Big Blue Report: 2002 Year in Review.

As a reviewer, I’ve done a lot of whaling on the creative teams for the last year. Wholly, I have found a lot of the work on Superman that I’ve reviewed to be a bit sub-par of late, whether it be from the juggled teams, the departure of Loeb (and with him many of his sub-plots that in actuality seemed just to be starting), the end of essential continuity, the loss of the logos, the loss of the letters page (goodbye Baldy), or any of the other maladies that have befallen the old school and utterly biased reviewers, such as myself.

That said, I will point out that this is my opinion, and in no way (well, maybe, but I don’t know, so don’t hold them responsible) speaks for everyone who reads Superman and runs or works at this website. And further, I will point out that as critical as I am, I understand that the writers and illustrators of Superman worked for a long time, possibly harder than I have as a writer, so I owe them respect for that. But, as I revel in criticism of my own artistic creations in my novels and my poetry, I see it as only fair that I be honest in my scathing.

So I aim to write here a retrospective to perhaps put things in perspective, maybe check myself (we’ll see), and aim towards the future with an open mind.

I know that a large portion of my readership, at least those who write me anyway, tend to largely agree with what I write. Generally, in the case of the hardcore and longtime Superman fan, the last year or two, while offering some great moments, have offered a lot of things which drive us crazy and make reading Superman issues problematic. We’ll start with these things.

1) Covers.

Covers have declined this year. We have had an art nouveau attack of covers with dramatic poses of things that do not occur in the issue but are designed to sucker a stupid reader into buying. Add into this a typical passing gas pose in Superman, a horrible new set of logos, and bland, single color backgrounds, largely, and we have a largely dissatisfying proposition.

2) One-shot storylines that blow continuity completely out of the water.

Now, I understand the need for there to be one-shot stories, especially between large events, despite the fact that there were only two this year. Still, there were almost three straight months of storylines that were one-shots, during the time when we expect the best stories of the year...summer! And aside from the fact that these one shots had repetitive themes (see 3), they also disregarded each other. Casually, if not often at least, when they took the triangles away, originally, if Lois say, cut her hair, they would mention it in each of the books. Now we have Clark lose close friends, like Newsmen, or police officers he pals with, and next week he’s just fine. You lose a friend and you think about it for weeks. Case in point? Ten years ago, how much did losing Adam Grant affect him? And Adam Grant was the most cursory of secondary, one might even say tertiary characters? And one week we have Manchester Black, the next we have a summary of what happened with the therapist, then a week later, all is well.

3) Repetitive Themes.

Okay. I’m the first to say that Superman needs to spend some time in the rain, do some suffering, fail in fighting the good fight. But there were about eight issues this year in which Superman deals with losing one person we’d never met before to death in one issue, and then having it not ever spoken of again. And there were crossovers (Ending Battle) with Superman fighting name-drop villains again and again and again, in an unending wave, that got repetitive.

4) Goodbye, Loeb.

I had my issues with Loeb. I loved his writing. It was top-notch. It was sloooooow paced, but it was well done. And it set up absolutely AMAZING sub-plots. Luthor knows Clark is Superman! Jonathan Kent has amnesia/Alzheimer’s! Superman has a therapist! There’s a new Toyman! Hell, Jeph Loeb put the Superman Homepage on Page 5 of Superman 178 this year! Loeb is God! And yet, all of these subplots, now gone, largely, I would suspect, because Loeb is buttering too many slices of bread with one great stick of butter. Superman/Batman, Batman, Smallville, and Spiderman all got in the way of the resolutions of these great subplots, and as a result, Luthor magically “forgets” (BULL!), Jonathan was under Manchester’s influence (BULL DEUX!), the therapist is no longer needed, and we have seen neither hide nor hair of the coolness of the new Toyman, Imperiex, or Ed McG in months. Superman/Batman is hope, but it is taking so long, will the fans wait? Loeb, come back!

5) Hamilton is a Bad Guy again. In Timbuktu.

Wow, let’s spend three years and innumerable sub-plots setting up Emil Hamilton to become a villain again. Well, an iffy proposition. Truly good people, as Hamilton has become over the years, don’t just jump over without a real brain job. Still, if you like this proposition, what are they doing with it? Nothing! He’s gone, and we’ve seen neither hide nor hair of him. Maybe Metropolis will set this to right, but what, we have to wait another year to perhaps have another “Luthor Knows”-esque reward? I’m dubious, as a fan.

