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The Death and Return of Superman Omnibus

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Walt

The ultimate comics story of my childhood is now the ultimate single volume in my entire collection.

deathandreturnofsupermanomnibus

I “passed” on the original “omnibus” released back in 2007 or so. It seemed expensive, and as I hadn’t pre-ordered it, I had time to learn that it wasn’t a “true” omnibus–the heart of the story (Funeral for a Friend) was gutted, and a number of other stuff was left out.

When I found out about this edition (I believe from Michael Bailey), it had my interest. Yet, the solicitation text seemed similar to the previous edition, listing material from the various issues, but not specifying if the issues were collected in their entirety, or just a handful of pages.

When this arrived in the mail this week and I opened it yesterday…I was quite impressed on a number of things. Firstly, in Amazon‘s “bargain” shipping. I’ve at least twice in the past half-year had to return stuff I deemed too damaged to keep, due to the way they packaged/shipped ’em. But this arrived in good shape, no random dings or dents in the covers or spine. The dustjacket has a little piece bent on the back, but that was UNDER the shrink wrap of the book itself–factory issue, and straightened right out enough that I’m not concerned.

Secondly, the weight and physical size of this thing. This is absolutely THE largest single comic volume of any sort that I have ever bought. I’ve posted in the past about how close some of Marvel‘s omnibus editions are to otherwise “regular”-ish hardbacks…but this one easily dwarfs the largest Captain America omnibus I own.

Thirdly, I paged through the volume last night, and it indeed seems to have the entirety of what I’d expect; each issue’s cover is also included at the start of each chapter, making this essentially a bound-without-the-ads sort of thing…you know exactly where the issue breaks are, and which issue you’re reading.

Fourthly, the Justice League tie-in issue to Doomsday is included in full, as is the Green Lantern tie-in issue to Reign of the Supermen; this also includes the entirety of the Legacy of Superman special. And rather than “short” us with a few pages of “immediately relevant” stuff from Adventures of Superman #505 and Action Comics #692, the entirety of both of those issues is reproduced here.

Finally, the extras–though not entirely impressive in and of themselves–proved a real treat to read through. I don’t tend to care for random sketch pages, but this volume is a certain exception given the subject matter. And while not quite annotations, the text comments from the various creators were enjoyable to read–confirming stuff I (mostly) already knew, and I also enjoyed seeing some of the promo artwork and such that I’d forgotten about or in the case of art for a couple t-shirts don’t think I ever knew existed.

I don’t think I’d consider this “worth” its full cover price at the moment–I have the original issues several times over; I have the original editions of the individual paperbacks, I have several of the issues digitally in my ComiXology account–but I snagged this for 45% off and free shipping from Amazon, and for that price, I am presently very happy with what I got.

I don’t know how well the binding will or won’t hold up–I flipped through carefully, but didn’t try to lay this out flat or actually READ any of the issues in this edition yet, and it was sorta awkward holding it to read the “extras” material without putting this out flat.

But overall, in the present moment…I’m loving this thing.

Filed under: QUASI-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

This Summer: a 75th Anniversary Celebration of the Man of Steel

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Walt

Saw this in the facebook newsfeed the other day (and already ‘shared’ it via this site’s Page); Definitely something I’m looking forward to, especially given how highly unlikely as it is for me to make it to Metropolis, IL for the Superman Celebration there.

Loved the November Akron Comicon last year, looking forward to this year’s, and a Superman thing this summer? Heck, yeah!

akroncomiconmanofsteel

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

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today…

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Walt

superman75baggedIt’s been 20 years since The Death of Superman. November 18/19/20–whatever the actual day was, we’re at the TWENTY-year mark!

Quite hard to believe it’s been that long, but then, I have longboxes of comics that came out after that kinda prove it.

I remember first learning of the Man of Steel’s impending doom some morning from CNN’s Headline News (Michael Bailey dug the clip up on YouTube last year as part of his extensive coverage of the Death/Return of Superman).

superman75I’d just been getting “back into comics” after a bit of a hiatus that year. As we got closer to the release of the “Death Issue,” my primary local comic shop (Capp’s Comics) was taking reservations for the issue(s). From what I recall, you could order specifically just Superman #75, or the whole 6-issue story, and whatever quantity. Dad let me reserve a set, and I vaguely recall that he reserved a second as well.

