Customer Reviews

The Further Adventures of Superman (Bantam Spectra Book)

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This is a wonderful collection of misc. Superman stories. As a die hard Superman fan and a serious collector of superman comics, I am familiar with MANY Superman stories. These are definately very good ones. The best one is definately "Excerpt From The Diary Of Dr. Morris Funkelstein" by Mike Resnick. It tells the story of Clark Kent attempting to enlist in the military to fight the Nazis. If you are a fan of Superman stories these should be added to your collection.

Most of the stories in this book offers little or no insight into the character of Superman. In fact very few of the authors display more than a limited knowledge of the history of the Man of Steel. With the exception of "The Warrior of the final dawn" & "mine enemy grows colder", none of the stories here offer anything meaningful. Whats equally puzzling is the absence of several notoroius Superman villains such as Brainiac, Parasite, Bizarro, Intergang etc.

In the wake of all the Batman anthologies, Bantam threw in a couple more with DC hero themes. Superman is not exactly a rocket science selection, when thinking of characters to use. There are pieces here, however, by Mark Waid, Dave Gibbons, Will Murray and Diane Duane.

Joey Cavalieri gives us the excellent "Mine Enemy Grows Older".

Again, a collection worth having.

Further Adventures of Superman : 01 Prologue - Dave Gibbons
Further Adventures of Superman : 02 The Riddle of Superman's Mask - Will Murray
Further Adventures of Superman : 03 Apparitions - Diane Duane
Further Adventures of Superman : 04 Lucifer over Lancaster - Elizabeth Hand and Paul Witcover
Further Adventures of Superman : 05 Dateline: Metropolis - Karen Haber
Further Adventures of Superman : 06 Mine Enemy Grows Older - Joey Cavalieri
Further Adventures of Superman : 07 Forget Me Not - Mark Waid
Further Adventures of Superman : 08 Déjà Vu All Over Again - Edward Wellen
Further Adventures of Superman : 09 Excerpt from the Diary of Dr. Morris Finkelstein - Mike Resnick
Further Adventures of Superman : 10 I Now Pronounce You Superman and Wife - Henry Slesar
Further Adventures of Superman : 11 The Warrior of the Final Dawn - Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Further Adventures of Superman : 12 Epilogue - Dave Gibbons


Jewel, full of stuff, turns.

2 out of 5


Meeting Medusa's sister leaves Metropolis Meteor's mug marbled.

3.5 out of 5


Alien craft gives Earth maternal peace lessons.

3.5 out of 5


Town suffering Who Goes There episode lucky to have an alien that likes an icy retreats on their side.

4 out of 5


Gun reporter's identity ideas way off target.

3 out of 5


Arch-enemy million year mark destroyer-god scheme given Shazamic creator reverse.

4.5 out of 5


Hecatae hellcat bets the wrong way.

4 out of 5


Past history stays.

3 out of 5


Army doctor's next two potential recruits to check out, in order:

Clark Kent.
Billy Batson.

3 out of 5


Not dead after all secret identity scientist's clever clone gambit.

3.5 out of 5


Krypton Kill Kult.

4 out of 5


Jewel smooshed.

2.5 out of 5

This anthology, edited by Martin Greenberg, showcases several tales told about Superman - arguably the most popular and well-known comic book character ever.

I picked up this anthology at a bookstore, but after finishing the book, I have some reservations about it. While several of the stories are nice, they're a bit too bland for my taste. Many of them are just sort of there; they're not really bad stories, all things considered, but there's nothing really special about them, nothing that sets them apart. They're just average, run-of-the-mill stories about Superman doing various good deeds. If you're a die-hard Superman fan, maybe that's enough. For me, it left me wanting a good deal more.

If you're a big Superman fan, and you simply MUST have anything written about the character....maybe this book is for you. Otherwise, I'd recommend against picking up this book. It's nothing horrible, it's just, unfortunately, quite average. And when there are other, better books out there written about the Superman character (such as Roger Stern's adaption of the "Death of Superman, or even certain comic book graphic novels / trade paperback such as the excellent Paul Dini / Alex Ross work "Superman: Peace on Earth" or the wonderful Jeph Loeb / Tim Sale miniseries, "A Superman for All Seasons"), I can't see justifying purchasing this particular anthology.