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The ’90s Revisited: Superman/Doomsday Hunter/Prey

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Walt

supermandoomsdayhunterpreytpbStory & Layouts: Dan Jurgens
Finished Art: Brett Breeding
Lettering: Bill Oakley
Color Guides: Greg Wright
Color Separations by: Android Images
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $14.95

It’s been a bit over 20 years since this story first debuted, back in the spring of 1994. I remember the excitement I had for its premiere, and the orangey front cover of the first issue is rather “iconic” to me–extremely distinctive and always grabs my attention.

While this took Superman–and Doomsday–from actual continuity at the time, it’s a primarily stand-alone series that gave fans a rematch between Superman and Doomsday, as well as an origin to the monster. Its events drew directly from continuity and impacted ongoing continuity in such a way that it could just as easily have been part of the ongoing “regular” comics story-wise, though its epic nature was well-suited to a separate series.

While I read an old collected edition this time through, the series was originally published as three prestige-format volumes priced at $4.95 apiece (and this was in 1994!). The format, of course, put each at the size of a small graphic novel, and the collected work is as thick as any contemporary 6-issue volume.

While the rest of the Superman creative teams were also involved in the whole Death/Return of Superman saga, this volume being a Jurgens/Breeding work and feeling so very familiar in this read-through suggests to me that this is where I primarily came to associate Jurgens with Doomsday, and this has pretty much the best-looking renditions of the character (in my mind) to this day. (I certainly prefer this version by far to anything in the contemporary New 52 with the character).

Though the story works as a whole–Superman hunts Doomsday and the two fight once more–the story is fairly nuanced, and nicely balanced across the three parts. 

The first volume is a hunt–as Superman recognizes the impact of lingering fear from having died at the beast’s previous attack and the need to face his fear. While he seeks a way to find Doomsday, we see the creature’s arrival and impact on Apokalips…taking down Darkseid, the Cyborg’s return, and Superman catching up. As a first chapter it’d be rather short to have the two actually meet, and we see Doomsday sent off before Superman can confront him.

The second volume sees Superman (and Waverider) dealing with things on Apocalypse–taking down the Cyborg, as well as Superman learning the origin of the creature. The origin takes up a goodly part of the chapter, and provides a (fictionally) plausible background for the creature from inception to its emergence in the Death of Superman story.

The third and final volume sees Superman actually face the creature in battle, with an entire planet at stake, with a new costume for the occasion. (Said costume is rather cool in itself to me for the nostalgia factor, but reeks of ’90s belts and pouches. I look at it as a chance for the costume to be done but not have to be kept in-continuity.) The creature is defeated, and status quo restored, making this not exactly timeless, but free of absolutely fitting between specific issues of the ongoing Superman titles of the time.

Another nostalgic factor to me for this volume is the fact that it contains an “introduction” (something long lost in the contemporary age of collected volumes) by Jurgens, discussing the story’s genesis and including some early design sketches of Doomsday.

I believe this series was reprinted in the Superman/Doomsday Omnibus that came out awhile back (and which is presently out of print last I’d checked) but have seen the singles for this in bargain bins. I would certainly enjoy a nice “deluxe hardcover” treatment for this, or even combine it with the later The Doomsday Wars which was done in the same length and format detailing a later confrontation with Doomsday, Superman, and (I believe) the Morrison-era JLA.

All in all, definitely one of the “greats” from my childhood, a favorite volume, and it certainly holds up to this day. Re-reading this was far more enjoyable than any of the Superman: Doomed chapters the last several months, and felt like a far better spending of time.

Though best read in context/knowledge of the general Death/Return of Superman stuff, this can be read by itself pretty well. In and of itself it’s a complete story, that does not REQUIRE previous reading, nor does it drive one into future reading.

Filed under: The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Doomed: Price/Variants/Scheduling

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Walt

While I am certainly guilty of “enabling” or such in this case by buying along, the current crossover/”mini-event” Superman: Doomed makes for a bit of “case study” for why I will probably avoid the Futures End stuff and other future “mini events” or such from DC (to say nothing of Marvel‘s pricing, variants, and events).

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Price

I initially allowed myself to be sucked into Doomed because firstly, it’s Superman; secondly, Doomsday (even though I really do NOT like the revised visual of the character); thirdly, an ad/checklist indicated 4 chapters, so I figured why not? Only 4 issues…sure.

