Leinil Francis Yu

I was skeptical of Hickman doing an alien invasion story after the last two mediocre volumes, and there are definitely parts of it that just kind of drag on and on, but the excitement builds nicely in this and staging it in the midst of the "universe coming apart at the seams" stuff from Avengers/New Avengers makes the outcome actually seem like it could turn dark at any moment. Probably better than it has any right to be.

It's another Superman origin story. The comic book world needs these like it needs more Batman angst. In my mind, the perfect Superman origin hasn't been done, but it would fall somewhere between John Byrne's The Man of Steel and Superman: The Movie. With Braniac there, like he was in the 1990s Superman cartoon. But until this perfect origin is created, I've got no interest in a new origin story.

So perhaps I was a bit biased going into the story. It irked me right from the start. The opening show more pages didn't help me. I like John Byrne's Krypton-- mostly because of the sterility of the culture there. That sterility has one important consequence: Kryptonians do not engage with one another on any physical level. They do not have sex; they procreate via machines. Their babies are born out of machines. And when little baby Kal-El is launched towards Earth, he has not yet been hatched from the machine. The Last Son of Krypton is born on Earth. I think that's great; that's my favorite part of Byrne's reboot. I think it's perfect in every way. Which means that when this story has a virile-looking Jor-El (he's no Marlon Brando, that's for sure) kissing his wife as the rocket launched off carrying their infant son, my thought is "I liked it better the other way."

Another thing not to like: angst. Superman doesn't have angst. He's not the new series Doctor Who. He's the last of his kind... but he's okay with that. (Except in Superman Returns, where this is executed well. For once.) The family he left behind is one he never knew, one that was never relevant to him in any way, shape, or form. He doesn't spend his time agonizing over how he's not one of us... because he is one of us. He's just a better one of us. Better not because of superpowers, but because of the upbringing he received from his parents. The Kents are perfect parents, who raised a son who does the right thing not because his parents were gunned down in an alley or because his uncle got murdered by a guy he should have apprehended, but because it's the right thing to do. And Clark Kent does not have father issues that result in a twenty-plus pages of a graphic novel being taken up by juvenile arguments, hissy fits, and other antics. Seriously.

Yet another thing not to like: Lex Luthor should not be from Smallville. Lex Luthor hates Superman because Superman is better than he is. Lex Luthor does not hate Superman because Superman was the reason that Lex's hair was burnt off of his head. How small world is that? It's terrible. Lex shouldn't be a mad scientist, either. My ideal Lex is the one from the 1990s cartoon... the corporate villain who can't be matched for sheer power... except by Superman. Yet this comic tries to have it both ways. Lex spent some time in Smallville... yet (ostensibly) has no memory of Clark. Lex has a major corporate empire... yet is bizarrely referred to in all the news reports as "astrobiologist Lex Luthor". Though apparently his astrobiological skills lead him to be able to make wormholes to the past of other galaxies. Of course. It's doesn't help that the story just stops for thirty pages so that Clark can explain Lex's backstory to his father... a backstory his father was present for and already knows.

So: bad Krpyton, bad angst, bad Lex. What else can Waid get wrong? Bad plot. Do you know what I hate? When superheroes save the world from problems that wouldn't have existed without the superhero's presence. How does that make a superhero useful or wanted? That's one of the (many) problems of the Fantastic Four movie-- Doctor Doom was only a danger because he was trying to take down the Fantastic Four. Here, Lex's only reason for invading Metropolis is to discredit Superman. If there was no Superman, there would have been no invasion. Less people would have died if Superman had never existed. Wow, way to affirm the existence of your hero.

