Tag: superman

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Superman Golden Age Volume Four

This is a review of Superman Golden Age Volume 4. Read my reviews of the first three volumes here, here, and here. One of the things that becomes clearer as I plow through these volumes is that Golden Age Superman is an odd duck. Exhibit A: Clark Kent and Lois Lane interview a fisherman who claims to have seen a mermaid. Since the fisherman is the type who thinks that aliens from Dimension X have reversed his brain, Lois doesn’t believe him. But Superman does. Why would he? Because Superman is the same type of weirdo as the fisherman. It all makes sense now!

Later in the same story, Superman crushes an undersea invasion of the surface world, which leads to massive casualties. At the time, there was a war going on in Europe. Reading this raises the question of what’s to stop Superman from flying into Germany and ending the war before lunch? Stories like this one are a case of hewing too close to reality. Speaking of which: a tale in this volume features an unscrupulous businessman stealing the rights from an inventor so that he gets rich and the creator doesn’t get a dime. Hey, did you know another multimillion dollar Superman movie came out?

Superman foe Lex Luthor is in four of these stories – five, if you count the Lightning Master tale. The Lightning Master sure looks like Luthor, but since the story ends with Superman executing him – Golden Age Superman does whatever he wants and faces no consequences – I assume the creators decided not to kill him. Good choice, since Luthor is the only villain who can make Superman break a sweat. Other standout villains in this volume include a hypnotist violinist and a big game hunter with a walk-in freezer who sure resembles a serial killer.

The creators have fun, which is great to see. They are writing the same three or four stories under insane deadlines, so why not? Many of the panels are funny or contain in-jokes. In one panel, Superman reads an issue of Action Comics. In another, Lois Lane – who switches from red to a canary yellow dress – is tied to a chair. Lois tips the chair over reaching a phone, where she screams at Clark Kent, who thinks she’s putting him on.

Superman’s cast continues to expand. This volume introduces Jimmy Olsen, cub reporter! Zach Snyder notwithstanding, Jimmy is still around today. Unlike Lois Lane, Jimmy has impulse control and doesn’t blindly barge into situations. On the other hand, he doesn’t have a godlike alien watching his every move. Lois steps on his back to enter a window, which says a lot about his place in the pecking order.

Credit goes to the creators for producing a wish-fulfillment comic for kids that still manages to be entertaining. I have enjoyed every one of these volumes. Recommended if you like Superman and Golden Age comics.

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Kingdom Come

Kingdom Come is a four-issue DC comic event written by Mark Waid and drawn by Alex Ross. Kingdom Come is a Superman story. Kingdom Come is also an optimistic story, despite featuring a million-plus person body count. As event comics go, it is blessedly short and not bloated. Everything you need for a perfect reading experience is contained in this four-issue miniseries.

Kingdom Come can be viewed as a direct response to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, which was about authoritarianism; and Alan Moore’s The Watchmen, which was about nihilism (what the author intended is irrelevant). Kingdom Come deals with authoritarianism and nihilism and rejects them both in favor of – that would be telling. I am curious as to whether the folks at Marvel sent Waid & Ross a fruitcake when Civil War came out, because they sure cribbed from it. You can even see the seeds of this graphic novel in Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men run.

The frame story concerns the Spectre choosing a new host, pastor Norman McKay. Who cares? Well, as the Spectre’s human anchor, Norman will have to judge humanity and thus holds the fate of the world in his hands. What brought about this sad state of affairs, you ask? The superhuman community is left in disarray after the Joker visits Metropolis, goes on a killing spree (which includes Lois Lane), and is killed by Magog, who is a hero. At least the public sees Magog as a hero. Magog’s exoneration makes Superman quit, and the superhuman community falls apart. What rises are a band of out-of-control young men and women with superpowers and no impulse control, ala Garth Ennis’ The Boys.

Sparks fly when a pitched battle with the Parasite leads to a nuclear explosion. Millions die, and Kansas becomes a nuclear wasteland. This leads Superman, spurred on by Wonder Woman, to return from his self-imposed exile. Many members of the superhuman community (minus Batman) join him. The superhumans who refuse to submit are placed in a prison in Kansas until they learn the error of their ways.