What I had not realized was that this was a 4-month, several-title saga or I would have simply awaited the collected volume…get the whole story in one book, all at once, in one place, no variants, cheaper than the singles, etc.

As far into things as I’ve gotten, I intend to finish this one out, and then I will be far more hesitant with any future such stories.

So far this has been a mix of pricing. As of this typing, we have 12 chapters. 1 was $2.99, 8 were $3.99, and 3 were $4.99…round the penny up on the cover prices and we’re at $42 so far. An ad in the latest issue gives an August checklist showing there are 3 more chapters, and unless I’m completely “off,” that’s 1 each at $2.99, $3.99, and $4.99. Meaning the $17ish story I thought I was getting into has become a $54 investment for 15 issues. (I paid about $55 for my Death and Return of Superman Omnibus that has about 40 issues’ content). And if I were to hazard a guess, I would guess that the hardback will be $29.99 to $34.99 cover price.

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Scheduling

I no longer pay the attention to “late books” that I used to…probably because I’ve been primarily sticking to Valiant and TMNT comics, and those have been coming out in the months they’re supposed to. I’ve not particularly paid attention to which week of the month, so if there’s been a bit of slidage I’m not particularly conscious of it.

julydoomedchecklist01That said, it’s long been frustrating–if only passively so–the way books seem to “cluster,” rather than be more spread out. Valiant would seem to skip a week or two and then have multiple books out the same week…and I think the last couple months, both the main TMNT book and the Animated Adventures have been out in the same week rather than spaced out. Maybe they have different audiences, but there are some people (like me) who buy both, so instead of spreading the cost through the month, when they both show up the same week, I’m out $8 instead of only $4 that week.

I noted my issue with this when Doomed STARTED, and the issue came up again a couple weeks ago with a $14 3-issue cluster that EASILY could have been spread out–and should have, as both of the $5 annuals were on a July checklist, not August. (In fact, 3 out of the 5 Wednesdays in July had NO new chapter! Superman/Wonder Woman #10 hit July 9th, and there was nothing July 16th, 23rd, or 30th).

julydoomedchecklist02

Variants

That $54 mentioned above actually translates to $62ish for me, as I wound up re-purchasing two issues. I didn’t even KNOW there were variants, and thus WOUND UP WITH variants for Superman #31 and Action Comics #32. Since this story has a trade dress and numbering, I sorta want all my single issues to look like they belong together, PARTICULARLY with the added expense and hassle OF buying this as single issues.

superman31variantsThe other week, I actually had to go to TWO shops just to get the NON-variant edition of Action Comics #34, as there were several variants left but the ‘regular’ trade-dress cover was sold out (and I got to the first shop maybe 2 hours after they opened?).

It’s one thing to have a variant as an actual SPECIAL thing…and on “key” issues (like a #1 or anniversary or such), and on very FEW titles. But when they’re so frequent and common and such that it’s the VARIANT that’s left and the REGULAR issue that sells out, it’s just a little ridiculous. (and it’s not like I’m grousing that a 1st print sold out before a 2nd print or any such).action33variants

I’m not going to blame the shop on the earlier issues: there was only the one cover there, the covers were not MARKED as variant (by the publisher), so I had no reason to suspect they were (perhaps I SHOULD have suspected due to how MANY variants are constantly being pumped out…but that’s another topic for another post). Of course, I wised up thanks to those, hence leaving my usual shop with one less otherwise-in-the-bag sale and went to another shop in seeking the regular edition.

*     *     *     *     *

So, a few more issues to complete this story that I’ve gotten this far into…and I’m done. Again. There are plenty of “classic” stories I’ve yet to read, many I’ll enjoy re-reading, and given my enjoyment of bargain bin hauls…I don’t need the hassle of things like I’ve experienced with Doomed.

And I’m not even getting into any of the issues I have with Marvel events this time around…

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When Will I Learn?

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Walt

All these years later, and I’m still snagging these when they come out. When WILL I learn?

assault_on_arkham_w_figurine_08122014

I watched this already tonight. I’ve never played the Arkham video games, nor even really know what their story is.

Maybe that would’ve helped.

I hardly noticed that this Batman was again voiced by Conroy. I really don’t like this “modern” visual design for Harley.

Perhaps much as I’ve let most DC comics go, it’s time to start letting these movies go. Next up is Throne of Atlantis. Another New 52-inspired animation.

