Comic Review: The Return of Superman

Published: April 5th, 2016
Written by: Gerard Jones, Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern
Art by: Jon Bogdanove, M.D. Bright, Tom Grummett, Jackson Guice

DC Comics, 464 Pages

Review:

Well, this is a step up from the previous two volumes in the larger The Death/Return of Superman saga. This is also the fourth of the five big chapters but now that Superman is back, we can stop spending time on mediocre replacements and get back to business.

The four replacements are still here, however, but now they have to find their place in the world with Superman reclaiming his mantle.

Two of these replacements remain heroes and two let their villain flags finally fly for all to see. Where these characters would end up wasn’t a surprise, though.

I think that the most impactful thing about this story isn’t simply Superman’s return, as much as it was seeing him return to Lois after all she had been through in the previous three chapters of this multi-year saga.

Once Superman actually returns, you’re not totally sure it’s him but as a reader, you hope it is and it’s really a breath of fresh air, as the replacements just didn’t cut it. I also think that DC Comics knew this and brought the famed hero back earlier than they probably wanted to.

Regardless, it’s good that he did return, as it was like a shot in the arm to this story, which I found myself losing interest in. Had I been buying these and reading them back when they were current, I know that I would’ve stopped before we even got to the return.

In the end, I’m not super keen on these books, beyond the pretty emotional battle that ended with Superman’s death. Although, this did make up for some of the lower points a bit and it sets up the next showdown between Supes and Doomsday, the jerk that killed him.

Rating: 6.5/10

Comic Review: Reign of the Supermen

Published: April 5th, 2016
Written by: Dan Jurgens, Gerard Jones, Karl Kesel, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern
Art by: Jon Bogdanove, M.D. Bright, Tom Grummett, Jackson Guice

DC Comics, 325 Pages

Review:

I’m not going to lie, even though I slept on this big event back in the early ’90s, I went into this with some real enthusiasm, hoping it would be interesting and have a real purpose.

Sadly, this started out kind of neat but quickly devolved into a clusterfuck without any real sort of cohesive narrative trajectory.

With Superman dead, four new figures pop-up and try to fill the void. Three of the four believe themselves to be Superman while the fourth was simply inspired by him.

As we know now, years later, two of these Supermen would go on to be villains: Cyborg Superman and Eradicator. As for the other two, Steel would just continue to be Steel and Superboy would just stay Superboy and go on to be a really popular character in his own right.

Ultimately, I just didn’t care about any of this and even though I can see how some of the new characters may have resonated with some people, none of them have ever really grabbed me.

I guess, in the end, I can say that I’ve now actually experienced this once important major comic book event. But honestly, fuck these characters. I can see why they brought Superman back almost immediately after this experiment.

Rating: 5.25/10

Comic Review: Superman: Funeral for a Friend

Published: April 5th, 2016
Written by: Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern
Art by: Jon Bogdanove, Brett Breeding, Tom Grummett, Jackson Guice, Doug Hazlewood

DC Comics, 366 Pages

Review:

There are five acts to the death and rebirth of Superman. This is the second act, which follows The Death of Superman and sets up the third act, Reign of the Supermen.

Funeral for a Friend is definitely emotional in spots and it does show how great of an impact that Superman had on the DC Comics universe. However, even with every major hero coming out and paying their respects, this collection is bogged down by some smaller, side stories that don’t really need to be there.

This reads more like an anthology, as opposed to one coherent narrative and that hurts the overall flow of this chapter in the larger saga.

I did like the parts that dealt with the fallout of Superman’s death in regards to those who were actually closest to him from Lois Lane, the Kents, Jimmy Olsen and even Lana Lang. I also liked seeing how his former friends and allies in the Justice Leagues of the past and present came together to honor him and reminisce.

Overall, this isn’t bad, it’s just somewhat of a mess that tries to wedge in short stories of D-level characters that don’t need to be there.

