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The Adventures of Superman #497 [Back-Issue Review]

Posted on November 15, 2008 by Walt

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: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 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 »

Superman: The Man of Steel #18 [Back-Issue Review]

Posted on November 12, 2008 by Walt

Doomsday! part one

Story: Louise Simonson
Penciller: Jon Bogdanove
Inker: Dennis Janke
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Assistant: Jennifer Frank
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover: Bogdanove & Janke
Triangle #: 1992/45

After the previous month’s worth of issues having a single page at their end showing a gloved fist beating on a metal wall (and eventually poking THROUGH the wall), This issue opens with the bearer of that fist fully breaking free from what imprisoned it, and clawing into new life on the surface of the Earth. While the creature gets loose, we see a young boy buying glow-in-the-dark paint for purposes of his own. Meanwhile, Lois finds a message for Clark requesting Superman’s presence–she rushes off to check the likely story, but leaving a message for Clark to meet her there. The creature admires the world it’s about to destroy, beginning with a curious bird that lands on its outstretched hand. When the city’s power fails, Superman sets out to see what can be done, while Lois finds herself captured by “underworlders” and the young boy realizes that these monsters don’t have his mom, and races back to the surface to try to contact Superman. Superman attends to the underworlders’ attempted invasion of Metropolis, while somewhere in Ohio the creature causes enough destruction to gain the attention of the Justice League.

It’s been roughly sixteen years since I first read this–and I haven’t a clue how many times I’ve re-read it since that first read. The comic shop my dad preordered this story for me at allowed us to wait until the final chapter was out before picking it up–so wait we did. The first time I read this issue was with a stack of the next six chapters in a pile underneath–so this has rarely (if ever) stood entirely alone.

That said, this issue’s story is probably my least favorite of the Death of Superman / Doomsday story. I never liked the underworlders subplots. Upon this latest re-read of the issue, I still don’t. I found them to be rather boring and uninteresting, if not outright generic. The story here, though, seems to serve more to transition into the over-arching story than to really start the main event, and seems to tie up some threads from earlier plot points (specifically regarding the underworlders).

There’s not much to say about the art, except that is certainly fits the story–this was the first in-story appearance of Doomsday as more than a fist, so gets the distinction of visually defining it in this initial stage. Details seem consistent panel to panel of the various characters–I’m never left wondering what’s going on by any confusing images. Perhaps for being the point at which I more or less entered the world of Superman all those years ago for the long haul, this art is simply classic, and tends to be the standard by which I’ve judged other artists who’ve dealt with Superman–and supporting cast–on a regular basis.

On the whole, this was a good example of what a Superman book was, in 1992. The books were essentially a weekly series with rotating creative teams (one per core title), and this issue reflects that–dealing with ongoing subplots, focusing on a more specific plot-point, and keeping a number of characters in the appearance-rotation. Good in that sense; but as said, not all that wonderful as far as the first chapter of such a huge story.

Story: 6/10
Art: 8/10
Whole: 7/10

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

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