Writer: Max Landis
Artists: Nick Dragotta, Tommy Lee Edwards, Joelle JOnes, Jae Lee, Francis Manapul, Jonathan Case, and Jock
Colorists: Alex Guimaraes, Tommy Lee Edwards, Rico Renzi, June Chung, Francis Manapul, Jonathan Case, and Lee Loughridge
Letterer: John Workman
Review by: Deanna Chapman (@deeechap)
Superman: American Alien collects issues one through seven of the comic. While it is a series, each issue feels different. This trade is more of a collection than a strict, ongoing story. The timeline jumps ahead with each story. The gist of it is that Max Landis wanted to bring you seven different stories at various points in Clark Kent’s life. We first see him as a young boy just discovering his powers and end with him in his full-blown Superman costume. Think of this as a snapshot of various moments in his life.
Each issue also has a different artist and colorist, but at times the two will be the same person on both. Tommy Lee Edwards, Francis Manapul, and Jonathan Case handle both in their respective issues. Despite having a different person on each book, it works fairly well. Sure there are some inconsistencies with the art, but with the story not being on a consistent timeline, it’s fine. The story does progress forward in Clark’s life, but as mentioned earlier, it still skips various years.
The art for each story was fitting for the theme of them. In “Parrot,” Clark is mistaken for Bruce Wayne and ends up going with the flow of things. This book has a much lighter tone since it’s a more playful storyline. It’s also worth mentioning that he just flicks Deathstroke off of the boat in this issue.
“Valkyrie” is the final issue in the trade and it’s easily the most violent of the issues. It’s a banger of an ending and there’s still so much more Superman that can be covered going forward. Thankfully, the timeline doesn’t go too far and that leaves Max Landis with the opportunity to carry on this idea of snapshot stories.
It’s hard to judge this book as a whole when each story brings a uniqueness to Superman. All that I’m certain of is that it’s entertaining. Not to mention the mini stories found at the end of some of the issues. We get some little one page stories that give us just a little something extra to think about while reading through. If anything, you’ll find this book full of little surprises throughout.
Verdict: Buy. If you’ve been following this comic already, it’s a no brainer to grab the trade, especially with around 20 pages of extras at the end. If you haven’t been following along, this is a good chance to check it out and enjoy the seven stories at once. Besides, who doesn’t like some good Superman stories?
