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SUPREME: THE RETURN TP
Recommended (8/10)
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Checker Books Publishing
Writer: Alan Moore
Pencils: Chris Sprouse, Rick Veitch, Gil Kane, Jim Starlin, Matt Smith, Jim Baikie, Ian Churchill & Rob Liefeld
Inks: Al Gordon, Rick Veitch, Jim Starlin, Rob Liefeld, Matt Smith & Norm Rapmund
Colors: Ron Rife, Awesome Colors, Digital Broome, Matt Yackey & Hi-Fi Colour
Letters: Todd Klein & Albert Deschesne
Editor: Eric Stephenson
Price: $24.95 US/$38.95 CAN |
This trade is the second volume of Supreme from Checker Books, collecting the entirety of Alan Moore's run. In many ways, this is the superior way to read this book; you don't get the long delays and the constant sense that each issue could be the last one we see which is common in most Liefeld-backed ventures. In some ways, however, it suffers from the time passed. The multitude of artists, most of very different styles and some very much not to my taste, hurts the read, and more importantly, with America's Best Comics established in the market, Supreme looks more than anything like a test run. Many of the same themes and plot elements covered in Tom Strong especially are covered in these stories, from parallel worlds to a timeless hero with a sprawling supporting cast, and in many cases the Tom Strong material is the stronger, more polished take. However, that doesn't mean that the book isn't an interesting read with plenty of ideas, and those who enjoy America's Best Comics in particular should take a look to see more stories in that general vein.
Anyone who read Supreme at the time knows that it is pretty much a riff on Superman by a man who has written two of the most well-regarded Superman stories for DC, but who refused to do any further work for DC. So, forget the name, this is essentially Alan Moore's Superman, and it serves as a reminder of why that character had been so beloved. Moore tackles the goofy Silver Age tropes like a legion of super-friends, a super-dog, secret identity troubles and girl troubles and somehow makes it all come off as original and creative even though its basis in 60's cliche isn't just obvious, but part of the point. It's one of those things that very few other comic writers could probably pull off.
Part of what makes Supreme work is the general sense that Alan Moore is having fun, the same thing that makes some of America's Best Comics so entertaining. Moore has clearly dissected and analyzed the roots of the genre in order to write these stories, but the resulting stories don't come across as dry or analytical, but instead as goofy fun that acknowledges where it comes from. The villains are evil, the heroes are good, and the simplistic morality of the times, while being gently tweaked in the stories, is generally in full effect. Not always, as Moore does seem to throw in a little bit of the conflicted characterization and moral latitude that was more the playground of Stan Lee than Mort Weisinger, at least in some of the stories, but in general the feel is pure DC Silver Age.
I think my favorite stories in this book involve that familiar element of Tom Strong, alternate worlds and travel between them. Probably the strongest story in the book in my estimation is "Supreme's Nemesis Darius Dax" with art by Jim Starlin. It's a flipside to what Moore did when he came onboard Supreme, examining meta-continuity issues with an eye toward breaking the fourth wall and a keen observation of genre cliche with a satiric bent. The notion of a world entirely shaped by versions of a master villain is intriguing, and Moore sets it up and knocks it down effectively. Coming close behind for me is the story of the alternate world where the Confederacy still reigns... ahem... supreme, which then segues into a nifty little Legion of Super-Heroes riff.
Really, though, there's not a bad story in the bunch. Moore takes on the archetypal story of a super-hero's greatest foes uniting against him, explores the notions of robot duplicates, evil counterparts, super dogs and lost girlfriends, does a clever tweak of the mystical imp story and even throws in a Kirby tribute for flavor. Throughout these essentially self-contained stories, there's a nice bit of continuity and subplotting, including the long-running and fairly satisfying romance with Diane Dane and the less-satisfying dangling story about Billy Friday, analog for tortured British super-hero writers. Some of the pop references in the stories are either stale or miss the mark (one gets the impression Moore had never seen an episode of Friends, and his take on Hillary Rodham-Clinton, while funny, is borderline cruel), but they were funny at the time and sometimes still work, even if the pop cultural context has moved on. "He just shot Monica, execution-style" strikes me as a laugh-out-loud line regardless of when you're reading the book, for example.
It's unfortunate that the artwork is not as consistent as the writing, for the most part. These ten chapters have eight pencillers and six inkers, and some of the art is pretty rough. Chris Sprouse and Al Gordon are the standouts here, handling most of the first five chapters, and the book looks solid up to that point. Later in the book, though, art styles shift wildly, from the fairly minimalist work of Matt Smith to the "extreme" style of Ian Churchill and Rob Liefeld, and the shifts in style can be a bit jarring. On the other hand, Liefeld's work has always been influenced by Kirby, and given that he tackles the Kirby tribute issue, his art fits in pretty well. And it's hard to complain about classic artist Gil Kane doing a flashback to the old west or Rick Veitch's dead-on impersonation of classic styles for other flashbacks. Overall, while the artwork is uneven, none of it is bad artwork, even that of the much-maligned Rob Liefeld. Artistic consistency would make for a stronger book, but none of the art absolutely kills the read.
These days, it seems like a lot more of Alan Moore's work is finding its way back into print in collected editions, and Checker's collection of Supreme is an important part of that effort. It is interesting not just as a precursor to America's Best Comic but as a look into what one of comicdom's most well-regarded writers might have done with one of comicdom's most recognizable icons.
This comic book was not among this week's new releases.
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