We know this is stupid because Batman thinks it’s stupid. You’d think a superhuman prison is something Batman might endorse, but you’d be wrong. Batman is a human being, but Superman is too busy playing god to consult any normal humans about this. Will The Man of Steel be the unwilling harbinger of the apocalypse? And where does the Big Red Cheese fit into all this?

Kingdom Come is a Superman story, but it features DC’s version of the trinity – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman. Superman is either overly idealistic or naïve, depending on your point-of-view; Wonder Woman is too militaristic; Batman is a loner with authoritarian tendencies. Separately they are flawed; together, they cancel out each other’s weaknesses.

Kingdom Come features great writing and awesome art. Alex Ross’ character designs are breathtaking, especially with such a large cast. There are Easter eggs – both visual and written – interspersed throughout the graphic novel, which reads more like a painting than a comic. Highly recommended!

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Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen

This is a review of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen written and drawn by Jack Kirby. When people discuss Mr. Kirby’s DC work, they will usually talk about Kamandi or The Demon, reviewed here and here. I’ve never heard a word about this graphic novel, which is a shame. This book, which showcases Superman alongside an ensemble cast, is first-rate science fiction.

What about that ensemble cast, anyway? We have Clark Kent, the Newsboy Legion, the Golden Guardian, who is a clone – no, not of Captain America – as well as that freckled young cub reporter, Jimmy Olsen himself. The Newsboy Legion features five kids who have a vehicle called the Whiz Wagon, based on the Fantasti-Car, that can fly and is also amphibious. The kids are interchangeable, except for the one who dresses in scuba gear all the time, which won’t bode well after he hits puberty.

The plot revolves around The Hairies, a secret group of super-intelligent vat grown humans who live inside a mountain and drive around in a missile carrier disguised as a monster. They’re guarded by a biker gang and are doing top secret experiments on the human genome, backed by the U.S. government and Superman. In the 1970’s, that wasn’t considered unethical; today, there would be collective apoplexy.

Jimmy Olsen and the annoying – I mean youthful – members of the Newsboy Legion investigate. They tangle with the biker gang, and Jimmy automatically becomes head honcho when he punches out their leader. Jimmy Olsen, Biker, is only one of the many startling transformations in store for the reader. We also have Rampaging Jimmy Olsen, transformed by science into a mean green killing machine that doesn’t resemble the Incredible Hulk – NO, NOT AT ALL – and Neanderthal Jimmy Olsen.

Sound weird? Wait until the scene where everyone drops acid, including Superman, that Head Square Himself. Oh, Kirby gives us some nonsense about a solar phone, but this is his version of an acid trip. Anyway, Olsen and company discover that The Hairies are fiddling with human DNA, making all matters of chimera, including tiny Jimmy Olsens! At one point we look through a microscope to see the tiny Olsens, each wearing a pair of tighty whities.

Darkseid, rightfully deciding the world isn’t ready for that much Jimmy Olsen, sends the most incompetent cat’s paw in the DC Universe to destroy the Hairies. Media mogul Morgan Edge spends all his time trying to kill Jimmy Olsen and the Newsboy Legion. While they are annoying, he could just fire them instead, but I guess I’m missing something.

Other stories include a villain who lives in a volcano, a Scottish Lake Monster, and a miniature planet full of Count Dracula lookalikes that makes TOTAL SENSE when explained. We also have a story starring Don Rickles and his twin, which may have been funny when it was released, but somehow I doubt it.

Nobody in this graphic novel has anything resembling a personality, but that’s my only quibble. Mr. Kirby was a genius, and is allowed a misstep here and there. Highly recommended!

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Superman Golden Age Volume Three

This is a review of Golden Age Superman Volume 3. Read my reviews of the first two graphic novels, here and here. I purchased five of these volumes when they were on sale; just be aware that reading one volume is enough, because they’re all the same. Here we have more of Superman as Big Brother, solving the world’s problems. Supes fights thugs using thug tactics, so arguably he’s the biggest thug of all, but at least he has a personality. Modern day Superman is pretty vanilla, and it’s difficult to explain why a fellow with godlike powers isn’t running things.

The Superman of yesteryear was even more powerful than the modern version, in that he has no qualms about playing God. Luckily, he doesn’t want to be bothered ruling the world. He also has superpowers that have either gone by the wayside, or he no longer uses. Yes, Superman is a master of hypnosis! The makers of the movie Superman Two also read this volume, apparently.

