[ARC REVIEW] Superman and the Miserable, Rotten, No Fun, Really Bad Day by Dave Croatto (@MADmagazine)

Title:  Superman and the Miserable, Rotten, No Fun, Really Bad Day

Author:  Dave Croatto

Artist:  Tom Richmond

Genre:  Parody / Children's / Superheroes / Humor

Year Published: 2017

Year Read:  2017

Publisher:  Mad Books

Source: eARC (Edelweiss)

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

I would like to thank Edelweiss and Mad Books for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I remembered I used to watch Mad TV when I was little and I was a bit curious about this new parody book involving Superman that Mad Books had created and I managed to request it from Edelweiss.  Since I was familiar with Mad TV, I was wondering if this was going to be a vulgar parody of Superman.  BUT, I WAS WRONG!  “Superman and the Miserable, Rotten, No Fun, Really Bad Day” which is written by Dave Croatto along with artwork by Tom Richmond is a clever and hilarious parody on the popular children’s classic “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” and it is definitely one parody that will have you rolling on the floor laughing!

The story starts off with Superman having trouble getting up in the morning as he accidentally stepped on his glasses and also realized at that moment that he may have sleep walked during the night.  It was then that Superman found out that he was going to have a very bad day and man was he right!  When Superman was on his way to work, he had to fight Doomsday, but in doing so, he ended up coming to work late and his boss Perry ended up yelling at him in front of everyone.  Then, when Superman went to the Justice League, he was forced to do monitor duty, which was a job he really hated doing.  Superman then thinks about moving to the Fortress of Solitude.

Will Superman’s day get even worse from here?

Read this book to find out!

Wow!  This…was…so…amazing!!!  I have always loved parodies of my favorite franchises (provided that they are done right) and this was one parody that I felt was done right!  Dave Croatto has done a fantastic job at writing this book as it not only greatly parodies “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” but it also sticks closely to the Superman mythos such as mentioning characters like Lois Lane, Jimmy and Perry White, the Fortress of Solitude and Superman’s time in the Justice League.  I also loved the way that Dave Croatto weaved these two worlds together and manages to create a unique and hilarious take on the everyday life of Superman.  Probably, some of my favorite parts in this book was the part where Superman busted up his shampoo bottle when he let loose his heat vision by accident and the part where Superman did not get the chance to ride in Wonder Woman’s invisible jet!  Tom Richmond’s artwork was truly creative and greatly captures the feel of the artwork in “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.”  I especially loved the fact that Superman is the only character in color while all the other characters are in black and white as it shows that Superman is the main focus of this story and it shows how he views each bad situation he gets into.

Overall, “Superman and the Miserable, Rotten, No Fun, Really Bad Day” is a truly fantastic read for children who enjoyed reading “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” and who enjoyed reading “Superman” comics!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

  You might also like:

• The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

• Battle Bunny (Birthday Bunny) by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett
• Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems

[BOOK REVIEW] All-Star Superman Volume 1 by Grant Morrison

Title:  All-Star Superman Volume 1

Author:  Grant Morrison

Artist:  Frank Quitely

Genre:  Superhero / Drama / Humor / Romance / Family / Action / Adventure

Year Published: 2007

Year Read:  7/15/2017

Publisher: DC Comics 

Series: All-Star Superman #1

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 12+ (Some Fighting Scenes, Some Kissing and Intense Scenes)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

Introduction:

Now, I have a little confession to make (I seem to be making so many book confessions lately, right)?  I had only read a few “Superman” comics over the years, which included “Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” and “Superman: Secret Identity.” The reason why I have not read that many “Superman” comics was not because I hate Superman (I actually really like his character), but it was hard for me to look for some recommendations for good “Superman” stories while recommendations for good “Batman” stories came much more readily.  One of the “Superman” stories that was always highly recommended to me was Grant Morrison’s run on “Superman” called “All-Star Superman.” At first, I was a bit hesitant about checking this series out because from what I had heard from some comic book fans, Grant Morrison’s works tend to jump off the deep end at a certain point in his stories and I had experienced that with his work on “Batman R.I.P.”  However, after I finally decided to dive into this graphic novel, I now see why this particular graphic novel was so highly recommended to me and I have to say that “All-Star Superman Volume One” is one of the best “Superman” stories I had ever read!

What is this story about?

