Alan Moore's: Supreme: The Return [Paperback]

Following last year's Supreme: The Story of the Year, here are the remaining stories in Moore's provocative reinvention of Rob Liefeld's mediocre superhero. The story doesn't feel as complete as the earlier saga, since Liefeld's company collapsed before Moore's last two scripts in this plot arc could be illustrated and published, but it's still remarkable. With hulking blond Supreme now in full possession of his pals, toys and mortal enemies, Moore is free to explore the existence of a comics superhero who possesses superhuman powers but who can be "revised" without warning by inept human publishers who want to exploit a fad. Comics are bigger than that, Moore suggests. There's something wonderful about how humans keep extending our imaginations beyond our everyday needs. There's also something absurd about the ways we childishly fumble when we try to imagine superhuman characters, and Moore is skilled at writing underplayed, deadpan comedy. Supreme is smart but na‹ve and dim in his personal relationships. But he's learning. Moore also deftly exploits opportunities for outrageous farce. Like all great humor, though, Supreme concerns serious subjects. Moore has always been obsessed by how we try to escape reality's constraints by imagining superheroes-by what that does for readers and what it does to them. The results are both ridiculous and hopeful, and Moore (assisted by a talented crew of artists) is smart and creative enough to effectively work out his ideas. It's even ironically appropriate that the story ends unfinished, since it illustrates how the grubby real world interferes with comics creators' imagination.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Moore, writer of the acclaimed From Hell (2000), returned to superhero comics with Supreme, a tribute to and knockoff of the original superpowered crime fighter, Superman. Best known for bringing realism to superhero comics in the 1980s, Moore is more playful here, reconciling the juvenile elements of the Man of Steel's adventures with the greater sophistication of contemporary comics. Like the 1960s Superman, Supreme has a mild-mannered, bespectacled cover identity, is accompanied by a younger female version of himself, and has an evil-genius arch-foe and even a superpowered pet. Moore skillfully toys with superhero conventions, and the Supreme stories become fashionably "meta" as the characters begin to get inklings of their existence as comic-book heroes. Not nearly as profound as Moore's more ambitious works, this is a marriage of two qualities usually mutually exclusive in superhero comics, intelligence and fun; Superman should be in stories this satisfying. Moore's devoted following will seek out this collection, while others old enough to recall the decades-old stories that inspired it will appreciate it, too. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Alan Moore follows his Eisner Award-winning "The Story of the Year" supreme script with "The Return," presented here in its entirety for the first time. Featuring the art of Chris Sprouse (Tom Strong) and ingenious flash-back sequences by Rick Veitch. Plus, cameos by Gil Kane and Jim Starlin.

Alan Moore is a Checker Publishing author.