Go ahead.

Thanks man. Okay then, What is your overall opinion on Alan Moore’s two Superman stories Superman: The Man Who Has Everything and Whatever happens to the Man of Tomorrow?

In your view, do you think these two stories still holds up today?

Sorry for the wait Arslan, but I haven't read these stories, but your question compelled me to finally check out "For The Man Who Has Everything".

It's a good story and I think it does still holds up today. I especially enjoyed the scenes with Mongul and Moore really sold the subsequent anger of Superman, after he woke up. For the negatives, I'd say that the jumps between reality and dream Krypton were a little bit jarring at times and the epilogue were everyone, especially Superman, were suddenly, miraculously ok was a bit odd. But it's the first pre-crisis story I ever read, so maybe it was a thing back then.

As I said, it's a good story, nothing groundbreaking but definitely worth checking out. If I were to use the rating system of this site I would give it 7,5/10. Oh, I haven't mentioned Gibbons' art. Well, it looks great. That part definitely still holds up today.

i finally tried reading this issue. i couldn't even finish it. terrible!

Holy Sh*t! The public review section screams bloody murder. I haven't read the issue yet and I'm not sure on What to expect. But, in due time I will read it anyway, just to check on What the Legion is up to.

As always, you should come to your own opinion, but the Legion is not up to much.

It’s trash-tier writing, might as well say this Legion’s flight rings malfunctioned and never took off.

Hi ohhaimark. Hope you are doing well today. Speaking of Saturn girl, Can you explain me how she disappear? It's something that I'm not clear about. Am I missing a detail here? I know why she disappear, but don't know how?

Hi there, it's my account. I have joined comicbook round up only just recently and enjoying it. Thanks for the question.

Why do you sound like a bot?

Hmmm....thats kinda interesting if you feel that way because I don't think that I'm.

Okay lol

Hey! As much as I'd love to, I have to say I'm probably the wrong person to talk about Superman. I don't read his comics often, I'm not very familiar with his mythos and history :(

OK that fine. I was actually going to ask you about the two Alan Moore superman stories. Man who has everything and Whatever happens to the Man of Tomorrow.

Oh, out of these to, I only have read Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow :(

Hey. Definitely. I can't guarantee I've read them, but even so, I'm always open to recommendations.

Thanks man, Much appreciated. These are two famous stories from pre-crisis Era of DC.

What is your opinion on Alan Moore’s two Superman stories Superman: The Man Who Has Everything and Whatever happens to the Man of Tomorrow? Do they still hold you after these years.

Absolutely they do! Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow is my second-favorite Superman story, under All Star Superman. For the Man Who Has Everything is great as well: excellent premise, outstanding execution. Come to think of it, I've been needing to reread some good Superman stories, considering the lack of quality Supes comics right now.

That's good to hear. Now, tell me this and it's a bit important thing that I like to ask you. Does these stories helps to accomplish in making Superman a three dimensional character?

Character which has emotional Strengths & weaknesses, with motivations and an arc?

This question that I'm asking right now might seem strange at first. But, trust me it's for a reason.

Oh, definitely. Moore's take on Superman is one of the most complex I've ever read. I think that's one reason I love his writing: how well he's able to deconstruct popular characters and examine them more in-depth than most writers.

Hmmm... You mentioned something Interesting here. Just curious, Do you find stories like DC Kingdom come, all star supes, 2 alan Moore's stories etc. to be a proper deconstruction tales done right for Superman.

Absolutely.

I ask this because Zach Synder's Man of steel tries to build a modern deconstructive take on Superman. But, for some reason it comes across seriously off. Note: Sorry for the delay response, kinda been occupied with other stuff.

Hey, no problem. Yeah, I agree about Man of Steel. I actually enjoy the film, but that's purely subjective. I'm not like one of those crazy Snyder fanboys who thinks everything he does is a work of art. The film just entertained me, despite all its flaws.

Hi there, Allen. I was just scrolling the public review section and wooow!! Its screams like bloody murder. Is Supersons by Bendis is that poor?

ya he doesnt get writing damian and jons relationship at all, specifically damian. it's a shame

Hmmm... I see. By the way Allen, there is a question which I'm curious to ask your opinion regarding two famous, but old superman stories from pre-crisis continuity. If you're interested, I can the post the question to your page.

