Superman, New comics

New comics!

Shadecraft 1

Joe Henderson and Lee Garbett, the creative team of the excellent Skyward; Of course I was going to pick this up!  It’s too early to tell much of anything right now (Shadows are attacking girl, girl’s brother who’s in a coma fights them in his own shadow form), but I’m certainly in for the ride. 

Black Cat 4

Jed MacKay’s just a really good writer, even in this slightish story starring a possible future antagonist.  

Batman/Catwoman 4

Strange Adventures 9

I love Tom King, but I really wish I could enjoy his series as individual issues rather than 12-issue epics.  The gap between issues really prevents me from enjoying all the subtleties and continuity in these stories.  Waiting for the re-read to really evaluate these.  

Seven Secrets 7

Just a little bit more origin story for Caspar.  (I had to look up his name.  Not the best sign.)  Still enjoyable.

Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity 8

It feels like this series has been going on forever.  Quick search reveals...October 2019.  Wow, this is older than my daughter, for just 8 issues.  Anyway, Harley doesn’t become a Joker disciple, nor does she go crazy.  That’s all I really wanted from this, so yay.  The ending’s a total let down (she catches him, he goes to jail, she vows to kill future bad guys), but this was still worth the buy.  WIll see if it holds up.  

Superman: Man of Steel 18-19

Superman 74-75

Adventures of Superman 497

Action Comics 684

Justice League America 69

The storyline that kicked off gimmick events at DC - This led to Knightfall (Batman), Emerald Twilight (Green Lantern), Terminal Velocity (Flash), whatever the death of Green Arrow was called, and Wonder Woman’s short biker chick phase.

There’s not much to talk about here - Doomsday pounds on Superman and the Justice League for seven issues.  Doomsday’s lack of origin doesn’t bother me so much, nor does the out-of-nowhere nature of his appearance.  That part of it actually works for me - a lot of people don’t see their deaths coming, and neither did Superman.  As Ron Burgundy says, 

With the decreasing number of panels per issue, the reduced number of images that can be devoted to storytelling means that the fight goes by really quickly.  It leads to my main problem with the arc - Superman really shouldn’t have been able to kill Doomsday.  Most of the story shows him getting his ass kicked.  He gets a few shots in, but given how much Doomsday’s strength has been touted, there’s no way Superman wins this fight.

Still, this is a classic storyline, certainly worth reading and a lot more entertaining than some of the other arcs I listed above.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Action Comics 858-863

There’s something about Geoff Johns and Gary Frank.  They tell some beautiful stories together.  This one, where a powerless Superman travels to the future to help the Legion of Super-Heroes, isn’t quite as good as Secret Origins, but it’s pretty close.  Mark Waid’s the only other person who’s made me care about a Legion story as much as this one.  This is a frickin' good yarn.

This page reveal made me gasp with joy.

Frank's great, but that punch is drawn all wrong.

Brainy's interjection is priceless.

Such a sweet way to connect Superman's adventures across the years.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Action Comics 864-865

One issue that ties up loose ends from the Legion arc that I really don’t care about.  Another about the Toyman that screams “let’s give Gary Frank some time to draw the next storyline.”  Since I don’t have this complete run anyway, I don’t feel bad cutting these.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Action Comics 866-870

Maybe it’s because Superman’s been rebooted so many times that this death of Pa Kent had absolutely zero emotional effect on me.  And this Brainiac lacked any kind of menace.  Good thing they gave Frank time to draw this, because it keeps the less-good-than-usual Johns writing from tanking the rating.  

As always, Frank's Clark is perfect.

Makes no sense from a logistic POV, but I still love it.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Superman 677-678

Tried these out because James Robinson was spectacular on Starman.  He’s not as good here.  I don’t know who Atlas is, but I don’t care in the slightest.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Boring (Cutting)

Superman

Superman 166-167

Perfectly fine issues, worth keeping for the Ed McGuinness art.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Superman 171-173

Adventures of Superman 593, 595

Superman: Man of Steel 115-116

Action Comics 780-781

Our Worlds at War: Green Lantern 1

Our Worlds at War: Batman 1

Our Worlds at War: JLA 1

Our Worlds at War: Nightwing 1

Our Worlds at War: JSA 1

Our Worlds at War: Wonder Woman 1

Our Worlds at War: Flash 1

Wonder Woman 172

Hoo boy, Our Worlds at War.  I remembered this being pretty good, a massive epic with some fun action.  Instead, I return to find it a jumbled mishmash of scenes, with no coherence, no throughline, and no stakes, despite its desperate efforts to instill any kind of emotional heft to the story.  Hippolyta’s death is depicted with horrible storytelling, it’s impossible to tell what’s happening.  And don’t get me started with the interminable OWAW: WW issue; Phil Jimenez shoehorns the entire history of Wonder Woman into a single continuity.  I don’t know if he succeeded or not, because I was bored out of my mind.  His art may be the bee’s knees, but I still haven’t found a single instance where I don’t find his writing tedious as purgatory.

