All-Star Superman #11 (possible spoilers)

[stealthwise]

Do my eyes deceive me or is the issue actually dropping this Tuesday (May 28th)? That's what the dccomics website says.

[Bat-Reader]

i really don't want Morrison's All Star Superman run to end... it's really great. Bendis wrote like 100 + issues of ultimate spider and still continues. I was expecting at least 30 issues or something like that from Morrison... :(

[Froggy]

i love the preview

Luthor is a conceited bastard

[ReggieWhiteJr]

The issue is actually coming out this week? On time? *faints*

I don't want Morrison's run on this book to end either. It has been one of the best comics I've ever read. Whoever replaces him, I hope they do a good job.

[Usernamessd]

Do my eyes deceive me or is the issue actually dropping this Tuesday (May 28th)? That's what the dccomics website says.

28th is a wednesday and no all comics are shipping on the 29th (Thursday)

[Scott Free]

I hadn't realized Morrison's run was coming to an end, man am I out of the loop. Is this his last issue?

[Froggy]

I hadn't realized Morrison's run was coming to an end, man am I out of the loop. Is this his last issue?

naw, twelve is

[Usernamessd]

I hadn't realized Morrison's run was coming to an end, man am I out of the loop. Is this his last issue?

Its ending alltogather with #12

[davechisholm]

http://i.newsarama.com/dcnew/May08/previews/05_28previews_12.jpg
that first panel cracks me up...

[Chad]

Its ending alltogather with #12

I had heard that Quietly would be leaving with the issue 12 and that Morrison would continue writing with a rotating selection of artists. Since then, I have heard this statement revised in such a manner that indicates that the series will end with number 12 afterall, though Morrison is interested in doing a series of specials.

It's strange that the penultimate issue comes out this week and we haven't gotten a definite answer as to what DC has planned for this series. With Morrison eager to do more and DC likely eager to continue a successfull title I have to believe that there'll be something more coming up.

[HaroldAllnut]

It's strange that the penultimate issue comes out this week and we haven't gotten a definite answer as to what DC has planned for this series. With Morrison eager to do more and DC likely eager to continue a successfull title I have to believe that there'll be something more coming up.

I'm sure Morrison has a grand finale planned. I'm missing issues 7 & 8, so I'll probably have to pick those up this week. I have the first trade, so I figure I'll be set once I grab those back issues.

I'm guessing that there will be a hell of a cliffhanger at the end of this issue, followed by a ridiculously long wait for issue 12, which will be mind-blowingly awesome... just a theory.

[TimothyCallahan]

I've been looking at the Superman 2000 pitch from ten years ago--back when Morrison, Waid, Millar, and Peyer proposed a new, cohesive direction to revitalize the Superman franchise, and it's neat to see how the ideas from that pitch have made their way, in an altered form, into Morrison's All-Star Superman work.

I just blogged about "The Concept" of Superman 2000, and even in that small excerpt, you can see some of the ideas Morrison has recycled or adapted:

http://geniusboyfiremelon.blogspot.com/2008/05/superman-2000-pitch-concept.html

[Chintzy Beatnik]

I've been looking at the Superman 2000 pitch from ten years ago--back when Morrison, Waid, Millar, and Peyer proposed a new, cohesive direction to revitalize the Superman franchise, and it's neat to see how the ideas from that pitch have made their way, in an altered form, into Morrison's All-Star Superman work.

I just blogged about "The Concept" of Superman 2000, and even in that small excerpt, you can see some of the ideas Morrison has recycled or adapted:

http://geniusboyfiremelon.blogspot.com/2008/05/superman-2000-pitch-concept.html

This would have been great to see. Everything I've read about the pitch tells me it would have been something extremely special.

[stealthwise]

Apologies to my American bretheren, who had a stat holiday this Monday that delayed their books, but I read this one yesterday and have to say that it was excellent!


Sun-Eater vs Solaris

Return of Nasthalthia

Luthor's secret plan unfolding

The "Superman Dead" storyline coming to pass

I'm probably forgetting some cool little moments, but that issue was great from top to bottom, and issue 12 can't get here fast enough.

[smoothjokes]

Another great issue. Frank Quitely & Jamie Grant deserve a lot of credit for this masterpiece, I've never seen this much imagination ever in a Superman comic. I am not a Superman reader but this is incredible piece of work. The last panel of this issue is truly fitting. I love it.

[Jack Zodiac]

!@#$in' amazing. Honestly, one of the best issues yet. I'll have to go on about it some more when I have time.

