Superman #43

   When the new Superman title started in the "New 52," I read the first issue - and dropped the title. It just didn't work for me.

   When John Romita, Jr. took over the art, teamed with writer Geoff Johns, I started picking it up again, and I enjoyed it - so it was back on my "buy" list.

   Now Johns is gone, and he seems to have taken the magic with him. The Superman in this title looks the same - but he doesn't act much like the Man of Steel.

   Part of the problem is his "new power," which is to expend all his energy in a single blast, leaving Clark temporarily powerless -  a normal human. It sounds like the kind of thing he'd only do in the most dire emergency, right?

   Instead, he unleashes it in every single issue, leaving him (and his allies) vulnerable.

   Add to that the latest menace, a mysterious tech-based villain named Hodor - Root (I think), who is blackmailing Superman, threatening to reveal his true identity. Clark goes along with this as he tries to learn more about the menace. (That just doesn't seem like something Superman would do.)

   The good part about the story is that it actually brings Superman and Lois Lane together, working as a team to deal with Hodor - Root.

   The culmination of the story apparently takes Superman into new territory - and it feels for all the world like a terrible mistake by the creative team.

   I like Superman when he's portrayed as smart and capable - but the version we're getting now is just a bull in a china shop, plowing ahead without a plan or concern for others. I just don't get it.

   And after this story finishes, I probably won't be getting it at all.

Grade: C+

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