Anyone else unhappy with the Superman Comics?

[Superlad93]

I Pak we trust.


In my opinion he's dealing out the best stuff on Superman since Morrison. He writing is fun, thoughtful, and energetic. His books are actually the only things I pick up from DC on the regular. But I gotta agree with Myskin when he says that Pak's stuff has the distinct feeling of being the best yet still feeling like he's still got another gear that he can get to. I've read a good bit of his work and loved it all. What stands out to me is his Incredible Hercules. In the book it seems like Pak was just allowed to go all out and it REALLY payed off.

Maybe he's just getting warmed up (Doomed being part of his plan hasn't helped) and after the event well get him even better than he already is. It's almost like complaining about a good thing. I'm more than happy with his writing right now but I'd just as much wanna see him go all out.

[Ascended]

Unhappy with the Superman line? Hell no, I havent enjoyed Superman this much in over a decade.

Action Comics has been amazing. Morrison and Pak have worked magic with the title, and even the Diggle/Daniels story (wait, that *was* Action right?) wasnt awful.

Superman/Wonder Woman is solid entertainment and Soule has a solid grip on both characters and how they play off each other.

Batman/Superman isnt anywhere near the level of Pak's Action, and it seems to alternate between "good-to-great" stories and "poor-to-decent". It opened well with that time travel story then went bad with the alien-video-game thing, then got good again.....but even still, the absolute worst story arc from this book is infinitely better than what we had prior to the reboot.

Unchained is a poor spot for me, mostly because Snyder writes a post-Crisis version of Superman (where the random guest star has to tell Clark how to use his own powers. Please!) but he does write the supporting cast pretty well.

And the Superman title....it suffered from a lack of direction until Lobdell took over, and say what you will about him, but he steered the franchise and knocked out some entertaining ideas issue after issue for a good long while. His skills as a writer are lacking but his concepts were brilliant. And Johns....I've never been a big fan of how he writes Superman but his first issue wasnt a complete trainwreck.

I fail to understand how anyone could not find something in these books to enjoy. But then, I dont really get how people can love the whiny, useless post-Crisis Superman over the confident man of action we've been given in the 52.

[Blacksun]

I fail to understand how anyone could not find something in these books to enjoy. But then, I dont really get how people can love the whiny, useless post-Crisis Superman over the confident man of action we've been given in the 52.

man of action, more like man of whine

[Superlad93]

Also shout outs to Aaron Kuder's wrting and imagination on Superboy to bring the book some MUCH needed imagination and quality. Not mad that the book is going away for a while mind you, but Kuder has gotten me to genuinely like and care about Jon Superboy and Kon-el Superboy in the new 52 for the first time ever. I didn't even care when kon was killed, but when Kuder brought him back and wrote him so well I felt like I was seeing an old friend I hadn't seen in a while. DC had better handle the Superboy character very gingerly going forward after Kuder is done and they bring the book and character back in some way. Since Kuder got on I've been getting Superboy almost as regularly as Action....almost.

Just a thought: Maybe have the Superboy character spend a lot of time in one of Pak's books and have both Pak and Kuder build him back up in the background and give some direction and soul to the character. He doesn't have to be in every story or every issue and likely shouldn't be, but he could be built up there.

[Auguste Dupin]

man of action, more like man of whine

When written by Snyder, or Johns , sure. The latter even gave us a sad montage in his first (and only out so far) issue.
When written by those who embrace the New 52, however, like Pak or Morrison, the guy is a confident badass too busy saving the day to feel sorry about himself.

[Flash Gordon]

Unhappy with the Superman line? Hell no, I havent enjoyed Superman this much in over a decade.

Action Comics has been amazing. Morrison and Pak have worked magic with the title, and even the Diggle/Daniels story (wait, that *was* Action right?) wasnt awful.

Superman/Wonder Woman is solid entertainment and Soule has a solid grip on both characters and how they play off each other.

