Superman #702 and #703 - DC

While I enjoyed these 2 issues . . unfortunately, I

didn't think they were as good as #701. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love J Michael Straczynski's work. And I think Eddy Barrows gets better and better with every issue of work that he does. These 2 issues were just a little more . . oblique. I guess that's the best word to describe it. There were parts that I really enjoyed, and I think served to further enhance the story. But then other parts? Come on . . Superman stopping to play a game of pick-up ball? Yes he ended up helping one of the kids that was being bullied. But . . it just didn't' seem that believable to me. But then some would argue that it's a comic and believability isn't really the point. But that's part of what I like about JMS's work. He puts ideas out there that maybe aren't mind-bending, but . . a lot of times it's stuff that seems like the natural course of events. We, as readers, just never thought about it that way. Then when he presents it, we think . . 'Oh yeah! I could see that happening.' Anyways, in #702 Superman is in Detroit. The point of the issue, mainly, is that he comes across a 'hive' of aliens living as human. They're just trying to blend in. And, of course, when Superman arrives to see what's going on, he's attacked. But that doesn't last very long. I thought the interesting part of the whole confrontation was when Superman is talking to them, and trying to reason. They just want to live in peace, and they're totally self-sufficient. But then Superman argues . . 'The point is, what are you giving back to your community? Every culture that's come through this country has added something to it. You have scientific advances here that could be helping people. If you don't let anyone know, then what are you giving back? What good are you doing here?' Later Superman comes across an old man in need of medical attention. He's got something or other that he knows that Earth science can't treat. So he takes him back to the aliens. They end up treating him, and then with Superman's encouragement, they decide to 'give back'. They buy up some of the abandoned factories and set up some medical facilities plants. Working some of their own technology into the designs. Yes it's a little far-fetched, but . . it's interesting. And in the end, Superman talks some aliens that were just trying to survive into 'giving back'. In #703, Superman ends up in Cincinnati. This issue ends up being about a debate between Superman and Batman. Batman has been watching Superman's progress. And while he doesn't believe in his overall methods, he is trying to give him his space. Batman's argument though is . . first of all he doesn't think that Superman is actually dealing with what's really bothering him . . the loss of his adopted planet. Secondly, by walking amongst the 'common-folk', he's actually putting the people he's trying to reach in danger. Superman is a magnet, as is anyone in their profession. If he puts himself out in the open like this . . trouble will follow. And while Superman can deal with pretty much anything, can the people he's putting in such close proximity? Of course something happens, and ironically it's caused by his recently lost adoptive planet. More specifically some kind of crystal's that reached Earth from it. Anyways, in his zeal to 'fix the problem', a large part of the city is destroyed. Superman immediately afterwards sets to fixing it, but . . the damage has already been done. While the physical damage can be fixed, the doubts among the people have been sowed. They have seen that while he walks amongst them, in truth . . he's not really one of them. And of course they, and the media turn against him immediately. Basically proving Batman's point. This has got to be hard on Dick. While he's been proven right, at the same time he probably hates to see Superman have to learn the hard truth this way. I think he may have been on to something when he warned Superman that he may be going through a mental breakdown . . or could be, if he doesn't deal with what's really bothering him. It's a side of Superman I don't think we've ever seen before. Anyways, I thought they were good issues. I like #701 better, but . . I still thought they were good. And I think JMS and Eddy are doing a fantastic job. If you've even only been marginally interested in Superman before . . this is a story-arc that I think can touch a lot of people. If you give it a chance. Believe me, you won't be sorry.

