Art by EDDY BARROWS, BERNARD CHANG, DAN JURGENS & J.P. MAYER
Cover by GARY FRANK
My Awe-Inspiring Opinion
Just like Batman, #700 has finally come within the Man of Steel’s clutches. It’s hard to believe that the corny, all American “good ‘ol boy” has been able to last this long. Don’t get me wrong, I love Supes, but there are times where I wonder how the heck a character as cheesy and goody two-shoish as he was able to last in our modern society this long. Just goes to show you how much people, deep down inside, truly want someone like Superman to exist.
#700 brings us three entertaining stories all written (and drawn) by numerous people. The opener brings us the Parasite running after Lois Lane (our proverbial damsel in distress if you will) because she stuck in her nose where she shouldn’t have. I’m not even sure what the heck Parasite and Prankster were trying to do, but it didn’t truly matter did it? All that mattered was giving Lois and Clark that one true intimate moment they have been lacking for over a year. At first I thought Robinson was going to really kill it for me, but instead made this entire section worth every penny in the $4.99 price mark. I think if Lois and Clark ever leave each other, it will truly be the end of comics as we know it. Out of all the comic book couples, Lois and Clark are the icons; the only true lasting phenomenon that has rooted itself within the DC Universe that will never be pulled up. Robinson wrote the greatest reunion of these two that will never be mastered by any other writer. Not even the great Geoff Johns or Gail Simone could have done better.
Bernard Chang in addition made this section that much better. Chang has excelled so much within this last year, but this issue marks a gold medal achievement for him. His attention to detail and clean artistic approach cannot be described as anything but perfect.
With a few turns of the pages, we come to the second feature by Dan Jurgens entitled, “Geometry,” Purposefully written in the classic story telling style, Jurgens brings us a tale where Robin goes out on his own despite Batman’s (Bruce Wayne) orders to stay home. Grayson gets in trouble and it’s up to Superman to save the Boy Wonder. It’s a pleasantly funny story with very corny ending that gives me an idea of what it must have been like reading comics when my parents were kids. I was worried at first that Batman and Robin were taking over this part of the book, but luckily Jurgens made everything come together quite nicely. And the art really gave the story that much more of an edge.
The final section of this book gives the new Superman writer a chance to show us what’s in store for the Man of Steel. With his recent return, people are flowering Superman with praise and bombarding him with questions about what life was like away from Earth. Being as humble as he could, Superman still meets a hateful and unloving slap to the face by an innocent civilian who blames her husband’s death on Superman’s absence. While the crowd is bewildered and offended at this lady’s actions, Superman takes her words and actions to heart and begins walking away, dwelling on the whole situation.
Even though I find this transition into Superman #701 a little too “Forrest Gumpish,” the message behind this transition is very powerful. After all Superman has gone through this past year, the one thing that pulls at his heart strings the most is the fact that he was unable to save a man who died of a tumor. This woman who so suddenly confronted him made a foot print in his heart that may never disappear. I appreciated this approach by Mr. Straczynski even though it’s only going to lead to a long, drawn out “coming-of-age” walk across America, but I think I can bear through it. I can at least give it a chance right? Especially with Eddy Barrows helming the art!
My Profoundly Climactic Conclusion
In the same degree of Wonder Woman #700, Supes #700 brings an incredible amount of profound storylines to boost him into a new era of Superman stories. All we can do now is hope that Michael S. can do what James Robinson was unable to do.
Ratings
Writing: 9
Themes: 9
Art: 10
Overall: 9.33 out of 10
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