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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Up! Up! And over!", August 31, 2003
The Writing:
Moore's charming, loving rendition of the classic planet-tossing superhero is rightly noted by several other reviewers as aping Superman at his silliest, but it's also a fun, funny, compassionate look at the Superman character, and one filled with insight into what makes him tick. It's not a deconstruction, refreshingly, and it's not a revamp - it's a "prevamp," if you will, a harking back to the times before all the assembly-line serial killers and grim, stalkerish superheroes began to flood the market with angst. There is a warmth here that is decidedly missing in even the best of Moore's work, especially between Ethan and Linda (the Clark Kent and Lois Lane characters), and it just feels great to read something like Supreme for the sheer childish joy of it. If you liked Rob Leifeld's run on the book, you'll probably dislike this a great deal, but that, frankly, is good news. For Rob Leifeld fans, I recommend Gray's Anatomy, until you recover.The Artwork:
The art is admittedly sub-par, for the most part; Joe Bennett's renditions of Supreme are still stuck in the early-nineties days of bulked-out powerhouses in clothing that might as well be painted on, and nearly every female character appears to be smuggling canteloupes. The good news is that Rick Veitch manages to save every single issue with his flashback sequences. Veitch deftly imitates nearly every notable comic artist of the silver age - his Harvey Kurtzman (Mad Magazine) spoof is worth the price of the book all by itself, and his Bill Finger and Wayne Boring are dead-on. You'll also get to see, very briefly, some of Chris Sprouse's work on the title, which makes the next book all the more enjoyable. Summary:
An excellent book with a few forgivable artistic flaws and a great deal to recommend it. Age-appropriate for nearly everyone and a whole lot of fun. NOTE: This book has gone through a new and better printing since the early reviews that complain about the 600 dpi scan quality of the first. I believe that Checker has an exchange program for those who bought the sub-par printing of the book, as well.
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid effort from Moore, March 27, 2003
I wanted to address some of the criticisms of other reviewers. First of all, while the reproduction isn't top notch, and doesn't match the quality of the majority of TPB's, it is acceptable, and didn't diminish my enjoyment of the story. The lack of refinement and general smoothness in the colors is noticeable, however, so if you think this might bother you, check it out in a store, library, friend's collection, whatever, before you buy it here. The many flashback sequences all have a legimate authentic golden and silver age look and feel to them. While the idea of presenting the story of Supreme with this technique is inititally clever and effective, over the course of this 300+ page TPB, Moore goes to the well too often. If I had read this collection in the original monthly installments, I wouldn't have minded it, and probably would have even looked forward to the next issue. While I'm not sure which segments I would jettison (because they're all individually drawn and written with care and imagination), the repetition starts to weigh in, especially if you try to read the whole book in one or two sittings. This is a fun read, suitable for audiences of all ages. This is much more in line with Moore's work on Tom Strong, and especially, Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow. Fans of Moore's more "serious" work: Watchmen, From Hell, V For Vendetta, and Swamp Thing, may be disappointed with this.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great writing, so-so art, BAD printing, high price, January 10, 2003
I can't add too much to what the other positive reviews have said about Alan Moore's handling of Superma-, er, Supreme, but beware: 1) The art is just so-so in some instances (most of the Image-ish, modern-day stuff is flashy yet weak; the flashbacks are great), and 2) the production/printing on this ...trade paperback is ATROCIOUS! Who are these guys? If you can't print it an an acceptable quality level, then don't bother, and if you must bother to do it, then don't charge twice as much as you should! These "Checkers" book publishers are supposed to be releasing more Alan Moore Supreme collections later on this year...they're hard-bound and leather-bound and they contain all kinds of extra goodies and they cost a bundle. Just be ready for sub-standard printing (printing an already-printed image resulting in fuzziness instead of from good film negatives or shooting from the original art). I thought this initial undertaking of theirs was too good to be true. Go out and buy the original issues for about the same amount or a little more and get good, clear printing.
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