because it's actually part of the story. Also, Jim Lee Syndrome.

The backup story is only two pages long, but man is it creepy. Dustin Nyugen uses the same style he used in American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares, and it works.

Superman Unchained #1 is a disappointing, but entertaining read. The story is good, though it has its flaws, Jim Lee's art is hit or miss, but the back-up is pretty creepy, despite only being two pages long.

STORY: 4/5

+ Finally! A good Superman story!
+ Supes feels super

+ Interesting set up

+ Well handled supporting cast

- Pacing is everywhere

ART: 3/5

+ When it looks good, it looks great

+ Williams and Sinclair's finishes are amazing

- Inconsistent. VERY incosistent.

- The fold-out poster sucks.

BACKUP: 3.5/5

+ Creepy factor is dialed to 11

+ Good Dustin Nyugen art

- It's only TWO pages long!

VERDICT: 3.5/5