• February 2026
    S M T W T F S
    1234567
    891011121314
    15161718192021
    22232425262728

  • On Facebook

    On Facebook

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Comic Blog Elite

    Comic Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

Batman/Superman #1 [Review]

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Walt

batmansuperman001Crossworld

Writer: Greg Pak
Artists: Jae Lee, Ben Oliver
Colors: June Chung, Daniel Brown
Letters: Rob Leigh
Cover: Jae Lee with June Chung
Associate Editor: Rickey Purdin
Group Editor: Eddie Berganza
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

I bought this issue to meet a credit card minimum. Of everything on the “new” shelf, it was the only thing that really grabbed my attention for a one-shot purchase with potential. Other than setting this apart from the Loeb-launched Superman/Batman from a decade ago, I do find myself mildly curious as to any significance to the title, having Batman listed first. At least BOTH characters are spotlighted on the standard cover…you don’t have to track down two covers to get both title characters in one shot.

Unfortunately, it was a lot more disappointing than I expected. I’d avoided it on Wednesday–I just had zero interest in it from the start. ANOTHER “Superman meets Batman for the FIRST TIME” story. And that’s where it goes wrong; where I go wrong. I am absolutely NOT the “target audience” for this book: I’m bored and put-out by the New 52 at this point…and to ME, the “first meeting” between Superman and Batman happened “One Night in Gotham City” in the 1980s’ Man of Steel #3.

Leaving nostalgia and such aside, I have a real problem with a young Superman–Superboy???–being so…arrogant, angry, violent. To say nothing of the fact that I did read the first-ever New 52 issue, Justice League #1. And I’m recalling a scene in which Batman and Green Lantern talk about some alien in Metropolis, and meet Superman “for the first time.” So that makes this issue essentially a fairly big plothole to a casual such reader as myself.

Clark Kent visits Gotham, and realizes he really does not fit into this dark city. When he confronts some kids bullying another, he meets a drunk, stinking boy billionaire with more street sense than he’d’ve expected. Turns out Clark was looking for Bruce, to see what he knew of several Wayne employees murdered recently. The two part on neutral terms, neither impressed with the other. The murderer strikes again, and Batman leaps into the fray, surprised at the identity…before Superman busts in, throwing around violence and making a bad situation worse. Another entity joins the situation, and just makes things confusing…though that seems to set up what may be the plot for the next few issues.

Visually I’m not all that impressed…Lee‘s art is not particularly “up my alley,” it’s very stylized and just not what I would choose. Because it’s so…what it is, this feels like it ought to me some sort of Elseworlds book, or some intercompany crossover in the vein of these characters meeting the Aliens or Predators. I’ve never really cared for the jeans, t-shirt and cape get-up for Superman; the look is done no favors here, in my eyes. There’s also something to the way Lee depicts the “S” that bugs me–like it’s trying to be a mash-up of the overly-lined Man of Steel film logo and the more stylized Superman Returns film logo.

Lee‘s art gets the job done, though…even depicting the violence fairly disturbingly (something Lee‘s style does well with). So while it’s not my cup of tea and I have nitpicky issues, I won’t fault it too heavily in and of itself.

I don’t care for the art shift toward the end of the issue. It fits reasonably well given the shift in scenery and all–but I find myself wondering if this is an issue of timing or a planned function to serve the story itself (or just happened to work as it is).

The story itself roughly fits a fairly standard mold for these characters…the idea that while they come to work together when more seasoned at the whole “super-hero” thing, they clash in the early days of their careers is not new. What little I know of the New 52 incarnation of Superman kinda fits, though again I don’t like it much. Batman I’m less sure on–this Bruce Wayne sorta fits with Year One, and probably perfectly fits with the upcoming Zero Year stuff. Given Clark’s readiness to cut loose with his powers it’s sort of astonishing that he doesn’t (seem to) recognize Batman as a mortal man and “reveal” him or at least peek under the cowl with X-ray vision. (Then again, I realize I don’t know the origin of this version of Superman, so maybe he didn’t have access to that power yet).

