"Superman: Supercorp," Has Some Twisty Mysteries!

My friend, Brian, has been recommending various, "Superman," comics I should read over the months after taking offense (jokingly, he wasn't legit angry) at my saying that most Superman stories are boring. He was 100% right that the recent, "Warworld Saga," was a fantastic read when collected in a big paperback. Somewhat following after that is, "Superman: Supercorp," which collects the first five issues of the new, "Superman," series that launched out of the recent, "Dawn of DC," line. I read this collection written by Joshua Williamson with art by Jamal Campbell and really enjoyed it.

I missed on paperback between this and, "Warworld," Brian told me, which explains why at the start of this comic why Lex Luthor is now in jail and has assigned his whole corporation to, "Help," Superman. Luthor, obviously, has some ulterior motive, but for now appears interested in helping Superman continue to keep Metropolis safe while also hoping Supes helps fight off some of Luthor's old foes who have crawled out of the woodwork with him imprisoned.

Between an attack by the villain Parasite that takes an intriguing sci-fi and microscopic turn and a subplot about Luthor having once supposedly been a hero in Metropolis that another notable reporter took great pains to bury any news of, a lot of mysterious stuff is happening in, "Supercorp." There are some delightfully funny elements too, with Jimmy Olsen doing his thing where he always gets into various fiascos, in this case ending up dating one of Superman's villains (she's trying to be less evil though these days). I had a good time with, "Superman: Supercorp," and have already asked my friend Brian what collections I need to seek out in order to keep reading this fun story!

5 out of 5 Stars.

"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.

Flashback Friday: "Superman: The City of Tomorrow Volume 1," AKA I Suppose Superman Can Be Entertaining After All!

I made a Facebook post once where I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was along the lines of: Superman as a character generally bores me and I usually only like stories with him that are out-of-continuity and have a great writer ("All-Star Superman," by Grant Morrison) or involve him acting out-of-character ("Red Son," and, "Injustice," come to mind). My statement was how the DC comic Universe Superman generally just doesn't have yarns that interest me. One of my friends, Brian Lan (who also does great work with the Hero Initiative) saw this and didn't so much take offense as he wanted to school me on how, "Superman," can actually give us some good stories. He recommended a number of books to me and I made a request to my library so I could try them out.

One of the books Brian told me to try out was the collection, "Superman: The City of Tomorrow, Volume 1." It featured a number of Superman stories from the early 2000s that he told me didn't require too much knowledge of Supes to follow along with. Having read the collection, I will admit I was entertained. If one goes into stories keeping one big thing in mind, they can work well. the main thing to remember is that Superman is inextricably good and wants to help. If you hold onto that as a focal point you can enjoy many tales of Superman (or sometimes his civilian identity, Clark Kent). 

The concept with Superman is he faces an obstacle and finds a way to overcome it.  The obstacles can be big or small, but Superman's good heart and caring nature help him find a way. He has no ulterior motive, he just wants to help, and there is a kindness and purity to that which I mistook for boring at points but can see isn't boring so much as a starting point. It is a launchpad for stories about how someone who wants to be the best they can be towards others deals with a World where essentially nobody else thinks that way. Superman isn't cynical. Superman isn't spiteful. He's Superman, and the fellow has everyone's best interest at heart, against all odds.

Superman might try to help a man keep his house from being demolished by greedy building developers or he could end up having an epic fight in space with an interplanetary tyrant. He'll always try his and best and attempt to see the best in others. Garth Ennis, of all people (the man generally seems to hate superheroes and writes them as terrible people) wrote one of the best summaries of how Superman views, "Us," as Earth years ago in a comic that wasn't even about Superman--it was focused on a creation of Ennis named Hitman in a different comic than what I read but it bears sharing. Observe...

So yes, when you get some skilled writers (Joe Kelly plus Jeph Loeb and Mark Millar before those two went downhill in storytelling) and great artists (Doug Mahnke and Ed McGuinness to name a couple) you can create some solid Superman tales if you go into the tales knowing what to expect. I suppose my friend Brian had a good point and I thank him for turning me onto some solid Superman tales. I plan to pick up a book chronicling the recent, "Warworld," stuff as he told me that was excellent as well. I look forward to reading that too now!