Monthly archives: December, 2006

Dec042006December 4, 2006December 4, 2006NoCommentby Doom DeLuise

Superman For All Seasons

Posted in library of doom by

By Jeph Loeb (W) and Tim Sale (A).
Cover price $17.99. Published by DC Comics, 1998. Originally printed as Superman For All Seasons #1-4.
forallseasons

Plot: Spanning many years and being told over the course of four seasons (one for each of the originally printed issues), “Superman For All Seasons” tells the story of the Man of Steel as he changes from the bright-eyed farm boy to the hero we all know now. Each season is narrated by a different character (John Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and, finally, Lana Lang, respectively), each offering a different take on who Superman is and why he is that way. The story doesn’t focus so much on fighting crime and making the world safe as it does answering the question, in the words of Lois, “He can do anything he wants to, and he decides to do what? Be a hero? Why?” Granted, there are several action sequences, but the primary focus of the story is on the human element.

Strengths: Gosh, somebody finally figured out how to write a Superman that’s relatable. Just because he’s an alien doesn’t mean he can’t feel emotion, and here, we have a Superman who feels a wide variety of emotions, from love to loneliness to fear to just plain sentimentality over the small town he grew up in. There are several beautifully touching scenes, especially between father and son, and I can’t imagine anybody saying the same old tired, “Superman’s boring” defense against this one. He’s far from boring.

Weaknesses: There are a lot of splash pages. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes 206 pages fly by faster than a…well, you know where this is going.

Grade: B+. I really like this book. A lot. Matter of fact, it may be one of my favorite trade paperbacks I own. The only problem is that it goes by quickly (very quickly), and it’s priced at eighteen bucks. If I spend eighteen bucks, I want something that’s gonna entertain me for a good long while. If you have eighteen bucks and want to buy a nice comic, by all means, this is your chance. If you’re anything like me, though, you should keep your money, and buy food instead.


Dec022006December 2, 2006August 5, 20072Commentsby Fin Fang Doom

Book of Doom: Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #14

Posted in books of doom, reviews by

Friendly 14I’m not going to even pretend I can look at this issue from an objective point of view. I love Spider-Man. I love Peter David. I love it when people write Spider-Man as fun, and that’s what Peter David does. Granted, Friendly is not the best Spider-Man book out there (that honor belongs to Amazing), but it’s not as bleak as the others. And Spider-Man shouldn’t only be fun in stories he doesn’t star in. Did I mention this title is fun?

In this particular issue, David and guest artist Scott Eaton set-up a story that seems like it’ll be…oh, what’s the word…starts with an “f”…it’ll come to me later. Peter’s ex-girlfriend Deb Whitman is releasing a tell-all book about her releationship with Spider-Man, although it seems as though it didn’t turn out the way Deb wanted it to. Meanwhile, someone hires Vulture to kill Spider-Man. The same mysterious guy in the shadows that hired Green Goblin in Frontline, that said he was the “last person they’d expect” to betray the heroes? Only time will tell. And to top it all off, Peter adopts a brand new secret identity so he can continue to work at Midtown High. As Flash Thompson’s assitant coach, no less. Oh, did I say “brand new?” What I meant to say was “the secret identity of his now-deceased clone.” Fun! That’s the word I was searching for earlier. This book was fun. Let’s see if the other members of the Legion agree…

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Dec012006December 1, 2006January 12, 2009NoCommentby Jean-Claude Van Doom

The Occassional Superheroine and sexism in comics

Posted in rants & nostalgia by

For any who’ve missed out on the imbroglio over former DC editor Valerie D’Orazio’s blog postings about a series of very negative experiences in her life, you need to go here and get caught up. To get the full story, it’s best to start at the bottom and read up.

In short, Miss D’Orazio says she saw some dark sexism within DC’s vaunted halls and was castigated for challenging such behavior. I write that she “says” she saw this and not that she “did” see it simply because it hasn’t been proven yet, not because I don’t believe her. Much has been made of the sexism that runs deep in the boys club of comicdom. There are too many stories out there about such sexism, so I’m inclined to believe this story as well.

It is a depressing, chilling story, and an important one to receive attention, because only when you shine a bright light onto something like this can it begin to dissipate, and that it should. A lot of credit goes to D’Orazio for speaking out. However, after reading most of her memoir, I think it’s guilty of the needless sensationalism and bloodlust of which she accuses the creators behind Identity Crisis (We need a rape, she quotes editors as saying). (more…)