Hello! Well, I’m not the best person to ask about this, because I gave up reading Bendis comics a long time ago. The biggest problem with me was his dialogue. I actually preferred Tom King’s lack of proper dialogue over Bendis and his ridiculous dialogue that sounds like it could be used sarcastically, but isn’t. Another big problem is that he’s just working on too many titles and relying too heavily on name recognition.

Hmmm...Interesting point. I think DC fans are not particularly fond of things on what they have dubbed as bendis-isms of bendis. These includes overdrawn clunky dialogs, his made-up characters appearing in different titles & of course, total disregard of continuity etc..

Oh most definitely. HIs dialogue is what really turns me off of his writing personally. However, his made up characters are pretty awful too. I'll be honest, I didn't hate Leviathan, but Rogol Zaar and the Red Cloud were both awful. The disregard of continuity is really annoying as well.

Thanks for the reply. By the way, I hoping next time we could discuss about Johnathan Hickman's House of X run with you. If you are interested, please let me know.

Of course! I love Hickman's House of X run. I don't know if I'm the best one to discuss it with, since I'm not too keen on X-Men lore and a lot of it goes over my head, but I really enjoy the run.

Hey! Well, I read only 2 or so Bendis series, since the rest doesn't really interest me, or I abandoned them long time ago. The main problem I see with him, causing all this polarization, is how he takes the source material people like, and turns it into something he'd personally like. And granted, that's what writing's about, making things your own, but then again, his decisions impacted DC's main continuity hard, considering how many titles he's working on right now. Think of it as an...

... equivalent to DCEU and their Hot Topic face tattooed abominations people despise, yet corporate heads don't know any better. Or Kennedy's Star Wars, where she took the approven source material with cult following, and changed its nature to be something suitable for her. Bendis' case is similar. He takes existing characters, and simply can't capture their... essence, if I may. The idea behind his action is to create a sub universe of sorts, with interconnected series. Example - rapid aging...

... Superboy, so he can join the Legion of Superheroes. Having a Kryptonian in the series is crtainly a good idea, too bad this decision ruined the diversity of the Kryptonian character roster. You have Supes and Power Girl, adults, Kara and Conner, teens/young adults, and Jon, a kid. With him now being a young adult, there's no one who could fill the child niche.

Bendis is ambitious, but he also tries to adjust everything he touches to his vision. Connect his work, so in the end that naturally touches a nerve of many readers, who'd rather read about what they already like, instead of something reinvented for Bendis' purposes. I wouldn't say it's a full blown vanity project, like the Hot Topic Birds of Prey dumpster fire of a movie, but still, Bendis has big influence over DC, and already changed a lot of its mythos. In many ways for worse, in some...

... others for simply boring. Event Leviathan, for instance. It's a dreadful, boring read. Compare it to The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen or Batman White Knight, all three filled with long dialogues. Yet they tell interesting stories, and Event Leviathan doesn't. So that would be my guess why people are displeased with Bendis.

Hmmm...Interesting points. I think that DC fans are not particularly fond of what they have dubbed as bendis-isms of bendis. These includes overdrawn clunky dialogs, his made-up characters appearing in different titles & of course, disregard of continuity etc..

I don't think that bendis is a bad/incompetent writer. But, I think it's safe to say, he the under the weather these days. As some his work is quite good. The Example being ultimate Spiderman run from the 2000's. I think he works best with street level heroes. If, I were working at DC, I would suggest the editor team to give him a comic run regarding street-level heroes like The Question or green arrow in an out-of-continuity story. And, let him be creative or crazy on it.

I don't find him a bad/incompetent writer either. Maybe an unfitting for certain series he's chosen to write, and most definitely one that should be kept in control by the editorial, which doesn't happen. Not sure about Question, since he's a Z-list character. Maybe he'd be a good pick, but Bendis seems to be in this tough spot where he has name recognition and respect, so DC can't say "no" to him, but at the same time writes shit these days. Kinda like Miller, Azzarello or King.