I’d like to see Kingdom Come parts 1 and 2. Perhaps Prodigal. Or Zero Hour. Maybe a Reign of the Supermen. Or get into Vertigo and give us a Swamp Thing, or better yet–Hellblazer. If part of the appeal of this line is the PG-13 aspect, that they can cuss and show blood and be violent and even show some near-nudity…surely we could get a quality Hellblazer animated film!

At least I have an addition to my miniatures line from this. And if Aquaman–predictably–is the mini for the next one, I may break down and get that, too, if only FOR the mini.

Time will tell.

I’d recommend redboxing this if you’re interested. Or give it a few months and get it cheaper when it’s marked down a bit.

Filed under: QUASI-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of August 6th, 2014

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Walt

Not a horrible week, but not a tiny one, either…

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Funny…for as much as I consider myself officially “Valiant-and-TMNT-only” I only had one issue fitting that this week.

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A couple weeks with no new chapter of Doomed and now THREE chapters out today…

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I skipped Infinite Crisis when it came out a couple weeks back, but my curiosity got the better of me…figure I can at least check it out, though I’ve little intention of following it.

Honestly rather frustrated with stuff this week–I had to go to two shops in order to get the NON-variant editions of all 3 of the Doomed chapters. And there were 3 chapters–two of them $5 annuals and a $3.99–all in the SAME week.

And yet, here I am buying a bunch of DC and wondering why I’m spending so much after getting back down pretty close to pull-list-stuff-only…

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of July 30th, 2014

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Walt

This week’s haul was rather moderate–not tiny, but not particularly huge or overwhelming in either cost or quantity.

weeklyhaul20140730a

Since I’d requested them sight unseen, I’ve continued with the Chromium covers, and with these being a VERY RARE EXCEPTION to my usual no-variants rule, I’ve got both editions of Armor Hunters: Harbinger. And I’ve continued with Futures End and Batman Eternal…

weeklyhaul20140730b

I half-heartedly flipped through the quarter-bins for anything new or interesting. I probably already have the X-Factor issue, but not certain–it’s from near the end of the original run, where my collection remains sparser than earlier in the series. I don’t consciously remember the War Story issue, but had the first couple “waves” of War Story issues, so why not. And several Werewolf issues that I believe will make a fine addition to the Vampire issues I bought last week.

weeklyhaul20140730c

And because–at 90% off cover, Scalped vols. 2 & 3 (I got vol. 1 back in 2007) cost less than $4–I figured why not? I don’t recall how long the series ran, but I haven’t (yet) read the first volume, even, so these’ll add to a hopefully good, interesting reading when I get around to it. And with the discount I’d had on that one seven years ago, I don’t think I’ve topped $12 for the 3 so far.

I am going to have to decide soon if I *really* want to keep up with the DC Weeklies. They’ve not been bad, but I’ve had no problem going several weeks without READING, between actually reading the issues. And with Zero Year ending, I don’t know if the Batman Eternal will start having more direct tie-ins to the main title or not, and I don’t want to be forced (or enticed) into buying yet MORE series on a regular bases, especially when they’d likely be $3.99 to the weeklies’ $2.99.

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Superman (2011) #32 [Review]

Posted on June 28, 2014 by Walt

Superman #32

Men of Tomorrow – Chapter One: Ulysses

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Klaus Janson
Colorist: Laura Martin
Lettering: Sal Cipriano
Cover: Romita Jr., Janson, Martin
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

I wasn’t going to buy this issue. I’d been annoyed by the ads the last couple months, and wasn’t a fan of the art from previews…to say nothing of being annoyed AT the previews themselves (having never been a particular fan of the 5-page or so previews masquerading as chosen content in any given issue).

But at the shop, the coloring of the cover caught my attention: It’s not an image I recognized from the ads (the ads’ image I’d thought for SURE was the COVER IMAGE for this given its use all over the place!). While I’m not a fan of the linework, the image caught me–the red of the cape, the blue of the main suit, and maybe all the more, the orange and yellow background. It’s reminiscent of two VERY familiar covers in my mind: the Kryptonite Nevermore issue, and Adventures of Superman #497 from 1992.

