Secret Origins #1 – Review

By: Greg Pak, Kyle Higgins, and Tony Bedard (writers); Lee Weeks, Doug Mahnke, and Paulo Siqueira (pencils), Sandra Hope, Lee Weeks, Keith Champagne, Christian Alamy, and Hi-Fi (inks), Dave McCaig, John Kalisz, and Hi-Fi (colors)

The Review: When the New 52 launched two and a half years ago two of the biggest complaints I remember hearing were the disinterest in seeing the heroes’ origins replayed once again and the surprise and outrage when the comics did not provide origin stories. People were expecting new The Man of Steel’s and Batman: Year Ones. The fans wanted to see how their icons had changed, what justified this new continuity, while others worried that new readers would struggle without the origin stories.

Well, it certainly took them long enough, but the release of Secret Origins #1 this week finally answers those concerns.

For an impressive $5.00 price tag, readers get three twelve-page stories from the writers currently handling the characters. I’m not sure that such a hefty price will endear this series to new or lapsed comic readers, but I suppose what really matters is how well it justifies that price point.

The first story, quite appropriately, is Superman’s, penned by Action Comics and Batman/Superman scribe Greg Pak. While there isn’t that much changed from the traditional tale of Krypton’s demise, and certainly nothing secret, Pak’s tale sets itself apart through its perspective. Written from the point of view of Superman’s two moms – wouldn’t that have been an interesting twist? – Pak creates a believable, non-sappy story that pins down the essential value of our ‘Man of Tomorrow’ as love.

Given that Pak is handling the part of the story that Clark can’t tell himself, I think it was a very wise choice to focus on Martha Kent and Lara Van-El. Particularly with Man of Steel still fresh in our minds, and the original Superman (1978) before it, it’s not hard to make the argument that Jor-El has often eclipsed his fellow Kryptonians, and occasionally even his son. Likewise, I think that many stories spend a lot of time focused on Jonathan Kent in Clark’s boyhood. By focusing on the women in Clark’s life, Pak presents a new look at this classic tale.

Batman/Superman #3.1: Doomsday – Review

By: Greg Pak (story), Brett Booth (pencils), Norm Rapmund (inks), Andrew Dalhouse (colors)

The Story: It’s more than a no good, very bad day—it’s Doomsday.

The Review: I won’t hold back in my opinion of Doomsday as a character.  You ready?  Here we go: I don’t care for him much.  Whew—I usually don’t speak so much out of turn, but I just can’t help myself in this case.  My prejudice with Doomsday comes mostly from how shallow he is.  He’s not really motivated by anything except an animalistic desire to destroy, and apart from his power levels, there’s nothing distinguishing him from other forgettable beasts of his kind.

With so little to work with, Pak had every opportunity to reimagine Doomsday from the top-down, but he apparently finds it easier to just reduce the monster to an incidental figure in its own issue.  There’s nothing here about Doomsday’s origins—where he came from and what made him as he is.  There’s nothing about how he arrived on Krypton, how he was disposed of, and how he wound up crossing paths with Superman.  At best, you get a vague outline of the Death of Superman that conveniently avoids any need to compromise the story’s timing with the new continuity of the current DCU.

What this issue mostly boils down to is a reiteration of all the points and themes Pak made in his Zod one-shot about two weeks earlier—which is unacceptable.  Villains Month may be an overblown and silly promotional campaign, but it nevertheless has a clear mandate which sets up certain expectations for the titles included under its banner: offer insight into the featured villain.  It is not okay for Pak to side-step this fairly simple goal even if Doomsday seems too shallow a character to dig into, and it’s definitely not okay for Pak to simply regurgitate a bunch of material from another issue he wrote.

Action Comics #23.2: Zod – Review

By: Greg Pak (story), Ken Lashley (art), Pete Pantazis (colors)

The Review: I’ve always been fond of Pak, ever since he co-wrote The Incredible Hercules, just about the funnest title that came out of Marvel in its Then days, and with Batman/Superman, he’s shown that he can handle modern superheroes as deftly as he revitalizes ancient ones.  He’s secured enough of my trust to get me curious about his impending takeover of Action Comics, and this issue seems like a good opportunity to get a taste of his work to come.

Moreover, I’m curious as to how he works with Zod, one of those iconic villains that nearly everyone has heard of but no one quite gets.  I mean, what exactly is his deal?  Is he specist, megalomaniacal, sadistic, or what?  For all of Man of Steel’s flaws, at least it gave us a complex and consistent portrait of Zod, one that’s escaped the comics for a long time.  Now that we have this shiny new DCU to work with, there’s an opportunity to start him off on the right foot.

