Thursday, November 13, 2008

JSA Kingdom Come Special: Superman #1 (One Shot)

Alex Ross has long been recognized as one of the premiere painters in comics, having established his credentials more than a decade ago on books like Marvels and Kingdom Come.

He's been revisiting his version of Superman from the latter series in the latest storyline in the Justice Society of America comic, and has provided covers as well as a plot assist and some other art for the series, too.

That storyline is finally nearing its end, and this "One Shot" gives us some more insight into the Kingdom Come version of Superman and how he arrived on the JSA's Earth. It also explains why he maintains that his own world was destroyed.

Bearing one of the longest titles of any comic this year, Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: Superman shows that Ross is also an excellent pencil and ink artist, and a solid storyteller - though like many artists, he seems to do his best writing when he's covering his own art.

Here he gives us a look inside the tragic story of the KC Superman and how the dark events he's witnessed threaten to overwhelm him.

It's some nice work by Ross, although it doesn't really stand alone - it leads into other Special issues that will (presumably) wrap up both this and the Gog storyline.

Still, it's a rare treat to see Alex Ross handling all the interiors of a comic, and this is apparently the first comic he's pencilled and written on his own. The comic also includes a lot of Bonus Material, as Ross describes his process in creating the comic.

This is more of a sidebar to the original Kingdom Come story, rather than a sequel, but any fan of the original story will find this a touching addition.

Grade: A

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