Books : Superman/Doomsday Omnibus

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Gutsy graphic novel
No one can be a lamer character than Superman, but this collection really hits lots of high points. The whole issue of genetic engineering is addressed in a surprisingly intelligent and forceful way. Facing your fears is another powerful theme, and how Doomsday is finally defeated is so clever and so wise it can make you relook at Superman as being a viable character again.

Rating:

- What a match-up!
Suffice to say, this is a blockbuster of a compliation :D

I first got hooked on Superman vs Doomsday with The Death of Superman story (which is also excellent) and was really pleased with the stories in this novel. The art although about 15 years old (for most of the stories) is great with Superman showing his emotions and thoughts in a very real way. He LOOKS real, unlike the modern final story in the compliation where he looks like a blow-up doll due to the different art. This also goes for Doomsday art-wise. He looks scary and menacing in the older style art but looks a bit ridiculous in the 2000 story.

That is the only whinge I have. Buy this now if you can, I highly recommend it.

Rating:

- A mixed bag
The Superman: Doomsday Omnibus features the sequel to the Death of Superman, as well as various prequels to the DC mega event from the early 90's that saw the Man of Steel bite the big one. Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey finds the Man of Steel learning that Doomsday is still alive and on Apokalips causing problems for Darkseid. This chapter reveals Doomsday's origin as well, as the two go toe to toe once again. While this section of the Omnibus is great on it's own, it's the other issues collected here that are disappointing. Among others, they feature a past meeting between Doomsday and Darkseid, as well as Doomsday slaughtering the Green Lantern Corps some years before. While these stories are compelling, they are basically non-sensical and make no sense for continuity's sake either. Doomsday Wars is by far the worst part of the book, which finds Superman and Doomsday becoming unlikely allies. While the Doomsday Omnibus has it's moments to be sure, the overall package is a mixed bag. There's solid action and great artwork throughout the Omnibus, but whether or not it's worth picking up is entirely up to you.

Rating:

- Loved the rematch - I wish the story ended there
The first half of the Doomsday compilation rocked. It was great learning the history of Doomsday (and what a rich history). It nicely ties together why these two arch enemies must rematch, and the action on the rematch is great. Unfortunately, the second half of the book is a disappointment. DC kept on resurrecting Doomsday for sales - and in the process ruins the legend of Doomsday. The low point was the final story where Lex Luther has resurrected Doomsday. The artwork was terrible; the story made no sense; and Doomsday no longer is the force to be feared. Superman barely breaks a sweat finishing him off - which is absurd becomes Doomsday cannot be beaten the same way twice.

Rating:

- IT HAS IT'S FLAWS BUT IT'S WORTHWHILE
Back in the early 90's, DC comics came up with one of the greatest marketing promotions in the history of comics...They planned to kill Superman. And thus over the course of a number of different issues and titles, Superman faced off against a threat far greater than he had ever faced. A mysterious, monstrous creature named Doomsday, whose origin was shrouded in mystery. A being who wiped the floor with the entire Justice League and did the unthinkable...he, or it, killed Superman. Well, of course it was a big media event and the issue where Superman died sold a bazillion copies. Sure, we comic fans knew that it's very rare that a character truly dies and DC certainly wasn't going to kill off the franchise. But it did what it set out to do, namely sell a lot of comics and generate a lot of PR. The trouble was it wasn't a great story. What was Doomsday? Where did he come from? How come we never heard of him before? Those questions remained unanswered in favor of basically one big slugfest where lots of things get destroyed.

Now in fairness, in the introduction to this book, writer Dan Jurgens who wrote the original story states that that was exactly what he wanted. He wanted to give Superman a villain who could go toe-to-toe with him. This Superman Doomsday Omnibus collects the sequels (and prequels) to the monumental storyline. The initial sequel from Superman Doomsday Hunter/Prey # 1 - 3 is actually superior to the original Doomsday storyline. Superman is actually having nightmares about the creature and shows genuine fear. Convinced that Doomsday still lives he sets out in space to find him. His instincts were right as not only has the menace survived, but he's now on Darkseid's world of Apokolips. Even Darkseid cannot withstand Doomsday's power and he's severely defeated in battle. Superman finally learns the origin of Doomsday. He was created through a decades long process of evolution some 250,000 years ago that constantly died but became stronger each time he was re-born genetically, until he killed his creators.

I found Hunter/Prey vastly superior because it DID finally reveal Doomsday's origin, rather intelligently, and there was a definite suspense about the book that the first lacked. I mean, we all knew that Superman was going to die long before the issue came out. The sequel at least has some mystery and as Doomsday had once again evolved to become more powerful and you wondered how Superman was going to survive and defeat the creature.

The next portion of the book is actually some nicely done prequels which unfortunately present some problems. In these tales we see Doomsday first encounter Darkseid some 245,000 years ago and yet in the opening Hunter/Prey story, Darkseid clearly acts as if it's their first encounter. Then we see Doomsday battle the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the Universe. He even kills hundreds of Green Lanterns. Yet no one seems to know who or what Doomsday was just a year or so earlier in the original Death of Superman storyline. You'd think someone might remember a monster that killed hundreds of Green Lanterns even if it was thousands of years in the past.

In the Doomsday Wars the creature is back again, this time rescued from his fate in Hunter/Prey by a Coluan named Prin Vnok working with Brainiac. Their sinister plan? Transfering Brainiac's consciousness into the indestructible body of Doomsday. Seeing Doomsday actually talk in complete sentences is surreal to say the least. Another story finds Superman actually having to ally himself with Doomsday to battle an even more serious threat called Imperiex. There is one final story but you might be getting the jist of the problem here. Each time Doomsday appears his threat is diminished. DC had the potential for a great end to a great villain if they had let things lie after Hunter/Prey but they couldn't resist bringing the creature back again and again. This is much the same thing Marvel did with Galactus. Galactus was never more terrifying or as much as a threat as he was in Fantastic Four # 48 - 50. Heck, Doctor Strange even took Galactus down single-handedly once.

Despite these problems, I still recommend the Omnibus, if for nothing more than the Hunter/Prey story and the prequels, which are quite good despite the inconsistencies.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

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