Comic Vine Review

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Superman Unchained #2 - The Fall

4

Superman continues his fight against a new terrorist group. Also, what is Lex Luthor up to? For that matter, what about General Lane? Superman's going to be pretty busy.

The Good

We all know Superman is capable of incredible feats. This is something Scott Snyder sets out to demonstrate immediately in the opening pages. The problem is, how do you show Superman doing something super that we haven't already seen many times? Snyder manages to come up with a scenario. This is something we should see from time to time - Superman saving lives. He has to be able to go up against incredible odds and beat them. What makes this scene even better is hearing what's going through his mind. We've seen glimpses before but you never really think how his thought process must actually be like in the thick of things. The way Snyder breaks it down is pretty cool.

Jim Lee captures it all with ease. You'll also notice the inks by Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair's colors. I'm really digging the red and blue streaked effects when Superman is flying. During the action scene, we get a nice variety in shots, some close and some pulled back. With Jim Lee on board, people are going to expect a visual feast and that's exactly what he gives.

Snyder mixes things up by giving us big action as well as some more personal moments. Who doesn't want to see Snyder writing a scene with both Superman and Batman? It's great to see that Superman knows when he needs to seek advice. And if it gives Lee a chance to draw some Batcave scenes, all the better.

Along with all this, there is the mysterious figure we got a glimpse of last issue. Things are definitely heating up.

Let's not forget the two cool back up pages with art by Dustin Nguyen!

The Bad

In the scene with Bruce and Clark was a little distracting. Bruce ended up looking more like Superman than Clark did.

Solicit information always changes, that's understandable. It's just unfortunate that it mentions Jimmy taking center stage in the backup but it's actually Batman (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).

The issue had some great scenes but they almost felt as if they were mashed together. Superman went from scene to scene and it lacked a tiny bit of cohesion. What exactly is Lex up to?

This issue needs more Lois.

The Verdict

The action is heating up as the threats are forming to give Superman a difficult time. Having more than one threat forming is great as Superman should have more than one problem going on due to his vast powers and abilities. Scott Snyder gives a unique voice to Superman as we get to go into his thinking process during catastrophic moments. Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair wrap up the story in a beautiful package. There's a lot going on and Snyder is setting up multiple threats for Superman. Seeing characters such as Batman, Lois and Lex make it even more exciting. We're still seeing some set up in the big picture but it's shaping up to be a crazy ride, one fans will not want to miss.

25 Comments

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lifeboy

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That complaint of clark looking like bruce and vise-versa is ridiculas. Anyone can clearly see that clark was wearing glasses and has the clean haircut, while bruce was in a batsuit and has wavy messed hair.

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KingStandup

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"In the scene with Bruce and Clark was a little distracting. Bruce ended up looking more like Superman than Clark did." Those were my thoughts exactly! Other than that though, I thought this issue was great. The art and story are equally awesome. Looking forward to more! It might be a bit early to say, but I'm already ranking this among my favorite series of the year.

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deactivated-5edd330f57b65

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@loislamesucks: well Lois lane is an important character in superman and Clark needed batmans help. It was cool to see their relationship in this series. Snyder didnt put him in for batman fans, he put him in because superman genuinely needed his help. When batman fans want batman, they read batman titles not supermans.

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LoisLameSucks

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NO no no no! There is absolutely NO reason to shove in more Lois. At ALL. Stop trying to ruin this for everyone please. I hope the next ones have even less Lois. And same goes with Batman. Snyder shouldn't just shoe horn batboy cuz fanboys drool over him or shove Lois in cuz fangirls want more cheese. No fk that.
I`ve enjoyed this so far even though I was quite skeptical from listening to SS`s interviews. It wasn't THAT bad as his interviews turned out.

Jim Lee`s art is the one that sold it to me though. Hail Lee. More Superman and scifi. Less cheese and batman/lois please.

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martyyy15

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Who is that guy at the end? IS it luthor? Cause he looks totally zoned out?

