ProduktrezensionenSuperman: Up, Up and Away (DC Comics November 2006)

Superman Up Up and Away by Kurt Busiek Geoff Johns

DC Comics had a major comic event that redefined their Super-hero universe...titled, "Infinite Crisis". Heroes lived and heroes died...and Superman in particular went through a life defining change....he lost his powers. Once Infinite Crisis ended, all of DC comics titles jumped one year ahead in time. Labelled, "One year later....", these books dropped the reader smack dab into the middle of lots of changes for our favorite characters.

This trade paperback collects the first eight issues of this one year later storyline. Superman has lost his powers and for the first time is able to concentrate on being Clark Kent. During the missing year..we slowly learn that he had lost his powers, and has focused on his work at the Daily Planet as well as his relationship with Lois Lane.

The theme of Superman being gone....and the world waiting for his return...is similar to what happened in the Superman Returns movie that was released this summer. The similarity ends there, however; as we see that Clark is still around and doing great.

The eight issues are written by Kurt Busiek (Astro City) and Geof Johns (Flash, Infinite Crisis)and I have to admit, reads better as a collected edition than when I originally read the individual issues.

Kurt Busiek wrote what I think is arguably the best Superman story ever titled, "Secret Identity". If you want to see what a Superman story should be like...that's the paperback to check out. I was looking forward to what he would bring to this tale.....and the co-writer is none other than Infinite Crisis scribe Geof Johns. With two stellar writers as these, I had high expectations for this series.....let's see if they were met....

Though the story is quite interesting, it has a certain been there...done that...feel to it. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but it simply lacks a certain freshness to it. I think that's the most challenging thing for writers who write a Superman story....how do you keep it fresh.....and not make it a retread of what has gone on before.

Each of the supporting characters are well written, and Clark/Superman himself has been characterized well, but I would think there should have been more excitement to the storyline. I'm not just talking action.....but emotional excitement as well. This should have been the kind of story that gets the reader totally involved in Clark's powerless dilemma.

We do get the reintroduction of the Kyrptonite Man....Lex is back to be his usual evil self...this time using the Kryptonian sunstone....(Again mirroring Superman Returns). Towards the end, new dimensions are added to Superman's returned powers...as well as a return to the Richard Donner inspired Fortress of Solitude (Superman: The Movie).

The artwork is provided for all but two issues by Pete Woods....and by art, I mean complete artwork.....pencils and inks. The fill in issues are by a new artist Guedes who works in a similar style so that the change isn't jarring. The S shield is drawn as a raised shield as in Superman Returns. I can't help but think that this was meant to tie in with look and feel...to that movie.

Some things work....some things don't. For an above average Superman story, but not the best....do pick up this paperback. Is it worth buying, perhaps borrowing is more like it.

Oh, and I do think that out of all the Terry Dodson covers they could have picked, they certainly picked the ugliest of the bunch. Superman's face looks positively distorted.

SamirVollständige Rezension lesen...

Excellent

The story is memorable

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