Superman Books

Superman: Red Son (Elseworlds)

Mark Millar

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 57 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Kind of Boring 2 out of 5 stars.
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Normally, when I get my hands on one of these babies and I just cannot put it down. Not the case with this one. An Elseworlds story on what if Superman landed in the USSR instead? Certainly, this would make an intriguing story. Some of the differences include a new costume, Batman as a vigilante in USSR, Jimmy as a government spy, and Lois as wife of Lex Luthor. Some of these differences are self-explanatory, but others such as Batman being in USSR and Jimmy working for CIA is not really explained. Add to also, really boring writing (took me several sittings to finish it) and not too interesting storylines and you get three snoozefest stories.

The first story on Luthor creating Bizarro to battle Superman is very uninteresting. Luthor is hired by US Govt to counteract the Superman threat and is considered a hero in this book.

The second story is somewhat more interesting as Batman teams up with Luthor in bringing down the man of steel. I really enjoy how they do this and Batman's costume is pretty nice, but again, there is no explanation to why he is here in this country.

Third story is suppose to be epic as the last and final assault launched by the US to destroy Superman. Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Lex, attack at the same time. However, the final climatic moment is very weak and quite confusing. And the epilogue is not really as brilliant as one would think, probably tiresome as this book is too long and boring.

The only saving grace is the artwork which resembles propaganda-ish cartoon art which is very popular in communist countries. The Wonder Woman in this book is one of the best and most accurate I ever seen.

Editorial Review:

This CD Contains a Collection of Superman Radio Shows.

All Star Superman, Vol. 1

Grant Morrison

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Man of Steel 4 out of 5 stars.
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I need to preface this with an explanation of how much I hate Superman. It's a stupid idea for a comic, there's no drama, no worry over whether or not he'll get hurt, admittedly it was invaluable to comics, but it's no longer relevant.
However, this book is one of three series starring Superman that I actually enjoyed (the other two being Superman: Red Son and The Death of Superman). There's a little bit of cliche in it, but this series seems to be a little more adult, more up-to-date.
In otherwords, even if you don't like Superman, this would be one to pick up.

Editorial Review:

Two of the comics industry's top creative talents, writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, the acclaimed team behind JLA: EARTH 2, reunite to redefine Superman based on the timeless, essential iconic elements that everyone knows about the Man of Steel.

In the first volume, the World's Greatest Super-Hero rescues a doomed group of astronauts on the surface of the sun when he's exposed to massive amounts of solar radiation no one could possibly anticipate how he'll be affected - except Lex Luthor!

Superman: Last Son

Richard Donner, Geoff Johns

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

it's a good time to be a superman fan 4 out of 5 stars.
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it's not easy to write a good superman story, but this here is a good one. a fairly quick but satisfying read with a few twists and a formidable challenge thrown superman's way. it's impossible to tell which bits come from johns and which from donner, but the collaboration works. as for the art, looking at previews, i thought we were in for some sloppy work by adam kubert, as he tends to produce from time to time (which is frustrating for an artist of his caliber), and it's definitely on the loose side, but it works. it's energetic, tells the story nicely, and it has the benefit of some of the nicest coloring i've seen in recent memory. the foreground figures are inked and colored in the usual modern style, but the backgrounds are done in pencil and colored with a much softer, almost watercolor, palette. and the result is really fantastic. this series was delayed an incredibly long time, i believe due to kubert's sluggish pace, but i didn't feel cheated in the end. the thing looks great, and it was a lot of fun (complete with a 3D section). superman's in good hands with geoff johns.

The Death of Superman

Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, Jon Bogdanove, Tom Grummett, Jackson Guice, Brett Breeding, Rick Burchett, Doug Hazelwood, Dennis Janke, Denis Rodier

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 72 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A death without dignity or respect 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

It's taken a long time for comics to get where they are today. At the present, comics are widely regarded as a serious art form, although the medium still has a long way to go before everyone buys that. It's true, though. Unfortunately, when most people think of comics, they think of the original comics from the '40s, '50s, and '60s, back when Batman and Robin were fighting "Blockbuster," a villain who could kill Batman with his flashlight, or when Lois Lane could only watch helplessly as Superman was inexplicably transformed into a tree. Those comics were ridiculous. They couldn't help it -- I mean, that's what comics were. No one thought of pushing it farther. But then, in the 1970s, the writers tried pushing things forward a bit. The turning point: 1986, when Frank Miller's legendary "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" was published to ecstatic praise and major public attention. That book was a structured, clever, thoughtful, and complex narrative that proved comics could be more than pretty adventures for kids. Later that year, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons concocted "Watchmen." "Watchmen" was not only the best comic book of all time, but one of the best novels of the 20th century, even winding up on TIME magazine's list of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century. Since then, the medium has continued to produce thought-provoking, intellectual, challenging pieces of work -- for the most part.

