|
|
 |
|
The first review I did for Superman Chronicles I wrote about every issue in the volume. Here, I’m gonna change it up a bit, writing about the collection as a whole. First off, this collects Action Comics #’s 26-31 and Superman #’s 6-7, a time period spanning July 1940 to December 1940. So to put this in historical perspectives, World War II had started a year ago, and US involvment was still a year away. It’s really interesting to read this after reading the Batman Chronicles that collect the early Batman titles. Say what you will about Bob Kane, but he had something in those early Batman comics that Superman didn’t. Batman had a rogues gallery (Joker, Catwoman, Scarecrow) and even a sidekick in Robin. The Batman tales were usually centered around crime/mystery tales and worked well since Batman was just a human and could be hurt. There was always that possibility. Early Superman tales were far more one-dimensional. It is the same thing almost every story. Lois gets in trouble investigating some crime ring/espionage/crazy sci-fi-ish story, gets in trouble, enter Superman to save her. Superman was super-powerful and thus couldn’t be injured. You never felt that Supes was in any trouble and the trouble had to be redirected to someone else in order for us to feel an sort of impending danger or suspense. The rogues gallery is non-existant. There’s Superman and the only named villain they had was a kook named Zolar. I have to admit, I enjoyed reading this but compared to early Batman tales, it just doesn’t stand up. Recommended for those interested in early Superman tales, but for casual readers it isn’t really a must-read.
|
|
|
|
|
Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
|
|
|
|