Since we’d opted to pick stuff up at the end of the story instead of as the earlier issues of the arc were coming out, I blissfully went along October and early November ’92 getting other comics. I recall seeing and passing on Batman: The Vengeance of Bane in favor of Batman: Sword of Azrael #1, and I’m pretty sure Spider-Man 2099 #1 came out around this time. I also spotted Justice League America #69 with Doomsday on the cover, so picked that up. I vaguely recall reading it but having no real context (given it’s effectively chapter 2 of 7 or so).

superman75collectorseditionFinally, the day Superman #75 actually came out, I got sick at school–something that would have been mortifying if not for the extreme disappointment: being sick, I wasn’t going to get to go to the comic shop to pick up the issues. Thankfully, Dad went by himself to pick them up. I dug out the JLA issue, and had the full set.

That night, Dad let me get a head start with Superman: The Man of Steel #18, and then he joined in the reading–he in his chair, me sprawled on the floor. We read through entire story that night, and opened one of the bagged Superman #75s. I was rather entertained with all the cool goodies included in the bag–a poster, a promo card, stamps, an obituary for Clark Kent, and a black memorial armband (which Mom did not let me wear to school the next day).

superman75unbagged

deathofsupermantpbfrontA couple days later, Mom, my friend Zack, and I were part of a lengthy line at another comic shop that was releasing the issue then. As I recall now, there was a limit of one copy per customer, and word was the store had a good 700 copies or so, so there should be plenty for those in the initial line, at least.

As we filed through the store (you really could only look through the store in-passing as the line inched through) we got word of some OTHER new comic that was ALSO supposed to be a big deal: something called Bloodshot, #1. So I snagged a copy of that as well…though I never actually read the issue until a couple months ago).

superman75ivDespite getting multiple copies of the bagged edition of Superman #75, I was only able to get a copy of the 4th printing of the “newsstand edition” (aka “the standard/regular edition” to the bagged “variant” edition). I found a copy of the 3rd printing, which was at least a step closer to the original. I think I’d had an opportunity to get the first print for $5, but thought that was outrageous to the $1.25 cover price.

In the last couple years, though, I’ve found several first print copies in bargain bins…despite these recent purchases, still haven’t topped the cover price for the first print itself, total.

deathofsupermantpbback

Though Zack and I had begun to frequent Capp’s Comics, Comics & Collectibles, and the comics spinner rack at the Waldenbooks in the mall, I don’t recall going to the shop every single week until this point: going every week for the newest chapter of Funeral for a Friend was the start of “the weekly comics habit” for me.

A final note: I found it oddly amusing that–when the tpb collecting the entire story INCLUDING Superman #75 came out a few weeks later–where it showed cover images on the back, apparently the publisher did not even have access to first printings of its own issues, as several of the covers shown had the Roman numerals denoting the non-first printings. (And different coloring to the logo of the title.)

I have plenty of other thoughts related to this, but they go along with the time period in general, and I’m planning on touching on stuff more generally in coming months.

With this 20th anniversary, though…the next several years will be one continuous series of 20th anniversaries of some of the most important comics/comic-related things in my life.

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

The ’90s Revisited – Superman: Man of Tomorrow #9

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Walt

History Lesson

Writer: Roger Stern
Artists: Paul Ryan & Brett Breeding
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Separations: Digital Chameleon
Editing: Mike McAvennie and Joey Cavalieri
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $1.95
Cover Date: Fall 1997

I grabbed this issue out of a 25-cent bin last week. What grabbed me was the cover itself. This is from right in the middle of the whole “Electro-Supes” era from 1997 to 1998 when Superman was transformed into an energy-being with electrical powers and a new costume. The cover is billed as “The Secrets of Superman’s Costume!” and shows a bunch of the different costumes Superman’s had in the current continuity.

I couldn’t remember what the secret(s) of the electric costume were, and liked the cluster of variant costumes, and for only $.25 decided to buy this to re-read (having bought a copy originally the week it came out, at full cover price–but that copy’s buried away in one of my longboxes with the rest of my Superman comics from this era). Re-reading it didn’t bring quite the experience I was looking for, but certainly was worth my 25-cents.

