This page features reviews of the Superman comics that I have read and enjoyed.



Superman Comic Review
DC Comics Presents #87 November, 1985
"Year of the Comet and the Origin of Superboy Prime"
Artists: Curt Swan and Al Williamson
Writer: Elliot S! Maggin

Summary: This is a great comic, featuring a meeting between Superman and Superboy, but not quite the way you would expect it. This Superboy is not Kal-El as a young superhero, but a Superboy from our reality, called earth-prime. (Editors note: Earth prime is the name in this comic book continuity for our "real earth", where Superman is a fictitional character. Earth One, two and so on, existed as earths where Superman, Shazam and the Justice Society lived. During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, these worlds all merged into one.)

On to the story. It begins shortly after the death of Superman's cousin Supergirl in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Superman is raging his grief and anguish on the surface of the moon. Unseen aliens have come to the earth in the hopes of killing Supergirl, but finding out that she is already gone, they opt to torture Superman instead. They zap him with a device that sends him to another dimension, specifically Earth-Prime. There, he accidently meets up with young Clark Kent, earth-prime's newly discovered Superboy.

In a back-up story, Superboy's origin is explained. He is from a Krypton in "our" universe, one that is about to be swallowed up it's own sun. His parents Jor-El and Lara send their child to earth in a teleportation device moments before doom hits. He arrives on earth and is found by the Kents, Jerry and Naomi, who adopt him and name him Clark. The irony is not lost on the characters, who have misgivings about naming their child after a "comic book character". Later, at a beach costume party, young Clark, dressed as Superboy, reaches for a star, and keeps on going, flying up into the air. This brings him into a meeting with Superman, who is trying to figure out a way to leave earth-prime.

After a few mini-adventures featuring some alien wars, Superman figures out a way to transport both of them home to earth-one. Superman enlists Superboy's help in the crisis and off they go. But no sooner do they arrive in Metropolis, than Superboy is spirited away by some strange vortex. Superman is left to try to figure out what happened and who has abducted young Clark.



Review
This is one of my favorite pre-John Byrne Superman stories. These kind of stories work on so many levels, without being tied to logic and continuity so fiercely as today's stories are. This story works on the premise that Superman is a natural occurrence happening on each world, in each reality in some form or another. With subtle differences his story and legend is retold, but it doesn't lose it's impact because the core message of sacrifice is kept the same.

Superman is also shown to be a great mentor, friend and teacher. In his tutoring of young Clark, you can see parallels of his early relationship with Supergirl. I find it interesting to note that Superman asks for Superboy's help in the crisis, considering what happened with Supergirl. But the crisis threatens all the universes and they need all the help they can get.

As always, the late Curt Swan's art shines in this issue. He makes it look so easy, his depiction of Superman only gets better over time. His Superman also seems the most realistic and natural in my opinion, and he is vastly underrated for his contribution to the Superman mythos.

Review #1