Comic Books
SUPERMAN #701
J. Michael Straczynski begins his highly anticipated run on SUPERMAN!
After the devastating events of WAR OF THE SUPERMEN, how can Superman possibly continue his battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way? Find out here in “Grounded” part 1 and get in on the starting line of a modern-classic SUPERMAN story!
Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKIArt by EDDY BARROWS & J.P. MAYER
Cover by JOHN CASSADAY
Variant cover by JOHN CASSADAY
Price: $2.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 1.9%
Reviews
| User | Added | Spoilers | |
| Mookiblaylock | 08/02/10 | No | Read Review |
| DemonBoy | 07/16/10 | Yes | Read Review |
| torgelfi | 07/16/10 | No | Read Review |
| AndyL | 07/15/10 | Yes | Read Review |
| jerichobp | 07/15/10 | No | Read Review |
| lmiller31 | 07/15/10 | No | Read Review |
| Nick Fovargue | 07/14/10 | Yes | Read Review |
| KingTorg | 07/14/10 | No | Read Review |
| TheNextChampion | 07/14/10 | No | Read Review |
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this may be my last issue
That cover makes me hate #700, and I haven’t even gotten around to reading it yet.
I’m going to give Mr. Straczynski a chance. I don’t think I’ve ever read more than an issue or two of his work, but I want to like Superman, so I’m picking this up.
JMS’s Thor was great and he has done well in the past. Give him a chance. It’s possible this story will not be a retread. I like Barrows, I just wish they had a bigger star penciling Superman; like Frank or even Cassaday.
So excited for this. I’m not gonna let nitpicks or bad reviews sway me. This will be a good start of a good storyline. I can feel it.
@TNC
But it began last issue…
Anyways, yeah I can see myself dropping this fast.
I really liked the preview for this. I eve reread it a few times after all the negative reactions. I am eagerly anticipating this one.
I was going to try this, as I actually like the early years of JMS Spider-man, but the preview in 700 really soured me on it.
@Zeppo – Same here. I was really hyped to pick this up until that preview. LOVED JMS on Thor, but this story feels like a cheap, lazy pastiche of a thousand that I’ve already read. Anyway, it’s not like it’s going anywhere. If it’s awesome I’ll pick it up in trades.
I’m going to give this a shot, I want to like it but we’ll see.
@CaseyJustice
My thoughts exactly. I just felt there was so many other ways Superman could start this journey. I wouldn’t have even minded if that lady’s husband died in the War, but I think it’s a little silly if we expect Superman to heal everyone.
My biggest problem with this is probably going to be the misunderstanding about Superman’s powers. How would his laser vision damage only the cancerous tissue from the last issue? Its a straight line. Not magic.
That being said I have hope. But I’m only giving it one issue to grab me.
@Minion
Supes had done that sort of thing before actually (Action Comics #775)
You know I think I’m of the opposite, negative opinion about this book than most others. I’m not sure I like Superman enough to continue reading JMS’s story with him. THe story sort of epitomizes what I dislike about modern Superman. He always seems mopey and bothered by his powers and needing to reconnect with humanity (usually through a speech from Pa Kent!). I;ll give this a shot, but I may not stick around. I can say, I’m not a fan of the giant S shield on Supes chest Cassaday has there. (Alex Ross does the same thing!) Sticks out, and not in a good way.
@NawidA
And that’s why I pick and choose the superman stories I read. Superman Brainiac was great and that’s the last thing I have read about Superman.
I’m not judging this based on the paper thin premise that was introduced in the last issue. I’ll give JMS a few issues because I love his work and the guy has wanted to write Superman for years, so I’m very curious to see what he does with the character.
People are obsessing too much about the crazy woman who wanted Superman to operate on her husband. She was crazy. Every reporter there thought she was a nutball. I don’t think Superman was agreeing that he should wander the Earth and perform pinpoint surgery, it was just a slap that made him think about some stuff in a different way. Set him going on a path he had been mulling over for a while anyway. That being said, the preview did not draw me in or build tension in an interesting way for me. But I’ll give JMS an issue or two to play with and we’ll see.
I think it was JMS just saying that Supermab has lost his touch with the people of Earth. He got so caught up with New Krypton that he ignored everyone on the planet he really grew up with. I really don’t see why it’s so hard to some people to grasp that.
Correction: Superman and not Supermab
Typing on an iPod sucks.
I have a feeling this is gonna be very preachy…
Im going to give this a shot. i havent had the complete exposure to JMS that everyone seems to have had, only reading THor, which i found good.
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So, what are you gonna do again?
Walk the earth, get back in touch with man
What do you mean walk the earth?
You know, like Caine in ‘Kung Fu’
No, Superman, you’re gonna be a bum. You’re telling me that you are going to be a bum
I’ll give it a try, see where it goes.
Untill he walks across my country Im not giving this a shot
Can someone clarify this for me? Is Superman going to walk the entire United States? Including Hawaii and Alaska?