We open on Jonathan Kent falling asleep to some news about Superman, and dreaming an amalgamation of current events and stuff from the 1986 Man of Steel mini-series. He remembers the incident that brought Clark into the public eye as Superman, but replacing the development of the “classic costume” with the energy containment “electric costume.” When Martha wakes him, the two remenisce over the various events their son’s been through, essentially hitting on key points in the then-current continuity of Superman, as measured by the costume variants he’d been depicted in. By the end of the issue, Clark drops in, and we see the current costume in action.

Overall, I really like the art in this issue. I’ve generally enjoyed Breeding‘s art, and while an occasional panel here and there might have an element that seems a bit “off,” it’s hard to know if that should be pinned on the pencils, inking, coloring, or what, within the process. The overall visuals of the issue are a real treat–it’s quite enjoyable seeing all these different costumes Superman’s had, even if most of them lasted for only a few weeks or a single story and weren’t necessarily an “official” costume change the way the electric suit was.

Story-wise, I’m really not all that impressed. This is definitely a throw-away issue in terms of ongoing continuity–it’s relatively “timeless” and seems to have nothing to do with anything immediately before nor does it lead into something else. It’s a one-shot, and fairly contrived: Jonathan dreaming and then he and Martha having a conversation with these sorts of details recapping all these events just doesn’t seem at all realistic.

Despite that, this issue deals very much with long-term continuity by touching on all these events, Stern showing an obvious knowledge of the events, having been part of a lot of them (particularly the Death/Return of Superman). In contemporary terms, this would be a great 0-issue or Point-One issue.

And while this does not continue a particular story from the previous week nor lead into the next week–that makes it a nice stand-alone one-shot. I remember this era so have vague recollection for context, and it’s nice to take a peek back without getting sucked into wanting to immediately re-read anything else from this time.

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

Superman Family Adventures #1 [Review]

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Walt


Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5

Filed under: cxPulp.com, DC, Johnny DC, Superma Family Adventures | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Earth 2 #1 [Review]

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Walt

Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 3.5/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Filed under: cxPulp.com, DC, Earth 2, New 52, The | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Superman #6 [Review]

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Walt


Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 2.5/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 2/5

Filed under: cxPulp.com, DC, New 52, The, Superman | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

A little on a lot: 90s Bat-books, buying runs, pull-list pruning

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Walt

As I’ve not been blogging regularly lately, there are a number of things I’ve been thinking about, had thoughts about, and generally considered blogging about/retreading, but haven’t. I sat down Saturday morning for awhile and typed a lot more than I intended. So I’ve broken that into several posts (this is one of those posts).

BATMAN: FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS

batmanshadowofthebat001Though I’ve had it on my mind for a couple years now, I think this year may be my “Year of the Bat” in terms of back-issue focus. A few weeks back, I acquired a near-complete (missing 1 issue) run of Batman: Shadow of the Bat. This week I acquired near-complete runs of Batman: Gotham Knights and the ongoing (original) Birds of Prey. I already have (scattered through dozens of longboxes over the years) a complete run of Robin. With the acquisitions this year, that already puts me a long way toward the goal of having the complete ongoing series of Bat-books for the “From Crisis to Crisis” era, and I may just add a few years and aim for the “From Crisis to Flashpoint” era in general.

1990s DC COMPLETE SERIES

I’ve also acquired several other runs this year: 3 complete JSA minis from the 1990s, Blue Beetle (Post-Infinite Crisis) 1-20, a complete run of The Power of Shazam!, and a complete run of Hawkworld. Which means I have LOADS to read even before I’d even be in position to dig in on a lengthy Batman reading project.

PULL-LIST MAINTENANCE

I’ve been pruning my pull-list, and about to prune even further. I’m dropping Batman as of #6, though I’m interested enough I plan to pick up the Mr. Freeze Annual (Batman Annual #1). I’m just not buying into the hype over the Court of Owls. Had it been a single arc, it would’ve been good. But the fact that Batman #6 (spoiler alert! I’m about to spoil the end of #6!) ends with a kick-off into an “event” just REALLY turns me off. I imagine I’ll eventually read the story–whether grabbing issues later in the year from bargain bins or such, or a year from now whenever DC actually puts out a collected volume. I just don’t feel inclined to pay $2.99 (soon $3.99!) an issue for monthly installments, nor do I feel like buying multiple other series to get a COMPLETE story. (I’m not buying into the hype, and I’m not buying into reading only one title when this thing’s being pushed as an event rather than just characters showing up in other tiles).

