Under Fire
Writer: Jerry Ordway
Penciller: Tom Grummett
Inker: Doug Hazlewood
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Letterer: Albert De Guzman
Assistant Editor: Jennifer Frank
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover: Tom Grummett, Doug Hazlewood, & Denis Rodier
Triangle #: 1992/47
Superman is chasing Doomsday, determined to foil the beast’s escape. To stay on his tail, though, means leaving the broken and battered Justice League–as well as an innocent family–behind. Superman makes the only choice he can, praying that Doomsday won’t cause too much destruction while the family is rescued. When the battle is rejoined, a small town pays the price. We get a moment of downtime as Lois storms GBS in search of Jimmy, who is needed for an assignment–covering this battle that Superman’s caught in. Maxima returns from rescuing Blue Beetle, and with little regard for innocents caught in the crossfire, eagerly wades into combat with Doomsday. A familiar figure–arriving too late for this battle–confronts Superman over the town’s destruction.
This middle-chapter isn’t much of a stand-out. In fact, the way it stands out is by doing what I have done–reading one issue at a time, in single-issue format, rather than the collected volume. Otherwise, this blends in with the overall story–which on the whole is good, but of little distinction as a single-issue.
The story’s consistent–I don’t ever feel like I’m reading a different writer’s take on Supermn than the previous chapter…this simply reads AS “Superman,” despite the creative team shift.
The art is high-quality, and where I don’t recall noticing it all those years ago when I first read this, for this go-’round I’m looking for it, and do notice that it is different. It’s got a certain clear linework to it that makes the characters stand out, and packs emotion into character faces.
Maybe not the best issue of the story, but just as strong as the previous chapter, doing everything a middle chapter of a serialized story is supposed to. This issue begins the final “countdown,” as we move from variable panels-per-page to a structure of 4 panels, and successive issues will have fewer panels until the finale with each page being a single-panel splash-page.
Story: 7/10
Art: 8/10
Whole: 7.5/10
Filed under: Back-Issue Reviews, Doomsday: The Death of Superman | Tagged: Adventures of Superman, Comic Reviews 2008, DC Comics, Denis Rodier, Doomsday, Doomsday: The Death of Superman, Doug Hazlewood, Glenn Whitmore, Jennifer Frank, Jerry Ordway, lbert De Guzman, Mike Carlin, Superman, Tom Grummett | Leave a comment »
Comic Reviews by Walt 