Superman: End of the Century [Hardcover]

Stuart Immonen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Superman | Publication Date: January 1, 2000

On the eve of the new millennium, someone is committing arson in Metropolis - and the target of their crimes is none other than Lex Luthor! And when the immortal Contessa del Portenza arrives, demanding custody of Lena, Luthor's infant daughter, the criminal mastermind realises that this is a threat he must take seriously...But what Luthor doesn't know is that the Contessa has another child, an immortal like herself - but one who believes that humanity are beneath him, and who has no qualms over killing. And when Luthor inadvertently reawakens this creature, only one man is mighty enough to stop his killing rampage...Superman!

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stuart Immonen is a long-time writer and artist on many of the core Superman titles, including Action Comics and Adventures of Superman, as well as DC's Inferno. Jose Marzan Jr. has also contributed heavily to both Action Comics and Adventures of Superman. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563895749
• ISBN-13: 978-1563895746
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,864,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rambling, confusing, and not very exciting, March 22, 2010

By 

Dave Deubler (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superman: End of the Century (Superman (Graphic Novels)) (Paperback)

Two centuries ago the immortal Contessa del Portenza bore a son Luca, who inherited her gift of immortality. Luca grows up with such a contempt for the human race and a predisposition for violence that the Contessa eventually has him sealed off from the rest of the world. These events are vaguely hinted at in a series of flashbacks which are illustrated on hand-painted, monochromatic pages that have an "antiqued" look to them. In present-day Metropolis, the Contessa (who is presumed dead) wants to take custody of the daughter she had with master criminal Lex Luthor. Luthor believes his daughter may hold the key to immortality, and has no intention of letting her out of his clutches, so the Contessa begins setting fire to his properties, hoping to force him to relinquish their daughter. Meanwhile, Luthor's men are dredging up a sealed trunk that contains a mysterious link to the Contessa's past. There's a big showdown at Luthor's "End of the Century" gala celebration, and Superman manages to save the day (yawn).

I found this to be a far-from-impressive outing. For one thing I don't like titles that don't deliver what they promise, and Superman is hardly a major player in this story - it's more about Luthor and the Contessa and their offspring - and the whole End of the Century thing seems very contrived as well; these events could have taken place at any point in history and it wouldn't have mattered. Many plot points are never really cleared up (anything that doesn't make sense is magic, I guess) leaving the whole of the story rambling, confusing, and not terribly interesting. Even the big denouement is over before we realize what's going on. At least the characters were well-portrayed. But the only thing really special about this book is the few pages of monochromatic, hand-painted art, and they just made the rest of the artwork seem lackluster by comparison. Two and a half stars.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Superman!!!, November 19, 2007

By 

Dusty Riley Lyle "Bud's Gal" (California USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Superman: End of the Century (Superman (Graphic Novels)) (Paperback)

This Specific Story is what got me back into reading Comic Books, Graphic Novels and Collecting again. I have always been a Big Superman Fan, but had stopped reading the Comics over 30 years ago...Then I saw this one in my local library and borrowed it, I AM HOOKED AGAIN!!!! I Love these Books and this one is one of my favorites. Superman, Lois and Lex have come a long way since the early Seventies and this was a particularly Good Story. I highly recommend this tale and hope they do more in the Future in regard to Lena Luthor and her Mother the Contessa. In the meanwhile...you really need to read this Story. Read it several times like I have. I am 50 and going thru my Comic Book phase again and don't see it stopping anytime soon!!!

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars low action with a lot of drama, January 24, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (Kuwait) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superman: End of the Century (Hardcover)

low action with a lot of drama I have to say , a lot was given to this comic book both in art & in plot , as the truth of the Erica inhumanity revealed as her son Luce awaken from his 100 years sleep to seek the death of all humans and why he became this way .

All interesting of curse , but why did they cal it superman story I have no Idea , after all superman only appeared in fifth of this comic book while most of the addition was toward luther & his wife the Contessa del Portaza , so they might as will have called it Luther & Erica: the end of the century , & for them 3 stars is all the book deserve.