Hey Arslan! Great question! Are we talking main covers or are variants included? Out of the main covers, I'd have to say #6, because I love the look of all those little marionette puppets. #9 and #10 are close runners-up thought. Considering variant covers, that's harder, cause there are some great ones. #8's variant cover is fantastic, plus more puppets, #9's is great too, seeing Dr. M destroy the Justice League with a single gesture is freaking awesome.

I love all the little details in the #10 variant. Carver Colman mailbox, Dr Manhattan meeting the JSA. I do prefer the variants because they can be more creative without using the first-panel gimmick, plus Gary Frank is a wonderfully talented artist. Out of all those, my very favorite? It's hard but I'm gonna go with #8 variant.

How bout you? What do you like the best?

I will say that all them are wonderful in their own right. Gary frank did an amazing job illustrating the main cover very well. I think many fans would agree on that part.

But, Which cover that I like the most? Hmmm..... I have to say main covers from issue# 1,8,9 & 12 caught my eye the most.

Especially, last one were Dr Manhattan standing just below when the clock hits midnight. For me, that just screams awesome.

Great choices! You're spot on about that #12 cover.

Hello! Great question! I would certainly say fans aren't enthused by Year of the Villain. It hasn't received tremendous backlash, like Heroes in Crisis, however. To me, at least, it feels like just another event that will be forgotten in two years time.

As for the state of DC comics, that one's harder to answer. There are certainly those that feel the publisher is at an all time low and may never return to it's former heights. However, there are also those that are satisfied with the direction it's going towards. Overall, I'd say more fans are unhappy with most of the titles DC currently has, myself included.

Hi ohhaimark Firstly, thanks for your insight. Much appreciated. I honestly think the current state of DC comics is kinda all over the place. Even though the logo, Year of the villain is present in each and every comic coming from DC. They hardly make an effort to make some connections.

I'm a little late to the event, can you please tell me What is Year of the villain event is about exactly??

Of course! True! A lot of the flagship titles are very weak (Tom King Batman, Bendis Superman, etc.), but some of the smaller ones are doing pretty well. I’m enjoying DCeased, White Knight and recently started reading the Sandman relaunch (which is way better than I expected) for example.

It really does annoy me how many series are part of the Year of the Villain event, and many series don’t connect at all. To be fair, it’s been buildup for the last few months. For example in Detective Comics, the last couple pages of the last few issues showed Mr. Freeze, and slowly revealed his plan, while the main story was something completely different. I’m pretty sure scenes like that will be the main story once the event gets into full swing, which has taken way too long.

As for the event, I’m not the best person to explain it, since I haven’t read Justice League for a while, which is very connected to the event. But, as I understand it, a strange powerful version of Lex Luthor, working with Perpetua, has called numerous villains to join his cause, offering them some sort of new power. And... that’s it. It’s been a very slow moving event.

Hmmm... Interesting. I think the saddest thing is the plan that Geoff johns had for DC universe at the beginning of rebirth and with doomsday clock probably will not come to past.

Unfortunately not. It’s clear Johns’ vision for the DC Universe works well, as proven by the early days of Rebirth.

speaking for myself, a mild DC enthusiast, an absolute Batman fanatic, i'm pretty disgusted by the current state of DC comics. Tom King has been trashing Batman since 2016. and now Bendis has all but ruined all the good things Dan Jurgens and Peter Tomasi had done for Superman. i'm so far beyond caring anymore that i haven't bothered with any of their events, Year of the Villain, DCeased or Leviathan. just not going to waste the money or time.

I'd say DC fans are just unhappy with what Bendis is doing mostly since it seems to overwrite anything Tomasi did with his run and Johns is doing with Doomsday Clock. There doesn't seem to be an editor at the helm to really keep track of what's happening.

Hmmm.. Interesting. I'm kinda new to this to be honest, According to you, What are some problems going on DC editorial level? And, is this the reason why Doomsday clock suffered tremendous delays?

