Title: Superman.
Volume: 1.
Story Arc: The City of Tomorrow.
Writer(s): Joe Kelly, Jeph Loeb, Mark Millar, Stuart Immonen & Mark Schultz.
Artist(s): Doug Mahnke, Ed McGuinness, Kano, Steve Epting, German Garcia, JAckson Guice, Stuart Immonen, Mike McKone, Yanick Paquette & Joe Phillips.
Publisher: DC Comics.
Format: Paperback.
Release Date: December 17th, 2019.
Pages: 464.
Genre(s): Comics, Science-Fiction.
ISBN13: 9781401295080.
My Overall Rating:
It’s easy to imagine Superman’s life without ever really following him around. With his powers, there’s nothing more you can do than imagine him flying around the city saving kittens from tall trees and beating bad guys whenever they forget the beating they’re doomed to receive. Under his superhero persona, however, lies a man like any other, working a decent job and trying to juggle serious life issues, like what Christmas gift he should get for his beloved wife. Unfortunately, his daily life is far messier, from engaging alien threats to elucidating the devilish plans of an evil billionaire mastermind. This era of the Man of Steel gets rotated between the hands of countless renowned creators looking to shape the future of this iconic hero and collects Action Comics #760-763, Adventures of Superman #573-576, Superman #151-154, Superman: The Man of Steel #95-98, and Superman: Y2K.
What is Superman: The City of Tomorrow (Vol. 1) about? The story follows Clark Kent in his everyday life as a news reporter and his daily battles to maintain peace in Metropolis as Superman. Throughout his trials and tribulations as the Man of Steel, he is also accompanied by his love Lois Lane and his archnemesis Lex Luthor as they both secretly engaged in a deal that will put Superman in trouble. Meanwhile, Metropolis is on the brink of an unexpected cataclysm as Imperiex makes his debut as the embodiment of entropy. However, trouble is never far away with Lex Luthor’s plans simmering just around the corner and Superman will need all the help he can get to save Metropolis.
“Whatever happened to the City of Tomorrow?”
— Jeph Loeb
Incredibly accessible, this volume collects an era of writing of the Man of Steel that focuses on giving readers a glimpse into the life of Clark Kent, juggling both of his identities and seamlessly reflecting on his place in the world. Whether it’s an episode that draws him back to his Kryptonian roots, forcing him to acknowledge his past or embrace his American ways, or a showdown with villains who are up to no good, the stories presented here all establish the hero’s strengths and weaknesses while also teasing a larger event through an overarching narrative. In fact, many writers get the chance to write Superman but they always steer the story towards an impending threat teased by the Son of Mongul or Lex Luthor himself. Otherwise, the volume collects countless entertaining mini-stories, from the arrival of silly villains or the mystery of a “Mrs. Superman”, without ever looking to astonish readers through stellar story-telling.
The same can also be said about the artwork. There is no particular consistency in it throughout this volume, especially with the countless artists that are part of each creative team here. The only element that can be noted is an overwhelming abundance of colour that gives Metropolis and all of Superman’s supernatural and alien threats more life and energy than one could imagine. Otherwise, there are dramatic differences in character designs, especially notable in Superman’s build and facial expressions, sometimes really leaving a sour aftertaste for certain short story arcs. The much more chaotic nature of his everyday life also assures for an explosive experience but is often quickly deadened by the extreme verbosity of certain writers. While the story does sometimes seem to shape up into something potentially exciting, there’s always something keeping you from really engaging with what’s going on.
Superman: The City of Tomorrow (Vol .1) is an entertaining portrayal of the inner connectedness of Clark Kent, Superman, and Metropolis as an imminent threat is teased and introduced.
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy for review!
Roars and Echoes 
My hats off to you for continuing your dedicated journey through these books.
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Always. 🙂 Even bad story-telling can’t stop me from sticking around my guys! 😀
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Fab review Lashaan! Is the post you were likening to Wanda Vision? 🤔
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No, no! DC doesn’t mix with Marvel! 😉 That post I was referring too should come out soon but you’ll immediately know hahaha it has the name of one of the two characters in the title (surprise, surprise!) 😀
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Of course they don’t mix them! Doh!
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This one didn’t really draw my attention (though I enjoyed the review). Hopefully it’ll appeal to Superman fans. Or perhaps it’s intended to bring in new fans? Looks like a pretty good sized volume.
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Since it’s a collection of issues that were published a long time ago, I doubt it’ll really draw new readers but it’s definitely a fun entry point for newcomers if they are intrigued by the creative team, the artwork, or the blurb! 😀 Thank you for your kind words, Todd. I appreciate it a lot! 😀
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From what you are telling me about it, it sounds like great entertainment, Lashann. great review once again, sir.
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Thanks, my man. It’s a fun collection that allows you to indulge in some Superman adventures without busting your balls on a much more complex storyline hahah
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Is there a Mrs Superman? Why no Superwoman?
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Superwoman does exist, although Supergirl is the more popular character of the two. Mrs. Superman, in this story, was simply Lois Lane but no one knows. It was only when Jimmy Olsen took a photograph and saw a ring on Superman that speculation began on who the Mrs is hahah
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Every day a school day; about to watch WW1984, so keen to understand how female super-heroes work. I’ve seen the awful supergirl movie, but do ike the name Mrs Superman.
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Get ready for a disaster… I have a review for that coming out veeeeeery soon and it ain’t too positive.
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Yikes! Just cued it up! We’ll compare notes…
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This sounds entertaining and engaging collection. Amazing review!
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It is, Yesha! 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to read my post! 😀
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“…without ever looking to astonish readers through stellar story-telling.” Are you that good at insults in real life, too? Are you one of those people that says something bad about the other person and they don’t even realize it was anything bad?
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Hahahahahaha that is in fact soooo me! 😉 They usually smile until they realize and say “Wait a minute…” 😀
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I love being a spectator of those incidents. Too funny.
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Hm, I remember reading this around the time it came out – I like Jeph Loeb as a writer but not much of a fun of Ed McGuinness with overtly muscular, beefcake character designs haha!
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Hahahah it reminds me of Loeb’s Superman/Batman series too. A little bubbly and beefy. I’ll be diving into the second volume of this reprint in the near future but it’s definitely not one of those runs you can just gobble up. So many things going on in here!
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