All in all, I imagine that if you’re a fan of Jae Lee‘s art, of the New 52 early Superman, and/or Pak‘s writing, and have no particular “attachment” to ’80s/’90s Superman and Batman, you’ll probably enjoy this. You might have to overlook that this is yet another $3.99 book…but hey? $2.99 seems to be an exception rather than the rule, these days.

Filed under: Batman/Superman, DC, New 52, The | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

10 Favorite Superman Covers

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Walt

I’m not much of an art person when it comes to comics–I tend to prefer story over art…but that’s not to say that art doesn’t play a huge factor! And through the years, there have been a number of Superman comics whose covers have particularly stood out to me, for one reason or another. In this series, I presented 10 of my favorites and why they are favorites. Click the covers below to go to the original posts.

01  02  03

04  05  06

07  08  09

10

I posted this series for 10 days from Wednesday, June 5 through Friday, June 14–opening day of Man of Steel. Click any of the covers above to see the full post for that issue.

Filed under: Favorite Superman Covers, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Digitally Unchained: Superman on Comixology

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Walt

Comixology has provided a nice alternative to my frustration with contemporary Superman comics: a bunch of digital back-issues–favorites–that I can now read on my tablet!

Where I’m not interested in newer stuff, I’m quite enjoying being able to go back and re-read favorite stories/issues without rootin’ through all my boxes at present.

I haven’t read For All Seasons in ages:

comixology-supermanforallseasons

And I’ve long held Secret Identity as one of my all-time favorite Superman stories…in large part due to having looked forward to sharing it with my Grandpa.

comixology-supermansecretidentity

I was surprised (pleasantly) to find Superman #1 “free,” (I may yet break down and snag Action Comics #1). The Annual is For the Man Who Has Everything, one of the earliest “modern” Superman stories I’d ever read, the first I’d learned of Mongul, and likely the first thing I ever read by Alan Moore.

comixology-superman1939

For the price, not about to buy one chapter of Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow and not buy the conclusion. I also used this sale to fill in my digital Death of Superman collection.

comixology-actioncomics1938

I decided to go ahead and snag the Supergirl Saga and what issues are available of Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite as well:

comixology-adventuresofsuperman1986

I’m fairly certain this Superman #1 was also free…

comixology-superman1987

Superman: The Man of Steel got me on Doomsday and the first issue…I’d bought the #0 last year during a Zero Hour sale, but only recently downloaded it to my tablet.

comixology-supermanthemanofsteel1991

So…I have plenty of reading, just with Superman stuff…makes it that much easier to “pass” on current stuff that I’m not enjoying.

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

Not a Poster (and where are the chains?)

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Walt

supermanunchained001variant001While I was quite impressed by Man of Steel, I found myself rather disappointed (to say the least) in Superman Unchained #1. I think THE primary problem for me with Superman Unchained was the issue of the extra $1 to the cover price (already going to be $3.99, the poster’s inclusion bumped the price an entire $1 to $4.99!)

And yet…the poster is not at all what I personally would consider an actual poster. To me, a poster is a stand-alone image, where the art speaks for itself. It might be an oversized (or same-sized) cover image, or reproduced from interior art–a panel or splash-page.  It might be a wholly original image, perhaps an artist’s work not usually associated with a character. And if it is captioned, it’s intended as a stand-alone.

What we got with this issue is simply a detachable fold-out to allow for two panels at 4 times the usual page-size (or double the size of a 2-page splash).

supermanunchainedposter01

The first side is simply a falling satellite with Superman smashing through…but just looking at the image, I can’t even tell what it’s supposed to be. Some sort of spaceship exploding or otherwise breaking apart…but no CONTEXT. Can’t even tell that it’s Superman there…and it’s certainly no poster-worthy Superman depiction–no heroic pose, nothing that truly “says” Superman here.

supermanunchainedposter02

On the reverse side, we do get a MUCH closer-up view of Superman…you can tell that it’s Superman, that he’s punching…something, so we’re a little closer to expectation. But the image is spoiled by the awkward, off-center pose, and all those text boxes. They may not be overly noticeable at first glance from a distance…but while that MIGHT be a slight strength at first, it leads into another problem: you have to get up close to the poster to read anything on it, and it’s hard to un-notice the text once you notice it.

supermanunchained001variant002And since this comes from within the issue itself, is a part of the story, this does not at all stand alone–you lose the context of that story that ties to the text boxes. It also means that you’re missing these details from any later re-read of the issue itself if you’ve removed and hung the poster, rather than tucking it back into the issue where it–obviously–is intended to belong.

