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A review by dr_matthew_lloyd
Superman, Volume 1: What Price Tomorrow? by George Pérez
4.0
I was pleasantly surprised by this contribution to the world of the New 52. The story was a simple one, but it was pretty much standard superhero fare: there is an otherworldly menace to combat, superhero does so, looks like he's losing, ends up winning . It wasn't breaking any new ground, or being terribly exciting beyond belief, but as an introduction to the DCU - what I assume the New 52 is really all about - this volume said "this is what Superman does; there's a bit of a debate about it; ultimately, we're on Superman's side (because we make money from him)". It didn't say "look how intricately we can plot"; nor did it say "this is the best Superman story we can do"; it said "this will bring you in and we will try some more exciting and experimental stuff when you're ready."
I'll be honest: that review makes it sound like this should be a three-star volume. And it probably only just tips itself over the 3.5 barrier into "round-up-to-four" territory. But this is largely a review based on context, rather than the book in isolation. It is not as good as [b:Batgirl, Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection|13228436|Batgirl, Vol. 1 The Darkest Reflection|Gail Simone|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361895856s/13228436.jpg|18420381] by a long shot, nor even [b:Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Born to Kill|13228177|Batman and Robin, Vol. 1 Born to Kill|Peter J. Tomasi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1343869393s/13228177.jpg|18420067] - the other four-star New 52 books (in my opinion). It is perhaps unfair to rate it much higher than [b:Batman, Vol. 1: The Court of Owls|13223349|Batman, Vol. 1 The Court of Owls|Scott Snyder|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342307351s/13223349.jpg|18412501], except that I feel this volume points in a direction which is much more "Superman", while that volume started very well, before descending into something which I just felt spoilt it a little. Given that The Court of Owls is being held up ([b:Batman: The Dark Knight Returns|59960|Batman The Dark Knight Returns|Frank Miller|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327892039s/59960.jpg|1104159] and [b:Batman: Hush|6375845|Batman Hush|Jeph Loeb|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342295000s/6375845.jpg|16256422]) as some of the best Batman ever in this, his 75th anniversary week, my main impression is that Batman isn't as good as I've been led to believe. On the other hand, no-one holds What Price Tomorrow? up as the best of Superman, but as average quality goes this is a Superman I could continue reading. It's certainly above most of the other three-star volumes I've read ([b:Supergirl, Vol. 1: Last Daughter of Krypton|13532143|Supergirl, Vol. 1 Last Daughter of Krypton|Mike Johnson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345666822s/13532143.jpg|19093819], [b:Nightwing, Vol. 1: Traps and Trapezes|13532153|Nightwing, Vol. 1 Traps and Trapezes|Kyle Higgins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358394937s/13532153.jpg|19093829]).
I'll admit to some trepidation to begin with. The first words Superman says in the volume, in his New 52 series, after flying around Metropolis looking broody for a bit is "Bull!". I don't see Superman saying that - the question, I suppose, is do I see Clark Kent doing so? I do understand his anger - it's not difficult to see the real-world parallels between the destruction of the old-fashioned print media in favour of the multimedia news coverage of the modern world; Lois Lane, of course, moves with the times - one wonders if Clark Kent can't because the more people who see his smiling face on television, the more of them will realise that he and Superman are one and the same. Whether or not this move is as bad as he thinks it is - certainly the corporation taking over the Planet has a real-world equivalent one cannot see Superman working with - depends, I suppose, on your perception of how print media functions in the twenty-first century. By his hundredth anniversary, one suspects that Superman might not be in print - as opposed to online - himself, and the younger readers certainly won't have the same attachment to the printed press. Further re-inventions must be in store, then.
There are things which have been kept from past continuities, and things which have not. I'm always a little disappointed when Lois Lane doesn't know that Clark is Superman, but she seems to be figuring that out. I wonder whether splitting them up ever works, or if the teleological drive towards their relationship will damage every reincarnation as it damaged Smallville. With the past victories of Superman - the collector or worlds in particular - it is unclear to me if these are events on-going in the Action Comics line or if these are past events from previous continuities - or both. It didn't cause too much of a problem, but it was a little confusing to have that going on in the background.
The debate - Superman: messiah or menace? - was interesting, although one I would normally associate with Batman. I hope this isn't the end of it; it is always worth the humans involved questioning whether or not they would be better off without superheroes. On the other hand, there is a nice subtle hint about "lack of bias" in the media - in order to show balance on a subject, does the complete opposite side of the argument need to be taken? It's something we see in the UK a lot, so I assume it's in the rest of the world as well. The typical example is climate change - is it fair to have a crazy person radically opposed to the topic to argue with the 97% of scientists who agree that it's happening? Or should it be only three in a hundred people who get to go against the evidence? The question is pursued as posed - Superman must be one or the other - although the subtle answer given may well be neither one nor the other. The point, of course, is that the question itself is wrong. It really should be "Superman is here - how do we cope with that?"
