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Ist
Down - June 2003 Edition
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Supeman: Metropolis
Welcome to the City of Tomorrow
1[of 12]/APRIL/2003
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Chuck Austen
Pencils: Danijel Zezelj
Inks: Danijel Zezelj
Colours: Jose Villarrubia
Letters: Comiccraft
Price: $2.95/ R9.95 SA
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Metropolis is a 12 –part maxi series which
follows the adventures of photojournalist Jimmy Olsen.
The premise is not quite as boring as it might sound. There is a
story focus on ‘the tech’ which runs modern Metropolis.
This tech seems to have somewhat of a life and mind of it’s
own. After the assassination of a government official a strange
thing happens, just hours after his murder the official is miraculously
brought back to life. Superman recruits Jimmy Olsen
in his investigation as he believes ‘the Tech’
might be behind the strange resurrection.
The story is both refreshing and interesting, the best part being
the slice-of-life feel we get following Jimmy around in the first
few pages. Chuck Austen [Uncanny X-men]
writes a brilliant depiction of the vulture-like existence of the
modern day photo-journalist.
This part of the issue is just awesome and truly gets into the lifestyle
and headspace of the character of Jimmy and allows the reader to
accurately connect. With appearances by Lois Lane,
Perry White and Superman the book
has a firmly established cast of characters which many Superman
readers will be able to relate to.
Danijel Zezelj brings an original art style to such a mainstream
project. His approach would probably be a close match with that
of Alex Maleev [Daredevil], and with his current
success on Daredevil it does not surprise me that DC went looking
for an artist a bit removed from the norm. With a very different
artistic style compared to the host of other Superman artists out
there this could be a risky move which may backfire for DC.
 At
first the thick almost paint like daub effect inking and the lack
of finer detail put me off the art. Upon reading the entire comic
I began to enjoy it a bit more. The colouring and dark style of
Zezelj’s art do help in promoting a mysterious and creepy
tone to the title. Unlike other Superman titles this art style definitely
grasped me and brought
a nice realistically gritty tone to the storytelling.
The splattered texture effect used in many of the backgrounds and
the eerie colouring of the ‘watch’ scene help to tell
an engaging story. The good use of colour helps to pinpoint the
lead characters when they would otherwise get lost in the ‘crowd’
scenes.
Hopefully the story will continue to have more character focus on
Jimmy Olsen as in the first few pages of this book, which was the
definite highpoint of this 1st issue. The story is interesting and
the art different, yet engaging, Metropolis is a nice turn away
from the normal Superman premise towards something a little more
dark and sinister.
Score:7/10
Written By: Iain Duncan
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Comic Reviews
