I’ll admit it, Superman isn’t the most exciting character to me. I find he’s one that runs hot or cold with little in-between. There’s been great stories and great runs but he’s generally not a character I get excited to read about. But, I love anthologies. So, getting to sit down with Superman: Red and Blue #1 to see what such varied creators would do had me intrigued. And, I was not disappointed. This is another homerun of an anthology for DC Comics, and one the delivers an emotional punch.

Superman: Red and Blue #1 features such varied talent as John Ridley, Brandon Easton, Wes Craig, Dan Watters, and Marguerite Bennett on writing. Clayton Henry, Steve Lieber, Wes Craig, Jill Thompson, and Dani provide the art. Jordie Bellaire, Ron Chan handle some of the colors, while Dave Sharpe, Clayton Cowles, and Troy Peteri handle the lettering. I wanted to give the creators behind this their due because it’s a hell of an anthology. Every story is fantastic. The art is top-notch. The colors are used amazingly well, and the lettering is tight. This is a comic that knocks it out of the park.

But, what surprised me the most about Superman: Red and Blue #1 is how much it got to me. It’s stories made me think and delivered a bit of a punch. It’s impressive. Really impressive. DC has let their creators do what they do and it appears without fear. The stories range from lessons about childhood friendship, to condemnations of capitalism. There’s a story that tackles the failures of DC’s heroes (like Superman) from stopping the drug trade making them complicit in the deaths due to it. And, there’s a story of inspiration. Each story has highs and lows and are so unique with something to say about the character or what he represents. It’s an inspiring and thought-provoking comic.

Superman: Red and Blue #1 continues DC’s sparsely colored comics focused on red and blue like the title says. There’s also whites, blacks, and some gray thrown in but the various stories look beautiful and varied in their styles. There’s also a brilliant comic focused on colors themselves delivering a dive into what each represents.

The anthology is an inspiring endeavor and sets up such a high bar for what’s to follow. I went in knowing Superman: Red and Blue #1 was full of talent but how daring some of these stories are was not expected. To finish reading some of them a little choked up was

Story: John Ridley, Brandon Easton, Wes Craig, Dan Watters, Marguerite Bennett
Art: Clayton Henry, Steve Lieber, Wes Craig, Jill Thompson, Dani
Color: Jordie Bellaire, Ron Chan
Letterer: Dave Sharpe, Clayton Cowles, Troy Peteri
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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Purchase: comiXology – Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW