REVIEW: Infinite Frontier: Secret Files #1

J.J. Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ supposedly are working on a Warner Bros. Superman project that will reportedly feature a Black actor as the Man of Steel. I personally would like to see Steel (John Henry Irons). Some have speculated that it will be Calvin Ellis, (Final Crisis #7, [March 2009]). There have not been enough stories with Calvin so thankfully we have Brandon Thomas & Joshua Williamson to flesh him out in Infinite Frontier: Secret Files #1.

Story Thus Far:

Calvin Ellis, also known as Superman, is a Kryptonian president of the United States, on Earth-23. On this Earth, he is currently balancing his secret identify as Superman along with his responsibilities of being the president. Along with him he has a robot sidekick called Klex, who is more like a personal assistant that helps him keep straight daily duties.

The larger aspect to the story is Time: how Calvin spends most of his day as Superman; how he spends it with his family; and how he needs it to heal his body from everyday wear and tear.

Dialogue:

There is not much of person-to-person dialogue, yet it turned out great. Most of the panels are filled with inner thoughts of Calvin. A problem that I have been having with a lot of current comic books, is too much exposition vomited on the panels with no organization, making it a pain to read. A credit to letterer Tom Napolitano who made it easy on the eyes and brain here.

Art:

Infinite Frontier: Secret Files #1 was drawn by Bryan Hitch & Alex Sinclair “, and colored by Marissa Louise & Triona Farrell. I some of the best panels leans heavily on Impressionism and in others added a dash of Art Deco. Good art aside, I must give it up for the subtle placement of the congressmen who looks eerily similar to Congressman Elijah Cummings.

Note to Comic Speculators:

Firstly, The play here is still Final Crisis #7, [March 2009]). Secondly, I would not dismiss Action Comics #9, because that is when he was named. Last, The Kelex character just fits here like how it was integrated (The Man of Steel #1 [198]).

The Calvin Ellis story was strong enough, that it did not need the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO), AND Director bones stuff. Nonetheless, if you want to give someone a quick into who is Calvin Ellis (Suerman0 this is a really good place to start.