Batman/Superman isnt anywhere near the level of Pak's Action, and it seems to alternate between "good-to-great" stories and "poor-to-decent". It opened well with that time travel story then went bad with the alien-video-game thing, then got good again.....but even still, the absolute worst story arc from this book is infinitely better than what we had prior to the reboot.

Unchained is a poor spot for me, mostly because Snyder writes a post-Crisis version of Superman (where the random guest star has to tell Clark how to use his own powers. Please!) but he does write the supporting cast pretty well.

And the Superman title....it suffered from a lack of direction until Lobdell took over, and say what you will about him, but he steered the franchise and knocked out some entertaining ideas issue after issue for a good long while. His skills as a writer are lacking but his concepts were brilliant. And Johns....I've never been a big fan of how he writes Superman but his first issue wasnt a complete trainwreck.

I fail to understand how anyone could not find something in these books to enjoy. But then, I dont really get how people can love the whiny, useless post-Crisis Superman over the confident man of action we've been given in the 52.

As always, "what he said".

I may be bored with this DOOMED story, as I've said, but it's miles better than any SUPERMAN comics we've had in the past decade.

[Blacksun]

When written by Snyder, or Johns , sure. The latter even gave us a sad montage in his first (and only out so far) issue.
When written by those who embrace the New 52, however, like Pak or Morrison, the guy is a confident badass too busy saving the day to feel sorry about himself.

never him whining with snyder. Johns he was looking at pics of his dead parents, it wasn't whining at all. the comic will develop him to a more social human being.
I see much more whining when soule is writing him, Pak not so much...

[OBrianTallent]

The biggest problem I am having right now is the massively too long DOOMED crossover. This story should have ended a couple of months ago. Other than that, speaking as a life long Superman fan going back far far FAR longer than I care to admit, this is absolutely the best it's been in a long time. Pak and Soule have been between extremely good and exceptional (Pak has been exceptional and far far better than I expected him to be.) Lobdell wrote serviceable stories and that was about it but he had good artists.
I am very hopeful for the months to come once we all get out of the too long DOOMED storyline.

[Superlad93]

I at the very least can say that Pak's Superman is NO whiner by any stretch of the imagination. There's literally a part where Lana tells him it's ok to feel sad and cry but Pak's Superman put's on that determined face and goes to handle his business like a real Superman! Nobody is touching Pak's Superman right now!

In Pak we trust

[Legato]

When written by Snyder, or Johns , sure. The latter even gave us a sad montage in his first (and only out so far) issue.
When written by those who embrace the New 52, however, like Pak or Morrison, the guy is a confident badass too busy saving the day to feel sorry about himself.

Superman hardly whines when written by Johns

[DragonPiece]

What(mostly) everyone else said. New 52 Superman is great so far, all of his titles are kicking ass and taking names! Really excited for the next Action Comics arc also, since we should be out of crossover mode. I expect the next SM/WW arc to focus on Wonder Woman and possibly crossover into what the Finch's Wonder Woman title is doing eventually also.

[Bat007007]

EARTH 2 has a "great portrayal" of Superman? You must not be a fan of the character...

And what about Injustice ?

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Guess I'm leaping to Snyder's defense here, but I don't think his take on Superman is far afield of Morrison or Pak's at all. It's maybe closer to what's come before than we're getting in the other books, but his Superman has a force of will and spine completely unlike what PC Superman so often possessed. Superman's certainly more down-to-earth and solemn in Unchained, but for this take and this story it works, at least for me.

[SmokeMonster]

It's more stacked than it's ever been.

Geoff Johns & JRJR
Greg Pak & Aaron Kuder
Greg Pak & Jae Lae (he's coming back next issue I believe)
Charles Soule & Tony Daniel
Scott Snyder & Jim Lee

[md62]

DOOMED killed all enjoyment for me. I think that crossover is awful, and literally is draining the line of any promise.

Same here. Action started out great. Stumbled for awhile. Was good again. Now...ugh. Superman stumbled out of the gate with the new 52 & has never recovered. SM/WW started out great but is now mediocre with DOOMED. Batman/Superman is uneven in quality. Unchained is OK.