Comic Review: All Star Superman by Grant Morrison
Few comic book writers are as prolific and divisive as Grant Morrison. His late 90’s JLA run left a strong impression on me in my formative years, and I remember having many intensely nerdy debates with defenders of his ambitious but bewildering definitive Justice League work, Final Crisis. Morrison is overflowing with fascinating ideas that do not always gel into a quality story. His particular take on iconic characters like Wonder Woman misses the mark at times. Thankfully, All-Star Superman avoids both of these missteps. Unlike Frank Miller’s disappointing bordering on satirical take on the caped crusader in All-Star Batman, here Morrison shows us the best of what Superman can be and should be.
Broken up into two volumes All-Star Superman was published between 2005 and 2008 in the heyday Bush’s second term, the Iraq War, and the early years of social media. The underlying theme is ‘hope.’ That is what Superman represents. The story begins with Lex Luthor sabotaging a mission to study the Sun causing Superman to absorb a huge amount of solar radiation. This makes him more powerful but also is slowly killing him. With one year left to live we follow Superman on a number of adventures battling classic villains like Bizarro and Parasite, spending time with his beloved Lois Lane, and thwarting one final grand scheme from Lex Luthor, who breaks out of prison after being sentenced to death.
The first big positive you can appreciate immediately is the luscious artwork. Frank Quitely’s take on Superman is quite distinct. It is romantic and vibrant yet also very human and detailed. I love Superman’s stocky square-jawed build and how Clark Kent masks it with just his posture and demeanor. The story does a lot to help the art by giving Superman so many neat little side adventures, such as a fun date with a temporarily superpowered Lois Lane, a run-in with Bizarro on his cube-shaped planet, a battle alongside Supermen from the future against the time-devouring monster chrono-vore, and numerous other cool adventures among his “12 great labors” in the time leading up to his death.
The “aw shucks” wacky sci-fi energy is a big part of what makes All-Star Superman so much fun. It doesn’t just understand Superman’s personality but it also understands how to really get a lot out of the possibilities of a man with his kind of powers. The guy can fly to the Sun, crush mountains, freeze oceans, and basically do anything. Why waste that on melodrama or conventional obstacles. In one panel Kal El notes that he is, “the son of a scientist,” and the story really digs into that demonstrating his curiosity about his different opponents and his rigorous investigation of his own illness. Superman is so often dumbed-down in comic stories, especially when placed alongside Batman because we certainly can’t have old Bruce feeling useless. But both All-Star Superman and Superman Earth One stand out as comics that remind us of the character’s genius intellect. I get why writers don’t always go there (he’s already very overpowered) but I personally think it makes his character even more interesting.
Lex Luthor is also in top form here. During a really fun prison interview bit with Clark Kent we get a peak into his humanist motivations for opposing Superman. Though his actions are villainous, his point about Superman undermining humanity’s independence and vision is well-taken. The ending fight with Superman has a clever resolution that further humanizes Luthor as he for the first time sees the universe with the same eyes as Kal El. It’s a great character moment for him and is followed by a bittersweet but hopeful ending.
I loved All-Star Superman from start to finish. It’s rare to see a work that so perfectly realizes not only the Man of Steel, but also gives us the best take on his villains. I can’t recommend this one enough to fans. Even better, there is a pretty faithful animated film version worth checking out if you’re not into reading comic books.
Grade: A