The problem is they have no patience, but I can see why they have no patience. Basically the entirety of rebirth hinged on the mystery of Doomsday Clock, which hinted at new directions for Legion of Super Heroes and the JSA, as well as the entire universe as a whole. But Johns and Frank had delays as you said, and DC couldn't wait to keep these "immensely valuable" properties out of the universe. So rather than wait for Johns and Frank to finish their story, they chose Bendis direction

And they went ahead and put legion and JSA in superman and Justice League. This even affected the recent Doomsday Clock issue, where Saturn Girl straight up gets erased, which easily spells out how rushed that book was and how that wasn't the original ending.

So, that's why she appears like that in New Superman issue. As I was confused at first on how can she appear hear and being erase in the doomsday clock issue.

Some fans suggest that, this type of meddling by DC editorial whoever it maybe, has effected negatively on Geoff johns on doomsday clock story. Do you agree with that statement?

I believe so, it really shows in the last issue. It reeks of editorial meddling, completely rushed with nearly every story getting an unsatisfying ending and quickly rushed up, Black Adam gets punched by Superman, Saturn Girl gets erased, Batman just stops the nuke out of nowhere. The pacing of the story was relatively normal until that last issue; issue 10 was probably the best issue DC has put out in years, which was right before 11, the rushed one. And it shows a lot

I only hope that johns delivers a overall proper conclusion to doomsday clock series in issue #12. But, we have to wait for it. Again! Anyway, thanks for the discussion.

Hi! I can speak only for myself and what I've seen with my own eyes, but I think generally DC's positive repuation after Rebirth's launch ran out a while ago. Batman comics are really divisive and I see plenty of people looking not to the end of King's run, but to a fresh start with a new writer. Superman's comics are pretty divisive as well - Bendis is really hated, and his heavily ambitious plans to directly connect everything he writes, derailed pretty badly. Young Justice is mediocre...

... Superman is despised by fans, and the idea of rapid aging Superboy, well, let's just say it is as enjoyed as Dick Grayson changins his name to Ric. Not mentioning, it was an awful idea from the marketing and storytelling perspective, since it deceases the diversity of Kryptonian character roster. There's already Kara and Conner serving as teens/young adults, yet there's no kid to fill the void left by Jon.

Next stop, Wonder Woman. I don't see anyone talking about her, to be honest. She's there, but she doesn't generate as much attention as Supes and Bats. Not sure if it's good or bad - on one hand, she's not hated, on the other, for one of DC's 4 pillars, she sure stays in the shadows. Harley, the last big character, sucks, but that's nothing new, her comics were trash since the New 52 disaster. She's still the same as she was then, nothing changed, except she's now properly blonde. That's all.

Finally, events. Batman #50 was a critical disaster, No Justice was rushed as hell, and uneven, Event Leviathan is a boring slug, Doomsday Clock struggles with serious delays, the entire setup for Legion of Superheroes was pretty bad, Flash Forward received some mixed reviews, and Year of the Villain is kinda all over the place - in order to understand it fully, I'd have to read 10 comics every week. It seems pretty cool, conceptually, but we'll see. So far it's too big for its own good, I feel.

There's also DCEASED, which is... okay. I haven't seen it receiving pure positivity from fans, but it's not bad either. Dark Nights Metal was a huge success, on the other hand. As for elseworld stand-alone stories, Curse of the White Knight is definitely worth recommending, and fans seem to universally love it, just like its predecessor. DC tries to release some self contained books targetted at unusual audiences - kids (Dear Justice League, Swamp Kid), teenage girls (Breaking Glass)...

... etc. That's something core DC fans aren't interested in, from what I've seen so far. Can't say they are disappointed, they're just not the target audience for these releases. I also forgot to mention about quality drop related to some long running series, like Deathstroke, which was one of Rebirth's biggest highlights, and now is somewhat mediocre. That's a natural state - it's impossible to keep the original quality forever. Then again, combined with poor reception of Batman, Superman...

... Utter disasters in form of Heroes in Crisis or Batman #50, and failed experiment New Age of Heroes was, I think fan disappointment is growing over time. There's still plenty of great series to read, but overall we can observe DC is struggling more and more.

