Rating:  -
This was recommended to me on The Daily Planet forum for people who are just getting started and interested in learning about Superman. It was recommended to me that I read this one FIRST as well as DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore. If you are wanting to learn the mythos of Superman this is the way to go.
Rating:  -
Well, I had this hard-hitting review planned until I saw the review by Mr. Klees which captured all of my points fairly well. So, with a nod to him, I will tone it down and echo some similar sentiments regarding this horrible "semi-reprint". SUPERMAN: THE GREATEST STORIES EVER TOLD is a rare example of DC comics royally screwing up a trade paperback.
In the late `80s, DC released a trade collection titled THE GREATEST SUPERMAN STORIES EVER TOLD (referred to hereafter as "V1.0"), which gave a fairly good representation of some of the best Superman stories of the past 50-odd years. I had no real interest in Superman before the mid-`80s, but after having become engrossed in John Byrne's post-Crisis revamp of the Man of Steel, I picked up the V1.0 trade with somewhat moderate hopes of tiding myself over. In short, I was amazed at how enjoyable and fun the classic Superman stories were. I eventually lost track of that copy, and as I've grown older and had a chance to read more and more Superman stories, I've realized that, while V1.0 may not truly be the greatest, it was a good attempt, and a nice book to have on the shelf.
When the recent "replacement" trade SUPERMAN: THE GREATEST STORIES EVER TOLD (referred to as "V2.0") was released, I unfortunately bought it without a second glance, as I was sure I had another chance to own those collected stories I enjoyed so much as a teen... WRONG!!! This book is an almost completely different collection. First off, it's cut by about 140 pages, yet costs five bucks more than V1.0. While it does retain a few stories from the first book, the missing stories are too much to ignore. DC's stated reasoning for this is that, since some of the stories in V1.0 had since been reprinted elsewhere, they didn't warrant repeating here. Well, how about this, DC: maybe the fact that they've been reprinted so often is an indication that they truly ARE great!
So, gone are many awe-inspiring or just-plain-fun tales from V1.0. In V2.0, they are replaced with stories such as "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way", which is really too recent to have proven itself as one of Superman's "greatest" stories, and, of course, Jim Steranko's much-hailed "Exile at the Edge of Eternity", which, while it does have some amazingly beautiful art, suffers from a hackneyed plot.
Luckily, after some searching, I was able to find a pristine copy of V1.0. They're still out there, so I recommend you invest a little time in finding that one instead of the unnecessary V2.0. The same thing has happened with the Dark Knight, as THE GREATEST BATMAN STORIES EVER TOLD has been replaced with BATMAN: THE GREATEST STORIES EVER TOLD. That original book is also not too hard to find. Happy hunting...
Rating:  -
Though some of the reviews below are referring to a book other than the one shown on this page, this review is for the recent revamping of the Greatest Superman Stories Collection. While the original collection, published in the late-80s to mark Superman's 50th anniversary, had its flaws (too many "imaginary stories and a history gap of 14 years from 1971 to 1985) it was still a good solid overview of the character's history. This new edition, which has both fewer pages and a higher price, jettisons most of the truly great stories collected in the original edition and replaces them with a largely uneven bunch.
Instead of Alan Moore's "For the Man Who Has Everything" and John Byrne's "The Secret Revealed", we get 2001's over-wrought "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way." According to someone at DC Comics, the Moore and Byrne stories were dropped in part because they'd been re-printed elsewhere since the original Greatest Stories book. If this is the case, I'd like someone to explain why the highly over-rated "Must There Be A Superman" (re-printed in the Superman in the Seventies" book) was one of the sole carry-overs from the first edition.
Lest anyone think I'm simply a curmudgeon who can't stand change, I'll happily concede that there are still great stories in the book (1988's "Return to Krypton" probably being the high-point). Still, as a collection that purports to represent the best of the character's history, it's a weak effort. Fans who want a true representation of the character's history will be better off seeking out a copy of the previous version. Even if you ignore the "imaginary stories", the page count is still higher, the price is likely to be lower. As for the entertainment value, it's like a match-up between Superman and Luthor. There's no question who's going to win.
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