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  Comic Reviews: Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told Vol. 1 trade paperback (DC C...
  2 Feb 2012 at 3:02pm
  [Guest reviewer Zach King blogs about movies as The Cinema King]
  
  While I'm taking you on a foray into the Marvel Universe with my Hulk reviews, I thought I'd also seek the comfort of the heroes I know and love so well. I turn now to an unofficial series of sorts -- "The Greatest Stories Ever Told," twelve trades profiling seven heroes, two teams, and one villain. These "Greatest Stories Trades," distinguished by gorgeous Alex Ross covers, seek to deliver the most iconic and quintessential tales of these characters -- or at least their pre-New 52 incarnations.
  
  Up first, the one who started it all, Big Blue himself -- Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, Vol. 1. (Supes and his chum Batman each get two volumes.) As a somewhat arbitrary starting point, this volume has some great stories overall, including John Byrne's 1986 relaunch and Joe Kelly's "What's So Funny . . .?" Where the volume falters, however, is by the inclusion of stories that don't revolve around Superman, instead focusing on other characters or imaginary tales. So while the stories in here are good, not all of them are the greatest Superman stories by virtue of not being Superman stories at all.
  
  The sum of the parts being more than the whole in this case, let's take a look at what's inside this volume.
  
  "The Origin of Superman and His Powers" (Superman #1, June 1939): Perhaps an unconventional choice, perhaps not. While this isn't Superman's first appearance, it's the first at-length exposition of his backstory and abilities by creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. While both "firsts" have been reprinted many times over, the purist in me can't help but hope they'd saved this for Volume 2 and reprinted the Action comicbooks #1 account. This is, nevertheless, good stuff, if only for that iconic shot of a smug Superbaby lifting a chest of drawers.
  
  "What If Superman Ended the War?" (Look Magazine, February 1940): Long one of my favorite Superman stories, Superman drags Hitler and Stalin before the League of Nations to be tried for crimes against humanity. A brilliantly simple premise and a wonderful artifact from a simpler time, with Superman at his Golden Age do-gooder best. Even if it's not "in continuity," I'm glad it's reprinted here.
  
  "Three Superman from Krypton!" (Superman #65, July/August 1950): This is a perfectly serviceable Silver Age story, but I'm not convinced it's one of the "greatest." Superman fights three mad Kryptonian scientists who have found their way to Earth with conquest on their minds -- in a way, this is an archetypal Superman story, but the focus here is less on Superman and more on Krypton and the mad scientists. But Al Plastino's artwork is as good as it had ever been, dynamic and confident.
  
  "The Last Days of Superman" (Superman #156, October 1962): Superman is dying, exposed to rare Kryptonian "Virus X!" Michael Uslan's introduction compares this story to "The Death of Superman" (Superman #149, November 1961, most recently reprinted in DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories). There are striking similarities, including the apparent demise of Superman, the mournings of his friends, and the precursors to All-Star Superman, but "Last Days" is a better choice, both because it's not imaginary and because we see Superman do more than just fall for a standard Luthor scheme (ah, the old "reform feint"). And the wrap-up is gimmicky, but delightfully Silver Age. If nothing else, it's worth it for the simplistic way that the story's maudlin pathos gets resolved.
  
  "The Showdown between Luthor and Superman" (Superman #164, October 1963): I'm not sure this counts as a "greatest Superman story" because the focus here is on Lex Luthor as he challenges a powerless Superman to a duel on the planet which will come to be known as Lexor. This is very much a story about what makes Lex Luthor tick, with Superman playing a merely reactionary part. The plot by Edmond Hamilton is great, and we can't complain about Curt Swan's pencils, but this might have been a better fit in the Superman vs. Lex Luthor trade (where it also appears, along with the final Lexor story). [see Paul Levitz's post-Crisis take on this story in Superman/Batman: Worship. -- ed]
  
  "Must There Be a Superman?" (Superman #247, January 1972): Now this is the kind of story for which these "Greatest Stories" trades were made. This legendary Elliot Maggin story finds the Guardians of the Universe leading Superman to question whether his presence is helping or hindering Earth in the long run. While the Guardians' motivation is unclear (are they just indulging in a bit of superdickery?), Superman's reaction is spot-on, equal parts doubtful and distraught while never losing sight of his mission. One complaint, though -- the narrative voice is surprisingly condescending: "You sounded good back there Superman -- but did you really believe all that big talk? . . ."
  