Where usually the cover and art are not the primary influencing factor in my buying a comic, in this case, it definitely “sold” me on at least this issue alone.
I also quite like the fact that the visual style fits the interior; it sometimes feels like the covers can be a distinctly different thing, giving one impression while the interior is a completely different visual style.
I recall liking Romita‘s art some 12/13 years ago on Amazing Spider-Man, JMS‘ run, but as I’d noticed from the previews and now having been through the actual issue, I’m not terribly thrilled with the style with Superman. It’s certainly not bad–and loads better than anything I could ever dream of being able to draw myself–just that for this first issue it doesn’t fit with my preferred visual take on Superman (a la Dan Jurgens, Jim Lee, Ed Benes, to name a few). The art certainly does its job…I’m never really left wondering what’s going on, and there’s nothing that jars me out of the story scratching my head at anatomy or some other quirks that different artists’ styles sometimes have done to me. If you’re a fan of Romita‘s style, this would seem to be a solid example of that, except it’s with DC characters instead of Marvel.

While Janson‘s name sticks out quite a bit to me, I’m honestly not one that particularly consciously notices inking–linework tends to go together as one thing, with the penciller getting much of the credit. In this case, given just how recognizeable the art is to me as Romita’s style, I’d say the inking maintains the style, complimenting it quite well…it certainly doesn’t detract in any way I notice.

If I’m correctly recalling, the last time Johns came onto a Superman book was in Action Comics, beginning the Last Son arc with Donner, and I was none too thrilled with elements reintroduced to the Superman story during that run. I was also not all that thrilled with the Secret Origin arc and what THAT reintroduced.
However, this is an entirely different DC universe, an entirely different Superman, and as such, I’m along for the ride and whatever elements are brought in. I’ve not been particularly invested in the New 52 Superman, at this point having read barely 1/3 of the run.
Johns introduces us to Ulysses, a boy sent from his dying world by his parents to another place in the hopes that he would live…an origin quite parallel to that of Kal-El. Years later, Superman takes down Titano, a giant (mechanical) ape troubling Metropolis. Not long after, we spend some time at the Planet with Perry, Jimmy, and a visiting Clark. Perry offers to bring Kent back in, and offers a bit of a ‘speech’ that will surely impact the young reporter/blogger/super-hero. A new threat hits the city, and though Superman intervenes, it takes the intervention of a new  figure to temporarily resolve the issue, as the man believing himself to be the Last Son of Earth discovers he’s not nearly as alone as he’d thought.
Frankly, I don’t want to be interested. I don’t want another $3.99 book on my slate each month, especially with the title being what seems to me arbitrarily bumped to the higher price, when Superman started as a $2.99 book and Action Comics was the $3.99 book.
But Johns has done it–I’m interested in spite of myself. I may not be enthused with the art, but the story more than makes up for it. I haven’t a clue how LONG Johns will be on the book, and this strikes me as likely “graphic novel” fodder (without getting much into the issue of stories “written for the trade”) so it remains to be seen if I pick up the next issue.
I’m not ready to add this to my pull list by any means…but I’m not disappointed in having spent the $3.99 that I did, I’m interested in what comes next within the story, and it’s highly likely that if I don’t pick up the rest of this arc in single-issue format I’ll definitely look at picking up the inevitable hardback.

adventuresofsuperman497      superman233

superman0032

Filed under: 2014, DC, New 52, The, Superman | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Bargain Bin Haul: Kid Eternity

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Walt

Flipping through the quarter-bin today, I found two volumes of the Grant Morrison Kid Eternity mini-series. A bit furtrher into the bin, I found the third. I thought I was missing a fourth until I saw the “of 3” and satisfied, pulled all three.

kideternity1to3

I didn’t even notice until I got the issues home and was taking the photo seen above that the three covers form a singular image. Definitely an added “bonus” of sorts. This is ALSO the way such things SHOULD be done, in my opinion–any multi-part non-wrap-around cover image should be DIFFERENT ISSUES, not multiple variants of the SAME issue. But then, these were published some 23 years ago, before all that cropped up.

kideternity1to16

Along with the original mini, I also found the full 16-issue run of the Vertigo ongoing series. The first issue of this is the first Vertigo comic I remember ever being “aware of” AS Vertigo, as an “adult” or “mature readers” comic.

And while I almost left these in the bin, I figured 16 issues was a pretty good chunk of the series. Come to realize looking in the back of #16 that it was the series finale, thus giving me the full series.

This entire run cost me $4.75…hardly more than a Marvel, and cheaper than the cover price of one of the Morrison issues, even all these years later.

