Customer Reviews

Superman: The Man of Steel, Vol. 2

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

 

 

What you need to know before reading this book:
1) Superman stories published from 1938 to 1986 (commonly called "Pre-Crisis Superman") were wiped out of continuity and is no longer part of the Superman Canon.
2) An event called "Crisis on Infinite Earths" cleaned up DC Comics continuity and recreated the DC Universe in 1985/6. All comics from that point to the present are referred to as the "Post-Crisis" stories.
3) The "Post-Crisis" Superman began with 1986's "The Man of Steel" miniseries by John Byrne (collected as Volume One)
4) This volume (Vol. 2) collects the first three issues of the normal Superman comics immediately following "The Man of Steel" miniseries - therefore giving us a good representation of the "New" Superman and how it all began (again).

The majority of the stories collected in this volume are written and drawn by John Byrne, who was also responsible for the revamp in the first place. The rest of the stories are written by Marv Wolfman (who also provided the "Intro" to this volume) and beautifully drawn by Jerry Ordway. The stories read like a continuation of "The Man of Steel". While the previous volume gave us the new Krypton, the new Pa/Ma Kent, Brainiac, Luthor, etc., this volume gives us Cat Grant, the new Metallo, Prof. Emil Hamilton and further fleshes out the malicious character of Lex Luthor. In addition to that, we have three issues of Superman in Apokolips (actually part of the "Legends" crossover but it can very well stand alone by itself) with a superb rendition of Darkseid, Orion, Lightray and the rest of the classic Kirby creations by John Byrne.

This volume is highly recommended to all Superman historians (like me!) and all fans of John Byrne (the man was at his very best here).

Having established his origin in volume 1, this is where Byrne's Superman interpretation really begins again.

Highlights here for me...
*Superman 1- Superman vs. Metallo- the power of Kryptonite established. Pretty good for a 1st issue. Pencils and inks by Byrne & Austin- the famous X-Men team!
*Action 584- Teen Titans! One of my favorite issues in Byrne's entire run. I've seen a little bit of Byrne's original pencils for this issue, and it amazes me how Dick Giordano took his pretty sketchy layouts and made them into what we see here. Byrne was fortunate to get Terry Austin, Dick Giordano, and then later Karl Kesel on inks- a comics "dream team"(!). Giordano is *great* here.
*Superman 2- Clark Kent exposed? Visually impressive, I like this just as much as Action 584. Here Terry Austin's inks are sporadic though: sometimes crisp, sometimes blurry. Frustrating, seeing as how Byrne's pencils are so *great* here. And Lex Luthor is hilarious.

To me, these three issues by themselves are worth the entire price of the book! This is actually the pattern throughout the entire Man of Steel series- I buy each volume just to get a few of Byrne's great issues.

Included in this volume:
*Superman #1- John Byrne writes & pencils; Terry Austin inks
*Action Comics #584- John Byrne writes & pencils; Dick Giordano inks
*Superman #2- John Byrne writes & pencils; Terry Austin inks
*Adv. of Superman #424- Marv Wolfman writes; Jerry Ordway pencils; Mike Machlan inks
*Adv. of Superman #425- Marv Wolfman writes; Jerry Ordway pencils & inks
*Action Comics #585- John Byrne writes & pencils; Dick Giordano inks
*Superman #3- John Byrne writes & pencils; Terry Austin inks
*Adv. of Superman #426- Marv Wolfman writes; Jerry Ordway pencils & inks
*Action Comics #586- John Byrne writes & pencils; Dick Giordano inks
*and Who's Who Update '87- a few excerpts

P.S. People in-the-know say "Dick Giordano's" inks here were really done by a member of his studio using his name. True or not, I still love these 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.

Wow! I thought this was kind of a reintroduction of Superman into the DC universe. At times, it seemed like it was. At others Superman would have some random adventure that comes out of nowhere. The stories here are all over the place. The art by John Byrne is, to me, the classic Superman. That's how I picture Supes in my head. This book might be good for nostalgia's sake but its not much of a read.

This is a great collection, and these are great stories with some really fun reading, the kind of which they don't do too much of any more. They're classic Superman stories, but also genuinely entertaining ones in their own right, and every Superman fan should own this.

I have written this review however to point out two things not discussed in other reviews which though small, affected my enjoyment of the stories somewhat, and which I think potential buyers should at least be aware of. They shouldn't stop you from purchasing the volume, but if you pay attention to some details like me, you want to know them in advance.