I‘m not happy ( can’t speak for all), because Year of the Villains doesn’t really concentrate on the villains, only on the JL& some heroes going crazy. It also feels like a cheap copy of Underworld Unleashed to me. Sorry for my late reply,I just saw this.

Hi egon244,Arslan here. If you are keeping up with Justice league and Justice league dark. I'm just curious to ask, which series do you like more?

Well, I'm not up to date with JL Dark, so I think that's your answer.

If you have the time, check out JL dark. I heard it's quite good.

It is good. You just can't read everything.

Hi Danyy, Nice overall review. But, I was scrolling down the following comic reviews and I've noticed that some are quite underwhelmed by this issue of Doomsday clock. Some of them suggest that the story itself was largely an info-dump, and revealed some of the pacing problems. So, I'm curious to ask, Do you find the same problems as well or you see it differently?

And, sorry for misspelling your name.

Hi Arslan, Although issue 11 summarizes the entire thing it IS needed in order to set up the final, paramount conversation between Superman and Dr. Manhattan. I was afraid how Johns was going to pull it off but he did it gracefully through Veidt, which fits Veidt's arrogance and ego. I read the issue and I personally didn't find it too slow or too fast, and while some see it as an info-dump, I see it as a villain's psychology at play "See what you want to see" - Rorschach II

Humm... Interesting. Its kinda funny though, due to this issue some are quite scared about the Final issue. I Hope Geoff johns delivers a proper conclusion.

Like I said in my review:" I have faith that Johns will deliver in issue 12 and if he doesn't, well, read the quote by Theodore Roosevelt, the one that appears at the end of issue 3 of Doomsday Clock. Whatever happens in issue 12 Johns can go to the grave being the one writer to have dared. That's his ace in the hole." Issue 12 is slated for this Nov. We'll just have to wait and see.

Hi there, Nice overall review. But, I was scrolling down the comic reviews and noticed that some are quite underwhelmed by this issue of Doomsday clock. Some of them suggest that the story itself was largely an info-dump, and revealed some of the pacing problems. So, I'm curious to ask, Do you find some the problems as well or maybe see it differently?

I always appreciate your reviews but I think this is the first time we've actually agreed. Except about nihilism. I'm with you on that. :)

Hi, Arslan! I understand why some may perceive this issue as an info dump. It's really packed with information, and answers plenty of questions from the series so far. It also does not feature a huge step forward story-wise, it just sets up the finale, while, I presume, people were expecting a giant battle between Diana and Adam, among other big events. Instead, Johns proudly shows us how everything in the plot is connected, yet still leaving a lot to wait for next... well, probably not month.

Glad we're on the same page, Batman Jones :)

Hi, Ni.. hmmm... interesting. Let me ask you, Did you able to follow the story? That also another complaint which some people have that it's kinda uneven/hard to follow. And, the funny thing is, Some are worried about the conclusion. I hope that Geoff johns delivers.

If you know Watchmen, and have the basic understanding of DC's universe, you should be fine. It's still a multilayered comic, with plenty of parallel arcs and themes going on, but so far, it's been pretty competently explained, I think.

Hi there, Nice overall review. But, I was scrolling down the following comic reviews and I've noticed that some are quite underwhelmed by this issue of Doomsday clock. Some of them suggest that the story itself was largely an info-dump, and revealed some of the pacing problems. So, I'm curious to ask, Do you find the same problems as well or you see it differently?

No, I wasn't underwhelmed. At first, I was half-expecting some big fight between Diana and Adam, but what I got was satisfying just the same. Seeing how Luthor was piecing all of it together and learning just how crazy Ozzy is was really good. And it all set the perfect stage for the finale. I never felt the book had pacing problems, its release schedule, sure, but the book itself, no. It's very story-driven and it takes its time telling it, but I was never bored.

Arslan are you a bot? Or did you just paste and copy this question to everyone who reviewed this book? You work at Marvel?

Hi there, Nice overall review. But, I was scrolling down the following comic reviews and I've noticed that some are quite underwhelmed by this issue of Doomsday clock. Some of them suggest that the story itself was largely an info-dump, and revealed some of the pacing problems. So, I'm curious to ask, Do you find some the problems as well or maybe you see it differently?