Customer Reviews

Supreme: The Story of the Year

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

By now it can't have escaped your attention that Alan Moore wrote "Watchmen", possibly the best ever comicbook - but that doesn't mean he has to be dark, brooding and edgy in everything he does. Supreme is Alan Moore having great fun with Superman and the DC universe, and we are invited to the party.

I read the whole thing in one sitting while trapped at Newcastle airport for 4 hours (Nice people, but once you've searched WH Smith, there's little else to do...)and it was like watching a magnificent movie. The characters are treated with intelligence, there are great plot twists, exciting battles, tounge in cheek pastiches and wonderfully re-created comics from a vintage age that never existed.

Possibly for younger kids the references to the 60's comics have little resonance. For those of us who found and read them then, they were a 4 colour dream come true. At last an alternative reality from war comics, the Beano and football stories.

The artwork is stunning in the flashbacks, and OK in the "present day" sections. The story is gripping throughout.

Thanks Alan - I got to spend 4 useful hours being young again, and I feel my life is better for that!

Following a “Reality revision” the superhero of the title discovers that he is just the latest incarnation in a long series of heroes bearing the same name. This seems to explain his patchy memories of his past, so he sets out on a voyage of rediscovery and revisits the scenes of various episodes in any generic superhero’s evolution: origin, small-town childhood, teenage love, first super-group and so on. This allows Alan Moore and the artists to produce spot-on pastiches of comic books from the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Supreme is Superman in all but name. He shares the Man of Steel’s convoluted and often ridiculous past, he has the same limitless powers, and a very familiar supporting cast. And Moore has lots of fun with the more bizarre aspects of Superman’s history. All the superhero conventions are observed: the various masked characters continually refer to each other by their superhero names so we can keep track of who they all are; there is the typical superheroic coyness about profanity, “Great galaxies!” is the favoured outburst; and, of course, there are complex explanations of the plot delivered mid-punch. Only superheroes can talk and fight at the same time! It’s all done in a knowing, ironic post-modern way assuming that we see the joke as much as the author.

The linking story is illustrated by Rob Liefeld of Youngblood fame so there is plenty of striking artwork of extremely heroic men and women. Supreme’s inflated muscles seem to increase in size as the story progresses and Glory’s costume grows ever more skimpy. Again, we can see this as an ironic statement or we can just ogle the art. Rick Veitch’s artwork in the flashback sequences is remarkable, he produces a perfect recreation of comics from the 50s and 60s.

There are other nice touches which will strike a chord with regular comic readers: Supreme's alter-ego works as a comic book illustrator. His comic character 'Omniman' has just ben taken over by a British writer who has been brought in to radically revise the book. I also liked the portrayal of the 1960s Batman equivalent who always wears a beaming smile. So different to the grim dark-knight he has become.

So, there’s lots of fun going on here but does it go anywhere? The linking story doesn’t seem to gather any speed and just peters out at the end. There are a couple of typical Moore moments, in particular the hero’s discovery that the arch-nemesis who he thought was dead is at large again. Moore first used this device with Arcane in Swamp Thing, and Gargunza in Marvelman (or Miracleman, as marvel comics insist we call him).

Alan Moore has already produced 2 great Superman stories: “Whatever happened to the man of tomorrow?” (S#423 and AC#583) and “The Man who has everything” (Superman annual 1985). Both stories dealt affectionately with some of the dafter aspects of Superman’s history. Both were much better than Supreme.

Should you buy this book? Depends. If you are new to Alan Moore and want to see what the fuss is about then order “Watchmen”, a contender for the title of greatest comic ever written and discover why “Alan Moore knows the score!”.

But if you have a fondness for comic books from the time before Hollywood rediscovered them; or if you have read and enjoyed Michael Chabon’s “The Amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay”; or if you just want to see how many thinly disguised characters from the DC universe you can spot then get Supreme.

There's nothing worse than having to perform a hatchet job on something you love. Oh well, here goes:
Other reviews for Supreme have covered in detail its multi-faceted homage to the man of steel.
Al Moore has publicly stated he took up the Mantle Supreme to try and inject some much-needed fun into the (generally) dark and brooding Superhero landscape of the 90's.
Supreme: Story of the Year was his words made flesh. And I saw it was good.

OK, i can hear you say - so why one star?

In a word - Printing.

The clowns at Checker have managed to create THE single worst quality TBP i've ever come across. OK, the interior pages are glossy, but that's only ONE important element guys, you surely know that don't you?
The clarity and quality of the entire book is so low I had to give up in disgust after the first half-dozen pages.

Thank the Moons of Mars I had the entire run in monthly format or there is no way I could have read this work.

To finish on a positive note, however, I understand that Checker became aware of the quality issues with "Story of the Year", and put their collective hands just a tad deeper into corporate pockets for the print run of "Supreme: The Return".

I can only hope...

Alan Moore is very good at taking an old theme or concept and revisalising it. Here there is a slightly different slant. Moore is taking the whole DC Comics universe and creating a parallel world where most characters are recognisable but not quite the same. Superman is the title character Supreme, Batman is Professor Night etc.

This is not a rip-off but a homage. The flashback sequences are shown in the style of the period so the sixties are exactly as you would have seen them in a DC Comic of the time including the artwork.

It all hangs together to make a great read, though anyone who isn't a fan of DC's line may struggle a bit.

My copy is printed beutifully and worth every penny.