Customer Reviews

Superman Returns

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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Man of Steel, Clark Kent/Superman, has disappeared from sight as this novelization of the new movie Superman Returns opens. When NASA astronomers discover Krypton still exists and believe the planet may still support life, Superman makes the 2 ½ year journey to discover if his parents and his home planet still live. Sadly, Superman discovers Krypton is a wasteland and makes the long journey home only to discover that Lois Lane has a child and fiancé, and the people of Metropolis have learned to survive without him.

Clark wrestles with whether or not he should leave his Superman identity behind, but when Lois and a plane of reporters are poised for disaster, he puts on the suit. He makes his triumphant return in time to battle Lex Luthor and fight to save the planet.

Although lacking in action and weak in the scientific explanation of Lex Luthor's evil plot, Superman fans will find in this novel welcome details about Superman's parents and his home planet that movies and the comic book did not provide. We also are treated to an in-depth look into the minds of Superman and the Daily Planet staff. And while many questions raised in the book are not clearly answered by the last page, readers will probably be willing to forgive the plot holes and look toward the next installment of the Man of Steel for resolution.

Reviewed by Joelle Charbonneau-Blanco
6/5/2006

Although I got this book about a month ago, I held off on reading it until after I saw the movie it was based upon. (When it's a movie based on a book, I do it the other way around.) Superman is my favorite comic book hero of all time, and I dearly loved the movie. Although I was disappointed with Wolfman's previous novel, an adaptation of his own Crisis on Infinite Earths, I wanted to give him another shot. I'm glad to say this is a far better effort than the Crisis novel. Perhaps because the scope of this story is smaller, with a smaller cast of characters and none of the time travel hullaballoo to deal with, Wolfman manages to give us an adaptation that does just what you want a novelization to do: gives you the basic story of the film while filling in gaps, explaining more of the characters' motivation and history and throwing out occasional "Easter Eggs" for fans of the comics or earlier adaptations of the character.

Like you see with novelizations sometimes, though, there are a few discreprencies between the film and the book, including a fairly major plot point towards the end which is done away with in the novel. When this happens, particularly in the case of such an important element, it's usually the case of the filmmakers adding something in too late for the novelist to include the change. You can't really fault Wolfman for it, but at the same time, it still makes the book a little less satisfying to read as an adaptation. Still, it's a fun book based on a fantastic movie, and I'm glad I gave Wolfman another chance.

Marv Wolfman writes fast-paced, involving comic-book stories, so I expected his paperback adaptation of the new Superman film to be solid and enjoyable. And it generally turned out to be so. Here are a few notable aspects of this fast, entertaining read:

The sequence depicting Superman exploring the remains of Krypton, excised from the film, is here in all its glory, and it's a nicely realized bit. With luck, we'll eventually get to see it in a future extended cut of the film.

A little awkward are the flashback scenes fleshing out Superman's parents' life on Krypton in the days before they rocketed their son to Earth. We see Lara negotiating her salary to work as an assistant to Jorel (before she fell in love with him), and, later, her painting and decorating baby Kal-El's bedroom. Those scenes were a little too mundane and Earthlike to me, not like a strange alien culture at all. And how in the world do you paint a bedroom made of crystal, anyway? While most of Mr. Wolfman's added background scenes were fine, these and a few others were a little off.

The novel adds a very interesting plot point showing clearly that it was Lex Luthor who tricked Superman into going on that five-year jaunt to explore the remains of Krypton. As described in the novelization, it was Earth's scientists who discovered the remains of Krypton, but it was Luthor who planted false information in the press that there was a chance that some life still existed on the planet's burned out remains. It was Luthor's false information that made Superman have to see for himself what was out there across the galaxy. That makes the tragedy of Superman losing Lois to Richard even more, well... tragic, as Superman leaving Earth for all that time was essentially needless. I don't know whether this plot point was originally slated for inclusion in the movie or whether it was a Wolfman addition to the novel, but I thought it was terrific and effective.

As pointed out by others, the movie's big revelation about Lois' son Jason is not in the novel, making me think it was a last-minute addition to the movie story and there wasn't time to add it to the novelization. Otherwise, it's kind of cheesy that the information was held back from book buyers. This plot difference makes the novel even more tragic than the movie, as the novel's story depicts a Lex Luthor who tricks Superman into leaving Lois Lane, who eventually goes off and has a child with someone else. In the movie, Superman will, at the very least, always share the "Jason" connection with Lois.

