Return of Superman [Paperback]

The 3rd part of The Death Of Superman saga, called obviously enough, The Return, begins as 4 different incarnations take over for the Man Of Steel, following his death. Superboy, Steel, a visor-wearing version, and Cyborg Superman all have a unique motivaton to take over. But to be honest, I could done without Visor Supes. I just didn't find him all that appealing or interesting. The only reason I think that 4 subs were put in the story anyway, was because there are 4 Superman books and each writer needed to have its own version. Which leads me to my next problem, as good as the overall storyline may be this last part can get a bit long at times. If Visor Superman had been eliminated, for example, this last part would be better I think

As for the art, It's solid overall, but I have to say that the art team of Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding stands out as the best here. The pencils and inks seem to stand out a bit more. While I was reading their chapters, the art seemed to be more crisp and detailed-The book was put together by some taletned folks though.

If you happen to own the preivious books in the saga, then by all means complete the trilogy. Be warnd. The longer book hurts the emotional impact began the first 2 parts and is not as good. The paperback has 480 pages and also features The Green Lantern

The story that began it all was collected in three volumes: THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN, a slugfest heavy on dynamic visuals and weak on plot; WORLD WITHOUT A SUPERMAN, the best of the three, which explored the ramifications of the death of Earth's greatest hero (and a part of the story later sagas would sorely miss); and THE RETURN OF SUPERMAN, in which four pretenders claiming to be Superman emerged, all to take part in a great battle when the real Superman returned.

In this collection's first third, the creative teams explore one Superman pretender apiece to varying results. The best is Roger Stern and Jackson Guice on the Last Son of Krypton. Stern is one of comics' grandmasters of characterization and pacing, which meshes well with Guice's realistic but cinematic style. Close on their heels are Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett (Superboy), whose loose, frenetic but clean, often melodramatic storytelling show why they would become THE teen superhero duo, both in Superboy's own title and in ROBIN. In comparison, writer-artist Dan Jurgens (Cyborg Superman), the Michael Bay of comics, finds his grandiose images at war with his writing tendency towards exposition over characterization, to the extent that two of his chapters are almost solely a series of drawings with narration captions. Worse yet is the Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove team (Man of Steel). Simonson tries for a social conscience but is clumsy and preachy in her delivery, and Bogdanove's unfairly maligned impressionistic, exaggerrated style clashes with the other three. (For the record, after his own short-lived, Simonson-penned series ended, Steel would become one of DC's best, most complex supporting players.)

Unfortunately, these explorations can only last so long before the story must be resolved, and it is, as convoluted as possible. Too many chefs spoil the pot, as each team's need to include a major plot point revolving around their faux Superman slows the pacing to a near crawl. There are exciting set pieces, but the weaknesses of one team affect all of them. Jurgens' lack of characterization, for example, gives the reader no emotional investment in his Superman's sudden plot twist. And the sudden introduction of Green Lantern in the eleventh hour, from his own title by Gerard Jones and M.D. Bright, distracts from the central plot.

Still, the collection IS exciting. For comic series completists, this is a handy gap filler, although be warned: The last few issues are not reprinted in their entirety, as subplots introducing later storylines were cut from the collection. For comic books fans just wanting to see this pivotal story, this collection is a must, although I also highly recommend Roger Stern's novel THE DEATH AND LIFE OF SUPERMAN to fill in the gaps in background and present a more even flow to the stories presented here.