I’m also dropping Superman after #6. I’ve given it an arc; but the whole new creative team makes for essentially a new title, and again, I’m just not interested in paying $2.99 for monthly installments of bigger stories right now. I loved the first issue, but I never read 3 & 4 until a couple weeks ago after #5 had come out, and that was a conscious decision to “force” myself to “catch up.” So, I’ll wait to catch up on even buying the issues when there are a few out I can get in one go, ideally from a bargain bin, or perhaps a collected volume next year.

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

Superman #2 [Review]

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Walt

Flying Blind

Script & Breakdowns: George Perez
Pencils & Inks: Jesus Merino
Colors: Brian Buccellato
Letters: Carlos M. Mangual
Cover: Perez & Buccellato
Associate Editor: Wil Moss
Editor: Matt Idelson
Published by: DC Comics

From the very first look at this issue–the cover–there’s something that’s been missing for me for a long, long time from Superman comics. I can’t quite put my finger on it, put words to it…but I’m pretty sure it’s something to do with just really liking the look of this new costume as shown here. Maybe it’s just simply that I like Perez‘ art over so much of what I think of with a lot of Superman stuff in recent years and so the cover grabs me. This also seems like the sort of cover, somehow, that “fits” an early issue of a new series, and whatever else to it I can’t find words for…I just simply like this cover.

The interior visuals are high quality as well, and I can’t help but think some of that’s gotta be Perez doing the breakdowns, which makes things fit the story moreso than if the writer and artist were working far more independently of one another. Paging through the issue again, I really can’t find anything that particularly bothers me about the visuals, that isn’t attributable to a generic creature/antagonist or keeping with a “newish” younger look to Clark Kent.

The story itself is good, with all the elements that I’ve tended to enjoy about a Superman comic. And for what seems like the first time in too many YEARS, Clark Kent is actually a part of the Superman story again. Maybe not a huge part, and it’s too soon for me to have much hope of any great emphasis being placed on the Clark Kent personality…but Clark is there, is a part of the story unfolding, and for now, that’s a marked improvement over things during the New Krypton era of the previous DC Universe. I really enjoy that we have Clark, Lois, Jimmy, and Superman all playing parts in the overall story. Cat Grant even appears here, and we at least have a mention of Perry. There’s even a sense of continuity here, that Superman’s got a past, even though in some ways this is like a new beginning of his career. He comes off as a bit unsure of things and yet confident enough to do what he’s gotta do.

As we open the issue, Superman’s awaiting information from Sam Lane, who remains distrustful of the man of steel from their prior encounter (in the “5 years ago” story going on in Action Comics right now). We then transition to Lois and Clark discussing their encounter at the end of the previous issue before returning briefly to General Lane, and then Superman encountering the “monster” of this issue–a creature that everyone but him seems to be able to see. After getting knocked around by the creature, Superman of course figures out a way to deal with this threat, in a fight that rages across 11 of the issue’s 20 pages. Finally, we cut to Superman recording an audio journal or log–his narration has not actually been internal this issue, as it originally appeared to be. This also allows for some more defining of the current relationship Clark has with Lois, and then we’re set up with a mild cliffhanger to lead into the next issue.

All in all…another great issue, which is quickly cementing this as a version of Superman I’d love to read long-term…and somehow, I’m even ok with Superman and Lois not (yet) being romantically involved here. It’s also great that rather than load the back of the issue with a preview I’m not even going to read (yet tend to be annoyed at having to page through to make sure there’s no other RELEVANT content to the issue in-hand), this issue has only a single page advertising Batman: Noel.

Though there’s obviously an over-arcing story building…this is the second issue, and we’ve already had two stories where amidst the other character interactions and details, we’ve had the beginning, middle, and end of a creature’s introduction and battle with Superman, rather than stretch either of these into 4+ issue arcs apiece.

Of the two main Superman books, this is by far my favorite for the story, art, and the feeling of actually getting my money’s worth in content. I expect Action Comics will read as a fast but engaging graphic novel, if you want an actual comic with serialized adventures of Superman, this is certainly the title to get. As an “old fan” I’m greatly enjoying this…but it seems there’s enough here that a new or lapsed reader would be able to figure stuff out fairly easily as well without missing out on anything.

