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I love it when a plan comes together.
Geoff Johns began the revitalization of Superman in 2008, and this year all of the ground work that he laid last month is finally bearing fruit.
Exciting, exciting fruit.
Johns spent most of 2008 setting up the new Superman status quo in the New Krypton storyline and now that we (nominally) know the players and where they exist on the chessboard, it’s finally time to start playing.
Much like the writing team on the most excellent 52, Johns is not handling this sprawling Superman tale alone. James Robinson and Greg Rucka have joined Johns and will be handling some of the writing chores. Robinson and Rucka are co-writing this 12 issue mini-series as well as handling their own books, Robinson on Superman and Rucka on Action Comics. Along with Sterling Gates on Supergirl, which has been excellent, and Johns on the year long Superman: Secret Origin (which you just know is going to tie into all of this) what we have here is the makings of a sprawling, intricate, and hopefully compelling year long adventure for the Man of Steel the likes of which we haven’t seen in… hell, I can’t even remember the last time anything this audacious was planned for Superman.
All I know is that when I got to the bottom of the final page and it indicated the issues that were coming at us in the upcoming weeks I got really pumped. I wanted to read those issues NOW. Superman’s story is basically going to be a weekly series and while Greg Rucka might be crazy to jump back into that again, I couldn’t be happier.
But I’m getting ahead of myself, what about the issue itself?
When last we saw Superman he made the tough decision to leave Earth and travel to New Krypton, which is currently in synchronous orbit with Earth on the other side of the Sun, and thus completely hidden from Earth. He made this extremely hard decision for two reasons. One, because he knows that the more dangerous elements on New Krypton (i.e. General Zod, who would ask that you kneel before him) have something planned for Earth. And two, for his entire life he has thought himself to be the Last Son of Krypton. Even with the existence of his cousin Supergirl, and even with the bottle city of Kandor, he thought of himself as the last of his race. And now there is en entire planet of his people and the siren call of curiosity is strong. Earth may be his home, the place where his friends and his family live, but New Krypton is where is people are, and after so many years of isolation there is no way that Superman is not going over to New Krypton, at least for a little while.
As Superman: World of New Krypton #1 opens, Superman has arrived on New Krypton and immediately finds a whole mess of conflict. Some of it is physical, but it is mostly good, quality character conflict. Zod and the military are immediately suspicious of his arrival, and New Krypton’s leader – his Aunt Alura – is, on the surface, happy to see him but we know from previous stories that she is cold and calculating and not to be trusted, and I’m sure that her wheels are turning now that Kal-El has arrived. Superman is introduced to a world that is entirely foreign to him in just about every conceivable way. And the first thing that he has to learn is that Kryptonian society is run on a strict caste based system made up of different Guilds – the Science Guild (which is who Jor-El belonged to), the Artists Guild, the Military Guild, and the Labor Guild (a subservient Guild that acts as de facto slaves to the other Guilds, and the Guild that his mother Lara came from). As you might imagine, this societal system doesn’t sit well with Superman. But you can’t change an entire culture on your first day, so Superman has to toe the line and the Guild he ends up with (he won’t choose one, so one is chosen for him) is rife with interesting possibilities.
One thing that I really liked about this issue is that Robinson and Rucka explored the idea that even though these Kryptonians are now living under a yellow sun and are thus all powerful like Superman, they have only just acquired these super powers, whereas Superman has had them for most of his life. He is much better with them than they are, he’s more dangerous in a fight. It’s a clever way of dropping Superman into the middle of a world of people just like him but allowing him to still stay Super. It also allows for some comedy, in that there are quite a few people (including Superman’s guide) who can’t quite get the hang of flying.
If this is the world that Superman is going to inhabit for the next 12 months we’re in for some great stuff.
I’ve always been a big fan of Pete Woods. His style has evolved over the years and for a while I didn’t like his art as much as I did his earlier stuff, he is now at a really strong place, artistically. The work he has done in this issue is the best work I’ve seen out of him in years. Brad Anderson must be commended as well for some really sharp color work. His shadows in the bright, almost Technicolor world of New Krypton look like they are applied with charcoal. It’s a really nice effect.
The Superman books have been firing on all cylinders for me for the past year and if it’s even possible, I’m more excited for what’s to come. With the assumed grand, intricately woven story set to take place between Superman: World of New Krypton, Superman, Action Comics, Supergirl, and Superman: Secret Origin, 2009 is going to be a great time to be a Superman fan.
