Before I start I should get one thing off my chest – I really don’t like Superman, never have and I doubt I ever will. He’s always been too much of a goodie two shoes and his rogues gallery has always been pretty terrible. Before anyone moans, Lex Luthor is a great bad guy but that’s about it. He’s just too powerful and soooo boring. The only times I can handle Superman are when he’s in a group like the Justice League or serving as an opposite in Superman and Batman titles. Why would I write a review then I hear you all ask? Well the honest answer is J.Michael Straczynski. I’ve loved all the work that he has done over the years with Spider – Man and more recently with Thor. I was never a Thor fan but his work on there was awesome so I’m hoping to see the same on Superman.
Superman 700 is broken into three parts the first of which is James Robinson wrapping up his two years of work and serves as an epilogue to the New Krypton story line. Let’s face it, New Krypton was rubbish and was a complete waste of time and this epilogue serves as a perfect example of what I hate about Superman. The dialogue was filled with sentimental nonsense and it was basically a few pages of Lois and Superman re acquainting themselves. Absolute twaddle.
The Second part has Dan Jurgens telling a classic Dick Grayson as Robin meets Superman tale. I’ve always enjoyed the Superman Dick Grayson dynamic and this served as a nice trip down memory lane. Again, it highlights the Boy Scout element in Superman that I loathe but I could just about read it because of my fondness for the Robin character and Dick Grayson.
The Third part is the main event and serves as the beginning to JMS’ grounded story line which is exactly what he tries to do by bringing Superman literally back down to earth. It’s a bold direction that he goes for but I’m not overly convinced with the reconnecting with Earth. I liked the panels with Barry Allen and thought they were well thought out but the honest truth is that it’s too early to give any indications as to how good this will or won’t be. I really feel for JMS as he’s coming off the back of some pretty poor story telling so it’s going to be hard for a writer even as talented as he is to rescue this franchise. I’m hoping that it will be great but quite frankly it also has the potential to be awful.
This book will be a must for collectors but if you’re like me and you’re hoping for a radical improvement in the franchise you will be disappointed. I would give it a miss.
No comments:
Post a Comment