Adventures of Superman 5

     Because i was impressed by the simple and touching story told by J.M. DeMatteis in issue four of Adventures of Superman, I decided to keep following this series. Thus, I went ahead and read issue five, and i must say that the quality is still there, although it has different creators.
     Issue five is a collaboration between writer Joshua Hale Fialkov and artist Joelle Jones. While the first is a name i keep seeing pop up more and more in the news, especially after the incident regarding his departure from the two Green Lantern books he was supposed to begin writing, "Green Lantern Corps" and "Red Lanterns", i must admit i'm not familiar with Joelle Jones's work. After a quick search, I found out that she did quite a lot of work, mainly for Vertigo and Oni Press.
     The issue starts with a conversation between Lois and Clark in the newsroom of Daily Planet, which ends with a contest between the two of them to deliver the best story from a dog show in town. As Clark puts it, "A great reporter can find a story anywhere."
     This is a different Superman than the one presented in the previous issue. While in issue four, the focus was on Superman, on his fears and doubts, the spotlight in this one is on his alter-ego, reporter Clark Kent.
Gone are the weaknesses, that Superman being replaced by a confident Clark focused on winning this bet.
     Considering the title of this issue is "Slow News Day", you can assume, even from early on, the direction in which this story is heading and the fact that the title is supposed to be ironic. The "slow" day for Superman gives way to an action packed bonanza, in which the reader gets the sense that everything bad that can happen that day, actually happens, preventing Clark from getting the scoop.
     I found remarkably funny the way in which he deals with the menacing Toyman, in the split of a second, getting him from the safety of his robot-ducky to a bunk bed behind bars. Of course, this raises the question: "If he can defeat his villains that easily, why doesn't he ?"
     The writing isn't exceptional, but Fialkov manages to portray a gullible Clark, a boy scout completely focused on winning the bet, that he doesn't see the big picture. it Also, I noticed Fialkov's little nod to one of Superman's real life parents, Joe Shuster, naming the building housing the dog show after him.
     Instead, the art is top notch, Jones delivering dynamism to the action sequences and a lot of emotions through the characters faces. Although i'm not too keen on her Superman, and found the page wasted with Superman staring at the reader as pointless, she draws a human Clark which reminds me of Christopher Reeves, and that can't be a bad thing.