"Superman: The Warworld Saga," is an Epic Read!

"Superman: The Warworld Saga," is a hefty trade paperback that collects the entire big yarn of Superman going to Warworld to fight Mongul. That makes the story sound simple, but there is a lot to it. There are offshoot Kryptonians, Superman's powers seeming to be on the fritz, an alternate Universe trip, some characters from The Authority, and a deep dive into exploring just what makes the horrific conqueror Mongul function the way he does. The main thrust of the book is how no matter the odds, Superman is going to try to help people/aliens/etc.. Even if those very entities try to drain him of his powers, take advantage of his kindness, and so forth. He'll be there, inspiring hope.

A lot of comics leading up to Superman's time on Warworld and then fighting against Mongul while low on his usual abilities are collected in this big tome, and it is a saga for sure. I will say the, "Future State," issues at the end of the book read like slightly overlong epilogues to the main juicy entree of sorts, but everything before that is quite engaging and even those handful of issues make a nice little closer to this massive book. Seriously, I set this down on my bed one night while reading it and shifted my leg having forgotten it was there. It fell onto the floor with the loudest thump that my wife was worried I had fallen out of bed for a second.

There are a metric ton of skilled artists collected in, "Superman: The Warworld Saga," as this story encompasses multiple comics. Everyone does a great job despite a variety of styles appearing whether it's David Lapham, Ben Templesmith, Ian Churchhill, Dale Eaglesham, or a bunch of other folks. The almost sole writer (besides a little smidgen by Simon Spurrier) is Phillip Kennedy Johnson, crafting this epic tale across a bunch of series. Having one writer for almost the entirety of this saga helps give it a strong thematic voice that stays present throughout the whole TPB even as the art can change quite a bit across various collected books. Johnson and the many artists result in this being a stellar read I greatly enjoyed across the multiple days it took to finish this big ol' book. I would highly recommend checking out, "Superman: The Warworld Saga," whether you get it from your local comic shop, bookstore, or library. It's a fantastic collection!

5 out of 5 stars.

The More, "Heroes Reborn," Comics Marvel Announces, The Less Excited I Am

 

Last month Marvel announced a mini-event titled, "Heroes Reborn." It imagines a world where the Avengers never formed along with other heroes starting-up and instead the Squadron Supreme is running the show along with other interesting new versions of familiar characters. I thought it was basically an arc of, "Avengers," or a standalone mini-series. I was wrong as Marvel keeps announcing various one-shots and tie-ins As this, "Mini," event becomes more of a big full-fledged, "Event," I just find myself losing interest in buying any of it. 

Massive events sometimes are cool but can be a waste of money too. I've been following a number of comics that tie-in with, "King in Black," because I have soft spot for Venom/symbiote stories and it's been alright, but I'm glad I am being a little picky in which books I spent money on with that mega-event. I do like a good alternate-Universe tale, with Flashpoint being an event I didn't know I would absolutely love as much as I did back in 2011 or so, and when Jonathan Hickman did, "Secret Wars," and its numerous tie-ins, that was pretty cool. I also plan to read a chunk of DC's current, "Future State," when some issues I ordered thanks to a good discount arrive.

Still, I saved money on both those events by getting the countless tie-in comics from dollar bins or reading trade paperback collections from the library. I wasn't in a rush to read these massive events that tweaked the World in cool ways but had way too many tie-in books. Other, recent events, I have basically avoided and just read the tie-in comics that I was already reading. I didn't follow, "Empyre," at all besides in the X-Men comics I was getting that touched-upon that event--to give one example.

"Heroes Reborn," could be a lot of fun, but I don't want to spend a bunch of money on it. I'll probably wait for the trade paperback/paperbacks collecting it to arrive at the library eventually. I'm in no rush to read the event and its increasing number of tie-ins, so I'll give it time. Saves me a chunk of change, after all.