Superman: Birthright #12

July 25, 2004

Quick Rating: Excellent
Title: Birthright Chapter Twelve

Superman stands against Lex Luthor’s fake Kryptonian invasion… and a Man of Steel is reborn!

Writer: Mark Waid
Pencils: Leinil Francis Yu
Inks: Gerry Alanguilan
Colors: Dave McCaig
Letters: Comicraft
Editors: Tom Palmer Jr. & Eddie Berganza
Cover Art: Yu & Alanguilan
Publisher: DC Comics

Wow.

It is not an exaggeration to say I have been waiting two years to read this comic book. Ever since it was announced at the Wizard World Chicago Con in 2002, I have been anxious to see exactly how Mark Waid was going to reimagine the origins of my favorite hero. Honestly, I never really thought it needed reimagining – I was a fan of the John Byrne Man of Steel version. Along the way, though, this storyline has filled in the gaps, created a bridge to the most popular media property currently featuring the character (namely Smallville), and told an absolutely fantastic story.

Superman, wounded by not out, has gathered his strength to confront Lex Luthor’s fake Kryptonian invasion of Metropolis. Lois Lane, meanwhile, has confronted the villain in his own den, putting herself right in the line of fire to get out the truth.

This is an almost all-action issue, a massive battle scene between Superman and Luthor (or Luthor’s forces). This is your classic “final battle,” which of course is given an interesting perspective since we all know this is really the first “final battle” between these two legendary foes.

Waid adds a few nice little twists in this book, little boosts to the classic origin that make it his own and make it work beautifully. Luthor’s Kryptonite has juiced him up and powered Superman down, evening things out nicely for this really epic fight. The full scheme is exposed, and the depth of Luthor’s knowledge about Krypton really comes to light. It all works wonderfully, fitting together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle.

Leinil Yu and Gerry Alanguilan’s version of Superman is really unique. There are very few artists who can do a “grittier” version of the character without making him seem totally out of place, but they’ve pulled it off perfectly. The fights are well-staged and the sci-fi effects are fantastic.

All in all, I have absolutely loved this miniseries. Fantastic writing, fantastic art – it all came together here, letting Superman finally shine the way he deserves. Comic books, movies, television… this may well be the greatest interpretation of Superman’s origin ever told.

Rating: 10/10

Superman: Birthright #10

May 4, 2004

Quick Rating: Great

Can a young Superman save the world from a fake Kryptonian invasion… especially when everyone thinks he’s part of it?

Writer: Mark Waid
Pencils: Leinil Francis Yu
Inks: Gerry Alanguilan
Colors: Dave McCaig
Letters: Comicraft
Editors: Tom Palmer Jr. & Eddie Berganza
Cover Art: Leinil Francis Yu & Gerry Alanguilan
Publisher: DC Comics

Mark Waid should be teaching a seminar on how to write Superman. After an April of new Superman writers that, in order, were frustrating, didn’t exactly tell a Superman story and were just outright confusing, this book comes along to remind us that at least someone has been spot-on for nearly a year now.

With Lex Luthor using his resources to fake an invasion of Earth by Krypton and blanketing Metropolis with Kryptonite radiation, making our hero nearly helpless, things have never looked worse for the Man of Steel. The people of the city believe that he was the advance scout for the invasion. His parents are urging him to come back to Kansas before Luthor kills him. His co-workers at the Daily Planet are furious at him for his apparent weakness. Then you get to a magnificent final sequence where things turn around based on nothing more than Superman’s will and, although the odds are still stacked in his favor, you almost feel sorry for what’s about to happen to Luthor.

Waid’s Superman, like his Fantastic Four, has flawless characterization. The hero is bold and resolute and, unlike other writers I could mention, he doesn’t paint Clark Kent as a pansy. He is viewed as weak in this issue, and it makes perfect sense in context, but that’s almost a quick nod to the past. It’s as if Waid is saying, “Once upon a time you guys thought Clark was this way. Not anymore, bucko.”

Yu and Alanguilan continue with a great art style that you wouldn’t think would fit Superman so well, but somehow it does. The angular, overly-detailed style would seem to be more in line with darker characters like the Punisher or even Batman, but somehow they manage to carry it off without losing any of the brightness that defines the character, for which you’ve got to give due credit to colorist Dave McCaig.

With all the fuss over the new creative teams on the core Superman titles, DC seems to have forgotten that they’ve had this winner on their hands for 10 issues now, and with only two issues left, I can’t fathom why Mark Waid wasn’t offered a spot on one of the core books (feel free to argue about which one should have been his). If you love the character, you need to read this book. If you don’t love this character, you should be reading this book to discover why the rest of us do.

Rating: 9/10

Superman Secret Files 2004

June 29, 2004

Quick Rating: Necessary
Title: Suicide Watch & BiPolar Disorder

How to piece together the Superman universe.

Writers: Geoff Johns, Jeremy Johns, Greg Rucka & Mike McAvennie
Pencils: Jim Fern & Jon Bogdanove (plus several others on profile pages)
Inks: Lary Stucker & Jon Bogdanove (plus several others on profile pages)
Colors: Sno-Cone, Dave McCaig (plus others on profile pages)
Letters: K.L. Fletcher & Jared Fletcher
Editors: Eddie Berganza & Ivan Cohen
Cover Art: Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines & Dave Stewart
Publisher: DC Comics

The best installments of DC’s “Secret Files” series are those books that fill in the blanks of a title, giving you greater understanding and appreciation of the book as a whole. The worst are completely superfluous and give you absolutely nothing to sink your teeth into. This is a first, though, this is the first time I’ve read a “Secret Files” that feels absolutely essential to understand the goings-on of the four regular Superman titles (Superman, Adventures of Superman, Action Comics and Superman/Batman).

