All-Star Superman #1-12

All-Star Superman #1-12

Originally released in 2005

Written by Grant Morrison

Art by Frank Quitely

This is a comic that I had been putting off at first.  Before starting this blog, I had a few Superman stories that involved his impending death, such as The Death Of Superman or Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?, and knowing the premise of this comic, I wanted to get an idea of what traditional Superman stories were like before reading this. Today, I felt like I was ready to read All-Star Superman.

While saving a group of scientists who set out to map the sun, Superman is exposed to an excessive amount of solar radiation, and as a result, he is slowly dying. With an unknown amount of time left to live, he is destined to complete twelve labours ranging from creating life to solving an impossible riddle. (And, in addition to that, trying to convince Lex Luthor to use his intelligence to help mankind, which is probably more difficult than any of those labours)

I was hooked pretty quickly.  I figured I would read six issues today and save the second half for later, but I read through the whole thing in an afternoon. Morrison's writing does a great job with emphasizing why Superman is seen as a paragon among the countless heroes of DC's universe.  Quite frankly, Frank Quitely's art took some time for me to get used to, but it results in a lot of striking and beautiful images.

Even though his days are numbered, Superman's biggest concern is making sure that everyone else is safe.  It shows why he's such an ideal to strive for - every problem, from stopping a train to preventing an alien invasion, is important enough for him to step in and lend a hand.  There's one memorable sequence, which is posted so often that bringing it up almost feels cliché (though I'll do it anyway), where the story is nearing its end, and Superman's condition is deteriorating, but he takes time to stop a young girl from committing suicide.

This scene seems to have resonated with a lot of people because, no matter what we've gone through, I'm sure there have been points where everything feels worse than it actually is, or we feel like we're not good enough, and we need to hear something like what Superman's saying here for one reason or another.  Even having seen it out of context plenty of times, reading it here still resulted in it hitting home for me.

Lois, Jimmy, and Lex also get their days in the limelight.  In this continuity, Lois doesn't know that Clark is Superman until Clark tells her, and even then, she still has her doubts. (either it means that Clark has been lying to her for years, or Superman is lying to her now, and neither one of those is great)  As a birthday present, Superman gives Lois a serum that gives her his powers for a day.

This leads to the two of them encountering Samson and Atlas, and I don't know if this is something that Grant Morrison made up or if their love of the Silver Age is shining through, but Samson has a time traveling car. (and this is the Biblical Samson, who existed long before cars were a thing)  It's an odd inclusion, but it seems like it's saying that Superman is effectively a modern mythological figure, much like Hercules or Thor.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Olsen, in a classic Jimmy move, becomes the leader of the D.N.A. P.R.O.J.E.C.T. for a day (what P.R.O.J.E.C.T. stands for is unclear) while its wealthy scientist leader is otherwise occupied. (the scientist, Leo Quintum, is a big fan of Jimmy's "day in the life of ___" articles)  Naturally, this results in Jimmy temporarily transforming into a monstrosity.

Other Superman villains like Bizarro and Parasite make appearances.  Bizarro seems to be completely new to this setting, having a different origin of coming from something called the "Underverse".  There's even a whole Bizarro equivalent of the Justice League, with Bizarro Batman being a darkly funny situation.  The dialogue of the Bizarros (aside from Zibarro, the Bizarro equivalent of Bizarro) took a bit to wrap my head around, but at least it was consistent.

Frank Quitely's art can be detailed with plenty of Easter Eggs (a bust of Einstein is among Lex's possessions - from what I've read, Lex is such a big Einstein fan that he won't commit any crimes on the man's birthday) or willing to take a step back to let a moment breathe.  There are two shots showing the Earth from the moon that are breathtaking.

Some plot points go unaddressed, so I'm not sure if they're references to specific comics, either Morrison-written ones or others.  At one point, Superman travels back in time to the day that Jonathan Kent passed away to have one last conversation with him when he didn't get to all those years ago, and he meets the leader of the Superman Squad, a group of different Supermen from different times and universes.  It's implied that the leader is a future version of Superman himself, but it's never clarified.

I'm glad that I chose this book for today; it was touching, inspiring, and a heartfelt tribute to the first superhero and his impact not just on his world, but on our own.  It seems like it's going to partially inspire James Gunn's Superman movie that's coming out next year, and hopefully, like this comic, it shows why Superman is such an uplifting and inspiring figure.