About Heroes

All-Star Superman #4 Review

Writer: Grant Morrison
Art: Frank Quietly

This is my Book of the Week right here. I love the mix of all the genres and I’m pretty sure that this book is in the middle of genre-creation as we speak but that might be a little presumptuous on my part, but fuck it this book is a good read! It mixes sci-fi with epic monster battles that actually wrap up in one issue! It has the spacemen side of Sci-fi down pat with a little Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory mixed in. Lets not forget twisted Zombie oddities like the Bizarro men and the G-types, and lets not forget the humor side of things, this book is full of tiny little quips here and there, for new and old fans alike. I don’t think I’m leaving anything out, sure there are lots more genres but we’re only into book four and I’m not listing books 1-3 so get over it. Oh, there is even a Gypsy’s Curse that Jimmy Olsen goes on and on and on about, so count in voodoo witchcraft and all that jazz too.

So this issue wasn’t as good as the last but the last issue was phenomenal, which is pretty damn hard to top. I really enjoy where Morrison is at in his writing with this book and in Seven Soldiers from what I’ve read. He is better that ever before in terms of his creativity and that’s not to say that he can’t get any better, it’s just a current observation. Books like these where he is allowed to reinvent not only the character but also when you tackle an icon like Superman your really attempting to reinvent the entire Superhero concept. Some might disagree with me that Morrison is on his way to succeeding but I know after reading this I’ll never look at the hero in the same light. Sure Superman can kick 50-ft monsters down on main street any old day of the week but just some of the things that he’s doing in these books just make me very intrigued and excited to read more.

The thing I like the most about these stories is the fact that they are almost self contained, I think the first issue was an overall issue for what the series would be about and each issue after that has had that first issue undertone. I just find it so much easier to accept a book that is bi-monthly and almost tri-monthly when the stories are self-contained. This was Jimmy Olsen and Superman’s issue, the last two issues were Lois Lane and Superman but very different, one taking place in the fun house…I mean fortress of Solitude and the next issue was a Super-Lois Lane with the power to make three men fight at one time! What I mean to say is that the last page isn’t a fucking cliffhanger, I don’t have to wait three months to find out that Krypto shot Jimmy Olsen when he was trying to take the babies candy (I made this up…me and Matt Groening).

I guess there isn’t much else to say about the overall issue, the last issue was better but this issue doesn’t disappoint by any means, A. I would like to note that I wish Frank Quietly would add a little bit more background or have someone else do it, but fuck I can do without seeing the Taj-Mahal if the book comes out in two months when it is supposed to.