I can’t believe past me made it this far into the event before quitting.  It’s wretched.  Cutting it all.

The only two highlights of the whole thing: An Adam Hughes cover...

...and a sweet Stefano Gaudiano Batman pose.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice (Batman), Fine (JSA), a ton of Didn’t Sucks, a Boring, a couple Stupids, and one Hated (Wonder Woman)

A majorly random assortment of Superman from here on out.  No idea how past me decided what to buy.

Superman 174, 178, 182, 183

Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness finish out their run with some nice stories - Lex finds out Clark Kent is Superman (took him long enough) and Perry White fires Clark from the Daily Planet (it’s all a clever ruse).  Ultimately, Loeb never reaches the heights of For All Seasons, and it’s McGuinness’s art that really carries the day.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Superman 185

A so-so issue that’s redeemed by the imagery of Superman playing baseball with a team of kids.

Brent Anderson does a fine job here...

...but I would love to see Tim Sale's take on this scene.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Superman 190-191

Steven Seagle starts his run with Scott McDaniel.  (Is there any DC character he hasn’t drawn?)

It’s not bad, just a little generic.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes (No for 191)

Rating: Nice (Didn’t suck for 191, cutting)

Adventures of Superman 596

Superman deals with the aftermath of OWAW.  A nice quiet issue.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Adventures of Superman 618

A horribly unfun Mxyzptlk issue.  A fast cut.

Regret buying: Yes

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Hated (Cut)

Superman: Man of Steel 129

Once again, the much maligned Chuck Austen turns in pretty darn good DC comic.  (His Marvel work definitely not as good.)  He gets to the humanity of Superman here, just as he did in the Pain of the Gods arc.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Action Comics 791, 792, 796, 800

A number of impressive issues here that, like that Austen issue, focus on the man and not the super. 

791 - High school Clark asks a social pariah to prom.

792 - Clark conducts a search for the kiosk guy who sells him the newspaper after he goes missing, someone no one else would miss.  

What a wonderful encapsulation of their relationship.

796 - Manchester Black returns.  It sucks all the way up until the end, which manages to turn it all around.

800 - Basically another retelling of Superman’s origin, but writer Joe Kelly intersperses it with a number of vignettes (drawn by some amazing artists) showing how Superman inspires others.  Pretty heartwarming.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good (Nice for 796)

Superman

Action Comics 687-692

Superman: Man of Steel 22-26

Superman 78-82

Adventures of Superman 501-505

Reign of the Supermen!  Skipping Death of Superman because once again, I’m somehow missing the last two issues of that arc.  (Seriously, where could they have gone?)  Waiting for the trade to come in the mail.

Anyway, this is one of the first big events that I read when I started collecting.  Overhearing a kid talk about it at my new school is how I met my best friend.  (I gave him an omnibus version of this as a groomsman gift at my wedding.)  

So it’s hard to grade this without rose-colored glasses.  But at the end of the day, it’s still a decent story.  Back then, naive me didn’t know if Superman was going to come back.  I didn’t know Reign was an arc, not the new status quo.  It was fun meet each of the four Supermen and not know what was going to happen.

In the re-read, it holds up pretty well.  It’s impressive how many elements have remained a part of the ongoing DCU - Superboy and Steel have gone on to play major roles; The destruction of Coast City led to the fall of Hal Jordan, and the ramifications of that have clearly been monumental.  And the whole thing stands up as a cohesive, coherent story.  (Which, judging from the upcoming Our Worlds at War, is surprisingly harder to accomplish than you’d think.)

There’s some standout art, too.  Dan Jurgens draws an iconic Superman, and whoda thought that Jon Bogdanove, so horrible on X-Factor and ho-hum on FF vs X-Men, would be so perfect for the Man of Steel?

Black Iron (Super)Man.  Love it.

Dan Jurgens w/ his old school Superman.

And of course Tom Grummett on Superboy.  No wonder he would go on to draw Conner Kent’s first solo title, his rendition is still the iconic look.  (Way better than black t-shirt Conner…)

Everything you need to know about Superboy in his debut panel.

His Superman is pretty sweet too.

I'm a sucker for a good flying kiss scene.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Superman: Man of Steel 30, 37

A couple of random issues: A slugfest with Lobo and an encounter with Batmen through time.  Bogdanove is the star (again, who’d have thunk it?), doing impressive imitations of a slew of legendary Batman artists.