Basically, the reader is asked to pay extra so that the artist can have art shown off at an abnormally over-sized perspective for no real gain to the story itself (to say nothing of losing all flow of story by having to take the time and hassle to remove the thing from the issue in the first place! Why not a clear polybag? DC already uses those for the “combo pack” editions, I believe!)

Then, the issue is swamped with variants–many actually appealing for their nostalgia factor AS a comic book. Rather than simply having a different image under the company logo, title logo, and UPC box…the entire trade dress of the cover is redone in the classic styles, with the classic company logos and so on.

Granted, the visual style would evoke different periods of the comics. But going with the different logos and trade dress, you truly wind up with an entirely different comic by the cover alone–whether something that looks like it came out of my grandpa’s cabinet, or from the midst of the era of Superman I most enjoy.

supermanthemanofsteel050But the variants aren’t stopping with the “celebration” of this first issue–nope, they’re continuing with the next issue at minimum, if not beyond. And while I’d thought to “give in” and give the issue a “pass” for being a #1…keeping this up–especially with RATIOED variants–is absolutely not gonna keep me around (in fact, it’s soured me entirely!)

Add to all of the above that I didn’t pick up on anything within the first issue to really warrant the title Unchained, vs. the long-rumored Man of Steel or something else. Depending even on where the story goes based on the first issue’s cliffhanger, I don’t see Unchained coming from that–perhaps if we actually saw a Superman breaking free of SOME sort of imprisonment (chains or otherwise)–or being imprisoned (and so having something to break free from) it would make sense.

The standard cover at least has debris and sorta looks like chains on it at a glance…but unless that’s a requirement for every standard cover to justify the title, even that sort of gimmick will likely wear thin its welcome in quite a hurry.

In the end, I suppose all of this is simply further indication that I’m not the target audience. And since I’m not enjoying what’s being done at present–I’ll stick to my back issues.

Filed under: QUASI-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Superman Unchained #1 [Review]

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Walt

Superman Unchained #1The Leap

Writer: Scott Snyder
Penciller: Jim Lee
Inker: Scott Williams
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Sal Cipriano
Cover: Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair
Assoc. Editor: Chris Conroy
Group Editor: Matt Idelson
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $4.99

So…$4.99 for this Superman Unchained #1. It’s functionally a 20-page story with a 2-page “epilogue” or “backup” or “extra feature.” 22 pages for $4.99. BUT there’s what was billed as a “tipped-in POSTER” included. This poster is just a double-sided foldout allowing for two single images roughly 4x the size of a normal-sized page, the most “poster-like” loaded with caption boxes. Maybe technically this counts as an extra 8 pages…but that STILL only brings the pagecount to 30…for $4.99. Removing this so-called “poster” involved peeling it off a bound-in piece of tagboard–something which I would assume complicated the printing/binding process in itself to put in, plus the folding, placement of the glue, and the placement of the “poster.” And the “poster” itself had a couple dots of this glue, keeping it from flapping open.

All this hassle, and it’s basically for one side of a “poster” being this huge image of Superman crashing through a satellite, and then an extra-large image of him narrating the situation on the other side. Hardly something that would really make sense on the wall as a poster, more just some comic page pulled out of an issue and stuck on the wall.

$4.99. Five dollars. And while I read the first arc of Superman when the New 52 began–so have a BIT of context of Lois, Perry, and Clark’s relationships…I’m not even that clear on what things are here. And the issue’s big “reveal,” the thing that’s such a big deal, isn’t. Not to me. It doesn’t fit. It doesn’t interest me. It doesn’t change things.

So, objects are falling to Earth. Superman’s trying to stop them, letting one go since he sees it’ll fall “harmlessly” while he stops this huge “Lighthouse” satellite that’s gonna hit like a gigantic nuclear bomb. He confronts Lex Luthor, who has an alibi, and as he seethes over this, learns someone stopped that object he’d let go–but if it wasn’t him, Wonder Woman, or Green Lantern–then who, exactly, WAS it that stopped the thing? We learn of General Lane’s involvement, and of a secret weapon against Superman that goes back to the beginning of things.

