Superman: Our Worlds at War, Book 1 [Paperback]

Various (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563899159
• ISBN-13: 978-1563899157
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,034,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit disjointed, August 10, 2003

By 

R. A. Keener "tweekstarbuck" (Knoxville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Superman: Our Worlds at War, Book 1 (Paperback)

Despite what many say this is not a horrible story. In fact, the plot itself is quite good. The problem is that it was written by seven different writers, each doing thier own chunks of the storyline. They all do a fine job, but the end result is a disjointed narrative. If this had been a mini series written and drawn by one creative team(like Crisis on Infinite earths) it would be a classic. As it is, it was not and is just a fun, but mindless and ulitimately forgettable romp.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Skip this...you won't miss a thing, October 14, 2004

By 

R. SHARIFF "rayhans1282" (Jamaica, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Superman: Our Worlds at War, Book 1 (Paperback)

Let me start off by saying that I am a big-fan of a lot of the writers involved in this project, i.e. Jeph Loeb, Joe Kelly. Individually, these guys have produced some of the most memorable super-hero stories of the last few years. But this massive cross-over leaves a lot to be desired, especially a cross-over so heavily advertised and touted as "Will shatter the DC Heroes forever".

A lot of the reviewers are right when they say that the story makes no sense. The readers are basically bombarded with cast of characters, slug-fest after slug-fest after slug-fest, massive casualties and a vain attempt at being emotional. The story basically revolves around Imperix probes landing on Earth and for some cliched reasons wants to destroy Earth. Of course Superman, the JLA and every major DC heroes are going to try and stop them. There is one battle after another...people die (Aquaman, Steel, Wonder Woman's Mom, The Kents etc.) There is also a Supergirl story thrown in there for no reason...and the story is pretty bad. The idea however had a lot of potential but the pacing and the particular focus of different writers drag it downhill. A better story is created out of the aftermath of Our Worlds at War, which is JLA: The Obisidian Age (see my review).

Superman also teams up with Darkseid to stop Imperix but the nature of their relationship escapes me...one moment they are advicing each other and the next moment, Darkseid is beating on Superman to get him to wear a suit?!

The art is pretty bad also. I never was a big fan of manga and Ed. McG mostly draws manga. There are other artists whose work is sub-par. The best of the lost being Doug Mahnke.

My advice is to skip over this arc. It is pointless, confusing and you'll soon wish for a refund (anybody want to buy mine?). Trust me when I say you won't miss a thing. This money is better spent on JLA: Trial by Fire or JLA: Obisidian Age.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Up, Up, and ... Away?, October 20, 2002

By 

Edward Lee "Trekscribbler (NCC1205)" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superman: Our Worlds at War, Book 1 (Paperback)

One of the staples to Supes personal history is the fact that he's held to standards that other superheroes might not be able to match ... until now. Reading Superman say the words, "I'm going to kill him," is perhaps the most startling revelation in the two-parter trade paperback OUR WORLDS AT WAR. Despite some negative reaction from a large part of the Super-fan base, OWAW is a good read but far from great. It presents a Superman that readers largely haven't seen before, one driven by a passionate instinct for revenge. While the books do possess some continuity issues, there are parts of the story important to our time: acts of terrorism, good surrendering to evil, the loss of life in times of war, etc. However, these two books do suffer from one crucial shortcoming that appears to be a growing trend in crossover / trade paperbacks, and that's the fact that the reader might be told of pivotal events several times from differing perspectives ... once from the Superman installment, once from the Young Justice installment, and once from a Wonder Woman installment. Whereas the end result should be interesting, it's far more confusing here, as some events toward the climax are reviewed slightly out-of-sequence. That said, a Darkseid story is always welcome at my house, and I enjoyed the pure escapism of a reasonably entertaining Superman story for what it was worth.

Would I recommend purchase? Erg. These two books are rather pricey for a story that isn't as tightly woven as it could've been. I would have rather seen the publishers create one volume, with a reasonable price, than two with a slightly higher than necessary pricetag. Damn capitalism. Damn commercialism. If you can get your hands on copies to borrow, I'd take that route first.