The variant cover is almost enough to buy just for the art.
http://www.ifanboy.com/content/articles/DC_s_75th_Anniversary_Variant_Covers
@AmirCat I love it. JMS has pitched a bold 52 issue arc where each issue has Superman walking through their state. Many exciting mysteries are uncovered, like what exactly is a Palmetto? And what will they "Show Me" in Missouri? One week we are in South Dakota and then boom, the world is topsy turvy because we are now in North Dakota. Don’t miss where he visits the protectorates of Puerto Rico and Guam! JMS anticpates the entire, gripping run should last about 8-9 years when accounting for his standard production schedule. Let’s get Super!
I really think the ten-page preview was probably the worst way they could have started with this storyline. The preview for #701 was really good–answered some questions in-story that a lot of people had, and I liked the scene of the guy snapping at another person trying to give him advice on the car, and turning to find that it’s Superman. 😀
The final cover is amazing. Very simple. Best superman cover in a long time.
Any word on how good this issue is? Where is Akamuu when you need him most?
@amircat I read it on my break. I really enjoyed it. But I’m a huge JMS fan so I may be just a little biased.
This was a lot of fun to read. JMS starts off really strong with this issue. If it really is going to be Sups just walking the whole time and nothing more. Then JMS has some big BALLS. Barrows though did kinda bring this issue down a bit. Did not like his art as much. Still a nice solid issue and I can’t wait to see where this takes us.
4/5
*Oh and did anyone else notice the Peter Parker cameo?*
@Trichon – I am going to probably read it this weekend. I am a huge fan of JMS’s Thor, so I am gonna give him a shot for a while.
@JimBilly – Nice, sounds exciting.
I want to see the follow-up story where that little kid delivers Superman’s ultimatum to the drug dealer. I assume he gets curb-stomped.
I found this to be extremly pretenious. Also, that looks nothing like South Philly
As a native of Philadelphia I was offended by this issue.
Ok, sort of jokes aside, not a bad issue but I don’t want to read this for 11 more issues. Needs more of a hook than just him walking around but to be fair this is the first issue.
Who was the friend who Superman was refering to when he was talking to the jumper? Cause for some reason I think he means Element Girl
I really liked this issue. I’m not a Superman or JMS fan but I would rather have this then a big huge battle thing or monster of the week.
This is giving the opportunity for Superman to fail and succeed in small ways that are emotionally moving. Rather then unquantifiable massive world ending situations.
I got as far as the first panel.
48th street is WEST Philly, and the south side what, National Park?
I’m not usually a stickler for stuff like this, I don’t even care that it doesn’t look like South Philly. But seriously I think either JMS or Barrows can look at a map and get the streets right.
I thought this was definitely the most interesting book I read this week. I think it’s a pretty damn good start. Only reason, I’m not giving it five stars is that the art is not good at all. It feels rushed and unfitting. Really needs a cleaner and more expressive look.
Some parts actually made laugh, Not the best issue. Gonna keep reading until an issue that is horrible and wont think twice about dropping it.
JMS is on a really short leash with me. That being said, I thought this was a mostly solid first issue.
I didn’t buy the gang-banger sequence though. I’m not sure if an x-ray vison search WOULD be inadmissble. He’s out of his technical jurisdiction, but Superman has always been depicted as deputized by the Metropolis PD, and he would certainly have probable cause to search a den of crack houses. The bangers basically ADMITTED in the first panel they appeared in that they were selling drugs.
I’m also not convinced that there’s a year’s worth of story here. The glacial pace is what drove be away from THOR.
Still, there was enough here top keep me around for the next few issues at least.
so judging from the sign behind him, Superman moonwalked out of town?
@leigh-Damn straight he did.
@leigh
Sir, you just made me declare this my POTW.
If JMS were to go in a direction of the public turning on Superman and making his trek a subject of ridicule this could get interesting. If he makes this journey only to have his Smallville values crushed and gets an idea how bad earth can be, that might get interesting.
MY #1 complaint, shouldn’t he be walking the globe instead of just the USA?
JMS needs to check himself for hubris contamination.
I really liked this issue and I’m excited to see where this is headed. I’ve found more interest in the character in this one issue than I have in years. I like the parallel between Superman trying to find himself and reconnect with the people and JMS trying to flesh out the character and reconnect him with us the readers. Even though I haven’t finished all of my books yet, this is a strong contender for POTW for me.
I really liked this issue. It wasn’t amazing, and just a little preachy, but I liked it. Superman seemed to be inline with the slightly superior, goofy big blue boy scout I’ve always known. There’s a very George Reeves quality to Superman helping fix a car. Barrows art was good, but weird in places. 4/5.
@Prax: I’ve been struggling with how to feel about this book all day, and you just summed up the feelings I couldn’t understand. That is exactly how I feel about this issue. Whew, glad I got that straightened out.
I think this issue confirmed that I don’t like JMS.
It read to me like JMS read All Star Superman #10 and said "I can top that". And then failed.
His idea that the media would wander away and not care what Superman was doing after a day or two also struck me as ridiculous. In this day and age with the 24 hour news cycle, he’d be live-streamed 24 hours a day with his own special channel.
I can respect what he’s trying to accomplish here, but I’m just not feeling spending money on it. At least there’s Wonder Woman.