The bulk of the work is done by Geoff Johns and Jeremy Johns in a story that wraps up the loose ends of the Lex Luthor presidency and includes a nice little throwdown with the Suicide Squad, now targeting their former boss, Amanda Waller. We are finally given an explanation as to why Pete Ross agreed to be Luthor’s vice-president in the first place in a very nice sequence that ties into the new version of Superman’s origins as detailed in Superman: Birthright (which, in turn, feels more and more like it’s trying to be a bridge to Smallville every day, especially with stories like this). The artwork, by Fern and Stucker, isn’t quite as strong. The best sequence is the flashback scene, where they’re trying so hard to make the characters look like the actors from the TV show that it’s almost painful. They do a good Tom Welling in Clark, but the rendition of Lana Lang looks terribly forced. Credit where credit is due – their Superman does look like a grown-up version of Welling in tights, but he’s almost too youthful, too blocky.

Rucka and Bogdanove serve up the second story in this book, “BiPolar Disorder,” a wonderfully silly tale that tries to reconcile the various incarnations of Mr. Mxyzptlk. I really don’t understand the venom Mxyzptlk gets in some circles of fandom – I’ve always found him to be a delightfully silly character that brings some much-needed comic relief once in a while, and I always love seeing Bogdanove’s pencils – if ever there was an underrated Superman artist, it was him. This issue doesn’t illuminate the regular titles that much, but does serve as something of a “secret files” for Mxyzptlk himself.

Then there are the profile pages – Gog, The Shack, Replikon, Lt. Lupe Teresa Leocadio-Escudero, Father Daniel Leone, Eradicator, Preus, Mr. Majestic and Supergirl (drawn by Michael Turner, for you completists out there). In short, every character that’s been introduced or revamped since the “Godfall” storyline earlier this year. These, along with the Johns story, make the book a necessity – it fills you in on everything, gives a more logical angle to Clark Kent’s demotion at the Daily Planet and even puts to rest the burning question of whether or not Superman should actually remember having fought Gog before over in Action Comics (he should, damn it).

Typically, I wouldn’t recommend a “Secret Files” unless I found it particularly enjoyable or enlightening. This is the first time I would say you need a “Secret Files” issue just to keep up, and that says a lot more about the current state of the Superman titles than it does about this issue itself.

Rating: 8/10

Superman: Birthright #7

February 2, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good

The real story of Superman’s past with Lex Luthor begins.

Writer: Mark Waid
Pencils: Leinil Francis Yu
Inks: Gerry Alanguilan
Colors: Dave McCaig
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Cover Art: Leinil Francis Yu & Gerry Alanguilan
Publisher: DC Comics

It’s still kinda like Smallville… but not.

In this issue, the young Superman encounters Kryptonite for the first time, sparking a memory of his high school days when he was friends with a lonely new kid in school named Lex Luthor. The similarities between this continuity and the hit TV are again evident, but fans of the show will see distinctive differences in this issue as well. The most interesting parts, story-wise, are to see how and why young Clark befriended young Lex, and to speculate about what could have happened to them, more of which will be revealed next issue.

This issue also gives us a very interesting prologue sequence showing Clark adapting to work at the Daily Planet. People often talk about what being the only alien on a planet must be like for Superman, but it’s interesting to note how alienated plain ol’ Clark Kent feels, masking his true self from the people closest to him day-by-day.

Leinil Yu’s artwork gets better each issue. He draws a Superman that manages to look powerful and imposing while still looking like a younger man than he appears in the regular Superman titles. There are a few problems in some of the rainy scenes in this issue where Alanguilan gets a bit too heavy with the shading, obscuring some faces. It’s possible that this was done intentionally, for effect, but the effect doesn’t quite work.

This book is redefining Earth’s Greatest Hero. With his regular titles getting a boost in a couple of months with all-new creative teams, it will be interesting to see how much of this new continuity will be brought over, scrapping what’s been in place since 1986. If I had known how much this series would change things beforehand, I probably would have been quite against it, but it’s done so well and fits the character so perfectly, I find it very difficult to complain. I doubt many Superman fans will – continuity is out the window, but it’s well worth it.

Rating: 8/10

Superman: Birthright #5

November 2, 2003

Quick Rating: Great

A new-to-Metropolis Superman is re-introduced to Lex Luthor.

Writer: Mark Waid
Pencils: Leinil Francis Yu
Inks: Gerry Alanguilan
Colors: Dave McCaig
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Cover Art: Leinil Yu & Gerry Alanguilan
Publisher: DC Comics

This issue serves very well to serve my theory that Superman: Birthright is Mark Waid’s attempt to create a bridge between current DC continuity and the wildly popular Smallville television series. And you know what? I’m fine with that.

Superman, on his first day of working as Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, thwarts an invasion of Metropolis by a squadron of black ops-style helicopters that leads him to an old acquaintance. The confrontation between Superman and Luthor does not fit in the post-Crisis continuity, but it would be perfectly in-character between Tom Welling’s Clark and Michael Rosenbaum’s Lex ten years in the future.

Yu continues to impress with pencils that, at times, seem reminiscent of Walter Simonson, especially with the impressive ways he visually displays some of Superman’s non-visual powers, such as a sequence where we “see” him isolate a radio signal that he’s actually picking up with his super-hearing. Despite such similarities, though, Yu’s style is all his own and he is deservedly on his way to becoming the next comic book superstar.

If you know someone who watches Smallville but has never read a Superman comic book, here’s your chance to hook them. Hand them the first five issues of Superman: Birthright and say, “here’s what’s going to happen to them.” They will not be disappointed.

Rating: 9/10

(2010 Note: Of course, in the years since this review was written, Superman’s history has been re-written yet again, and Smallville has gone in totally different directions. Still, for the time, I think my comments were valid.)