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Title: Path of Doom
Series: Superman Action Comics #1
Author: Dan Jurgens
Series: Superman Action Comics #1
Author: Dan Jurgens
Artist: Patch Zircher, et
al
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 144
Format: Paper Edition
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 144
Format: Paper Edition
Synopsis:
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Some dummkopfs are holding some people hostage and Lex Luther, wearing an armored suit emblazoned with an “S” comes to the rescue. He is then confronted by the real Superman, father of Jon and husband of Lois. The REAL Superman. They begin to duke it out when suddenly Doomsday appears from a container and begins his rampage from almost 30 years ago all over again. Lex and Superman team up and manage to get Doomsday out of Metropolis. Lex is left behind to help the citizenry in need and Wonder Woman shows up to help.
Superman
has learned from his last fight to the death with Doomsday, at least
so he says. But basically it turns into yet another slugfest. Jon is
watching on tv and gives a super shout that alerts Doomsday to
another Kryptonian and Doomsday sets off to hunt down Jon. Supes
convinces Wonder Woman to take Lois and Jon to Watch Tower, the JLA
space fortress while he has a plan to deal with Doomsday.
Before
he can enact his plan though, a group of humans with some sort of
super tech appear, open a gate and begin using energy weapons to push
Doomsday through the gate. They almost succeed but then Doomsday
simply rips through them all like tissue paper.
With
some timely intervention by Wonder Woman, Supes manages to get
Doomsday into the path of a Phantom Zone Projector and the world is
safe. Or so everyone thinks.
During
all of this, a mysterious narrator has been watching everything on
screens and at the end, he intercepts the Phantom Zone Projector and
captures Doomsday for himself. Who he is, what he wants and pretty
much everything about him is a mystery.
My
Thoughts:
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Well, I'd like to first thank Bookwraiths
for reviewing this book this last year. Gave me some hope that maybe
DC hadn't totally destroyed Superman. Superman:
Doomed was truly an epic fail in the saga of Superman and
left me reeling.
This was a return to the Superman who was and always should have
been. This was the Superman who fought Doomsday to a standstill and
gave his life for those he loved. This is the Superman who clawed his
way back from death and kicked the ass of every single other
Pretender. This was a Superman who was facing death again and yet
would NOT turn away. I have to admit, I almost cried.
So while I loved this return to form for Superman and I had no
problems whatsoever believing he and Lois now have a son, the rest of
the DC comic world has moved on and made some huge changes and I just
can't accept those changes and enjoy them. This whole multiverse
thing? That was supposed to have been dealt with back in the 80's
with Crisis on Infinite Earths. The fact that DC has hashed things up
so badly that they have just as convoluted a multiverse AGAIN doesn't
tell me anything good about the state of the plan for storytelling.
The second thing is that I am used to getting a completed story arc
in a graphic novel. If you can't tell a complete story arc in one
book, then you have no business telling that story at all. It's DC's
new business model of selling a whole years worth of comics and all
associated comics to get a complete story. I won't buy into that
practice.
I think this is going to be my last comic for the foreseeable future.
It used to be that comics were in our world and if you knew the
origin of the Hero you could pretty much slot into whereever you
started reading. Not any more. With things like Flashpoint, New52,
Rebirth, things are so complicated that you can't just jump on board.
I enjoyed this particular set of comics a LOT and feel like it is an
almost circle in regards to Superman and Doomsday. But with
everything else I stated, I can't and won't be continuing.
Adios Kal. You've always been the example of True Manhood to me
throughout the years and I'm glad to see you being returned to that
state. The world nowadays needs real heroes and I hope you can
survive our worlds current penchant for destroying heroes with a
sneer and glib mockery.
★★★★☆