I was reading this title, but have now decided to just collect it in trade. Accordingly, I've only read up to issue 6, but I have been reading the previews on Newsarama.

I'm enjoying the series so far. If someone is still reading this, could you please answer a question? Wasn't Superman slowly dying, as mentioned in the 1st issue, because he was absorbing sunlight at an accelerated rate, or something. Have they ever returned to the fact that he's dying? I don't recall it being mentioned again since the first issue (maybe the second, when Lois was temporarily given powers), but I also don't recall it being solved. Is it just in the background now? Or has it been dropped?

I havent heard any mention of it either and was wondering the same thing.

I have a question as well: What's so great about these two books? I just finished reading them and they were just okay. If anything, the most interesting/emotional story was the Bizarro one. Why are these books so respected? Do you have to be a die-hard Superman fan to understand that they are better than the usual Superman books? Good artwork though, but fair story...

The last four issues of the series really highlight the death storyline.

All Star Superman is so widely respected, admired and appreciated because it distills Superman's essence into a 12-issue series that has done a better job of explaining who the character is than any writer has in any of his own ongoing series.

The series ties into DC One Million, another Morrison story from 1998 or so. It's not nearly as fantastic as ASS, but it's worth the read.

What a terrible acronym...

I also think it shines a bit brighter when compared directly to the other All-Star series...

I just finished reading vol. 1 a few days ago and am debating whether or not I want to actually read. vol. 2. While the story was somewhat new and interesting, I just don't really get what the creators were trying to do here. I don't see where all the heaps of praise are coming from, either. It was just "OK". The only part I really thoroughly enjoyed was the Lex/Clark prison storyline. I thought they handled those scenes pretty well.

However, with that said--the visual depiction of Lois is far and away the sexiest version of her I think I've ever seen. The shower panel was sensational.

What's wrong with "ASS"? I love ASS!


The death storyline in ASS was just emotionless. It was covered better in the Death Of Superman (Doomsday) storyline. Superman just seemed so passive about everything in ASS. The relationship between Superman and Lois was also so passive and distant from beginning to end. I liked how Clark Kent was done in ASS. Clark's clumsy scenes were amazingly drawn/choreographed.

Yup, and that's how it will feel after reading Volume 2, just "ok". I would return these books if possible. They are okay and not bad at all, but I just don't see myself reading them over and over.

I agree with the "good, but not great" reviews of ASS - especially when compared to Morrison/Quietly's other works like Authority and We3.

Which Morrison books are better: We3 or Animal Man?

They are completely different beasts.

We3 is a short, 3-issue, self-contained mini-series which is fairly recent. A great quick read with fantastic art.

Morrison was on Animal man for 26 issues in the late '80s and it's more of a traditional superhero book within the DC universe with it's own history, etc. He did pretty well with the book, but I wasn't personally a big fan of it, and I didn't like the art one bit

I'm getting a vibe that Grant Morrison isn't all that great to begin with...

He's definitely hit and miss - but he's almost always interesting, even his misses.

Oh and here's the Superman story Morrison should tackle next:

Hey, you have to leave some of the classics alone, man.

I'm not a sure Superman fan/reader but I have to put myself down on the "loved this series" side. I usually don't like Morrison's writing much but I think he got it just right with this series, and I love Frank Quitely's art as well.

Bumping this old thread...

Glad to see other people mention they didn't see what the big deal was about All-Star Superman. I bought this to read on my Kindle Fire because of the stellar reviews, and thought it was incredibly mediocre, if not just plain boring. I think I disliked just about every single chapter, whether it by the Samson and Atlas arrival, Lois with super powers, Jimmy's entire portrayal, all the Bizarro stuff... all of it was just a chore to get through and uninteresting.

Yeesh, I think i'm just better off reading the mainstream stuff that all the comic fans seem to hate

It's the purest Superman story since John Byrne completely changed the character after Crisis in the 80's. You have to view it as the best Silver Age Superman story ever told, which means accepting some of the goofier elements from that period. If your only frame of reference is modern comics or the movie version of Superman, I could see its charm not being as obvious.

Personally, it's my favorite Superman story in years.

I read it as it came out, meaning there were often long gaps and it felt disjointed at times. I just reread it in the Absolute edition and it flowed much better than I remembered (I still liked it as single issues, it just felt more episodic).

what i like about it is the mix of "the best of" the different iterations. such as a clumsy clark ala chris reeve, lois straight out of george reeves show, a super-relaxed superman because nothing can hurt him (usually) and a younger \ more modern daily planet. its a very interesting mix and the art and colors are just brilliant too.

I was kind of hard pressed too when I first read it, to understand why so many people were raving about it.
However I eventually came to appreciate
1) the characterizations. Everybody was pretty much exactly as they should have been and no character came across as contrived, just for the sake of drama in a limited series. I though Morrison did a great job of distilling the essence of the essentials, especially in regards to Luthor and Lois.
2) the emotional scope- it's not maudlin and melodramatic, but I did find myself feeling for all the characters. I got real tired, real quick, of the Byrne version of Luthor shortly after the reboot in '86 and which I would guess is still in play in some form now. The Luthor here straddles the line between that while at the same time feeling like a throwback to the old Golden/Silver Age version of the character.
3) the affectionate callbacks to some of the sillier early Silver Age tropes- Probably the biggest contribution of the series is that embraces the vibe of stories done before everything became dark, gritty, dreary and nihilistic- while at the same time, the overall premise is heavier and more adult (in that we are seeing a character with a terminal illness making peace with his mortality).
In general, the series did a wonderful job of distilling the essence of all these contradictory eras of the character into one cohesive set of episodes.

What I really love about it now, in retrospect, is that we don't get the maudlin "death of" scenes with him expiring on camera and everyone mourning. For as heavy as the premise is, it leaves on an upbeat note. Life goes on- and for this character that is perfect.

I bought the trades and then the Absolute edition, and ended up selling both- and now I regret it.
Didn't think I would want to read it again, but almost immediately after watching the animated adaptation (which I didn't think was all that bad, considering) I wanted to go back and read what was missed.

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going back through the thread I can see Phantom Stranger said much the same thing in a lot fewer words.
If you grew up reading him pre-'86, you'll likely get a lot more out of it.

I read it as it came out too, and was a little disappointed by it considering how hyped it was, and the talent involved.

Most issues felt a little light in content. I had previously read Alan Moore's Supreme, which came out in the early '90s and it was a wonderful tribute to the Silver Age Superman. All-Star Superman was similar in tone but not nearly as entertaining as Supreme.

Just compare the first issue of each story line:

All-Star Superman #1


Supreme: Story of the Year part 1

The Supreme story was great, but happened to be a modern story about the Silver Age Superman with all the meta-references and winks to the audience. All-Star Superman felt much more like an authentic Silver Age story to me.

True. The retro-quirkiness was a breath of fresh air compared to what the rest of what DC was doing at the time.

My biggest problem withi A-SS was that each issue felt a little too sparse.