Highly recommended.

Story: 7.5/10
Art: 8.5/10
Whole: 8.5/10

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

DC’s The New 52 – Buy/Borrow/Pass

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Walt

batman001I’ve been listening to Comic Geek Speak’s coverage of the New 52 this month, and I rather like their ratings–rather than giving some hard number out of a total number, they rate the issues with whether they’d recommend one buy the comic, borrow the comic, or “pants” (pass) on it.

superman001As this week begins the second month, I’ve had a chance to try the titles I wanted to (actually wound up 16-17 beyond the 12-13 I’d originally intended). Ultimately, there’s no way I can afford to buy 29 titles from DC every single month…so while there ARE some titles I’d otherwise be “willing” to give a longer chance, I’ve made my decisions based on the first issues and varying factors involved with those.

BUY

  • Action Comics – It’s got history behind it. And it’s Superman. I’ll let it go on “habit.”
  • Animal Man – a great read, and really interested in where it goes.
  • Batman – Included Dick, Tim, Damian, and Bruce as well as Batman..basically was what these #1s should be.
  • Batman and Robin – Can’t quite see resisting a second issue. Giving Superman 2 books, I’ll allow 2 Batman books as well.
  • Demon Knights – Didn’t much care for this, but then heard CGS’ analogy that it’s D&D with the DCU. THAT I’m all for.
  • Fury of Firestorm – Lotta potential here, and with Ronnie AND Jason.
  • Green Lantern – Just ‘cuz. It’s GL, and if I’m gonna follow stuff in the GL-side of things, this is the title I’ll go with.
  • Justice League – Got my quibbles with it, but I’ll give it another issue before I completely give it up for decompressed.
  • Justice League International – Has Booster Gold, it got the team together in the #1 issue, and it’s got potential.
  • Resurrection Man – Abnett and Lanning, a fairly original (compared to what I’m used to) concept, I’m interested in where it goes.
  • Superman – In context of the New 52, my favorite of the #1s…I was excited enough to give it the full review treatment. ‘Nuff said.
  • Swamp Thing – After reading #1, I’ve now read the first volume of Alan Moore’s stuff. I soooo want to like this after all these years.
  • Teen Titans – Loving the Tim Drake stuff, the costume, etc. With Tim as the lead…I’m all for seeing where this goes.

BORROW

  • Batgirl – A morbid curiosity about Babs’ “miracle” and how her history post-Killing Joke is handled.
  • Blue Beetle – Might be persuaded to bump it to a buy, but for now just thinking I may go for the collected volumes.
  • Detective Comics – Already going with 2 Bat-titles, and not interested enough in the villain and other “WTF” stuff to it.
  • Green Lantern Corps – Used to be a “given” as a companion book to GL, but I’m hesitant to fully re-invest in single issues on the GL stuff.
  • Green Lantern New Guardians – I’d love to read a Kyle book, but not interested enough anymore in the rainbow corps stuff monthly.
  • Nightwing – Has potential, but I’ll likely grab the collected volumes; and already got 2 Bat-books for present.
  • Red Lanterns – Can’t quite see this lasting longterm, so I’ll get it in collected format if anything.
  • Static Shock – A fun book, but just can’t quite see bumping any of my Buys for this. I’ll be interested to see/hear where it goes, though.

PASS

  • Batman: The Dark Knight – Already have other Bat-books to go with, and just not a title I feel like following. It’ll have to get through the Borrows before it’d make it back to a Buy.
  • Captain Atom – Did not care for it, and don’t really have any active interest even in where it goes.
  • Deathstroke – Pretty much same as Captain Atom, though it’s got a much better shot of making it to a Borrow.
  • Flash – Most likely to make it up to a Borrow, but seems I’m most likely to be able to “get” what I care for via wikipedia or such.
  • Grifter – zero interest after #1 in where this goes.
  • Justice League Dark – Actively turned off by the opening issue and its lack of Constantine, among other things.
  • Stormwatch – Might be well written, but just did not interest me. If it becomes as major as rumours say, I can always play catch-up or get the beats via wikipedia.
  • Superboy – No pretense at being the character I care about in any shape or form, and I hear I’ll get a dose of him in Teen Titans, anyway, so no need to follow the solo book.

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

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