The best Superman run you've probably never read

[gwor]

It was the 1990s, a time of crappy Image titles and 'bad girls' with huge chests dominating the comic spinner racks.

Supreme 41 was released without much fanfare, written by some guy named Alan Moore. Suddenly, fans were treated to one of the finest runs of superhero comics in recent history.

Consider Moore's story his 'love letter' to the Superman comics he grew up reading, disregard the uneven artwork, and simply enjoy what might've been if Alan had written the Big S for DC.

These issues are well worth hunting down, although they might be a bit hard to find.

[Rattlehead]

This has been traded right? And do I have to break someone's limbs to get them?

[jesse_custer]

Correct me if this is incorrect, but the first arc of Moore's run was collected in a trade titled "Story of the Year." If this is what you're referring to, then yes, it is quite magnificent. It's basically a satirization of how people write Superman.

[The Batman]

At times it's a satire of Superman and comic books, at others it's a love letter to them. It's pretty good stuff either way though I'm not sure how rare or lost this is.

[jesse_custer]

Well, I haven't read the entire series, so I can't comment on how much overall satire/love is involved in the writing. However, the first 12 issues pull no punches. You can tell Moore knows his comic book history, but it seems like he's saying that Superman stories have taken it a little too far too many times.

[gwor]

I do believe the first dozen issues were collected in a trade (with a gorgeous Alex Ross cover, I might add).

The book started with Maximum Press, then shifted to Awesome, where it was relaunched with a new #1. Although this was in the days of big print runs, you don't hear much about these issues today.

The stories feel like Silver Age material brought up to date for a more sophisticated audience. Plus, Moore's explanation for Supreme's convoluted continuity is original and lots of fun.

[PatrickG]

I was a letter hack in the individual issues.

I didn't miss it although I do certainly miss the issues that Alan Moore wrote that were never published and would certainly be in favor of the rumored Rob Liefeld proposal to get a single artist to redraw the entire run and finish it.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

I was a letter hack in the individual issues.

I didn't miss it although I do certainly miss the issues that Alan Moore wrote that were never published and would certainly be in favor of the rumored Rob Liefeld proposal to get a single artist to redraw the entire run and finish it.

That artist damn well better be Chris Sprouse or (modern) Joe Bennett, if that's really the case.

Oh, and naturally keep the Veitch segments as are.

[gwor]

Man, Chris Sprouse is a terrific artist. I wish he'd get regular work (although I think he's working on graphic novels currently).

[J. Robb]

Man, Chris Sprouse is a terrific artist. I wish he'd get regular work (although I think he's working on graphic novels currently).
I'd love to see him on Superman.

And I have both the "Story of the Year" and "The Return" trades of Moore's Supreme run. Great stuff, a lot of fun!

[Lorendiac]

I mostly agree with the opening post of this thread (although in my opinion, some of the things Moore did would never work in the long run as part of a "new and improved official Superman continuity") -- but I do have a question about the thread title. What's this nonsense about calling it the best run I've "probably never read"? I got in on it at the beginning and was buying and reading each new issue of Moore's run all along, even as the title jumped around from one publishing company to another! (Meanwhile, of course, I was gleefully ignoring the regular Superman titles of that era.)

[Harding Prime]

Dude, did you just ask me to track down a satire Superman story in the Supreme title????

Why don't you like us???

[gwor]

What's this nonsense about calling it the best run I've "probably never read"?

Entirely presumptuous on my part, I'll admit <g>.

Based on other threads I've read where it looks like many Superman readers hopped on board in the last few years, I was directing the thread more at new readers than old farts like me <g>.

[PatrickG]

Dude, did you just ask me to track down a satire Superman story in the Supreme title????

Why don't you like us???

It's one of the best Superman stories in the way that Galaxy Quest is one of the best Star Trek films.

The affection for the old material drips off the page and it's not entirely satire.

Megaton Man or Groo are satire.

Supreme walks a fine line. So fine that almost everyone who ever worked on Supreme (or Mr. Majestic) went on to do actual Superman comics.

It was practically a pre-req for about five years.

