GRAPHIC NOVEL and TRADE PAPERBACK (TPB) REVIEWS

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman 1994 (SC TPB) 192 pages

Written by John Byrne, Roger Stern, Jerry Ordway, Dan Jurgens. Art by John Byrne, Ron Frenz, Dan Jurgens, Bob McLeod, Jerry Ordway, Kurt Schaffenberger. Inks by various.
Colours/letters: various.

Reprinting: The Man of Steel #2 (1986 mini-series), Superman (2nd series) #9 (a 7 page Lex Luthor story), #11, Annual #1, Action Comics #600 (an 8 page Lois Lane story), #655, Adventures of Superman #445, 462, 466

Additional notes: introduction by John Byrne

Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Reviews can be as important for what they tell you about a book as they are for any parochial opinion a reviewer such as myself might offer. You don't just read 'em for our opinion (after all, who are we?) but to get an idea of what's between the glossy covers (since often comic shops keep 'em in bags, or you might be ordering them sight unseen on the internet). Believe me, simply figuring out what a book is can be as challenging as figuring out whether it's any good.

So to start with, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, isn't quite what I thought it might be (and to confuse things further, there was a Superman novel by C.J. Cherryh called Lois & Clark). This TPB was published to tie-in with the then-airing TV series of the same name, with series' stars Dean Cain and Terri Hatcher on the cover. The book contains the tag line "The stories that inspired the hit ABC television show", implying it's a collection of comics that were adapted into episodes. That doesn't seem to be the case. As well, I assumed they'd be culled from the long history of Superman comics, focusing on the Lois & Clark relationship. Again, I was wrong...on both counts.

The issues reprinted are from a narrow four year period, 1986-1990, starting with the rebooting of the Superman mythos for the modern age and Lois' first encounter with Supes in the 1986 mini-series (also collected in the TPB The Man of Steel). And though some stories touch on the their relationship, many don't. In one story ("Metropolis - 900 Miles" from Superman #9) neither character even appears (that story was also reprinted in the the non-fiction book Superman: the Complete History)! The collection starts out with Lois & Clark as strangers, ends with them dating, but doesn't really convey how the relationship evolved. And since the collection was released in 1994, at a point when Supes had revealed his identity to Lois and (I think) the two were already married, it's not clear why the selections cut off in 1990.

I've commented on what it ain't, so let's now look at what it is.

For the most part, I have no idea why the stories chosen were chosen. It's not that any are truly bad, but they're mainly bland and unmemorable. Some of the stories try to tackle issues: animal rights, homelessness, but often by relying more on in-your-face editorials by the characters than by successfully shaping the issues into dramas with human faces. The re-introduction of Mr. Mxyzpltx to modern Superman stories is reasonably entertaining (ironically, it seems like a throwback to precisely the stories modern Superman writers think their above), even if John Byrne's tinkering with the concept seems inane. "Tear's for Titano" (from Annual #1) starts out promising, mixing serious musings on the issue of animal experimentation with a silly, larger than life story of a giant ape wrecking Metropolis...but the story is largely an extended fight scene that's too thin for its 38 pages.

And if the plots are a tad dull, so are the characters.

John Byrne writes an introduction and, frankly, maybe creative people should resist the temptation to expound upon their work. Once again he writes an essay explaining how brilliant he is, how he salvaged Superman from the wreck of the last thirty years, how prior to him Lois Lane was a misogynistic revenge fantasy (the stuck up girl who never gets the man) -- the same interpretation that Gerard Jones and Will Jacobs had of the character in their landmark non-fiction book, The Comic Book Heroes (1997 edition). In both cases, I can't help thinking Byrne, Jones and Jacobs are revealing more about their own psyches than about the intentions of past generations of Superman writers. But the point is, based on the issues collected here, what Byrne neglects to mention is that in his strive to strip away all the gimmicks and baggage of the last few decades, he and his fellow writers have simply succeeded in making Supes and his friends rather...bland. Lois included! This is particularly accentuated in many of these stories where the adventure plots are often subordinant to following the characters around in (unresolved) sub-plots. Whereas in some comics such scenes can be gripping and intriguing, here I was rather indifferent.

Presumably the chief intention of this collection was to try and woo non-comics reading Lois & Clark fans into reading the comics. That is, a fan of the TV show picks up this collection 'cause of the association, and gets turned onto the comics themselves. Unfortunately, as a proselytizer for the comics industry, I don't think this collection cuts it.

