Greg Pak's Superman Appreciation

[Frontier]

His and Kruder's collaboration on Action was the high point for the character for sure after Morrison. I think Yang and Pak both kind of were kneecapped by editorial though. Pak apparently was precluded from using Lois at all in Action for the most part, which led to the use of Lana. Though he got to write her a bit in Superman/Batman. I think the Zero Year issue was one of the best issues of the run after Morrison. An Kruder's art is always fantastic.

From talking with Kruder at cons, their intention with Truth was to actually reestablish him as Superman to kind of address the complaints that New 52 Superman wasn't a real "Superman". We got into this when I had him do a commission at a con of Superman and when he asked which version I said classic or something... I think the result likely would have been sort of refocusing things and may have given the character a chance.

This reminds me of how Truth was advertised to Yang as "Lois Lane betrays Superman!"

[exile001]

Thats certainly a guilty pleasure. Do you like it all or do you have some head canon version that skips some issues?

I feel like it could be significantly improved simply by cutting some pages or entire issues

I have the big paperback collecting the whole thing and can blast through it in a week. Anything that bugs me is either swiftly moved on from or shrugged off with a playful "that's how it was with New 52."

It probably could have been a bit shorter but, at the time, I felt a crossover drawing in all the Superbooks really made it an event, like something special, which Supes doesn't get enough. As I say, I don't really notice too much bloat as it's a real quick read.

I wish the Brainiac payoff (Convergence) didn't suck but that's how it was with New 52.

[HsssH]

I remember liking Convergence #0, but the remaining stuff, to me, wasn't good on any level.

One of the things that keeps me somewhat interested in Doomed despite its flaws is that Pak started Lana/Steel relationship there. In general I really like Pak's Lana who is a bit like Indiana Jones. Travels the world, explores and sometimes gets over her head forcing Clark (or Steel) to bail her out. I think it gave her somewhat unique niche in the franchise that was sadly done away during Rebirth with Superwoman series. This was one of the things that I didn't like about recent Steelworks mini as well - it is not her adventurous side that is brought back, but her being another generic Super.