Customer Reviews

Superman: Godfall

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

 

 

Superman: Godfall is one of the best books I've read in a while, and definitely one of the more reader-friendly titles. I say that because the foreward fills you in on what's been going on in the Superman universe with a nice synopsis, so that you step right into the story without missing a beat. This nice addition, along with the cover gallery and pencil sketches, make this as complete a book as you'll find. Halfway through the story, you might feel a little confused, but like good comics always do, the last issue of two answers the questions from earlier on. Also, and this must be said, Lyla is an AWESOME character with a great backstory that I would love to see in future issues. In case you haven't gotten the message yet, pick up this book!

Superman: Godfall continues out of the AWFUL issue of Superman # 200, but it's not essential that you read that issue. It picks up the story with Superman supposedly on Krypton, in the midst of a civil war. The story is pretty good, with some great art (although the costume of Kal El's 'wife' is very questionable for a kid friendly icon like Superman, and almost prevents this from being a tale for all ages). One of the main flaws is that Superman has been missing from Metropolis for weeks, and when he finally returns, Lois doesn't seem all that excited to have her husband back. I guess she's used to it by now. By the end of the story though, we are left with at least one cool villain with the same powers as Superman, Preus, and a potential villain in Lyla, but how future writters will use her remains to be seen. There are a lot of splash pages in this book, and they look great in the hardcover format. While Godfall is not a great, inspiring new look at a classic icon, or a deep character study, it is a good old-fashioned, solid Superman action story that isn't overly complicated, and easy to enjoy for new and old fans alike.

I love superman, and really enjoy his comics. I browse amazon much of the time and make my purchase decisions based mostly on the reviews of my "peers". So for this one I knew it wasn't going to be out of this world, but I did expect a halfway decent story. Which I felt is what I got.

I am at a certain point in my superman comics timeline, so I did backtrack a little to catch some earlier novels. This one I found in a used bookstore and immediately picked it up. It's been on my watchlist for a while and I was excited to get it underway. I must say it is confusing. I did appreciate the foreward at the beginning explaining a few things as well as the characters in the book. But the confusion came from different elements in the book, such as the writing style as well as the layout of some of the panes in the book.

That being said, the art was great. I really enjoyed a few of the full page spreads. The story, after having read the whole book and understanding what they were trying to convey the entire time, was an interesting concept but not groundbreaking. The general concept deals with the 'diety' of Superman. All in all, I would not recommend this read. It's not bad, I just don't think it was worth all the build up of confusion for a resolution that came too late in my opinion. I love superman, this just isn't one of my favorites.

I remember when I first spied a few issues in this series (scattered across different Superman iterations), and my first question was naturally "Does Michael Turner do the inside too?"

Ever since I got a taste of Michael Turner's art style in the AWESOME new Superman/Batman, I've been in love. But so often he's merely the cover artist for other things, not penning the entire issue. Imagine my sadness, then joy when he said "No. But it's done by his inkist, so it looks almost identical."!

Really, this might be the most beautiful comic I have ever seen. The use of color is simply amazing, the character designs are super-cool, and the action and dialog is mesmerizing from the get-go. the only problem is...it's too short. Like the Superman/Batman I've come to love, you always feel like you've just slurped down a small drink and you needed a super-size...thirsting for more.

Of course, the story is also QUITE confusing (I still don't think I've quite got it figured out), but that just gives you another excuse to re-read it. And to give away any of the plot would be spoiling everything anyway...

If you love Michael Turner's art style or all things Superman (and who doesn't?) you MUST get this NOW!

This graphic includes Adventures of Superman #625-626, Action Comics #812-813, and Superman #202-203.

The story itself is fairly good. Not a lot of the familiar characters, although Lois shares a great moment with Perry where they both dance around Clark's other identity without outright admitting to anything. Most of the book is set in Kandor, a city Brainiac rescued from Krypton before the planet exploded and stored in a bottle, which is now in Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Superman doesn't remember his life as Clark Kent; he believes he's on Krypton as Kal-El, a glorified office worker. Add in oppressed aliens versus the True Kryptonians, a thriving underground rebellion, unpleasant security forces composed of Kryptonians, and the alien 'wife' who's controlling his thoughts, and you've got the basic plot. Eventually Clark comes to his senses. The alien 'wife,' Lyla, escapes into Metropolis, followed shortly by Clark, the heads of the alien rebellion, and an insane guard named Preus (who continues to appear in further Superman stories, including In The Name of Gog). Lyla helps Superman defeat Preus, sacrificing herself in the process, and everything goes back to normal.

My biggest qualm with this book was how much was left unexplained. It's never really made clear how Lyla got her hands on Clark in the first place, or what exactly she can do, not to mention why the guards hunted her kind down in the first place. Overall, it's decent and worth at least reading, but I wouldn't recommend spending a fortune to get it. Turner's art is good, but not the best he's ever done; fans expecting art as good as "Fathom" or other titles will be sorely disappointed.