Action Comics #52 came out this week, the next chapter in the #Rebirth prologue The Final Days of Superman. Writer Peter J. Tomasi has been given the keys to the super-kingdom, sifting through the plot lines and mega-arcs that has preceded him. Tomasi's charge must be to hit a mini-reset button, bringing the Superman mythos back to a more classic, more established, and slightly more stable super-books.
For the most part, Tomasi has done a fantastic job here. Gone is the brutish Clark from The Truth. Instead we have an almost repentant Superman dying, settling his estate, and trying to bring in the 'flare avatar' Superman. Seeing the Trinity acting as friends here, seeing an incredibly brave Lois, seeing the older pre-Flashpoint Superman using his brains before his fists all feels right.
Unfortunately, at least for me, Tomasi brings back the Clark/Diana romance. And, unfortunately, it still reads incredibly awkward. No one has been able to write this relationship in a way that makes me accept it. It just doesn't make sense for a Kansas farmboy and an Amazonian princess/goddess to easily be together. And I still don't know why Supergirl isn't part of this posse chasing the avatar.
The art on the book is by Dale Eaglesham and Scot Eaton and they do fine work here. There isn't anything that wowed me on the book. But nothing was distracting either. I don't mean to damn with faint praise. On to the book.
