Superman in the Post-Crisis Era (reviews by shaxper)
Aug 6, 2020 20:01:07 GMT -5
Confessor, String, and 1 more like this
Post by shaxper on Aug 6, 2020 20:01:07 GMT -5
Superman: The Man of Steel #1 (July 1991)
"Man of Steel / Man of Fire!"
Script: Louise Simonson
Pencils: Jon Bogdanove (pages 1-6, 9-11, 23); Tom Grummett (layouts, pages 7, 14, 17-20, 24, 25, 27, 29); Jerry Ordway (finishes, pages 7, 14, 17-20, 24, 25, 27, 29); Bob McLeod (pages 12, 13, 16, 21, 22, 26, 33-36); Dan Jurgens (layouts, pages 8, 15, 17, 28, 30-32, 37-40); Brett Breeding (finishes, pages 8, 15, 17, 28, 30-32, 37-40)
Inks: Dennis Janke (pages 1-6, 9-11, 23); Jerry Ordway (pages 7, 14, 17-20, 24, 25, 27, 29); Bob McLeod (pages 12, 13, 16, 21, 22, 26, 33-36); Brett Breeding (pages 8, 15, 17, 28, 30-32, 37-40)
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: Bill Oakley
Grade: B-
The launching of a fourth Superman title! The team of Stern, Ordway, and Jurgens had come far in the time since they defaulted into running this office in the wake of (first) Byrne's and (second) Perez's departures. They're outselling the Byrne Era, throwing their weight around when clashing with the Legion Office, and (correct me if I'm wrong), but I'm pretty sure this is the first DC hero ever to get four monthly solo titles at the same time.
Of course, this is at least partially a response to Spider-Man receiving a fourth monthly title over at Marvel, but this new #1 isn't going to muster anywhere near as much press. In an era in which covers sell books more than quality content, John Bogdavove's painted cover may have been a misfire. It has the exaggerated muscles and grimness of a Liefeld cover, but...it's ugly.
This is the month in which I will give up reading the Superman comics as an adolescent, and this book was largely to blame. Oh, I see the wisdom in releasing a fourth Superman title as a means to garner more interest in an office doing nearly everything right in terms of quality content, but don't forget the Superman titles had also gone from 75 cents to a dollar six months earlier, so while adolescents like me were feeling their attention called to Spider-Man and X-Force, Ghost Rider, and now the massively hyped Infinity Gauntlet (#1 being released this very same month), keeping up with Superman had nearly doubled from being a $2.25 per month investment to $4 a month as of the release of this issue,and those were dollars I could be spending elsewhere. And Superman For Earth, a tpb that absolutely did not excite a tweenager looking for major events and important first appearances, had just been released last month, further making me question whether this was an office in which I was still invested.
I wonder if this was the experience of other readers at the time too. Unless the Superman Office was willing to sell its soul, sacrificing carefully constructed character arcs and painstaking continuity for a grim, gritty, over-exaggerated artist who would demand full creative control without knowing a damn about writing, and then slapping four variant covers, trading cards, and polybags on the thing, this book wasn't going to win many readers to Superman in 1991, and it may have even chased a few away.
Perhaps a task nearly as daunting as trying to win over/win back readers with the launching of this new title is the challenge of maintaining the cohesiveness of the Superman Office. Three creators coordinating their efforts each week was challenging enough; adding a fourth--especially a fourth who wasn't even working at this company a few months earlier--was a significant challenge and risk. Weezy Simonson steps up to the challenge, taking the time to illustrate what the death of Luthor has done to the everyday working folks of Metropolis more purposefully than Stern, Ordway, and Jurgens put together:
as well as picking up the drama with Perry White and his wife, bringing back the familiar faces of the Post-Crisis Daily Planet newsroom
Incidentally, that's the first time we've seen Alice, the intern, in ages.
and even bringing back the ever-so-minor detail that Clark asked Lois for help with what to get his parents for their anniversary three months back in Superman #53.
