Superman

Once again, the backup story outshines the main story in The Dark Knight III #4 as Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson provide some iconic imagery, especially in the scenes featuring the Atom and Superman’s execution, but Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello’s storyline jumps around and portray the characters not named Bruce Wayne, Carrie Kelly, or Ellen Yindel in an arbitrary way. Plus there is that always problematic Islamophobia, which is starting to set in as the Kryptonians call Batman an “infidel”. Last time I checked, this wasn’t Holy Terror.

Superman #51 Written by Peter J. Tomasi Art by Michael Janin Published by DC Comics Released April 6, 2016 The first page of this comic is an uncomfortable close-up on Superman’s distressed face, as he seemingly looks the reader right in the eyes and says “I’m dying.” Grant Morrison’s long-awaited Wonder Woman Earth One graphic novel …

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Written by: Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer Directed by: Zack Snyder USA, 2016 “Wouldn’t it be cool if..?” should be Zack Snyder’s motto. He should print it on a t-shirt and wear it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. His entire career is based on capturing …

‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ will probably give you what you expect, but not what you’re looking for.

You can learn a lot about our culture by how we treat our comic book movies. That’s a funny sentence to say, but in terms of cinema, it’s the nerds’ world, we’re all just living in it. From the campy heyday of the Adam West Batman to the childlike wonderment of Richard Donner’s Superman to …

Though Superman hasn’t always been the most popular superhero (these days, Batman, Spider-Man, Wolverine and heck, probably Iron Man and a few other Avengers most likely outpace him in that department), he was the first superhero, and superhero comics as they exist today wouldn’t without Superman. Even beyond the blatant knockoffs that cropped up in the wake of his immense popularity shortly after his debut (issues of his comics routinely sold in the millions throughout the forties), Superman can be pointed to as either a direct or indirect inspiration for nearly every superhero that followed. The entire field of superhero comics, the most dominant form of sequential art in American comic books, exists because of Superman.

From that title you can probably already get an idea of what my stance is on the recent news that Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice will be receiving an R-rated cut for its blu-ray release. Like many vocal fans on the internet, the very idea of an R-rated movie featuring Batman and/or Superman seems ridiculous to …

Superman: Coming of the Supermen #1 is one of Neal Adams’ worst comics.

When it’s not awkwardly taking shots at texting young people, making non-statements about the media, various world leaders, striking up a Strange Fruit-esque conversation about race involving only white people , or turning Bruce Wayne into a Randian hero with Carrie Kelly as his mouthpiece and Superman as his attack dog, The Dark Knight III #3 is an intergenerational superhero epic that boasts Andy Kubert’s best artwork of his career and flaming post-apocalyptic palette from Brad Anderson.

Landis offers his own take on this monumentous moment in Superman: American Alien #4, contextualizing the confrontation as the capstone to Clark’s arrival in the Big Apricot and his fateful first encounters with a number of its most prominent denizens

Johns, Morrison, and many others have asked the question: what makes them gods? Hitch raises as much, but answers a more interesting inquiry: what makes them good in his work on Justice League of America #7

A new TV-Spot for Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the latest in the metric ton of advertising for the much-anticipated comic book punch-up, goes into particular detail about the Caped Crusader’s motivations and the nature of his beef with the Man of Tomorrow. But while more information on where Batman’s coming from in the central …

With the clock winding down and with only 3 issues in the War to go, not all of the characters are at the forefront in Justice League #47, but it works lest the already packed title become overstuffed with players. With the main artist back on to finish the event, the “Darkseid War” should begin to wrap up character arcs and pick up steam to change the landscape of DC Universe in issue 50.

The Darkseid War rages on and is proving to be the biggest and largest story DC has told yet in the New 52 and DCYou era through the Justice League title. Readers are treated to an artistic switch with Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, who were the team that ushered in a new era for The Flash at the New 52’s inception to give us this aftermath of the insanity that went down in issue #44.

