Comic Geek Review - "All Star Superman #8"

A new correspond ant has joined the ranks of TheTwoCents.

TM, who refers to himself lovingly as a "Comic Geek" will be reviewing the latest and greatest in the world of comics.

Here is his first submission. Welcome to the team TM!

[submitted by TM]

The Comic Geek review of:

ALL STAR SUPERMAN #8

DC Comics: Release date 07-05-07

Written by Grant Morrison, Art by Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant, Cover by Frank Quitely.

All Star Superman is one of the two titles in the DC comics All Star imprint. (All Star Batman is the other) These books are DC’s attempt to allow all star comic artists and writers a chance to tell stories showcasing the main DC characters, without being restricted by DC Universe continuity.

The plot:
A horrific Bizarro plague spreads across Metropolis leaving terrified Daily Planet staffers holed up at the office as Superman is trapped in the reverse madness of a dying Bizarro World!

What is a Bizarro?:
An imperfect duplicate of Superman made using a stolen strand of Superman's DNA by Lex Luthor. The cloning process was unstable and the Superman clone mutated in form and mind into a grotesque parody of the Man of Steel dubbed a "Bizzaro" by a horrified Metropolis. Possessing bits of the original Superman's memory, Bizzaro set about imitating Superman's heroic actions with disastrous results.

What happens?
In this version there is a whole mad world of Superman-like beings with Paris Hilton-like brains. (This is referred to as Bizarro World) The planet is dying and on the whole planet there is only one smart Bizarro. (Zibarro) It is Zibarro’s job to help a sick and dying Superman motivate and supervise a cast of some of dimmest bulbs ever seen to build him a rocket to escape the planet. The premise and the idea behind the story was good, and if executed properly it could have been great unfortunately a comic full of backwards speaking Superman clones leads to confusion and a big fat head ache. Bizarro versions of Superman’s father Jor-El, Green Lantern & the Flash were highlights. (A Green Lantern with a brain powered power ring that is worthless as Bizarro’s are brainless, and a Flash who’s top speed is two inches per hour is quite comical) and made this book a decent read, but it is not a book I recommend for a first time buyer , a child or a casual reader as the book was hard to follow and understand, and by far the worst of the series so far.

That said Grant Morrison is one of the best comic writers in the business today, and the artist on this book Frank Quietly is brilliant and a future star. The art and coloring in this book truly is All Star in caliber. My recommendation is to pick up All Star Superman Volume 1 featuring the first six issues of the series. “A back to basics new vision of the World's First Super-Hero”

All Star Superman 8 rating 2 of 5
Overall Series rating 4 of 5

Please look for my upcoming review of:
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN # 111