It seems more aimed at fanboys than newcomers anyway, with the emphasis on sub-plots that don't resolve, references to events that happened outside of this collection, or a story that's a joke on Marvel's Fantastic Four (Adv. of Superman #466 -- though "joke" is the wrong word for such a grim and, frankly, pointless tale...though I've subsequently realized it's not quite so pointless as it introduces a character who would later be important to other Superman stories). And not only does this collection downplay the romantic aspect that, after all, fans of the TV show liked, but what's also conspicuously absent from the modern Superman stories is humour. Superman in the '70s often had a charming lightness to it, with running gags involving klutzy Clark Kent or badinage between the characters. And Lois & Clark (the TV series) was, after all, a comedy-drama. Here, though, there's a stodgy earnestness to the characters.

Superman fans looking for a convenient grab bag of tales from that period should enjoy it...others might be better off trying other Superman collections. And Lois & Clark fans might as well stick to reruns.

Cover price: $13.50 CDN./ $9.95 CDN.

The Man of Steel 1988 (SC TPB) 150 pgs.

Written and Illustrated by John Byrne. Inked by Dick Giordano.
Colours: Tom Ziuko. Letters: John Constanza. Editor: Andrew Helfer.

Reprinting: The Man of Steel #1-6 (1986 mini-series)

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 2

The mini-series that helped kick off DC Comics' "new" age, when it overhauled its entire line in the mid-'80s, The Man of Steel re-tells Superman's origin, as well as his various initial encounters with Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Batman, etc., diverging somewhat from what had, up to that point, been established DC "reality".

Curiously, John Byrne hasn't shaped it into a single story, nor has he even presented a "Year One" sort of format. Instead, he leaps months, even years, between issues (from Superman's arrival in Metropolis, to the final issue, something like five or six years have been covered). In a way, The Man of Steel seems less like a mini-series, than an on-going title of which only some of the issues are reprinted. It's an odd editorial decision, to basically let one man (and his editor) map out Superman's legend, as opposed to allowing it to unfold naturally as later stories (and creative teams) require it.

What's even more curious is that I enjoyed it.

That might seem like an odd statement. After all, John Byrne is a giant in the field, and The Man of Steel mini-series was initially hyped as the most significant comic since Action Comics #1 first introduced Superman in 1938. But I'd kind of been ambivalent toward Byrne as a writer-artist, rarely impressed with his writing, and feeling his once-great art style deteriorated from wearing too many hats. I initially picked up the first two issues of The Man of Steel...and didn't bother with the rest. It was only recently, once I'd fallen back into comics, that I decided to track the remaining issues down, just for the heckuv it.

That's why I'm kind of surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I didn't expect to. Although, maybe it was that very lack of expectation that helped.

Art wise, this is well drawn, with a nice sense of composition. And I don't think inker Dick Giordano's contribution can be ignored. Often Byrne's art, particularly when he inked himself, could seem cold, even oily, with a flatness to the figures. Giordano brings a softer, rounder look to the pencils, giving them depth and warmth. I was also pleasantly surprised by the dialogue, with some nice scenes of character interaction, and even clever lines. There's good mood and a pleasant, laid-back ambience in art and writing. In fact, the strongest parts tend to be the character bits.

I think one of the reasons I quit on the series the first time around is the plotting. As mentioned above, this isn't a single story building inexorably from issues to issue, yet Byrne hasn't really delivered great, imaginative plots for the individual stories, either. He's so busy introducing his versions of these characters, he hasn't thought to introduce them in stories that are memorable in and of themselves. Perhaps the strongest story is Superman's first encounter with a Bizarro clone -- a plot Byrne freely borrows from the original story published in Superboy #68 (reprinted in The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told). Even then, Byrne's version isn't quite as good (this despite his claim in an editorial published in the original mini-series that comics have become more sophisticated).

Intellectually, I can think of so many reasons not to like The Man of Steel. The thin plotting, the greater violence (with Superman involved in hostage takings, terrorist attacks and, with Batman, a serial killer -- not to mention Batman himself as a more brutal character) while lacking the flamboyance that used to make Superman stories fun. Uneven characterization -- this is supposed to be a deeper, more sophisticated take on Superman, and particularly Supes-as-Clark Kent, yet Byrne doesn't bother showing us that Clark had any interest in journalism prior to joining the Daily Planet. Why did he chose that career? A lot of the series is like that -- though supposedly starting from scratch, it relies on the fact that we already know the particulars, so Byrne doesn't bother fleshing it out. This becomes problematic when, in the final chapter, Supes is staggered to learn he's from another planet -- the reader assumes he knew that!

There're also aspects that go unresolved. A couple of panels in the first issue show a shadowy figure lurking about (including in the barn doorway of the last page) and another question is raised in the final issue -- neither of which are answered. For me, a mini-series should resolve, else why publish it as a mini-series, instead of just an on-going series?

