by tonydoug wright

All-Star Superman #1 and #2 (DC Comics), by Grant Morrison (Writer), Frank Quitely (Pencils, Jamie Grant (Inks and Color)

While perusing at a local comic book store I noticed they had issues #1 and #2 of the new All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and I knew I had to purchase them. Earlier in the week I had read some praise for Morrison’s work on The New X-Men and Doom Patrol. I picked up both issues and took them to the register where the clerk said that he really enjoyed Morrison’s work with All-Star Superman, even though some Superman fans were apparently not too thrilled with what Morrison did with the title, a 12-issue run for which Morrison created a new mini-story that does not follow that of the main Superman title.

Issue one opens with Superman foiling Lex Luthor’s attempted sabotage of a space mission to the Sun. Although Superman rescues the space mission, he is exposed to dangerous levels of stellar radiation which in turn leads to apoptosis, a condition where superfluous cells are destroyed. Faced with death, Superman decides to take matters into his own hands and reveals his true identity to love interest and fellow co-worker Lois Lane.

The second issue has an emotional Lois Lane being whisked away to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. While at the Fortress of Solitude, a tired and frustrated Lois ponders why Clark Kent decided to finally admit that he was in fact Superman. Paranoid and somewhat delusional, Lois decides to take matters into her own hands and confronts Superman about his future intentions. The second issue ends with Clark presenting a Supergirl (or perhaps a Superwoman) outfit to Lois.

I’m not a Superman aficionado but I read both issues without any reservations, and found Morrison’s work to be very impressive. He has placed Superman in a position where he must face his impending death, giving our hero the chance to see what is truly important in life. Not only has he added a touch of personality to Superman, he has made Lex Luthor into a crazed but desperate villain, attempting his most brilliant plan to kill “The Man of Steel”. Thanks to Morrison’s story and the fantastic artwork by Frank Quitely, All-Star Superman deserves to be considered a "must read."

Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy #1 (DC Comics) by Joe Kubert (Writer and Artist)

I absolutely enjoyed the Brian Azzarello and Joe Kubert collaboration on Sgt. Rock: Between Hell and a Hard Place, so I definitely wanted to check out the first issue of Kubert’s mini-series Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy. As a fan of military-themed comics, I knew that Kubert would have a fantastic story with these esteemed comic book heroes of World War II. The gritty no-nonsense leader of Easy Company is back with Ice Cream Man, Wildman, Little Sure Shot and Bulldozer and this time they have to survive a Latvian mission where they must successfully smuggle out a “valuable object”.

In the first issue we meet up with our Easy Company heroes fresh off the plane to Latvia, an area surrounded by German and Russian troops. While in Latvia, Rock meets up with a man known as Bear and his band of Latvian Guerillas who at first appear to be a little untrustworthy. A small German ambush ensues and we see Easy Company do what they do best and that is destroy the German military one tank at a time. The first issue ends with the Latvians giving Rock the “valuable object”.

Kubert has the first issue out of the way, and so far it's a good start to the six-issue series. Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy is a straightforward war story that will only get better with each upcoming issue.