There are three standout stories here. In the first, a mad scientist uses science to make men giants. Superman is buried under an avalanche, which slows him down. The best part of this story is when the mad scientist threatens to make Lois a giantess! The Macrophiliacs in my audience will be disappointed to know he doesn’t succeed.

The second story involves giants, also. Enormous animals are overrunning the suburbs, and Lois and Clark go to investigate! I figured this one out halfway, but it has a clever twist. The third tale involves Superman trying to reform a spoiled heiress. He’s hired by the heiress’ father, the man who spoiled his daughter, but why quibble details? The unbelievable climax requires a deus ex machina in the form of a bursting dam.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Lois Lane. Superman follows Lois around like a lost puppy, or perhaps a stalker, but I’ve lost count of how many times he’s saved her life. Is Lois really that stupid? Well, yes and no. Lois is a plot device, representing Superman’s vulnerability. Since Supes himself is invulnerable, we have Lois held hostage/tied up/transformed into a giantess/thrown off a cliff-building-airplane-etc. in almost every issue.

Recommended for comic history buffs and Superman fanatics!  

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World’s Finest Silver Age Volume Two

This is a review of World’s Finest Silver Age Volume Two. You can read my review of the first volume, here. These aren’t the worst comics I’ve read by any means, which isn’t the same thing as saying they’re good. I plowed through them because I bought both volumes on sale at the same price.

If you want to see Batman, Robin & Superman team up in sci-fic inspired scenarios from the Silver Age, then this volume is for you. A few examples: Superman loses his memory and becomes the chief of a lost Indian tribe. A man with a salad colander on his head (i.e., a crackpot inventor) gains super-powers/uses an invention to torment the Dynamic Trio (there are many variations of this story). After making a million dollars, Batman becomes a big spender, buying looney inventions that don’t work. Superman makes a new friend, a bizarre little alien that goes berserk when it’s not around him. Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk duke it out! Red kryptonite makes Superman behave strangely! Aliens of all kinds: invading earth, kidnapping Batman & Robin, asking the Dynamic Trio for help!!!

If this all sounds good, then by all means buy this volume. If it doesn’t, you’ve been warned.

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Golden Age Superman Volume Two

This is a review of Golden Age Superman Volume Two. You can read my review of the first book, here. Spoiler alert: I didn’t like this volume quite as much. Reading twenty-plus one issue stories that are identical can be mind-numbing.

A few characters return from the last volume. We have Ultra, a mad scientist who transfers his brain into the body of a beautiful young starlet. Ultra might be gorgeous, but he’s still a megolamaniac asshole who wants to conquer the earth. Strangely, Ultra is replaced by Lex Luthor, who in this volume has hair. Luthor is a mad scientist just like Ultra, so I’m unsure what happened. Why did they ditch Ultra? Maybe the public didn’t like a body swapper?

We also get Lois Lane. Lots of Lois Lane. Like Clark Kent, Lois is a reporter with no fear. Unlike Clark, she doesn’t have super powers. This means she acts in ways that can be interpreted as stupid, such as telling the gangster that she’s going to publish an exclusive exposing his evil plans. I lost track of the number of times Lois is captured and used as a hostage object in this volume. In one issue, she’s kidnapped twice!

The stories range from gangster potboilers to science fiction. Superman still can’t fly. He can be mind-controlled and knocked out by radium bombs or men with strength-sapping ray guns. There’s no suspense, which is why we have the Lois Being Kidnapped Again trope.

As I said, most of the issues blend. The exception is a story about a children’s orphanage. The owners run an operation worthy of a torture-porn movie. Watching them throw the works – buzzsaws, safes, boiling water, acid, etc. – at Superman is an eye opener. They’re nasty customers, but different from the normal gangster or megalomaniac scientist. You don’t get many pure sadists in superhero comics.

Two other things struck me about this volume. Unlike today’s Man of Tomorrow, the Superman of Yesterday didn’t have many qualms about killing. In fact, he does kill people – usually when he feels threatened (he kills the guy who hypnotizes him). He also doesn’t care about rules. There are several stories where Superman tries to gain evidence on the mobster/crooked politician/saboteur/etc., and then resorts to the tried-and-true method of threatening to crush the evildoer’s skull to a pulp if he doesn’t confess. Since this gambit always works, I’m surprised why he doesn’t just cut to the chase. It would save him time.

