expatNERD

Tag: Superman Exile

  • DC Comics Presents

    Can you believe it? This week is Superman week! On Friday I will see James Gunn’s Superman and I really cannot wait. Thus, I continue my Superman recommendations and give you, what I think, are some of the best Superman comic book stories out there.

    I started with the Death of Superman, continued to Superman: Exile, and now I present you three issues within the DC Comics Presents line, featuring the first appearance of Mongul, created by none other than Jim Starlin.

    DC Comics Presents #’s 27, 28, 29, is a trilogy of sorts. For those that do not know, DC Comics Presents was, more or less, DC Comics’ answer to Marvel Comics’ Team-Up, which featured Spider-Man teaming up with another character in the Marvel Universe. Alternatively, DC Comics Presents had Superman teaming up with a character or characters within the DC Universe. This series was created to capitalize on the popularity of Superman after the successful movie adaptations, Superman The Movie and Superman II.

    And what a beautiful three issue series this was. Jim Starlin provided his beautiful art and gave us what he has always been best at: grand stories on a cosmic scale. Len Wein supplied the scripts and this was a true inspired team-up. #27 introduced Mongul and Warworld and we have a heart-wrenching battle between Supes and Martian the Manhunter. Issue #28 was an epic battle between Warworld, an entire weaponized planet, and Superboy and Supergirl. #29 wrapped it up, as Superman tested the limits of his powers as he chased Supergirl who was knocked on unconscious. He went up against the Spectre who told him he was breaking forbidden barriers and the entire issue summed up who Superman is and also gave us an insight into how powerful Sueprman was at the time. With Starlin’s art, these three issues are not only beautiful, but everything seems to explode off the page.

    Because of the significance of this being Mongul’s first appearance, these issues can be quite pricey if found on their own. #27 is usually the hard one to hunt down and I think it will run you at least 30 bucks, depending on the comic grade. But again, it’s worth it, especially if you are not familiar with any of the pre-Crisis Superman stuff.

    I hope you enjoyed these Superman recommendations! With the movie coming out this week, next week I will start giving you some Fantastic Four recs.

    Bis bald,

    Franka

  • Superman: Exile

    I will continue the Superman recommendations in preparation for the movie that will come out…golly…next week! Last week’s recommendation was what I personally consider to be one of the best Superman storylines of all time: The Death of Superman.

    This week’s Superman recommendation definitely gives The Death of Superman a run for its money. And I am referring to Superman: Exile.

    Superman: Exile ran for 13 issues in 1989 and was a direct consequence of when Superman was forced to take the lives of three Kryptonian criminals. There were many consequences for Superman from this action, but it all cumulated to his decision to go into a self-imposed exile and find himself again.

    Much like the Death of Superman, this ran through all the Superman issues at the time. But what makes this unique, at least in my mind, was that this event would bring into fruition the so-called ‘Triangle Era’ where all the Superman books continued from each other and you could follow the order with the numbered Superman shield-triangle on the front cover. This is the event that started it all.

    What’s more, is that it has all the creators that we love and who would continue to bring impact to not only Superman as a character, but to the world of Metropolis and beyond. Jerry Ordway, Roger Stern, Dan Jurgens guided by Mike Carlin brought Superman’s inner turmoil to the page, and set it in a universe full of aliens, war, conflict and Mongul. Not only did they flesh out the character, but I would argue they fleshed out the DC Universe. I included the reading order below, but DC did recently release a beautiful Omnibus sized edition of the event and that is definitely worth checking out.

    Superman Exile Reading Order:

    • Superman 28
    • Adventures of Superman 451
    • Superman 29
    • Adventures of Superman 452
    • Superman 30
    • Adventures of Superman 453
    • Adventures of Superman 454
    • Action Comics Annual 2
    • Superman 32
    • Adventures of Superman 455
    • Superman 33
    • Adventures of Superman 456
    • Action Comics 643

    All of these issues are affordable and you can find them quite easily at a Comic Book store that has a solid back issue bin. Hunt these down and I promise you, you won’t regret it.

    I hope you enjoyed this recommendation! If you would like more consider subscribing to our newsletter. You will get both the comic and the Thursday recommendation right in your inbox every Monday before they are published.

    Bis bald,

    Franka