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All Star Superman
Topics: All Star Superman, Bakotopia, comics, Zachary Smith, Bakersfield, Grant Morrison, Frank Quietly
Posted by zsmith Tue Jul 22, 2008 17:02:23 PDT
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All Star Superman
The legendary man of steel finally gets the treatment he deserves



By Zachary Smith, Bakotopia.com contributor

I hate Superman.

The big, blue Boy Scout has never appealed to me - too much of a goody-goody. I just don’t buy it - all that power and he rescues cats out trees?

What a lame character. Imagine how shocked I was when a Superman title not only became my favorite book to read, but may be my favorite comic ever. (Edging out “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” is a big feat - it’s been favorite comic for over 10 years.)

I believe the credit for my conversion has to go to my favorite writer-artist team, Grant Morrison (writer) and Frank Quietly (artist). These two Scottish boys are the finest comic team out there, and if you don’t believe me, pick up their work. Morrison has always been a huge Superman fan, and was on the cusp of writing him a decade ago, but was denied the opportunity.

Come 2005 and D.C. announces its new all-star line: your favorite characters written and drawn by the finest creators in the industry. Morrison and Quietly got Superman and Frank Miller and Jim Lee got Batman and Robin.



Morrison wanted All Star Superman to be accessible to novices and pros alike. Being a big comic book fan, but not knowing everything about Superman, this book was perfect for me. The familiar cast is present: Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Perry White, and Jimmy Olsen - so what’s different?

Well, this is a version of the Superman character that has nearly 66 years of history, and it’s up to Morrison to decide how much to include in the book. No one I know whose read the book is a Superman history expert, and so far no one I’ve asked has ever complained about the book being hard to follow.

One common complaint I hear from people who don’t read comics is the inability to understand the books because they have been around for so long. The All Star Superman series is 12 issues long, with a special here and there, and that’s all - no crossovers with other titles, or reading four different Superman books to get one story.  All issues pretty much tell their own self-contained story.

Issues one to three: Superman is dying, revealing the truth.

Flying to the sun to save an exploration ship overloaded his cells with solar energy, and it will eventually kill him. This was of course engineered by arch nemesis, Lex Luthor, who plans on killing the Man of Steel before he grows too old and feeble to try again. So what does Superman do now that he is dying in this story?

He makes an attempt to tell the woman he loves of his real identity. One evening as Superman’s alter-ego Clark Kent visits Lois Lane home - he unbuttons his shirt to reveal the truth he has kept from her for so many years.

There are some very tender moments between the two characters, as Lois refuses to believe that the bumbling Clark Kent is actually Superman - she thinks it’s all a joke. As a birthday gift, Superman grants Lois his powers for 24 hours, and great adventure ensues. Favorite moment: The two share a kiss on the moon.

Issues four through six: Jimmy Olsen steps up - Clark interviews Luthor.

The entire fourth issue is dedicated to a day in the life of Jimmy Olsen as a writer. His job assignment on this monumental day is to act as head scientist of P.R.O.J.E.C.T. What can go wrong? Superman attempts to rescue a man from a gravity hole, only to help discover a fragment of black kryptonite, which turns him into a sort of Bizarro version of himself. This also results in Jimmy invoking a “doomsday” plan - a sort of anti- Superman weapon. Issue five sees Clark Kent interviewing Lex Luthor from jail - imprisoned for tampering with the exploration ship sent to the sun. Luthor is hilarious, and actually likes Clark Kent. Clark uses his abilities to shield Luthor from an attack during a prison riot. Luthor goes on to tell Clark what he’d done to Superman, and simply why he hates the last son of Krypton with a rage-filled statement: “There’s no deep psychology behind the struggle between Superman and me. It’s all very simple. How would you feel if someone deliberately stood in your way, over and over again? If it wasn’t for Superman, I’d be in charge on this planet! And now he’s dying. What more could I want?”

Issue six conjures up the past as Superboy enjoys his life in Smallville, with his ma and pa, and loyal super-dog, Krypto. Three mysterious men come to work on Jonathan Kent’s farm, and Clark is unsure what to make of them.  As he’s having lunch with characters Pete Ross and Lana Lang he overhears trouble and rushes off to do his heroic duty. Complicating things is The Chronovore, an entity that eats bits of time. It’s loose during the story’s present time and it takes the combined might of four different Supermen to take care of business: Superboy, Superman from the 853rd century, the “mystery” Superman from A.D. 4500, and the Superman from the fifth dimension.

Issues seven through nine: Bizarro World - returning to earth.

“I Am Bizarro” begins the invasion of the Bizarros - entities from a different universe than Superman’s, who infect anything and anyone they touch. It’s a zombie invasion that Superman must stop using his might and super-intellect.



As he finds a way to defeat the Bizarros he is trapped on their planet, which is under red sunlight, thus disempowering Superman, and trapping him there. This leads into the next issue, in which Superman must find a way to escape Bizarro world. There are also great Bizarro “zombie” versions of The Flash and Green Lantern included in the story.

I haven’t mentioned the great artwork Frank Quietly has created for the series because words can not do it justice, you must see it to believe it. Along with digital inks and colors by Jamie Grant, this may be the finest illustrated book around.

To see more of Grant Morrison, Frank Quietly, and Jamie Grant, check out WE3 (Imagine the movie “Homeward Bound,” mixed with the most violent images you can imagine, and you might come close to what the book is).

Now that you have a glimpse into the more interesting sides of Superman, you have to check out issues 10, 11, and 12 coming this August. '08!



Read these books - they’re the best superhero comics out at the moment. And remember, I hate Superman.

CHECK OUT MORE OF ZACH'S COMIC ARTICLES HERE ON BAKOTOPIA!
(CLICK ON PIC BELOW TO READ NOW!)


Story also printed in Bakotopia magazine, issue 33, 7-24-08

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Comment From: Weltall

sounds sweet...let me borrow it! Better than the Dark Knight Returns? That's hella praise.