Superman: the Last Family of Krypton #1 and #2 - DC

This is an Elseworlds story brought to us by Cary Bates and Renato Arlem. I'd include all 3 issues if I had them, so . . I'll just have to wait until the next one comes out to tell you how this all wraps up. The theme is pretty much the same here, it's just the variation that's different. As with most Elseworld titles. It starts out, obviously, with the destruction of Krypton. Except in this version, Jor-El and Lara decided that they can't bring themselves to leaving Kal-El alone in the universe. So, all three of them take the journey to Earth. Of course their ship is alien when it arrives. And is met with the usual skepticism. But in this instance, Jor-El can debark the ship and immediately start proving himself. Over the course of the next few years he continues to prove himself and acclimates into Terran society pretty easily. Especially when the powers that be realize what he can to for them. He even sets up a business, JorCorp. It's a way for him to implement his ideas, to merge Earthen and Kryptonian technology where possible, and to better overall help mankind and his new home. It's about this same time that Lara decides that Kal is leading to isolated of an existence. She wants him to experience human life, to walk in their shoes. Plus I think that she knows that neither she nor Jor-El can devote the time or experience to Kal's upbringing, not to the extent that a child needs. So she begins looking for families. Of course, she ends up with the Kents. Meanwhile. Lara has also decided to bring enlightenment to her new home in the form of their Kryptonian religion, Raoism. Personally, I think she's trying to balance her husband infusion of technology into their new society. She publishes a book, and opens a foundation. It's also around this time that Lex Luthor's scientific interests catch the eye of Jor-El, and he's brought into the JorCorp fold. The issue ends with Jor-El and Lara having a fight over Jor-El's obsession with Krypton's destruction. This leads to a little jaunt to the sun, and five months later Kal has a new sister and brother, Valora and Bru-El. In Chapter 2, we jump forward about 5 or 6 years. Because of their Terran birth, Valora and Bru-El only have about half the power of their parents or brother. This doesn't seem to bother Valora, but Bru-El is a brooder. His feelings aren't going to lead to anything good. Both of them are rather rambunctious and impetuous. But Valora has decided to pursue an academic life, reading 1000's of books every month. While Bru-El has become a bit of an action junkie. He's reveling in his powers, even if he is jealous of his brother's greater limits and control. This is also about the time that Jor-El first learns about Kryptonite. He learns, through Clark's experience, of the effects that it can have on Kryptonians. And tasks Lex with looking into it's properties and applications. We also find out that Lex has other allegiances. He's giving somebody else the information that he's gathering. We don't see who, but I'm guessing it's a government or military. The room has a flag with the house of El symbol, with a lightning strike through it. We also see the influence the El's have on the rest of the world as Lara saves Bruce's parents from being killed by Joe Chill. We begin to see an anti-Rao movement rising up amongst the people. And also glimpses of Xenophobia. We also go through the instance where Jonathan almost dies of a heart-attack. Luckily, on this world, Jor-El saves him. And they all live to see Clark graduating from High School. But in this instance, rather than travelling abroad, Clark decides that he's going to roam the stars. Lara and Martha even craft a uniform for him . . his Superman suit. But Lara has one bit of advice for him before he takes off, 'This planet has been good to you, Kal . . and once you're off in deep space you may be surprised how much you miss it. So slow down . . open your super-sense . . and take in all the Earth sights and sounds you can today.' In that moment he begins to see and hear things all over the globe that could use his assistance. He begins helping the 'common-man' and fixing whatever problems he can. From there . . he's hooked. He wants to live the life of a hero. But he knows that he can't do it 24/7, or count on his senses to alert him of every emergency. So he's decided to go to college, become a journalist, and then immerse himself in the information of the world . . he wants to go work for the Daily Planet. Anyways, years later, we see that the Lois and Clark relationship has blossomed. While the relationship between Clark and Jor-El has gathered distance. We later find out that there's a group called Doomsday that is intent on renouncing the Kryptonian, or alien influence that has permeated the planet over the previous years. In their deviance that capture and plan to kill Valora. Of course everyone races to find her, and track down these terrorists, but . . the point of it all is, Jor-El turns to Lex to help him find her, instead of his own son Kal-El. And this has Clark concerned. This is only a 3 issue series so next issue everything comes to a head. So far I like the story. But I knew I would. Cary is a great writer. And he's more than familiar with the Superman mythos. I'm also enjoying Renato Arlem art. It fits the story very nicely and really give the book, overall, a good feel. If you're not reading this, I'm sure it'll be out in TPB before Christmas. I can't see this one sitting around on the shelf for to long. I thought it was an interesting and exciting story. It also gave a neat twist to everything. And of course we can't forget those beautiful covers by Felipe Massafera. I enjoyed the book and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone that's a Superman fan. You've got everything you ever wanted in this one story.

Superman / Batman #74 - DC

I definitely enjoyed Paul Levitz's story here. And I thought Jerry Ordway did a great job with this painted style of art. Not to mention the great cover by Adrian Syaf. However, my problem came with the way this story was wrapped up. I don't necessarily think that it was Paul or Jerry's fault. But next issue is the 75th issue in this series, as well as the 75 anniversary of DC Comics, so . . I think they were kind of forced to wrap it up to make way for that book. To me, the problem is . . there was just so much potential with this story-line. Luthor has created this Superman cult on Earth to feed into Superman's guilt. While at the same time, had found this planet that Superman had accidentally slighted during one of his space brawls. By the time Superman got back to check up on them, and fix his mistake . . Luthor had already starting feeding them technology and prophecies making Superman out to be the bad guy. He's brainwashed them into thinking that should Superman ever return that he would be the destruction of their world. Anyways, Superman intercepts one of Luthor's deliveries . . unfortunately he's already made more that a few . . so when he finds out about it he goes back to Lex to give him a warning. And, I guess . . that's it. Now, I'm sure we'll see the ramifications of all this further on down the line . . somewhere in the future, but for now . . it's been addressed, and shut down. Like I said, there was a lot of potential here, but to me it just seemed to fall kind of short in this particular story-line. But that's not to say that I didn't enjoy the book . . I did. I love this series. But . . sometimes . . we get what we get. Hopefully this won't be lost and never thought about again. I don't think it will, but . . you never know.

Superman #701 - DC

This was a fantastic issue. I absolutely love that J Micheal Straczynski has taken over the writing on this book. And right away he has Superman doing something that he's never done before . . well, he kind of has, but not to this extent. He's decided to walk the Earth and view it's problems as any other man would . . the 'human' perspective. And it's great to see him just walking down the street . . listening, talking, helping with the minor things, and even assisting with a serious problem or two. All the while the press is hot on his heals trying to figure out what he's doing. They think it may be Red-Kryptonite, or magic, or something. They even speculate that maybe he's lost his powers. But occasionally, through his actions, he shows them that he hasn't. The problem is . . because of recent events with New Krypton, and his lack of attendance of late . . he feels, and knows, that he's lost the trust of the citizens of Earth. He knows that they still respect him, and are in awe of him, but . . that's not what he wants. He wants them to think, to know, to feel . . that he is one of them. He's not just some alien from outer-space who's come to live among them, and occasionally solve their problems. This is his home . . as it is theirs. And he wants to see it . . revel in it's chaotic nature, not from some lofty perch in the clouds, but as everyone else sees it . . experiences it . . by walking among them. Really, this whole issue comes down to what Superman tells a man who asks him why he's not off being a 'hero'. 'To be a hero . . and I'm not saying I am one, I'm just saying . . is to live your life in a small cell whose bars are the principles and rules that define what you will and won't accept. Injustice. Cruelty. Murder. On the night they threw Henry Thoreau in jail for civil disobedience, a friend came to see him, saying, 'Henry, what're you doing in there?' Thoreau said, 'No, the question is, what are you doing out there?' If I am lucky enough, privileged enough to live in that cell, to serve in that box with the word 'Hero' written on it . . then I say to you, from somewhere deep inside that box . . what are you doing out there?' I thought it was a brilliant story. I loved it. Not very often do I read a book that feels like it's teaching me something. It's entertaining, but . . at the same time it's showing me what it means to be a part of the human race . . to care, to love, to empathize. Some stories, or books come close. But only JMS can do it like this. Also, Eddy Barrows art looks fantastic. And both covers by John Cassaday are incredible. I think this is probably the closest I've seen to a perfect book.

