Superman: Our Worlds at War-The Complete Collection TPB

April 17, 2011

Title: Our Worlds at War

Writers: Jeph Loeb, Joe Casey, Mark Schultz, Joe Kelly, Peter David, Phil Jimenez, Todd DeZago
Pencils: Phil Jimenez, Mike Wieringo, Doug Mahnke, Ed McGuinness, Pascual Ferry, Carlo Barberi, Kano, Todd Nauck, Mark Buckingham, Duncan Rouleau, Yvel Guichet, Bill Sienkiewicz, Ron Garney, Leonard Kirk
Inks: Marlo Alquiza, Andy Lanning, Jose Marzan Jr., Cam Smith, Keith Champagne, Tom Nguyen, Juan Vlasco, Wayne Faucher, Walden Wong, Duncan Rouleau, Mark Morales, Lary Stucker, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dexter Vines, Robin Riggs
Colorist: Wildstorm FX, Patricia Mulvihill, Jason Wright, Zylonol Studios, Tanya Horie, Richard Horie, Tom McCraw, Rob Schwager, Gene D’Angelo
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Comicraft, Ken Lopez, Janice Chiang, Bill Oakley
Cover: Ed McGuinness
Editors: Eddie Berganza, Mike McAvennie, Bob Joy       
Publisher: DC Comics

Comic book crossovers have been a staple of the form since the 1980s, and there have been more misses than hits. Sometimes, though, time passes and you forget how good a particular storyline was. That’s the case for me with the 2001 crossover Our Worlds at War.

In this storyline Imperiex, an alien Superman had fought some months before, was making Earth the target of his latest assault. It turns out Superman hadn’t fought the real Imperiex, but rather a “probe” sent out by a much more powerful biend, who had the intention of destroying Earth in part of an ongoing quest to wipe out… well… the universe. Superman, the Justice League, and pretty much every other hero on the planet assembled to go to war against the forces of Imperiex, and to do so they had to make some strange allies… Lex Luthor, then-President of the United States, and the dark god himself, Darkseid.

Although this book is labeled The Complete Collection, that isn’t strictly true. There are several crossover chapters and specials that were released in 2001 that aren’t part of this already-hefty omnibus. This book does collect all of the pieces vital to the main story, including the chapters of the assorted Superman titles, Wonder Woman’s book, those starring the members of Young Justice, and a few more for good measure. Not every chapter is that great, but a lot of them are. The story packs a surprising emotional punch, as we see Superman and his allies run ragged fighting a foe more powerful than they’ve ever fought before. Granted, that’s the tagline for virtually every crossover that’s published, but this time we really feel the stress, the strain they have to go under. We see heroes brought to the breaking point and several significant, meaningful deaths. (Unfortunately, virtually all of those deaths have been reversed in the decade since this story first saw publication, but it’s unfair to hold that against this volume, I think.)

The book does lean heavily on characters that were important to the Superman mythos at the time, such as Strange Visitor, who more recent readers won’t recognize at all. The changes that Steel goes through, as well, make for a strange little time capsule, and Supergirl is virtually unrecognizable from the current version. But the story as a whole is still engaging, exciting, and powerful. I’m really glad I picked up this monster omnibus and read this story again.

Rating: 8/10

For the record, this book collects the following individual issues: Action Comics #780-782, Adventures of Superman #593-595, Impulse #77, JLA: Our Worlds at War #1, Superboy (1994 Series) #91, Supergirl (1996 Series) #59, Superman (1987 Series) #171-173, Superman: The Man of Steel #115-117, Wonder Woman (1987 Series) #172-173, World’s Finest: Our Worlds at War #1, and Young Justice (1998 Series) #36.

Bloodhound #1

July 13, 2004
Quick Rating: Good
Title: Green Light

There’s a killer on the loose and only Travis Clevenger can catch him… if he can get out of jail alive.

Writer: Dan Jolley
Pencils: Leonard Kirk
Inks: Robin Riggs
Colors: Moose Baumann
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editor: Ivan Cohen
Cover Art: Dave Johnson
Publisher: DC Comics

Every so often I’ll open up the package of DC advance comics and come face-to-face with a new title, one I’ve never heard of, one I know nothing about, and that is the case with Bloodhound. I didn’t have the slightest inkling of the concept, I was surprised by the creative team, and I must say, it was a pretty solid read. Travis Clevenger is a former cop in prison for the murder of his partner. While it is clear he was a tough cookie even before he went into the klink, prison life has made him harder and more brutal… it’s always tough on a former cop who finds himself behind bars, and Clevenger has made himself savage just to survive.

Now, a former colleague is approaching Clevenger with an offer – there is a killer on the loose, and they need him to help track him down. In exchange, Clevenger is offered a reduced sentence. As they bat about this offer, the prison erupts into a riot, and it’ll take some bloody fast action to get them out.

Dan Jolley is one of those names I recognize but can’t immediately place to any comic book. Offhand, the only project of his I know I’ve read is the new Firestorm series, which I rather like. I feel the same way about Bloodhound. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s pretty good. There are a few questions, of course, such as why a cop-killing cop is a candidate to help track down a murderer out of all the detectives in the country, but that’s the sort of thing you suspect will be answered as the series goes along. It’s a solid story.

