The Return of Superman

Customer reviews:

A satisfying end, but a frustrating way to get there, 2008-09-07
The third and final chapter of the Death and Return of Superman arc, this book clocks in at nearly 500 pages - a very good buy for the price.

The plot concerns, obviously, the return of Superman after his death at the hands of Doomsday. As the novel opens we are presented with four characters continuing the Man of Steel's legacy, three of whom claim to be Superman. As the book progresses we find out more about each character, and the revelation of the true Superman is a twist, but that twist is handled pretty awkwardly. The true Superman then leads a group of heroes to Coast City, where one of our Superman impersonators has proven himself to be evil and bent on - what else? - world domination.

The story is engaging to begin with, but after we find out who the real Superman is 2/3 of the way through the book we begin to lose interest, especially since there is no real explanation of HOW he is still alive other than another character saying that he'll never be able to come back from the dead. Really!? We as readers have been invested for over 1000 pages (counting the first two installments) and the best explanation for how he comes back you can offer is no explanation? The deus-ex-machina effect would have been more satisfying.

Green Lantern also makes a nearly random appearance at the end of the story, and although the events set up GL's Parallax arc, I can't help but feel he's out of place here, especially after being absent for the rest of the arc while Doomsday was laying waste to America and the surviving heroes have been trying to pick up the pieces.

That having been said, the initial 2/3 of the book is excellent, introducing Steel (who would go on to become a great DC character in his own right) and three possible Supermen, and how they interact with each other is the cream of this book.

The book is essential if for no other reason than it closes out the story arc - after all, what would the original "Star Wars" trilogy have been if "Return of the Jedi" was never made? That said, although the book accomplishes what it set out to do - bring back Superman - and created some interesting personalities along the way, the book leaves too many gaping holes to ignore. Perhaps these are answered in later comics, but for us casual readers we are left somewhat wanting.

weakest of the three, 2007-11-25
Back in the early nineties, DC decided to kill Superman. There was a lot of potential here, though not as much as there would be now. Things were simpler back then. DC was having problems with its main heroes. Volume one killed Superman. Great if only for the idea and the art. Volume two was the Funeral for a Friend storyline. Weaker, but more or less good. At times. And in volume three we have Superman's return, and the introduction of Steel (good character), Superboy (who became something really great in the DC universe), a Superman cyborg, interesting, and finally a blast from the past. Important to the comic book world, if not as good as Marvel's House of M, world of Apocalypse, Loeb's work, Miller's work, or the great Alan Moore's work.