Supreme #63
(There might be a few broad overview spoilers. I'm not doing the spoiler bar thingy, so proceed at your own risk.)
Having read Alan Moore's run on Supreme in the Checker Book reprints, I thought it was kind of cool that this unpublished story was going to bridge the gap between Moore's stories and Erik Larsen's. The story is fifteen years old though, so I lowered my expectations a little bit. After all, Moore's not coming back to the book, and personally, I think his time is passed on this character. Also, would Larsen know what to do with this old story?
The answer is a pleasant "Yes." I don't remember the end of Supreme: The Return well enough to say whether this issue picks up on that story very well, but it certainly serves as nice build up to Larsen's #64. I've got to say though, this issue by itself didn't interest me so much. It's pretty straightforward: Darius Dax figures out something important about Supreme, and prepares his world of doppelganger Daxes for an all out assault on the world of retconned Supremes. There's a tense exchange between Diana Dane and Suprema, that I could swear I had read before - whether in a preview or in a previous issue of Moore's Supreme, I couldn't recall. There's sex for hero and villain the night before the attack, and then the duplicate Daxes ride out for their grand attack on the Supremes. It's maybe a bit telling of Larsen that he portrayed several of the villainous duplicates as very Marvel-like characters.
I feel a bit torn on how to rate this one. By itself, this issue is just so-so, but with Larsen's #64, this is absolutely awesome. It's great to see Moore's final script for Supreme: The Return used to begin the return of Supreme. It's kind of like getting to see his last thoughts on the character, although this was clearly headed into something else. It's great to see the artwork on this one. There are so many visual treats in this one - like the Marvel-like Daxes I mentioned before, but there are other things. Comic book pages drawn to look like old comic book art styles, background items... <sigh> I always feel a bit inadequate in describing art, so it's best just to check that out for yourself. Overall, it's a little underwhelming that this is Moore's last writing on the character, but the art actually excited me, making me want to see where Larsen is going to go next with this title. It reminded me of my excitement with the early days of Savage Dragon. For all of that, I'm giving this issue three-and-a-half stars.
(12/1/14) Update: The site has changed the rules, disallowing half-stars. So, I couldn't quite bring myself to give it a 4, so it gets 3 stars now. -cb