tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post5782459443866869505..comments2024-03-27T21:12:28.287-05:00Comments on Collected Editions: Review: Superman Vol. 1: Before Truth hardcover/paperback (DC Comics)collectededitionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-5837167008410032362017-05-17T12:10:21.206-05:002017-05-17T12:10:21.206-05:00I'll admit that this crossover had one advanta...I'll admit that this crossover had one advantage over the previous ones, which was the fact that each series told its own strand of the overall storyline before they flipped into full crossover mode with "Savage Dawn", but by month six the whole vibe of the storyline started to bring me down. I did think Tomasi's arc was the best of the bunch, but I was annoyed by a certain cheat that I'll comment on when you review SM/WW Vol. 4.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-45048162495761692142017-05-16T22:20:03.957-05:002017-05-16T22:20:03.957-05:00I'm just done with "Truth," not quit...I'm just done with "Truth," not quite into "Savage Dawn," but I didn't find it laborious so far, at least, surely not as much as "Doomed." Thus far I think Yang, Greg Pak, and Peter Tomasi have done a good job telling four separate but related stories in Superman, Action, Batman/Superman, and Superman/Wonder Woman, which do tie to one another but for the most part don't require one another to be understood, and wow, those Superman/Wonder Woman Tomasi issues are out of sight! Did this part work for you and "Savage Dawn" didn't, or had they already lost you by this point?collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-73655929235024098862017-05-16T14:51:10.310-05:002017-05-16T14:51:10.310-05:00I didn't mind the way they took Superman out o...I didn't mind the way they took Superman out of his comfort zone, and I was actually excited about this storyline at the beginning. The problem is that it took up 39 chapters over 4 different series, and by the halfway mark I had already grown tired of an outed, increasingly powerless Superman who was on the run and couldn't catch a break. If the team behind "Truth/Savage Dawn" succeeded in anything, it was in making an even more bloated, tiresome crossover than "Doomed".<br /><br />I'm not sure how early on DC decided to kill off this Superman and replace him with the pre-Flashpoint version, but looking back on this storyline, I'm left with the impression that the writers simply decided to mess up his life as much as possible, since they knew they wouldn't have to figure out a way to put the genie back in the bottle afterwards.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-46142515762779376182017-05-15T22:22:43.135-05:002017-05-15T22:22:43.135-05:00It's really hard to discern how much of this i...It's really hard to discern how much of this is Yang's; I doubt "Truth" is much of his idea at all, so it's tough to see where Yang's intentions are in any of this book. What little progress I've made in the second sees Yang move Superman out to Oakland to join a fight club; I don't totally agree or disagree with your assessment of all of this, but even for me who tends to have a high tolerance for doing something different with the characters, moving Superman from the East Coast to the West Coast is an awfully big move in terms of just how "East Coast" Superman is -- though I adore his friendship with Haemosu.<br /><br />We can't overlook this all happening against the backdrop of DC You, too. California Dreamin' Superman might've played better without also Batman Jim Gordon and also rock star Black Canary, though equally I'm pretty enamored with what a crazy year DC You turned out to be.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-42056278007216556422017-05-15T22:15:17.093-05:002017-05-15T22:15:17.093-05:00On occasion, and I think Picoult is another exampl...On occasion, and I think Picoult is another example, I think comics engages in a type of "stunt casting," bringing a big name on to a book with the intention that it'll only be for a short amount of time, but obviously they can't break the kayfabe and admit it'll only be for a short amount of time. With Yang's run leading into New Super-Man, any of a number of things could've happened; maybe Superman was always supposed to be a short run with the promise of a dedicated series afterward, maybe Savage Dawn was meant to lead more into New Super-Man (isn't there some confusion as to when a key character was introduced) but then Rebirth altered the plans slightly, etc., etc.