I don't see anything great about this story. It was OK - I expected something compelling like Kingdom Come, or interesting like Birthright, but All-Star was just good fun.

Did anyone else really find it that good? I liked it, but I certainly didn't care for any of the characters. The artwork made characters look bloated too.

to each his own. i found all starthrilling, captivating, emotionally potent, characteristically perfect, artistically brilliant......i think its the single best comic ive ever read whereas i found both kingdom come and red son awful

Yeah this is one area I'm gonna have to differ on with you mate. I found All Star to be easily as compelling as Birthright and Kingdom Come given that it establishes the core of Superman within the storyline. And yeah, lots of people do find it that good. It's stomping Batman RIP in the current poll and won Eisners for its story telling quality as well as currently holding the title of best Superman title, something Kingdom Come nor Birthright can claim universally.

That's because I feel Kingdom Come speaks more as a DC story, Kingdom Come has a better claim to the best DC story . It is ONE of the best Superman stories. I'm sure people do find it good, I found it to be fun but not a masterpiece like Kingdom Come, Birthright, Peace on Earth, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow and Death of Superman.

Lol, I can see why people prefer it over RIP because RIP isn't for everyone. IMO RIP is much better, but that is not an opinion many share.

I found it that good...

@frozen: I'm with you. Was it good? Yes! Was it All time great? Absolutely Not! With me the story was simplistic, the art was passable and the characterization was commendable. The highlight of the story was Lex Luthor IMO.

I give it an 8/10.

oh boy. Someone actually agrees with me about All-Star. I was getting the feeling I was the only one. It was lonely. :p

I wasn't crazy about All Star. It's very overrated. I found Kingdom Come boring too though. Love love Birthright.

It's a heartwarming story .....but it didnt warm my heart. It's not in my top 10 that's for sure.

i honestly thought you hated with all the negative comments you posted about it. SHOW YOUR TRUE COLORS DAMN YOU!

lol

Rip Frozen.

Lol he'll never survive the backlash of flaming against such blasphemy :P

It's better than the awful awful Kingdom Come.

BB

Personally I think All Star Superman is great, of course with all the hype it is getting it is normal for new readers to feel underwelmed when they read it.

Out of curiosity what do you hate about it?

I'm not a fan of silver age themes. I didn't care for it much.

Wha—? But— I can't even—

All Star Superman is, as far as I'm concerned, the definitive portrayal of what Superman should be. It's a big character doing absolutely epic things surrounded by more wildly imaginative pulp sci-fi concepts you can shake a stick at and he succeeds because despite the immensity of his archetype, he is, at his core, a good guy with good, forthright values.

It's much stronger than you think it is. Trust me.

Definitely, the story wasn't very structured. Some stories can work as unstructured stories, but with All-Star is just felt too simple and too boring at times. There was little characterization. Luthor's part was interesting to say the least.

LOL, I'm with you.

You seem to have a hatred towards Kingdom Come.

LOL, just putting my opinion out there.

It wasn't really like a Silver-Age comic either.

I think All star is one that needs to be read through several times. There is a lot going on and I didn't understand it all the first time. As for Kingdom Come, cant understand why anyone would hate that book!

What's there to like?
Alex Ross' static art?
Heavy handed biblical references?

The heroes' great characterizations and straw men? Especially Superman and friends who are asses. Superman quitting being Superman because of his ego and when he tries to fix things, it's too late and manages to do nothing. I liked how he couldn't make a decision and Captain Marvel had to save and most of the superheroes still died.

"Superheroes are bad, they should be nuked out, mmkay?"

And Magog and the other "90's antiheroes" were even worse.

It's pretty plotless fist fighting.
BB

opinions are never wrong about subjective matters.

comics are a form of entertainment/enjoyment. if you aren't entertained/enjoyed than you don't have to like it and you're not wrong if everyone else does like it. no one's opinion is more valid than anyone elses (though people would have you believe otherwise )

THIS. THIS.

I've only seen the movie, which I liked a lot.

@frozen: It felt like a silver age comic to me. Jumping from the sub plot to subplot and just some of the goofiness. I understand why people like it, it just doesn't hit the spot for me.