[Binker]

Here is my review of the said issue!

By Nathaniel Ruff (also known as Binker and Nate on many forums)

ALL STAR SUPERMAN #11

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant
Cover by Quitely
Edited by Bob Schreck

PLOT:
Superman…dead? What is the secret behind the Daily Planet's ominous headline from the future? And what does Clark Kent have to say about it? All the pieces of Lex Luthor's master plan to kill Superman begin to come together, building up to the All Star big bang in story's finale!

REVIEW:
Issue #10 was another great issue of All Star Superman as it put the series in motion for the big finale that will end the series, and going by what Grant and the other issues say, for Superman too. Superman is about to embark on his eighth labor, out of the twelve total, and he better get started because his body showed signs of breaking down. But one of the talked about things about this issue was Earth-Q: our Earth as we see, from one insight, Joe Shuster drawing the first modern Superman (1938). It sucked to wait, but now here is the second to last issue of All Star Superman!

For this issue, three things happen: all the labors Superman had to do when this series started is all done, Superman (well, Clark Kent) dies at the end, and Lex Luthor is back in the game with Superman's powers. The final labor is him, his Superman robots, with a little help from the Sun-Eater, against Luthor's ally, Solaris, a huge sun entity. Of course, Solaris appeared in the main DC canon as the villain in "DC One Million", and later appeared when Superboy-Prime (or Superman-Prime) crushed him in a recent story. The fight was really quick, or just quick, but that's okay. For this series, we have more fish to fry anyway. Luthor gets his powers from a serum, that happens to be the same 24-hour serum Superman made for Lois back in issue #3, but he created it himself, bringing back the well-known mad scientist angle of him to the series, as well as the fact that he is very smart. I mean could you believe Superman would tell Luthor that "oh, by the way, I made this serum that makes anyone like me". That would be dumb, y'know?

And finally, Superman dies. Well, actually it is Clark who dies at the Daily Planet when he shows Perry his "Superman Dead" article. And when you include the fact that not even Perry can hear a heartbeat nor Clark even breathing, I guess Superman dying in this was actually true. However, I'm not quite sure yet, nor convinced. One has to do with the cover to issue #12, which has Superman still kicking, but this is a throw back to the Silver Age Superman. I mean as we saw in this series, he can breathe in space, and can probably hold his breath and not really die from that. With that in mind, maybe his body is actually so stiff, or thick, that you couldn't really hear his heartbeat anyway. So what is it? Did he actually die, or just faint from the exhaustion? I mean his body is breaking down, and he just fought a sun before racing back to the Daily Planet, so exhaustion could be the answer for all we know. Plus, when I was thinking of this, I remembered the scene in "Superman Returns" where even Superman did die (no heartbeat, nothing), and only came back to life because of the yellow sun (if you remember, he died because of the kryptonite). So could we see something like that in this too? It does make you think, doesn’t it?

Overall, our second to last issue of All Star Superman finishes the story part of Superman's twelve labors, brings back the Superman vs. Luthor scenario before the series closes, and finally gives us what we've been waiting for: the All Star version of the death of Superman (not "The Death of Superman", but this story's take on killing him off). I still wonder if Clark Kent is really dead as seen in this issue, or if the idea of Superman dying will become something like how it was in "Superman Returns" (or something that I have in my head, an ending Grant might be going for, which is also good by me). What will happen next? Will Metropolis fight Luthor on their own? Will Superman actually have some life left in him to face against his long-time villain? Will Superman actually be dead? How will this great max-series by the name of All Star Superman end? Come next issue, we will all find out.

RATING: Yay

Next Issue: The final, dramatic chapter...

[ultramandingo]

......... nasthalthia could disintergrate my pets any time

[Captain Yesterday]

I really like how fearless Jimmy and Lois are, staring down that supertank like they do it every day.

Clark Kent collapsing just after opening his laptop is perfect...it's perfectly believable that Superman is dead without having made a liar out of the cover. Now the long wait to see how he comes back!

[Michael P]

I really like how fearless Jimmy and Lois are, staring down that supertank like they do it every day.

It's Lois and Jimmy. They probably do.

My thoughts: Not the best issue they've done, but not bad either.

[Mon-el]

I liked the issue, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did Issues #9,#10. I would put this up there as better than Issues #7,#8. Nothing in the past 2 years of comics has touched Issue #6.

I've only read it once. All Star Superman should definetely be read more than one time,to respect the awe of it. When I have some more time I expect to go over it again more thoroughly.

[Lord of Denial]

Love Morrison's story I just can not stand the art.