That's Kane, Miller, and Adams he's doing right there.  Not bad.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Superman 151-160, 162

The beginning of Jeph Loeb’s very long run on this title, mostly with the wonderful art of Ed McGuinness.  I’ve said many times that Loeb’s the master of internal monologues, and he continues that streak here.  (Though he gets a little too cute with the issue-long recitations of famous speeches; He uses the Gettysburg Address, Kennedy’s inaugural, and FDR’s Pearl Harbor speech.) 

Both highlights are Jimmy scenes:

Issue 160 is trash.  (Bizarro.  I need say no more.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes (No for 160)

Rating: Nice (Stupid for 160, cutting)

Action Comics 760-766, 768, 775

Joe Kelly starts his time on Superman’s sister title alongside Loeb.  It’s a lot more mercurial, with massive swings in quality.

Highlights include: Issue 761: Superman and Wonder Woman spending a thousand years in Valhalla fighting a war against demons, and they never hook up.  One the one hand, I love what that says about Clark and his fidelity to Lois.  On the other hand, I’m not sure I buy it at all.  I don’t know where I come down on the believability of it, and that’s why I love the issue.  

Lois is amazing, but her insecurity is understandable.

After a thousand years?  Really?

Issue 766: Batman helps Superman find the kidnapped Lois.  An excellent entry in the “highlight the differences between Bats and Supes to show how much they respect each other” canon.  

I wish Cary Nord did a better job w/ the art.

Issue 775: The classic “What’s so funny about Truth, Justice, and the American Way?” issue.  Superman versus Kelly’s thinly veiled Authority.  It’s really that good.  I don’t subscribe to the Superman/Batman “I don’t kill” ethos (seriously, Joker should have died years ago), but Kelly convinces me that Superman still has a place in this day and age where the Authority is so extremely popular with its cynical, do-what-we-want, take-no-prisoners attitude.  

Lowlights: Something with Joker showing up in Metropolis and the time where Mary and Captain Marvel Jr go all kooky.  Overall, most of these issues are getting cut.  But, man, those good issues are some of my favorite Superman issues.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No (Yes for 761, 766, 775)

Would read again: No (Yes for 761, 764, 766, 775)

Rating: Really good (766, 775), Good (761), Fine (761(cutting), 764), Boring (762, 763, 765, cutting all), Stupid (768, cutting)

Supergirl, Adventures of Superman Annual, Superboy Annual

I just moved all the comics I've read so far for this project up to the attic. (Needed to clear out some space.)

It's weird having my progress visualized as 14 cardboard boxes.

Supergirl 1-2

This title follows the re-introduction of Kara to the DCU in Superman/Batman, also written by Jeph Loeb.  I can’t remember what happened to negate all the Kara Zor-El stories before that, but whatever.  I’ll roll with it.

As with the Superboy stories I read yesterday, these issue deal with a protagonist looking to discover who she is, where she fits into this world, and how to deal with the pressure of wearing that “S” across her chest.  Loeb does an adequate job, but I’m disappointed that each of these issues centers around the tired “misunderstanding between heroes leads to fight” plot device. Feels like filler.

Ian Churchill’s art is as excellent as it usually is.  (That’s a lot of ‘is’ and ‘as.’) A lot of Jim Lee influence, but distinctly Churchill (the non-Marineman Churchill).  (Four ‘Churchill’s in four sentences.  I’m breaking all the rules.)

That skirt is so impractical.

Fine for what it is, but I don’t need to read more, and past-me seems to have agreed.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Adventures of Superman Annual 6

Superboy Annual 1

I can’t imagine why I bought this two-part story back in high school.  It’s not like the Elseworlds theme that governed all the annuals that year got me to buy any other titles.  The art, while fine, doesn’t particularly stand out. (Not even the Mike Mignola cover, I’ve never been the biggest fan of his.”)

But for all that, I’m super glad that I did.  This story by Karl Kesel hits all the alternate reality sweet spots, and I have a blast every time I read it.  

1. Dystopian future where the heroes have been scared into hiding.
2. Key death of a loved one convinces Superman it’s not worth the fight.
3. Batman continues to fight alone.  
4. The remnants of humanity convince the heroes to return.
5. Dead loved one may not be dead after all.
6. Assembled heroes mount one last all-or-nothing attack on the bad guys.
7. Many of them die.
8. The heroes win, ushering a new era of peace and prosperity.

Nothing original there, but it’s so well executed that I never get sick of it.  And the generic 90’s art somehow works to the benefit of the story instead of against it.  (Greg Luzniak and Brock Hor are the pencillers. I’ve never heard of Hor before or after this.  A quick search shows that he drew two Ultraverse issues.)

Nice work by Hor.  I love the black additions to her costume.

This is one of those random gems that no one remembers.  Give it a try if you have the chance.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good