5.2 Reasons it's a Great Time to be a Superman Fan
You ever hear of this Superman guy? Faster than a speeding bullet? Powerful enough to launch a locomotive into space by dropkicking it in its face? Able to leap tall buildings by just flying right over them—basically, pointing at gravity and laughing? Ha! Gravity.
Yeah, just about everyone’s heard of Superman, and if you haven’t then let us be the first to welcome you to Earth! It's a fun place—scary at times—filled with wondrous and magical things, like bite-sized pizza snacks and comic books and cartoons and a whole Internet full of dancing kittens. Trust us, you’re going to love those…even if you aren’t exactly sure why.
But in all seriousness, if you are a Superman fan or if you've been looking for a good time to metaphorically take a peek inside the Fortress of Awesomitude, now's the time. Mark your calendars, tack a note onto your Pinterest board (not literally, though, cause then you'd have a hole in your screen), and do a little dance in a bright red cape because there’s never been a better time to be a Superman fan. In fact, let’s count off the 5.2 Reasons it's a Great Time to be a Superman Fan!
1. Superman: Earth One
Yesterday saw the release of SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE Vol. 2, the second Superman installment in the graphic novel line that reinterprets and reintroduces classic characters for new readers. In the book's first volume, writer J. Michael Straczynski introduced a Man of Steel trying to find his place in the world and ultimately discovering one he never quite expected. It boiled down the essence of both Superman and Clark Kent and mixed it into a modern day context, exploring the emotional and personal struggle that comes with being an outsider. With Vol. 2, things get CRAZY—and we mean in that in the greatest way possible. A well-known Superman villain makes his debut, the Man of Steel makes a moral choice that had our jaws on the floor and there's a part with a childhood pet that brought a tear to our eye (it’s always the pets!). That’s to say nothing about the twist at the end involving a certain infamous villain that left us salivating for more…
2. Huge, Game-Changing Stories
We're talking so big they could collapse under their own weight and cause an explosion so huge it'll rip the very fabric of space and time and bend it to its will. Exaggeration? Maybe. But for a long time, these were two truths about Superman: he worked at the Daily Planet and he loved Lois Lane. Well friends, these times are a changing. Most recently in SUPERMAN #13, Clark Kent left the Daily Planet, and as of JUSTICE LEAGUE #12, Superman's now dating Wonder Woman. Say what you will about Lois Lane and whether or not she's the only one for the Man of Steel, the storytelling potential alone in this coupling is over 9,000. Which is what makes both these things so exciting—the stories set to be told look amazing!
3. H'El on Earth
Of course, Superman won't be flying solo in the days ahead. Since the launch of DC COMICS—THE NEW 52, the Superman family of titles have remained more or less separate, with both Superboy and Supergirl following their own individual storylines. But with the "H'El on Earth" crossover, the sons and daughters and half-clones of Krypton finally get together for some good old-fashioned fun—and by fun we mean dealing with a dangerous new Kryptonian threat and some very conflicting viewpoints on how to handle the situation. We're positive the latter will be handled with hugs. Lots of face-punching, heat-vision-enforced hugs.
4. Supergirl Kicks "S"
If you haven't been reading Supergirl, you need to go here now and start. Seriously. We've been fans of writer Mike Johnson ever since his Lil' League arc on Superman/Batman (with art by American Vampire's Rafael Albuquerque) and unsurprisingly, he has been doing an amazing job on the Girl of Steel's self-titled series, penning a young Kara Zor-El that feels like a real teenaged girl lost in a world she barely understands—like "Alice in Wonderland," if Alice had superpowers and beat up the Queen of Hearts for being a crazy person and threatening the lives of pretty much everyone. It's a phenomenally well-written series only further enhanced by the incredibly beautiful art by Mahmud Asrar.
In fact, when it comes to all the Superman family of titles...
5. Amazing Artists All Around
We mentioned Mahmud Asrar, but we also have RB Silva on Superboy, Shane Davis on Superman: Earth One, Tony S. Daniel coming to Action Comics and now Kenneth Rocafort on the core Superman title. It's art so gorgeous you'll want to stab your eyes out because you'll never see something so breathtaking again (though please, for Rao's sake, DO NOT stab your eyes out).
And the Super-fan fun doesn't stop here. It continues well into next year, with two projects that look to take us up, up and away into the stratosphere of excellence:
5.1 The Man of Steel
5.2 Scott Snyder. Jim Lee.
If that Jim Lee image has you dying to find out more, be sure to check out the video we shot with this creative dream team at New York Comic-Con. Now, we're going to head out because we're pretty sure traffic on our drive home won't be moving faster than a speeding bullet. But feel free to sound off about which of the super titles you're enjoying the most in comments below, and let us know which upcoming one you're most looking forward to.
(The cover for SUPERMAN #15 by Kenneth Rocafort)