[Jack Zodiac]

My thoughts: Not the best issue they've done, but not bad either.

It's gonna be tough to top the last issue, or issue five (which is still, probably, my all-time favorite superhero comic). This issue was still great. Not the best issue of his run, but definitely not the worst ("worst" being a pretty relative word when it comes to Morrison and this series specifically).

What I loved the most about this was how completely demonic Luthor came off. Being the arrogant maniac he is, even strapped into the electric chair, telling a priest to get the stench of his irrationality away from him, and then going all nutso with his heat vision red eyes, burning the place down, rolling out of a room full of flames and tossing a burning Bible like a piece of trash. It's perfect for how Morrison has been building him in this series. He isn't just a misunderstood villain. He isn't some hero who's diminished by Superman's premise. He's pure !@#$ing evil. All of the symbolism surrounding him since the book started makes him into this great devil character. Plumbing into the Underverse, living in redlit subway tunnels, his niece (who is an awesome addition to this book) using the sewers beneath the prison like the River Styx.

And then you have Superman, who throughout all of this run, has been built into God- not just a messianic character, but an actual, factual God. Creating his own universe, our own universe, creating life, and soon, dying and returning from the dead. He's both deistic and Christ-like. We see him wearing pure white, holding his cape to him like a robe. We see more Biblical imagery in his battle with Solaris, in his robots falling into the Arctic Circle like stars or angels. There's also another subtle scene where Superman's writing "goodbye" in Kryptonian and has a halo over his head via his mental journal headband.

This was a great penultimate chapter to Morrison's run, and it sets up everything perfectly for the big finale, which I can't wait for now.

[ultramandingo]

.......howsabout that "old yeller" moment with the lil sun eater " go back !" i got all choked up

[Froggy]

i gotta say

this ois one of the most touching comics i read


I dont buy that many comics (usually wait for TPB's) but damn..........this and batman are like the only two i really buy (and USM)

[stealthwise]

.......howsabout that "old yeller" moment with the lil sun eater " go back !" i got all choked up

Me too, it was a bit heart-breaking to see Superman lose his pet that way. "Killed him! YOU KILLED HIM!" And yet Supes still is able to allow Solaris the chance to redeem itself.

And Jack, great points about the Christ/Devil allegory that seems so obvious now. I forgot about those details because it's so long between reading each issue.

[anthony!]

cannot wait for the absolute treatment of this series. classic.

[GRANT!]

It had a good fight.

Someday I hope we see a live action Superman movie where Superman and an army of Superman robots beats the shit out of an evil Sun.

[PatrickG]

It's gonna be tough to top the last issue, or issue five (which is still, probably, my all-time favorite superhero comic). This issue was still great. Not the best issue of his run, but definitely not the worst ("worst" being a pretty relative word when it comes to Morrison and this series specifically).

What I loved the most about this was how completely demonic Luthor came off. Being the arrogant maniac he is, even strapped into the electric chair, telling a priest to get the stench of his irrationality away from him, and then going all nutso with his heat vision red eyes, burning the place down, rolling out of a room full of flames and tossing a burning Bible like a piece of trash. It's perfect for how Morrison has been building him in this series. He isn't just a misunderstood villain. He isn't some hero who's diminished by Superman's premise. He's pure !@#$ing evil. All of the symbolism surrounding him since the book started makes him into this great devil character. Plumbing into the Underverse, living in redlit subway tunnels, his niece (who is an awesome addition to this book) using the sewers beneath the prison like the River Styx.

And then you have Superman, who throughout all of this run, has been built into God- not just a messianic character, but an actual, factual God. Creating his own universe, our own universe, creating life, and soon, dying and returning from the dead. He's both deistic and Christ-like. We see him wearing pure white, holding his cape to him like a robe. We see more Biblical imagery in his battle with Solaris, in his robots falling into the Arctic Circle like stars or angels. There's also another subtle scene where Superman's writing "goodbye" in Kryptonian and has a halo over his head via his mental journal headband.

This was a great penultimate chapter to Morrison's run, and it sets up everything perfectly for the big finale, which I can't wait for now.

I'm still predicting that Superman redeems Luthor in #12, retiring in the process.

[Uproar]

I'm not a Superman reader infact I've no great love for the character, but this is one of the best series I've ever read. Morrison just amazes me with each issue and Quitely's art is just beyond awesome.

[TROUBLEZ]

I liked this issue.

But somethings bother me.