  "The Exile at the Edge of Eternity" (Superman #400, October 1984): This Jim Steranko piece is a real head-scratcher for many reasons. Superman never appears in the story, which is a dense and allegorical apocalyptic parable about the future of Superman's legacy, both ideologically and genetically. Additionally, it's more prose with illustration than comic books proper, which may rile some readers. This may be the weakest piece in the book, simply because it goes off in its own direction despite what should be a clear thematic focus in this volume. Steranko may be a legend, but this one's a stinker.
  
  "The Man of Steel" (Man of Steel #1, June 1986): If you haven't read this story, your rocketship may not have landed yet. (But seriously, what's wrong with you?) The first chapter of John Byrne's 1986 reboot gives us a sterile Krypton, a loving Ma and Pa (rest in peace, New 52 Kents), and instant It Girl Lois Lane. Despite Superman's origin being retold several times since, Byrne's was always the gold standard, and it's appropriate that it's reprinted here because it hasn't lost its edge (and so far, it's edging out Grant Morrison's soft reboot in the new Action comicbooks). Truly one of the greatest. Nuff said.
  
  "Return to Krypton" (Superman #18, June 1988): Another headscratcher. Combining the best of the "How is this greatest?" stories, this tale is both imaginary and mostly Superman-less. A trip to the ruins of Krypton, courtesy of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, finds Superman hallucinating about an Earth overtaken by Kryptonians. While I'm a big fan of Mike Mignola, if only for creating much less working extensively on Hellboy, this story (also by Byrne) ends up fairly disappointing by the time we reach the end.
  
  "What's So Funny about Truth, Justice and the American Way?" (Action comicbooks #775, March 2001): Fortunately the volume finishes strong with Joe Kelly's instant classic reexamining the place of Superman in a world which prefers speedy and violent justice. It's an obvious indictment of The Authority and other ruthless superpowered types, but more importantly it's a story about why Superman hasn't changed in seventy years -- and why we desperately need him not to. Ironically, the story redefines Superman by pointing out that he's never needed redefinition; Superman is the best and purest force for good, no matter what. While the shift in art between Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo can be a bit distracting (I would have preferred Mahnke solo on this one), the story is so compelling that it merits the "Greatest" label perhaps more than any other story in here. Fantastic note on which to close.
  
  Overall, Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, Vol. 1 is a good read and a must-have for Superman fans, provided they don't mind a few detours that the title of the volume might not suggest. There are enough gems in here, though, to merit picking up.
  
  In the next review in this series, we journey from Metropolis to Gotham City for Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, Vol. 1. Stay tuned!

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  This post was syndicated from Collected Editions, the chronicles of a "wait-for-trade-er" -- the new breed of comic book book fans who forgo monthly "floppies" for trade paperbacks and collected editions -- reviews, commentaries, low price alerts, news, and the occasional scoop. Visit collectededitions.blogspot.com.

  

  
  

  
  
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  DC solicits Fall 2012 trade collections
  31 Jan 2012 at 4:32pm
  On the Source yesterday, DC comicbooks Publicity Manager Pamela Mullins announced a host of new trade collections and graphic novels for the rest of 2012. This, on the heels of DC re-announcing the first DC New 52 collections -- this is, for the most part, everything not DC 52 for the year.
  
  I've included some highlights below; I would mention that I am not completely blown away by this list. Green Lantern: Sector 2814 is unexpected, but the rest of these are expected -- additional volumes in reprint series, gargantuan omnibuses of dated material, and so on. In a post another time, I'll look at some DC material I'd still like to see collected -- if this is it for DC for 2012, seems to me they're not stretching themselves too far, in favor of letting the DC New 52 collections shine for the year.
  
  (Would love to see a comic books blog get some votes for a Shorty Award, by the way, if you'd like to help out.)
  
