Superman Special #1 Discussion (Spoilers)

[Clark_Kent]

Did anyone read this yet? I thought it was a nice coda to Dinosaur Island, but as a wrap to the Tomasi/Gleason run it was just "ok". Superman #45 was a much better ending, imo. Clark referring to Lois as the greatest fact-finding detective he knows was a nice touch, though.

The backups were ok. I enjoyed the one with Atomic Skull the most, it had a very real reaction from Skull after the dust settled...it was nice to see someone tell Big Blue off when he does the whole "there's good in you" speech (I don't want to see it often, but occasionally calling these heroes out is a good thing).


Anyway, a bit of a mixed bag, but glad I read it. What did everyone here think?

[RepHope]

I’d give it an 8/10. I liked that they went back and rescued the Captain, but yeah like the Action Comics Special this wasn’t really essential. I loved that Tomasi did subvert expectations and made Lois the “greatest detective”. The Atomic Skull back up was great, is Shockwave a new villain?

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Tomasi/Gleason was pretty blah - their final stories with this, Action #1000, and Superman #45 were very comparable to Jurgens' in Action Special, and Action #999-1000, in that while those represented the best of what they had to offer, this actual final finale was what the one it ultimately deserved.

Liked the Mark Russell Superman story, but between this and Action feel no need to ever see him handle the character again. I'm definitely not against it, but I don't feel like he's bursting at the seams with stuff to say with Superman, so if these two were the sum of his contributions, I'm okay with that.

[Rakzo]

This was way better than the Action Comics Special. Tomasi and Gleason finally give a resolution to their story dedicated to Darwyn Cooke and while it doesn't explore too much about the consequences of man out of time, it still offers a decent closure along with an appropriate Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? homage. Art was pretty solid as well.

Mark Russell's story was the best for me here. He pretty much redeemed himself from his overly-silly story in the Action Comics Special by delivering a touching tale about Superman's compassion. Hitch's artwork wasn't the most adequate but it was decent at least.

Ian Flynn's segment about the Atomic Skull was simple yet effective I believe. I have been digging this new direction for the villain since Superwoman and here he also has a good portrayal. Kaare Andrews' art is always nice to see.

Overall, quite enjoyable read. Good job from everyone.

[Clark_Kent]

I’d give it an 8/10. I liked that they went back and rescued the Captain, but yeah like the Action Comics Special this wasn’t really essential. I loved that Tomasi did subvert expectations and made Lois the “greatest detective”. The Atomic Skull back up was great, is Shockwave a new villain?

You know, I actually don't recall Shockwave.

At first I thought he was this guy....


CD4BB6C7-C856-4E36-BBE8-DD6CDE26666A.jpg


But then I remembered his name was Barrage, and obviously a different powerset :P

I'm drawing a complete blank on Atomic Skull joining the MSCU though...was that something that just happened here? Or did it happen elsewhere & I'm crazy?



Edit: I didn't see Rakzo's post until after I made mine. So Skull joined the force in Superwoman? I haven't read any of that. I know it ended, but is it worth checking out in trade?

[RepHope]

You know, I actually don't recall Shockwave.

At first I thought he was this guy....


CD4BB6C7-C856-4E36-BBE8-DD6CDE26666A.jpg


But then I remembered his name was Barrage, and obviously a different powerset :P

I'm drawing a complete blank on Atomic Skull joining the MSCU though...was that something that just happened here? Or did it happen elsewhere & I'm crazy?

Happened in Superwoman which not a lot of people read, but that was a nice bit of character development.

[Clark_Kent]

Happened in Superwoman which not a lot of people read, but that was a nice bit of character development.

Worth checking out in trade? I actually heard good things about it, but when it was coming out I was pretty much limiting my floppies to only a few issues a week.

[Rakzo]

Edit: I didn't see Rakzo's post until after I made mine. So Skull joined the force in Superwoman? I haven't read any of that. I know it ended, but is it worth checking out in trade?

Perkins' run was... fairly mediocre to be honest. Not at the same quality of Jimenez' previous stories but the highlight was indeed the dynamic between Maggie Sawyer and Atomic Skull which was entertaining on its own.

[RepHope]

Worth checking out in trade? I actually heard good things about it, but when it was coming out I was pretty much limiting my floppies to only a few issues a week.

Ehhh I wouldn’t strongly recommend it. I was pretty bored of it myself and a lot of people were mad at the bait and switch they did with Lois. If you’ve got money and time to burn sure go for it, but it’s not really essential.

[Clark_Kent]

Perkins' run was... fairly mediocre to be honest. Not at the same quality of Jimenez' previous stories but the highlight was indeed the dynamic between Maggie Sawyer and Atomic Skull which was entertaining on its own.

Ehhh I wouldn’t strongly recommend it. I was pretty bored of it myself and a lot of people were mad at the bait and switch they did with Lois. If you’ve got money and time to burn sure go for it, but it’s not really essential.

Last question, before I derail my own thread lol Does Steel play a good role in it? I'm not a big fan of the Lana-gets-powers idea, but I do miss seeing Steel around.

[Rakzo]

Last question, before I derail my own thread lol Does Steel play a good role in it? I'm not a big fan of the Lana-gets-powers idea, but I do miss seeing Steel around.

Well, he played pretty much the role of the boyfriend during the whole series, nothing more, nothing less (although he was more interesting during Jimenez' run).

[Superlad93]

I think I enjoyed all the stories here. My favorite maybe being the Atomic Skull story. Its opening really sold me. But both the other stories worked for me too.

[Kuwagaton]

We only had two specials in all of the issues before this, so it's nice to have a bonus. Tomasi and Gleason close out Superman by bringing our boys home. For the troops. But this has some solid superheroics and a very human touch thanks to Godlewski and Eltaeb. I really like that shot of Superman flying toward the reader, it'd be cool if he teamed up with Shaner for a run on something.

The underrated Russell does a very pleasant look at the character and Hitch does just as well on art. Well really, that's the best I've seen from home. It never did explain the sudden weakness (which is cool because why would an explanation be handy?) but it gave us Superman showing all sorts of earnest looks. I like that rescue page before he lectures that old man who lost everything.

And Flynn and Andrews do such a good job with another solid short story. We couldn't keep Luthor but it's nice to see Albert slide into the supporting cast. All in all I thought it was a very good product.

[Clark_Kent]

We only had two specials in all of the issues before this, so it's nice to have a bonus. Tomasi and Gleason close out Superman by bringing our boys home. For the troops. But this has some solid superheroics and a very human touch thanks to Godlewski and Eltaeb. I really like that shot of Superman flying toward the reader, it'd be cool if he teamed up with Shaner for a run on something.

The underrated Russell does a very pleasant look at the character and Hitch does just as well on art. Well really, that's the best I've seen from home. It never did explain the sudden weakness (which is cool because why would an explanation be handy?) but it gave us Superman showing all sorts of earnest looks. I like that rescue page before he lectures that old man who lost everything.

And Flynn and Andrews do such a good job with another solid short story. We couldn't keep Luthor but it's nice to see Albert slide into the supporting cast. All in all I thought it was a very good product.

The first panel shows Clark coming back to Earth. "Exhausted & diminished from his time in deep space."

[Kuwagaton]

I guess I'm overthinking and it's simply how Russell did it, it just doesn't seem to ring true to how we've seen his powers work. If his battery is at 5%, his typical Earth output (lifting large ships and the like) isn't enough to mitigate the charge from his relative closeness to the sun, no matter how quickly he'd reached 5% out in space. Here it's like either his connection is slow charging or he's going far enough beyond his normal output that all of his powers are compromised.