Matt Lowder Looks At SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL min-series

 Guest review by RUN THE COMICS 5K's Matt Lowder . . . . .

 Superman: The Man of Steel (6-issue mini-series, 1986, DC) Rating: FOUR out of a possible FIVE STARS.

I’m not a Superman fan, but this was good! This was a great snag in the deals area in the back of Captain Blue Hen Comics. It was a random recommendation from Joe I picked up about three months ago and finally got around to:  Issues #1-6, including a seventh comic which was an issue #1 special variant, all for $6. 

This set runs between $13-$33 on eBay as of the writing of this review, so I think I got quite a deal. This is also available as a collected trade with cleaner colors (hardcover, Aug 2020, $35). But I like these individual old, worn, busted issues. Why? Unlike a collected trade, I have the fun benefit of reading letters from the publisher to the fans, as well as seeing retro advertisements for Charleston Chews, Sugar Daddys, M&Ms and Alvin and the Chipmunks cartoons on NBC. Haha! I also saw an ad for the "upcoming" DC Book “Year One” by Mazzucchelli, which I love to hold in my hand. Neat.

GENERAL THOUGHTS on the STORY:
For me, every single Superman film, show, and comic has been good or just okay. But I gotta say, I really enjoyed this. As a 1986 comic, it’s layout, style, and voice is very traditional, very of-its-time, and very-something-I-avoid (usually). It was a nice surprise. John Byrne really made a lovely comic here, due to strong writing chops. It carries the entire book. It felt quaint, yes, but never grinded on me with antiquated vocabulary. This serves as a great starting place for anyone who wants to begin at square one with an inception plot. if you knew little to nothing about Superman.

WHAT'S IN THE ISSUES?: 

Issue #1 = We see Jor-El’s planet destroying itself from the green radioactive metal spreading throughout the planet, and the baby catapulted to Earth to be safe. We meet the Kents, quickly see Clark in high school playing sports, then doing a few do-gooder things before being caught on camera by the Daily Planet. Martha Kent sews him a suit with an “S” on it, which to her means Special. Clark had no hero name yet, and I loved this little touch that Clark’s mother created the “S” out of love for her son.

 Issue #2 = Eventually, Lois Lane is trying to track down Supes, coins the name Superman in the newspaper, then, in order to finally meet the guy, stages her own car accident. She goes into the water in a sinking car, and is saved. Clark takes her back to her place, where she quickly strips down into a blue silk robe, offers him brie and white wine, and they chat about their lives. I laughed out loud. Two hours later, Lois is at the Daily Planet, having finally spoken to the Superman. So, hooray, she now has the story of the century – but not so fast, dear reader!!!! She discovers that earlier that same day BUT ONLY HOURS AGO, a new face has been hired at the Daily Planet and already submitted a news story on Superman. The new hire, is of course, Clark Kent. What a sick burn, and a hilarious dick move on his part. Ha! 

Issue #3 = Supes meets Bats in Gotham for the first time. 

Issue #4 has Lex Luthor setting up a dangerous situation just to see what Supes can do. Then Lex tries to pay-off Superman to work for him, so Lex goes to jail for endangerment and bribery. Lex gets out of jail pissed, and promises Superman he’s made the biggest mistake of his life and that Metropolis is Luthor’s, not Superman’s. It’s the beginning of a long, long relationship between the two.

By the last Issue #6 = years have passed, and there's a particularly painful scene with a girl, Lana, who loved Clark years ago but could never act on it, nor did Clark, always thinking of bigger ways to have an impact on the greater world. She discovered who he was and chose to say nothing, allowing the world to have Clark, and not her. It was a touching sacrifice - humble and sad. Clark also sees a holographic recording of his father, and has a vision, about his home world and is tormented by where he really belongs and who he is. 

Each issue builds on the next and feels episodic. Within the issue, a character casually mentions a passage of time, two months since Supe's appearance, or twelve months since Lois was first pissed at the new hire Clark. It’s breezy, direct, not overly poetic or pretty to look at, but offers a strong baseline for all the major relationships and plot threads that would come in the following decades.

FINAL WORD: I really enjoyed this comic. Despite feeling indifferent toward the art, this speaks to the quality and pace and humor of the story that I enjoyed this regardless. Much ground is covered. Clark is so typically American and wholesome, telling muggers and thieves that they’re taking things they don’t really need and they should think about others. Just hilarious lines like that. 

My favorite part of the book was in issue #2 when Superman is taking out a gang, and one of them is a woman. She says “you wouldn’t punch a woman, would you?” And Superman just goes, “Nope. You’re, right,” then he carefully takes the glasses off her face so he won’t break them in one panel, and in the next, flicks the woman in the forehead, knocking her backwards and unconscious. I laughed out loud. I also respect that the writer was also the penciler, so the dialogue and art really feels married together. I respect this one.