The first is that the issues have been recolored, and unfortunately, that process was not very faiithful to the original colors. Actually, most of the re-coloring is ironically sub-standard, losing much of the vibrancy and liveliness of the original issues. Modern and sophisticated don't always equate to 'superior.' The second minor point to note is that the individual stories or chapters in this volume aren't seperated by their wonderful covers, which is a boneheaded move by DC. It's a minor annoyance of course, but there's literally no break between "chapters" of the volume, and of course, that is not how these issues were intended to be read. For those less familiar, it will be jarring then to move from one story, and therefore one writer and artist team, to the next, without so much as a little notice.

Generally, I always find trade paperbacks that print their covers toward the end of the volume to be slightly retarded, and this volume suffers more than most others because of this problem. Overall however, this was such a good period in Superman's publishing history that the stories collected here are too wonderful not to be read over and over in this format. If only DC could get smart and start working on year 2, which for whatever flaws, did contain some real gems, including the famous "Supergirl Saga" that has yet to be collected anywhere. My highest recommendation.

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.

Buy it now.. really I could just stop there and hope you listen. I however cannot just stop there, not with so many awesome characters in this volume. It would be an injustice to anyone wanting a fair opinion and view. The foes in this book are some of the most recognized among comic fans and some of the toughest that Superman faces.

In this volume we get Superman who has to battle a crazily upset scientist bent on trying to show the world his defense system is necessary. We have some stories centered around Lois Lane and her personal life, we also get a glympse into Perry whites personal life. "Great Caesars Ghost" is that allowed? well they did it and it is a reaccuring theme through this series so definately start at the begining. Yea that sounds like a good volume already for everyone righ?

Well it would be but that is just the tip of the proverbial iceburg...

If you have seen Superman on tv or in videogames or even read a comic you would have to know about a foe of his named... (suspense building) METALLO!!! dud duh dah. (Yes the guy who should be in a Superman movie by now) The guy carries Kryptonite in his chest I mean is there really any way to stop that if your superman without dying from the exposure to the meteroite radiation? Well this story re examines how Metallo is created. Oh yes it is a very interesting section of story, Superman of course this is his first POST CRISIS meeting with the fiend so he is unaware of what Metallos secret is.. Might it be to late when he finds out?

but wait there is more..

Anybody ever watch Superman the annimated series? or how about Justice league Unlimited? Do you remember a guy who called himself a God and was the ruler of a planet. The guy who in an episode of Superman the annimated series back hand slapped Superman across the room into a pillar of stone with no effort? Ok I will tell you the guys name is Darkseid and he is one bad man. He is even more powerful than Superman..

and this is where most reviews will spill the beans as to what happens. I however will not deprive you of reading and then rereading these story lines yourself. Pick this book up for great action and great characters, If you do not the world may end..Okay okay it may not go that far but you will seriously be missing out on some of the great character introductions of the series.

This series is really neat in that in continues seamlessly. Sometimes each story is part of one big story and sometimes it's a totally separate story but they all continue seamlessly and it makes for some enjoyable reading. The only downside are the pages are newsprint quality and the artwork is not as awesome as some other books.

I'd heard a lot about this new interpretation of Superman from John Byrne. As a Byrne fan, it seemed a logical choice to add to my little mini-collection of trade paperbacks, many of which feature his art. I'd read through Volume 1 of Superman: Man of Steel and found it to be a refreshing take on the old Superman character. Byrne's art in Volume 1, however, was not what I was used to from his previous work.

That appears to have changed in Volume 2, as Byrne cleans up Superman nicely. The stories are simple, reflective of Superman's early days. I love what Byrne does with Lex Luthor, making him an untouchable evil industrialist with an aura similar to that of Frank Miller's Kingpin. An interesting spin.

The thing that wasn't great about Volume 2, though, was that Byrne stops doing the art for a few issues here and there during the story of Darkseid and the New Gods. The idea of Byrne penciling a Darkseid story was very compelling, but Jerry Ordway does most of the art on this story. Ordway is no John Byrne, and the difference is huge. As Byrne was a major reason that I purchased this volume in the first place, I was disappointed and am now uncertain about whether or not to buy Volume 3 (when it comes out). If you're a fan of John Byrne's work, be warned.