Superman #701 - It's Never Super in Philadelphia

So let's face it; the prologue to this story sucked. I really haven't read many Superman comics in my time, though, and I figured this was a better time then ever to jump on. So, here I go jumping onto Superman with issue #701 with part one of "Grounded". Well, I chose and issue that takes place in my own back yard, Philadelphia, PA. Maybe I chose right?

Right off the bat I have a problem with this issue; the very first caption in the book reads "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The South Side". Maybe I'm being a bit too picky, but this just bothers me to no end. It's not called the "South Side" of Philadelphia, it's called "South Philadelphia" or if you'd like "South Philly". Hell, anybody who's ever watched The Fresh Prince would be able to figure this out; "West Philadelphia, born and raised"! So if the West is called West Philadelphia, the South is called...?

And on another note, the neighborhood Superman is walking through looks more like a nicer part of Northeast Philly than it does South Philly; there's too much greenery and there are absolutely not enough row homes for that to be South Philly. In fact, a quick bit of research would show you that the street depicted isn't even South Philly, it's part of University City, which is A NEIGHBORHOOD IN WEST PHILADELPHIA. JMS and Eddy Barrows, you guys are killing me. Still, they managed to get a few things right; the Diner is exactly like the kinds you'll find in Philly and the Drug dealers the very same. Though I wish I had Kryptonite gauntlets so I could deck Superman (or JMS) in the jaw for using the term "Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich". It's just a "Cheese Steak", dammit!

This issue's biggest crime is that it's boring; Superman is just wandering Philly, gets lunch at a diner, and then decides to take care of the local drug dealers in the neighborhood(edit: almost forgot; he leaves a small child as his messanger to tell the dealers that he wants them out of the 'hood. Good work there Supes!) . He ends his day by talking a suicide jumper out of jumping, because we never get that in a Superman comic, and he ends the issue wandering off to the next city. Really this is like a Superman version of the scene in Forrest Gump where Forrest goes running across America, except Forrest Gump is awesome and this comic sucks.

Anyway, this issue is a walloping disappointment. The cover is really nice, but outside of that this is one boring issue. Don't bother spending the $3 on the price tag because it just isn't worth it. Stick with JMS's Brave and the Bold stuff and maybe his Wonder Woman, but this first issue of his Superman is just bad.