Morrison's Perfect Superman

[TimothyCallahan]

Okay, so you read this week's "When Words Collide" and my reflection on "All-Star Superman."

The more astute and ambitious among you might have read my Morrison/Superman bonus material over HERE.

So, let's talk "All-Star." What did you think about the series? What would you have written about it?

[stealthwise]

I loved it, through and through.

Obviously I would have liked it to come out more often, but that's neither here nor there at this point (except for my brother, who's painfully waiting for volume 2 to come out, as he only buys comics in trades, having no local comic shop of his own to frequent).

The Bizarro issues were easily the weakest, but still quite enjoyable, and the only other thing I might have included would be Morrison's take on some other villains. For example, the exclusion of Brainiac would have been almost cliched to toss in at the end, but I felt almost disappointed that he didn't appear. While we got that nifty Mxyz-Superman from the future, I still wanted to see what kind of crazy crap old Mxyzptlk would have pulled out in a Morrison-Quitely comic.

Ah well, maybe they'll work on that stuff in the specials. Can't wait for 2013!

[Karl O'Neill]

Great article Dude,

Grant Morrison's All star superman will go down as one of the best superman stories ever told, I loved every single issue and will probably get the hardcovers as well, just so i can proudly put them on my shelve.

[West Mantooth]

It was good. Still have to read it in one sitting at some point in the future.

I do wish people would get away from the "The greatest..." stuff. This is the same reason TDK is in the top twenty on all-time movie list. Let the comic be around for a decade before we start declaring it's rating.

[chrisgiff]

i think it is indeed one of the greatest superman stories. it smokes all other recent superman stories and many of the classics.

[monstermike]

Nicely done!

I wouldn't necessarily say that Morrison has milked the Superman 2000 pitch more than any of his collaborators; have you read "Superman: Birthright?" The trade has an essay by Waid that repeats some elements of the pitch almost verbatim, and the comic itself bears that out.

[TimothyCallahan]

Yeah, Waid certainly mined the pitch for "Birthright," but I think it was a smaller part of the pitch, proportionately.

I actually feel pretty comfortable saying that "All-Star Superman" is the greatest Superman story ever. I don't think we need decades to figure out its place in the pantheon of Superman tales. Just compare it to any of the so-called "Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told." Alan Moore's work on the character -- in the annual -- is the only thing that comes close, and "All-Star" is a much more expansive story than could fit in a single issue. What else is even in the same league?

[stealthwise]

Yeah, Waid certainly mined the pitch for "Birthright," but I think it was a smaller part of the pitch, proportionately.

I actually feel pretty comfortable saying that "All-Star Superman" is the greatest Superman story ever. I don't think we need decades to figure out its place in the pantheon of Superman tales. Just compare it to any of the so-called "Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told." Alan Moore's work on the character -- in the annual -- is the only thing that comes close, and "All-Star" is a much more expansive story than could fit in a single issue. What else is even in the same league?

Supreme, which suffers from three things:

1) Some people claim it's not a "true" Superman story, due to the unnecessary semantic element of it not being published by DC, and thus, Moore is unable to call him Superman, to which I say posh.

2) The art is very inconsistent, with the exception of the ridiculously talented Rick Veitch, who drew all the awesome flashbacks

3) There's no actual ending to it, due to Liefeld's inability to pay Moore properly.

Other than that, I'd say it was the best Superman story ever until All-Star Superman came out.

[Kid Monster]

Alan Moore's 1997 WILDSTORM SPOTLIGHT: MAJESTIC, with Superman's last lonely battle at the cold, dead end of time. An admitedly eccentric and personal choice, and yeah, I know, it's not really a Superman story, but it was so obviously intended to be one (Spartan = Brainiac, Wandering Jew = Phantom Stranger, Green Alien Fuel Rod = Central power battery of Oa) that I can't help but see it as a sort of thematic sequel to WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW?

A quarter-bin classic.

[TimothyCallahan]

I love Supreme (even with its artistic flaws -- although the Sprouse and Veitch stuff is great).

And I'm not a big fan of that Alan Moore Majestic one shot. I much prefer the Joe Casey version.