The rest of the novelization follows the movie pretty closely, with some odd exceptions (I'm thinking here of Jimmy Olsen's heavy drinking and public drunkenness in the book-- I'm not kidding!). In the end, though, those who enjoy reading the occasional movie novelization either before or after seeing the film in question will likely find favor with this pleasantly engaging book.

This book is easy to read. I finished it in a day and overall I enjoyed the story, though there were a few things that I didn't think worked too well. I really enjoyed the history pieces about Krypton. That'd make a fascinating story in itself.

Here are my initial reactions: (WARNING! Spoilers ahead...)

1. I was surprised that Superman and Lex Luthor have so few scenes together - and that all of their time together was clumped in just a couple of chapters near the very end. I thought it was obvious that Luthor planted the fake story about Krypton still having life in an effort to divert Superman away from Earth.

2. There were a lot of pieces of dialogue that appear as direct quotes from the 1978 movie. This is not bad. In fact, it's a nice touch in a lot of ways but after a while I started wondering if the writers were afraid to create new "classic" lines instead reusing the old ones. I don't know how many of those lines will make it into the final release of the movie.

3. I expected some closure with Superman and Lois Lane but the story really only progresses their relationship a small bit. The stuff with Jason (where I think it's pretty obvious that he's really Superman's son) goes unresolved - though they hint at something that should be continued in the sequel. I'm referring here to the scene where Lois visits Superman in the hospital and tells him something private but we as an audience don't get to read what she tells him.

4. I was surprised at how little there was of Superman actually in action. Sure, there are a few great action scenes, but for the most part Superman/Clark Kent is a bystander, watching the story unfold. The story seems to be more of a soap opera about the world he lives in and not so much a character-driven piece.

With that being said, I'm looking very forward to the movie. I'm sure that the few action pieces described in the novel will look fantastic on the big screen. I know not to expect very much from the "love story" now. When Bryan Singer was making the movie he described it as a love story but after reading it, I found very little love in it. I would describe it as more of a story about Superman wanting to reclaim his life after going off on a mission to find where he fits in with the universe. I think my wife will be disappointed that it's not a love story when she sees it next month.

So overall I'd say it was a good story but not great. Nothing really surprising happened in the story for me but it felt great to return to that 1978 feeling. In a lot of ways the story felt like you just finished watching SUPERMAN 1 and 2 and then picked up with this. More than anything, this movie feels like it's setting up a lot of plot lines that will be resolved in the next movie.

I hope with future stories they take some chances and throw some surprises. This story feels like a transition piece - serving to bridge the old movies with the sequels that will come out in a few years.

Superman Returns by Marv Wolfman is a must-read. What I like most about this book is the lack of literary shorthand. You do not have to have read a comic or have seen the first two movies with Christopher Reeve. I think that is definitely a good thing. The book is exhilarating with good characterization. Pick it up at your favorite bookstore.

In this novel version by Marv Wolfman there is a lot that is covered that is not covered in the movie or shooting script versions. For one, Superman's trip to Krypton is entirely covered, explaining more why he went. Also his origin on Krypton is covered more thoroughly than it was even in the original Superman movie. We get to know Jor-El and Lara (Superman's birth parents) a lot better than ever before. There are chapters covering all this before the book even gets to what is the beginning of the film. Marv Wolfman is an amazing writer. Sometimes comic book writers are not given their just due because comics can be judged on more than just the story, everything has to click to make good comics : story, art, coloring, editing etc. In novel form, Marv impressed me with this version of Superman Returns. While it is not perfect this book has a lot to it that adds to the story that is the movie. So if you saw the movie and liked it, you would love this book. Marv writes about Krypton, Jor-El and Superman's travel to find his homeworld so descriptive that you can easily picture in your mind what it would have looked like added on to the movie version. Very highly recommended, even more so than the shooting script version!