But all that naysaying falls before the fact that I did like The Man of Steel, for whatever reason. I looked forward to starting on each chapter. And this despite the fact that another reason I didn't expect to like it is because I'm just not big on the whole post-Crisis DC Comics reality, particularly in regards to Supes.

There are a lot of ways, subtle and not so subtle, that Byrne's Superman diverged from the guy I grew up with. The Kents are still alive, Luthor's a business man, not a scientific genius, Supes' powers aren't quite as powerful (though he can still do wonderfully silly things like inhaling a roomful of gas), and Clark Kent isn't quite as nerdy. Changes that, I'll admit, I take some issue with. The Kent's being alive robs the character of his isolation and the undercurrent of poignancy; and surely the mythos, the whole pop cultural/socio-political resonance of Superman-Clark Kent, is the idea of the mousey guy who's really a Super-man. In a way, this Superman seems to be a rejection of the whole egalitarian thesis (not to mention empowerment of the dis-empowered) -- that, deep down inside, even a schmuck is potentially a hero -- that fired the character, and the genre, to begin with. Perhaps, in its largely fruitless push for mainstream acceptance, comics are rejecting the very nerds, readers and creators, that invented the genre (in favour of just a different class of nerd). Sad, if true. It's like some teen drama, where a character blows off his true friends to run with the hip crowd, only too late realizing the error of his ways.

This dual identity also provided for an intriguing (and subtle) question. Everyone knew that nebbishy Clark Kent was a false mask for macho Superman...but there were occasional hints that there was more of square Clark in Superman than even Superman realized. As well, the modern, more confident Clark raises character problems -- would Clark really proudly display his high school football trophies knowing he won them thanks to super-powers? Wouldn't he, if anything, be ashamed of his dishonest "wins"?

But the biggest problem I have with the modern Superman is the decision to make him clearly, and uncategorically, an earthman who just happens to be from outer space. Even more, Byrne, the British-born Canadian, insists repeatedly that Superman is, first and foremost, an AMERICAN (even pairing him off against foreign terrorists at one point).

The Superman that had evolved throughout the Silver Age was, in many ways, an alien, the proverbial Stranger in a Strange Land. Sure, it was kind of silly -- the guy had lived his whole life on earth. But he never really quite belonged ("like a pearl among the swine" as Steppenwolf once sang), seeming most at home in his Fortress of Solitude, surrounded by Kryptonian artifacts, writing his memoirs in Kryptonese. This gave Superman, easily one of the more simple, gentle-in-tone of DC's comic books, a touching undercurrent of melancholy, of poignant longing -- Supes, literally, could never go home, 'cause home had blown up long ago. There was also an undercurrent of religious symbolism, as the only begotten son of the Utopic planet Krypton is sent to earth. Superman, it has been argued, was the Christian story of Jesus reinterpreted by a couple of Jewish kids and translated for a secular 20th Century. Byrne clearly rejects all that. Superman is a good ol' boy whose values have been shaped by heartland America, not an alien civilization. Byrne even takes the extra step of de-romanticizing Krypton, robbing it of its Utopic trappings. Where once the planet's destruction could be viewed as a cosmic tragedy, now it's just the mercy killing of a civilization on the wane. Which is ironic, because in recent years and comics, DC has chosen to actually deify Superman in a way even his Silver Age version wasn't -- stories glorify him, even as the character seems less God-like.

Byrne's Superman is just a little more like every other super-guy on the market... which may have been the intention.

This is a Superman refashioned for the Republican '80s -- no longer is Superman the immigrant JJew (as some have suggested) but an American WASP. Nor is there the shadow of melancholy clinging to him. And he now reflects American values -- not values imbibed from a dead civilization.

All that's pretty heavy analyse, particularly since, as I've repeatedly said, I enjoyed the Man of Steel. But I thought it was worth mentioning.

The fall-out from this mini-series is, well, unclear. Many of the things Byrne and DC tried to eliminate from the mythos have, I believe, been re-introduced in recent years (the Fortress of Solitude, Superman robots, Kandor, multi-coloured Kryptonite), while things Byrne retained (Supes having powers as a boy) have been written out -- suggesting that this "milestone" was less than permanent. But then, that's true of the whole post-Crisis reality. I'm not even sure how much of this is "official" DC continuity anymore. And for a series that was hyped as soooo significant, with the first issue published with two separate covers, I'm not even sure it's appreciated much in the collector's market.

Still, for all my negativity, read in the right mood, The Man of Steel is a pleasant journey through the life of Superman -- at least, one version of him, anyway.

