Books : All Star Superman, Vol. 1

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- The New-Old Superman
Quite honestly, I have never liked Superman. However, the quirky charm that Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely infused the character and his supporting cast with proved irresistible.

The stories range from delightfully quirky to honestly heartwrenching, and they offer some of the best portrayals of the Superman supporting cast I've ever read. Many of the best stories, such as 'The Gospel According to Lex Luthor' feature very little in the realm of traditional superheroics, but are some of the best Superman stories in decades.

You don't have to have a love of superheroes, comic books, or Superman himself in order to appreciate All-Star Superman - you just have to enjoy the quirky and the wonderful.

Rating:

- Superman the way he was always meant to be!
Simply put, All-Star Superman Vol.1 collects the best Superman stories I have ever read, unless Grant Morrison shines even brighter in upcoming issues. Volume 1 collects the first six issues of the series and every story is a gem spanning one issue each. All-Star Superman is set in a world that is totally free from DC continuity, and this gives Morrison the freedom to do what he likes and to really unchain his fecund imagination to deliver ideas and plotlines that stagger even the most intellectual reader. Usually of a mystical disposition, Morrison succeeds in imbuing these stories with a mythology that brings to mind the Superman of the sixties, but with noticeable differences. Sure, the fortress of solitude is still there (I am still waiting for the bottle-city of Kandor to make an appearance), but the gigantic golden key (pre-Crises, before the DC universe was re-vamped) has been replaced with a normal-sized key that weights thousands of tons as it is composed of super-dense dwarf matter. The superman-robots also make appearances, yet they have been altered by Morrison and the stunning art of Frank Quitely to serve as Superman's servants and fellow lab assistants, and not just stand-ins for Superman whenever Clark has to make an appearance alongside his alter-ego. That's another part I fell in love with all over again: the fact that Superman possesses a super-intellect in addition to his physical abilities (a concept largely forgotten after the John Byrne re-imagining of the Man of Steel in the eighties) and this allows for all manner of insane events and mind-shattering inventions that cause unbelievable havoc every now and then. Another fine addition to the all-star mythos is the League of Supermen which consists of Supermen from different eras (all decendents of the first Superman) and how they protect the timestream from menaces like 'the Chrono-vore,' a being that eats a few seconds of your life. Sure, Morrison portrays Superman as almost almighty, but the reader does get a sense of the crisis to the overall story when the very first issue reveals that Superman is perhaps a little bit more mortal than we think after he is exposed to an enormous amount of solar rays. This forms the entire basis for the series, even forcing Superman to reveal something to Lois which he never would have done otherwise. One of the stories stood out above all the others though, and it bears mention, simply because it stamps Morrison's signature on one of the greatest Supervillians of all time: Lex Luthor. Clark is sent on assignment to interview Luthor on Death Row, and what follows is a hillarious but also shocking tale of escape and insight as Luthor and Clark flee from a crazed Parasite. Luthor's brilliant dialogue ("Did you know Melville's Moby Dick can be recited at frequencies so high that they form a sonic drill capable of digging through concrete?") and insane ego shines brilliantly in this issue, appropriately titled "The Gospel according to Lex Luthor," making this my favorite story of the series so far. Grant Morrison has re-invigorated the Man of Tomorrow, and with the brilliant art of Frank Quitely rounding out every story All-Star Superman will continue to occupy a special place in my bookshelf. Recommended for anyone who loves fantasy, sci-fi, and superheroics done with an intellectual twist.

Rating:

- Barely good magazine.
The art is very poor in this magazine compared to other good magazines. The stories are also very poor in quality.

Rating:

- Back to the Basics
In a nutshell, if you read and liked John Byrne's Superman vignettes, then you'll like this. Only this is more innocent, charming, and satisfying. I love any Supes story that focuses more on Clark Kent, and I wasn't disappointed here. One highlight for me was Superman arm wrestling with Samson and Atlas. Priceless. This book is a bit different for most modern comic book fans because it lacks continuity. They are merely "Days in the Life of Superman". And if you get tired of him fighting space monsters and Lex Luthor, then go with him to the Kent's Farm for a bit. These are enjoyable and intelligent stories that bring back the innocence of our hero, because really that is why we all loved him in the first place.

Rating:

- Super Work By True All-Stars!
I've never had much interest in Superman. I've gone on record in several instances claiming that while he has the potential to be a wonderfully well-rounded character, too many of his handlers in the past have opted to make him nothing more than a super-man battling giant monkeys and avoiding fragments of rock.

Morrison does not make this mistake. Morrison addresses all those psychological aspects that make Superman super, none of which have anything to do with the ability to leap a tall building in a single bound.

However, Morrison also brings us those undeniably fun qualities of Superman that existed in the Silver Age and mixes them with a 2007 mentality, giving us a hybrid of quirkiness and depth that only a mad scientist like Morrison could achieve. His Lex Luthor, for example, is a combination of everything in the past that has worked well for the character, but he still manages to give us something fresh.

In other words, he's giving us the best of two worlds (pun totally intended) with the Superman mythos. Furthermore, I love this collection because each issue basically can stand alone, yet they also blend together to form a unified whole as well.

Let's talk about the art! Quitely is simply an artist in the truest sense of the word. Every single panel is a joy to behold. I love the way he took Superman's costume and really made it otherworldly with the slightest of adjustments. By shortening the cape and elongated the trunks just a bit, I no longer see a big man wearing his underwear on the outside. It looks like some sort of space-man outfit, which, remember, is exactly what Superman is--a space man. Oh, and by the way, I don't mean to sound weird or whatever, but Quitely draws the cutest Lois Lane I've ever seen. He manages to convey her strength and self-reliance while still making her attractive. For some reason in the past, artists have had trouble blending the two.

If you're a die-hard Superman fan, you'll love this collection. If you're like me and you were more engrossed with the creative team than the character, you'll still love it. And if you don't even like comic books, you'll still love this one. This is truly the super work of some all stars.

~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

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