Action Comics #23.1: Cyborg Superman – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Mike Hawthorn (artist), Daniel Brown (colors)

The Story: The Cyborg Superman wrestles with what it means to be perfect and what it means to be alone.

The Review:  Spinning out of the dramatic reveal of last month’s Supergirl, this Villain’s Month one-shot shows us how the rivalry between two brothers created a monster.

Gone is the Fantastic Four pastiche and lovable, death-seeking Hank Henshaw and instead Michael Alan Nelson has tied the Cyborg much tighter into Superman lore. I expect that this choice will be a somewhat controversial one, however, let it not be said that he doesn’t make a good showing of it.

Unlike old standbys like Two-Face or the Joker, the Cyborg Superman can get by on a showcase issue. Though the story isn’t terribly complex, the two timelines of the issue are each engaging enough to hold a reader’s interest. Those who favor the archetypal power of comic book plots will particularly enjoy this one; however I wouldn’t blame anyone who prefers complex character work that feels that this issue is just a bit shallow. To those readers, I will merely say that while the issue favors the broad strokes of the Cyborg’s story, Nelson’s skillful writing backs it up and makes it feel alive.

Man of Steel – Movie Review

By: Too many to list—IMDB it.

The Story: The shocking secret behind Superman’s beard.

The Review: This is a very precarious point in DC’s quest for broad appeal.  Marvel has established a very specific style for all its movies, one that audiences can easily love: a combination of spectacular action and credible character work.  DC’s recent film projects have been anything but consistent.  On the high end of the spectrum you have Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, with so much thematic value as to nearly be considered important.  On the low end, you have Green Lantern, which attempts and fails to emulate the Marvel style of superhero movie, confusing sex and angst for wit and drama.

Man of Steel clearly follows in the Nolan tradition and thus signals the kind of DC movies to come: striving for sophistication without losing any of that superhero action.  In the latter respect, it succeeds extremely well.  Whether it’s evoking fantastic settings, like the liquid-metallic world of Krypton, or simply bombarding you with one thrilling, CGI-laden scene after another, the special effects on this film are worth every expensive penny of its budget.  Even in 2D, they are worthy of gasps and the occasional “Woah!”

Action Comics #13 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (story), Travel Foreman (art) Brad Anderson (colors)

The Story: Who knew that aliens have ghosts of their own?

The Review: I have my grievances against Morrison as I suspect even his loyalists do.  I’m well aware he can be deliberately obfuscating and bewilderingly abstract.  I have recently heard his writing style described as “improvising,” which certainly feels true, but anyone who listens to jazz or has been to a Second City show knows that even the best improvisers risk falling flat from time to time.  But even then, you can’t deny they’re always striving for originality.

Who else, I ask you, will give you a sci-fi ghost story?  That’s exactly what you get in this issue; despite its trappings of aliens and pseudo-science like “ecto-technology…powered by pure consciousness,” it essentially is a tale of vengeful spirits targeting the living.  Morrison can often make what would otherwise be a rather straightforward story sound better simply by casting it in a different light.  Using Halloween as a backdrop for the hauntings of an imprisoned, alien mad scientist definitely gives off an interesting flavor, no?

Action Comics #5 – Review

By: Too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: Invasion of the Space Babies!  They’ll overwhelm you with their cuteness!

The Review: The coming of Superman to Earth as a babe rocketed from the doomed planet of Krypton is probably the origin story of origin stories, one which still retains a lot of its purity and sense of wonder to this day.  There’s just something inescapably poignant about the idea of a mother and father doing all they can to save their child, putting their trust in an unknown world to foster him, and him becoming its savior in return.

It’s a great story, but one that’s been told and retold so often, and with so little variation in the telling, that it’s become a bit tiresome to hear.  Weariness is the predominant feeling you get when reading through the first half of this issue.  For anyone who knows anything about the Superman mythos, nothing Grant Morrison writes will surprise you.  The classic details are all here, untwisted, and while that’s a relief on a lot of levels, it’s also rather dull to read.

The changes Morrison introduces to the story are few and subtle in nature.  Lara has a more critical role in Kal-El’s sojourn to Earth; she helped Jor-El build the saving rocket, and she’s the one who arrives at their last, desperate option to save their son when Jor-El freezes.  You discover that before they put Kal into the rocket, they attempted to save themselves by escaping into the Phantom Zone, only to find it already occupied by the worst of Krypton’s sadists.

