It's a Bird (edition 2004)

I wanted to like this more than I actually did. I love the idea of a comics writer making a graphic novel about Superman that's more about his inability to write a Superman story because he's just not into the character. Lots of people feel that Superman is too inacessible, too perfect. They feel that his stories are boring, or too ridiculous in that way that only superhero's can be. ("They Saved Luthor's Brain!" anyone?) I also like the idea of an author using this as a launching point for some self-exploration, and into telling a more personal story not necessarily about popular culture icons or art and the creative process, but about something else even only marginally connected to that. However... I just didn't find the story Seagle actually wrote - an autobiographical exploration of the history of Huntington's disease in his family and his fears surrounding that - to be all that interesting. I found I didn't care about the author as a character very much.

The art in this book is stunning though, and overall it's a fantastic concept. I just wish the actual execution would have been done by someone else. ( )

An unusual sort of graphic novel, about a comic book writer with a history of Huntington's Chorea in his family, who is trying to come to terms with the possibility that the disease will strike him, and at the same time is offered a comic book writer's dream assignment, a Superman story. Several flashbacks look at how he has come to view Superman as an icon over the years, and how this has come to relate to his own views on life and death, and being able to leap tall buildings... It gets a bit heavy at times, possibly too much so, but improves on second reading. The same is true of the unusual art stylings of Teddy Kristiansen. It was a bit disconcerting at first, but you get used to it. Can't say I'm a big fan, though. ( )

http://www.planetacomic.net/comics_detalle.asp?Id=12191&cat=6849 ( )

A very interesting take on the Superman mythology. A comics writer who has been assigned to write for Superman is trying to find a way into the mythology that feels true, despite a prejudice against the character. Why the prejudice? Because Superman is different from everyone around him- but he can put on and take off that difference whenever he wants, unlike the other "outsiders" around him (such as Jews, blacks, or handicapped people). Seagle struggles with the Nietschean concept of the Ubermensch, while dealing with the realization that he, genetically is anything but: After a lifetime of watching family members dissolve under the effects of Huntington's disease, he finds himself unable to write about a man who will never face the fear and horror of the crippling disease that he himself may one day face. (Although Seagle, did, in fact, write Superman comics for DC.)
The art is extremely emotional and the story is beautifully done. ( )