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cobaltbookshelf's review against another edition
2.0
Art is great, but this is too much like a movie, and I mean that in a negative way.
ciara41633's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
wisteriaearl's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
blackbird9805's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sandeeisreading's review against another edition
5.0
I haven't read a lot of Superman comic books so I can't really compare this to anything, aside from the movie adaptations that is. But I absolutely love how they showed this side of Superman.
Superman, for me, was unstoppable force. He was the person we all would never be. He is strong. Has superhuman strength. Is also super smart. What else is there? What more can this guy want? He was basically a god. But of course, that wasn't all this was.
Kal-el has a lot of weaknesses. And this story actually showed us that.
THE THINGS I LIKED
● The humanity that they have added to Superman's character. The internal struggles that he had when deciding what was right and what was wrong. Would he do it because it was the right thing for everyone or would be do what is right for him. I loved seeing that in a character. Whether in books, graphic novels, or movies. I love a good character arc and this one is one of them.
● The illustrations were gorgeous. I'll be looking forward to more works by Shane Davis.
●I like that page where people were interviewed after the encounter with Tyrelle. There was one guy who made the reference to another Ubermensch in history that didn't go too well.
● I liked the dialogues. There were some that were really meaningful morals and could be applied to anyone.
THE THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
● The reason why he was called Superman was a bit cheesy.
● I thought the plot line was pretty predictable. We all know Superman was going to make the right decision. But, it wasn't too bad that it made me hate this.
FINAL THOUGHTS
All in all, I really loved this. I can't wait to read the other volumes. I'll definitely look forward to other works by Stracszynski. I saw he made a few for Marvel too. I'd definitely pick those up too.
Superman, for me, was unstoppable force. He was the person we all would never be. He is strong. Has superhuman strength. Is also super smart. What else is there? What more can this guy want? He was basically a god. But of course, that wasn't all this was.
Kal-el has a lot of weaknesses. And this story actually showed us that.
THE THINGS I LIKED
● The humanity that they have added to Superman's character. The internal struggles that he had when deciding what was right and what was wrong. Would he do it because it was the right thing for everyone or would be do what is right for him. I loved seeing that in a character. Whether in books, graphic novels, or movies. I love a good character arc and this one is one of them.
● The illustrations were gorgeous. I'll be looking forward to more works by Shane Davis.
●I like that page where people were interviewed after the encounter with Tyrelle. There was one guy who made the reference to another Ubermensch in history that didn't go too well.
● I liked the dialogues. There were some that were really meaningful morals and could be applied to anyone.
THE THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
● The reason why he was called Superman was a bit cheesy.
● I thought the plot line was pretty predictable. We all know Superman was going to make the right decision. But, it wasn't too bad that it made me hate this.
FINAL THOUGHTS
All in all, I really loved this. I can't wait to read the other volumes. I'll definitely look forward to other works by Stracszynski. I saw he made a few for Marvel too. I'd definitely pick those up too.
lylie_van_bell's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Entretiene y es interesante ver como Clark elige ser superman.
unladylike's review against another edition
1.0
3 stars for the art
1 star for JMS's boring story
I realize now from the publication dates that this came out prior to [b:Batman: Earth One, Vol. 1|12791521|Batman Earth One, Vol. 1|Geoff Johns|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344369854s/12791521.jpg|17939401], which I love through and through. Since I'm reading through all the existing Earth One books at once, there's quite a bit of comparison going on, even though the stories are so far independent.
Whereas Batman: Earth One is a clever and internally consistent twist on Bruce Wayne's evolution into a competent Dark Knight, this is just another Superman origin book with no surprises. It's written like a network television prime time special that aired once, kept people's attention with its fast-paced action, effects, and familiar story, and then was sold unsuccessfully on VHS. This should not be too surprising, given Straczynski's TV writing credits.
But really, this is just a cutesy retelling of something we all know. The one addition to Superman's backstory which gives us the only villain in the book doesn't even make sense. Plenty of people familiar with the sequence of events leading to the demise of Krypton have scratched their heads and had to suspend disbelief about a planet's instability being a secret known or believed only by a few radical scientists. Right? Right. Some writers have basically paralleled their circumstances to our present day religious fanatics and politicians refusing to believe in climate change. That mostly works well enough for the plot development. But here, JMS tells us that the neighboring planet to Krypton had an ongoing feud, mostly bombing each other in grabs for resources and to impede the other's advances in technology. So Krypton's enemies want what Krypton has, but they're always straggling somewhat behind, and have a more challenging environment to begin with. After centuries, probably some Kryptonian traitor - Zod or something (I don't know yet.) - publicly gives that other planet, Dehron, a plan and the necessary tech to blow up their Kryptonian enemies once and for all. And of course they succeed in the plan, even though destroying Krypton not only ends the war but eliminates Dehron's chances of looting the planet's resources. Ooooookayyyy, I guess I can see how after all that time, the bloodlust and war mentality blinded them to their original goals? But then, Dehron should be set. No more worrying about their orbital alignment with those evil guys that hurl weapons at their people, right? Nahh. Apparently, they instead send a kill squad to rampage the galaxy for 20 earth years, destroying all sorts of civilizations just to make sure they kill the one Kryptonian baby who was launched off-planet. As far as I can tell, Kryptonians cannot self-reproduce, so it's not like Kal El was going to start a new race of Kryptonians on Earth. The only detail that maybe makes JMS's villain vendetta make sense is that Supes' birth parents tell him in a message at the end of the book that his purpose is to Survive, Use His Powers Wisely, and KILL THOSE SONSABITCHES THAT DONE KILLED YER MA N PA!