(Or reader. You don’t have to be a “Superman fan” to enjoy these books)
Conor Kilpatrick
Up, up and away!
conor@ifanboy.com
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this was a very good story. i liked how supermans integrating in order to understand the reason the kyptonians are on Earth. i liked Pete Woods work. Also i just though this was an amazing superman issue and liked how hes part of Zods army.
ps- Its an ALL SUPERMAN podcast on Sunday with Supes POTW and All-Star Supes book of the month!! YES!
Great Review Conor, I look forward to reading this
@Conor, Ron and Josh,: Sorry, I know this is off topic but I have to say something.
I know some people (no names) that work at a paper here in Canberra. They forwarded me an email called “Comic Book Industry Experts to Help Understand Watchmen movie” about you guys promoting yourselves.
Ha ha. I totally know where you guys work now. It was just weird looking at my inbox and seeing that. Sorry. Sorry. Please don’t kick me off the board. Sorry
@edward: What do you mean where we work? Josh and I work here. Ron works here and at Revision3. It’s not a big secret.
or who does your PR.
Also not a secret. If it were, they would be bad at their job.
Oh, awesome, good to know this is keeping up the quality. I think I’m going to wait for trades of future Superman stories, but it’s good to see this getting such a positive response. Great review!
Awesome issue indeed sir!! I love Pete Woods’ work in it. I think its much stronger than what he did in the New Krypton crossover.
And loved how Supes schooled them in the art of heat vision! Curious to see what, if any, changes he can bring about to New Krypton’s social structure. Very very promising I think.
World Of New Krypton #1 was fucking excellent. My PotW as well. This is all so exciting!
Is it possible that the Superman books are the best thing going in comics right now? I think so. My POW as well.
Wow. Surprised by this being POW. Still, it was a good issue, I just found to be very (searches for term he used earlier) Paint-by-numbers. That is to say, we knew all of these constituent parts beforehand, save the caste system. I didn’t feel anything new was added to my understanding of the New Kryptonians. And many of the touches seemed superficial, i.e. we don’t really get any outward signs at dissatisfaction with the caste system. Even the dialogue lacked punch.
Speaking of punches, I was totally mystified by the fight in this issue. It really seemed oddly placed and I wasn’t quite sure of the intention. While I know there is bad blood between Non, Zod and Kal-El, I would think Zod would be trying to prove Kal-El wrong at every juncture and therefore preventing these things from happening. I look forward to the next issue. And am really excited for the upcoming books. Really, I’m jazzed for everything but this maxiseries. But then, I’ve never been a big Superman fan.
I’m a little sad because I feel that this book and all others this week won’t get their due, as their will probably be a watchmen podcast. It’s a sham, cause I really enjoyed some of my books, especially Back to Brooklyn and this
@Gabe: There will be two podcasts this week. One normal Pick of the Week show and one WATCHMEN show.
aww crap, does this mean we have to buy all four Superman books? To be honest, World of Krypton is the only book i want to read(since Supes wont be in the other books)
Also, about the podcasts, will there be a Wonder Woman film podcast(just picked it up today and it was awesome)
@conor: still, it is a crazy coincidence, I have no idea why that person thought to forward that to me. It’s a little insight into how you make to pancakes. “Comic Book Industry Experts” he he
And Come on, can’t we talk about Watchmen now?
the pancakes*
@edward: What do you mean where we work? Josh and I work here. Ron works here and at Revision3. It’s not a big secret.
@ Connor: You mean you guys actually get paid to do iFanboy?! If so, can I have a job? I write more reviews then all the interns put together most times.
good issue, but you dropped the ball on this one Conor, the best book of the week was Daredevil by far. Kingpin AND David Aja!
Loved this as well. A thrilling new direction for Superman.
Can someone clarify exactly why this is new reader friendly? Expressions such as "Earth on the other side of the Sun", "General Zod" and "bottle city of Kandor" mean absolutely nothing to me. How are these things made easily accessible?
I’m glad to hear this was good. I would really like to get into this Superman bonanza, but I just can’t afford to be reading 5 extra books a month (because if I’m buying one, I’ll want to buy them all). So I’m playing this monk style and abstaining from it all, hopefully to read it later in trades.
