Product Description: Following his epic struggles during Infinite Crisis and its incredible aftermath, the Man of Steel is back -- but is it really him? As Earth faces a powerful alien invader, Superman must deal with fellow heroes who can't believe that he is who he claims to be.
Back to past action? ^ Well... a couple of new issues covering the confusion of people not believing that Superman is really alive, or back after a long disappearance. Granted they have reasoning after the last time he 'died' and it promised to be an interesting story... and it was, except that once it was done the second half of the book is old DC Presents comics where Supes teamed up with Firestorm and other lesser known super heroes... might be great if thats what I was looking to pay for, and if I didn't already own the original comics they reprinted at the end of this collection. Very disappointing.
Back in Action? ^ It tells a story but wish I had gotten in the monthly editions. There are extra storys that were added as fillers. It left me wanting more story..
A valuable addition to a DC Universe collection. ^ I have an unfortunate habit of reading comic books in Borders before reading them to preview what I'm getting. Being a poor college student, I don't have a huge amount of money to spent on my favorite reading material, but the instant I read this I knew I had to have it.
Though this is a collection of three - count them, three! - issues of Action Comics dealing with a storyline dealing with an alien called The Auctioneer, it is well worth the money. Picking up right after Superman has returned from a year off (see Superman: Up, Up, and Away! (One Year Later)), both other superheroes and the public are left wondering if it's really him back, or just some impostor, and it's up to Superman and an ensemble of other superheroes and villains to save the day.
The story has some very exciting action sequences and some good one-liners, something you don't see very often. The other good part about these issues is that they feature heroes who don't often interact, and their attempts to work together was for me the best part. The art is not my favorite, but certainly up to snuff, and I really like the interpretation of all the different superheroes that people this book.
The bonus issues seemed to me to be a bit of a cheat, because they simply didn't have enough material in three issues to fit a full graphic novel, but the issues they included, stories of Superman with Firestorm, the Metal Men, and Deadman, were well chosen and help take away the sting.
Overall, an excellent read and one worth the price, especially if you're a fan of Busiek and his consistently quality storylines. Perhaps not the best book to start your Superman experience with, however, as it references several Infinite Crisis plotlines.
Superman's awesome off-beat team-ups! ^ Although I'm not a huge Superman fan this was a fun read. I got this book because Firestorm was on the cover.
It starts when Superman gets his powers back after losing them during Infinite Crisis but after a year without him the rest of the world doesn't believe he's the "real steel deal". That is until GIANT ROBOTS FROM OUTERSPACE start taking landmarks and people from all over the Earth.
With an assist from Firestorm, Nightwing, the Teen Titans, and more, Superman is not only able to defeat the "Auctioneer" but also proves to the entire planet that he is indeed The Man of Steel.
For only three issues, the "Back in Action" part of this book is great superhero fun.
The additional three "DC COMICS PRESENTS" issues were a nice bonus. Going with the theme of "off-beat team-ups", Busiek includes three stories of Superman partnering up with Deadman, the Metal Men, and as a special treat: the original Firestorm. All of these were drawn by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez so there's a nice feeling of continuity between the stories.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Superman, as well as anyone interested in reading about DC superheroes other than the big names. It's a lot of fun and the bonus issues give a glimpse of some DCU history.
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Trevor