This is a Superman story which requires little more background than the Superman that is known through film and television and the public consciousness, that doesn't rely on a world populated by superheroes, and, while flawed, poses a promising continuation of decent Superman comics in the future.
I'll be honest: that review makes it sound like this should be a three-star volume. And it probably only just tips itself over the 3.5 barrier into "round-up-to-four" territory. But this is largely a review based on context, rather than the book in isolation. It is not as good as [b:Batgirl, Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection|13228436|Batgirl, Vol. 1 The Darkest Reflection|Gail Simone|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361895856s/13228436.jpg|18420381] by a long shot, nor even [b:Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Born to Kill|13228177|Batman and Robin, Vol. 1 Born to Kill|Peter J. Tomasi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1343869393s/13228177.jpg|18420067] - the other four-star New 52 books (in my opinion). It is perhaps unfair to rate it much higher than [b:Batman, Vol. 1: The Court of Owls|13223349|Batman, Vol. 1 The Court of Owls|Scott Snyder|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342307351s/13223349.jpg|18412501], except that I feel this volume points in a direction which is much more "Superman", while that volume started very well, before descending into something which I just felt spoilt it a little. Given that The Court of Owls is being held up ([b:Batman: The Dark Knight Returns|59960|Batman The Dark Knight Returns|Frank Miller|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327892039s/59960.jpg|1104159] and [b:Batman: Hush|6375845|Batman Hush|Jeph Loeb|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342295000s/6375845.jpg|16256422]) as some of the best Batman ever in this, his 75th anniversary week, my main impression is that Batman isn't as good as I've been led to believe. On the other hand, no-one holds What Price Tomorrow? up as the best of Superman, but as average quality goes this is a Superman I could continue reading. It's certainly above most of the other three-star volumes I've read ([b:Supergirl, Vol. 1: Last Daughter of Krypton|13532143|Supergirl, Vol. 1 Last Daughter of Krypton|Mike Johnson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345666822s/13532143.jpg|19093819], [b:Nightwing, Vol. 1: Traps and Trapezes|13532153|Nightwing, Vol. 1 Traps and Trapezes|Kyle Higgins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358394937s/13532153.jpg|19093829]).
I'll admit to some trepidation to begin with. The first words Superman says in the volume, in his New 52 series, after flying around Metropolis looking broody for a bit is "Bull!". I don't see Superman saying that - the question, I suppose, is do I see Clark Kent doing so? I do understand his anger - it's not difficult to see the real-world parallels between the destruction of the old-fashioned print media in favour of the multimedia news coverage of the modern world; Lois Lane, of course, moves with the times - one wonders if Clark Kent can't because the more people who see his smiling face on television, the more of them will realise that he and Superman are one and the same. Whether or not this move is as bad as he thinks it is - certainly the corporation taking over the Planet has a real-world equivalent one cannot see Superman working with - depends, I suppose, on your perception of how print media functions in the twenty-first century. By his hundredth anniversary, one suspects that Superman might not be in print - as opposed to online - himself, and the younger readers certainly won't have the same attachment to the printed press. Further re-inventions must be in store, then.
There are things which have been kept from past continuities, and things which have not. I'm always a little disappointed when Lois Lane doesn't know that Clark is Superman, but she seems to be figuring that out. I wonder whether splitting them up ever works, or if the teleological drive towards their relationship will damage every reincarnation as it damaged Smallville. With the past victories of Superman - the collector or worlds in particular - it is unclear to me if these are events on-going in the Action Comics line or if these are past events from previous continuities - or both. It didn't cause too much of a problem, but it was a little confusing to have that going on in the background.
The debate - Superman: messiah or menace? - was interesting, although one I would normally associate with Batman. I hope this isn't the end of it; it is always worth the humans involved questioning whether or not they would be better off without superheroes. On the other hand, there is a nice subtle hint about "lack of bias" in the media - in order to show balance on a subject, does the complete opposite side of the argument need to be taken? It's something we see in the UK a lot, so I assume it's in the rest of the world as well. The typical example is climate change - is it fair to have a crazy person radically opposed to the topic to argue with the 97% of scientists who agree that it's happening? Or should it be only three in a hundred people who get to go against the evidence? The question is pursued as posed - Superman must be one or the other - although the subtle answer given may well be neither one nor the other. The point, of course, is that the question itself is wrong. It really should be "Superman is here - how do we cope with that?"
This is a Superman story which requires little more background than the Superman that is known through film and television and the public consciousness, that doesn't rely on a world populated by superheroes, and, while flawed, poses a promising continuation of decent Superman comics in the future.