Review: Superman Vol. 1- What Price Tomorrow?

Quick Summary

Pros: There is plenty of action, mostly revolving around Superman finding ways to defeat a host of monsters. The art is very good overall.

Cons: Nothing in the story is very memorable or remarkable.

Overall: This is a very “by the numbers” type of Superman story, it features Superman saving Metropolis while trying to keep his personal life in check. This makes it alright and decently fun to read, however it does not really do anything more than that. If you are looking for a regular ol’ Superman story than this is for you; if you are looking for more than that you are unlike it find it here.

Story

The first volumes of Superman and Action Comics bear a striking structural resemblance to the first volumes of Batman and Detective Comics. Both Action Comics and Batman features bold and dramatic stories that build upon their protagonist’s history and personality. Meanwhile Superman and Detective Comics tell stories much smaller in scale which detail their protagonist facing off against a more “common” or “everyday” threat.

This is exactly where Superman Vol. 1- What Price Tomorrow? sits, right on the edge of being a memorable story. There is no doubt that this is an decent and authentic story overall, as it does not have many severe problems. However, it also does not have anything in it to make it stand out either. A combination like this relegates it to the realm of average Superman stories; fun to read once or twice but not something many would be dying to come back to.

(spoilers start here)

The majority of the fun in reading this book comes from Superman’s struggle against the various enemies he goes up against. Each monster has a different type of weakness Superman must exploit in order to defeat them. This turns each battle into a mystery which readers get to watch Superman slowly unravel. I specifically thought him using the TV cameras to see the invisible monster was a unique and smartly written idea. This all goes along with the book’s trend of providing enough to be fun to go through once but not enough to make it memorable.

This book does have its problems, the biggest being that it is overall pretty unremarkable. Most of this stems from how lackluster and forgettable the main villain is. Superman fighting some of the villains is fun to read yet it does not stick with the reader afterwards. The villains are mute for the majority of the story, leaving their motivations to be explained in a few pages at the book’s conclusion. This makes them into generic faceless punching bags rather than challenging foes; they even receive the most generic defeat possible as they end up being “thrown into the sun”. If the villain was given a little more development or motivation this may have been better. Without this though it just adds to the bland taste this book has.

In addition to unremarkable villains, the book features some rather unremarkable side stories as well. Lois Lane struggling with her job, Jimmy Olson worrying about Clark, Heather Kelley having a crush on Clark, and General Lane being a stick in the mud are the biggest secondary plotlines this book has to offer. None of these are annoying or bad in any way but none of them receive enough attention to be interesting either. Some of them, particularly Lois’ story, are fun and enjoyable at points but still neglect to do anything to distinguish them.

Another rather small problem with this volume is its constant references to other series. As indicated by the “Continuity” section at the end of this review, this volume make a hefty number of references. However, throughout the volume most of the references feel less like fun nods to other series and feel more like advertisements. A mysterious alien blows a horn in the mountains, yet this has no effect on this story at all; this is not even the only time something like this happens in this volume. So why are things like this included? The reason is probably because DC knows Superman is a popular series and thus they can use it to spike interest in less popular series. All in all this is not a huge problem but it does negatively affect the reading experience.

(spoilers end here)

Art

In a book plagued by rather unremarkable storytelling, the art is surprisingly good. Everything looks very good overall and is treated with a lot of care and detail, specifically the characters. In addition, the colorists do a great job in making this book pop in a way that fits Superman perfectly. Overall it is great to see art like this in a book like this, as it does a good job in making up for some of the weaker story moments.

Continuity

Since this starts Superman in the New 52, there are not many connections to other works. This collection will lead directly into the next collection, Superman Vol. 2: Secrets and Lies (Review), since it continues the same story.

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

• Numerous references are made to Action Comics Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel. This is a comic published at the same time as this volume but set five years earlier. It chronicles Superman starting out in Metropolis as both a reporter and a superhero
  • Two references are made to Morgan Edge’s predecessor being a criminal. The confrontation between him and Superman is detailed here.
  • General Lane mentions Superman and him having negative interactions in the past. This may be a direct reference to events in this volume of Action Comics. However, with a five year gap between these stories it may be a reference to any number of events in between.
  • The end of this book shows the Collector of Worlds and a white Superman costume. These both make appearances at the end of this Action Comics volume.
• At the beginning of this story an alien is seen blowing a horn in the Himalayas. This is an extremely small connection to Stormwatch Vol. 1- The Dark Side (Review).
• A few references are made to Supergirl
  • She and Superman first met in Supergirl Vol. 1: Last Daughter of Krypton (Review).
  • She also “Fought those aliens in New York” in Supergirl Vol. 1: Last Daughter of Krypton (Review).
• She met Superboy in Superboy Vol. 1: Incubation.
• At the very end of this story, an explosion in space sends a ship crashing down to Earth. This explosion happens near the end of Stormwatch Vol. 1- The Dark Side (Review).