But it's telling that both of you proposed not-actually Superman stories as possible "greatest Superman stories." It's kind of like saying "Watchmen" is the best Captain Atom story, or "Squadron Supreme" is the best Justice League story.

[Kid Monster]

But it's telling that both of you proposed not-actually Superman stories as possible "greatest Superman stories." It's kind of like saying "Watchmen" is the best Captain Atom story, or "Squadron Supreme" is the best Justice League story.

It's an odd choice, I know... but then again , I have had fans actually tell me SQUADRON SUPREME is their favorite JLA story.

[monstermike]

My list of the great Superman stories would have to include stories outside of the medium of comics. For me, "Miracle Monday" and Donner's "Superman/Superman II" present the character as purely and as wonderfully as anyone ever has. "All Star" may very well be better than either, though, and it's certainly better than most of the Superman comics over the years.

I'm always a little surprised at the critical acclaim for "Supreme." It's certainly good, but it just doesn't have the sense of wonder that Moore's other meta-literary explorations do (or Morrison's, for that matter), and it doesn't really move me as a Superman story. Moore and Morrison have both done better work in the "limitless fantastic possibilities in wacky old forgotten ideas" subgenre. And it's largely because of them that I can even call that a subgenre, right? Pretty amazing achievement in its own right.

[stealthwise]

I love Supreme (even with its artistic flaws -- although the Sprouse and Veitch stuff is great).

And I'm not a big fan of that Alan Moore Majestic one shot. I much prefer the Joe Casey version.

But it's telling that both of you proposed not-actually Superman stories as possible "greatest Superman stories." It's kind of like saying "Watchmen" is the best Captain Atom story, or "Squadron Supreme" is the best Justice League story.

Supreme is definitely a Superman story though, and Moore's basic concept (where different incarnations come and go through the years as writers decide to do reboots) covers that completely.

On the other hand, while Dr. Manhattan might be based on Captain Atom, I'm not familiar enough with the Cap to call it my favourite Cap. Atom story. Squadron Supreme... is that one close enough in terms of analogues to call it a JL story?

Point being, Supreme more closely captured the essence of Superman than any other story I'd read... until All-Star Superman.

[stealthwise]

I'm always a little surprised at the critical acclaim for "Supreme." It's certainly good, but it just doesn't have the sense of wonder that Moore's other meta-literary explorations do (or Morrison's, for that matter), and it doesn't really move me as a Superman story. Moore and Morrison have both done better work in the "limitless fantastic possibilities in wacky old forgotten ideas" subgenre. And it's largely because of them that I can even call that a subgenre, right? Pretty amazing achievement in its own right.

Really? It blew my mind the first time I read it. The metacommentary was interesting as hell, and woven into the story in such an interesting way that it caused me to think differently about Superman as a character.

[Duy]

Really? It blew my mind the first time I read it. The metacommentary was interesting as hell, and woven into the story in such an interesting way that it caused me to think differently about Superman as a character.

Supreme, which suffers from three things:

1) Some people claim it's not a "true" Superman story, due to the unnecessary semantic element of it not being published by DC, and thus, Moore is unable to call him Superman, to which I say posh.

2) The art is very inconsistent, with the exception of the ridiculously talented Rick Veitch, who drew all the awesome flashbacks

3) There's no actual ending to it, due to Liefeld's inability to pay Moore properly.

Other than that, I'd say it was the best Superman story ever until All-Star Superman came out.

I think it suffered from needing to have a working background of Superman's publishing history before reading it. I know some people for whom, this story definitely goes over their head.

I definitely agree with you about the other points though. If Sprouse and Veitch had pencilled the entire thing, it would definitely be a classic.

All-Star Superman is the better Superman story almost purely because it doens't suffer from those things.

Alan Moore's 1997 WILDSTORM SPOTLIGHT: MAJESTIC, with Superman's last lonely battle at the cold, dead end of time. An admitedly eccentric and personal choice, and yeah, I know, it's not really a Superman story, but it was so obviously intended to be one (Spartan = Brainiac, Wandering Jew = Phantom Stranger, Green Alien Fuel Rod = Central power battery of Oa) that I can't help but see it as a sort of thematic sequel to WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW?

A quarter-bin classic.

I love that story, but more because of the awesomeness of the story itself, and not really because of anything Majestic/Superman did in it.