Which is why "The Death of Superman," which collects issues published from October to November of 2002, is so despicable. Heralded as the best-selling graphic novel of all time (which is often challenged by fans; a more likely candidate is "Arkham Asylum," published in 1989), "The Death of Superman" arc caused a massive stir when it was being published. News agencies around the globe covered the news. DC Comics was killing the Man of Steel, the original comic book superhero, for good (or so people thought). So imagine the disappointment and outrage when, a little over half a year later, Superman was resurrected. Turns out he was able to harness the sun's rays to "hibernate" during his death.

Personally, I think killing Superman is an awful, awful idea. To kill Batman makes sense. Batman is human, after all, and with his shenanigans it wouldn't be that surprising if someone finally struck down the Dark Knight. But Superman is not human. He is not someone plagued with ordinary human problems. He is a god. Most importantly, he is hope. He had been the shining beacon of hope for legions of comic fans young and old since debuting in 1939. DC didn't care. To generate more publicity for their comics, which were losing readers, they decided to kill him off. DC killed off hope. There is little that they could have done that would be more cruel.

They went even farther, though. It's one thing to give a superhero a fitting death, or even a vaguely plausible one. But "The Death of Superman" is brainless rubbish. Out of the blue, some kind of alien juggernaut (whose origins aren't addressed during this arc), nicknamed "Doomsday," appears on Earth and proceeds to destroy everything in his path without even breaking a sweat. He's unstoppable. He easily wipes out the Justice League, and then just keeps truckin' to Metropolis, where, as Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, and the Kents watch, Doomsday strikes down Superman. Of course, Superman kills Doomsday in the process -- but not until Doomsday has inexplicably destroyed Superman.

Now, it would have been one thing to have Lex Luthor, Braniac, or one of the classic Superman villains come up with some devious plan to get rid of Superman. Instead, the writers created a villain out of nowhere, offering no explanation whatsoever as to how this random alien is able to easily kill Superman, and apparently feeling one wasn't necessary. Doomsday is a creation without any sort of intricacy or thought put into him. He was created solely to wipe out Superman in a way that wouldn't allow people to ask questions. As if that's not bad enough, along the way we have to put up with absurdly bad writing, which harkens back to the comic days of old. Back then, they didn't know any better. They were doing their best. By 1992, after the publication of "Dark Knight Returns," "Watchmen," or any comics like those, they should have known better.

For comic fans, "The Death of Superman" is required reading. After all, Superman dies. But it won't be an easy read. It's painful, dull, and often laughably bad. Its insulting simplicity and stupidity should make any true Superman fan quake with rage. Because the truth is, if books like "The Dark Knight Returns" or "Watchmen" moved the medium ahead 60 years, then comics like "The Death of Superman" set the medium back a solid 30 years anyway. It's just like superhero movies. Yeah, you can have an "X2" or "Spider-Man 2" that pushes the genre ahead, or even something like "The Dark Knight," which erases the concept of "genre" completely. But then you can have something like "Catwoman" or "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace," and, well, after those, it's going to get a little harder to take superhero movies seriously. Ultimately, "The Death of Superman" is contemptible for its inexcusable execution, but it is truly despicable for doing one of the worst things human beings can do: exterminate hope.

Editorial Review:

The bestselling edition that tells the staggering story of Superman's demise has been one of DC's best sellers since its release in January, 1992. THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN, the opening volume of the saga of Superman's death and rebirth, introduced the unstoppable death dealer known as Doomsday. Graphic novel format.

All Star Superman, Vol. 2

Grant Morrison

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The Return of Superman

Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Roger Stern, Louise Simonson, Gerard Jones

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Superman is Back. 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The Return of Superman is a good book with lots of battles and destruction. Sometimes it can get cheesy but it's still good. It's a great buy since you get about 500 pages for a good price. When you start reading it and get to the middle,you start to miss the true Man Of Steel. When Superman finally comes back there's a huge battle that is really fun to read and the ending is really good. This book is really fun to read and it doesn't dissapoint.

ENTERTAINING EPIC IS GREAT FUN 4 out of 5 stars.
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Civil War. Infinite Crisis. And now World War Hulk. These are excuses for comic books companies to make big $$$$ with some earth shattering all encompassing epic that usually affects the whole comic universe. Trouble is they rarely gel and too many of the sundry titles are weak and frivilous. Well DC just about get it right with this mammoth epic, which is suprisingly cohesive and pretty damn exciting throughout. The whole epic structure is very well done with buckets of action every issue and a terrifically huge climax to tie it all together.

