Customer Reviews

Alan Moore's: Supreme: The Return

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am actually only halfway through Supreme story of the year, but I can tell you that I am riveted. Alan Moore is in rare form here; he is obviously having a lot of fun with the book, but it's also very serious in tone.

Without giving too many spoilers, the basic gist is that in Supreme's universe, the characters suffer frequent amnesia as "reboots" occur. The retconning of their past by the writers is a PART of the story, and the book switches frequently from mid-90's Image art style to 40's and 50's-era golden age art! it's done beautifully, and some of the transitions remind me of Watchmen.

The best way to describe this is 25% Supreme Power (Swuadron Supreme reboot), 25$ watchmen, and the other half being taken up by random Alan Moore absurdity! So far, this is up there with Watchmen for me, I would HEAVILY reccomend this to any serious comic fan, particular a fan of the older style of books, or Alan Moore fans.

You know - I have yet to be disappointed by Alan Moore. While I might like some of his works better than others he always crafts a superior story, and even better, I find his writing style can go from overly serious (Watchman, V for Vendetta) to just pure fun (Supreme, Top 10, Tom Strong).

I was pleasantly surprised about how much I loved this Supreme (Story of the Year) collection. It is high on the fun factor but also high on the great plot factor. The "flashbacks" done in different styles of the era was the touch that made me fall in love with the book but even without that you have well plotted story with a very satisfying ending. This is a must have graphic novel for Moore fans and a must for lovers of the Golden age of comics.

Alan Moore's writing on this book is great. He's able to take the Mort Weisinger version of Superman from the 1950s and early 60s and give it the Alan Moore touch. However, this particular collection is a terrible reproduction of the series. It almost looks like someone photocopied the pages from the original comic books and just bound them together.

Were the original production proofs not available?

You must read this work by Alan Moore. However, buying this particular production of it should be the third choice for acquiring it only if a better production in the future is impossible or if you cannot get the original comics due to the lack of availability or prohibitive cost.

I ordered two of these graphic novels based on the exceptional work of Alan Moore, who I greatly admire. It's perhaps the worst stuff I've ever read. While the timeline plotlines were an innovative idea, it was the worst sort of dreck. I expected better. I purchased these based on the 5 star ratings I saw on Amazon, & this is the 1st time I've been thoroughly disappointed. "Worst episode(s) ever!" as the Comic Book guy on the Simpsons might say. Waste of time, money, and effort.

I loved these stories. Alan Moore never missed a beat. As I understand it he set out to integrate the wonder and imagination of previous comic-book generations with today's storytelling, and he certainly succeeded.

This is some of the best work he has done since his resurgence in the late 90s.

Instead of his characters dwelling on everything that has happened to them, or moping or crying about what has happened, they are moral, determined, and optimistic.

Tim Veitch's flashbacks are fantastic; he wonderfully "imitates" the style of some many other artists/eras. And the modern day artwork does not bother me as much as it seems to have bothered other reviewers; it is not revolutionary but still enjoyable.

I think it would be rude to ignore that this comic had a whole series of stories before and after Moore's run, but I must be rude then. You can walk into this graphic novel with NO knowledge of Supreme before this and enjoy it as much as any fan of silver age superman comics would. But it is more than that. It treats the subject of comics creation with much reverence. I think that Alan Moore may be the most talented archivist writing stories for comics today. There are so many references to the 60's superman that one can only conclude that the writer is in love with the medium he is creating. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT???? Nothing. The genius of these stories is that it is not about just any old superman. It is about comics. Supreme's version of Lois Lane wears earrings with Herriman's Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse on either ear. GENIUS! The twisted love affair of the Kat & the Mouse & Offisa Pupp is still considered one of the most complex love triangles in comics history. Alan Moore is not a novice. His other work speaks for itself and if you do not know WATCHMEN, SWAMP THING (20 - 65), MIRACLEMAN, TOM STRONG, THE KILLING JOKE, and PROMETHEA, then I suggest reading those first. Yes, Moore came to Supreme when sales were lagging. Yes, he completely reinvented the character. But he also continued to create one of the finest writers portfolio's in all of comics. Any Alan Moore fan would be lacking something without reading this set. Highly recommended.

Supreme was conceived of by Image no-talent and general comics nuisance Rob Liefeld as a violent, egotistical play on Superman. I guess that wouldn't be so bad if the guy could actually craft a story, but it was clear from the beginning that this was just another pointless Image comic with grimaces and violence from start to finish. Enter Alan Moore, comics genius, who could see that there was potential in the character, albeit in the exact opposite direction. Under his guidance, Supreme became an homage to Superman, and can be jokingly referred to as "the greatest run of Superman comics ever". Moore put his imagination into overdrive for this comic. It contains, by far, some of the best comic writing of the late '90s - early '00s.

These stories could only be crafted by someone with an intense love for the Golden and Silver Ages of comics, as well as a deep understanding of Superman. Moore begins this run with a "revision" of Supreme, in the style of a DC-Crisis epilogue. From there, he fills in the background of Supreme, step by tantalizing step. You will learn of Supreme's 60-odd-year history; his origin; his friends, villains, & loves; the extended Supreme Family; and then the "shocking truth" behind his origin. By the time you finish this collection, you will feel closer to him than to any other comic hero. The writing is complex, but not exclusive, and very insightful.

