Note: This series was originally published in 2013 on my old site, www.berkeleyplaceblog.com, which is now devoted 100% to music. I have reprinted the series here, for posterity.
I thought I’d launch another DC review.
I don’t like most DC books enough to want to buy all the back issues and wade through them, so I’m not doing a series-wide retrospective– just a single story. And it may be my favorite Superman story of all time.
So I’m doing a panel from every issue, starting with #204 (above). By necessity, there will be a few spoilers here—but I won’t reveal all the big plot turns and story beats. And the beauty of this book is how the story is told, much more than the story itself, so even knowing what will happen (if you haven’t read it yet) shouldn’t ruin the whole thing for you. Still, you should try to go snag it off Amazon before reading this.
Superman: For Tomorrow was written by Brian Azzarello with art by Jim Lee and Scott Williams. It was published in 2004 over the course of year (issues #204-215). In terms of continuity, you need to know that, before this story starts, one million people vanished from the face of the Earth—including Lois Lane, who was married to Superman at the time.
One thing that makes this book so great (there are many) is that as soon as it starts, Superman is frustrated and powerless. His wife has been taken, he has no idea where, and he is losing faith in himself as a result. But the entry point for the story is a clergyman who is losing faith because he is dying of cancer. In the panel, from the first issue, Superman comes to visit Father Daniel Leone, who kneels before Superman. Superman tells him not to, but this is the first glimpse of Superman-as-God. It will be important to the book later, when Superman is revealed to have essentially created a Garden of Eden.
I have a black and white promotional version. Anyone know the value?