Superman: Strange Attractors [Paperback]

Gail Simone (Author), Dan Abnett (Author), Andy Lanning (Author), John Byrne (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2006

Legendary comics creator John Byrne returns to pencil the adventures of the Man of Steel in action-filled tales written by Gail Simone. This volume features Superman squaring off against an assortment of vile villains including Dr. Polaris, Dr. Psycho, Black Adam, Satanus and Livewire.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401209173
• ISBN-13: 978-1401209179
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.3 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,332,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mostly good, some bad...overall...recommended (spoilers), February 28, 2006

By 

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

This review is from: Superman: Sacrifice (The OMAC Project) (Infinite Crisis) (Paperback)

This trade collects:
Superman #218-2002 (written by Mark Verheidan (Smallville) and illustrated by Ed Benes (Birds of Prey).
Adventures of Superman (written by Greg Rucka and art by Karl Kerschl, Morales et al.)
Action Comics #829 (written by Gail Simone and art by John Byrne)
Wonder Woman #219-220 (written by Rucka, art by Morales, Johnson et al.)

This is the collection that is an extension of the OMAC Project. It takes place when Superman is min-controlled by Max Lord and attacks several members of the JLA obviously including Wonder Woman. The story overall is written very well, especially the portions written by Rucka. He really delves into the Superman character and knows what makes him tick. He also captures the relations between the big 3 JLA members very well. Yes, they are colleagues, yes they are friends, but there are certain lines that they are not to cross. The Wonder Woman issues after the big event is also handled very well as she re-examines her friendships with Batman and Superman in light of the recent events and her actions. And last but not least, is the fight scene. Long have comic fan boys (including a younger version of myself) examined the situation if Superman fought Wonder Woman...what would happen? Well, Rucka and a plathora of artists answer the question...and answers it very well. Wonder Woman is no push over and in this book, we see the warrior side of her personlaity fleshed out. She even turns her much-maligned tiara into a deadly weapon.

The only problem I had was with Verheidan's portion of the writing which is basically two issues in the book. His ideas seem all over the place and needs to be tied down a bit more, for the sake of making the story flow a little better. While, Rucka insists on slow and methodical, sharacter-driven writing, Verheidan opts for action...too much of it at times. And that's the only downside.

This book is recommended for those following the Infinite Crisis events and also for those who wants a look at the darker DC universe.

14 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Eh, May 10, 2006

By 

Bobquest3 "bobquest3" (Davis, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superman: Ruin Revealed (Adventures of Superman) (Paperback)

Like the previous volumes in the Ruin trilogy, this story has problems all over the place. For one thing, it's inaccessible to people who aren't long-time Superman readers. I've been reading comics for years, but no effort is made to explain Ruin's identity when he is unmasked - you're just supposed to know. Then there's the way the story jumps all around the place, in part because of Infinite Crisis and in part because like the previous volumes, DC keeps shifting writing duties around. So Superman will be worried about Ruin one moment, and the next - bam! - he decides to chase down Toyman.

On top of all this, the writing is melodramatic enough to make Jeph Loeb wince. It opens, for instance, on a six to eight page flashback of Ruin's previous attacks (played on tape), with a monologue from Lois explaining the rationale behind Ruin's strategy. But, I mean, it's pretty straightforward - it doesn't need an entire issue explaing how Superman is nigh-invincible, and the best way to get at him would be to attack Clark Kent's friends. Hasn't Luthor had this idea before? Say, every time he kidnaps Lois Lane? Throw it an idiotic plot twist like former President Pete Ross being mistaken for Ruin when Pete Ross being president is an idiotic idea in itself, and the whole thing is completely unbelievable.

I know it wasn't all written by Greg Rucka and Geoff Johns, but they're both capable of much, much better things than this.

5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Superman's character sacrificed!, December 28, 2010

By 

Superman's Fan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superman: Sacrifice (The OMAC Project) (Infinite Crisis) (Paperback)

Rucka offers to his wonder-woman readers a great story with this compilation. He is the driving force behind it. This plot was designed so a character that was suffering for lack of interesting stories could be highlighted and could be made look better than its usual standard.

The summary is simple, Superman is manipulated mentally, and is put in a situation where he is willing to kill to avenge his loved ones. This is of course completely out of character, there are many other stories out there where Superman is put under the same (or worse) scenario and he is never willing to kill.

But having him behaving as a lunatic was necessary, so wonder-woman could be used at the end of the story to stop him. Not only Superman doesn't know who he is fighting (and what he sees is different to what is happening, hence his hallucination), but because he is portrayed as completely out of control he fights like a street fighter with no training whatsoever. He just punches his way through, which is again totally out of character.

All this was orchestrated (with Rucka as the architect, although other writers were involved), so that wonder-woman could be place in a position of superiority that the character never has had. Therefore, fans of this character were happy to see it finally doing something out of the box.

In my opinion, this story does nothing but humiliate Superman and all that has been done with him prior to this plot. Fans of Superman will find this really poor and should be prepared to feel that the character is used as a scapegoat to make a second tier heroine shine for once.

If you really want to see the destruction of Superman, I would advise to read a copy of this compilation from a local library. Believe me, Superman's fans that pay for this mediocre story will feel at the end a great remorse of having spent a single penny on it (I sure did!).