All Star Superman, Vol. 1

A sweet comic - Superman in trouble. Trying to tell Lois that he is Clark Kent and dealing with Lex Luther. And birth of Superman generations and time travel. Interesting what lays ahead.


Artwork is unobtrusive and beautiful. :)
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Even getting past the fact that I would read Frank Quitely drawing the phone book, this is some of Grant Morrison's best work. I think he is often at his best with work-for-hire, because the conceit, the structure of work he does not own, focuses his imagination. I think I have mentioned this elsewhere, but I wonder if part of what makes his Superman so good is that he realized that in order to bring the all powerful superhero into some semblance of believable scope, he also had to limit himself. Superman is historically boring because he is so powerful that, well, there isn't much he can do. I often find Morrison to be the same way.

He seems, at least for much of this two-book series, to have constrained himself. Eventually, as with his great run on the X-Men, he blows the whole thing up, gets baroque in the meta-complexity, but until then it is quite enjoyable. More than anything, this is one of the best Lois Lanes I have read. The issue that coincides with her birthday is probably the single best episode in this series. The Jimmy Olson stuff is funny, but the Bizarro stuff just goes on for too long. Bizarro is a useful tool, but after awhile it all just becomes pig Latin,

Ok some of the stories in this volume were awesome. Others were less so. Superman gives Lois superpowers for a day...... and what does she do???? she sits around while Superman Samson, and Atlas do feats of strength to impress her. LAME! ( )

I'm not an expert on Superman (yet), but I definitely enjoyed it. ( )

Some quirky elements which are fun, and the art is excellent, but the tangents and gimmicks give it the feeling of a sideshow when it should be building a narrative. ( )