While a lot of the issue is at least readable, if not refreshing, Morrison dives into some very exotic turns of phrase when writing the voice of the rocket’s Brainiac A.I.  I’ve never liked it much when Morrison puts on his beat poet hat; it just seems distracting and sometimes confusing: “Then blinding gulfs of superspace.  Of un-time.  Exquisite calculations.  The last son of Krypton dreams.  And searching.  And now!”

And that’s before you get to the completely baffling sequence involving a time-traveling chase of the Anti-Superman Army by Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and grown-up, body-suited Superman (as opposed to folksy Superman).  This scene not only breaks into the middle of the “Collector of Worlds” arc (which doesn’t continue this issue), it delivers puzzling language of its own: “This, all the K in the universe—the colored isotopes synthi-K and Kryptonium…”

Action Comics #3 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Rags Morales (penciller), Rick Bryant (inker), Gene Ha (guest artist), Brad Anderson & Art Lyon (colorists)

The Story: Corrupt people rabidly spouting nonsense on TV—what will fiction think of next?

The Review: Anybody who’s read much of Superman has wondered this question at some point: which is the real alter-ego, Superman or Clark Kent?  For most superheroes, their secret identity serves as a mere cover for their vigilantism; their true selves emerge when they spring into action.  For a while now, interpretations of Superman have gone the opposite route.  When Clark slips on those tights and spit-curls his hair, he’s still Clark at heart, only more so.

In this issue, we spend most of our time with him out of costume, getting to know him beyond the proletariat grandstanding he does when he’s got his cape on.  If anything, Clark the man is even more stridently principled than Clark the Superman.  As a citizen, his powers can’t come into play, so his indignation becomes more hot and vocal: “You need to be the cop you wanted to be when you were a kid…  Back to cop school, guys!”

It makes perfect sense that at this younger segment of his life, Clark would be rasher, bolder, and more competitive, all of which makes him a more compelling figure now than the endearing but slightly straight-laced reporter of DC past.  You just relate to him more, like when he says in exasperation, “Aliens on the news!  This is what I’m saying…”  If you’re a reader who finds the media at large a mind-boggling place to be these days, you know what Clark means.

Actually, that line builds upon a mystery from last issue, namely how much Superman knows about his origins.  Judging from his scoffs at the sensational reportage of “space monsters,” he really seems to have no clue.  This, of course, explains why he demonstrates such a singularly human lack of self-restraint in his temperament, and why he has such passionate, folksy ideals.  Once he learns the truth, he’ll have to re-evaluate both these qualities, and it may be rough, especially since the public negativity has him already doubting this whole Superman thing.

Superman 80-Page Giant 2011 – Review

By: Too many to list—you’re better off reading the review.

The Story: Jor-El does Mission Impossible; Perry White takes a shot with Wildcat; the many lives of Jimmy Olsen; the inconsistent grammar of Bizarro World; Supergirl’s ten-second boyfriend; Lois Lane’s good deed; and Superboy, the Werewolf Slayer!

The Review: Annuals may be a grab bag of mixed features, they’ve got nothing on these “giants” DC likes to put out now and then.  You can’t always take them too seriously, but they’re often a surprisingly good showcase of unknown or rising talent in DC’s ranks.

Jor-El’s adventure into Krypton’s core starts off strong and has some great thrills, but his stream-of-consciousness narration drags the pace down.  Had Bud Tidwell more page-time, all his Krypton continuity might have paid bigger dividends, but mostly they’re distracting.  Still, you can’t go wrong with Cafu on art duties; from Jor-El’s expression of relief on his successful escape to Krypton’s skyline at night, everything’s just beautiful to look at.  And let’s just agree Bit’s inks and Santiago Arcas’ colors should accompany Cafu’s lines at all times.

Most Daily Planet stories revolve around Lois and Jimmy, the paper’s point men.  But Neil Kleid shows that they’re continuing a journalistic spirit begun by their boss.  Perry White’s boyhood tale of a run-in with Wildcat and the Guardian not only pays tribute to DC’s Golden Age stories, but speaks sentimentally to the bonds between fathers and sons.  Dean Haspiel gives a great retro look to the script that’s appropriate and lively, but also respects the emotional scenes.

In a strange twist, Abhay Khosla and Andy MacDonald’s Jimmy Olsen feature ends up the moodiest story in the issue, sort of discussing the philosophical implications of Jimmy’s multitude of wacky adventures.  It’s narrated and drawn well, and even has some good moments of humor, but lacks grounding.  It feels very Twilight Zone—you sense there’s an important point being made, but the execution is so weird you just wonder how it’s intended to affect or say something about the character.