In fact, it could be argued that Simonson is too much of a team player in this first outing. After all, this issue, the very first issue in a new title, doesn't have much of a plot. It's a between-stories kind of story that sets up two major conflicts: the return of the Eradicator for Stern, Ordway, and Jurgens to deal with in their titles, and the secret terrorist group Cerebrus, which Simonson will do more with next issue. Casual readers who picked Spider-Man #1 up off the shelf (and, ya, know, actually read it) got the beginning of a self-contained story with a clear focus that wasn't at all concerned with past continuity nor inter-title alignment. This story, on the other hand, offers very little story and a whole lot of references to things a new reader might not understand (like who the hell the Eradicator is). I love how meticulously this office is aligned, but the maiden voyage for this new title should have been a little more accessible to the newcomer, and Simonson should have been given a little more room to breath. Of course, having just quit Marvel over how disrespectfully Bob Harras treated the old guard when new talent wanted more creative control, Simonson may well have been attracted to an office that had this kind of reverence for continuity and team decision-making, and it's clear why she would be so respectful of the old guard here.
That being said, one thing that absolutely does feel intrusive about this issue is the constant references to Cerberus as a terrorist organization everyone in Metropolis is already cringing in fear over.
I'm guessing the addition of this fourth title was a bit of a last minute decision in reaction to the hype generated by Spider-Man #1. Otherwise, you'd think the other Superman titles would have made a few references to Cerberus prior to this point, maybe showed one or two of the bombings that have apparently rocked the city even while never being mentioned previously.
In the end, it's not the hot new #1 that DC needed, either in terms of story or cover art, but it strongly suggests a Superman office that will remain meticulously aligned even with the addition of a fourth writer to the office.
Important Details:
- First DC franchise to ever receive a fourth concurrent title
- First mention of Cerberus
- The Eradicator Device is now an organic and/or energy being
Honestly, I was so happy to see that storyline end all those months back. I truly hope this now more experienced team will have a better idea what to do with it/him this time.
Minor Details:
- I'm such a sucker for sweet Clark and Lois moments:
- Professor Hamilton (who Superman now calls "Ham" as of this issue) has always struck me as a little unstable/unreliable. It's a bit unexpected that he randomly tells Hamilton about his Fortress of Solitude in this issue, and then even agrees to take him there:
I sense a clumsily executed setup for a future storyline.
- Batman asks Superman to drop everything when he finds a dead hobo in Crime Alley wearing a Kryptonite ring, but Clark doesn't even consider calling Batman in when terrorists are literally blowing up Metropolis:
- Clark's "visions" of a crumbling Krypton are eerily similar to the nightmare he had in Superman For Earth. Was Stern trying to foreshadow the return of the Eradicator in a one-shot trade paperback that he likely would have written months earlier?
"Man of Steel / Man of Fire!"
Script: Louise Simonson
Pencils: Jon Bogdanove (pages 1-6, 9-11, 23); Tom Grummett (layouts, pages 7, 14, 17-20, 24, 25, 27, 29); Jerry Ordway (finishes, pages 7, 14, 17-20, 24, 25, 27, 29); Bob McLeod (pages 12, 13, 16, 21, 22, 26, 33-36); Dan Jurgens (layouts, pages 8, 15, 17, 28, 30-32, 37-40); Brett Breeding (finishes, pages 8, 15, 17, 28, 30-32, 37-40)
Inks: Dennis Janke (pages 1-6, 9-11, 23); Jerry Ordway (pages 7, 14, 17-20, 24, 25, 27, 29); Bob McLeod (pages 12, 13, 16, 21, 22, 26, 33-36); Brett Breeding (pages 8, 15, 17, 28, 30-32, 37-40)
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: Bill Oakley
Grade: B-
The launching of a fourth Superman title! The team of Stern, Ordway, and Jurgens had come far in the time since they defaulted into running this office in the wake of (first) Byrne's and (second) Perez's departures. They're outselling the Byrne Era, throwing their weight around when clashing with the Legion Office, and (correct me if I'm wrong), but I'm pretty sure this is the first DC hero ever to get four monthly solo titles at the same time.
Of course, this is at least partially a response to Spider-Man receiving a fourth monthly title over at Marvel, but this new #1 isn't going to muster anywhere near as much press. In an era in which covers sell books more than quality content, John Bogdavove's painted cover may have been a misfire. It has the exaggerated muscles and grimness of a Liefeld cover, but...it's ugly.