The story starts off with Superman going to the sun to rescue a space crew who were on a mission to take fire from the sun and it turns out that because Superman went too near the sun, he contracted apoptosis, death of the body cells, which means that he will soon die.  When Superman finds this out, he decides that he must do some things on Earth before he dies, such as temporarily giving his love interest Lois Lane superpowers for her birthday and trying to confess his secret identity to her, getting in a fight with Jimmy Olsen due to being affected by Black Kryptonite, meeting up with his nemesis Lex Luthor, and saying his goodbyes to his father Jonathan Kent.

Will Superman have time to do all of these things before he dies?

Read this graphic novel to find out!

What I loved about this story:

Grant Morrison’s writing: I really enjoyed Grant Morrison’s writing in this graphic novel as the story has a nice mixture of drama and humor thrown in and I often found myself laughing at some of the situations in this volume, such as Superman and Lois’ encounter with the comical superhero duo Samson and Atlas.  I also like the fact that this story tackles the subject about what would happen if Superman is about to die and how he would spend his last days on Earth (although, the concept about Superman dying is nothing new at this point).  This gives Grant Morrison a chance to explore Superman’s life from his arrival to Earth and being adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent to working in the Daily Planet and meeting Lois Lane and there is a great love to the character as not only do older readers get to see Superman’s life be presented again in this volume, but new readers will be able to understand more about Superman’s origins through a modern interpretation.  I also enjoyed the way that Grant Morrison portrayed Superman in this volume as Superman is not shown as being a flat character, but has many dimensions to his personality as we get to see Superman become sad, happy, angry and humorous all at once in this volume; it was fantastic seeing the various emotions that Superman displays in this volume contribute to the story at hand.

Frank Quitely’s artwork:  While there are some parts of Frank Quitely’s artwork that annoyed me a bit, which I will discuss more about in the cons section, overall, the artwork is extremely detailed and gorgeous to look at.  Probably my most favorite image in this graphic novel was the image of Superman and Lois Lane kissing each other on the moon and you can see the gorgeous detail being done to Lois’ wavy hair as it is waving around in space.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The only problem I have with this graphic novel is that there are so many things happening in the story that it would make it pretty confusing for anyone who is not used to reading “Superman” comics.  Even though I found this graphic novel to be pretty entertaining, the narrative can get overcrowded at times because there are so many events going on and you have to read each issue a bit carefully to get the full details of each of the stories.  Also, some of the artwork can be a bit off at times, especially with the way that Superman’s face seems to look like dough in some panels and I felt that he was drawn a bit too bulky in this volume, despite the fact that Superman is naturally muscular.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “All-Star Superman Volume One” is seriously one fantastic and hilarious volume that I would love to read over and over again if I get the chance to and I cannot wait to read the second volume of this series!

* 2007 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for Best Continuing Series

You might also like:

• Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? by Alan Moore

• Superman: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek
• Lex Luthor: Man of Steel by Brian Azzarello

[BOOK REVIEW] Lex Luthor: Man of Steel by Brian Azzarello

Title:  Lex Luthor:  Man of Steel

Author:  Brian Azzarello

Artist:  Lee Bermejo

Genre:  Action / Adventure / Alternative Universe / Superheroes

Year Published:  2005

Year Read: 12/31/2014

Publisher: DC Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 12+  (Some Language and Intense Situations)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

Introduction:

Lex Luthor is well known as Superman’s greatest enemy and I have been wondering what his ideal world would be like if Superman is viewed as a terrible force of nature rather than the good natured savior of Earth.  Well, we finally get the answer to that in Brian Azzarello’s story “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel” and it was truly one experience that I would like to relive over and over again!

What is this story about?

In this graphic novel, we are treated to the world of Superman through Lex Luthor’s eyes. In this universe, Superman is shown as a red eyed alien menace that covers his true intentions by acting as the world’s greatest savior and Lex Luthor believes that he is actually the world’s only savior.  This story also goes into detail about how Lex Luthor tries to create a female clone of Superman called “Hope” who also saves the world, but under Lex Luthor’s watch.

What I loved about this story:

Brian Azzarello’s writing: Now, I will admit that when I first heard about this book and saw on the cover that Lex Luthor had a blood stained “Superman” sign on his chest, I actually thought that this story was going to be about Lex Luthor literally becoming “Superman” and we would see what the world would have been like if he was Superman.  However, Brian Azzarello turned my expectations on its head by actually making this story about how Lex Luthor himself viewed Superman as a person and how he knows that Superman is not really a human being and that he believes that Superman is tricking the public into thinking that he is mankind’s savior.  This line of thinking really brings so much depth to this story as we finally get inside Lex Luthor’s head and see how he views Superman and how he wants the perfect world for the citizens of Metropolis and we get to see a more humanized side to Lex Luthor in his quest to make a better world for people, according to his views.  There were actually some parts in this story where I actually did sympathize a bit with Lex Luthor about how he truly believes that he is the true savior of the world and not Superman and it makes me see his viewpoint of Superman in a new light.