Visually…the art’s good. It’s Jim Lee, whose art I’ve tended to almost always enjoy. Maybe I’m just irked about the “poster,” and/or the price and/or my own lack of context for not keeping up with Superman the last 15 months, but the art doesn’t blow me away. It’s good, but it’s not the “great” that I’d’ve hoped for. It’s not the Jim Lee art that a decade ago prompted me to NOT drop the Superman titles but rather keep up a few more months until Lee‘s run on an Azzarello story would begin.

Story-wise, I’m just not interested. I know a lot of people are loving Snyder‘s work, and will consider this to be great Superman…but unfortunately, this is NOT “my” Superman. Perhaps the collected volume(s) will end up being my thing, if I myself hear enough good about it to warrant checking them out. But for now…this issue just doesn’t do anything (positive) for me.

I have no intention of grabbing the next issue, and it’ll depend on others’ reviews whether or not I even bother returning to this title in any form, outside proper bargain bins. For your page count, you’d be better off grabbing the first Superman: Earth One graphic novel and reading that, especially if you’re looking for a specific tie-in to the Man of Steel film.

Filed under: DC, New 52, The, Superman Unchained | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Favorite Superman Covers: Superman: The Man of Steel #37

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Walt

I’m not much of an art person when it comes to comics–I tend to prefer story over art…but that’s not to say that art doesn’t play a huge factor! And through the years, there have been a number of Superman comics whose covers have particularly stood out to me, for one reason or another. In this series, I’m presenting 10 of my favorites and why they are favorites.

A Superman cover dominated by Batman…Batmen, rather. There’s something to that contrast that in and of itself makes this stand out for me. Also that this was–as I recall–one of the earlier tie-ins to the Zero Hour crossover…which I’m thinking was my first real “comics-universe-wide” such experience.

There’d been Eclipso: The Darkness Within and Bloodlines, of course…but this was a story that was taking place in the actual, regular (“real”) issues of the actual comics and not something constrained to special Annual issues.

supermanthemanofsteel037

But there’s also just something about Superman facing all these Batmen that’s…fun. This also would have been a time where I’d become aware of the lengthy history of the characters, and through Grandpa’s old comics, and library reading, I’d’ve even been aware of many of the versions of Batman on this cover.

I’m aware of a poster–double-sided, I believe–that promoted this issue…with a flip-side showing Batman surrounded by Supermen. Said poster can’t be easy to find…but would be a welcome one to have.

Filed under: Favorite Superman Covers, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Man of Steel: Initial Thoughts

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Walt

manofsteelwalmartpremierenightfrontI’ve said for awhile now that based on the trailers alone, this film looks far better to me than “the last one.” While Superman Returns has its place, I never cared for the costume or the weirdly-stylized “S.” And the film was long, kinda dragged, and seemed too much like it was trying too hard to BE the ’78 Donner film.

And this new film?

There’s plenty of homage; I thought of a bunch of other films at different points throughout watching this. I saw what I interpreted as a number of influences–from Alex Ross’ art to The Matrix to Star Wars and Gladiator…some things more subtle than others.

But mostly, I saw Superman. I didn’t see an actor molded to be as similar as possible to another actor playing Superman. And because of that (at least in part) I enjoyed the film a lot more.

alexrosssupermanThere’s a lot of sci-fi to this film; more than I think I’ve ever seen in a live-action Superman film before. And a lot of it–especially early on–put me heavily in mind of Star Wars Episode III. Shortly after I was put in mind of moments from 2009’s Star Trek as well as (for what should be an obvious reason) Gladiator.

In large part due to the broad strokes of the conditions behind Superman’s reveal, I was put in mind of the Superman: Earth One graphic novel from a couple years back. As a fan of ’90s Superman, I certainly missed one character in particular…and yet, the way that gets handled by the end of the film leaves huge potential for the inevitable sequel, and I daresay I’d be highly interested in a comic series set in this film’s continuity.