This is the month in which I will give up reading the Superman comics as an adolescent, and this book was largely to blame. Oh, I see the wisdom in releasing a fourth Superman title as a means to garner more interest in an office doing nearly everything right in terms of quality content, but don't forget the Superman titles had also gone from 75 cents to a dollar six months earlier, so while adolescents like me were feeling their attention called to Spider-Man and X-Force, Ghost Rider, and now the massively hyped Infinity Gauntlet (#1 being released this very same month), keeping up with Superman had nearly doubled from being a $2.25 per month investment to $4 a month as of the release of this issue,and those were dollars I could be spending elsewhere. And Superman For Earth, a tpb that absolutely did not excite a tweenager looking for major events and important first appearances, had just been released last month, further making me question whether this was an office in which I was still invested.
I wonder if this was the experience of other readers at the time too. Unless the Superman Office was willing to sell its soul, sacrificing carefully constructed character arcs and painstaking continuity for a grim, gritty, over-exaggerated artist who would demand full creative control without knowing a damn about writing, and then slapping four variant covers, trading cards, and polybags on the thing, this book wasn't going to win many readers to Superman in 1991, and it may have even chased a few away.
Perhaps a task nearly as daunting as trying to win over/win back readers with the launching of this new title is the challenge of maintaining the cohesiveness of the Superman Office. Three creators coordinating their efforts each week was challenging enough; adding a fourth--especially a fourth who wasn't even working at this company a few months earlier--was a significant challenge and risk. Weezy Simonson steps up to the challenge, taking the time to illustrate what the death of Luthor has done to the everyday working folks of Metropolis more purposefully than Stern, Ordway, and Jurgens put together:
as well as picking up the drama with Perry White and his wife, bringing back the familiar faces of the Post-Crisis Daily Planet newsroom
Incidentally, that's the first time we've seen Alice, the intern, in ages.
and even bringing back the ever-so-minor detail that Clark asked Lois for help with what to get his parents for their anniversary three months back in Superman #53.
In fact, it could be argued that Simonson is too much of a team player in this first outing. After all, this issue, the very first issue in a new title, doesn't have much of a plot. It's a between-stories kind of story that sets up two major conflicts: the return of the Eradicator for Stern, Ordway, and Jurgens to deal with in their titles, and the secret terrorist group Cerebrus, which Simonson will do more with next issue. Casual readers who picked Spider-Man #1 up off the shelf (and, ya, know, actually read it) got the beginning of a self-contained story with a clear focus that wasn't at all concerned with past continuity nor inter-title alignment. This story, on the other hand, offers very little story and a whole lot of references to things a new reader might not understand (like who the hell the Eradicator is). I love how meticulously this office is aligned, but the maiden voyage for this new title should have been a little more accessible to the newcomer, and Simonson should have been given a little more room to breath. Of course, having just quit Marvel over how disrespectfully Bob Harras treated the old guard when new talent wanted more creative control, Simonson may well have been attracted to an office that had this kind of reverence for continuity and team decision-making, and it's clear why she would be so respectful of the old guard here.
That being said, one thing that absolutely does feel intrusive about this issue is the constant references to Cerberus as a terrorist organization everyone in Metropolis is already cringing in fear over.
I'm guessing the addition of this fourth title was a bit of a last minute decision in reaction to the hype generated by Spider-Man #1. Otherwise, you'd think the other Superman titles would have made a few references to Cerberus prior to this point, maybe showed one or two of the bombings that have apparently rocked the city even while never being mentioned previously.
In the end, it's not the hot new #1 that DC needed, either in terms of story or cover art, but it strongly suggests a Superman office that will remain meticulously aligned even with the addition of a fourth writer to the office.
Important Details:
- First DC franchise to ever receive a fourth concurrent title
- First mention of Cerberus
- The Eradicator Device is now an organic and/or energy being
Honestly, I was so happy to see that storyline end all those months back. I truly hope this now more experienced team will have a better idea what to do with it/him this time.
Minor Details:
- I'm such a sucker for sweet Clark and Lois moments:
- Professor Hamilton (who Superman now calls "Ham" as of this issue) has always struck me as a little unstable/unreliable. It's a bit unexpected that he randomly tells Hamilton about his Fortress of Solitude in this issue, and then even agrees to take him there:
I sense a clumsily executed setup for a future storyline.
- Batman asks Superman to drop everything when he finds a dead hobo in Crime Alley wearing a Kryptonite ring, but Clark doesn't even consider calling Batman in when terrorists are literally blowing up Metropolis:
- Clark's "visions" of a crumbling Krypton are eerily similar to the nightmare he had in Superman For Earth. Was Stern trying to foreshadow the return of the Eradicator in a one-shot trade paperback that he likely would have written months earlier?