Lee Bermejo’s artwork:  Probably the best part of this graphic novel was Lee Bermejo’s artwork as they look truly gorgeous and I really loved the way that the characters’ bodies and facial expressions look so real that I actually found everything in this story to be believable!  I also loved the way that Metropolis is being drawn as it feels like I am exploring the insides of an actual city!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like language in a graphic novel, there is some language in this story, but it is not as strong as some other graphic novels out there.  Also, there are many moments where people are put in real danger and the scenes that involve the Toyman might either be too frightening or intense for some people. 

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel” is probably one of the best Lex Luthor stories out there and I would highly recommend this comic book to anyone who is a huge fan of Lex Luthor!

[BOOK REVIEW] Injustice: Gods Among Us Volume 1 by Tom Taylor

Title:  Injustice:  Gods Among Us Volume 1


Author:  Tom Taylor


Artists:  Jheremy Raapack and Mike S. Miller

Genre:  Suspense / Superheroes / Drama / Competition

Year Published:  2013

Year Read: 12/4/2014

Series:  Injustice: Gods Among Us #1

Publisher: DC Comics



Source:  Library


Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)

Introduction:

Alright, so I have read many superhero comics where we see the good guys going rogue and trying to do more damage to the world then they really need to.  So, when I heard about this new comic book from DC Comics called “Injustice: Gods Among Us Volume One,” I will admit that I was a little hesitant about trying this comic out due to the premise being about superheroes fighting each other (again).  But, I was quite surprised at how good this story actually turned out!

What is this story about?

The story starts off with Superman finding out that his wife Lois Lane is pregnant and he goes to tell Batman the good news.  Unfortunately, the Joker ends up kidnapping Lois and then tricks Superman into murdering Lois by making Superman see Doomsday instead of Lois.  This horrible incident causes Superman to decide that in order to prevent more tragedies like Lois’ death; he must rule the world with an iron fist and the Justice League start helping him take control of the world. The only member of the team who is against Superman’s plan is none other than Batman himself and he tries to stop the Man of Steel from ruling over the world before it is too late!

What I loved about this story:

Tom Taylor’s writing: Now, when I heard that this comic book was based off of the popular video game of the same name, I will admit that I was extremely surprised by this since I had never read a DC or Marvel comic book that was based off of a video game before.  Tom Taylor has done a great job at adapting this story to comic book format as we learn more about why Superman had gone mad and what caused him to have a falling out with Batman.  It was also interesting seeing the different viewpoints between Batman and Superman on how they should make the world a safer place for everyone and what that could cost for people if they let the power get to their heads in achieving those goals.  I also loved the way that Tom Taylor brought out the personal drama between Batman and Superman as you can see them start out as best friends and then when Superman lost Lois Lane and started ruling the world with an iron fist, his friendship with Batman had shattered as Batman does not agree with Superman controlling the world while Superman believes this is the right thing to do to prevent more violence from happening in the world.  I actually did felt so much intensity in the story as I was hoping that things would patch up between Batman and Superman (but seeing as this is just the beginning of the story, it probably will not happen for a while) and I really hope that Superman does not turn so evil that the Justice League would have to put him down permanently to stop his madness (but I guess we will see in future volumes of this story)!

Jheremy Raapack and Mike S. Miller’s artwork:  Jheremy Raapack and Mike S. Miller’s artwork were spectacular in this volume as the characters look truly realistic and the facial expressions are so animated that I found myself actually experiencing the emotions that the characters are feeling.  I also loved how the fight scenes are drawn, especially with the scenes of Superman and Batman fighting off their foes in a spectacular fashion.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The reason why I took off half a point from the rating is because while I think that the concept of this book was pretty interesting, I am currently at that point where I am getting sick and tired of seeing superheroes fight each other and this comic book was another attempt at having superheroes fighting each other.  Also, if you have not played the game “Injustice: Gods Among Us” before, then chances are you might be a bit confused about what is really going on in this story or how it connects to the current DC universe.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Injustice: Gods Among Us Volume One” is a pretty interesting story about how a tragedy can affect a person’s life in a negative way and the moral grounds that are explored in making the world a better place for everyone. I am definitely checking out the second volume of this series!