Rating:  -
The art is very poor in this magazine compared to other good magazines. The stories are also very poor in quality.
Rating:  -
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: -
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
Rating: -
This is, hands down, ppossibly the best Superman series you will ever read. It's charming and heartfelt, and melds the best of Silver Age, wherein creative kookiness and wild energy abounded, with the best of Grant Morrison, one of comics two most protean and exceptional creators (*).
Just go out and buy it. Twenty bucks for this much hihg octane creativity is a STEAL. V 2 to follow in 2008 and after that, DC will hopefully give this series an "Absolute" version, an oversized and breathtaking format for its best and brightest work.
Rating: -
I wish this had come along just a little bit earlier. For me it was the kiss before dying as pertains to the comics medium. With Marvel and DC comics destroying their respective universes and characters, I had lost all hope of ever seeing the characters I had come to know and love as they were meant to be again.
Then came All-Star Superman.
This is the Man of Steel as he was meant to be. Not the beaten-down impotent wimp that DC's in-continuity character has become, but the inspirational larger-than-life hero who sparked the imagination of generations of comic book writers and readers. Let's face it, Batman was right. The last time the in-continuity Superman inspired anybody was when he died. But this is the character long-time fans have come to know and respect.
The story opens with Superman's cells being over-saturated with solar radiation, a plot by Lex Luthor to kill the Man of Steel, which has aparently worked. And so Superman sets out to do all the things he needs to do before his time runs out -- including tell Lois his true identity. Now I know that sounds a lot like the regular series, and that's what I thought, too, but fear not! Writer Grant Morrison resolves the idea very deftly in a matter of pages. We also see adventures with Jimmy, adventures at the Fortress of Solitude, and with time travelling Supermen. Now yes, the book is pure Sci-Fi, and at times campy. Maybe its stories aren't "relevant" to todays world (for relevant, read: depressing) but you know what they are? FUN! That is something I have not had with a comic since I was a child.
God bless you for this series, Grant Morrison.
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