Superman / Batman #73 - DC

This book has me a little confused, right now. I'm not sure what Lex Luthor is up to. He's been using his planetary telescope to track Superman's adventures in space. When he comes across a planet that suffers from the wake of one of Superman's fights, he see's an opening. Basically, he wants to turn these people against Superman . . because of what he's done to their planet. And then set himself up as their Prometheus . . providing them with fire, and electricity . . setting himself up as their god. And he's set up a method of programming them that will take effect over the next few centuries. At first I thought he was planning on going there himself, but . . I don't think he is. I think he's just sending gadgets and such, and probably providing an image, or effigy of himself. Now, the part that has me confused is . . while all of this is going on, Lex appears to be building a Superman cult right here in Metropolis. They're the guys that captured Lois last issue. They've been instructed to make her pay for her traitorous behaviour towards Superman, by marrying Clark Kent instead of their idol. Of course Batman and Superman show up in the nick of time to save her neck. And then the 3 of them pursue the background of this group's leader, Henry Franks. It's interesting to see that they all come to pretty much the same conclusions, just through different methods. When the group gets together again, they're all there to stop them. But it doesn't seem to have affected Luthor's overall plan. So, I'm not really sure what the purpose of all this was. Was it just a distraction? Or was it some kind of failed experiment? Unfortunately, we'll have to wait for the next issue to find out. I thought Paul Levitz did a good job with this story. Even if it hasn't all come together for me, just yet. And Jerry Ordway does a painted style of art for this issue. I thought it looked fantastic. I really like this book. And I'm glad that it's still going strong. Even after all of this time.

Superman #700 - DC

Another fantastic issue, and . . another landmark anniversary celebration. Superman reaches issue #700. I'm including both issues, as usual, with this posting, but . . I thought it would be interesting to look back on the other landmark covers for this book. Let me know what you think. The covers for this issue are done by Gary Frank and Eduardo Risso. But I think the real news that comes with this celebration. And really overshadows almost anything else, is that J Michael Straczynski will be taking over the stories on this book as of next issue. And as well, he will be writing Wonder Woman. What a fantastic coup both for him and for us. I can't wait to see what he has in story for Superman's character. And if the prologue of Grounded in this issue is any indication . . it's going to be a hell of a ride. Oh yeah, on top of all this . . this is the 75th anniversary of DC Comics . . National Periodicals. So it should be a heck of a year. Anyways, I need to go through this issue first. We start out with a look into Lois & Clark's life as we see, maybe, the first meeting of them as she realizes that Superman has finally returned to Earth. It should be an emotional story . . and it is, but . . if you know Lois, you know that she's definitely not one of those 'hearts & flowers' type girls. So of course they meet up in action. And as usual, Superman swoops to her rescue, saving her from something that she probably had not business being tangled up in. But you know Lois . . when she catches the scent of a story . . neither heaven nor hell can block her path. And . . Superman saves her from the Parasite. And then they have their little emotional connection. But even that has to be done in spectacular fashion, as Superman takes Lois for a flight across the city. This story is by James Robinson and Bernard Chang. By the way, the cover to issue #600 here, on the right, doesn't actually say it. In 1986 they relaunched Superman's series, starting over with issue #1. The previous one ended with issue #423. And of course the John Byrne origin mini series. It was terrific at the time, but now you can pick it up for peanuts. Anyways, so that would put issue #177 as the actual #600 issue. At that time they weren't all wrapped up in the renumbering, or actual numbering as they are now. But, I think, after 75 years, they deserve the credit where the credit is due. The same is true for issue #500 here, on the left, that is actually issue #77 from that 1986 series. This issue falls in shortly after the Death of Superman story-line . . Funeral for a Friend, and is one of the first issues where there's a promise, or hope, of his return. Of course, we all knew he wasn't going to be gone long. Anyways, the second story of issue #700 is a Superman/Batman tale. Which I thought was appropriate, considering how much history these 2 have together. It was an older tale . . from when Dick was Robin, and still in school. It was one of the first meeting of Superman and Robin, and I'd like to think helped form the relationship and friendship that Dick and Clark share. But overall . . it was just a fun tale. It was written and drawn by Dan Jurgens. Who, as it happens, also was a big part in the previous 2 Superman story-arcs that I mentioned, and culminated with issue #77/#500 above. Kind of a coinkidink there. Anyways, the next 2 issues . . issue #400, then #300 . . I have to go in reverse order here . . these 2 are close to my heart because as a kid I actually bought these 2 off the comic rack. You know, the squeaky wire rack that rotated so that you could see all the new comics? I used to get my books from a carry-out down the street from our house. We lived on a farm, so that was the neatest thing that we could drive through this place to pick up our groceries. But I still made them stop and get out because otherwise I wouldn't be able to look at the books. Plus . . look at that price . . 30 cents. But at the time, it was still more than a loaf of bread, so . . I had to be choosy about which ones I got. I was only allowed 3 per visit. So . . back to our current issue. In the final story of the book . . Grounded, by JMS and Eddy Barrows, we get a look at Superman, and the world, as he comes back from New Krypton and tries to re-acclimate himself into society. The problem is . . as so often happens, the world has changed. And I think the point of this story is that Superman realizes that he has to earn the trust of these people again. We've seen a lot of stories in the last few years about how the average Joe is becoming more and more suspicious of the world's heroes. We see how people are starting to question their morals, ethics, and motivations. Not to mention . . 'What are they really getting out of this?' Anyways, this stories takes that theme but shows it to us from the opposite direction. Superman, I think, is recognizing these concerns and questions in the eyes of the public, and realizes that in order to be accepted by them, once again, he has to walk among them . . live in their shoes . . show them that he can be Grounded. I thought it was a really great beginning to this story-line, that showed some very stoic moments between Superman and some of his fellow heroes. The story ends with 2 young boys playing baseball and watching Superman as he walks across the park, in the distance. One boy asks, 'What's he doing? Why's he just walking away? Why isn't he flying?' To which the other boy replies, ' I dunno . . but it must be important.' I thought that was a great final scene. And then in the back of this book we get some previews, and comments on the upcoming story-lines that'll be running through the various Superman titles. First we read Paul Cornell's comments on Action Comics as it heads towards it's landmark issue . . #900. And not a fake #900, as has been done at Marvel a couple of times now. This is a #900 issue that has been a long time coming . . one issue at a time. Anyways, Pete Woods is doing the art on that series. Supergirl has some interesting stuff coming up. Brought to us by Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle. And finally . . Superboy will be back. The first issue will be out August 25th, with a preview in Action #892. And it will be handled by Jeff Lemire and Pier Gallo. So all in all, I think, the future is looking pretty bright for Superman and his fantastic cast of supporting characters. And I thought this was a great issue. I thought it definitely earned it's place in this fantastic array of Anniversary issues. And I have them all except the last one. I still can't bring myself to pay that much for a comic-book. But . . I know I will. Eventually!