• The art is majestic
• Biblical references and Superman are not uncommon
• Superman quit for a reason. Read again.
• He DID make a decision, but Marvel stopped him
• The reaction is what the U.N would have done. They were at WAR.
• Not really
• Hardly

I didn’t much like art in All-Star Superman also, but story itself… That’s was one of the most epic, compelling and good written stories about Superman I ever read. It even not ElseWorld story exactly, it’s more quintessence of who Superman is, what he stands for …

After saying all that, I am not stating than All-Star is vastly superior to Kingdom Come. I never decided for myself which one I like more. And actually, this competition unneeded. If you ever considered yourself to be Superman’s fan or at very least were interested in him, then you most definitely should read both those stories.

Straight up, anybody who doesn't think All Star Superman is a work of genius, and the best portrayal of Superman we've had so far is a Philistine.

There, I said it.

I'm not holding back on this one folks. Come at me!

His art is fine for poster and covers, it's not very good for sequential storytelling.

He's above quitting. He's Superman.

Yes. Hurr hurr antiheroes suck.

Yes.

BB

Ooh the sparks are flying and the embers are being made in this thread. I have a good view of this repertoire of responses on here :P

i hated KC too. I read it either 2 or 3 times (maybe 2 1/2) to see what i was missing. It gets such awesome reviews so i thought it HAD to be me that was missing something. But i could never get myself to like it. I HATED the art. I really dont see what people like about Alex Ross' art and it literally bored me to sleep.

• No. His art works for stories too, it enhances the storytelling and the art is simply glorious. It works not only brilliantly for large scale stories like Kingdom Come but also smaller ones like Superman: Peace on Earth
• This is the problem people seem to have, ''Superman doesn't quit'', ''Superman saves the day'', the story poses the question what if Superman had quit
• No, they don't. They are an interesting contrast between heroes and villains, and how differently heroes/villains treat them
• ?

@sog7dc: Likewise for Jim Lee, his art just seems average and tasteless to me.

thats cool man. we just have different taste in art.

All Star literally saved my life. I was going through some bad stuff at the time and it helped take me out of what was a pretty dark place. I owe it a lot and I re-read it every year.

And that folks, is the power of Superman.

All-Star Superman was passable. It does a decent job of trying to modernize Silver Age/Bronze Age concepts, but only just manages to prove just how misguided such an attempt is. It's like trying to modernize/serious-ify Mickey Mouse comics. It just ain't gonna work.

Superman comes off as a walking plot device/abstract concept rather than an actual character, the central plot point (Superman dying) is never really explored in any meaningful way other than some occasional pontificating from the Man Of Steel, the entire story reads like a summary of "Superman's Greatest Hits!", cool sci-fi concepts are introduced and rarely followed through on, or used as a joke, the dialogue is OK-ish and Lex Luthor's characterization jumps rapidly from "Saint" to "Devil" and back again, and Frank Quitely can't draw for shit.

It's a fun and a somewhat goofy read. Has great moments of shining writing. Basically just like any other Superman comic. It's hardly "The Greatest Superman Story Ever Written!". And it hasn't proven to me that an all-powerful Superman can be written well or interestingly, unless you're writing goofy Superman with stupidly hilarious, on-the-nose, wink-wink-nudge-nudge plots.

There wasn't anything that 'didn't work' or was 'goofy' about All-Star Superman. Morrison achieved what he set out to accomplish with flying colours, and along with Frank Quitely produced a timeless and classic Superman story, that is more progressive and forward-thinking than anything being done with the character right now. I would go so far as to say that Grant Morrison, from a writers perspective, single-handedly brought Superman into the modern era and he did it without succumbing to the frankly boring hyper-realism and depressing cynicism of contemporary Super-hero (and other) literature.

Disagreed.
The only thing that may underwhelm you in ASS is the hype it gets. Otherwise it is a story full of magnificence and heart.

Its one of the few superman stories I really enjoy.

I don't like Grant Morrison, so I'm not a fan of it, but I appreciate its place in Superman lore.

Its better than Kingdom Come and Birthright.