Luke
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Post by Luke on Aug 3, 2008 14:24:30 GMT -5
So rather than asking for titles or issues I thought this thread may be used for listing all titles and which issues are worth reading. I can then probably edit this first post to include ALL recommendations if enough people contribute and this thread can then be used as a jumping point for anyone wanting to read any Supes stuff. Maybe also include new stuff as I hear it's exciting times at the moment.
I do know where I should probably start in one case however. Superman For All Seasons.
I am a Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale fan. Loved Daredvil: Yellow and Spiderman: Blue and it was for this reason that a friend lent me this. However that was ages ago and I still have it and have never read it and I really should try and contact him and return it and find my own copy.
So what else?
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Post by Valentine Smith on Aug 3, 2008 18:29:48 GMT -5
Man For All Seasons IS a safe bet. Well worth your time.
Byrne's The Man Of Steel is good. Not great. But very good. Love his artwork, and his Reeve-like Superman.
But as for RECENT stuff...
JUST released in hardcover is Geoff Johns' and Gary Frank's "Superman And The Legion of Super Heroes" from Action Comics. Gary Frank draws THE most Reeve-like Superman of them all, and this story basically re-introduces the Legion to Superman's history (which was written out by Byrne) in a really fun and exciting way.
Also, GO NOW to your local comic shop, and pick up the two most recent issues of Action Comics, also by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. This current Brainiac story is the lead-in to "New Krypton" (see the other thread), and this reads like if Donner did Superman 3, and told us a proper Brainiac story.
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Luke
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Post by Luke on Aug 3, 2008 18:42:56 GMT -5
Cheers Val.  No Alan Moore though? I've always been tempted to get Byrnes stuff but it's one of those things. Getting round to it. I HAVE in the past got my arse into gear and picked up a shed load of essential reading from glory days (Clairmont's X-Men and Miller's Daredevil). It's about time I got Byrne's Supes. |
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Post by Valentine Smith on Aug 3, 2008 20:57:30 GMT -5
oh, duh...
Moore did two issues, which is the "Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow", which DC used to kinda close the book on the pre-Crisis, pre-Byrne Superman. It's possibly the greatest Superman story ever told.
"All Star Superman" (set to conclude next month with issue 12) by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely is kinda like a re-visiting of pre-Byrne Superman. To me, it's perfect in nearly every way, but it's not for post-Crisis heads or continuity freaks. The idea here is that "everything happened", and it's Morrison telling a completely bizarre, psychedelic, silver-age style SCI-FI Superman story.
(more later)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2008 22:14:57 GMT -5
Are you going mostly for TPBs or does it matter?
I find Adventures of Superman from around issue 460 to about 475 being pretty goddamn fantastic. Art by Jurgens, finishes by Thibert, Christ, the art is so fun to look at. And good stories, too. I mean, you're better off asking me what issues NOT to read, because I've read a SHIT ton of Superman comics and I enjoyed most of them.
TPBs:
Exile
Time and Time Again (hard to find?)
Crisis of the Red Kryptonite (something like that, I dunno)
Secret Identity is a good one, too. It's based in the real world where Superman is a ficticious character but someone in that real world develops the powers, whose name happens to be Clark Kent. It's great.
Avoid the For Tomorrow series. Beautiful art, awful story.
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Luke
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Post by Luke on Aug 3, 2008 22:55:28 GMT -5
Cheers Kev.
To be honest I'm a bit of a tart and I'll go for anything so ANY recomendations at all. If there's just one issue of one of the series or a collection of individual issues or a full on graphic novel then recommend away.
As I say I'll probably edit the main post to include them all so it can be a jumping point for anybody else or maybe there's some regulars who will have missed that one classic story.
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Luke
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Post by Luke on Aug 3, 2008 22:57:08 GMT -5
Say, wasn't there a Donner one? Was that any good?
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Post by Matt in the Hat on Aug 4, 2008 12:39:32 GMT -5
Superman: Last Son by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner. FINALLY released now on Hardcover.
Oh, and I may be in the minority, but Superman: Birthright is a great stand-alone retelling of the origin brought up to date.
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Luke
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Post by Luke on Aug 4, 2008 12:57:47 GMT -5
That's the jobbie Matt.
This was serialised in one of the comics first though wasn't it? Any idea which ones?
Probably get the hardcover anyway but just interested. Might be helpful for when I edit the main post.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2008 13:53:13 GMT -5
Oh yeah. Birthright. It ain't bad. Has a lot of great stuff and a lot of stupid stuff.
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Post by Matt in the Hat on Aug 5, 2008 2:47:38 GMT -5
Also, I've only read a bit of For Tomorrow, and yes. It sucks.
Plus, I really DON'T like Jim Lee's art. Mainly for the fact that his Superman either expresses rage or silence. How can you use the same facial expression for happy, sad, lonely, contemplative, and curious all at the same time?
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Post by Valentine Smith on Aug 5, 2008 6:39:45 GMT -5
Really not a fan of Birthright. At all. Which is weird, because Waid is a fantastic writer and really "gets" Superman.
I like some of the concepts he introduces, particularly the way Krypton looks and is handled, and ESPECIALLY the fact that he finally brings in the "S" as Kryptonian symbol concept.
But, the rest of it is forced and poorly paced, with some weirdly inappropriate Spider-Man style "neurotic" dialogue.
Plus (not that I give a DAMN about continuity), this has already been swept under the rug as far as DC editorial goes.
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Post by Jor-L5150 on Aug 22, 2008 14:40:30 GMT -5
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Post by Valentine Smith on Aug 22, 2008 18:57:10 GMT -5
I actually just re-read the first 3 years or so of Action/Superman/Adventures with the post Byrne stuff. Some of it is still great, and some of it is...garbage.
