Will.S
04-10-2009, 12:43 AM
I recently got around to reading the individual Superman Confidential issues of this storyline (gonna swap them out for the hardcover eventually) and thought that it was a very good story. The only thing that really annoyed me was the way in which it was originally released. The last part of the storyline was massively delayed and was put into the 11th issue of Confidential which really hurt the momentum of the book for those reading it at the time and not to mention it coming off as unprofessional on DC's part (although I'm not necessarily blaming Cooke or Sale).
It also should have just been labeled as a mini series since obviously none of the following Superman Confidential stories ever really matched the quality and craftsmanship of this one. Luckily though it's been retitled and repackaged as the hardcover seen here:
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9527/may0802137062254.jpg
Anyway, back to the story at hand. I thought that Darwyne and Tim created a really good character study with this story. It takes place in Superman's earlier days when he didn't quite know what his limitations were and it shows his first encounter with Kryptonite. What's interesting is that the story also humanizes Superman more than I've seen in other stories by highlighting his inexperience at that point in time as well as raising some questions about the degree of his invulnerability.
All of the important Daily Planet staff are here (Jimmy, Lois, Perry) as well as having both established villains (Lex, Royal Flush Gang) and new ones with Tony Gallo. There's also the Bridgewater creature which pretty much serves as the equivalent to a Watcher/Monitor although his species is much different and it ties into the story in a cool way.
Tim Sale's art is terrific all throughout and I really liked how each book had a different color scheme opening which had a rougher and more dreamlike quality to them. But it's also quite different from his style in Superman For All Seasons which was much brighter in look and tone given that it was a lighter story whereas this one is much darker. Tim's art also seems stronger and more defined in line work than For All Seasons if I were to compare it to his older work although I still love the art in that story as well.
The only thing I have to wonder is where this all fits exactly within the new continuity. I mean, when I saw a fat Lex Luthor I just sort of assumed it was going with the John Byrne Man of Steel continuity since Darwyne doesn't always go for contemporary continuity. But that wouldn't make much sense since they just rebooted his origin with Infinite Crisis. There's also the look of Krypton and the way Jor-El and Lara are portrayed here:
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/8513/sc1k.th.jpg (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sc1k.jpg) http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7476/sc2s.th.jpg (http://img18.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sc2s.jpg)
I'm guessing that this was done before any of the plans were laid out to the updated origin of Superman so this story shows them in a vaguer look. This seems very much like a "Year 2" style of tale given that he's already with Lois and his rivalry with Luthor seemed pretty well established during the course of the book but the designs of Jor-El and Lara as well as Krypton itself make it harder to reconcile at this point. I think it's probably best to just keep this as its own little self contained story that isn't quite Elseworlds but doesn't contradict other stuff either. But who knows? Maybe Geoff Johns will clear this up with his version of the updated Origin.
Anyway I would definitely recommend people to check this out, especially in the collected edition since it reads much better that way without ads and strange numbering that the individual issues had. Plus the art is gorgeous if you're into Sale's art so all in all 8.5/10.
While it's not the best Superman story I've ever read, it's certainly very enjoyable and worth reading. I would even go as far as including it in a "Top 10 must read contemporary list of Superman stories".
It also should have just been labeled as a mini series since obviously none of the following Superman Confidential stories ever really matched the quality and craftsmanship of this one. Luckily though it's been retitled and repackaged as the hardcover seen here:
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9527/may0802137062254.jpg
Anyway, back to the story at hand. I thought that Darwyne and Tim created a really good character study with this story. It takes place in Superman's earlier days when he didn't quite know what his limitations were and it shows his first encounter with Kryptonite. What's interesting is that the story also humanizes Superman more than I've seen in other stories by highlighting his inexperience at that point in time as well as raising some questions about the degree of his invulnerability.
All of the important Daily Planet staff are here (Jimmy, Lois, Perry) as well as having both established villains (Lex, Royal Flush Gang) and new ones with Tony Gallo. There's also the Bridgewater creature which pretty much serves as the equivalent to a Watcher/Monitor although his species is much different and it ties into the story in a cool way.
Tim Sale's art is terrific all throughout and I really liked how each book had a different color scheme opening which had a rougher and more dreamlike quality to them. But it's also quite different from his style in Superman For All Seasons which was much brighter in look and tone given that it was a lighter story whereas this one is much darker. Tim's art also seems stronger and more defined in line work than For All Seasons if I were to compare it to his older work although I still love the art in that story as well.
The only thing I have to wonder is where this all fits exactly within the new continuity. I mean, when I saw a fat Lex Luthor I just sort of assumed it was going with the John Byrne Man of Steel continuity since Darwyne doesn't always go for contemporary continuity. But that wouldn't make much sense since they just rebooted his origin with Infinite Crisis. There's also the look of Krypton and the way Jor-El and Lara are portrayed here:
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/8513/sc1k.th.jpg (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sc1k.jpg) http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7476/sc2s.th.jpg (http://img18.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sc2s.jpg)
I'm guessing that this was done before any of the plans were laid out to the updated origin of Superman so this story shows them in a vaguer look. This seems very much like a "Year 2" style of tale given that he's already with Lois and his rivalry with Luthor seemed pretty well established during the course of the book but the designs of Jor-El and Lara as well as Krypton itself make it harder to reconcile at this point. I think it's probably best to just keep this as its own little self contained story that isn't quite Elseworlds but doesn't contradict other stuff either. But who knows? Maybe Geoff Johns will clear this up with his version of the updated Origin.
Anyway I would definitely recommend people to check this out, especially in the collected edition since it reads much better that way without ads and strange numbering that the individual issues had. Plus the art is gorgeous if you're into Sale's art so all in all 8.5/10.
While it's not the best Superman story I've ever read, it's certainly very enjoyable and worth reading. I would even go as far as including it in a "Top 10 must read contemporary list of Superman stories".