Customer Reviews

Superman: The Coming of Atlas HC

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Coming of Atlas" is a short, snippet of a plot line between the return of Brainiac and New Krypton storylines. Basically, while Superman and Green Lantern play fetch with Krypto in space, Atlas (sent by a mystery man to take on Superman) appears in Metropolis, demolishes the Science Police and calls for Superman. A brawl ensues, Supes gets his butt kicked (is magic involved?). Supergirl tries to help, as does Krypto, while Superman goes to seek magical help. He returns, and in just a few panels, the story ends, abruptly and unsatisfyingly. No follow up, no real closure - other than the fact that Krypto is a great dog. The story seems to suffer from a lack of backstory (we don't really know why Atlas is there or what happens to him at the end) and ends before we learn anything.
The artwork is fine, not great, but fine - Atlas appears to be wrinkly rather than ripped, but the rest is serviceable but not spectacular.
All in all, a decent story, but not one of the better Superman tales. Please note that there are only 4 modern issues here, plus the original Atlas story by Jack Kirby from the 1970s.

Huge Superman fan, I tend to love most stories, but I have never been a fan of Krypto, Superdog, so this may play a factor in my overall enjoyment of the TPB. However looking beyond and negating Krypto, I found the Science Police interesting and wish they had focused more on the characters, the artwork was good especially the coverpage inserts.
Atlas was incredibly 2-dimensional and rather boring brute strength, mythical/magical/legendary like Hercules and Thor but without any personality. What really killed me is the weak ending...abrupt, rather sudden and lackluster compared to so many great stories out there with a useless cameo from Supergirl, boy Zatana, and Akira-ripoff super laser satellite blasts from space. I've read hundreds of Graphic Novels, and this one rates toward the bottom and is definitely not worth purchasing. Rather short in length, just browse it at a library or bookstore. Two stars only because it has Superman! DAE

PS: What to read, I love Geoff Johns, Alan Moore, Mark Millar, Frank Miller, Greg Pak, and Grant Morrison, just search and read those TPBs.

When I heard that Jack Kirby's one-shot character Atlas would be revived in the regular Superman title, I did a double-take, as Atlas' first appearance in First Issue Special #1 was part of my collection as a kid. While DC has been making it a habit lately of bringing back Kirby's other '70s concepts, I figured there was no way in heck they'd ever touch Atlas; therefore, this news was a nice surprise. Also, as James Robinson would be writing it for his inaugural Superman arc, I was confident that the project was in good hands. Now that I've read the collected edition, I can say "Nope".

What we have here is the incorporation of Altas into the modern DC Universe, setting him up as a foil for the Man of Steel. It sounds promising, but there's one BIG problem: there's not enough story here to fill four issues. It could have been told in two at the most. Atlas challenges Superman, with their initial one-on-one escalating into a giant battle involving Supergirl, Steel, Krypto, and even Bibbo. On and on it goes, with lots of bruises, blood, spittle, yelling, and grandstanding... FOR FOUR ISSUES! Then after all of this, the story comes to a screeching halt with an end of sorts, but no real resolution to the Atlas situation. This is a prime example of how today's writers have lost the skill of direct and concise storytelling. Alternately, perhaps Robinson couldn't think of enough story to fill the space he was given? In either case, if a writer who is considered one of the best puts out material like this, what hope can we have for the rest of them? Still, what really ruined it for me was how this story brought back so many memories of what I consider one of the worst ideas ever in comics: The Death of Superman. Once again, Superman is tracked down by a ruthless opponent who beats him senseless in front of the citizens of Metropolis. After putting up with that Doomsday garbage in the '90s, Superman slugfests are pointless, so for Robinson to bring back Atlas for the same old garbage is pretty unspectacular. This storyline wasn't tailor-made for Atlas; rather, any super-strong character could have fit the bill.

Renato Guedes' art is a mess of thin, shaky lines. Like so many other artists these days, he seems to rely on computer coloring for depth and effects; however, even when completed, the art looks flat. His Kirbyesque rendering of Atlas' flashback looks much better than his regular art, so maybe he should head in another direction.

I'll give DC kudos for at least including a reprint of Kirby's original Atlas story, as well as Alex Ross' beautiful covers. Other than that, this thin book is a waste of $20.

I picked this up at a comic shop because it promised a new villain, Atlas, who could fight toe-to-toe with Superman. I was expecting something reminiscent of Superman's original clash with Doomsday, boy was I disappointed. Atlas' origin story is interesting enough, but his debut isn't handled well enough to carry the story. The fight with Superman and Atlas is pretty mediocre, bringing nothing new to the table (despite promises of doing just that). Superman is unusually slow in his detective work and his solution to defeating Atlas is a big, unoriginal, and unexciting "duh". Krypto self-sacrificially joins the fray, and Superman makes one of the dumbest congratulatory speeches ever. "This is my dog, Metropolis! And now he's your dog too!" I like Superman, I like Krypto, but come on... Sometime great art can make up for a lacking storyline, but this was almost the opposite. I didn't like the character design or artwork at all.
I've never before returned or traded in a TPB, but I'm seriously considering doing so with this one. Waste of $20.