  Here's what I noticed:
  
  BATMAN: KNIGHTFALL VOL. 3 ? KNIGHTSEND TP NEW EDITION
  Writers: Doug Moench, Alan Grant, Chuck Dixon, Mary Jo Duffy and Dennis O?Neil
  Artists: Mike Manley, Dick Giordano, Bret Blevins, Graham Nolan, Scott Hanna, Ron Wagner, Tom Grummett, Jim Balent, Rick Burchett, Barry Kitson, Mike Vosburg, Mike Gustovich, Lee Weeks, Joe Rubinstein, Phil Jimenez and others
  Collects: BATMAN #509, 510, 512-514, BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #29, 30, 32-34, DETECTIVE COMICS #676, 677, 679-681, BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #62 and 63, ROBIN #8, 9, 11-13, CATWOMAN #12, 13 and SHOWCASE 94 #10
  $29.99 US, 652 pg
  This collection also doesn't collect the "Knightfall: The Search" chapters that we talked about earlier; since Knightfall Vol. 2 has some of those "Search" chapters and not all of them, I still believe there's a mis-print somewhere and Legends of the Dark Knight #59-61, at least, will be collected in one of these volumes.
  
  This volume does however, include Batman: Prodigal, the story where Dick Grayson becomes Batman the first time around. I know why DC's including this, as fans have been clamoring for another shot at Prodigal ever since Dick became Batman after RIP -- but if you're reading the Knightfall saga for the first time, Prodigal is terribly anti-climactic. You've had three volumes of Bruce Wayne beaten and fighting to reclaim the Batman mantle, he returns and defeats Azrael -- and then disappears for twelve entire issues while Dick fumbles around as Batman.
  
  If the four-part "Troika" storyline that followed had also been included, which has Bruce back in a new costume, that might bring this book full circle; take it from me, however, that Prodigal ends on a cliffhanger, and if you've been following the story since the beginning of Knightfall, I'm pretty sure you'll be saying "Is that it?"
  
  THE DC COMICS ART OF AMANDA CONNER HC
  Writers: Barbara Kesel, Chuck Dixon, Jai Nitz, Terry Moore, Geoff Johns, Jimmy Palmiotti, Judd Winick,
  Artists: Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti
  Collects: SUPERMAN: LOIS LANE #1, BIRDS OF PREY #47-49, JSA CLASSIFIED #1-4, SUPERGIRL #12, WEDNESDAY COMICS #1-12, and stories from SECRET ORIGINS 80-PAGE GIANT #1, JOKER: LAST LAUGH SECRET FILES #1, the GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY WEDDING SPECIAL #1 and WONDER WOMAN #600
  $39.99 US, 304 pg
  This is a wacky collection in part because it's got an otherwise-uncollected Birds of Prey story in it that took place between Chuck Dixon and Gail Simone's runs. Also nice to see the uncollected material from Wonder Woman #600 surface here and there.
  
  PENGUIN: PAIN AND PREJUDICE TP
  Writers: Gregg Hurwitz and Jason Aaron
  Artists: Szymon Kudranski and Jason Pearson
  Collects: PENGUIN: PAIN AND PREJUDICE and JOKER?S ASYLUM: PENGUIN #1
  $14.99 US, 144 pg
  I've said before I think we need a Penguin miniseries like a hole in the head, not that that should dampen your enjoyment of it. That DC pads this post-Flashpoint Penguin origin with a pre-Flashpoint Penguin one-shot leaves me scratching my head.
  
  HUNTRESS: CROSSBOW AT THE CROSSROADS TP
  Writer: Paul Levitz
  Artists: Marcos To and John Dell
  Collects: HUNTRESS #1-6
  $14.99 US, 144 pg
  On the other hand, DC's not puffing this one up at all. As a backdoor pilot to DC's new Earth 2 endeavors, it'll likely sell itself.
  