After the film’s opening, I was a bit put off by what I imagined was the route the story was taking…and braced myself for a long off-putting film. This concern was quickly put aside as the story unfolded and things were presented contrary to my expectations.

manofsteelwalmartpremierenightbackI was honestly surprised by a couple of deaths in the film–though they certainly fit the story, and definitely leave things ripe for potential…and my own mental tying in of a digital prequel comic I read thanks to the Walmart Premiere Night ticket code makes me wonder at the possibility of even a loose adaptation of the first “current” Superman story I ever read (parts of) back in ’89.

You want out ‘n out spoilers? Plenty of those out there. And I’ll likely have other thoughts once I see the film at least one more time; to say nothing of how others’ thoughts will rub off on me and give me different perspectives to come at this with…as well as the simple passage of time. (I’ll be particularly looking forward to hearing what Michael Bailey and Raging Bullets have to say on the film!)

Filed under: QUASI-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

This Week’s Superman Haul

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Walt

Though I’d consider Superman my favorite comics character–and one with whom I have the most “history” (other close rivals being Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), it’s been a long time since I bought any new Superman comics.

But this week, I picked up Superman Unchained #1, got the free All-Star Superman #1 reprint, and from the 25-cent bin, snagged a copy of the 2nd print of 1992’s Superman #75–the Death of Superman.

supermanweek06132013

Not a bad haul for the price and page count!

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

Favorite Superman Covers: Adventures of Superman #463

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Walt

I’m not much of an art person when it comes to comics–I tend to prefer story over art…but that’s not to say that art doesn’t play a huge factor! And through the years, there have been a number of Superman comics whose covers have particularly stood out to me, for one reason or another. In this series, I’m presenting 10 of my favorites and why they are favorites.

While I do know this cover is based on/an homage to the silver-age Superman #199, this version is what I remember, and is my favorite of the two. While I don’t remember the exact time, I do remember pulling this off a spinner rack at a Kmart, and I even think I remember choosing this over the comic adaptation of the Tim Burton Batman film…though that could just be blurry memory/timey-wimey stuff.

adventuresofsuperman463

Continuing the observational trend…this would make a great poster…a simple yet dynamic image, seeing Superman and Flash take off. I also think it’s quite likely that this was one of my earliest exposures to the Flash as a character–certainly it’s the earliest distinct, clear memory I have of being aware of the character.

The color scheme–especially the red and blue against black–makes the cover stand out in a way that others don’t…at least for me.

Filed under: Favorite Superman Covers, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

New Super-Toys

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Walt

Over the last several years, most of my action-figure purchasing has tended to be Marvel–I’ve mainly avoided the 6″ or whatever the “Legends” scale is, having come to GREATLY PREFER the 3.75″ scale. I won’t get into all my gripes about the lack of DC figures in that scale just now, though.

I’d recently posted about spotting a new line of Justice League figures at Target, and I believe I’d planned to avoid them entirely. Of course, seeing them every time I’d visit the toy aisle, I grew a bit weak and eventually gave in since they were recently on sale.

newsupermantoys

Along with Batman and Superman (I might snag Lex Luthor if I ever see that figure again), I also picked up a General Zod and Superman from Big Lots.

I’d almost bought a Zod and Superman a couple times several weeks ago, but I was rather irked at the pricing of the figures as well as wanting “standard costumes” and not any of the many Superman variants or a General Zod special-suit variant that I didn’t at all recognize from the few trailers I’ve seen.

Big Lots often has ‘scaled down” versions of the “main” toy lines…they LOOK like they’re basically the same figures as what you can buy at Target, Walmart, and Toys R Us…but more generic packaging, smaller bubble on the pack, and it’s just the figure, no accessories. AND they’re $2 cheaper than Walmart‘s Man of Steel figures, and HALF the price of “regular” Marvel figures at all three of the big retail stores.

Since I don’t even WANT any of the accessories offered…Big Lots won the day. I’ve not seen ANY other villains offered in the line…which continues–as always–to be one of my biggest disappointments with the movie-tie-ins. The Marvel toys are done better, having the “movie series” and “comic series” in the mix, allowing for figures that may not technically have anything direct to do with the film, but that add variety to the overall toys available.

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

« Previous Page — Next Page »