Superman / Batman Annual #4 - DC

While I enjoyed this story . . I'm just not a big Batman Beyond fan. Which, in essence, is really what this story was . . a big Batman Beyond story-arc, designed to peak interest in the character before the new series starts. Which is ok, but . . I just wasn't that interested. Although, I will say that Paul Levitz did a terrific job of filling us in on the parameters and landscape of this character, and Gotham City. Actually, Metropolis also. And I also think that it serves to kind of clear the slate before the new series begins. Superman has stuck around, but . . he's been sticking to the shadows because of what Luthor has done to the city, and . . because of his loss with Lois. However, while trying to rid the city of criminals, he hasn't been able to take on Luthor personally because of his heavy defenses, and all of his Kryptonite. Anyways, Batman is drawn into the picture when some of Metropolis' villains and drugs turn up in Gotham. It seems that the criminals are coming in droves . . because they're scared of the new threat, the Ghost. And when the drugs show up, Bruce finds them to be laced with Kryptonite. So, long story short, Bruce and this new Batman, Terry McGinniss, investigate and of course everything leads right back to Luthor. Superman uses their effort as a way to finally confront Luthor. And this Ghost thing is actually Superman sending all these villains, and finally Luthor, into the Phantom Zone. And now that Luthor's gone, and everyone else he's ever held dear, Clark decides to head out to the stars and do a little exploring. Like I said, the slate is cleared and set up for the new series. No Superman. No Luthor. But they can still use Metropolis as a backdrop. But, while I thought this was an interesting story . . I won't be buying the new series. Sorry! I'm just not interested. Anyways, the art for this issue was provided by Renato Guedes. With a beautiful cover by Stanley Lau.

Superman / Batman #72 - DC

This issue we don't actually see Superman and Batman together . . except on the cover. But, Batman is still there to help Superman when he needs it. Superman is out in space chasing a rather large asteroid that is headed towards an inhabited planet. He breaks it up, but then, upon further inspection, he finds that there's still one rather large chunk heading towards the planet's surface. He prevents any mass destruction, but . . there's a piece of Kryptonite hidden inside the rock and it sends Superman for a loop. He ends up crash landing in the city. He feels bad, because he wrecks a building, so he puts it back together as best he can. But then he has to take off for home because he's got plans with Lois. However, he didn't get all of the pieces put back, and it appears that this building was some kind of religious icon. The people seem very upset afterwards. Which pleases Lex. It seems that he's been watching Superman, as he travels through space, with some kind of experimental quantum spy satellite. He's been waiting for just such an opportunity. A chance to get some more people, or aliens, on his side. In the meantime though, Lois has been abducted. When she was taken, she hit the signal device in her ring, but since Superman is off-planet . . Batman comes to her aid. Well . . at least he's looking for her. It appears that she's been taken by some type of cult that worships Superman. And they feel that she's made a transgression against him. 'You should have been the holy vessel to bear a child of Krypton and Earth, but you spurned Superman to marry a human. You must pay for your choice.' And they're getting ready to burn her at the stake. The issue ends with Batman still looking for her, and Superman on his way back, but . . still very far out in space. I thought it was an interesting story. I'm curious as to where they're heading with it. Paul Levitz writes it, and Jerry Ordway does a painted style of art for this issue. And we get a fantastic cover by Fabrizio Fiorentino. My only problem with this book is that sometimes we aren't told just where these stories fit into either of our heroes time-lines. And sometimes they seem like stories from alternate Earths. But we don't always know which is which. Well . . we do by the end of the story. But as we're going along, it's not always explained. I guess that's just the price we pay for having 2 of the world's greatest heroes in the same book. And it's not going to stop me from buying it, so . . why bring it up. Right?

