Customer Reviews

Superman: The Man of Steel, Vol. 5

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

 

 

Karl Kesel's inks shine brilliantly again here in this edition, with previous finishers Terry Austin & Dick Giordano now being absent. I love each inker's contribution to Byrne's vision of the Man of Steel.

Highlights here for me...
*Superman 9- Joker in Metropolis! One of Kesel's best-looking inking efforts yet, I love everything about this issue.
*Action 592- Big Barda vs. Sleez. Jack Kirby's beautiful heroine encounters nastiness of the highest order.
*Action 593- Mr. Miracle to the rescue! Why are Big Barda & Superman filming something? Yikes! Blurry inks notwithstanding, this issue is famous for its controversial innuendos. And it features Darkseid too.
*Superman 10- Superman's powers out-of-whack. More beautiful inks by Kesel. Lex Luthor seems omnipresent.
*Superman 11- Mr. Mxyzptlk! Clark, Jimmy, Lois & of course, Superman meet a man who inspires random craziness.

This entire paperback is really great fun. Many memorable sequences & events- it's easily worth recommending to anyone considering a purchase. 5 stars!

Included in this volume:
*Superman #9- John Byrne writes & pencils; Karl Kesel inks
*Adv. of Superman #432- Marv Wolfman writes; Jerry Ordway & P. Craig Russell artists
*Action Comics #592- John Byrne writes & pencils; Byrne & Keith Williams inks
*Action Comics #593- John Byrne writes & pencils; Byrne & Keith Williams inks
*Superman #10- John Byrne writes & pencils; Karl Kesel inks
*Adv. of Superman #433- Marv Wolfman writes; Jerry Ordway & Bob Smith artists
*Superman #11- John Byrne writes & pencils; Karl Kesel inks
*Adv. of Superman #434- Marv Wolfman writes; Jerry Ordway & Jose F. Marzan artists
*Adv. of Superman #435- Marv Wolfman writes; Jerry Ordway & John Beatty artists

I never thought that I would see the day when a plot device for a Superman story would be his being manipulated into being an actor in a porn movie. Yet, that is actually the case in this book. The action is of course kept quite tame, and I consider the story an example of how the Superman character has improved over the years.
For decades he was growing stiff and less interesting, with Lois Lane the woman in waiting, dynamic in her own way but still passive in her role as the potential mate for Superman. Clark Kent was also depicted as reserved and almost incompetent with the ladies, what dates he had were the kind that you would have with your female boss.
The primary storyline involves Lex Luthor recruiting young men of the street and training them to be soldiers, equipping them with weapons and selecting a few for experimentation with techniques that will make them powerful. A separate story is the retelling of Superman's first encounter with Mr. Mxyzptlk, the pixie purveyor of magic from another dimension. It is an interesting tale because it ends with Clark in a three-way dinner date scenario with Cat and Lois.
Superman is the most noble of the superheroes, for decades he was depicted as sexless, nearly emotionless and pure, in other words predictable. The updated Superman is more of a man with the desires and interests of a man and that is a dramatic improvement.

Volume 5 of the man of steel gives us some compelling characters and gives us more background on some characters from worlds we have already been introduced to in previous installations.

First of all one of the funniest bad guys in DC comics is in this book so lets start there.

The Joker has invaded Metropolis and is trying to frame Superman, will he get away with it? will superman save the day and stop the joker with his own last laugh? tune in next week.. (or you could just buy and read this book)

We are also introduced to two characters from apokolips who have a history with Darkseid which is interesting in its own right, this story ended up being better than i thought it would be when I first started this section of the book.

And then we get to see the pest from the 5th dimension MR.Mxyzptlk. I always thought this character was funny and I liked how he could change things in the blink of an eye. The only question is can Superman protect the people of metropolis while he plays Mxyzptlk's game and how can he stop this crazy little man.

Pick this book up if only for the Joker and Mxyzptlk stories but I would say that the apokolips background stories in the other section and the other stories between these are well worth the time to read.

John Byrne continues to piss all over the Superman legend in this collection. He has the audacity to imply that Superman and Barda made an adult video under mind control by some loser. He didn't understand Superman, and it shows. If you like Marvelized crap- then by all means get this. If you want good Superman stories- go for the archives.