6) Goodbye, Triangles.

Now not only do we not have continuity, but my collection of Superman comics, in ten years of successive order, now has to be rearranged, screwed with, or just generally regarded as disorderly, because the stories are not successive. Great. Why not just start numbering backwards as a part of ZERO HOUR 2 so as to really mess with my head?

7) Goodbye, Baldy.

I always thought that one of these years I would write a great letter and get a Baldy. Something would really inspire me, above and beyond the reviews, and I would write in, and Eddie would beat me on the head with the majesty of whatever the heck the Baldy was. Now I’ll never know. And I’ll also have less of a general consensus of what other fans think of the storylines. Well, maybe that’s intentional, with the way things are going.

8) Eddie Berganza.

Now before you get a shotgun and start coming after me, Eddie, or before you decide not to answer the “Ask Eddie” forum anymore, skip down and note your name under the good things. Of all the things that I’ve been harsh on in my reviews, Eddie Berganza has gotten the brunt of it. Superman kills someone and it gets past quality control? I blame Eddie. Superman takes a drink when he knows it won’t have an effect? Eddie. I think these little things slip by too much, and annoy any fan paying attention. I have no conception of the deadlines imposed in the comics industry, to be sure, but send me any issue of an upcoming book and I’m sure I could find more flaws than he has let slip past, and I don’t have standards and practices or a continuity editor.

9) Superman, murderer.

Anyone notice how Superman just basically beats the crap out of people now without worrying who he’s killing or letting live? And further, how many people he’s letting just escape because other things preoccupy his attention? Perhaps this belongs under 8 as an afterthought. It really annoys me, and others, so I am written by fans of my reviews. Neutron is dead. That says it all. Neutron meant the world to me, and Superman BLEW HIM UP to knock out a few villains in Ending Battle. Not so hot.

Okay. That’s the fillet. Now here’s what’s good.

1) Eddie Berganza.

Despite a quelled pen when it comes to things that are not plausible, Berganza, in the last few years, has taken us to places we’ve never been, or places not conceived of before. This year, in review, he’s given us controversy, in Mohammad X, variety, in having the cojones to use guest artists, sometimes to his own detriment, but sometimes to great result (Superman meets Dracula? GREAT art.)

Zod. Enough said.

Ending Battle. More of Manchester (eventually), and exactly as we wanted to see it.

Return to Krypton. While inconsistent at times, we have more Braniac, we have Clark with his parents, we have all that made the first series great.

And finally, though it TECHNICALLY isn’t this year, we have things looking up with Lost Hearts, which was great.

2) Pascual Ferry.

Highly underrated by both myself and others in the fan base, Pascual has been a consistently good artist on whatever he touches. There is a bit of a cultural flair to his work, but it is rather graphic and exploratory in ways that will make me remember his work when I have forgotten the work of others.

3) Joe Casey.

When Joe Casey first wrote an issue to pick up in the gulf that DeMatteiss left a year or two back, I flailed into him as having written the worst issue of Superman I’d ever had the displeasure of reading. I stand by that. But still, in this last year, his work, though sometimes repetitious, has brought a new human depth to Superman that I have been wanting for quite some time. And Luthor. Alex Luthor is an interesting development I hope to have expanded upon in the future.

4) Ending Battle, Lost Hearts, and Return to Krypton.

Never underestimate the redeeming quality of an intense, continuity inspired crossover.

All right. So there’s four in one list, and nine in the other. That’s my take of the year. I have scathed, but I will point out that despite my negative perspective, I believe that this year will be better than the last. First off, we’ve seen two recent series that bring back continuity. Second, we have some great ideas coming to bat. Zod and resolution, the return of Braniac in Metropolis, Superman/Batman, and a potential downfall of Luthor. Anything can happen, and probably will. I believe, despite my criticism, that the Superman books are in good hands, so long as they can work together and not slip into inconsistency. The art is doing well, the writing is certainly improving, and with a movie in the works, I would not be surprised if renewed interest pushes Superman into the top 25 again in the next few years.

Wait with me, and hope. The future offers much, and the past, well, all criticism aside, the past hasn’t been so horrible as we the critics like to make it out to be.

Neal.