Leonard Kirk and Robin Riggs need no introduction, however. I’ve been fans of theirs since their collaboration on the late, lamented Supergirl series, and it’s great to see them working together again. This book is a bit darker than the things I’m used to seeing Kirk work on, but he does a fine job. He’s a penciller along the lines of Paul Pelletier – great with acting and mood, but keeping his work clean and never crowding the panel with excessive detail or making things look murky. This book has a bit more gore than I’m used to out of a comic with the DC bullet on it, but that’s been happening more and more lately, and the book is missing the classic code approval.

I’m not sure if this is a miniseries or an ongoing, but it’s a good start. I like a good mystery, and judging from the first issue, Bloodhound has the potential to be one.

Rating: 7/10

Legion Secret Files 3003

November 18, 2003

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: The Earth Spins Presents: The Legion Secret Files 3003

A Daily Planet reporter takes you along to meet the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pencils: Leonard Kirk
Inks: Robin Riggs
Colors: Sno Cone
Art (Profiles): Tony Harris & Tom Feister
Letters: Nick J. Napolitano
Editor: Ivan Cohen & Stephen Wacker
Cover Art: Tony Harris & Tom Feister
Publisher: DC Comics

From the very beginning of the Secret Files program, the individual issues have been hit and miss. This may be the biggest hit yet, and it gets there by completely eschewing the standard Secret Files format and embracing the purpose of the book. Abnett and Lanning, rather than giving us a couple of fill-in-the-blank stories and a scattering of profile pages, instead work the profiles into the story itself, telling a nice tale that gives us insight into every member of the Legion of Super-Heroes and the world they live in.

We see how Cosmic Boy is dealing with Superboy’s sudden appearance in the 31st century, how Sensor is failing to deal with her transformation into a more humanoid form – beautiful to her teammates but hideous in her own culture – and how Live Wire is trying to deal with his resurrection in the crystalline body of Element Lad. (This is a particularly good segment, although it does call to mind the perfectly reasonable question of, “If the Legion can’t trust Live Wire because he looks like a member that went crazy and killed several of them, why doesn’t he at least stop wearing Element Lad’s uniform? The obvious questions are the most frustrating, aren’t they?)

We are also treated to a prologue and epilogue that tie in to the current “Foundations” storyline running in the regular Legion title, in which dark (but frighteningly familiar) beings are working for the resurrection of the greatest evil the DC Universe has ever known — Darkseid. Any longtime Legion fan who remembers the epic “Great Darkness Saga” should be getting chills at this point.

It’s always nice to see Leonard Kirk’s pencils – I was very sorry to see him leave JSA, and the Harris/Feister team continues to impress for the most part, although the double-page spread featuring Brainiac 5, Spark, Violet and Invisible Kid looks kind of sloppy – a couple of the characters look like they could have fallen out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

If you’re interested in reading Legion and didn’t learn all you wanted from the fantastic Legion #25, this should answer any questions you have left. It’s one of the best Secret Files ever put out.

Rating: 8/10

The Legion #25

October 25, 2003

Quick Rating: Excellent
Title: Foundations

On the anniversary of its founding, members of the Legion of Super-Heroes take time to remember their past, even as several elements that will play into their future are set into motion.

Writer: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Pencils: Chris Batista
Inks: Robin Riggs, Chip Wallace and Doug Hazlewood
Colors: Sno Cone
Additional Art: Eric Wight, Tony Harris, Tom Feister, Dave Cockrum, Al Milgrom and Paul Rivoche
Letters: Jared Fletcher
Editor: Stephen Wacker
Cover Art: Tony Harris and Tom Feister
Publisher: DC Comics

As a longtime Legion fan, this issue was like a visit with old friends to me. It is Founder’s Day, the Legion’s anniversary, and this issue follows several segments of the team as different storylines unfold. Saturn Girl takes a group of new Legion cadets through a retelling of the team’s past (a lot of fun for those of us who remember the old-fashioned tales of “Legion Auditions”), while other members make startling discoveries about some of their fallen teammates, and a team exploring deep space makes the most startling discovery of all.

Abnett and Lanning have been doing a spectacular job on this title for several years now, pruning a lot of the dense elements that may have scared people off. In this issue, it almost feels as though they’ve finished setting up the pieces just the way they want them and now they’re ready to really cut loose and tell their own tales. This is a perfect jumping-on point for anyone who has never read a Legion comic before – the story fills you in on all the historical points of the team you need to know, and several new elements are introduced in this issue that will certainly set the stage for the Legion for the foreseeable future.

Chris Batista has really come into his own on this title, and some of the additional art is also quite nice, particularly Tony Harris and Tom Feister’s outer space sequences. The only weak point, artistically, is Dave Cockrum’s segment, which tells the history of the fallen Legion founder, Livewire. The layouts and anatomy are a little clunky at times, and it looks a bit off.

Overall, if you’ve ever wanted to try Legion, this is the time to do it.

Rating: 9/10