Superman #699 - DC

Well . . it seems like we make a little progress this issue, but . . I'm not really sure what it's all going to be worth. Zod and his Brainiac Revenge Squad had enlarged themselves, and were now fighting against Brainiac's drones. That's the battle that Superman has found himself in. But, he's appalled when he finds out that Zod had escaped Kandor, and rather than help them he went out to exact his revenge. So when Zod finally gets sight of Brainiac, and attacks . . Superman goes out to find Kandor, which luckily Zod did think far enough ahead to put a tracer on. On the way, he comes into telepathic contact with the Legion, and through them instructs Kara on where Kandor is located. She and Brainiac 5 take it back down to New Krypton and enlarge it. Meanwhile the Legion has found the rest of the bottle cities and has thereby completed it's mission. They need these cities to save the world's of the future. And once they gather up Mon-El, whom they're also supposed to bring back. they're ready to take off. But, of course, there are a few more complications. First of all, with Kandor safe, Superman has gone back to join the battle between Zod and Brainiac. Obviously it's very heated. And Lex Luthor? What has he been up to since he came back out of Kandor last issue and took one of the cities for himself? Well . . it appears that he's going to enlarge it right in the middle of Brainiac's ship. We don't really know why, or what he's hoping to accomplish, but the people of Kandor look up to see Brainiac's ship coming apart at the seams. And if a city is enlarging in the air . . it's probably going to be coming down right on top of them. This stories thrilling adventure continues next in Last Stand of New Krypton #3, and then Adventure Comics #11. I thought James Robinson and Bernard Chang did a great job with this chapter. But to me . . the most interesting part was the epiphany that Mon-El has while in captivity. He starts thinking back to his conversations with that Gorilla scientist. He realizes that all of them . . Lane and Metallo included, have let it slip that they've experimented on Daxamites before. He knows about their powers and weakness'. He knows that Mon-El, unlike the others is immune to lead poisoning. And . . it appears that most of their previous experiments have been on female Daxamites. So what does that mean for the future of Mon-El? And what exactly have these barbarians been doing? Well . . I'm guessing that those stories are going to have to wait for a future date, where I'm sure they'll be explored in great depth. Superman #700 is out next month. But . . there's about 8 more chapters of this story between now and then. It should be an exciting month to be a Superman fan.

Superman / Batman #71 - DC

Ok . . when we started on this storyline, a couple of months ago, I was wondering why we were going all the way back to the Our Worlds at War story-line. At the time that was an interesting story-line, but . . I didn't really see what the relevance was now. That is . . until this issue. There's a couple of clues presented this issue that may indicate it's relevance to current story-lines, especially with Superman and what's going on with New Krypton. First of all, this guy who was posing as Anderson Gaines is a Durlan. And eons ago, there was a brutal war between the Durlans and the Kryptonians. Somehow one of their old war vessels ended up on the dark-side of our moon. So, while not being able to take on Superman directly . . the last Kryptonian . . remember, this all happened before the Kandorians came to Earth . . the Durlan is settling for destroying Superman emotionally by crashing this warship into Metropolis . . Superman's adopted home. Now, first of all there's this Durlans hatred of all things Kryptonian. However, right now . . he thinks that Superman is the last of his species. What happens when he finds out about the Kandorians and New Krypton. Secondly, while fighting Superman, he makes the observation . .'War is a way of both our races. If there was ever again another world of Krypton, there is no doubt in my mind that they'd attack your adopted planet.' So, Superman beats the Durlan by freezing him. When he attempts to change shape, he shatters into a million pieces. However . . on the final page, we see one of his arms floating in the water of the Metropolis River, where Batman crash landed the ship. So I'm thinking . . somehow he's survived through that piece of his being, and he's directly related to this war with New Krypton. But in order to do so, he has to be in a position of power where he can influence events. I don't think that he'd assume a role of a Kryptonian, as that would go against everything that he believes. So . . I'm thinking . . maybe, General Lane? And if not the General, then maybe one of the people behind project 7734. I know it's a leap in logic, but . . there has to be a reason that this story was presented now. And I just have this curiosity to try to figure out what's going on next. Also, I'm wondering what the final fate of NRG-X is. Anyways, I enjoyed this story-line by Joe Casey and Joshua Williamson. And in this issue Jason Fabok does the pencils. I enjoy this series. But to me . . it's still . . World's Finest!

Superman: Secret Origin #5 - DC

I have to say . . I really like the approach that Geoff Johns has taken to this series. I mean . . Superman's origin has been done so, oh so many times that this could've easily have fallen into another rehashing of that. But Geoff has taken more of the approach of integrating the events that are going on in Superman's life right now, and kind of showing us how that all started. I liked the way that Lex and Gen Lane have fallen into league over their mutual mistrust of an alien in thier midst. Under any other circumstances, I don't see these 2 getting along. But they've found a common enemy, and their allegiance is mutually beneficial to both of them. Lex gets to antagonize Superman by putting a huge thorn in his side. He also gets to prod and poke at Superman without anyone really knowing that he's the one behind it all. And the General gets another 'war' to fight . . a target to aim his frustration and rage at . . to prop up his fading and impotent military career. Not to mention all the cool tech and gadgets that Lex has made him privy to. I also think it's brilliant the way that Geoff has taken the natural course of events to bring us 2 of Superman's worst enemies . . Parasite and Metallo. The interaction between Clark and Lois was perfect. We get so see that bumbling doofus Clark trying to let Lois see that he's smart and strong willed, without giving her enough of a view to connect him to Superman. And to me, that's his biggest disguise. Not his glasses. His glasses are just a prop. A misdirection. His real talent is in separating the personality and 'drive' of his duo persona, so that as an outsider you'd never make the connection between the two. The way they act . . the way the talk . . the underlying motivation and character of these two people . . that is what really hides Superman's personality behind Clark's forgettable facade. I also liked the way that Geoff has worked in the life of the Daily Planet . . the literal breathe and blood of a dying business, that now hinges on their intimate involvement with the superhero in their midst. They were just another failing 'rag', until they started publishing Jimmy's exclusive pictures, and printing Lois' hard to get interviews. 'The Daily Planet's circulation is up over 700 percent. Because they have a monopoly on 'the Man of Steel'. Your daughter is causing problems for me General.' But, unwittingly, Superman has also provided him with a target. Obviously Superman cares about these people, so . . if you have an enemy that's appears invulnerable, you strike at the things that are important to him. You hurt him in ways that he can't always defend. And that's what the General does when he uses his military might to commandeer the Daily Planet building and shut down the newspaper. But that could also bite him in the posterior as he's shining a light on them . . opening them up to all sorts of media scrutiny. And you know how the public just loves a good story of injustice. Geoff and Gary Frank are doing a fantastic job here. But when you start digging into the story, you start to see how brilliant the work they're doing here really is. These 2 have teamed up on many projects over the last couple of years at DC, and they've blown me away every time. This could very well be the new Stan Lee and Jack Kirby team of the new millennium. That may be a bit overstated, but . . I think you know what I mean.

