Category Archives: Superman

Superman 3 (January 2012)

Posted on 24 November 2011 | Leave a comment

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Perez spends the first three or four pages recapping Action Comics. Because it seems likely someone buying Superman isn’t buying Action. Yeah, sure.

But then Perez fills the issue with content–Superman’s big action sequence isn’t even until the second half–and Nicola Scott isn’t up to the detail. Overall, the art isn’t bad. When reading a page, it seems completely passable and occasionally good. But on any closer examination, the problems become clear. And Trevor Scott’s inks seem way too sharp for this comic. With the two Scotts on art… Superman loses its previous retro vibe.

And that retro vibe was one of the comic’s pluses.

The art isn’t even the major problem though. Perez begins the comic on a narrative gimmick (a news story about Superman) and he’s never able to recover. Instead of a clear focus, the narrative jumps around.

The comic’s not offensive, it’s unpleasantly middling.

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Action Comics 3 (January 2012)

Posted on 3 November 2011 | 1 Comment

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Almost nothing happens this issue. Clark has a nightmare of Krypton (where we learn of some new menace who can follow him to Earth), he argues with the cops and then Lois. He’s got a “Deep Throat” source too. It’s kind of hilarious how Morrison writes a thirties crusading reporter in the modern newspaper age.

It’s less realistic than the flying alien.

And then the bad guys show up at the end and Lex wants to get busy with them.

Get busy in the supervillain team-up sense.

Somehow, it’s Morrison’s best issue of Action even without the action. He’s finally establishing the setting with nuance, instead of neon. Too bad it’s not Morales’s best issue. While Gene Ha does some nice work, Morales just draws Clark Kent as a nerdier Harry Potter. It’s sort of ludicrous… his body shouldn’t change shape between identities.

But the comic’s finally getting compelling.

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Superman 2 (December 2011)

Posted on 1 November 2011 | Leave a comment

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What is the deal with Merino’s Clark Kent… and, to a lesser degree, his Superman?

Clark looks like an eighties beach bum with the bouffant hairdo and then Superman looks like he’s fourteen. I know the new DC Universe is younger and hipper… but Superman should at least be old enough for a cigarette. And bouffant hair hasn’t made a comeback….

Has it?

Other than those art details, I can’t come up with an actual complaint about Perez and Merino’s Superman.

Sure, it’s retro. It reads like an idealized version of a seventies or eighties issue, but Perez’s writing is surprisingly strong. His Lois has a real voice and so does Superman’s narration. Perez’s Superman is unsure of himself, juxtaposed against the completely assured Lois.

It’s too bad Perez isn’t sticking with the book; it’s some of the better modern Superman ongoing series (i.e. All-Star doesn’t count).

Fine work.

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Action Comics 2 (December 2011)

Posted on 5 October 2011 | 2 Comments

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Oh, good grief.

Really, all Grant Morrison can come up with is Lex Luthor unknowingly working with Brainiac? Did he even come up with it, or did he just watch the pilot to “Superman: The Animated Series?”

I’m trying to be open minded about Action, especially with Brent Anderson coming onboard as Morales falls behind, but really….

I already read Geoff Johns’s Superman origin story. I don’t need to read it again. I also find it a little hard to believe Lois Lane’s all right with her father being a monster. I mean, she’s generally okay with him torturing people?

There’s also no action in Action. There’s a jail break, but it’s not a lot of action, and the talking heads stuff is boring. I don’t read Morrison on Superman to get a reference to Steel before he’s Steel.

The art—Morales and Anderson—does generally hold up throughout though.

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Superman 1 (November 2011)

Posted on 29 September 2011 | Leave a comment

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The “Ultimatizing” of the DC relaunch continues… with Samuel L. Jackson as the new Morgan Edge. Sorry, cheap shot, but Superman is the first book where there’s an effort to make the DCU more diverse.

I was looking forward to this comic because I figured George Perez could write a decent Superman comic and he does. There are some problems with the newspaper copy he uses as a narrative device (it’s a poorly written newspaper article) and then there’s the art, but otherwise, it’s good.

The art isn’t Perez’s fault. While he gets the breakdown credit, Jesus Merino handles the heavy lifting and Merino’s… Well, he’s problematic.

