Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (1997)

The 'last ever' Superman story – and it's written by Alan Moore! Not many books can live up to that good a premise, and this isn't one of them. Like a lot of concluding stories, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? doesn't have the length it needs to feel truly climactic, and so throws in a lot of things that look significant but don't feel like it. Moore's strength is reinterpreting other people's characters, but here he's unusually beholden to his subjects. Perhaps the conclusion to 53 years of continuity isn't the place to have the Man of Steel pick up a drug habit or question his own Nietzschean self-image – which makes the occasional flashes of 80s comic-book darkness all the odder. The pastiche tone clashes with Moore's deconstructive manner, robbing the story of his strengths without giving much back.

You can see the debt owed by Grant Morrison's later work for DC – particularly in taking ownership of the mythos's more-ridiculous elements – but it's not a comparison this story benefits from. Morrison is able to balance the laughs and the smarts – and Moore's supposed to be capable of that too. "For the Man Who Has Everything", which accompanies this reprint, shows what Moore is capable of doing with the Man of Tomorrow when not bound by the demands of a dozen loose ends. ( )

Being a big fan of both of Superman and Alan Moore, this was pretty much a must-buy and must-read for me. And I found it to be well-worth my time and money.

The first two issues are "the last Superman story," which was written pre-Crisis. Superman's under siege, and his friends are the casualties. A lot of prominent Superman-related characters die in these two issues (I'll avoid spoilers), and the ending is actually kind of cute - surprising, especially since it's written by Alan Moore (whom I do not associate with cute endings at all).

The next issue that is collected in this trade involves Superman getting infected by a fungus from his native Krypton. Afraid of what it will do to him (and cause him to do), especially since it has a 92% fatality rate, he retreats to the southern United States, where he believes that there are no superheroes residing. Wrong - he almost immediately runs into Swamp Thing, who saves his life. This was a cool story featuring two interesting characters.

And the final issue was even more of a bonus, since it was a team-up written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Since I have a tender spot in my heart for Watchmen, which was the comic that got me interested in comics in the first place, this was a great treat. It's Superman's birthday, and his friends try to get him gifts. But what do you get a man who pretty much has everything? Superman's also infected by some sort of plant, so you can see his fondest wish: Krypton not being destroyed. ( )

Ha ha ha, funny stuff. The "end" of Silver Age Superman prior to his post-Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot, this is dark, with deaths, but also jolly, with the JLA pounding ineffectually on a force field (including Batman! With a stick!) and Krypto the dog heroically and viciously mutilating and killing the Kryptonite Man and some creepy pod-people shit with Luthor and Brainiac and the Legion of Superheroes coming back from the future to offer superman a commemorative statuette because he's gonna die soon, and a cute twist ending. Bizarro's last words? "Hello, Superman ... hello." This made me smile. ( )

I was never a huge Superman fan, but I liked the movies as a kid and few of the comics that featured Bizarro. I was pleasantly surprised by this story. It is in the old comic style of Superman, but Alan Moore throws in a few of his trademark elements. ( )

Anyone with any affection for the pre-Crisis (that is, pre-John Byrne) Superman will get a lot out of this story, which was intended as the "final issue" under the old continuity. For others, I'd recommend tackling the trade paperbacks that cover the decades first, because in it's proper context, "Whatever Happened..." is a four star tale in the old style. ( )