If you like Superman, you’ll enjoy this volume!

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World’s Finest Silver Age Volume One

This is a review of World’s Finest Silver Age Volume One, featuring the adventures of Superman, Batman, and Robin. Special shout-out to Lois Lane, who appears in most of these issues. These comics were produced in the fifties. They’re not good but if you’re a Batman/Superman fan I’m sure you’ll like them.

Or maybe you won’t. The plots are relentlessly weird – in one issue Batman, Superman, and Robin travel back in time and become the Three Musketeers, complete with tricorn hats and ruffled shirts! In another Batman and Robin gain Superman’s powers, while The Man of Steel must contend with being a mere mortal! In yet another story, Batman and Superman switch secret identities in order to fool Lois Lane, who has gone from hating Clark Kent to thinking he’s Superman!

Reading these comics is like having a midlife crisis – stay with me, here. Say you decide to take your vacation at a nudist camp. Your kids are horrified, the neighbors are bemused, but you need to show everyone you still got it. Except when you go, it sucks. Everyone is flabby, middle-aged, and out-of-shape (just like you!), mosquitos are everywhere, you burn yourself sunbathing on the beach, get poison ivy playing nude volleyball, and end up with food poisoning.

When you go back home, you’d just as soon forget the whole thing, but there’s that one person who took photos and videos of everything and posted them on Instagram & Facebook and now he keeps on cc:ing you and won’t go away. That’s what reading these issues is like.

Batman & Robin and Superman were created in the late 30’s. By the 1950’s, they’d reached middle-age and their creators were regularly jumping the shark, pick your reason. Which is to say: these comics aren’t good, which isn’t the same thing as saying I didn’t like them. Because I did like them, even though they were bad and when I finish this graphic novel I won’t remember any of them.

YMMV.

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Golden Age Superman Volume One

This is a review of Superman The Golden Age Volume One. I have a confession to make – I thought these comics would be awful. They aren’t. I enjoyed this graphic novel, warts and all, and liked seeing how Superman has changed over the years.

Superman is Clark Kent, milksop reporter. In reality, he’s a space alien rocketed to earth after his home planet explodes. Superman’s power set has evolved from his origins, where he jumps – just like The Incredible Hulk, minus the torn purple pants – instead of flying. He’s also super strong and invulnerable, although not quite as invulnerable as today.

What about Superman’s cast? At the moment, it’s just Lois Lane. Lois wears red a lot, which I’m guessing is a conscious choice on the part of the creators. She’s not very nice to Clark Kent (Superman’s alter ego). In Lois’ defense, Clark hits on her – well, all the time. My theory is that Lois stopped being cordial after rebuffing the first hundred attempts. No human resources departments back then, looks like.

The creators tend to use Lois as a hostage/rescue object, although nobody alive can beat Wonder Woman in that department. In one episode, Lois is thrown out a window and rescued by Superman. Apparently she’s in love with the big fella, because who wouldn’t love a space alien that can leap like an enormous grasshopper?

The basic template of a Superman story goes like this. Superman sees a bully kicking sand in someone’s face; Superman kicks the crap out of the bully. Sometimes the stories can get overly complex or weird, as when Superman kidnaps a college football player by jabbing him with a hypodermic needle and then poses as said youth, in order to teach the coach of the opposing team a lesson.

These stories are glorified power fantasies, which is fine, but they blend. They also overlook basic realities of human nature. In one issue, Superman kidnaps the generals of two opposing forces and tells them to fight. When they realize they’re not mad at each other, the generals end the war. Yeeeeeah.

There’s not a whole lot of suspense in these comics. The writers hadn’t invented kryptonite yet, so in the first year of stories Superman is invincible. It takes the introduction of the Ultra Humanite, whose claim to fame is managing to briefly knock Superman out a few times, to add an element of danger to the series.

I will leave you with this. There’s a fine line between fighting a bully and being a bully yourself. Superman might be the strongest man in the planet, but that doesn’t make him tough. He didn’t have to work for it.