Editorial Review:

This massive book is the finale to the saga of the death and rebirth of Superman, including the final fate of the four impostors who attempted to take his place, including Steel and Superboy. This is the definitive volume for all fans of Superman.

World Without a Superman

Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Jerry Ordway

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Graphic SF Reader 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is the middle section of the Death and Life of Superman, or whatever you want to call that particular story.

Metropolis and the rest of the world are having problems coming to terms with the fact that he is gone.

Others see his body as a resource they can use in their schemes.

Brilliantly Written and Drawn 5 out of 5 stars.
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I've always been a fan of Superman on film and television, and after recently watching the new Superman:Doomsday animated movie and it's bonus features I was compelled to go back and read the original comics.

I picked up The Death of Superman, World Without a Superman, The Return of Superman, and Superman:Doomsday.

Death is amazing, the way it was mapped out was absolutely brilliant from the writing and artist teams.

But, World Without a Superman to me is so much more powerful. It picks up right where Death of Superman ends. Lois is in the street, holding Clark as he dies.

It took me a few days to read, but every time I sat down to read, I couldn't help but start crying.

It was so heartbreaking. Not just for Lois and the Kents, although that was just so sad, silently grieving for their love and son. But for the other heroes, and the people of the world that Superman left behind. There are stories of people reminiscing about the time Superman saved their lives, and a kid feeling survivor's remorse, just wanting to have a chance to tell Superman, Thank you.

It was beautiful, and touching, and just so powerful. Tears streaming down my face, sobs even at times. Even now writing this I'm getting a little misty eyed.

I was pretty young when these stories originally came out, but I wish now that I had been reading them each week as they were coming out.

I highly recommend the entire series for any Superman fan. This is what Superman is all about, and I hope that someday a live action movie can do it justice.

Editorial Review:

This collection of the enormously successful "Funeral for a Friend" storyline recounts the aftermath of the death of the Man of Steel and his startling reemergence from beyond the grave. This volume guest-stars the Justice League, Supergirl, and others, and serves as the middle section of the saga that begins in THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN and concludes in THE RETURN OF SUPERMAN. Graphic novel format.

Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes

Geoff Johns

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Stuff Heroes Are Made Of 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

When I was a kid growing up, the Legion of Super-Heroes was one of my favorite comics ideas. They debuted in issues of SUPERBOY as a group of super teens from the 30th century. At first there was only Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, and Saturn Girl. But dozens of others joined over the years.

I wasn't the only comics fan taken with the idea of a club of teen superheroes. The demand for more adventures with the Legion flooded the offices of DC Comics. Pretty soon, when Superboy was published in Adventure Comics, the Legion of Super-Heroes ran as a back-up feature that eventually pushed the Boy of Steel out of his own comic.

The Legion flight rings were totally cool and gave everyone the power of flight. That way each Legionnaire could have his or her own unique power in addition to the ability to fly. Some of the powers were inevitable: Invisible Kid (yeah, you know this one), Ultra Boy (kind of like Superboy only limited to using one power at a time), Chameleon Boy (shape-shifter), Colossal Boy (yep, he grows), Shrinking Violet (yep, she shrinks), and others. Karate Kid came about because Kato was on the Green Hornet and martial arts claimed a lot of attention.

Of course, there was always Matter-Eater Lad, who had the super ability to eat anything. Now there's a power to write home about!

Anyway, comics fans were consumed with interest in this teen organization. However, as comics turned bleaker, so too did the Legion. We got some really dark stories there for a while. Where the Legion flourished while a colorful, space-crossing, force for good, they tended to languish as teens of retribution and confusion.

The Legion just wasn't meant for all that negativity. In my opinion. The Legion is supposed to be about being heroic, larger than life (not just Colossal Boy), and fighting the good fight. Being dark really limited their strengths. Kind of like when the Metal Men went on the run and disguised themselves as humans. Or when the X-Men split up.

The Legion came back under Mark Waid in a new incarnation, but just didn't click as well as I'd hoped it would. I liked the issues, but the old vitality just wasn't the same. The comics just weren't as fun. Even though they weren't dark, they were a tad too serious, too incestuous in scope.

Geoff Johns is currently writing Action Comics, and he came up with a great story for an arc that became this graphic novel. What if, in the 31st century, the legend of Superman became the thing that suddenly divided the United Planets and nearly resulted in an intergalactic war?

Not only that, but Johns finds a way to put the future earth under a red sun, taking Superman's powers away and reducing him just to the flight ring's ability to fly. Would he still be Superman?

