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Superman (vol. 2) #75 [Back-Issue Review]

Posted on November 18, 2008 by Walt

Doomsday!

Words & Pictures: Dan Jurgens
Finished Art: Brett Breeding
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: John Costanza
Assistant Editor: Jennifer Frank
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover: Jurgens & Breeding
Triangle #: 1993/2

This is it: this is THE comic that most affected me in my youth as a young, new comic reader. The issue that promised “The Death of Superman.”

Opening with Superman locked in a savage combative embrace with Doomsday, the issue moves us quickly through the final blows of the fight, while allowing Superman a last moment with Lois as he explains that he must match Doomsday down to seeking the death of his opponent–something Superman once swore never to do. We move into a “silent” scene as narration takes an outside-of-things tone, describing the nature of the final blows of the battle, of the feelings experienced by those near and far, related and unrelated, all watching as Superman and Doomsday both fall.

The art throughout this entire issue is superb–it is eye-catching, character-defining, and allows us a much more personal view to the desperate nature of the battle. Images from this issue have often been used either directly or as inspiration for moments seen for years in flashbacks to Superman’s battle with Doomsday; other images from the issue have been reprinted on trading cards, used in ads by various comic retailers and mail-order companies of the time; and on the whole, these images have all been extremely memorable to me, personally, having been an impressional eleven-year-old at the time these saw print.

The story is at once minimal yet phenomenal. It’s easy to lay the kind words for the issue at writer/artist Jurgens’ feet, but the praise is due the entire team, as well as those of the other Superman books that brought the story to this issue. The ending of the issue–the “voiceover narration”–is particularly touching and powerful…and memorable. The issue closes with a final moment between Superman and Lois…and then Superman is dead.

It’s hard to find words to do this issue justice, particularly on the “meta-textual” level. This single issue–and the entire story arc–can be pointed to as sparking a number of things known in comics through the 1990s through the present. It’s also the single issue I have read more than any other comic I own, in all its formats. For whatever its objective weaknesses/problems, I cannot fully separate myself from this comic.

From cover to cover, every part pertaining to the story itself proves memorable and meaningful, as this issue has gone down as one of my absolute favorite single comic books of my lifetime…and provided one has dared to actually read it, this might be one of the most widely-read single comics out there, carrying much impact regardless of continuity and context from previous chapters.

My favorite cover, my favorite moments, and my favorite issue of the story…the issue is greater than the sum of its parts in the eyes of this now-a-late-20-something adult.

Story: 7/10
Art: 8.5/10
Whole: 9.5/10

Filed under: Back-Issue Reviews, Doomsday: The Death of Superman | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Superman (vol. 2) #74 [Back-Issue Review]

Posted on November 14, 2008 by Walt

Countdown to Doomsday!

Story & Art: Dan Jurgens
Finished Art: Brett Breeding
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: John Costanza
Assistant Editor: Jennifer Frank
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover: Dan Jurgens & Brett Breeding
Triangle #: 1992/46

We open with Ice and Maxima determining the fate of the Blue Beetle–one argues medical need, the other a warrior’s death. While Ice prepares to face the beast that’s taken the Justice League apart, we cut to a boy arriving home from school–he is not a fan of Superman, nor of living with his mother. As they argue, Ice is thrown through their window as Doomsday approaches. When Superman and Booster Gold arrive, the creature officially gets his name. As the battle is joined, the combined might of Superman, Booster Gold, Bloodwynd, Guy Gardner, and Fire is unleashed upon the creature. When it’s over, not only is the creature still standing–it is no longer restricted, the League’s attack having destroyed its bindings. Seeing the destruction caused, Superman refuses to allow the creature escape–though this might come at high cost to the Man of Steel.

Aside from the debte between Ice and Maxima, and a couple pages of setup/establishing-the-scene with Mitch and his mother, this issue is all fight-scene. Not much on story, though there are some almost cheesey lines from Mitch to provide context–divorced parents, angry at passive mother, prefers dad, thinks Superman’s a wimp and Guy Gardner’s cool, etc. Not too much on the writing front–I have no complaint, really, as–three issues in–Superman and Doomsday finally come face-to-face, exchanging their first punches in this classic battle.

Jurgens’ art is top-notch; the images in these pages have–through consistent re-reading as well as nostalgia–become some of the best-known to me, and are what I often hold as a standard for other comic book art. Probably the only weakness I see visually is the cover, which has never much appealed to me.

Taken as a whole, this was a solid issue, keeping the story moving and upping the ante as Superman realizes the Justice League can’t help him finish this.

Story: 7/10
Art: 8/10
Whole: 7.5/10

Filed under: Back-Issue Reviews, Doomsday: The Death of Superman | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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