Comics What's the appeal of All Star Superman?

[Comics N' Toons]

In regards to All Star Superman, I read the 1st trade @ my local Barnes&Noble and the story was mediocre at best, but the art was atrocious.
Then I went on Amazon and saw that the reviews were quite favorable.



Just wondering what the appeal is and am I the only one who didn't like the book?

 

[Czar Colossus]

I liked it, but I most certainly did not love it. There are far more in continuity stories that I like much more. You are right though, there is a lot of gushing over how incredible this story was....and Quitely's art does take some getting used to. Personally I loved the Byrne/Orday run and the Juregens/Frenz run. As far as out of continuity stories; Kingdom Come, Red Son and Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" are far superior IMO.

 

[Anubis]

Well, like most critically acclaimed comics, either you like it, or you have terrible taste and should kill yourself.

 

[Ipodman]

The main appeal is that you dont have to know much of Superman's continuity to start reading the series. So it's more for people who want to get into Superman without worrying about a century of stuff to take note of. In addition, every issue is a story by itself so you can even jump in mid-series and you are fine.

And I think its the final few issues that has readers crying...

 

[Czar Colossus]

no crying.... I just thought that it was over-rated. You want an easily accessible Superman story; read "Superman for All Seasons" or "Peace on Earth". Most people know enough about Superman to make him easy enough to get into.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

I agree with Czar; it's enjoyable stuff, but not classic material. The simplicity is appealing. I wish Jim Lee had worked on All-Star SUperman rather than All-Star Batman & Robin.

 

[DavidTyler]

Well, like most critically acclaimed comics, either you like it, or you have terrible taste and should kill yourself.

your avatar is in EXTREMELY BAD TASTE. There are kids on this board. You need to change it ... like yesterday.

Thanks

 

[TruerToTheCore]

The appeal is a story that is so much unlike anything else we got from Superman in the last 25 years, or even the last 45 years. It's a Silver Age story with the storytelling techniques of today. I admit, many people have become a little bit overly enthusiastic, but that always happens if something appears fresh and good. It was good to see a Superman who was treated as "Number One" in his world.

It's still not 100% my Superman. His behaviour is a little bit shuddersome, like some cold Artifical Intelligence just about to snap.

 

[Anubis]

your avatar is in EXTREMELY BAD TASTE. There are kids on this board. You need to change it ... like yesterday.

Thanks

Bite me.

 

[SuperDaniel]

Read issue #6. Its one of the best Superman stories EVER.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

Well, like most critically acclaimed comics, either you like it, or you have terrible taste and should kill yourself.

I sure hope to God you're being sarcastic

 

[Nave 'Torment']

I agree with Czar; it's enjoyable stuff, but not classic material. The simplicity is appealing. I wish Jim Lee had worked on All-Star SUperman rather than All-Star Batman & Robin.

Not at all, the Frank and Morrison double-team fit perfectly with the tone of the tale. Jim Lee's art style is very much defined by the Post-Crisis, 'modern' age comics, and that's something that ALL STAR deliberately isn't. So I think it's fitting.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

I found this (very interesting) article from newsarama, Morrison is tragically given the task of having to explain his own work (really sad to see any writer go through this, but he seems to be enjoying it so what the hey):

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/100821-All-Star-Morrison-01.html

 

[Nave 'Torment']

The appeal is a story that is so much unlike anything else we got from Superman in the last 25 years, or even the last 45 years. It's a Silver Age story with the storytelling techniques of today. I admit, many people have become a little bit overly enthusiastic, but that always happens if something appears fresh and good. It was good to see a Superman who was treated as "Number One" in his world.

It's still not 100% my Superman. His behaviour is a little bit shuddersome, like some cold Artifical Intelligence just about to snap.

I really agree with you there. It feels like a Silver Age story no matter how DC tries to sidetrack that -- more specifically it's a Neo-Silver Age story, an addition to the current mainstream of superheroics (again, it's sad to see Morrison, a counter-culture writer at heart, have his very work turned into the very thing he's struggling against: the mainstream, or maybe he's writing mainstream for a purpose. I dunno.) The Superman from ALL-STAR can never be the Superman that I grew up on -- I embraced the John Byrne, Bruce Timm era Supermen, the MODERN retellings, the back story of Smallville, the overt 'realism' that borders on fantastical verisimilitude. The Capitalist Lex Luthor. So while this isn't my Superman either, it's great to see THIS pure definition of a Neo-Silver Age Kal-El. More on this later. I'm really glad this thread is up here.

Oh and I like your signature: it's good to see someone who acknowledges Babs! But I don't think they should give her her legs back though, she's a much stronger character in her Oracle guise. Though, admittedly, the Bat-books are messed up these days. Another feature of Neo-Silver Age antics.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Grant_morrison.jpg/399px-Grant_morrison.jpg

I don't want to hate the guy, but he keeps reminding me of his own version of Lex Luthor.

 

[Ipodman]

In regards to All Star Superman, I read the 1st trade @ my local Barnes&Noble and the story was mediocre at best, but the art was atrocious.
Then I went on Amazon and saw that the reviews were quite favorable.



Just wondering what the appeal is and am I the only one who didn't like the book?

Took me some time to get used to it... but it has its own charm I guess.

In Batman and Robin it isnt so bad... but in Superman where you have to do Supe's face... it become a little hard to pull off

 

[CLARKY]

In regards to All Star Superman, I read the 1st trade @ my local Barnes&Noble and the story was mediocre at best, but the art was atrocious.
Then I went on Amazon and saw that the reviews were quite favorable.

Just wondering what the appeal is and am I the only one who didn't like the book?