In the world of comic books, sometimes ideas that at first seem really controversial or asinine turn out to be great ideas that push the series in exciting and new directions.  Despite all the death threats that they received for it, giving Spider-Man the black symbiote suit was probably the second best idea that ever …

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In the world of superheroes, it seems that feats of physical strength and acrobatic prowess are possibly the most prevalent demonstration of super powers. One must wonder if such physical powers are a product of the time in which these comics were originally produced – the 1930s for DC’s iconic Superman and 1941 for Marvel’s super soldier, Captain America – or does this sort of hero have roots that extend deeper into literary history. Obviously, mythology is full of heroes who have superhuman strength, stamina, and agility with Thor and Hercules being the most famous in the world of comics for their huge roles in the Marvel Universe (and smaller ones in DC). However, there is a bridge, figuratively speaking, between the heroes of myth and their newer incarnations in the comic book world, and that bridge is found in the works of classical, medieval, and Renaissance literature.

Writer Gene Luen Yang excels at writing Clark Kent go-getter reporter and Clark/Superman and Jimmy the best of pals. But he abandons the danger and mystery of Clark and Jimmy investigating a piece of futuristic weapons technology that will affect the welfare of Metropolis for a vague mystery story and a costume swap with Daredevil. It’s great that Yang is deciding not to use traditional Superman villains, like Lex Luthor, Zod, or even Parasite, to weaken him, but these baddies lack bite, style, and motivation. Artist John Romita Jr. also abandons his crisp (with some extra lines) compositions for a quick cutting car chase that needed some extra pages to breathe. Superman #41 starts strong, but ends up losing its solar energy just like its protagonist by the final page.

JLA #1 is another feather in Bryan Hitch’s artistic cap as he excels at showing superheroes in action along with labs, helicopters, explosions, and even a decent flirty interaction between Clark Kent and Lois Lane. However, his plot maybe suffers from some hypercompression as ideas, threats, and allies are introduced at a rapid pace without proper establishment. There are also a few story logic issues, The Flash and Green Lantern are written interchangeably, and Cyborg is kind of treated as deus ex machina. These misfires make JLA #1 an average comic with great art.

DC’s big event comic of the spring continues. Sad to say that there is not much to be excited about as most of its problems remain. The major change up this week is the takeover of art duties by Andy Kubert and Sandra Hope.

DC’s latest event comic reaches its second (technically third) issue and continues the trend of disappointment. Despite a star studded cast of the excellent Earth 2 hero roster, Convergence has had very little to do despite all the publicity hype and the bringing in of countless parts of DC’s history. With so many great stories on the table, it’s a shame that this story ends up so empty.

As DC’s next big soft-core reboot begins underway, one of the most troubling facts to acknowledge is that despite the compay’s claims to have a new marketing strategy with a wider target audience in mind, that some of their most troubling decisions dating all the way back to 2011 are going nowhere. Case in point, just about everything involving DC’s handling of Wonder Woman, not just in comics but also video games, animated movies, and very likely the upcoming live action films, seems to be stripping the character of the revolutionary feminist philosophies that she was born from and replacing it with the same toxic masculinity straight out of 300. DC has taken William Moulton Marston and swapped him for Frank Miller and it still remains one of the New 52’s cardinal sins that intends to live on beyond Convergence.

Convergence #0 occupies a very strange space. DC had a bout of #0 issues a while back, not only an entire month dedicated to them but also a few afterwards such as Harley Quinn #0 and Justice League United #0. The problem with #0 issues in general is that they tend to fall into one of two categories, either a) just the first issue of the actual book or b) pointless prelude material that will only be explained in the #1, making the issue itself nothing less than a cynical money grab. Convergence #0 is the latter.

It’s finally come down to this, the end of World’s End. This drawn out excuse of a weekly has been going on for a good half a year and now the oversized creative crew gets to do their final send off to the book and this entire world. It’s about as disappointing as one would expect.