Customer Reviews

Superman: The Man of Steel VOL 03 (Superman (DC Comics))

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Byrne inked most of his own issues on Incredible Hulk and Fantastic Four; in his Man of Steel series he gets several amazing inkers. Kesel's slick & refined inks are some of the best in this series!

Highlights here for me...
*Superman 4- Jimmy Olsen & Bloodsport. Another stand-out favorite of mine in Byrne's entire run. His figure-work and details in the backgrounds are *exceptionally* well done. Kesel's stylized Superman is the signature interpretation I usually think of whenever I think of Byrne's eighties-version Man of Steel.
*Action 587- The Demon. Giordano is amazing again. It's tight, detailed inks here- not like Byrne's mid-nineties/ early 2000s work.
*Superman 5 & 6- Wonder Woman & Superman in the 1st few pages- great sequence! Interesting "ancient" enemy in these issues.
*Action 588 & 589- Hawkman & the Green Lantern Corps. Solid, space-faring action & adventure.

This is *easily* one of my favorite Man of Steel editions- it's jam-packed with quality material.

Included in this volume:
*Superman #4- John Byrne writes & pencils; Karl Kesel inks
*Adv. of Superman #427- Marv Wolfman writes; Jerry Ordway pencils & inks
*Adv. of Superman #428- Marv Wolfman writes; Jerry Ordway pencils & inks
*Action Comics #587- John Byrne writes & pencils; Dick Giordano inks
*Superman #5- John Byrne writes & pencils; Karl Kesel inks
*Superman #6- John Byrne writes & pencils; Karl Kesel inks
*Adv. of Superman #429- Marv Wolfman writes; Jerry Ordway pencils & inks
*Action Comics #588- John Byrne writes & pencils; Dick Giordano inks
*Action Comics #589- John Byrne writes & pencils; Dick Giordano inks

John Byrne does the best Superman ever!

In the mid-eighties, DC asked John Byrne, who had written a long run of The Fantastic Four, to revamp Superman, who was about fifty years old at the time. In what I would consider typical "Marvel style," Byrne added characterization and scientific explanation to the Superman mythos as he reinvented classic characters and retold their stories. His beautiful art work and excellent story-telling ability make these comics a JOY to read!

I would STRONGLY recommend that you purchase all FOUR volumes of John Byrne's Superman; each one picks up right where the last one left off. When I was finished reading them, I purchased the rest of Byrne's run on the Superman comics; they were that good.

I will never get tired of a good, old-fashioned John Byrne story. He is always able to take and insignificant book/character and give it cosmic importance. Where many writers and/or artists have failed to craft an interesting story--John Byrne consistently SUCCEEDS! When you read a John Byrne story, you never want it to end. Thank you, Mr. Byrne for all the years you put into the industry elevating your craft.

I will try not to give any spoilers for this review, I think it best for a person to read and enjoy the book without knowing where things will lead you by the end of the book. I am a huge Superman fan so I have been getting my collection caught up with some things I have missed or lost over the years. So with that I start..

Superman: The Man of Steel Volume 3 is a great set of stories introducing newer characters along the path of this book. I would suggest you read Volumes 1 and 2 first just to get a feel for how the characters of Superman/clark kent, Lois Lane, Perry white and even jimmy Olsen have been set out in this new series that re-invented the Superman mythos. You will also want to see the evolution of Lex Luthors hatred for superman and his continuing plots to rid the world of Superman. Getting back to Volume 3 though we get to see new characters introduced such as Hawkman and Hawkwoman and their homeworlds Thanagarian military force. We also get introduced to the Green lantern corps and some of the characters within it, on a side note you get to learn just a piece of what the green lantern corps really does as far as trying to preserve life as well as defend from harm. They are more scientists than actual defenders in these stories. We also get to see Superman battle the usual plain thugs along with a overgrown robot that proves to be a bit of a test for Superman. Some of the other characters introduced I had never heard of before but after this book I sort of liked. The point of a good set of stories is to make you want to read to see what the characters will be doing next and for comics it is also to see what type of interesting battles a character may have. Not always is it just a punch and pound the guy to dust story some of the stories deal with inner conflict on a sublevel and how even the characters of these comics deal with everyday problems and griefs. I like how these stories are not aimless and mindless, the characters actually show emotions and tempers well through the writing. All of that makes these stories more believable than in the past where they were just slug fests with little to no talking or plot development. You will enjoy these stories, and for the price of this TPB collection there is no other smarter way to buy these stories.

These "Man Of Steel" stories are all the post "Crisis on Infinite Earths" stories combined into six TPB volumes. I would suggest if you are a Superman fan and enjoy reading a collection of works without having to hunt for single issues ( I can never find all the single issues I need) then you should pick up this and all the other volumes. The stories are entertaining and they continue to introduce us to the newer versions of characters since the crisis effects. I also suggest if you want to know what the characters were like before this you can pick up "Crisis on Infinite Earths" however that book can become a hard read if you over think it to much (due to the amount of characters and plot and scene changes) However reading the crisis book is not needed to just enjoy the ride that "Man Of Steel" takes you on.

John Byrne is always given a lot of credit for revitalizing the Superman universe in the `80s. After reading now the third volume of that task I can't imagine how bad the books were before him if this was considered so good. While I accept the time frame involved Byrne's writing is dreadful and is as with most of the DC Universe, wholly inconsistent. The corniness seems even higher than most other books in the time period. Now his art on the other hand is very good and looks ahead of its time. Reading these older books give you perspective n today's books but there isn't a good deal of actual good storytelling.