Rating: 6/10

Comic Review: The Death of Superman (2016 Edition)

Published: April 5th, 2016
Written by: Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern
Art by: Jon Bogdanove, Brett Breeding, Tom Grummett, Jackson Guice, Dan Jurgens

DC Comics, 212 Pages

Review:

I have read the Death of Superman issue several times over the years. However, I have never read the full story with everything leading up to that iconic issue, which took the world by storm at the end of 1992.

The story is pretty good, even if it’s really just several issues of the weakest Justice League lineup in history trying to stop Doomsday until Superman shows up. Every issue is action-packed as this entire story is just one massive fight between several heroes and one, seemingly unstoppable enemy.

And that’s certainly not a bad thing, as this did a superb job of telling an action-filled story and keeping each chapter interesting and new. It also adds in some subplots around the larger story, so that it can be broken up a bit.

Some subplots creep in, though, where I didn’t know what was really going on, like the stuff with Lex Luthor II and Supergirl. I wasn’t reading Superman in this era, so I was at first confused as to why Supergirl was with him and why Lex had ginger hair and a beard.

I thought that the art in this was good and the pacing of the story was pretty superb.

All in all, this was a pretty good read, better than I thought it’d be, and it features one of the greatest Superman throwdowns in the history of the character. And it was a hell of an introduction to Doomsday. 

Rating: 8/10

TV Review: Supergirl (2015- )

Original Run: October 26th, 2015 – present
Created by: Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler, Andrew Kreisberg
Directed by: various
Written by: various
Music by: Blake Neely
Cast: Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Jeremy Jordan, David Harewood, Calista Flockhart, Chris Wood, Floriana Lima

Berlanti Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros., 42 Episodes (so far), 45 Minutes (per episode)

Review:

*originally written in 2016.

After the success of other DC shows like Arrow, The Flash and Gotham, CBS wanted to get into the mix. So, they gave us Supergirl.

I really wanted to like this show, in the same way I love The Flash and also really like Arrow. It seemed to have that lighthearted essence of The Flash but after seeing it, it is missing the soul.

Melissa Benoist is cute and entertaining and even though I care about her version of the character to a degree, I just don’t care about everything else that is happening around her. Also, she can go from pretty stellar acting in one scene to completely being off the mark in the next. Also, her narration is pretty awful and that is mainly due to her monotone delivery and strange annunciation.

The other characters on the show are pretty generic and don’t have much to do other than giving Supergirl someone to talk to while she figures out her own drama. Her sister, played by Chyler Leigh is an okay character but for as bad ass as she is supposed to be, she really does nothing. Jimmy Olsen is played by Eggs from True Blood and anyone who was a fan of that show rejoiced when he died – he was terrible. Granted, he’s much better here. Calista Flockhart also accents the show as Supergirl’s boss and like Benoist, is sometimes on point and other times, pretty far off point.

Also, the show relies a lot on Kara/Supergirl’s relationship with her cousin, Superman. The problem is that their relationship is told over text messages and then when Superman shows up, he is just an obscured blur and not clearly seen on camera. It is laughably bad.

One cool thing is that Dean Cain (Superman from Lois & Clark) and Helen Slater (1984’s film version of Supergirl) play her adopted parents.

The show tries to have heart but it doesn’t. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t trying to convince the audience of that. Ultimately, Supergirl is too cutesy for its own good.

I will finish out the first season, as I am already more than halfway but something miraculous would have to happen for me to care about season two. This is the worst DC Comics television show out of the current batch.

Update:

Since writing this review, the show has found its groove and it has improved significantly. I may rewrite this review after the season concludes. But if you want to start watching it, be prepared for about ten really mediocre episodes before it starts to improve.

Update 2:

I write this update after completing two seasons. The show does find its footing, it figures out where it fits in the scheme of things and improves drastically, especially after leaving CBS and moving over to the CW where it shares continuity with The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. Benoist and the rest of the cast get really good and develop a solid chemistry. Looking back, I was probably too hard on the show, initially.

Rating: 6.5/10