Comics rarely gutpunch lately, but this one delivered a totally unexpected surprise at least to this reader.

Heartbreaking and hilarious, the promise delivered by any Mark Russell book.

This series was due a big ol' clunker, filler issue and boy did it get it. Where to begin?

I'll give the art about a 6, it's ok, but it's twee kawaii shit dialed up to 11, all to serve writing that is doing very much the same.

There's a small rash of writers over at DC (thanks in no small part to Geoff Johns) on trying to add new characters and canon, but instead of something new and interesting, it's just taking what already exists and giving it a new coat of paint. It's not Bat-Mite, this is Nite-Mite, totally new character! What does he do? Um he's pretty much the same as Bat-Mite. Ok? Then add a smidge of meta defensiveness by trying to get ahead of the tweets within the same comic, and now we're just reading the writer debate himself.

All of this is just to say, I find this issue to bring to bear all the embarrassing traits of Tom Taylor's writing to a very painful and prominent forefront. I don't know if his ego got the best of him after his many successes past Injustice, but this is just Tom Taylor indulging himself, to excess. I've been wincing lately at a lot of his writing in this and other series, but I took it with some good humor as I hoped to see some development. So while this issue isn't quite a deal breaker for me, it does amplify everything I haven't liked about his work lately, so I found it incredibly grating.

Do better, dammit. more

As a casual reader, this didn't do much for me. It's a mishmash of characters I'm sure have greater significance for Spider-Verse stories, but I think this just isn't for me.

I remember seeing that cover image of Lois holding a bloodied Superman in her arms, as the cape billows in the background, and my tiny 10 year old brain was shattered. They got me!

30 years later, the weight of the moment is still not lost, despite the wacky shenanigans we went through to get Supes back. I was sort of hoping we'd get a reaction from Jon to the Super Mullet his dear old dad sported soon after the event!

All kidding aside, this was a nice special. A good walk down memory lane to a very memorable Superman story. It was good to see the different perspectives and the old masters come back for another yarn set in this period, including Roger Stern! I enjoy the Kents story told by Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummet the best.

Long live Superman! more

Underwhelming, to say the least.

I really was expecting some sort of wild twist - as this IS a Hulk book and this IS a Hulk story after all - that Hulk would beat Thor and take his place as a god among the rest. But that would be a diversion from the overall story Cates may be trying to tell here. I'm still hoping for a longer game here, but overall the art is saving this series so far, and even then some of the action scenes feel muddled. The anticlimactic ending with Odin's literal deus ex machina was a bit much for me. I should be used to old fashioned comic book hucksterism but I have to admit, they got me with this one. What a bait and switch. Now they have my money!

Still giving this series a shot since it's only about 8 issues in, Thor issues notwithstanding. But I feel like it's on thin ice at this stage. more

Enjoyed this a bit more than I thought I would. It's kind of great watching Jon fall flat on his face, you don't get that a lot these days with everyone being super competent at all times.