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Review: Superman: Doomed

ComicBookWire

Quick Summary

Pros: The entire volume follows an interesting and unique premise. There is plenty of action here from Superman and his allies. The ending is very tense and full of drama.

Cons: The beginning of the story is bloated and has a number of elements that contradict each other. Part of the ending’s aftermath makes the ending feel less meaningful. The book’s massive size makes it hard to justify its quality level.

Overall: Though there are more positives in this book than there are negatives, the collection as a whole ends up being only slightly above average. This means that the story is entertaining and has plenty of exciting moments, but it stumbles in a few places, especially at the beginning and end. These negative moments make an already long book feel even longer and cause it to drag more than it should. Overall, this is a book for Superman fans, those who will appreciate extended stories about his allies and his own adventure.

Story

Superman: Doomed is an ambitious crossover event that combines elements from multiple different series into one cohesive storyline about the Man of Steel. Though the volume starts out a bit rough, it finds its legs once the introduction is complete, and manages to deliever a story filled with awesome moments from both Superman and his allies. Overall, this makes for a collection filled with more positives than negatives, creating a slightly above average story. However, the collection’s massive size makes it a bit hard to justify reading a story that is only slightly above average. This is a book for people who are already Superman fans and will have no problem reading a long story, not for people looking for a quick and entertaining introduction to the Man of Steel.

(spoilers start here)

The collection’s introduction is probably its weakest element, in terms of story. Doomsday returns and Superman is forced to kill the monster. However, in killing him, he is inflicted with a virus that implants Doomsday’s rage into Superman’s mind. Though this is an alright premise and a nice catalyst for future events, it is so bloated and drawn out that it begins to feels like a chore to read. The events here simply do not seem interesting or important enough to warrant this length, especially considering this is only the first third of the book.

In addition, this portion of the story also contains the majority of the book’s self-contradictions. These are moments where the book will state one fact in one chapter and contradict this fact in a following chapter. For example, one chapter ends with Superman telling Lois Lane to give a report on the fact that he can’t be trusted, then, in the next chapter, Superman acts as if Lois Lane’s report is coming from no where and is a betrayal. Mistakes like these come about when a number of writers are working on one storyline, which is the case for Superman: Doomed. There are only a few of these mistakes in this volume but most are concentrated in the book’s beginning, making it feel even more disorganized and messy.

Once the Earth’s atmosphere is seeded with Kryptonite, and Superman goes into space, the book starts to get good. The main antagonist is revealed, Superman’s allies make progress with their individual pursuits, and Lois Lane’s role in this book finally starts to expand. Meanwhile, Superman is having a struggle with the Doomsday portion of his mind that is far more thought out than it was before. The only bad part of all this is the Supergirl issue, which fits poorly here and is a lackluster representation of her character. Overall though, this is a major dose of rising action that doesn’t sacrifice interest in order to build excitement.

The book’s conclusion keeps up this excitement in a wonderful way. Thus far, Brainiac has nearly taken over the whole world using his unique form of mind control, but has been unable to affect the majority of the heroes working with Superman. This gives readers a constant sense of hope, as it feels like nothing can truly go wrong when Superman has all of his allies there to support him. However, Brainiac slowly begins to neutralize each of these allies as he discovers a way to penetrate their mental blocks. Each time he does this, he destroys a little bit of readers’ hope and makes its seem less possible for Superman to win. Obviously Superman wins out in the end, but this buildup of suspense makes the victory sweeter and the road to get there more exciting.

The only problem with this ending is that Superman’s sacrifice is ultimately made meaningless by the fact that he shows up again a few pages later. At this point, no reader is expecting the “death” of any major hero to be permanent, yet Superman’s return here is so quick and effortless that it invalidates the sacrifice more than usual. It makes the ending dramatic and pulse-pounding but also leaves the aftermath feeling hollow.

The final few chapters of the book are devoted to decompressing Superman’s return to the world after an extended absence. With hundreds of pages of action leading up to this moment, having a few pages like this allows readers to catch their breaths and process everything that has just happened. It isn’t a particularly noteworthy epilogue but is one that works well in the context of this volume.

(spoilers end here)

Art

As a crossover collection Superman: Doomed is the host to a number of different artists of varying styles. Overall, this means that the collection looks really good, as most of these artists bring an above average level of quality to the fold. In particular, Tony S. Daniel’s work looks fantastic, as always, and his depiction of Superdoom is one of this collection’s finest works. This holds true for many artists here, most of whom can draw Superman to be as terrifying or as gentle as he needs to appear.

However, not every page in this book is a visual treat. Some artists, like Aaron Kuder, draw individuals and leave mouths agape and strange expressions on people’s faces. Plus, the fact that the art style changes every few pages can be a bit annoying. These are not dealbreakers but are something that limit the artistic quality of this collection from being something truly special.

Continuity

Superman: Doomed is a crossover event between the Action Comics, Superman, and Superman/Wonder Woman series that also features smaller contributions from the Batman/Superman and Supergirl series. This means that this crossover directly continues elements from each of these comic series.

The story here continues on in each individual series. This means that portions of the story continue in Action Comics Vol. 7: Under the Skin, Batman/Superman Vol. 3: Second Chance, Supergirl Vol. 6: Crucible, Superman: The Men of Tomorrow (Review), and Superman/Wonder Woman Vol. 3: Casualties of War. In addition, a portion of the story continues on in Convergence.

This volume references and continues the stories from other comic books, all of which are detailed below:

 

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