This is a review of the stories published in the Man of Steel mini-series

Cover price: __ CDN/ $7.50 USA.

Superboy #147 - Replica Edition 2003 (SC GN) 80 pages
for review see Legion of Super-Heroes section
 

Supergirl
for reviews click here

Superman: Bizarro's World  1996 (SC TPB) 128 pages

Written by Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Roger Stern, Louise Simonson. Pencils by Stuart Immonen, Barry Kitson, Jackson Guice, Jon Bogdanove. Inks by various.
Colours/letters: various

Reprinting: Superman (second series) #87, 88, Adventures of Superman #510, Action Comics #697, Superman: The Man of Steel (regular series) #32 (1994)

additional notes: introduction

Rating: * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 2

Superman confronts the tragic menace...Bizarro!

First off, I'll resist the common tendency when commenting on anything involving bizzaros -- those imperfect, Frankenstein-monster clones of Superman -- to use bizarro-speak. Y'know, the "me am" and such.

It won't be hard because this isn't intended to invoke the same infectious silliness that a collection like Superman: Tales of the Bizzaro World does. Bizarro's World collects the second appearance of the bizarro concept in DC Comics' modern Superman continuity (the first was in a story collected in the TPB The Man of Steel).

A bizarro clone is re-created by Lex Luthor who, at this point, was masquerading as his own son in a cloned body. Luthor's body is dying of a degenerative disease and Luthor's scientists figure a Bizarro clone might be the key to a cure. But the Bizarro escapes and, unlike the more primitive version in The Man of Steel, this Bizarro is like his Silver Age variations: capable of clumsy speech and mixed up thoughts. He actually thinks he is Superman, complete with a desire to do good (usually with disastrous results) and infatuated with Lois Lane. When Superman intercedes, Bizarro doesn't take too kindly to it at all.

This is what more Superman stories should be (and maybe superhero stories in general): not a simple-minded tale of good guy vs. one dimensional bad guy, but something a little more complex, with Supes battling a dangerous menace who doesn't mean to be a menace at all. Eschewing much of the humour associated with Bizarro, this is a kind of poignant tale. The art is fairly striking throughout. Though often more stylized than I, a product of the Curt Swan era, associate with Superman, it's generally effective, making use of shadows to generate a moody, slightly sombre ambience.

Admittedly, the story isn't very complex. I enjoyed it as a modest "graphic novel" rather than reflecting on the fact that it was originally a cross-title epic!

Does it justify the five issues? Not really. The story makes use of lots of big panels and super-brawls, and could easily have been shortened (and made more effective if tighter). Not much has been brought to the proceedings that you couldn't get reading the original Bizarro tale from Superboy (reprinted in The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told). Every generation of writers claim they've improved on the last, but often are just repeating the old work. In the introduction to this collection, for instance, it's acknowledged that John Byrne's Bizarro story in The Man of Steel borrows from the original Superboy story, except Byrne added a bittersweet twist ending. But, in fact, that twist ending was in the original story! Likewise, Bizarro's World seems content in sticking to the tried and true. Perhaps that's the down-side to a cross-title story where no one writer really feels any personal commitment to a story-by-committee.

There are some original ideas. A creepy-yet-poignant sequence where Bizarro has created his own version of Metropolis in a warehouse; the way Lois and Superman are quicker to sympathize with Bizarro than in previous stories (though that doesn't stop Supes from slugging it out with Bizarro every chance he gets). But overall, fresh ideas are touched on but never developed. Bizarro's mayhem is initially attributed to Superman...but such accusations never stick to the Man of Steel; Bizarro has Supes' memories, including knowledge of Supes' secret identity...but that never becomes relevant. Indeed, Bizarro's fixation on Lois could've threatened to expose his secret since, to the public at large, Superman and Lois are just friends. Again, though, it's never commented on.

There are also some technical problems. Ironically, TPB collections are all the rage these days, even as comics are often less-and-less self contained. The whole sub-plot involving a disease attacking clones (Luthor's not the only clone in Metropolis) is never resolved, nor is a secondary sub-plot involving Superman's escalating powers (not that I expected that one to be). Though the Bizarro plot ends, the story continues for another page and actually ends on something of a cliffhanger! As well, there are simple continuity things like the fact that I'm not sure it's ever clearly articulated for the reader that Lex Luthor II is, in fact, Lex Luthor!

This was also at a (now curious) time when DC was trying to hip-ifie Supes by giving him long hair!

Ultimately, it's nothing more than a generic reprise of the Bizarro idea, but reasonably entertaining for all that...if you don't mind a few dangling plot threads.

Cover price: $13.95 CDN./ $9.95 USA.

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