Superman / Batman #70 - DC

My only confusion with this book is . . why have they gone back so far as to take us into the aftermath of the Our Worlds at War storyline? The only thing I can think is that somehow this Durlan . . the one that's posing and Anderson Gaines, is somehow connected to the current Superman storyline. Maybe he has something to do with what's happening on New Krypton. I thought that he had come to Earth in the Kryptonian spaceship that is hidden on the dark side of the moon. Either he didn't, or . . it's been so long that he'd forgotten where it was, or lost track of it. That part is a little shaky for me. Anyways, Batman feeds him the information as to where the ship is so that he can draw Gaines out and capture him, or attack him, or whatever. But once Gaines gets on board it seems like it's the first time he'd seen this particular ship. Anyways, apparently there was a pretty bitter war going on between Krypton and the Durlans millennia ago. So now that he's realized that the last son of Krypton is now a resident of Earth . . he'll stop at nothing to kill him. He also sends NRG-X to Superman's fortress, I'm assuming to wipe out all traces of Krypton. So while Batman has gone to the moon to fight the shape-shifter, Superman has gone to the Arctic to fight NRG-X. I'm not sure what either side hopes to gain, but . . the battle has begun, so now we just have to sit back and see how it all works out . . next issue is the last in this story-line. This story is by Joe Casey and Adrian Syaf. I think Adrian's pencils are amazing. He's definitely got a Jim Lee, or that 'Image' look to his stuff. The guys got a lot of talent, and potential.

Superman #698 - DC

This is another chapter in the Last Stand of New Krypton story-line. The Kryptonians have been fighting Brainiac's battle-bots, and they seem to be making some headway. Although they've lost about a tenth of their population in the process. The thing that has Zod worried though is that Brainiac isn't a warrior. He's a thinker. So he imagines that he would've compensated for the Kryptonian's powers in the first wave of these battle-bots. So he's convinced that something worse is coming next. Meanwhile, Superman has made his way onto Brainiac's ship, but he's been captured by Brainiac and Luthor. Superman can easily break out of his trap, even though Brainiac is poisoning him with Kryptonite. But . . they're holding the rest of the bottle cities as hostage. Luckily, Mon-El has also made it on board and is trying to make his way to his friend to help out. Tellus, from the Legion espionage squad, has linked with Mon-El, to guide him in his search. But it's also opened a channel for one of the cities who's inhabitants are telepathic. They keep calling out to Mon-El and are trying to guide him through the ship. He arrives just in time to save the city from Luthor destroying, just to spite Superman. But then Luthor 'ports away, and suddenly the ship seems to be filled with the red-sun powered 'bots. Is it more than Superman and Mon-El can handle? We'll have to wait until next week, and Adventure Comics #9 to find out the next chapter in the story. Meanwhile, this chapter is brought to us by James Robinson and Javier Pina. Overall, I thought it was a good issue.

Superman #697 - DC

This issue we finally learn a little bit more about the Legion Espionage Squad that's been sent back to help Mon-El. When the Kryptonian sleeper agent, Car-Vex, blew up the Science Police Headquarters, Control was caught in the blast. Mon-El goes to save her, but he finds her unconscious and half changed. It turns out she's actually Chameleon Boy from the Legion. We've seen in the last few issues how Matter-Eater Lad was actually Mon-El's friend Mitch. And we've seen how Tellus helped save Mon-El from General Lane. Well . . apparently Hover-Cam 2 was actually Quislet, Wilcox is Sensor Girl . . Starman is involved and somehow so is Element Lad. Mon-El sees them, but . . he doesn't know what they're up to. After the attack, General Lane also sees Chameleon Boy and tries to arrest him. But between Cham, Quislet and Starman they evade Lane and his soldiers and make good their escape. Shortly after, Connor show up with a message for Mon-El. First of all, he wants to tell him that his rocket is ready. Secondly . . he wants him to come back to Smallville with him. 'There's people there I want you to talk to.' Apparently the Squad had gathered and is waiting for Mon-El there. This issue is part one of the Espionage Squad story-line. From here it moves over into Adventure Comics #8. James Robinson writes this book, with Benard Chang and Javier Pina doing the art. I thought it was a cool issue, and it was great to see all these Legion characters again. Now . . if we, err . . I mean Mon-el . . if he can find out what they're after. Or why they're keeping an eye on him. But I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Superman / Batman #69 - DC

