It has been nine months now since DC gave its' flagship character a minor facelift (minor meaning that his origin and costume remained intact). Although the books each had a change of artist, the main thrust of the "new" Superman was in the writers that were selected to guide the books. Although all four have proved entertaining, the best of the group has been Superman. Jeff Loeb proved that he has a terrific grasp of what makes Supeman interesting with the excellent Superman For All Seasons. Illustrated by Tim Sale, it encapsulated the individually American appeal of the Man Of Steel. Loeb's run so far on Superman hasn't been that good, but it is a marked improvement on what went before it.
This issue begins a four part tale which places Superman in Arkham Asylum. Named the "Man Who Steals" on his wanted poster, he is considered extremely dangerous as he apparently killed Lex Luthor. A distorted version of the JLA, led by Bizarro, is poised to bring him back into custody each time he breaks free. He finds little help from Lois Lane, as she is the merciless head of "Lane Corp." A little imp in a purple bowler seems to be certainly involved somehow, but this world more closely resembles the Bizzaro world than any other.
This particular type of story is nothing new. Superman wakes in a world that is completely backwards from the one that we have come to accept. Something is wrong, but he can't quite place exactly what. Of course, WE know that everything is wrong and the real thrill is in figuring out how it got that way, and what Superman is going to do about correcting it. There are a lot of nice touches throughout the book, such as the movie marque which advertises "Caged Amazon Women", the sign advertising new housing at "1938 Sullivan" and the Acme bomb atop the Daily Planet building. Like so many comics these days, this issue of Supeman is writen with a number of in-jokes which only a comic fan would catch. The story doesn't satisfy any of our questions. It is not suppossed to. Rather, it is only supposed to stir our appetite for the next issue. It does that nicely, and as long as the conclusion lives up to the beggining, any Superman fan should be happy.
