Writer: Robert Venditti / Penciller: Wilfredo Torres / Colour Artist: Jordie Bellaire / Letterer: David Lanphear of A Larger World / Collects: Superman '78 #1 - #6 (2022) / HC / DC Comics
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Review by Paul Dunne
19th July 2022 (Released 19th July 2022)
The Pitch: Fly into director Richard Donner's Superman once more in Superman '78! Written by Robert Venditti (Superman: Man of Tomorrow) and drawn by Wilfredo Torres (Batman '66), Superman '78 tells a brand-new adventure in the world of the beloved film. A bright, shining day in Metropolis is interrupted by a mysterious drone that crash-lands in the city and starts wreaking havoc. This looks like a job for Superman! But where did the metallic menace come from, what is its purpose, and who is Brainiac? As Metropolis is invaded by this being and its mechanical drones, Superman must make a life-changing sacrifice and leave Earth once and for all. But once aboard Brainiac's ship, the Man of Steel finds he might not be the last son of Krypton as he believed.
As you may know, if you've read my reviews before, or if you've read comics in the last twenty years, nostalgia is a big thing, both for me and the medium. It's not always a good thing, We can wallow in too much of it, readers and creators. But for the most part, it's a good thing and good comics spring forth from old wells. Such is the case with Superman '78, one of two mini-series out in the last year that develop the story of DC's most venerable movie outings, the other being Batman '89. '78 is the riskier proposition, for several reasons. First, the '89 Batman had a comics adaptation, so audiences are used to seeing those versions of the characters on the page. I don't know that the Donner Superman ever did. Also, Superman is probably the most earnest of any comic book character. There's always a risk with big blue that ha earnestness won't play. Plus there's the humour. Watch the Donner films. They play like comedies throughout a lot of the running time. So does it play now?
THE COMIC TIMING (AND INDEED, THE COMIC TIMING) ARE PERFECT
Well, the Comic timing (and indeed the Comic timing) are perfect, capturing the charm and humour of the 78 movies, bringing elements of both Superman the Movie and Superman II. Starting at the end of Superman The Movie's teaser scene, this presents Braniac, monitoring the end of Krypton, then jumps to Lois and Clark in Metropolis some twenty-odd years later. Venditti, who proved a fan-favourite with his Hawkman run a short while ago, captures the voices of Hackman, Reeves, Kidder...Moreover, Torres captures the mannerisms, meaning even if the faces weren't close to their comics counterparts, you'd still feel like you're watching Superman the Movie part II. You even get a cameo from Gus Gorman, Richard Pryor's computer genius from Superman III - just don't call him a bum. He's not a bum. The team has fun with the dichotomy of Luther - he needs Superman, but so he can be the one to defeat him. He wants to prove himself worthy of Superman, the ultimate enemy, the ultimate challenge. Braniac offers a different kind of villain, with a more murky motive than Luthor's obvious greed and egotism. Despite his promise of preserving species, Braniac actually halts progress because he halts immigration and cross-fertilisation. He removes Superman from the equation, placing him in the bottled city of Kandor, a truly extraordinary rendition.
THERE’S A STRONG UNDERCURRENT OF EMOTION, NO MATTER HOW LIGHT ITS TOUCH
There is another dichotomy at work for Superman: where he is from (Krypton) versus who he really is ( Smallville). In a strange but pleasing way, the book sidelines Superman, but in favour of a man trying to discover - and accept - his identity. He has to merge the two - just as the book must merge the comics canon and the movie canon, something that it does successfully. There's a strong emotional undercurrent in the book, regardless of how light its touch is. We're reminded that although Krypton, Jor-El and Lara live on in Kal, letting their son go into the cosmos was a sacrifice. 'You'll believe a man can fly sang the posters. When the citizens of Kandor get to see Superman as readers and more especially film-goers have seen him for decades - a giant, 30 feet high, defending their right to live, you get the sense that the Els could be believers, too. Braniac can only finally fight by becoming larger than life, putting himself into a bottle of sorts, undone by his own hubris. Something, it’s worth noting, that Superman would never do.
Vendetti's plotting is an articulate machine of cause and effect. He hits the right notes of hope, innocence and confidence in Superman and awkward earnestness in Clark. Capturing the voices that have only lived for us on screen is no mean feat. He gets the core of Superman and the Donner Superman movies. He laces his expert plotting with humour and heart. There's a very obvious love for the Donner era, something I can vibe with as a reader. Torres' art is also shot through with love. His style is clean and clear. Visually, he manages to fuse characters like Lex Luthor (the movie version) with the comics version familiar to Byrne-era readers. He has a great eye for movement and action that carries them and keeps the book zipping along at a steady, fun pace. Bellaire's colours are bright, harking back to Golden Age books when the very medium was brand new and superheroes were taking their first steps on the earth. She uses the palette to great effect, zapping your eyeballs with gorgeous colour. Lanphear's letters express the tones and voices with fidelity. You hear the voices of actors so well, it's like you're watching the movie all over again. Superman '78 will have you hoping DC revisits more of the cinematic canon and does it with the same affection. After all, nostalgia plays.
