All-Star Superman #1 (January 2006)

In 2005, DC Comics started an imprint known as "All-Star". The goal of the All-Star imprint was to pair DC's characters with top-tier writers and artists, allowing them to tell their own stories with the World's Greatest Superheroes without being beholden to the continuity of much of DC's mainline superhero comic books. It had been compared to the original Ultimate Marvel universe, but the All-Star stuff was not all meant to be a part of any sort of shared universe, just creators all doing their own thing.

All-Star was essentially a bust, with several announced titles never getting released. Only two made it to comic shelves: All-Star Superman, and All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder. The Batman book is still unfinished as of January 2025 and was met with a lot of critical scorn. However, All-Star Superman...was the opposite. It garnered much critical praise.

All-Star Superman came about because of a pitch by Scottish writer Grant Morrison. Inspired by a "shamanistic" encounter with a Superman cosplayer, this miniseries also incorporated some ideas from a rejected revamp of the Man of Steel that Morrison proposed called "Superman Now". Morrison's goal with this miniseries was to make Superman as accessible as possible to comic readers. Did they (alongside artist Frank Quitely) do the job? Let's find out in All-Star Superman #1!

The cover is a Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant piece. It's very nice. It depicts Superman just sitting on a snowy...hill? Mountain? A snowy high place just enjoying the sunset. Or sunrise. He looks at the reader as if he wants to enjoy some pleasant conversation about how beautiful the sun is. The cover was Morrison's idea (inspired by the Superman cosplayer encounter I mentioned earlier), as they felt that a being as powerful as Superman with his personality would just be rather chill. If you're almost completely invincible, then you can afford to just relax and enjoy things. It's certainly a unique cover, I'll give it that.

"...Faster..."
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciler: Frank Quitely
Inker: Jamie Grant
Colorist: Jamie Grant
Letterer: Phil Balsman
Editors: Bob Shreck, Brandon Montclare
Executive Editor: Dan DiDio

The story begins with a four-panel retelling of the Man of Steel's origins. The basics, really. Superman, last survivor of Krypton, crashes on Earth, found by the Kents, yada yada yada.

Right. The story actually begins near Sol, our Earth's sun. A crew of astronauts on board a ship called the Ray Bradbury are working to collect samples of the Sun itself. Yeah, a bunch of astronauts right near a gigantic star full of gravity and radiation.

Murphy (of Murphy's Law fame) is clearly in a bad mood, because something does go wrong.

The ship is falling into a sunspot the size of South America. And on top of that, Murphy seems to be teaming up with Lex Luthor, as one of the astronauts is revealed to be a living suicide bomb. Naturally, our man Superman is flying to the rescue. There is worry about how he'll be affected by being so close to the Sun, despite it being the source of his power. 

Back at the Daily Planet, Lois Lane is typing up an article about Superman rescuing the astronauts, even though no one is sure if he has even succeeded yet. Perry White has called a meeting, and the Planet is about to print an expose on Lex Luthor. You see, Luthor has claimed that he has reformed. And since he is a rich and powerful man, people believe it...despite his damming rivers and investing in water, so he can profit from a water shortage. 

Yeah, this is much more plausible than you think. I'm surprised Luthor doesn't have weird fanboys sending death threats to the Planet, screaming they're just jealous of him. 

In an unknown location, Luthor is virtually guiding his living suicide bomb. General Sam Lane comes in and wants to talk to him. He tells Luthor that the government freed him so he could work for America. Luthor is well aware of that. He tried to be a model citizen, but here's the thing. Three months earlier, he looked in a mirror. He saw the crow's feet forming around his eyes, and it gave him a revelation: He's getting older...and Superman is seemingly not. Faced with this idea that the one person he hates most on the planet will likely outlive him, and not even show any visible signs of aging the whole time...Luthor's become more hellbent than ever on his goal to kill the Man of Steel. Say, this is supposed to be Superman's book, right? Where's he at?

"I'm here to OHMYGODPUTYOURCLOTHESBACKON!"

There he is! He's made his way to the ship and tackled the living bomb. The bomb screams that Superman has no right to prevent him from completing his purpose, his reason for existing. Superman is like, "You're right. I'm going to help you, but Mr. Quintum just has to open the hatch". Once the two are out of the ship, Superman then blasts the living bomb into the Sun...with a strange new form of vision. 

"Behold! ELECTRO VISION!"

Superman is able to get the solar explorers to safety by manifesting another new power: extending his own bioelectrical field to pull them away from the Sun. Later, Dr. Quintum exhaustively tests the Man of Steel. There is good news. Superman appears to have become more powerful than ever, strong enough to press 200 quintillion tons. Keep this in mind: A quintillion is the equivalent of a million trillions, and a trillion is composed of 1 million millions. Now multiply that by 200. Yeah, Superman is able to press a lot of weight.

However, there's some bad news. You see, when Superman went to the sun, he absorbed a lot of solar radiation. "No problem", you may think. "Superman's powered by solar radiation, right?" Well, yes. The thing is, even his body can only process so much. His cells are so saturated by solar radiation they are bursting. Like balloons when you overinflate them. The Metropolis Marvel...is dying.

Quintum explains that he was inspired by Superman to start the DNA P.R.O.J.E.C.T. (Yes, it's an acronym), a way to create superhumans in case something happened to Superman. He promises to find a way to save the Man of Tomorrow, or failing that, create something that can take up the task of protecting the world when he's gone. Superman, ever the optimist, thinks there's always a way out. He wants his condition kept quiet for now. He has some business to take care of first. 

Back at the Daily Planet, Perry White is on the verge of firing Clark Kent. If he doesn't show his face in the next five seconds. But that's nothing for our man. Elsewhere, Lex is getting arrested. In an epilogue, Lois Lane and Clark are heading for her apartment. Ever the nice guy, Clark carries her groceries for her. Lois notes that Lex could get the electric chair. Clark asks her if she thinks about death, what she would do if she knew she was dying. Lois thinks Clark is being morbid. As they head for her apartment, Clark says he has something to tell her. The story ends with him opening his shirt, revealing his Superman costume, and Lois dropping her groceries. 

This was really good. Morrison's love of the character shines in this comic. They clearly are fond of the Metropolis Marvel and his corner of the DC Universe. This series is heavily influenced by the Silver Age, but there are aspects of post-Silver Age Superman, like Steve Lombard from the Bronze Age, and this universe's version of Project Cadmus, which was from the Post-Crisis Superman mythos. Luthor's reason to kill Superman here is hilariously petty, which fits modern Luthor. He really can't stand the idea of Superman out-living him. It's very Silver Age.

I have to admit, I have always rather...mixed view of Frank Quitely's artwork. He's not my favorite artist. He's not bad, don't get me wrong. He's got a strong sense of storytelling. And one thing I do love is how he draws Clark Kent compared to Superman. Helps give more plausibility as to how people can believe that Clark Kent and Superman are not the same person. It isn't just putting on a suit, slicking his hair back, and wearing glasses. For me, the thing that I never liked about Quitely is how he draws people. People drawn by him always look a bit...uncanny valley to me, for a lack of better term. They always look...off to me. Like animatronics trying to imitate actual people rather than actual people. It's something that always stuck in the back of my mind when reading this. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2011 trade paperback All-Star Superman. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time.