H'el On Earth - General Discussion

[lovelikewinter]

Too bad its going to take until 2014 to get a collection of this.

[RoyalTailor]

I think Kara's actions so far have been perfectly in keeping with the character they've built her as over the last year. Storywise, her total time on Earth has only been a few weeks or months at most, so her "not trusting anyone anywhere ever" is pretty overstated. All she wants is to go back home and wake up from this nightmare, so when a Kryptonian shows up and tells her there's a way to make that happen, why shouldn't she believe him? Because he's creepy looking?

Ditto! You're on par with what I was thinking myself. It's certainly above a naive girl going on love escapades with a Werewolf whose got attitude and a Vampire who likes to watch you while you sleep.

But seriously though the "H'el On Earth" story arc is the best thing I've read in comics in a very long time and I like it even better than Batman's Court of Owls story arc. I also love the Temptation of Christ (Matthew 4) undertone vibe that they've got going on here in H'el on Earth and I think H'el himself is far better than the weird and disturbing Bizarro; the latter is far creepier than Darth Sidious and Gollum combined. H'el has far more style and is a lot more intriguing than Bizarro could ever hope to be. I hope Zack Snyder will bring him to the silverscreen in his Superman trilogy.

[wu-tang warrior]

I have enjoyed it so far. H'el has turned out to be more interesting than I thought he would. First issue of Superboy I've read since the first couple of issues, was not as bad as I was expecting. I also think this new creative team on Superman will do fine. The art is on point and I think Lobdell will give it his all to make this title good. I've been thinking about picking up Superman once Morrison leaves Action, so I'll see where I stand once this crossover is done, hope it is as strong as these first parts were.

[J/O/J/O]

H'el is a painfully cliche villain but other than that I have enjoyed this crossover alot.
So Kal's new suit is to replace the one he gave Kon right?And in someway Kal ends up in the past as shown in the zero issue.Good s**t.

[HXHAlex]

Too bad its going to take until 2014 to get a collection of this.

I'm semi new to following comics. You really think it'll take till 2014 for the 3 different books this goes on in to be collected in one TPB?

H'el is a painfully cliche villain but other than that I have enjoyed this crossover alot.

I like his suit though

[LoneNecromancer]

I'm semi new to following comics. You really think it'll take till 2014 for the 3 different books this goes on in to be collected in one TPB?

I kinda doubt that. Though TPB is an interesting choice of words, cos I think it'll probably be collected in a HC by late 2013, so yeah, the TPB version will probably come out in 2014.

[HXHAlex]

So HC and TPB can't be/arent used interchangeably as different words for the same term? TPB is strictly used for the softbound collections and HC is the hardback ones? Sorry still new to comic terminology

[LoneNecromancer]

So HC and TPB can't be/arent used interchangeably as different words for the same term? TPB is strictly used for the softbound collections and HC is the hardback ones? Sorry still new to comic terminology

Well, I usually lump in HC and TPB together as trades anyway. And don't be sorry, I was reading superhero comics for less than a year before the New 52 started.

[MaicolGO]

Hmmm, I am starting to think that H'El's attempt to bring back Krypton, will create the Bizzaro world and Bizzaro. Imagine that he is the catalyst for the Bizzaro world? It will drive him insane and will lead to him return and blame Kal-El for screwing up the return of Krypton. How will Kara Zo-El react to all that happens? Just my imagination running away with itself again....

[RoyalTailor]

Hmmm, I am starting to think that H'El's attempt to bring back Krypton, will create the Bizzaro world and Bizzaro. Imagine that he is the catalyst for the Bizzaro world? It will drive him insane and will lead to him return and blame Kal-El for screwing up the return of Krypton. How will Kara Zo-El react to all that happens? Just my imagination running away with itself again....

You could be on to something man. It does seem plausible. I just want for DC Comics to explain to us what was going to happen in the Superman Returns sequel with Kal El and the mountainous platform that he carried into space above Earth. I've been trying to figure out what was going on with that.

[Claude]

So, there we go. Finished. What did we all think?

Personally, I loved it. Sure, a couple of mid-level Superboy issues didn't pull their weight, but overall I thought it came together very well as a cohesive whole. Some nice character dynamics established, a simple but interesting premise played through fully, and a characterisation of Superman that I'm enjoying a great deal. Not to mention the rather enjoyable guest spots from the Justice League, Teen Titans and Luthor.


Nothing earth shaking, but a good story well told. I'd put it head and shoulders above Death Of The Family in the Batman titles, and I'd say it's one of the best Recent Superman stories I've read - up there with, if very different from, Morrison on Action Comics and Buisek post Infinite Crisis.

[Superlad93]

So, there we go. Finished. What did we all think?

Personally, I loved it. Sure, a couple of mid-level Superboy issues didn't pull their weigh, but overall I thought it came together very well as a cohesive whole. Some nice character dynamics established, a simple but interesting premise played through fully, and a characterisation of Superman that I'm enjoying a great deal. Not to mention the rather enjoyable guest spots from the Justice League, Teen Titans and Luthor.


Nothing earth shaking, but a good story well told. I'd put it head and shoulders above Death Of The Family in the Batman titles, and I'd say it's one of the best Recent Superman stories I've read - up there with, if very different from, Morrison on Action Comics and Buisek post Infinite Crisis.

I agree!! & I'll also add that I loved how Lobdell brought some of the concepts and Ideas he introduced in issue 13 & the 0 full circle in the end. Like for example the idea of Superman wanting to increase his power in issue 13 and then in this we see that he's gone beyond even those limits. It's a nice feel, like he's building his own personal continuity with in this Superman's life as any writer should try to do.

[Auguste Dupin]

Overall quite satisfied. I really didn't expected much about all this. I mean, a crossover written by Scott Lobdel (the guy who's hated by the entire Batman thread) where the Superman Family battles "Broly"? That didn't sound good.
But it ended up being much better than it sounded. Sure, Lobdel isn't exactly the best writter on a technical standpoint, and it was very......"crude" let's say (you could almost make a running gag out of the "never been hit like that" line). Sure, maybe it would have worked best as a Superman arc instead of a crossover, and Superboy was useless (since I understood most of it without reading it) and apparently bad. But it was fun, energetic, with the feeling that big stuff is happening. The art went crazy, and gave you often the feeling that shit just got real. H'El turned out to be a much better character than expected (while not groundbreaking, let's be honest). Crude or not, I like how Superman is characterized, I like how he's shown to be very tough, without it being an easy way out of battles, I like his "bring it" and confident attitude, I like how he never surrenders, even when everything is against him. I just like that guy. I actually think Supergirl was believable, and she was awesome in the last issue. Superboy.....was alright.
So, it was nothing incredible, and part of me hope Lobdel can do even better for the rest of his arc. But it was a fun, unpretentious read. And in the end, sometimes, it's enough.

[Mr. Holmes]

I really expected the story to become a mess, so thank goodness it turned out pretty solid. Definitely did not need to be a crossover. Luckily I can just read the Superman issues to follow the story, with maybe Supergirl #14.

[13th Superman]

Yeah I pretty much found that its just better to read the Superman titles.