New To You Comics Superman Edition: ‘All-Star Superman’

DC Studios’ Superman premieres this week, and to celebrate, the Comicon.com team is talking Superman all this week. To help kick it off, Scott Redmond and Tony Thornley are reviving our New To You Comics column to look at one of the biggest inspirations of the new film.

All-Star Superman was originally part of an ill-fated line of “continuity free” series from DC Comics. Only two series came from the line- the much maligned All-Star Batman & Robin and this series. While its sister book was a creative bomb, it was clear from the first pages that Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Jamie Grant, Travis Lanham and Phil Balsman had something special on their hands.

When one of Lex Luthor’s plots results in Superman receiving a fatal dose of solar energy, the man of steel realizes he only has weeks to live. He is determined to fill those final days with the good deeds that he was known for in life. And so begins the final labors of Superman…

Tony Thornley: I have to start with this. I love this book. Though I don’t think it’s absolutely perfect, this is one of the best Superman stories ever written. It’s not the best, and we’ll get into why in a moment. I also think it’s probably the best thing Grant Morrison has written and Frank Quitely has drawn.

This is a story that understands Superman as a concept better than almost every other Superman story ever told (with maybe only one other coming out ahead of it). It honors his legacy on all levels, while blazing its own trail. Morrison homages all different parts of Superman’s history, and they also add new elements to the mythos. This is just a great story, literally from page one.

Scott Redmond: This has been on my list for a very long time. One of those books I kept meaning to get to but just never fit it into my schedule. Glad to have done so now and get to talk about it with you. 

This was really something. I knew some of the elements about it, hard not to with how long it’s been out. There are a lot of wild big things going on here. As noted, it really mines multiple levels of Superman mythos and weaves them together into one story. A story told in a way that I was not really expecting at all. 

Tony:  That’s one of the best things about it for me is that, though they write it as one serialized story, Morrison makes each issue stand on its own as a self-contained story. You get the introduction, the Lois Lane issue, the Jimmy Olsen issue, the Luthor issue, the Bizarro issue… Each episode drives the full narrative forward, but you could sit down with every individual issue and come away completely satisfied.

That also makes it a bit of an easier read. If you can’t sit down and read the whole thing in one sitting (impossible for me), you can break it up in these bite sized chunks easily. Even better, Morrison gives the reader a chunk of the myth of Superman an issue at a time, getting deeper and deeper as they go.

Scott: It’s definitely a smart way to go about this. While there are some issues in how the serialization carries over, I do feel that it was overall pretty effectively handled. Finding ways to make the stories connect while still being something that could just be one point in the wide Superman story. 

Being separate like that though means some are stronger than others. All have important points to add to the full story Morrison is telling, but oh golly is there some rougher stuff in there. The Lois issue with the jealousy and “my girl” and fight stuff felt so out of place not just for a modern mindset but just for Superman. 

Also, as much as I like a lot of wild wacky science stuff, I do feel that some like the Bizarro issues got a tiny bit hard to read. Just cause there was so much going on and the speech got so off the wall that my eyes glazed a bit. I also might be slightly tired from life stuff, so that could be it. This really is the Morrison work that goes the hardest in these eclectic routes. 

Tony: Hah! That’s funny, because I covered this book in another edition of the column with Brendan Allen a few years ago and he straight up said the same thing. The first Bizarro story was a lot of fun, the second issue was so tough to read.

I think that you make such a valid point about the Lois Lane issue. If you look at it purely from a modern comics perspective, you’re exactly right, it’s incredibly regressive. If you look at it from the perspective of a romance comic pastiche, combined with Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane which was one part romance comic/ one part weird adventures in the silver age, it’s very different. But still a fair call-out.

Scott: It’s that precarious line that one walks when trying to capture the feeling of previous era comics. Too far and it becomes a modern nightmare, not far enough and it feels like parody or light imitation. For the most part I feel that Morrison manages to walk that line. That issue just has a much harder time than the rest, especially the further and further we get away from those previous eras.

Tony: I do have to say, the Jimmy Olsen issue is my favorite every time I re-read the series. It’s just such a great take on Jimmy, on the weird areas of the Superman mythos, and generally a great science fiction story.

Scott: To circle back to something you mentioned on the artistic side at the start, I would agree about this being some top peak Quitely work. It has that distinctive rougher exaggeration that we know so well from his work. At the same time there is something so powerful about everything on the page. It has this big bold energy that feels fitting for Superman. I liked what was done in New X-Men but the exaggeration was heavier there, which isn’t a bad thing per se. At the same time, finding that balanced point of equal parts roughness, smoothness, exaggeration, and realism with some true dynamicness baked in really hits the spot for me often these days. 

Tony: One of the things that Quitely is really well known for is “ugly” characters. There’s just something a little off in most of his work that adds to the charm of it. Not so here. I mean, his Clark is a bit of a doofus, but generally, everyone looks GOOD, unless they’re literally a monster. I think one thing I’ve always discounted about this story is that Jamie Grant isn’t just the color artist, he digitally inked the entire story, which gives it this gloss that works really well.

And holy cow, does Balsman and Lanham ever do a fantastic job on the letters. They elevate the scifi moments with so many cool lettering choices. The Ultra-Sphinx is brought to life just as much by Balsman’s weird balloons and fonts as it is by anything Morrison, Quitely and Grant do.

Scott: 100% agree all around. This is a series that just looks good for both the time it came out and the time we’re reading it right now. 

Tony: Now, I do need to get into my low-lights. 

You hit on the Lois story being reductive, and I don’t think Morrison completely nails Lois as a character outside of issue #2. Their version of her isn’t quite the damsel in distress, but she’s a major worrywart. She gets more page time than anyone except Superman here, and she just never feels quite right.

And then Morrison does not write a good Clark Kent AT ALL. We see Lois and Perry complimenting his writing, we see Steve Lombard getting intimidated by him, we see Lex give him the interview of the century (over Lois), and yet, Clark is just a bumbling, stuttering doofus. Do I need a Clark Kent that’s an equal to Superman? No. But I need a Clark that’s a more than competent reporter, an intelligent speaker, and some that stands up when he needs to.

It’s like Christopher Reeve’s performance as Clark, turned up to 13. I really don’t like it.

And yeah, the Bizarro story did not need to be two issues. The one on Bizarro World is just annoying, especially for a story that only had 12 issues to tell its story, and doubly especially when you consider that it follows the excellent story about Clark losing Jonathan Kent.

Scott: I couldn’t quite put my finger on my issues with Clark during the read through but you absolutely nailed it right there. While there are parts of the adult version of Clark Kent meant to “mask” because of being Superman, this very much felt too far in that direction. Like Clark is just a fictitious thing that Superman couldn’t care less about other than for keeping his secret and being around Lois. To me, Clark has mask qualities but at the end of the day is very much who Superman is through and through. He was raised as Clark Kent, and became Superman so he could use his abilities to help others. 

By far the least interesting version of Lois that I can recall coming across for the most part. Nothing about her screamed fearless reporter who will get to the bottom of stuff. The issue in the fortress felt very off with her growing paranoia and then her continued laughable hand wave Clark/Superman stuff. 

Doesn’t help that in the end that Bizarro issue added very little to the overall happenings other than to play with that world and have the time jump for the Kryptonian issue. 

Tony: Overall though, we definitely seem to agree. Even with those flaws, it’s an absolutely fantastic Superman story. I love revisiting it (this time I re-read it in the most recent reprint from April’s Superman Day), and it’s truly an all-timer.

I really can’t wait to see how it inspired the movie this weekend.