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Let’s Try This Again: New Line of DC Toys

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Walt

Total_Heroes_June_16th

Back in 2008, I got in “at the beginning” of Mattel’s Infinite Heroes line of 3.75″ DC toys. Sadly, lack of selection and other factors seemed to quickly doom that line (whereas the Marvel 3.75″ figures from another company are doing quite well, or at least are still around with a much more significant presence than DC stuff).

Several weeks ago, I happend across this new line of DC character figures for quite a great price: larger than the 3.75″ figures, but still “only” $9.99. I wound up buying the three that I’ve found thus far: Batman, Superman, and Sinestro. I look forward to finding Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and Aquaman…as well as hopefully plenty of other DC characters.

Total_Heroes_Batman_Front

Total_Heroes_Superman_Front

Total_Heroes_Sinestro_Front

While VERY basic, I do appreciate the cards being unique to the figures, including a brief/minimal profile:

Total_Heroes_Batman_Profile

Total_Heroes_Superman_Profile

Total_Heroes_Sinestro_Profile

And I know of the existence of Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman because of the gallery on the figures’ cards:

Total_Heroes_More_01

Total_Heroes_More_02

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Here’s hoping the other characters come out relatively quickly without shortpacking, and without any single character becoming a “peg warmer” and all that. I’m in at the beginning for now–give me a steady pace of figures that I can get for $9.99 at Warlmart/Target/Meijer, and I’ll probably keep buying…

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Great Find: ‘The Batman Vault’

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Walt

I’d come across this volume at Barnes & Noble quite unexpectedly. It was on a bargain table labeled as “up to 75% off publishers’ prices.” For the price of 3-4 single issues, this is a $50 volume, and though it’s rather outdated (2009 copyright), it has proved its worth alone in the time I spent unwrapping and “flipping through” the thing.

batmanvaultfrontcover

While it hasn’t always been reflected in my following the character in contemporary comics–having left off partway into the post-R.I.P. Red Robin run and only stuck with the New 52 Teen Titans for a couple issues–Robin is arguably one of my favorite characters in comics (well, the Tim Drake / Robin III version). It was actually the “promise” of the inclusion of a promo piece from the early Tim Drake solo stuff that truly “sold” me on this volume. Not intending to spend a lengthy time reading initially, I paged through, but really look forward to “digging in” on the Robin section.

batmanvaultrobinpage

The volume includes a number of these archival pocket pages (right-hand side above) with removable “artifacts,” from that piece to a DC promotional mobile sent to comic shops to replicated brochures, booklets, and so on…even a reprint of the “infamous” Batcave “poster” from an issue of All-Star Batman and Robin…something I never got to hold, having never bought the issue in question (that I can recall).

batmanvaultbackcover

Though a lot of the general info is “old news” to me, it’s interesting to see such a broad overview of Batman’s history (to 2009) encompassed in a single publication. As of this typing (though it probably won’t actually translate to purchases) I’m considering tracking down some of the DK volumes, as this reminded me a lot of what I’ve seen from a couple of those when I’ve flipped through them in stores or a library.

I don’t know if there’s a Superman volume like this–if there is, I’ll certainly be on the hunt–but in the middle of the 75th anniversary year of Batman, this was far too great an opportunity to have passed up, and I’m quite glad to have spent the money.

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(Most of) No Man’s Land…Finally

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Walt

Somewhere during my junior year of high school, I ended up following the multi-part crossover Cataclysm in the Batman family of titles.

It was early in my senior year that things took off; I was on a senior class field trip when I picked up a couple issues of the Mr. Wayne Goes to Washington prelude arc. And it was during the latter part of my senior year and early freshman year of college that I followed most of the year-long No Man’s Land mega-arc.

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However, to this day, I’ve yet to read the entire thing. And I never did wind up snagging the 5 or 6 volume set of the TPBs that’ve been out. Of course, that turned out to be fortuitous as DC‘s in the last couple years re-issued the arc in new editions–this time collecting more, and doing so in 4 volumes.

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I ordered the first three volumes last week in a bit of a “retail-therapy” splurge, restraining myself by sticking “just” to these three volumes. I intend to snag the 4th before too much longer, and have also had my eye on the new editions of the Knightfall/KnightQuest/KnightsEnd volumes. Batman’s 75th, and it’s looking like a significant Batman investment for me already for the year.

It helps, perhaps, having also bought and listened to the two GraphicAudio volumes adapting Greg Rucka‘s novelization of the series, which was a real treat to listen to the last few weeks.

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