But, I gotta appreciate the gutsiness of it. I was 8 years old when it happened, and was already 5 years into reading Superman comics, cartoons, novels, etc. But I welcomed the change, just for the idea of getting in on the ground floor of the character.
Some of it is great and REALLY still holds up. But SO much of it is completely throwaway and forgettable. And not even in a fun, science-fiction way that many single issue Pre-Crisis Superman books are. They stripped so many of the sci-fi elements away (later brought back in the Ordway/Stern/Jurgens years...the BEST of the post-Crisis stuff by FAR) that the many of these 1986-1990 Superman books could have featured another character and it would have made NO DIFFERENCE.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2008 0:26:46 GMT -5
Wha?
There's plenty of sci fi elements in those years! What about the Exile thing? And all those sci fi kinda villians?
I mean, I can see what you're seeing regarding a lot of the shit, though, I mean, let's face facts, Byrne sucked. Hard. Christ, his villians were always just so AWFUL.
I tell you what I really enjoy is the beginning of Jurgen's art run, around Adventures 460 I think? All the comics around that time, I guess that's what you meant, the Ordway/Stern/Jurgens era...hecks bells, pretty much from then 'til after Zero Hour I found entertainment in almost every single issue. (Except that one...uh...Red Crystal storyline? Not the Red K, but the Red Crystal that was on the moon or something like that. Bah. Stupid)
Jurgens and Thibert to this day is my favorite artist/inker duo.
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Post by Valentine Smith on Aug 23, 2008 8:49:11 GMT -5
Like I said...until we get into the Jurgens/Stern/Ordway years, there's not enough sci-fi, and Superman is a fundamentally sci-fi character.
Yeah, Around Adventures 460 up through the Death and Return is when the Superman books are at their absolute peak. After that...it's all downhill until recent years.
I now own (and have them in chronological order in my boxes) every single issue of an ongoing Superman book from the Man Of Steel reboot up through the Death And Return. I'm unloading everything after that, but before the new Johns/Donner/Busiek/Robinson books on Ebay.
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Post by Krypton Refugee on Sept 1, 2008 3:05:56 GMT -5
I just want to thank everyone for their input in this thread. I am basically a comic book newbie, read a few growing up here and there but I was always a much bigger fan of the Supes movies than I was of any of the comics. Now, because of this thread, I have picked up Superman For All Seasons and have ordered the Geoff Johns/Richard Donner Last Son hardcover. I just started For All Seasons earlier today and I am blown away so far. I could def. see this story making someone into a fan of the character. I am eagerly awaiting Last Son and I plan to pick up the current Action Comics Brainiac run as well. A Donner tinged Brainiac story? Count me in!! Bats and The Killing Joke is next for me. Thanks again |
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Post by Jor-L5150 on Dec 19, 2008 15:17:02 GMT -5
I just want to thank everyone for their input in this thread. I am basically a comic book newbie, read a few growing up here and there but I was always a much bigger fan of the Supes movies than I was of any of the comics. Now, because of this thread, I have picked up Superman For All Seasons and have ordered the Geoff Johns/Richard Donner Last Son hardcover. I just started For All Seasons earlier today and I am blown away so far. I could def. see this story making someone into a fan of the character. I am eagerly awaiting Last Son and I plan to pick up the current Action Comics Brainiac run as well. A Donner tinged Brainiac story? Count me in!! Bats and The Killing Joke is next for me. Thanks again you...muuuuussssssttt....get ...the alan moore...ssssuperman booksss!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Post by Matt in the Hat on Dec 19, 2008 23:11:06 GMT -5
For the man who has everything is in the first version of "the greatest Superman stories ever told", released in 1988.
"Whatever Happened to the man of tomorrow" has it's own collected version in TPB.
The Alan Moore Swamp Thing story is in a separate one as well. I believe there is a TPB with it present, but can't remember which one.
These stories are a little spread out over various versions, but worth it.
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Post by Matt in the Hat on Dec 19, 2008 23:12:56 GMT -5
Like I said...until we get into the Jurgens/Stern/Ordway years, there's not enough sci-fi, and Superman is a fundamentally sci-fi character. Yeah, Around Adventures 460 up through the Death and Return is when the Superman books are at their absolute peak. After that...it's all downhill until recent years. I now own (and have them in chronological order in my boxes) every single issue of an ongoing Superman book from the Man Of Steel reboot up through the Death And Return. I'm unloading everything after that, but before the new Johns/Donner/Busiek/Robinson books on Ebay. There's a good amount of stuff though. The various Krypton Man storylines come to mind. Check out the "Eradication" Paperback if you can find it. |
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Post by Valentine Smith on Dec 23, 2008 20:32:28 GMT -5
Both of those Krypton Man stories are fantastic, as is the original Superman In Space epic.
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david
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Post by david on Feb 15, 2009 22:34:26 GMT -5
Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3-D. It's a two issue mini-series. The artwork is fantastic. The story is magnificent. The deal with Overman and Ultraman is quite intriguing.
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Post by Valentine Smith on Feb 28, 2009 10:41:54 GMT -5
Loved this. Completely incomprehensible if you don't read Final Crisis though. And even then, some may argue it's STILL completely incomprehensible!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2009 15:23:02 GMT -5
Fuck, I've got a shit ton of catching up to do with Final Crisis. Dammit.
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cypher85
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Post by cypher85 on Mar 8, 2009 0:58:29 GMT -5
Shouldn't be a problem, KL is the best thing since peanut butter to jelly.
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