I’m all in for this. The Brainiac arc hooked me and now I’m in. I hope DC Is paying attention to what works (superman) and what doesn’t (whatever the hell is going on with Batman)
The idea of something being new reader friendly implies that it will explain the things you need.
It explains all you need to know to enjoy it without too much research. If you want to go deeper into plot elements like Kandor’s history and General Zod’s past, Wikipedia is free, quick, and easy. But you don’t have to. The research and exploration aspect of comics is part of the fun though, I think.
Good review. I was very happy with this book, as well. It is great to see everything coming together. I was planning on dropping Action Comics and Superman, but I’m very curious to see how these will all work together.
@josh
After you guys have discussed the magic of Johns, I started picking up books he was helming (I include the above, even though he wasn’t the writer) even picking up Lantern mid-story arc. And you guys were right, nearly every issue explains the things that need explaining, even if it is the first book of that character you ever read, and it is completely organic. Like the story or not he gives you everything that you need. The man is a master at his craft. He should be given a title for the superman books, like Executive Producer or something.
I was surprised at how good this book was. I thought it would be good, but not nearly as good as it was. Before I bought my books, I would have bet that Daredevil would have been the POW. And, after I read it, it indeed was POW worthy. But it didn’t have the sense of specialness (for lack of a better word) that Superman: World of Krypton had. The only think I would quibble with is that I thought that Superman/Kal-El should have joined the Science Guild, following in his father’s footsteps. I think some interesting stories could have come from that. But for him to be in the Military Guild makes sense story-wise too – keeping an eye on Zod and all. I agree with Conor about the excitement factor at the end of the book. I was revved up by the story and then saw how all the Superman books fell into place in the shipping schedule. I can’t wait to see how these books unfold. I’ve always been a Superman fan, but that doesn’t mean it has always been easy. Right now, Superman is as good as I can remember. For anyone on the fence, then this is the time for you to jump on. Seriously.
I’m stoked, can’t wait to read it over the weekend
I started to get this but I had more than enough books for the week already.
hmmm, I may have to pick this up. Only had 5 books this week, and that’s what I’ve been trying to reduce to… but… but… I read them all in one night! So… should I give this book a try? I got kinda burned out on the whole New Krypton mega-arc. I was enjoying Johns’ run, but Robinson’s not working for me here and neither was Gates. Still, I do like Robinson when he’s spot-on, and I do like Greg Rucka. Just not sure I want to jump back into the Super-verse…
That said, I gotta agree with Mike Graham — Daredevil was phenomenal. Brilliantly written and drawn.
@Dave – I think Rucka’s presence was really felt in this issue. It was markedly better than the previous Robinson issue.
I just noticed that there is another dog on New Krypton!! Could that mean more super pets? or a super dog fight??? Awesome
I wonder if Kandor has a zoo….
@Conor Thanks so much. Thats gota be plenty of work, much appriciated.
Nice pick Conor. I haven’t read all of my stack yet, but this was a really good issue. Nice way to kick off a story. Finally after SO much set-up, we are getting story!!! Awesome.
@neb — You could read this title on it’s own without worrying about the other Superman books. I’ve been reading all the Superman books, but will only be reading this one now, because I think it will be the best of the lot, & because it’s a Superman comic with Superman in it.
Ouch, my head hurt with this many changes of New Kripton….So Superman is no longer "The last man of Kripton" and this new Kripton is like that concept of Heroes Reborn, the "alter-Earth"??
I mean no offense, and i enjoy Geoff Johns’ GL and JLA and surely i’m gonna enjoy his upcoming Flash…but this is too much for me, specially that i left the SuperBooks after Infinite Crisis ended…..
Ohh, I just got around to reading this one and it was fantastic! Superman’s been really good lately and I had a blast reading this issue. I liked seeing that the New Kryptonians weren’t as adept at using their powers as Superman (which is a thing that has always bugged me in stories with other Kryptonians) I have to say, I find Alura oddly fascinating. And by fascinating I mean I kind of want to punch her.
@paul: there’s a zoo in the fortress
I’m aware, yes.
@jjcolin the only thing New Krypton has in common with the Heroes Reborn earth is the positioning – it’s anything but an altenate earth. It’s New Krypton, with different people, philosophies, politics and so on.
Nice review Conor, glad you made this book your pick. I do hope Lois joins Clark over on NK before the storyline is up, she really has to meet Wicked Aunt Alura.