The action is all good—but I assume it was broken down. The problem is with the regular stuff. Merino’s people look terrible. He doesn’t draw the human head properly.

Still, that problem aside, Perez’s respectful scripting makes Superman a somewhat homely success.

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Action Comics 1 (November 2011)

Posted on 7 September 2011 | 1 Comment

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Well, this one is certainly disappointing.

Morrison’s fresh take on Superman—a young Superman, so young he’s practically just Superboy without Krypto—is problematic. But it’s the first issue and one would usually give Morrison time to get things sorted.

But Action doesn’t remind of All-Star or anything good Morrison’s written. In fact, it doesn’t remind of Morrison at all.

It reads like a politically minded Geoff Johns comic book, down to Morrison regurgitating Johns’s Superman: Secret Origin with General Lane stepping in for Thunderbolt Ross. I think Lane’s in the new movie as a bad guy… one can feel the corporate synergy at work. Especially since Morrison rips off the ending of Batman Begins for this issue’s action finale.

And what’s up with Rags Morales? He’s lazy when it comes to detail. There’s the pretense of it, but not the substance.

Action’s off to a bad start.

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DC Retroactive: Superman – The ’90s 1 (October 2011)

Posted on 1 September 2011 | Leave a comment

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I didn’t even know Louise Simonson wrote Superman in the nineties because, as I understood it, Superman was awful in the nineties until the late nineties.

If this Retroactive issue is any indication, Simonson’s Superman is pretty miserable.

Forgetting about how stupid a bunch of the details are—Cadmus Project, Underworlders, I mean… come on, Superman needs a supporting cast but not a silly one with a bunch of complicated mythology—Simonson relies almost entirely on expository dialogue. Simonson’s writing is slow, pointless and mercilessly dense.

But the writing isn’t even the issue’s worst part—Jon Bogdanove’s art is atrocious. While his layouts are fine—maybe even good in the Daily Planet newsroom scenes especially—the finished product is not. Bogdanove has no sense of scale—Clark’s 5’2”, shorter than the Guardian and sometimes Lois, buildings are double the size of cars, and so on.

This issue’s just a stinker.

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DC Retroactive: Superman – The ’80s 1 (October 2011)

Posted on 12 August 2011 | Leave a comment

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What a terrible comic book. Marv Wolfman’s writing is so lame, I’ll never even have time to mention how Sergio Cariello isn’t a particularly good artist.

So, if you’re unaware, Crisis on Infinite Earths is the most important thing in the world and Wolfman wrote it. If you are unaware, this comic will let you know. Not only is it the most important thing, nothing about Superman himself is particularly important. He gets visited by the Ghost of Christmas Future, who shows him every major DC event in the next twenty years. It means Wolfman doesn’t have to write an actual story for Superman, just a bunch of flash forwards.

Well, he does write a little stuff set in the eighties. An incredibly dumb Galactus rip-off shows up and Superman tries to fight him.

This issue’s so bad… it makes me never want to read a Wolfman comic again.

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DC Retroactive: Superman – The ’70s 1 (September 2011)

Posted on 4 August 2011 | Leave a comment

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Martin Pasko knows how to write a good Superman story. Again, not up enough on seventies Superman to know how accurate a flashback issue he writes, but it’s a darn good comic anyway. Pasko brings humanity to the all-powerful character, both in the plot and how he ties it to Superman’s actions.

The stuff with Lois Lane–they’re dating somewhat steady here, but on unstable ground–is absolutely fantastic. Pasko’s dialogue and pacing are also particularly impressive. He fits a lot into the pages, sometimes so much penciller Eduardo Barreto has trouble fitting it all in.

Now, I’m generally familiar with Barreto but the effect Christian Duce’s inks have on the pencils are stunning. Barreto’s clear ability is still there, but the inks give this retro Superman a modern style. It’s beautiful superhero art.

Superman‘s easily DC’s best Retroactive so far. I wish this team did a regular series.

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Marvel Treasury Edition 28 (July 1981)

Posted on 4 July 2011 | Leave a comment

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Was Jim Shooter paying himself by the word, because I don’t think I’ve ever read more exposition in a comic book. It’s terrible exposition too, but I suppose the sentences are grammatically correct. For the most part.

