General Information

Title: World Without A Superman
Authors: Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern
Pencillers: Jon Bogdanove, Tom Grummett, Jackson Guice, Dan Jurgens, Walter Simonson
Inkers: Brett Breeding, Doug Hazlewood, Dennis Janke, Denis Rodier, Trevor Scott, Walter Simonson
Original Publication Date: 1993 (original and reprint)
ISBN: 1-56389-118-2
Cover Price: $7.50 US, $9.95 Can
Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

Premise

The world mourns the loss of Superman.

High Point

Batman's role in the funeral procession. If I didn't know a thing about Batman before picking this up, that single page would have been enough of an introduction to understand virtually everything about him, except perhaps the details of his origin.

Low Point

I think they dropped the ball on this one. By the end of the volume, nobody doubts that Superman will return. However, the book is primed to allow him to return to the status quo. This should have been an event that changed the face of Superman comics forever. This should have been the event that finally revealed his secret identity to the world, so that he'd be forced to deal with the repercussions when he returned.

The Scores

This was not terribly original, but this particular story didn't need to be. This was about a funeral, and about the reaction of the world to the death of someone who is essentially seen as a god. The superhero funeral has been done a few times, but not to this degree. The grave robbing is a pretty standard part of any "returned from the dead" setup, so it doesn't feel original now. (If my memory of the novel I read ten years ago is accurate, that event will take on an entirely different meaning in the third part of the trilogy.) I give it 3 out of 6.

Most of the artwork is very good, and surprisingly consistent across the different titles with different creative teams. Walt Simonson's art, which looks good in my old issues of Thor, is just jarringly out of place among the rest. I give it 4 out of 6.

The story is much more developed in this portion of the trilogy. We no longer have two undeveloped characters at the front, but a rotating, developed cast that provide various perspectives on the situation at hand. There is a minor mystery to solve, and mourning to have. There are twists and turns in the story, even though there's never much doubt about those outcomes. I give it 5 out of 6.

The characterization is pretty good for the six or seven major players. With only nine issues of comics to fill out, six or seven relatively fleshed out characters is impressive. We understand Supergirl's naivete (although those of us who know her mainly from the movie may get confused by her dramatically different set of powers,) Lois Lane's determination to protect her trust with Clark even in death, the Kents' ability to take on the parental role to fulfill their own needs while grieving, Lois and Lana's mutual respect and friendship, and Lex's new machinations. Batman is not a major player, and has no more than three full pages devoted to him, but those pages are just incredible. I give it 6 out of 6 for doing such a nice job in such limited space.

The emotional response this produced was limited by the lack of plausible suspense. When a dead character still has his name on three different weekly titles, there's little doubt that he's coming back. Apart from the Batman moment, nothing elicited a strong response. That moment, however, inspired me to finally buy The Dark Knight Returns, so that moment alone earns this book a 3 out of 6.

The flow was excellent. Scenes melded together with symbolism and dialogue. My only complaint was that overlapping dialogue was really abused in this collection, as though they were trying to show off their ability to make scenes flow together. By the end of the book, it gets irritating. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, this is worth reading in its own right, and not just as a preface to the following parts. I give it 4 out of 6.

In total, World Without A Superman receives 30 out of 42.

Additional Notes and Comments

I'll probably pick up a copy of The Return of Superman in the next few months, but I don't have it yet, so the third part of this trilogy will be reviewed well after the first two parts. (This is part two; the review of part one is here.)