One is the lack of sound effects or lettering for sound effects. When Nasthalthia destroys the cab, you don't see it. One panel I mostly notice Jimmy telling everyone to get out. The next panel everyone is standing around and the cab is gone. I understand that it's a unique effect from the typical panel showing a big "BLAST!" but it's being done alot in this series. Also the end when the window or wall is being blown out, there is now lettering, again, for what is going on. Is this to make the comic seem more mature or serious?

Two, is the battle between the Sun-Eater and Solaris. I wish the panel where the Sun-Eater is ripped apart and killed would have been bigger, or different angle to enhance the moment.

Other than that, it was fun. I also thought it was sad when Superman yells "Go BACK!" to the baby sun-eater and that he didn't forget about Zibarro or his poetry. Very touching moments.

Another thing I agree on however, is that #6 has been the highlight of the entire series for me.

[J.R. LeMar]

I'm still predicting that Superman redeems Luthor in #12, retiring in the process.


That hadn't occured to me, & I have no idea how that would work, but it would be rather awesome.

[SirIvy]

So I just read the issue again and really loved how luthor lied about coming up with the 24 superpower formula claiming it was only something he could do.

[NotSuper]

Superman saving Lex Luthor from his inner evil would be the greatest thing he's ever done.

Also, I agree with the opinions of the Sun-Eater's death. It was touching and I'd liken
it to Krypto's death in "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?". And then to see Superman spare Solaris after that--wow.

[Shellhead]

"...quite frankly..." was a funny reference to artist Frank Quitely.

This was another very good issue. There was almost too much going on, as several scenes might have benefited from a couple of extra panels, a little more exposition, or one larger, close-up panel. But action-packed is almost always better than decompressed. Next issue should be a great finish to a great run.

[Animation]

When is #12 due?

Lewis

[SirIvy]

I think it was solicited for August.

[Animation]

AUGUST!?!

What the? Why is it the good comics are delayed?

Lewis

[SirIvy]

I think it's because Frank Quitely draws really slow.

[stealthwise]

August 6th isn't bad at all, given that the last issue came out at the end of May. It's only a bi-monthly series, and they've managed to catch up decently compared to where they were a couple of years ago.

[ultramandingo]

I think it's because Frank Quitely draws really slow.

......plus morrison is busy destroy'in the dcu crisis style - die die die !

[princesa]

I never been much of a Superman fan or read this book but everybody tells me its outstanding. I may have to pick up the trade.

[Shellhead]

I never been much of a Superman fan or read this book but everybody tells me its outstanding. I may have to pick up the trade.

For your sake, I hope that the trade includes the covers of each issue, because the cover for issue #6 was one of the best I've ever seen.

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/02908256745.6.GIF

[princesa]

For your sake, I hope that the trade includes the covers of each issue, because the cover for issue #6 was one of the best I've ever seen.

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/02908256745.6.GIF


thats a great cover

[The Spider]

For your sake, I hope that the trade includes the covers of each issue, because the cover for issue #6 was one of the best I've ever seen.

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/02908256745.6.GIF

If the softcover is basically the same as the hardcover, then yes, it will (all the covers were reprinted without the title banner and wording)

[4thHorseman]

......plus morrison is busy destroy'in the dcu crisis style - die die die !

No, I think the delay is only on Quietly. Morrison has had the script for issue 12 done for over a year now. Quietly is just too slow unfortunately.

[Solaris01]

I really liked it, but it was a little bit underwhelming, though.

And where did Solaris come from? Why? The story felt too rushed. Still, great series, though.

I'd LOVE it if they made some animated movies out of this. I'd be fantastic!!

[The Spider]

And where did Solaris come from? Why?

#8 has Quintum mentioning that their scans found something hiding in the sun, which is a close-up of Solaris' eye. #5 and 11 has Luthor referring to Solaris as a friend in "high places", indicating that he was part of Luthor's big plan. And of course, there'd been little hints indicating that Solaris would show up in the comic, including Samson's description of the labors, Kal Kent mentioning him in #2, and the warning from the future indicating something about "SOLAR Intelligence Systems."

[jamiejame911]

I'm surprised this issue didnt sell more

[Solaris01]

#8 has Quintum mentioning that their scans found something hiding in the sun, which is a close-up of Solaris' eye. #5 and 11 has Luthor referring to Solaris as a friend in "high places", indicating that he was part of Luthor's big plan. And of course, there'd been little hints indicating that Solaris would show up in the comic, including Samson's description of the labors, Kal Kent mentioning him in #2, and the warning from the future indicating something about "SOLAR Intelligence Systems."

Thank you very much.