Well, the first time I read the very first issue, I thought the art was not great (but then again I am not fan of Quitely) and the story was weird.
Then I read other Morrison stuff and thought I should give it a try beyond the first issue. And the second issue with Lois was somehow for me different. the very precise and very subtle attitudes blew me away. And I liked this part of the story so I decided to read further and the story was absolutely amazing. This is the appeal for me. The writer took Superman and made him what he should be, with concepts and ideas pushed further than just the normal conventional super hero superman. Superman was clever (at last) extremely sensitive and positive. Lois was deeply touching and sweet. Luthor was a ****ing bastard. I think the writing took into consideration a lot of philosophic aspect of the super-man. the appeal was those crazy ideas that only Superman could achieve, or only in a superman book would that be possible to see, like "fixing the moon", or fight a tyrant sun with a sun-eater, or Earth Q, or the craziness of the fortress of solitude, or sending micro superhero into an organism to cure it.
And the second appeal was the art, even if I do not enjoy it, I love the subtlety of it. The amazing tenderness of Superman and Lois,the bizarre attitude of the Bizarros, the amount of subtle facial expressions of Clark or Superman.
And since the book include a lot of elements of Superman mythos since 1938 and transcend it into one whole concept, it is clearly something good. Like the cartoon did in another vein.
All this became for me "the appeal" of the books.
I can understand the art is difficult to be used to, but atrocious?! Most certainly not. And the story mediocre? think it is solid, objectively speaking, so for me, it is impossible to rate it below "good".
For me "good" and "I like" are pretty different, I happen to like ****** stuff and to hate good stuff.

 

[C. Lee]

Just reread the series a month or so ago. I like the story and art. Not everyone likes the same thing as everyone else.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

It's strange that no body mentions the parallels made between the Classical Heroes and Superman himself -- Icarus flew too close to the sun, the myth of Cupid and Psyche in issue 2's Lois and Superman, the Odyssey into the 'Underverse' and of course the 12 Labours -- all add to a 'univeral' archetype of a classical hero. And the ancient myths mirror the fact that superman's own comic-centric mythology (which is presented in a very psuedo-science-fictional vain) is the mythology of the world today. These parallels were very interesting and well written. But I have to say that at the end of the day, we saw the myths as overblown and 'Godly' instead of humanistic, and we never got around to the fact that Superman himself has ushered an archetype all his own. At least that wasn't what was established thematically. Sure there were Supermen down the generations, but they were extensions of the same archetype that Kal-El himself drew from: the ancients. Be they Kryptonian or Grecian, they are still the archetype of the hero. All in all, a brilliant post-modern look at a classic character.

 

[Ipodman]

Just reread the series a month or so ago. I like the story and art. Not everyone likes the same thing as everyone else.

Yea I like it too. The art fits the kind of story that Grant Mprrison is trying to tell.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

And now we have an upcoming animated film based on this. I must ask, does it deserve the fame it's garnered? I liked the book as much as I liked WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW. If this gets animated, Alan Moore's tale should be made into the Superman Returns sequel.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I personally loved All Star Superman, and it already stands as one of my all-time favorite comics. Of course, tastes are different, so in attempting to explain the appeal, I'm only really saying what I personally found appealing about it. But I'll give it a try.

For me, All Star Superman condenses the entire power and enduring appeal of the Superman mythology into a single 12-issue story. In the face of all the cynics who accuse mainstream superheroes of simply being commercial money-making machines, only kept around for licensing and merchandising purposes, here is a Superman story that is just brimming with all the creativity of a creator-owned series, with love for this character and his world.

Here is a story that tries to recapture that sense of wonder about Superman that audiences must have felt back in 1938 when this was a new concept. Morrison tries to cut right down to that basic appeal, while at the same time using modern storytelling techniques to give things depth. The characterisation is great. Luthor is petty, and mean-spirited, and ultimately small. But Superman here is just the best hero ever, because he's not deep and dark and tormented, he's just GOOD. He's someone who is inherently good, and decent, who will never let us down. Morrison takes the idea of the superhero that we all take for granted now, and restores in us a sense of wishing this guy was real.

I just found it to be an incredibly moving and emotional story too. The kind of stuff I found myself nearly crying over sounds stupid repeating it on a message board, but within the context of the story it's just so powerful and had such an impact on me, resonating within me and with aspects of my own life that I never expected in a story that is such unashamed fantasy.

For me, All Star Superman is simply the ultimate Superman story. And Frank Quitely's art is amazing too.

 

[Andy C.]

To back up what Keyser said, I think a lot of the best stuff from All-Star wasn't just the epic story or the awesome fights, but all the little bits of brilliance from characterization. Like when Clark finally tells Lois he's Superman, after years of her trying unsuccessfully to prove exactly that, she doesn't believe him. Or when Superman tries to convince Luthor that, now that he's finally won, he should devote his last weeks of life to doing all the great deeds Lex always claimed he was capable of doing....and Lex just spits in his face. Or my personal favorite, when Superman goes to the Bizarro World, and there's no Bizarro Batman, because Bizarro Batman was shot by his parents.

There are a few bits I'm not crazy about--particularly the whole "Replacement Supermen" issue with the snooty Kryptonian astronauts. I personally thought that would've been better if they were replaced with someone like Zod or Brainiac. But overall, it is my absolute favorite Superman story ever written, and as io9 put it, "the only Superman story you'll ever need to read."

 

[JAK®]

All Star Superman is so idiosyncratic in both story and art that if you don't like what makes it what it is then there is no way you will ever like it.

I happen to think it's a masterpiece.

 

[fifthfiend]

Bite me.

Nubsie, what avatar was it that got that dude all angry?

I'd hate to think I missed out on being offended at something.