Books : Superman Chronicles, Vol. 1

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- I'll collect them all!
I got into Superman after getting into Smallville. It's very enjoyable to get back to the origins of this impressive legacy. I can't wait to see the evolution of Superman personally and in his powers. I will collect all of these chronicles as long as they publish them, and hopefully they will publish them all the way through.

Rating:

- Good kick back reading
It's nice to read Superman's early stories. This is the way, he is supposed to be. Excellent kick back reading.

Rating:

- Vintage Superman
This is a collection of the earliest Superman comics, they are in color and affordable. I would consider these a must own for any Superman fan. Overall production value, although not flashy, is excellent and the stories are classics. This is where it all started.

Rating:

- Loses a star due to the lag between volumes
Almost a year after the release of Volume 1, DC finally gives us SUPERMAN CHRONICLES VOLUME 2, continuing the admirable but somewhat laughable effort (at this rate, at least) of reprinting every Superman appearance in chronological order. This book features classic tales from Action Comics #14-20 and Superman #2 & 3, from 1939-1940. All stories are written and illustrated by Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Keep in mind that these are some of the earliest adventures of Superman from comics' Golden Age, so the style is very direct, almost to a fault. Looking back on them, there's no real narrative complexity or character development - more like Siegel and Shuster were simply producing stories to fill a demand. It actually seems that the boys from Cleveland weren't quite sure what to do with their fantastic creation now that he was finally in comics. Superman didn't have much of a rogues gallery at this point; instead, he deals with white-collar criminals and thugs, with everyone behaving similarly to what was seen in the Superman TV series of the `50s. The only remarkable villain is the Ultra-Humanite, whose appearance in the final story of this volume is something no fan of James Robinson's THE GOLDEN AGE will want to miss. In any case, you're experiencing comics history in the making, getting a look at stories that your parents or grandparents enjoyed as kids, and gaining an understanding of why comics caught on as they did in a world that had a need for fantastic heroes. Even though these stories may be somewhat bland, they have an appeal that can't be ingnored.

I just wish DC would speed up their reprinting of these stories so that readers don't grow old before the Golden Age stories wrap up. There are certainly plenty of stories and other characters to choose from to keep these books coming. Get it in gear, DC!

Rating:

- NOT THE GREATEST, BUT VERY GOOD.
The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told volume two is out, containing nine stories from throughout Superman's long and colorful history. Are these truly the greatest Superman stories? Probably not. The real goal of the DC editors seemed to be to select one story from each decade as opposed to honestly giving readers the best stories. It's more a decade-by-decade sampler of Superman. Good stories no doubt but you could find better I'd argue.

The first story seems to be included more for its historical significance rather than its greatness. "The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk" was originally presented in Superman #30 from 1944 and features Superman's first encounter with the troublesome imp from the 5th dimension. Mxyztplk is presented as a cartoon-like character, content to play practical jokes and far removed from the most sinister personality of the modern day character.

"Superman's Other Life" from Superman #132, 1959 presents an interesting "what if" story. Batman feeds all data about Superman into a super-computer called the Univac (which sounds more like Hoover's latest model...) and Superman can visually see how his life might have been if Krypton had not exploded and he was sent to Earth. It's actually an interesting story though hindered by Wayne Boring's art who I never much cared for due to his blocky character appearances.

Superman #141 gives us "The Team of Luthor and Brainiac" a pedestrian title for sure but a solid story written by popular Sci-Fi author Edmond Hamilton. Includes early Curt Swan art.

I'd say my favorite story in the book is "The Secret Revealed" from Superman #2 (2nd series) by John Byrne. Luthor is delving into Clark Kent's mysterious past and goes so far as to kidnap and torture Lana Lang. When all his data is processed by computer it reveals that Clark Kent is Superman. Luthor refuses to believe this as he thinks no person could hold such power without abusing it. A truly chilling look at Luthor's twisted personality.

Jonathan Kent is the true star of "Life After Death" from Superman 500. As Jonathan fights for life in a hospital, his spirit travels far and wide to try and return his son to life after being killed in the battle with Doomsday.

These aren't the greatest Superman stories ever but then again, ask a hundred people to give you their top Superman stories and you'd get a hundred different answers. Most of the stories are very good, a few are exceptional, and a few are ordinary. Great cover by Alex Ross!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

page 1 of 2