Soo, the drawings and colors in this book were real purdy, and I guess if you're happy with a standard Hollywood TV/film adaptation of a famous superhero, this might be enjoyable. But it lacks any interesting nuance, and forces a lot of crappy, grandiose journalistic speeches down the reader's eye sockets. As a former newspaper journalist, reading the Daily Planet's huge exclusive first coverage of The Man in Blue made me groan quite a bit. Perry White is actually the most interesting and well-written character in this book, though, so I wouldn't mind if the next two volumes focus more on him just praising and putting down everyone around him.
1 star for JMS's boring story
I realize now from the publication dates that this came out prior to [b:Batman: Earth One, Vol. 1|12791521|Batman Earth One, Vol. 1|Geoff Johns|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344369854s/12791521.jpg|17939401], which I love through and through. Since I'm reading through all the existing Earth One books at once, there's quite a bit of comparison going on, even though the stories are so far independent.
Whereas Batman: Earth One is a clever and internally consistent twist on Bruce Wayne's evolution into a competent Dark Knight, this is just another Superman origin book with no surprises. It's written like a network television prime time special that aired once, kept people's attention with its fast-paced action, effects, and familiar story, and then was sold unsuccessfully on VHS. This should not be too surprising, given Straczynski's TV writing credits.
But really, this is just a cutesy retelling of something we all know. The one addition to Superman's backstory which gives us the only villain in the book doesn't even make sense. Plenty of people familiar with the sequence of events leading to the demise of Krypton have scratched their heads and had to suspend disbelief about a planet's instability being a secret known or believed only by a few radical scientists. Right? Right. Some writers have basically paralleled their circumstances to our present day religious fanatics and politicians refusing to believe in climate change. That mostly works well enough for the plot development. But here, JMS tells us that the neighboring planet to Krypton had an ongoing feud, mostly bombing each other in grabs for resources and to impede the other's advances in technology. So Krypton's enemies want what Krypton has, but they're always straggling somewhat behind, and have a more challenging environment to begin with. After centuries, probably some Kryptonian traitor - Zod or something (I don't know yet.) - publicly gives that other planet, Dehron, a plan and the necessary tech to blow up their Kryptonian enemies once and for all. And of course they succeed in the plan, even though destroying Krypton not only ends the war but eliminates Dehron's chances of looting the planet's resources. Ooooookayyyy, I guess I can see how after all that time, the bloodlust and war mentality blinded them to their original goals? But then, Dehron should be set. No more worrying about their orbital alignment with those evil guys that hurl weapons at their people, right? Nahh. Apparently, they instead send a kill squad to rampage the galaxy for 20 earth years, destroying all sorts of civilizations just to make sure they kill the one Kryptonian baby who was launched off-planet. As far as I can tell, Kryptonians cannot self-reproduce, so it's not like Kal El was going to start a new race of Kryptonians on Earth. The only detail that maybe makes JMS's villain vendetta make sense is that Supes' birth parents tell him in a message at the end of the book that his purpose is to Survive, Use His Powers Wisely, and KILL THOSE SONSABITCHES THAT DONE KILLED YER MA N PA!
Soo, the drawings and colors in this book were real purdy, and I guess if you're happy with a standard Hollywood TV/film adaptation of a famous superhero, this might be enjoyable. But it lacks any interesting nuance, and forces a lot of crappy, grandiose journalistic speeches down the reader's eye sockets. As a former newspaper journalist, reading the Daily Planet's huge exclusive first coverage of The Man in Blue made me groan quite a bit. Perry White is actually the most interesting and well-written character in this book, though, so I wouldn't mind if the next two volumes focus more on him just praising and putting down everyone around him.
daileyxplanet's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting way to start the Superman mythos. Some say this influenced Man of Steel, but if anything, I would say not enough.
Read via DC Universe.
Read via DC Universe.