All-Star and Superman Unchained

[Adekis]

Hm.
For suggestions I'd reiterate that you should read Action Comics # 1-18 by Morrison. Truly brilliant stuff.

I'd also repeat that you should definitely buy the Superman:The Dailies 1939-1942 hardcover. Probably my favorite Superman book in my possession overall. The daily newspaper strips flow better than the books did at the time, if you ask me. They're really fun.

A lot of Pre-Crisis Superman is not adequately collected to my knowledge, and also tends toward Big Idea SF or whimsical stories, so I don't know how to advise you on most of that. Give it a try in any case, even if it doesn't sound like your thing. The Phantom Zone series by Steve Gerber is collected in paperback and is pretty darn good.

I'd encourage you to pick up the Post-Crisis stuff by Byrne, Wolfman and that lot. I think they lost some of what I like about the Bronze Age Superman as a character (and definitely what I liked most about Luthor, though that's a controversial topic), but they're still got a set of stories, and for my money Metropolis has never felt more real before or since.

This isn't reading, but get the first season of the George Reeves Adventures of Superman show if you can, and download some of the early episodes of the radio show. Once they get the origin out of the way there's some great material (in both versions) which features Superman performing the absolutely underrated Super-Feat of actually fighting crime.

[BBally]

Well, Superman Unchained definitely fits in that category. Superman: Earth One does too, and you'll probably see it on a bunch of "Best Of" "Where To Get Started" lists, but--and I cannot possibly even begin to stress this enough--AVOID IT LIKE THE DAMN PLAGUE.

I've read the first Earth One book and it's not as as bad as you make it out to be and because you don't like it doesn't mean other people can't. Xerophthalmia, I suggest that you borrow the first volume of Superman Earth One and decide whether it would be worth keeping or not.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

I've read the first Earth One book and it's not as as bad as you make it out to be and because you don't like it doesn't mean other people can't. Xerophthalmia, I suggest that you borrow the first volume of Superman Earth One and decide whether it would be worth keeping or not.

Certainly borrow it. if that's an option, see if it's for him. But I go harder on that one not because it's bad--though I think it is distinctly sub-par in a lot of ways, but hardly even close to the bottom of the barrel--but because it's a genuinely absolutely morally repugnant piece of work that everyone even tangentially involved with it should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for. It is literally about "What if Superman didn't care about anything but getting his and doing what he felt like", and it treats him as the hero anyway. It's disgusting, and my one exception to the general principle of "there's no accounting for taste, people'll like what they will", because that people--smart, discerning people with good taste who like Superman--enjoy this legitimately horrifies me, because it's so...just...twisted.

[dancj]

It is literally about "What if Superman didn't care about anything but getting his and doing what he felt like", and it treats him as the hero anyway.

I haven't read it yet, but it sounds like you're describing the first volume of a longer story about a character who grows into being a hero rather than becoming one overnight. I don't see a problem with that - though I may change my opinion when I eventually read it.

[daBronzeBomma]

So, SUPERMAN UNCHAINED gets released as a trade paperback this week, right?

I'm debating picking it up. I remember how hyped it was last year for Superman's 75th anniversary celebration, but wanted to hold off until it came out in TPB form.

So, here's my question:

Is UNCHAINED significantly better than FOR TOMORROW?

I love Jim Lee's artwork (though not necessarily those of his Image contemporaries), and loved it in FOR TOMORROW. But I didn't even finish collecting the FOR TOMORROW issues because I found the story so convoluted.

Does UNCHAINED have similar problems?


Also, I'm still holding out hope that Grant Morrison's entire ACTION COMICS run (all 19 issues: #1 - #18 + #0) gets collected into one omnibus volume.

[manduck37]

So, SUPERMAN UNCHAINED gets released as a trade paperback this week, right?

I'm debating picking it up. I remember how hyped it was last year for Superman's 75th anniversary celebration, but wanted to hold off until it came out in TPB form.

So, here's my question:

Is UNCHAINED significantly better than FOR TOMORROW?

I love Jim Lee's artwork (though not necessarily those of his Image contemporaries), and loved it in FOR TOMORROW. But I didn't even finish collecting the FOR TOMORROW issues because I found the story so convoluted.

Does UNCHAINED have similar problems?


Also, I'm still holding out hope that Grant Morrison's entire ACTION COMICS run (all 19 issues: #1 - #18 + #0) gets collected into one omnibus volume.