This storyline actually takes place quite a while ago . . immediately following the Our World's at War storyline. It's so old, Lex is still the President during this story-line. I don't know if you even remember but Nrg-X came after Clark by blowing up an entire floor of the Daily Planet building. Well this issue happens immediately following that event. Nrg-X is being paid to take out Clark, but he won't give up who's assigned the deed. But that doesn't even seem to be the real story. Last issue, Clark met Anderson Gaines. He's the philanthropist that back's STAR Labs. But he's usually a recluse. Clark is at STAR interviewing it's director when Anderson shows up. So now this issue . . Anderson shows up in Gotham at a fundraiser which Bruce Wayne is attending. Bruce, however is skeptical enough that the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. After a brief conversation, Anderson has to quickly depart, but Bruce has enough foresight to shake his hand. It seems polite, but really . . he just wants a skin sample. He wants to play out a hunch. Obviously there's a connection between Anderson and Nrg-X, but . . we don't know what it is yet. Anyways, Bruce uses the satellite's computers to figure out that Anderson is actually a Durlan. They don't know it, but his ship is hidden on the dark side of the moon. And maybe it's just me, but I think that Anderson looks like a young RJ Brande. Maybe I'm just making the Durlan connection, but . . I can see the resemblance. So apparently this Durlan is after Superman, the last remaining Kryptonian . . at the time . . because of a millennia old war between them and the Durlans. So . . despite the timing of the story . . so long after the end of Our Worlds at War, I still thought it was a pretty interesting book. I thought Joe Casey did a pretty decent job with what he had to work with. But the real star of this book is Adrian Syaf. The first time I noticed him was when he did the Blackest Night: Batman mini-series. I thought he did a pretty decent job there, but now? Now his work is even better. This guy has a lot of talent. I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of him. So overall, I thought it was a good book. I'm interested to see how all of this stuff is connected.

Superman #696 - DC

Mon-El is still the lead character of this book . . since World of New Krypton isn't over yet. And this issue he wakes up under the rubble of the Science Police Headquarters. At the end of last issue Science Police Officer Romundi, actually a Kryptonian sleeper agent, Car-Vex, blew up the top of the building to try to help frame Alura and Chris, Nightwing and Flamebird. Mon-El had convinced them to give themselves up to the Science Police . . to show that they weren't guilty of what they were being accused. However, they no sooner arrive at the Station than General Lane and his Squad K are there for extraction. He's ready to use this whole debacle as yet another excuse for the banning of Kryptonians, and to drive a nail in their plans for war. But Mon-El keeps getting in his way. He disarms some of his soldiers, helps Alura and Chris escape, and takes a couple of rounds intended for the duo as they're flying off. None of which Lane is happy about. And, while searching through the rubble, Guardian finds another of his agents who isn't whom they say they are. They come across Control, but . . she's alive, but knocked out. In her unconscious state she can't keep her assumed form . . her Durlan shape is showing itself. This is yet another one of the Legion back here keeping an eye on Mon-El. James Robinson continues the story here, with Bernard Chang doing the art. I thought this issue helped to progress the story nicely. At least the Guardian can see the General's true colors now. He can't do anything about it, yet. But . . he knows. And Mon-El should be asking soon, who these mysterious people are that keep popping up in his life.

Superman - Secret Origin #4 - DC

This is an incredible book. It's a shame that it's only going to last 6 issues. I'm really enjoying Geoff John's take on the origin theme here. It's not so much the origin of Superman as a person . . how he came here, how he got his abilities, how he was raised and defined as a person. This is more the origin of Superman the character . . the myth . . the savior of Metropolis. The latter being much to the dismay of Lex Luthor. Plus with the defining of Superman as a person, we're also piecing together the periphery characters around him . . Lex, Lois, Jimmy, Perry . . etc, etc. It's all coming into place through this book. And with the way Geoff writes the stories, develops the characters, and captures the dialogue between them . . this is a masterpiece in the making. Add to that Gary Frank's fantastic visual interpretation, and . . we may have the perfect Superman book here. But . . that's just my opinion. This issue we see Superman and Lex come face to face for the first time. Lex has met Clark before, but he obviously doesn't have a clue as to the connection. And Lex is already feeling his 'god-like' ego being boxed in a little bit. He can't even fathom that someone could be this altruistic without wanting something in return . . rewards, adulation, worship . . something! Up to this point Lex has been trying to make Metropolis, and thereby the world a better place. Even if it is on his own agenda, and rules. But now? Now he's going to have a reason to bring all of that to a screeching halt. Now he has an excuse and a target to focus his attention on. And he's starting with the glorified piece the Lois, and the Planet has written on Superman. He controls the rest of the media, so they're following his agenda . . 'outsider' . . 'alien menace' . . 'ultimate threat'. But the Planet has gone the opposite direction . .'City's new savior'. And this causes Lex to declare war. Like I've said before, I think the strength of Superman as a character is the strength and disparity of his supporting cast . . both good and bad. Through this title . . Geoff is putting that jigsaw puzzle together. And through each issue we getting a clearer and clearer picture. It's only right that such an amazing creative team should be defining such an iconic character. If you aren't reading this . . you're really missing something.