I just finished reading the novel. It was pretty good, however (as stated by another reviewer) the major plot (and I'm gonna go ahead and spoil it) of Lois' son, Jason, actually being Clark Kent's son - and not Lois' boyfriend's son is completely overlooked in the novel. I mean.. it should have been obvious - "Superman Returns" is based upon the first two Superman movies - and in the 2nd movie - Superman/Clark and Lois have an intimate encounter in the fortress of solitude - In "Superman Returns" Superman returns to Earth after being absent for 5 years when he left to check out his home planet, Krypton. It's not just a coincidence that Lois' son is also 5 years old. Although Lois doesn't remember her tryst with Superman (or that Clark is Superman), she does seem to know that her son is actually his... which doesn't make a lot of sense. I bought the novel "Superman Returns" in order to see if the novel elaborated any better about this subject.. which it didn't... in fact it didn't even mention anything at all. However, the novel does explain why Clark leaves for Krypton... and how he got there... and what he found when he did get there.. and why he came back to Earth (whew!-make sense?) Also missing is the link going back to the original movie with Superman's father blessing him before sending him to Earth when he says, "The son becomes the father... and the father becomes the son" - the new movie ends with Superman tearfully gazing at the young boy that he has recently discovered to be his own child - and he places his hand on the child's head and repeats his father's words and blesses his own son.
Although I was somewhat disappointed with this book, it was still a pretty good read. I just feel bad for the writer of the book. He was obviously denied crucial information - or the movie had a major plot rewrite and he couldn't edit his novel in time for publishing. I don't know what the problem was... and it's a shame... because the writer is a very good one - he did a fantastic job with what he was given to work with. However, I'd suggest finding a novel that's probably more accurate to the movie script.

I'm a comic book fan. I have always dug Superman. The first two Superman films stand high in my list of comic films done right.

I also have a great deal of respect for the accomplishments of Marv Wolfman, a veritable legend of the comic book industry.

I read this book in about 3.5 hours. Some maybe/minor (not really) SPOILERS are to follow:

Even with all the narrative help that was provided, I didn't really buy Superman's reasons for leaving Earth and, especially, not telling Lois.

Given how the relationship's progressed in the comic and in televised media, it seems kind of weak seeing Lois react to Clark in the "Oh hi" fashion.

Gene Hackman's Luthor worked for it's time, but is not nearly as interesting (or scary) as Clancy Brown's interpretation in the Superman/JLA animated series. The writing of Lex Luthor in this novel seems to portray him as a crackpot guy that's all id and ego, but very little underneath. He doesn't really seem to measure up as a legitimate villian, when his main ambition seem to be to swindle real estate, even if on a grand scale.

There were some thrilling moments that I can imagine will play wonderfully on the screen, but the character interaction, Lois loves her son, loves the new man in her life and still loves Superman . . . Superman loves Lois and can't believe she *gasp* moved on without him . . . gets tedious just reading it and unless handled very well -- will likely be more tedious to watch.

Overall, while I enjoyed the novelization and stand ready to plunk down the coin to see it in theaters (and am still eternally greatful they got Jon Peters off of the project and trashed the JJ Abrams script), I think they should have tried telling a new story rather than revisit all the landmarks (as someone else astutely listed) from the first film.

I am such a Superman fan you have no idea. I have been waiting for the movie version of Superman Returns with baited breath and on the edge of my seat. When I saw the novel of the movie, I had an inner debate with myself over reading the book before the movie is released and possibly spoiling all the suspense and enjoyment of the film when I finally get into the theater. I caved. Now, I am a huge fan of the comic book medium and when I saw Marv Wolfman was the author I was a little excited. This guy has helped to shape the DC Universe to what it is today. Surely in his hands, bringing back the big blue boyscout would be an easy task. Right? If the movie plays as well as the novel reads than we are in for a treat!
Basically the book reads like the movies of old played out (Superman and Superman II are source material for this universe - and Marv and the script writers thankfully ignore the embarassments that were Superman III and Superman IV). Marv does well in fleshing out the script into an easily digested adaptation. Superman has been gone for five years and nobody knows why, and his return hits the front page just as big as his debut. Lex Luthor has some plans of his own, and the untimely return of the man in the red cape is both a pain and a pleasure for him. What does it all mean? I won't tell. But if you want something to tide you over before the movie - read it. If you see the movie and just want a little more - read it. Nothing beats escapist fiction like a good superhero - and Superman is the original superhero.

Wanted to get a feel for the story, wanted to see if he thought of himself as Clark, Kal'el, or Superman. It depended on what he was doing at the time. We get to see a little bit of what is inside his head, how he thinks, always helpful in understaning the lead character a little bit better.