Some redemption...

In the review that I've linked the title to, the reviewer states that "I don’t like Superman. In the course of this job, I’ve read hundreds of Superman stories, and you’d be surprised how, to my eyes, they almost all read as tedious mish-mashes of each other, going nowhere with little of any interest beyond one super-powered being beating up on another super-powered being. Bor-ing."

And I'd have to agree. Superman is unbeatable. He's stronger than just about anybody in the DCU. He can cheat death. He is the greatest hero our world has ever known, and any bad guy who is able to really threaten Superman seems just to be contrived as being "the strongest foe Superman has ever faced" which is just what we read about the previous guy.

All that being said, the storyline with Ruin is actually starting to intrigue me. The previous TPB to collect this storyline - Unconventional Warfare - left me flat and thinking that there just wasn't any hope for an ending in sight for this storyline, but in this collection, the tale tightens a bit and suggests that we just might get a decent dust up coming. I will say, however, that the storyline (bad guy learns who Superman is, threatens/kills friends of Superman) seems to have been done before and before (Parasite, Conduit, Manchester Black, now Ruin).

Also of interest here is the relationship between Clark and Lois as they begin to look into the possibilities of having a child, something that Clark seems very reluctant toward but that Lois - in light of her recent shooting and near death - seems much more positive toward. And Mr. Mxyzlplytx (sp????) makes a couple of interesting appearances realted to this. The recent presentation of the fifth-dimensional imp (yeah, spelling that is way easier) have been taking a more friendly turn of late, moving him from a semi-evil, mischevious imp to a reverential character who shows up to nudge Superman in certain directions. I like the turn, and I really, really like the various art styles interspersed through the two issues with the imp. Great work in blending the reality artwork of the rest with the especially cartoonish art of Mxy's ideas and fantasies.

All the being said, I'm conflicted about this TPB. The artwork throughout the main storyline is horrible. So many sketch lines throughout the every drawing that the thing looks like a bottle of ink was simply spilled. Freakish, jagged people who - if they're not in the foreground - lose their mouths or eyes or whatever features aren't really needed.

Interesting storyline that I do want to see through to the conclusion.

But dangit, DC keeps not making it easy to follow Superman through the TPBs. For JLA, the TPB's are numbered so it's easy to tell where the storyline goes next. Here, DC collects the issues into TPBs without numbering, with unconnected titles, and with no clue whatsoever as to which TPB came before or will come next.

Anybody know of a chronology to the Superman TPBs? I'm really curious to see which came when and where in the line.

PS - if anybody wants to learn about Superman and all the styorlines he's been a part of, check this website out.