Personally, I'd pass on Superman Unchained if I were you. Jim Lee's art is hit or miss, depending on how rushed he was at the time of the issue. The story isn't convoluted like For Tomorrow, but it also isn't very good. Snyder's portrayal of Lois is really good though. It's about the only good thing I can think of from the series. The shame of it is that it started off pretty good and started to tackle some interesting issues. The ideas that get brought up are never properly explored, however. As the story goes on, Superman becomes less and less relevant. So if you like Morrison's version of Superman, the man of action who does the impossible, this is not your story. Superman in this story was very passive and inneffective. You really could have cut Superman out of the last issue entirely and the story could have progressed the same way. Not a good showing at all. I was very disappointed. Particularly because I like Snyder's other work. So getting a shot at reading a Snyder version of Superman was pretty exciting. This just didn't deliver.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

I haven't read it yet, but it sounds like you're describing the first volume of a longer story about a character who grows into being a hero rather than becoming one overnight. I don't see a problem with that - though I may change my opinion when I eventually read it.

Last post from me about this, but no, it isn't at all. He's shown unambiguously as the Very Good Guy of the story, because JMS doesn't seem to at all grasp the logical and moral implications of the tale he's telling. I read the second volume out of the library, and Clark does change in there, in ways still 100% selfishly motivated, this time resulting in the needless and premeditated deaths of hundreds of people. I recommend checking it out of the library, but no, this isn't a "how Superman became a good man" story, it's a "isn't he just a special snowflake just for being him" story, regardless of what he actually does. It legitimately is the "Twilight" of Superman stories, just as they originally advertised it.

[BBally]

Last post from me about this, but no, it isn't at all. He's shown unambiguously as the Very Good Guy of the story, because JMS doesn't seem to at all grasp the logical and moral implications of the tale he's telling. I read the second volume out of the library, and Clark does change in there, in ways still 100% selfishly motivated, this time resulting in the needless and premeditated deaths of hundreds of people. I recommend checking it out of the library, but no, this isn't a "how Superman became a good man" story, it's a "isn't he just a special snowflake just for being him" story, regardless of what he actually does. It legitimately is the "Twilight" of Superman stories, just as they originally advertised it.

I disliked Twilight but I like the first volume of Earth One. So I didn't agree with Dan Didio's announcement of this book.

[Virile Agitur]

Personally, I'd pass on Superman Unchained if I were you. Jim Lee's art is hit or miss, depending on how rushed he was at the time of the issue. The story isn't convoluted like For Tomorrow, but it also isn't very good. Snyder's portrayal of Lois is really good though. It's about the only good thing I can think of from the series. The shame of it is that it started off pretty good and started to tackle some interesting issues. The ideas that get brought up are never properly explored, however. As the story goes on, Superman becomes less and less relevant. So if you like Morrison's version of Superman, the man of action who does the impossible, this is not your story. Superman in this story was very passive and inneffective. You really could have cut Superman out of the last issue entirely and the story could have progressed the same way. Not a good showing at all. I was very disappointed. Particularly because I like Snyder's other work. So getting a shot at reading a Snyder version of Superman was pretty exciting. This just didn't deliver.

i picked up the first issue of SU. more or less flipped through the rest as they came out expecting to get the collected edition that just came out. but wow. now i'm just not so sure. looks like this might be a library read.

[Greymane]

One of the best pre crisis story is Superman #141 - Superman's Return to Krypton! It is easy to see this story greatly influenced Moore's "For the Man that has Everything" story.

[dancj]

but no, this isn't a "how Superman became a good man" story, it's a "isn't he just a special snowflake just for being him" story, regardless of what he actually does. It legitimately is the "Twilight" of Superman stories, just as they originally advertised it.

That made me laugh!

[ImprobableQuestion]

I think that All-Star is written for die hard fans of Superman, while Unchained is not. As someone who only really appreciates Superman in Animated Series form, I couldn't get past the general tone of All-Star, finding Snyder's Superman to be more... Humble? Humble isn't the right word at all. Superman isn't about curing cancer and all that stuff. But I haven't finished the story yet (waiting for trade), so maybe I shouldn't judge.

PS: the end of AS where Lex got kryptonian powers and wept from the revelation was pretty cool.

PS: I like Jim Lee of Superman far more than on Batman (he's exactly the opposite of Bruce Timm's style - if you can make out every contour of batman's face beneath his mask you aren't doing it right!

[Jim Kelly]

My dislike for Jim Lee art has kept me away from a lot of comics. Just as my dislike for Robert Downey Jr. and Jim Carrey have kept me away from a lot of movies.

[evangelionofasgard]

Have not read all star, but yeah if your like reasonably serious superman stories absolutely read unchained.
Many seem not to agree but I thought the villain and his mythos are freaking awesome.
I also honestly thought this was some of jim Lee's best art.

[BBally]

My dislike for Jim Lee art has kept me away from a lot of comics. Just as my dislike for Robert Downey Jr. and Jim Carrey have kept me away from a lot of movies.

Wait, you never watched the Iron Man films or The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind?