Written by: Mark Schultz
Penciled by: Mike McKone
Inked by: Marlo Alquiza & Cam Smith
Colored by: Tanya & Rick Horie
Lettered by: Comicraft
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Publisher: DC
Superman VS Darkseid is the battle royal ending to the last story that ran through, the now defunct, Superman The Man of Steel series. In it Superman and Team Superman head off to Apokolips to free their friend and teammate John Henry Irons.
If your not familiar with the events surrounding the Our Worlds At War story, and to be honest I’m not all the familiar with it – since I didn’t read it, John Henry was apparently killed somewhere along the way. He was then seemingly resurrected by Darkseid and placed in a new Armor, the Entropy Aegis (I hope all of these facts are straight.) Well it turns out that John is actually a prisoner of this armor, as it has a life of it’s own and just needs John’s soul to power it… something like that.
Anyway, the story starts with Superman, Superboy, the 2 Supergirls, the Eradicator, and Krypto heading off to Apokolips to kick some serious evil New God ass.
The Good:
Well, I have to start by saying you can’t beat a full color, 38-page comic, penciled by one of DC’s best new artists, Mike McKone, for only $2.95. If every other $3 comic was at least this big I’d never bitch about the price. As I’ve said the art is great, the story concept is good as well, and the dialogue isn’t bad either, though a bit odd sometimes (I can’t for the life of me figure out why one of the Supergirls yells “APOKOPLIPS!†when they arrive. Especially when they’re supposed to be on an infiltration mission.)
The Bad:
I’ve already stated that the dialogue is a bit odd in places, and that I liked the idea for the story. But it’s in the execution of the story where I think the writer hit some snags. Basically when it comes right down to it, Superman and his team pretty much kick the crap out of Apokolips and all of his forces. And though this is great for Superman, that is if you’re a fan of the all powerful Superman, it’s not so great for the character of Darkseid. What happens the next time Darkseid tangles with the JLA? Based on this story, they should have no problem sending him home. DC is slowly returning Superman to the power levels he had during the Golden Age. It was only a few issues ago that he, Wonder Woman and I think GL (although it might have been the Martian Manhunter, where is that issue anyway?) moved the Earth out of its orbit. I personally am a big fan of Darkseid. I think he’s one of DC’s best villains and I hate to see him used to recklessly. Oh yeah and did I mention Doomsday makes an appearance, and man is it a bad one…