Superman / Batman #68 - DC

This was an interesting issue, but . . it goes all the way back to the Aftermath! of the Casualties of War! storyline. That came after the Our Worlds at War storyline, that . . really, was quite a while ago. I'm not sure why that would be pertinent now. Anyways, this story revolves around Anderson Gaines. He's a philanthropist that is STAR Labs silent partner. He's helping with a lot of the financing for the rebuilding after Our Worlds at War. He's on a solo climbing expedition in the Himalayas when he comes what looks like a piece of a space-ship, at the peak. He doesn't show up again until months later when Clark is doing an interview with Garrison Slate . . the guy at STAR Labs that's in charge of all the rebuilding. However, when Anderson crosses paths with Clark, you can tell that he's somehow physically affected. Later, back at the Planet, Clark finds out that someone has hired NRG-X to take him out. 'I'm just here to eliminate some reporter. Someone requested the scorched-Earth treatment . . the kind I specialize in.' But we all know that's not gonna' happen. Anyways, while this is going on, Bruce is back in his lab examining a sample of DNA that he and Clark took off of the Kryptonian war vessel that they found in space. Someone, or something, had apparently taken out the crew of the ship and then escaped in one of it's modules. So they think that someone, or something may be on Earth. Unfortunately, the DNA sample confirms Bruce's suspicions. This creature is a shape-shifter. I'm guessing right now . . he's posing as Anderson Gaines. I thought this was a pretty decent story. Even if it did seem a bit out of place . . chronologically, I mean. But I thought Joe Casey did a decent job with it. The art was done by Adrian Syaf. He also did the art on the Blackest Night Batman mini series. I think his work has progressed quite nicely. He definitely has an Image-comics type of style to him. It looked good. And the story flowed rather nicely. This guy definitely has a lot of potential.

Superman #695 - DC

James Robinson is doing an amazing job with this book. He's got numerous plot threads running, but for the most part . . they all revolve around Mon-El. The issue starts out with he and the science police fighting Bizarro and the Parasite. However, Mon's powers keep fading in and out. He still has no idea what's causing it. Anyways, they contain the Parasite, and Mon-El chases Bizarro off the planet. But on the way out, he claims he has a Bizarro Mon-El and he's going to bring him back. Meanwhile, Mon-El and Connor are forming a friendship. I think it's a friendship out of necessity . . they're of like nature. Mon-El's planning something, but we don't know what. Either he's just tired of being on Earth and wants to head home . . or wherever, or . . he wants his escape route ready for when Superman returns. He's trying really hard to acclimate to Earth, but . . I think he still feels like an outsider. He tells the Guardian about what happened to him under General Lane's watch, but . . it's to late to do anything about it as the General has already called a press-conference to manipulate the events to his own advantage. If Mon-El tries to 'out' the General now, he'll either look like he's attacking a patriot, or he's siding with the Kryptonians. Either way . . he'd lose. We see a little of Mon-El's and Billi's relationship. They've finally gone to the next level, but . . Mon-El is pretty awkward in the intimacy department. Also Perry reveals to Mon-El that Jimmy is still alive. He's in hiding and working on bringing down project 7734. So he's willing to let the rest of the world believe that he had been shot. Natasha is working with him also. Speaking of which . . she goes to visit her uncle, John Henry, and we see that he's finally come out of his come. As he becomes aware, he only says one word . .'ATLAS!!' I'm glad John Henry is going to get back in the mix. He's a fantastic character. And the issue ends with Mon-El and the Science Police breaking down the door of Thara and Chris, Nightwing & Flamebird. But are they there to arrest them . . or help them? We'll have to wait until next issue to find out. Also, Mon-El's been wondering about Mitch. 'His store's closed. He vanished . . and with him gone, so is the mystery of how a seemingly normal guy can eat his way through a burning car.' I guess he doesn't know who Matter-Eater Lad is . . or he doesn't remember. Like I said, James has a whole lot of stuff going on here. There's enough plot-lines here to keep this book going for months . . or years. But I'm glad he's working in all of Superman's supporting cast. There's a lot of good characters here. I'm glad they're being utilized. Bernard Chang provides the art. Overall I liked the book. It was an in-between chapter. By that, I mean that it served to progress all the various threads, but nothing overly important really happened. Well . . except for John Henry waking up. But it was still a good issue. Although, I think this book is going to get much more frantic before it calms down.

Superman / Batman #67 - DC

This issue took a little different approach to the Black Lantern problem. You know . . now that I think about it. These guys are like cockroaches. You just can't seem to get rid of the damn things. Anyways, this issue maintains the Superman/Batman theme, but . . only peripherally. Actually it's an all monster issue. True . . all monsters that are connected to Superman and Batman, but . . all monsters none the less. It includes Bizarro, Solomon Grundy, Man-Bat, Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein. The last 2 are connected to SHADE, but . . you know . . still monsters. Anyways, last issue Bizarro and Man-Bat were tangling. When, all of the sudden . . the Black Ring went after Solomon Grundy . . who just happened to be dead in Gotham swamp. At the end of the mini-series, also by Scott Kolins . . who does the writing and the art on this book . . it looked like the legend of Solomon Grundy was finished. But now . . now they've got a way to bring him back. Maybe? It appears that SHADE got involved because they're trying to help Kirk's wife, Francine administer a cure for him. He can finally be rid of the Man-Bat curse. But of course Frankenstein and his wife get caught in the middle of the fight between these monsters. So . . long story short, Solomon Grundy rips out Frankenstein's heart. Bizarro see's how sad Francine is when Kirk refuses the treatment and goes off again as Man-Bat. It reminds him of Lois. And he can see that Solomon Grundy is the center of all of this drama. So Bizarro decides . . 'Grundy good. Bizarro save Grundy.' He's flies around the world to build up momentum, grabs up Grundy on the way past, and then flies off into space to drop him into the sun. So . . is Grundy back . . or not? It's kind of hard to tell. And what of Bizarro? He's somewhere out in space right now. Oh yeah, and Frankenstein? He has 2 hearts. So he's ok, for now. This was a bizarre issue. It was ok, but . . I'm not really sure what the point was. It was ok. But why tie it to Blackest Night if there's no real lasting effects? I don't know. Maybe it'll have something to do with some future story-line. Only time will tell. Meanwhile . . if you missed it . . don't beat yourself up.