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rufug

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Edited By rufug

Snyder is a great writer and coupled with Lee they're doing fantastic work. Solid issue (STILL NOT BETTER THAN BATS YEAR ZERO)

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SavageDragon

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Edited By SavageDragon

Solid issue, I agree with the review. Not great, but still real good.

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TheShutup

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@citizenbane said:

@sandman_ said:

In the scene with Bruce and Clark was a little distracting. Bruce ended up looking more like Superman than Clark did.

Not the first time that this has happen.

Jim Lee's Bruce and Clark have always looked too similar.

His Lois and Wonder Woman too. He struggles to makes heroes look different if they have similar features.

Ivan Reis has that same issue,
His Aquaman and Flash look way too similar.

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OutlawRenegade

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Edited By OutlawRenegade

@sandman_ said:

In the scene with Bruce and Clark was a little distracting. Bruce ended up looking more like Superman than Clark did.

Not the first time that this has happen.

Jim Lee's Bruce and Clark have always looked too similar.

His Lois and Wonder Woman too. He struggles to makes heroes look different if they have similar features.

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Sleepbutnodream15

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I think Scott Snyder really understands what Jim Lee's capabilities are. He draws some amazing giant scenes. Snyder's writing has also been ace. He did a great job of showing us what goes on in Superman's head during a crisis. These last two issues have felt like watching an IMAX action movie that has a solid script. Good stuff.

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braynehurricane

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Edited By braynehurricane

@laserlambert: Well, not exactly. You can judge an overall issue by pacing, characterization, etc. I agree that's it's not a foolproof process - and honestly some of the Viners don't even seem to use those as criteria for their reviews - but it's definitely possible.

A good idea is probably to include either a separate review at the end of the story arc overall, or include this in the final issue's review which is what usually happens.

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manwithoutshame

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As the story continues to take shape I find myself liking it more and more. 4/5

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LaserLambert

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It feels like there is no point in assigning star ratings to stories that revolve around mystery plots, whether either of this issues is any good apart from isolated character moments we can identify with, is how the overall plot ends up.

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saoakden

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Looking forward to reading this. My favorite ongoing Superman book.

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SOG7dc

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is nobody else upset about the jobbing supes did in this issue?

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MadeinBangladesh

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1st issue was good, hop this is better.

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Saren

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@sandman_ said:

In the scene with Bruce and Clark was a little distracting. Bruce ended up looking more like Superman than Clark did.

Not the first time that this has happen.

Jim Lee's Bruce and Clark have always looked too similar.

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braynehurricane

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Edited By braynehurricane

In my mind, the first issue was the one deserving of four stars (or even three, really) and this one was deserving of five. After the first issue, I was left pretty underwhelmed. To me, this second issue was a step up in quality. The action was a better tease of what's to come and the mystery here is a lot more intriguing that the crumbs left in the first issue.

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FatDaddyB

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Edited By FatDaddyB

This was a great issue because Snyder knows how to keep a good mystery going! The Batman/Superman pages were great because it continues to show how the two interact and can help each other. I wonder if this will be another "creature of the month" that Superman battles or if it will pan out to be something great. If it is a creature of the month type deal, I hope the reviewers rag on it like they do the regular Superman series (fair is fair). Regardless the mysteries and cliffhangers are great!

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darknightspideyfanboy

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Baberaham_Lincoln

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wait.. so is superman unchained a CONFIRMED ONGOING? or still a limited series? i'm curious as to whether to purchase single issues or just wait for the trade =/

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SandMan_

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In the scene with Bruce and Clark was a little distracting. Bruce ended up looking more like Superman than Clark did.

Not the first time that this has happen.

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dbullo22

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Edited By dbullo22

Well this replaces Action Comics for the time being.

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UltimateSMfan

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i really enjoyed this issue. Stupid thing had to end though,on a pretty exciting cliffhanger too,both supes and lex......wanted more Lois though.

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HollowPrince65

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Edited By HollowPrince65

I liked the issue but I would have wanted a bit more lois and the scene with Batman was a litte...idk....just didn't do much for me. I loved the book but I'm hoping next issue will have more lois and Batman will idk...it just didn't seem like Batman to play marco polo in the dark with Clark