I really enjoyed the hell out of this. I think for awhile I let the iFanboys and this sight and even a few others convince me that maybe I didn’t like JMS as much as I did when he wrote Thor or Spider-Man but now I know I really enjoy his work and pretty much always have. I’m excited for this story and the Wonder Woman one and pretty much anything he has to throw at us in Brave and the Bold…so fuck all the haters. I’m a JMS fan!
Some of it got REALLY close to feeling a bit too preachy, but I’m still interested to see where this will go.
Why is it that when a big city shows up in a comic, everyone feels the need to harp when the streets aren’t an exact match? New York City and parts of LA and Chicago are about the only places that really get away with that. I don’t expect the artist to break out a map of Seattle or Houston when a story is set in those cities…I don’t go analying city block by city block. It’s nice to catch on occasion but if Superman’s travelling the country, or the world, I dont need the artist getting bogged down trying to match a city exactly.
Someone suggested that it would have been nice to get some Philadelphia landmarks like the Liberty Bell in there. Perhaps, but thats really not what this story was about. This is about reconnecting with the people in their day to day lives. I think it would have detracted more from the human element if they spent time working in the landmarks.
To the person who commented about the use of the term Philly Cheese Steak…it was Superman’s order. He’s not FROM Philadelphia…so cut him some slack on not knowing how a Philadelphian would order it. The waitress replying to his order simply mirrored his term. That’s fairly realistic dialogue.
There’s an awful lot of naysayers out there…I don’t expect every single comment to alway be positive. But get a grip, we’re still coming down off of a high-octane adventure that lasted well over a year. It was a storyline that really focused heavily on supervillains and alien worlds. We’re now being presented with two radically different stories in Action and Superman. One will focus for a while on Lex Luthor and presumably be …Action-driven (imagine that). The Superman title going to take the opposite approach and focus on Superman reconnecting with the people and drum up some human interest stories. If they want to spend the next 6 months to a year doing this… I’m ok with that. There’s plenty of places to find heavy action storylines elsewhere. ONE book that spotlights the human interest for a while…I’m good with that.
Superman fighting super villains…we’ve all seen that, and we’ll see that again. Superman fighting alien conquerors? Yep seen that too, and you know we’ll see that again as well. Superman fighting bank robbers? Doesn’t even merit an entire storyline, at best its a few pages. Superman is THE most powerful iconic hero in comics…he outmatches just about every opponent that comes his way.
What makes him interesting isn’t the fight, its how he relates to those around him, and the consequences for everything that occurs. Superman has seen the death of Pa Kent, the dark side of his native Kryptonians, betrayal by his father-in-law, the destruction of New Krypton, and the absence of a boy he considered to be his own child. Sorry guys, but I don’t think he can take much more abuse in his life. He’s Superman but he’s not perfect. He has a LOT of grieving to do, and a lot of reconnecting back to the people and that’s why I’m willing to see this through for the next 6-12 months. You wanna know why Superman still "matters"? For me, the human interest stuff is why he still matters.
I have no pre-conceived feelings about JMS going into this–I read that Barbara Gordon issue of Brave and the Bold that he did and loved it, read a random issue of his Thor run and it didn’t grab me, and that’s my only experience with him prior to the start of his Superman and Wonder Woman runs. This issue convinced me that of the Superman books, I’m going to read Action Comics, and of JMS’ two big books, I’m going to read Wonder Woman. This issue was just boring and preachy, and I’m just not interested in watching Superman walk for however many issues. I’ll be curious to learn what JMS’ next move is–presumably he’s going to stop walking the earth at some point–but this storyline is not for me.
So he is Forrest Gump now?
And how many husbands dies of anything while he is wasting his time on walking?
Wow, this sucked. That was the least efficient Superman I’ve ever seen. I thought this was going to kind of preachy, but it blew me away with it’s lameness.
Not the worst Superman comic I’ve ever read, but dialog-wise, the following really put me off…
"Yes, but they wont be here anymore, and that’s a step in the right direction. See, in the end, all we can do is look at where we are, at where we’re standing, and say we will not allow this, here. Over there has to stand for itself, has to speak for itself. Because it’s only when over there becomes here that we can stop this once and for all. And from now on, my eye will be right here."
Ugh! Should I swallow the vomit in my mouth, or spit it out?
This was by far the BEST issue I HAVE EVER READ, OF ANY COMIC!!! Talk about humanity and how we need to view each other. "Because it’s only when OVER THERE becomes HERE that we can stop this once and for all" started the thesis and continued until finally S challenges us all by saying "…then I say to you, from somewhere deep inside that box– — What are you doing out there?" I cannot believe that I have had the privilege of reading such as this. KUDOS to Straczynski for putting this out there! PROFOUND…..
As to Philly streets – Using Google not only can one find exact streets in 3 seconds, but you can use the street images from Google to get exactly what they look like. All this, in five minues, from your home computer. Is it necessary to tell the story? No. But don’t act like it was some major undertaking. The writer/artist chose not to care about it. Whether that is important or not is up to the individual reader.
I loved this issue, I don’t know what people’s problem is with it.