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-6924450768375153512017-05-15T20:46:49.428-05:002017-05-15T20:46:49.428-05:00I think the point of Yang's Superman was to ch...I think the point of Yang's Superman was to challenge every assumption about the character, make him less precious, which is how he tends to be written. But the problem was, I think, that fans violently rejected just *how* far out of the safe zone Yang took him. They took it as a kind of personal attack.<br /><br />Which I suppose is a good thing, because now fans are happy with Superman once again firmly in the safe zone, and Yang is doing a version of the character where his approach seems to fit better. Yang, as far as I can tell, is a writer who's very much interested in confronting culture clash. Superman tends to be depicted as someone who just sort of fits in. That's another reason why the <i>Man of Steel</i> version has been so difficult to swallow, because he's depicted as an outcast there, too. We seem to want Superman to be the ultimate everyman, the guy who is the paragon of virtue, can do no wrong, makes friends with everyone...Y'know, an incredibly believable character. But the dig on Superman is that...he's too unbelievable. So where's the balance?Tony Laplumehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07854455859399339169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-89800482498258375322017-05-15T20:44:49.201-05:002017-05-15T20:44:49.201-05:00"...it just seems a baffling editorial choice..."...it just seems a baffling editorial choice to hire someone with Yang's profile and then chain him to a crossover event..."<br /><br />Not unlike Jodi Picoult on Wonder Woman, with her run hyped to the heavens then almost immediately shoehorned into Amazons Attack...Leauxbeauxhttp://www.yahoo.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-79581490440673951382017-05-15T16:53:09.700-05:002017-05-15T16:53:09.700-05:00The whole Truth story line is what made me stop bu...The whole Truth story line is what made me stop buying comics weekly. Well, not the only thing but it was certainly a huge factor. It was just so badly written with all of the characters acting not like themselves and it just dragged on. It was everything that was wrong with giant cross-overs.<br /><br />It wasn't until I heard really good things about the current Superman and Action Comics run that I decided to give them a try again, and boy am I glad. This is probably the best the various Superman titles have been in years. It helps that DC isn't forcing one big cross-over event on them after another which is what sunk the New 52 Superman titles, IMO anyways.<br />-Kon30Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-52319268276152006232017-05-15T14:13:10.582-05:002017-05-15T14:13:10.582-05:00Worse, chain him to a *series* of crossover events...Worse, chain him to a *series* of crossover events just before the character was effectively killed and Rebirth'd. (If I weren't such a fan of Dan Jurgens, I'd be mad on GLY's part that a writer from two decades ago shunted the spotlight from "Lois & Clark" on.)<br /><br />Because, yeah, you can't tell me that it was GLY's idea to change Superman's status quo that radically - at least, I'd be very surprised if his first work on a major Big Two title involved outing Clark Kent and no editor batted an eye - though we continuity hounds can relish the fact that this happened while Gordon was taking over the mantle of the Bat under the pen of the only New 52 writer who stayed on from #1 to #52. Put another way, Snyder had earned that clout, whereas GLY's run felt overly mandated by editorial.<br /><br />However, the good news is that "New Super-Man" is proving to be everything I wanted from GLY's Superman. (Indeed, I wonder if it was a kind of apology to give him effective free rein on a title on the periphery of the Rebirth universe.) It's like an in-continuity "Ultimate" title; it's fresh, authentic, unique, and it's doing interesting things with DC's long and strange history of Asian characters. I Ching shows up, and that's not even the farthest back GLY goes.Zach Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17905320964723323391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-27088147405501130462017-05-15T10:48:17.493-05:002017-05-15T10:48:17.493-05:00I haven't read this yet, but it just seems a b...I haven't read this yet, but it just seems a baffling editorial choice to hire someone with Yang's profile and then chain him to a crossover event-- why get in a distinctive voice with something to say and then tell him what to say? I saw Yang speak at my university this fall, and my impression was that he only got to do a fraction of what we wanted to do with Superman.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16546370463396570168noreply@blogger.com