Superman: Man Of Tomorrow #1

Never underestimate an energy parasite. It takes, takes, takes and never gives back. Purple with pride pilfered from the finest. Ask Superman. Betcha he wants to bottle the pest and make a billion (which he would invest back into Metropolis, of course). Paul Pelletier powers up his pencils extra on this one.

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Pelletier is a very underrated talent. I’ve enjoyed everything of his I’ve come across, especially this series, which is the best Superman ongoing right now.

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While I agree that Pelletier’s artwork is top notch, I’m a bit lukewarm on Venditti’s stories in this series so far. While fun in their own right, I have found them to lack gravity. I think it’s a combination of the all ages nature of the digital first, and the fact that I’ve never really felt that engaged with Venditti’s work in the first place, whether it was in Hawkman or Justice League. He genuinely seems like a really nice guy in his interviews, and the fact that his writing is lauded by fans makes me want to like his work even more, but at the end I just feel a bit underwhelmed. I have a feeling he will be doing more Superman in the future, and despite my moderate reservations, I will definitely give him every chance to entertain the Superman fan in me. The other one-shot stories are fun little nuggets that I’ve enjoyed quite a bit. In any case, a good series that I will continue following.

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And he keeps upping his own ante. One of my favorite pencil-weilders right now.

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I’ve recently just gave Freedom Fighters a shot based on my enjoyment of his Hawkman run. We’ll see how he continues here on out.

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Have you seen his work on the Rebirth volumes of Cyborg and Batgirl? Primo. :ok_hand:t2:

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Working my way in that direction. And I’m already siding with that take.

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Dude Man of tomorrow is Solid! :sunglasses:

I don’t buy digital and didn’t even know about it until around a month ago or so when it came on here. It’s been so nice to read superman again with the characters saying and acting like how I know them. I’ve really liked the stories. I see my buddy moro is on the fence but I enjoy the lightheartedness of them and feel they hit it where it counts with things like how Supes shows pity on Parasite in that first one or how he asks for everyone to lookout for each other while he goes and takes care parasite during the blackout. Clark is one of the few Fictional reporters I like and it’s good to see him on the ground putting in that work like in that issue where he investigates the toxic waste. The one with the lex corp security cam/cannons and how Supes struggles with the fact that maybe he needs there to be a superman to give him meaning and if not, whats his purpose.

For me, I see the same issues/conflicts or “meat” lets say of a good story that you would get with a more heavy/serious one, but they take a more lighter tone with delivery and resolution. I certainly enjoy stories that are more serious but with regards to comics they often seem to be a hit or miss on their ability to execution the story properly when taking a more serious tone. I’ll take a more lighthearted story over a poorly done serious one every time. Besides, I love my lighthearted Supes and the banter between him and lois and how they act together it Straight up perfect in these stories for me and reflects how I personally imagine them.

Can’t remember how it goes at the moment but there’s a quote by Frank Miller along the lines of how it’s fun to get dark and serious with these characters for a story or two but it doesn’t work in the long run because of what they actually are, heroes in tights that where made for kids and those more serious stories go against their DNA. Not at all how he said it but that’s the gist of it.

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Fair points all around. I guess maybe it’s me, then? I’m a lot more satisfied when reading “meaty” stories. They don’t have to be “serious” per se; you can still write a light hearted story with meat to it. Take for instance Fraction and Lieber’s recent Jimmy Olsen series. It’s fun and comical. However there’s emotion, there’s time shifts with multiple story threads past & present, and the prose just had “character”. That and it was a full 12 issue story. No seriousness or dark tones, but I found it satisfying. Felt like I sank my teeth into it, you know?

Side note: All this mentioning of meat and sinking teeth is making me crave a burger :hamburger:

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This is a solid series. My favorite of the new line of digital-first books.

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Tonal shifts can cause earthquakes!. This run achieves balance. I’m on board so far.

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I felt the same about Greg Rucka’s Lois Lane.

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Great series!

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I concur with many of you. I’m enjoying this one.

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Lois Lane was just the best!

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All good man, good point with JO. Just comes down to taste. I was just rambling on why it hits the pathos enough for me personally.

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Is Greg Rucka still on the payroll at DC? I know he’s having tons of success with The Old Guard and Netflix adapting it.

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I’d have to research that one. Life happenings are speedy. But he seems to be a writer employed more often than not, if not with DC then with another fine upstanding outfit.

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