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All Star Superman VOL 01 Paperback – September 2, 2008

4.4 out of 5 stars 138

Presents a new version of the story of Superman, following his activities as a superhero and his interactions with Lois Lane, Jimmy Olson, and Lex Luthor.

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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ DC Comics (September 2, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 140121102X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1401211028
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 9
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.65 x 0.32 x 10.17 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 138

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Grant Morrison
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Grant Morrison is one of comics' greatest innovators. His long list of credits includes Batman: Arkham Asylum, All-Star Superman, JLA, Green Lantern, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, The Invisibles, WE3 and The Filth.

The TV series of his graphic novel HAPPY! is showing on SYFY and Netflix.

Photo by PDH (File:Grant_morrison.jpg) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
138 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2008
I still have images of Superman comic books stuck in my head from when I was growing up in the 1960s. They were fantastic, a mixture of superhero and science fiction, two of my greatest loves ever at that age. I loved the stories of Lex Luthor (in his traditional gray prison uniform) teaming up with Brainiac (in a pink shirt and shorty-shorts). One of the most prevalent of those images was of Superman shrunken down and trapped in a birdcage.

Ahh, those were the days. But as I grew older, Superman grew more serious and so did his problems. Sadly, so did I. I realized there were worse things for Superman - for ANYONE --than being trapped in a birdcage. However, I still loved those stories. They were part of my childhood and I won't feel badly for hanging onto them.

Especially since Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely are revisiting Superman with the same love and tenderness I remember from those comic issues. Those plots were innocent and fun in a way that comics haven't been in a long time. Now, Morrison and Quitely are doing the same thing in the pages of ALL-STAR SUPERMAN.

The series exists outside of the traditional Superman universe. From what I've seen of this first graphic novel, anything goes. Clark Kent is still something of a [...]. Lois Lane is sharp and still doesn't have a clue that Clark is Superman (until he tells her). Jimmy Olsen is perky and sharp and a geek all at the same time. Luthor is violently opposed to Superman breathing the same air as him, and is brilliantly carrying out multi-layered plans to bring that to an end.

And Superman is quietly heroic throughout it all.

The graphic novel gathers the first six issues of the series. Some of the stories function as stand-alone tales but they all have continuity threads. And they're all just good fun. This is a Superman book I'm gleefully handing off to my ten-year-old because I know he's going to have a blast with it too.

The first story shows Morrison's deviousness. Luthor has a plan to destroy Superman by overexposing him to the sun's rays. During the initial set-up of the story, Morrison quickly and quietly introduces his readers to the familiar cast of characters, letting everyone know just how he's going to spin the relationships and at what point in their lives we are. The sequence of Clark entering the newsroom on the double is a long montage that expertly showcases Quitely's artwork. I loved it.

The first issue leaves us hanging regarding Superman's fate after the overexposure to the sun. But the second issue is a fan's dream come true: Lois Lane is given super-powers for a day and becomes Superwoman the way we all imagined she might back in the 1960s. Not only that, but Quitely draws her SMOKING hot! The two-page spread of the Fortress of Solitude is awesome.

I also loved the calm, every-day way Superman discussed Batman and Robin, and the casual way the Superman robots got introduced. They were a staple of the 1960s as well. The secret of Superman's key to the Fortress was terrific, and the stuff of science fiction. The way Lois's paranoia about Superman backfiring was terrific plotting. Instead of being suspicious of Clark being Superman, she starts wondering if Superman has gone insane due to his exposure.

The third issue where Lois tries to make Superman jealous of Atlas and Samson is a hoot. So is the ending where Superman finally gets tired of their constant haranguing.

Issue four concentrates on Jimmy Olsen, and it's the Jimmy I grew up with. The one that's still young and naïve, and always in the middle of trouble Superman has to get him out of. This one also contains some of Morrison's trademark outside-the-box SF.

Lex Luthor takes center stage in issue five. The team-up with Clark Kent was absolutely fantastic. Can't believe no one ever tried that before. Of course, there's probably some credit due to the SMALLVILLE television series there. "You write like a poet but you move like a landslide," is a quote from Luthor about Clark Kent that I'll probably never forget. The resulting adventure as they run from the Parasite (and Clark repeatedly saves Lex) is a series of neat twists. There's even a cameo of Beppo the Supermonkey that's hilarious.

Issue 6 hosts a lot of surprises and nostalgia. We get to see Ma and Pa Kent, watch Superman play with Krypto the Super-Dog, and even hang out in the Smallville malt shop with Lana Lang. Seeing the Supermen of the futures was a trip down memory lane as well. You just know Morrison is having fun with the cornucopia he's laying down. But his is one of the saddest tales Morrison weaves, and it sneaks up on you in the end.

I can't name a graphic novel I've read yet that seems to span the decades and the generations Morrison's loving tribute does in ALL-STAR SUPERMAN. For long-time fans that haven't read comics in a great many years, this one is a perfect return. Pick this one up and prepare to enjoy the feast.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2009
This is hands down, one of the most beautiful, moving, and loving tributes to Superman ever written. The stories in All Star Superman are lyrical, beautiful science fiction tales that really resonate. Morrison's treatment of Superman is respectful, fun, emotionally true without being insipid, and filled with a sense of wonder and awe. The Superman here is the quintessence of the character, in that, somehow, Morrison manages to distill what everyone subconsciously responds to about the fictional character into his twelve part story. These stories, and the entire All Star Superman run, also suffers from none of Morrison's usual weaknesses, which tend to be his penchant for overloading his writing with throwaway abstract concepts that can distract from his main narrative and a stubborn unwillingness to sacrifice complexity at the altar of clarity. He avoids this terrible habit here, and tells straightforward, though by no means simplistic or trite stories.