Furthermore, I don't think Waid gets Superman. In his afterword, he talks about how Superman is the real person and Clark Kent is the disguise. This same hogwash was peddled in the closing minutes of Kill Bill, Vol. 2, resulting in a generation of teenagers who believe this because they've never correctly experienced the saga of Superman. The real person... is Clark Kent. But not the Clark Kent that hangs out with the staff of the Daily Planet. He's the Clark Kent that helps his parents. Who can be "super" and a good son at the same time. Superman is an exaggeration in one direction, the Metropolis-Clark in another. The Smallville-Clark, however, is the real deal. And though Waid might espouse his view in the afterword... it doesn't come through in the text. The moments we feel closest to Clark/Superman are the moments where he's with his parents, able to be who he truly is without any sort of pretense. No capes, no forced meekness. Just Clark Kent talking to his folks.

Also: the art is horrendous. Just look at that cover. How could anyone think that's attractive? Clark Kent/Superman should be good looking. Lois Lane should be good looking. No one is this book is remotely attractive. Jimmy Olsen looks more like a monkey than a human being. (Maybe that's intentional, though.)

So... did I like anything about the book? Well, Clark's adventures in Africa were pretty good. A good look at what a pre-Superman Clark might have done with his powers. But that's a largely irrelevant thirty-plus pages in an otherwise horribly misconstructed 287-page graphic novel. Oh, and Perry White was well-written. I like the bit with his list of reasons to keep or fire Lois Lane. Actually, most of the Planet staff was well-written, even Lois.

Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu.... I'll just keep on imagining that some day my perfect Superman origin story will actually happen. Until then, I'll crack open The Man of Steel again, pop Superman: The Movie in my DVD player, and keep on dreaming. (originally written June 2008) show less

This comic has a very fun and exciting premise -- what if an aging supervillain (in name only, he used a ray gun) gets in an unpayable gambling debt, and all the crooks he's mentored over the years rally around him for one last job to earn enough to save his neck? And the execution is ... it's good. It's got a little bit of the Mark Millar "brutal equals exciting" thing I've never cared for, but it's also got a fair bit of his humour and solid story crafting. But despite the splendid show more premise, it just never quite became something memorable, in my opinion. The logic is more than a bit dubious ("let's go to Spain where there are no super heroes to interfere. Once in Spain, let's target the only possible victim that actually has super powers and a former super hero on staff!"). The "she says no but she doesn't really mean it" romance with the ex-girlfriend (the story's only female character for no apparent reason) you've seen 1000 times before doesn't do anything new. The heist's compulsory twists are fine. It's not so straightforward as to be dull, but nothing earth-shattering happens, nothing that blew my mind. And this had no characters I'll remember a month from now. Excepting, perhaps, the Gladiator, the story's only super hero. It's odd how most regular super hero books leave me with finding the villain the most interesting character, while this story, full of villains, made the sole law-abiding character stand out similarly.

All in all, it was an entertaining read that captivated me enough to read the entire miniseries in a single sitting, but still a let down considering my proclivity for heist stories, the fantastic premise and the book's high reputation. show less

I found myself wondering why I'm still reading this title several times during this collection. The art isn't very good - it's very sketchy and dark, and it's hard to tell what's going on sometimes. There's also a ton of filler - splash pages of fights with people screaming "argh" and "ugh" go on and on and on. And Bendis...I am not sure what is going on with him.

The Hood is, theoretically, an interesting character, and I'm looking forward to seeing him more in the Marvel Universe.

Tigra show more made a few guest appearances in these issues. I like the character fine, although she isn't a favorite, but she was treated horribly. Almost every scene she was in ended with her getting beaten up by various bad guys - and I'm not talking about a bruise here or there, but literally getting the crap beaten out of her. It was getting to the point that I was getting so angry with how the character was being treated that I had to put the book down.

Honestly, I don't like how any of the female characters are being written. Jessica Drew is threatened while naked in the shower. Tigra is beaten up several times, and always in varying states of undress. Jessica Jones might as well not even be in the book. Echo is barely mentioned, and when she is, she's in pain or needs help. Is it too much to hope for a strong female character in this line-up?

The only thing that keeps me reading is Clint Barton at this point, but he doesn't have a lot of face time. show less