Superman & The Authority #1
Scheduled to arrive in stores: July 20, 2021
Cover date: September 2021
“All Our Tomorrows”
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciller: Mikel Janin
Inker: Mikel Janin
Cover: Mikel Janin
Variant Covers: Bryan Hitch and Jen Bartel
Reviewed by: James Lantz
In 1963, Superman made a promise to make the world a better place to President John F. Kennedy just days before his assassination. Years later, a paralysed Manchester Black receives a cure from nanotechnology created by the man he hates – Superman. Black reluctantly helps Superman fight Phantom Zone drones while the Man of Steel tells him he could make a difference with a new team that could fulfill his promise to Kennedy in ways the Justice League could not. Black is unsure at first, but seems to come around when he suggests another member for this squad.
Story – 3: This story merits a five, but it suffers from two things that bug me about modern comics, particularly mini-series. The first is that not much happens in this opening chapter. It’s mostly backstory, dialogue and a couple of character moments. The second is it is really too early in this book to give the story an adequate rating. Had I read every issue, perhaps I could be more inclined to judge it better. For now, I’ll stick with this rating as it’s not as bad as “Final Crisis”, but it has a way to go before it’s on the level of “All-Star Superman”. Then again, I tend to expect a lot from Grant Morrison.
Art – 5: I really like Mikel Janin’s art. His Superman for this series is particularly well drawn.Cover Art – 5: Janin basically summed up the book’s content without giving too much away with this awesome cover.
Bryan Hitch Variant Cover Art – 4: It’s a great Hitch image, but a few minor things make it look off in places.Miguel Mercado Variant Cover Art – 5: It takes some getting used to upon first viewing it, but once I adapted to it, I liked Mercado’s style.
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I literally just finished reading it; it has this permeating “We failed…” sense of borderline nihilism. Frankly, there’s not enough of a hook at the end to make me want to pick up the next issue. So for now, I think I’ll put it on hold; if the rest of the series has good reviews, I’ll get the back issues or trade. But as of right now, I don’t think I’ll be missing much if I let this one go…
A good first issue, Grant Morrison hasn’t let me down yet when it comes to Superman so I’m excited for this series.