Moore is joined by a team of artists: Joe Bennett's style, definitely influenced by Image, actually seems to be tempered by the top-notch quality of Moore's writing, to the point where it's almost endearing. Alex Ross provides a great cover and chapter sketches, featuring his version of Supreme that you don't see in the book but wish you would. Future regular series artist Chris Sprouse does one issue. But the crowning achievement in the art department is the work of Rick Veitch. Veitch, known for his masterful Superman tribute THE MAXIMORTAL, as well as art chores on Moore's 1963 series, fills in the blanks of Supreme's story with masterful recreations of period comics, imitating the dominant art styles and themes of the respective years. There is plenty of Curt Swan-style artwork, "Modern Art Supreme", a Steranko photo collage, EC horror work, and best of all: "Supremelvin", a spot-on parody of the work of Wally Wood and Bill Elder for MAD Mgazine. The neat thing about Veitch being involved with the art for this comic is that Moore's tight conclusion calls to mind some of Veitch's writing on The Maximortal. Read both and you'll see what I mean.

Do not pass up this book.

The Writing:
Moore's charming, loving rendition of the classic planet-tossing superhero is rightly noted by several other reviewers as aping Superman at his silliest, but it's also a fun, funny, compassionate look at the Superman character, and one filled with insight into what makes him tick. It's not a deconstruction, refreshingly, and it's not a revamp - it's a "prevamp," if you will, a harking back to the times before all the assembly-line serial killers and grim, stalkerish superheroes began to flood the market with angst. There is a warmth here that is decidedly missing in even the best of Moore's work, especially between Ethan and Linda (the Clark Kent and Lois Lane characters), and it just feels great to read something like Supreme for the sheer childish joy of it. If you liked Rob Leifeld's run on the book, you'll probably dislike this a great deal, but that, frankly, is good news. For Rob Leifeld fans, I recommend Gray's Anatomy, until you recover.

The Artwork:
The art is admittedly sub-par, for the most part; Joe Bennett's renditions of Supreme are still stuck in the early-nineties days of bulked-out powerhouses in clothing that might as well be painted on, and nearly every female character appears to be smuggling canteloupes. The good news is that Rick Veitch manages to save every single issue with his flashback sequences. Veitch deftly imitates nearly every notable comic artist of the silver age - his Harvey Kurtzman (Mad Magazine) spoof is worth the price of the book all by itself, and his Bill Finger and Wayne Boring are dead-on. You'll also get to see, very briefly, some of Chris Sprouse's work on the title, which makes the next book all the more enjoyable.

Summary:
An excellent book with a few forgivable artistic flaws and a great deal to recommend it. Age-appropriate for nearly everyone and a whole lot of fun.

NOTE: This book has gone through a new and better printing since the early reviews that complain about the 600 dpi scan quality of the first. I believe that Checker has an exchange program for those who bought the sub-par printing of the book, as well.

The Writing:
Moore's charming, loving rendition of the classic planet-tossing superhero is rightly noted by several other reviewers as aping Superman at his silliest, but it's also a fun, funny, compassionate look at the Superman character, and one filled with insight into what makes him tick. It's not a deconstruction, refreshingly, and it's not a revamp - it's a "prevamp," if you will, a harking back to the times before all the assembly-line serial killers and grim, stalkerish superheroes began to flood the market with angst. There is a warmth here that is decidedly missing in even the best of Moore's work, especially between Ethan and Linda (the Clark Kent and Lois Lane characters), and it just feels great to read something like Supreme for the sheer childish joy of it. If you liked Rob Leifeld's run on the book, you'll probably dislike this a great deal, but that, frankly, is good news. For Rob Leifeld fans, I recommend Gray's Anatomy, until you recover.

The Artwork:
The art is admittedly sub-par, for the most part; Joe Bennett's renditions of Supreme are still stuck in the early-nineties days of bulked-out powerhouses in clothing that might as well be painted on, and nearly every female character appears to be smuggling canteloupes. The good news is that Rick Veitch manages to save every single issue with his flashback sequences. Veitch deftly imitates nearly every notable comic artist of the silver age - his Harvey Kurtzman (Mad Magazine) spoof is worth the price of the book all by itself, and his Bill Finger and Wayne Boring are dead-on. You'll also get to see, very briefly, some of Chris Sprouse's work on the title, which makes the next book all the more enjoyable.

Summary:
An excellent book with a few forgivable artistic flaws and a great deal to recommend it. Age-appropriate for nearly everyone and a whole lot of fun.

More stories after the pattern of the previous volume (STORY OF THE YEAR), though this one takes itself even less seriously than the first. Also, it's more self-referential, several stories here focusing on the concept of comicbook characters existing within a comicbook continuity. Moore explores this sort of idea further with the PROMETHEA series, several years later.

I gave this volume one star more than I gave STORY OF THE YEAR, mostly because the reprinting looked just a little clearer (though not as good as the original comics) and because this book contains fewer of those 8-page Silver Age flashback sequences that we saw so much of in the first volume. The first 3 or 4 of those things were clever, but after reading several over a period of a few days, they start to get on your nerves.

I can recommend this one (and its predecessor) to people who are fans of the Mort Weisinger/Julie Schwartz-era Superman comics. Also to the tons of Alan Moore fans, but they likely don't need any recommendation.

Oh, by the way, the primary artist in this book is actually Chris Sprouse, not Joe Bennett like it says in Amazon's title section.