I was blown away by the concepts, but having watched Johns handle so many characters with aplomb in the past, I knew I was in good hands. The story starts with a simple conceit: that the worlds are polarizing, and Earth has become xenophobic to the degree that they rewrote Superman's history. According to the new popular legend, Clark Kent was just an earth man given mighty powers by the planet to become her protector.

Superman, who had once been the influence that first brought the Legion together, was now the reason the United Planets treaties were on the verge of total failure. Now there's a story.

But Johns doesn't stop with merely an excellent story. While he's busy turning the Superman mythos on their head, he reaches back into the past and brings forward everything that was great about the Legion. All the interplay, the character backgrounds, the loyalty, everything that made the Legion like no other comic book around, is here again in these pages. Including the Legion of Substitute Heroes. This just wouldn't have been the perfect story without them.

Not only that, but Johns again takes a stand to remind us what Superman is all about and what makes that character so unique. I loved the book. Loved the story and loved the homage to so much of the wonder I grew up with all those years ago.

Gary Frank's art took a little getting used to at first, but he won me over within a few pages. It just looked different than anything I was used to in the Legion, too realistic, then he pulled me into that futuristic world in a way that I hadn't been there before.

If you haven't read comics in a long time, Geoff Johns and SUPERMAN AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES are the strongest reasons I know to come back to believing teens can fly.

Superman/Batman Vol. 4: Vengeance

Jeph Loeb

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Jeph Loeb's swan song, thankfully 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Up until this storyarc, I pretty much enjoyed Jeph Loeb's run on the high selling Superman/Batman series, but sadly, Loeb's final arc on the title is just loaded with plot holes and hard to understand. Vengeance finds a group called the Maximums hunting down Superman and Batman because they believe the two iconic heroes murdered one of their own. Naturally, this is not the case, and soon enough Bizarro is on the scene, along with "Batzarro" (I kid you not), the Joker, and Mr. Mxyzptlk. What happens next in Vengeance is incredibly hard to follow as Loeb appears to shift things into high gear, but things never take off. His renditions of Supes and Bats are more wooden here than ever before, and the story inconsistencies and additional appearances out of nowhere just boggle the mind. Ed McGuinness, who teamed with Loeb when Superman/Batman launched, returns to lend his pencil work with Dexter Vines on inks, may be too cartoony for some, but it's undoubtedly the highlight of this TPB. This ended up being Loeb's last arc on the title before taking work once again with Marvel, so hopefully the otherwise talented and celebrated writer has had his batteries recharged.

Editorial Review:

The original superstar team of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness return for one of the most talked about storylines of the year.

The fourth volume of the enormously popular SUPERMAN/BATMAN series finds our heroes confronting a new challenge: The Maximums, a group of super-heroes closely tied to the U.S. Government. Someone has killed one of their team, and the Maximums are on the hunt for the murderer. The trouble is, there are two names on the top of their list: Superman and Batman!

Superman/Batman: The Search for Kryptonite

Michael Green, Mike Johnson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

With friends like these... 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

After yet another perilous encounter involving the deadly substance kryptonite, Superman decides to enlist the aid of his World's Finest buddy Batman to help him ferret out the nasty and malicious element in order to hopefully get rid of his natural Achilles' heel once and for all. However these two men are about to be in for quite a revelation. Kryptonite is everywhere, from massive chunks the size of small mountains to tiny dust particles of microscopic proportions, in all of its haunting and paradoxical beauty. The sad irony not lost on Superman is that the only remnants of the revered planet of his birth are now cruelly lethal to him on his adopted home planet. Unfortunately this is just the tip of the kryptonite iceberg, as more unexpected obstacles are to follow. To their surprise, not everyone sees the value of their arduous quest, most specifically the new Aquaman and two other mysterious players, one predictable and the other undoubtedly not. Expediency can certainly make for strange bedfellows, and while this peculiar pairing may be the regrettable result of a symbiotic relationship more governed by happenstance than design, the shameful consequences are the same nonetheless. Whether or not the rationale is to safeguard the world against future possibilities of Superman going "rogue" or more pragmatic purposes, no measures are inconceivable by them to deter our intrepid heroes from accomplishing their honorable mission. The final reveal of the one astonishing adversary may come as a slight shock to some and be somewhat controversial, but the character is rarely used anyways, so some leeway and risks are warranted, especially considering their current role in the DCU. It could also pave the path for future storylines with more intricate and greater import. This trade ultimately ended up being an excellent example of illustrating how a plot that appears generic and unoriginal on the surface can be elevated above its inherent simplicity by solid and exceptional execution.