  SHOWCASE PRESENTS: AMETHYST, PRINCESS OF GEMWORLD VOL. 1 TP
  Writers: Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohen
  Artists: Ernie Colon, Ric Estrada, Pablo Marcos, Alex Saviuk, Bob Smith, Gary Martin, Romeo Tanghal, Kurt Schaffenberger and Karl Kesel
  Collects: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #298, AMETHYST, PRINCESS OF GEMWORLD #1-12, AMETHYST ANNUAL #1, DC COMICS PRESENTS #63 and AMETHYST #1-11
  $19.99 US, 648 pg
  I can't claim much of a touchstone for this series myself, but I recognize it as a long-uncollected DC classic and I'm sure someone is excited about this. No doubt this is coming out in part in conjunction with the upcoming Cartoon Network series.
  
  THE 52 OMNIBUS HC
  Writers: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid
  Artists: Keith Giffen, Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose, Jack Jadson, Chris Batista, Jimmy Palmiotti, Ken Lashley, Eddy Barrows, Rob Stull, Shawn Moll, Tom Nguyen, Todd Nauck, Marlo Alquiza, Dale Eaglesham, Art Thibert, Patrick Olliffe, Drew Geraci, Ray Snyder, Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, Rodney Ramos, Dan Green, Tom Derenick, Jay Leisten, Jamal Igle, Keith Champagne, Andy Smith, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund and Darick Robertson
  Collects: 52 #1-52
  $150.00 US, 1216 pg
  I've been calling this one for a while -- with DC's current emphasis on Omnibus editions, the weekly 52 series would seem ready-make for that kind of collection. One thousand, two hundred sixteen pages and $150 is a hefty, expensive book, however, at the same time DC is getting flak for the quality of their collections (see video via Kris Shaw below) -- I'm curious if this'll be worth the paper it's printed on, so to speak, or if at some point customers will start voting with their wallets against DC's poor bindings if they continue.
  
  
  LEGION: SECRET ORIGIN TP
  Writer: Paul Levitz
  Artists: Chris Batista, Rich Perotta and Marc Deering
  Collects: LEGION: SECRET ORIGIN #1-6
  $14.99 US, 144 pg
  Surprised to see DC go paperback on this. One person's opinion, I didn't think Legion really needed a "secret" origin -- maybe it hasn't sold so well that DC won't risk a hardcover on it.
  
  STORMWATCH VOL. 2 HC
  Writer: Warren Ellis
  Artists: Tom Raney, Oscar Jimenez, Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary, Randy Elliot and others
  Collects: STORMWATCH #48-50 and #1-11
  $29.99 US, 384 pg
  Glad to see this continuing. The first new Stormwatch hardcover collected the Stormwatch: Force of Nature (#37-42) and Lightning Strikes (#43-47) trades; this encompasses Change or Die, A Finer World, and Final Orbit. Not included here, troublingly, is the in-continuity WildCATS/Aliens story that ended Stormwatch and lead into Authority; maybe this will appear if DC keeps collecting WildCATS alongside this.
  
  GREEN LANTERN: SECTOR 2814 VOL. 1 TP
  Writer: Len Wein
  Artists: Dave Gibbons, Dick Giordano, Mike DeCarlo and Mark Farmer
  Collects: GREEN LANTERN #172-176, 178-183 and 185-186
  $16.99 US, 192 pg
  I'm rather enthused about this collection (series, it seems) of early 1980s, just-before-Crisis on Infinite Earths Green Lantern stories, which involve Hal Jordan in Earth-bound tales and eventually John Stewart taking over as Green Lantern. I imagine these will read as rather dated, and I don't think Hal comes off altogether well in them, but this is a significant period of DC history that lacks collections, especially these that are partially still in-continuity.
  
  SUPERMAN: GROUNDED VOL. 2 TP
  Writers: J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Roberson
  Artists: Eddy Barrows, Allan Goldman, JP Mayer and others
  Collects: SUPERMAN #707-711 and 713-714
  $14.99 US, 168 pg
  Wouldn't it have been a riot if they'd decided to stick Superman #712 in the paperback?
  
  That's my picks -- you can see the full list at the Source. What jumps out at you on the list?
  
  (Video courtesy Kris Shaw)

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  This post was syndicated from Collected Editions, the chronicles of a "wait-for-trade-er" -- the new breed of comic book book fans who forgo monthly "floppies" for trade paperbacks and collected editions -- reviews, commentaries, low price alerts, news, and the occasional scoop. Visit collectededitions.blogspot.com.

  

  
  

  
  

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