What really makes all this worth it though, is the unbelievably dynamic, beautiful, moving, amazing pencils by Frank Quitely, unquestionably a genius craftsman. I guarantee if this volume had been drawn by anyone else, people would talk far less about it. I can't say enough about his work, and would have highly recommended the volume for his art alone, even if it wasn't the perfect compliment for Morrison's science-fiction-pop-fantasy take on the Man of Steel.

My only complaint is about the format of the book. Greed is a terrible thing. In order to exploit readers to the greatest extent possible, and to ensure they squeeze every single last drop of money from their registry of stories, the company does the shameful thing of releasing the twelve issues of stories in two volumes, first in hardcover, and then in softcover. They will then eventually release the two in one volume, probably again first in hardcover, then in softcover. Were it not for the fact that I didn't own the single issues, I would never have bought the two volumes. I think it's downright immoral to present what was clearly intended to be read as a complete whole in two separate parts, just to make some extra money. Imagine if Watchmen were released today. Instead of getting one nice large paperback volume as you can right now off of Amazon, you'd have to get two separate volumes for something that should never be separated. It antagonises readers and frankly punishes them for liking your product. At the very least, even if DC decided it wanted to make as much money as it could from this, they might have just released a hardcover and softcover edition, and just charged the price of the two volumes for the one. At least they could have ensured they provided the entire story to the reader, which is really how this story should always be presented. It's just immoral, and wrong as wrong can get, to split this story up, once it's been completely released in single issue format. But as I said, greed is a terrible thing.

Five stars nonetheless, as Morrison and Quitely can't help DC comics' greed, (although they probably don't complain too loudly cos I'd imagine they benefit from the royalties,) and if you don't own the story, this is the only way to read it for now.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Trelkovsky
1.0 out of 5 stars solo la mitad.
Reviewed in Spain on March 8, 2016
Amo superman all star, pero por error pedí esta edición y se trata solo de la primera parte, no lo entendí bien cuanod hice el pedido, ahora tengo solo media obra y a un precio no tan económico como pensaba.
2 people found this helpful
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Dr. Mark P. Toner
5.0 out of 5 stars Superman in a story to match his stature
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2011
I came late to this groundbreaking series, having found a sale copy of volume 2 in my local bookshop. However, from the start I realised that here was the Superman that I remembered from my distant youth. He meets with world-threatening villains that need a Superman to stop them and so he shines doing what we need him to do - saving the world. I always felt that Superman was out of place dealing with the petty-villains of so many stories; villains that his friend Batman could easily thwart.

However this is not just good guys versus bad guys. Superman is faced with his own mortality here and has to think of how to protect humanity even after he is gone, and there are many options explored. Eternal truths, cosmic scope, world-shattering events - all worthy of a superman as hero.

With just this kind of thinking from writer Grant Morrison, we would have enough of a great piece of graphic fiction. However, Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant excel at rendering the Man of Tomorrow and the cast of assorted Superman friends and enemies, making for a satisfying and eminently re-readable saga that I am sure I shall revisit over and over into my dotage.
Atticus Prime
5.0 out of 5 stars I'm not a Superman fan... but I absolutely love All Star Superman
Reviewed in Canada on November 17, 2007
I bought this HC collection as I've enjoyed previous collaborations of Frank Quitely & Grant Morrison (We3 & The New X-Men). Not being a hardcore fan of Supes, I still picked this up expecting Morrison & Quitely to entertain me. It definitely did that and more! This is arguably their finest work yet.

The storylines by Morrison seem to borrow ideas from classic conventions give me a feeling sense of nostalgia, bringing me back to a time when comics were for kids and cost 12 cents an issue. You'll see what I mean when you read about Lois getting Superman's powers for a day, or a story which pits Jimmy Olsen against Superman(!). The storyline which brings Supes back to Smallville touched me and brought actual tears to my eyes, which has never happened to me ever before from reading a comic.

Some of Morrison's dialogue and ideas he throws into the stories are still very radical and 'out there,' yet Quitely's super clean & detailed art is able to make it all somehow believable. A lesser artist would not have been able to do achieve this.

The hardcover collects All Star Superman 1-6 and has a slipcover. It was over too soon, but I find myself re-reading this book and noticing subtle details and references in the dialogue and art I missed the first time through.

Morrison & Quitely's interpretation of Superman was simply an amazing comics experience for me and I hope you'll enjoy it too. For me, the bar has been raised so high, I don't know if the 2nd volume will be able to come close, but I can't wait to find out. Highly recommended.
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Cabot3
5.0 out of 5 stars Un très bon début de saga
Reviewed in France on March 20, 2010
Très bon début de saga avec la révélation au début de la fin du tome : "Superman va mourir", l'annonce de 12 travaux que va réaliser Superman. Je trouve le début tonitruant, avec un 3ème épisode drôle et rafraichissant. De plus la confrontation entre Lex Luthor et Clark Kent est géniale, avec un Clark Kent toujours aussi insignifiant et effacé, bref c'est un très bon début, on a même le droit dans le 6ème épisode à un retour à Smallville.
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Christoph Heinzl
5.0 out of 5 stars Sehr gut
Reviewed in Germany on November 16, 2007
All Star Superman sammelt die ersten 6 (von 12) Heften der neuen Supermanserie von Morrison/Quitely, die ausserhalb der normalen Continuity der Hauptserie stehen.

Die Zeichnungen von Quietley sind gewohnt routiniert und detailliert, und die Geschichten von Morrison sind wie immer: voller schräger Ideen und überraschender Wendungen, dazu in einem knappen, präzisen Stil erzählt. Man muss - anders als bei vielen Comics - sehr genau darauf achten, was in jedem Panel passiert, weil einem sonst ein Teil der Geschichte entgeht.

Sehr zu empfehlen, auch für Nicht-Superman-Fans!
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