[vazel]

Opening post makes it sound like this is a hidden gem but Alan Moore's run on Supreme is pretty well known about among comic fans. But it seems to be popular to claim every other thing is underappreciated these days...

[gwor]

I guess I simply wanted to direct attention to the issues in question, since I really enjoyed them back in the day.

Considering the onslaught of crap flooding the market today, I think it's necessary to mention excellent books of the past to newer readers, who might not be aware of it.

[Harding Prime]

It's one of the best Superman stories in the way that Galaxy Quest is one of the best Star Trek films.

The affection for the old material drips off the page and it's not entirely satire.

Megaton Man or Groo are satire.

Supreme walks a fine line. So fine that almost everyone who ever worked on Supreme (or Mr. Majestic) went on to do actual Superman comics.

It was practically a pre-req for about five years.

Though you didn't sway me on reading the story, you did find my fondness of Galaxy Quest. :D

[PatrickG]

Though you didn't sway me on reading the story, you did find my fondness of Galaxy Quest. :D

If you liked Galaxy Quest and you like Superman, I think you're missing out.

But it's your call.

Sometimes Supreme is played very straight. (The Judy Jordan plot is how I imagine Moore would have dealt with Lana Lang in an ongoing.)

Sometimes it's sweetly nostalgic and reflective. (The climax of the Kirby tribute.)

Sometimes it's played for laughs and shock. (The rock concert abducted by the Brainiac analogue and Supreme's reaction. Hillary Clinton dumping Bill for Mongul's doppelganger. The characters from Friends being slaughtered. Kirbyesque Shriners in flying cars praising Allah.)

And sometimes it's not quite either but manages to push farther than Superman comics could while staying true to the genre. (Ie. when reality is changed so that Supreme wears the confederate flag and has a slave and the solution rests on killing a man.)

[stealthwise]

Despite the artist flubs and the non-ending, Supreme is damned fine. It was my favourite Superman story until All-Star Superman came out.

[Lorendiac]

It's one of the best Superman stories in the way that Galaxy Quest is one of the best Star Trek films.

To go off on a bit of a tangent (as if that ever stopped us before), I'd say that "Galaxy Quest" is one of the best Star Trek films in the way that "Without a Clue" is one of the best Sherlock Holmes films.

In "Without a Clue," Michael Caine is Sherlock Holmes and Ben Kingsley is Doctor Watson, and we quickly learn the shocking truth -- Watson was always the brains of the operation! "Holmes" was a character he invented for literary renditions of Watson's own brilliant detective work, and then he hired an alcoholic ham actor to play the part of Holmes in interviews with the press and Scotland Yard and the like, parroting the lines that Watson fed to him . . .

If you already have some love of the original Holmes/Watson material, "Without a Clue" is hilarious! (Of course, Professor Moriarty was the only outsider who had figured the whole thing out and knew which member of the team was the real threat to his own ambitions . . .)

[dancj]

There were a lot of good bits in Supreme, but by the end of The Story of the Year I was thoroughly sick of all of the cheesy flashbacks

[gwor]

I agree. Plus, Veitch's artwork was a bit too 'ugly' for my taste.

I think my favorite moment was Supreme learning that his arch enemy becomes the meteor that originally grants him his super-powers.

Trippy stuff <g>....

On a slight tangent, I also liked Moore's treatment of Suprema, she had alot of potential as a character. Plus, his Youngblood issues are very entertaining.

[Kid Kyoto]

Great series start to finish, the best darn Superman EVAH!

It came out when I was in Japan and getting my comics from Westfield so I missed the first few issues. I finally tracked them down at a comic shop in Manila during spring break.

Good times.

Wish he had finished it.

[TROUBLEZ]

Thanks for starting this thread!
I had heard about Moore's Supreme but when I saw the TPB the art turned me off from the book. But I'm going to get this book and give it a chance.

And Galaxy Quest was surprisingly good. I need to track down this movie.

[gwor]

The artwork is a bit iffy at times, but this is an example where the writing more than compensates.

Once Chris Sprouse took over, the book was simply amazing, probably one of the few titles from the 1990s that shouldn't be used as birdcage liner or land fill today <g>.