I have nothing to say about the Bizarro story except it makes little sense—which is fitting, I suppose.  Dan McDaid’s cartoony art is perfect for fun Bizarro hijinks (though the yellowish cast over everything gets nauseating after a while), but Steve Horton doesn’t really offer much in the way of a coherent script, much less one with appreciable humor.

Joe Caramagna gets the right voice for Supergirl—curious, a bit self-conflicted, but hopeful—but it can’t be said he gives her appealing characters to bounce off of.  They seem like they’re just thrown in to give her people to talk to and some easy conflicts.  Sure, there are some clueless guys out there, but these dudes take the cake (“‘Karalinda.’  Asian, huh?”  Seriously?  She’s totally white and blonde!).  Trevor McCarthy draws it fantastically though—his lines are kinetic and youthful, though colored a bit too darkly by Andre Szymanowicz.

Superman: The Last Family of New Krypton #1 – Review

By: Cary Bates (writer), Renato Arlem (artist), Allen Passalaqua (colorist), Rachel Gluckstern (assistant editor), Mike Carlin (editor)

The Story: What would have happened if Jor-El, Lara and Kal-El all escaped the destruction of Krypton?

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: Right off, I really enjoyed Arlem’s art. He puts rich texture and detail onto the page. Even with a computer, Arlem must have spent hours and hours and hours to stipple (put down little dots to denote texture and/or shadow) on the bedspread, wallpaper and chair on the last page (to say nothing of the people). Or, check out the panel where Lara tells Jor-El she wants to be alone. The Quitely-like level of detail is worth the price of admission. Arlem’s expressions evoke emotion and the action, and even the environments, are dynamic. Arlem is hereby invited to draw any book I buy.

On the writing, I want to split the technical, tactical telling of the story (the dialogue, the panel-by-panel unfolding, the character choices) from the strategic, editorial choice (the premise and the DC’s decision to tell this story over some other one).

On Bates’ telling of the story, I’m mostly pleased, with one significant exception. Bates delivers crisp dialogue and a well-paced story; although the jury is still out for me on whether to buy the motivations he’s selling for the characters, especially the all-important choice to foster Kal-El to the Kents. There’s obviously conflict there, between Lara and Jor-El, but also within Jor-El, but Bates takes the easy way out (for the writer) by dismissing the characters’ doubts without showing us why they would do that. To me, it seemed patently obvious that the decisions deserved more explanation. Still, if I forgive his tactical short-cut, I’m left to enjoy the execution of the story.

Superman/Batman #50 – Review

Michael Green, Mike Johnson, (writers) Ed Benes, Matthew Clark, Allan Goldman, Ian Churchill, (pencils) Matt “Batt” Banning, Norm Rapmund, Marlo Alquiza, Rob Hunter,(inkers) John Rauch, (colors) Andrew Robinson, Greg DiGenti, (Krypton sequence), Rob Leigh, (letters) Ethan Van Sciver, Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines,  Dave McCaig (covers)

This issue has The League rebuilding Smallville and fighting it out with more rogue Kryptonian tech. As great as Superman is he just can’t seem to save us from his planet’s technology. After Brianiac, The Phantom Zone, and a Kryptonian probe, what’s next? But throw in a chance meeting between Thomas Wayne and Jor El and you’ve got a great start to this new arc.

Michael Green and Mike Johnson have done an excellent job with their run on this title. It’s unclear to me if the connection between Thomas and Jor El will carry through, or if it’s just a standalone scene – I’m thinking it’ll probably be the latter – in either case it’s very effective. Personally, I found it a little annoying that Batman and Superman are barely in the issue. Still, learning the details of their fathers meeting is great. It makes me wonder what things would’ve been like if Superman had crashed in Gotham.

A highlight of the book is definitely the pencils. The team is pretty massive, but everyone does a great job. The battle scenes are chaotic, but very detailed and easy to follow. My favorite of which is the fight between Batman, Superman and the crystal projections in The Fortress of Solitude. Not only does it feature their best villains, but awesome action as well. The backgrounds on Krypton during the flashback have a lot less detail, but it still fits really well. I’ve always thought Krypton would have a very streamlined architecture. I’m a big fan of the coloring during this sequence and the use of cool blues is a great choice, definitely better than your standard black and white.

Batman and Superman are like brothers in many ways, and this story reinforces that. Having Thomas Wayne reverse engineer much of Wayne Tech from his time on Krypton is a great touch. That said, I feel my biggest complaint is that it doesn’t seem like much happened; since most of the issue is a flashback it’s hard to really feel that progression. While it remains unclear if we’ll continue to see Thomas Wayne and Jor El in this book it’s still a good read with lots of good stuff for any fan. (Grade: B-)

-Ben Berger