But what I can’t figure out is the artwork. The combination of John Buscema on pencils and Joe Sinnott on inks produces one of the worst eighties comic books I can remember seeing. Superman’s figure is strangely bulky, with a little head. But the facial features on everyone are awful. It’s a hideous thing to read.

The story concerns Dr. Doom trying again to take over the world, which is boring. The interesting stuff is Clark working at the Bugle and Peter working at the Planet. They should do a series. But not by Shooter, who makes Peter constantly horny.

Interesting to see the black chick after Clark though.

It’s an awful comic.

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Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man (January 1976)

Posted on 30 June 2011 | 2 Comments

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It’s too bad this one doesn’t work out better, but at least it fails in an interesting way. Superman and Spider-Man simply can’t work together. It’s not so much the problems with them not matching powers—Lex Luthor zaps Spidey with some red Kryptonite powers to even the odds at one point—it’s the characters themselves, they’re too different.

The comic’s split into four parts. First is a Superman prologue, then a Spidey, then Doctor Octopus and Lex teaming up before the culminating team-up between Spidey and Superman. The first three parts work great. The fourth part barely works at all. Peter Parker and Lois Lane meeting up, professionally, it works great. Morgan Edge and Jonah getting hammered? Also great.

Superman calling Spidey “web-slinger?” Not great. Though Spidey gets away with calling him “Supes.”

The art hodgepodge makes it visually interesting, but not good.

It’s sadly charmless.

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Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton 1 (May 2010)

Posted on 12 March 2011 | 1 Comment

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Does DC have any ideas? I mean, any whatsoever? Reading this comic, it seems like the last three crises were just used—as far as Superman is concerned—to reboot Zod as a villain. I mean, he’s a psycho bad guy again here. It’s so incredibly tired at this point, who do they think cares?

Even when the mystery supervillain shows up at the end, it’s another “who cares” moment. I know James Robinson gets geek cred for Starman and Golden Age but he’s the guy who wrote The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie. Maybe he’s past his prime.

Speaking of past his prime… what happened to Pete Woods? I used to love his work and here, it’s so polished and shiny there’s no personality (or particular detail). Maybe he’s just overworked.

It’s a weak, dumb comic… Robinson can’t even write a good “This is a job for Superman” moment.

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Superman/Batman 75 (October 2010)

Posted on 19 February 2011 | Leave a comment

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Levitz wraps up the arc with a Legion of Super-Heroes story guest starring Batman. Superman’s in a panel or two. Lex’s planet has paid-off (in the future), with a Kryptonite-infused Lex clone going through history after Superman (and Superboy).

The story’s unpredictable and funny. And Ordway’s mostly just drawing, not trying to look painted, so the art’s much better.

The rest of the issue is two-page anniversary stories.

Seagle and Kristiansen’s is pointless self-indulgence. Tucci’s actually funny. Hughes does a poster; great art, of course. The big surprise is the Krul one (with Manapul on the art). The writing’s actually funny. Thompson’s got a couple pinups. Green and Johnson (art by Davis and Albuquerque) are unmemorable.

Rouleau’s got a fantastic one, so do Azzarello and Bermejo.

Finch and Williams’s one is atrociously written.

Tomasi and Ha’s entry is pointless but looks nice.

Excellent feature though.

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Superman/Batman 74 (September 2010)

Posted on 19 February 2011 | Leave a comment

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Ordway tones down the new style here a little and this issue has the best art of the arc. Levitz also changes gears, totally removing Lois Lane and revealing why Lex is so important.

Well, actually, he already revealed Lex’s importance, he just didn’t reveal the connection. This issue doesn’t help in that regard. While Lex did bankroll the people to kidnap Lois, apparently he didn’t want them to burn her alive. And then he’s messing around a lot in Gotham….

The issue ends with Lex revealed (mostly) and Superman and Batman both giving him a stern talking to.

Levitz doesn’t have a single scene with Superman and Batman together–there’s a panel at the end–and the issue just feels generally off. The pacing’s weak–not much happens, with an emphasis on showing Lex’s grand plan on the logistical scale.

It’s not a disappointment, just a waste of time.

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