Comic Book Review: Superman #677

The Revolution has been highly unimpressed with Superman for quite some time and has not even bothered to post a review for this title in a while. However, I have been anxiously awaiting Superman #677 as James Robinson arrives on this title to take over the writing duties. I am a big fan of Robinson and have faith that he will craft a strong read on this title. Let’s go ahead and hit this review for Superman #677.

Creative Team
Writer: James Robinson
Pencils: Renato Guedes
Inks: Wilson Magalhaes

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Hal Jordan and Superman in space. Superman is playing fetch with Krypto. Krypto thinks about how the man throws thing and he catches it and brings it back to man. Krypto thinks how the man does this to make Krypto happy. Hal comments how this is weird. That they are wearing masks and costumes and have super powers and are playing Frisbee with a super-powered canine in space. That is weird.

Superman replies that it is not weird. Superman says that he though better of Hal. After all, Hal has seen so many worlds and probably slept with plenty of alien girls with different exotic looks and skins. Hal says actually he has not dated as many as people think. Superman asks what about Jade? Hal answers that she was exotic, but that was Kyle who dated Jade. Superman says Kyle was lucky. Hal answers that Kyle was lucky until Jade’s luck ran out. Hal says that tends to happen to their kind.

Superman says that he knows he sounds stupid, but he thinks he broke the curse. Superman says that he has Lois. And he has the bestest, greatest and most wonderful dog in the cosmos. Hal counters that fate throws a lot of curveballs. Superman agrees that fate does, but he still has Lois and a good dog and that gives him a complete life. Superman asks “What could go wrong?”

Hal thinks about his past with Carol and villains that were easily beaten. Before Star Sapphire. Before Parallax. Hal thinks how can the greatest man in the galaxy be so naïve? Hal then thinks that perhaps that is what makes Superman the greatest man. That Superman has faith and believes in something better.

Hal then agrees that Superman’s dog is pretty cool. Hal thinks maybe Superman is right. What can go wrong? We then see a darkness swirling around the part of space where the two heroes are located.

We cut back to Metropolis where the Science Police are battling a giant monster that is rampaging through the site. Travis DuBarry thinks how he is the leader of the SP and he is not too sure that his men and women don’t think he is a moron. We learn that Travis got his position because of being in the right place at the right time and having an uncle who is a Senator. All of the SP officers that Travis is commanding have more impressive resumes and are more qualified for Travis’ job. Still Travis does his best. Unfortunately, the monster is shrugging off the attacks by the SP officers.

Suddenly, we see a blue and red blur race through the sky and rip through the middle of the monster. The monster collapses to the ground, but in the process bumps the Daily Planets building and causes the Daily Planet globe to fall to the ground. Out of nowhere we see a shadowy figure grab the globe just before it hits the ground.

Travis thinks how his guilty secret is that he hates Superman. Not all the time, but Superman is always here and always there and the SP are supposed to clean up after him. That Travis thought that the SP were supposed to be something special. However, Superman makes them look like janitors.

The shadowy figure then throws the Daily Planet globe high into the sky and yells “Superman!” We see that the figure is Atlas. Atlas screams for Superman to come before him so that Atlas may show him sorrow and pain. Atlas proclaims himself the champion of Metropolis.

The SP immediately attack Atlas. Atlas shrugs off their attacks and proceeds to take out the SP officers. Atlas then yells that he wants Superman. We cut to space where Superman picks up Atlas’ cries. Superman tells Hal that he has to go and for Hal to look after Krypto. Superman then rockets off.

We cut back to Metropolis where Travis is the last SP officer standing. Travis attacks Atlas, but Atlas quickly takes out Travis. Atlas then screams once again for Superman. Suddenly, Superman appears on the scene. Superman says “Yeah, I heard you. There’s no need to shout.” End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Wow. That was the best issue of Superman that I have read in a while. Robinson delivered an enjoyable read with his debut issue on Superman. Superman #677 was a wonderfully written issue that moves at a steady pace. Robinson is certainly taking his time with this story arc and appeared in no rush to start his run on Superman with a flashy issue.

Instead, Robinson decides to go the route of quality writing with an emphasis on well crafted dialogue and strong character work. Superman #677 was a well plotted issue as Robinson pulls off some ominous foreshadowing and then introduces the villain for this story arc. Robinson strikes a good balance between the dialogue heavy scenes with Hal and Superman and the action packed scenes in Metropolis. Superman #677 was well balanced and should satisfy action fans as well as readers who prefer plot driven stories.

Robinson cranks out some excellent dialogue. The banter between Hal and Superman was perfect. The dialogue had a wonderful natural flow. The monologue by Travis in the Metropolis scenes served as a proper spine for those scenes. Robinson whips up plenty of strong character work. The three main characters in this issue, Superman, Hal and Travis are all nicely developed characters. Robinson offers the reader an unfiltered view into each of the three men.

I loved the scene with Hal, Superman and Krypto in space. This was such a fantastically written scene. Robinson delivers the dialogue in such a casual and subdued fashion. I really enjoyed Superman’s view that life is great since he has a great woman and the best dog in the cosmos. For Superman, a man does not need anything other than that. You add a pick-up truck to Superman’s list of what makes life great and you would have a country music song.

I totally dig the sweet and simple view of life that Superman possesses. It is such a small town average Joe way of looking at life. This is part of what makes Superman so special. Very few super heroes in the modern era have such a simple man’s view of life. I dig how this view even rubs off a little on Hal.

I liked how Robinson showed the strong bond and love between Superman and Krypto. I love dogs so I have naturally always liked Krypto. And I am glad to see Krypto making regular appearances in Superman’s various titles.

Robinson also gives us some ominous foreshadowing in the opening scene with Hal and Superman. You have Superman talking about how great life is. Then you have Superman asking what could go wrong? And you have Superman talking how he feels he has broken the curse that affects most super heroes that leads to tragedy in their lives. Robinson even has Hal eventually agree with Superman that life is pretty good and then Hal also asks what could go wrong. Combine that the swirling darkness around Superman and Hal and it is clear that Robinson is cueing the reader that something wicked this way comes.

I enjoyed the look into Travis’ mind that Robinson gives us in this issue. It is always neat to see a normal human’s view of a big-time super hero like Superman. I dig that Travis actually hates Superman to an extent. It makes perfect sense that a proud group like the Science Police that is composed of the best of the best that the police world has to offer would be resentful of a person like Superman who continually makes them look like janitors. I like that Robinson chose to delve into this one-sided rivalry between the S.P. and Superman.

Robinsons definitely gave Atlas an extremely dramatic entrance in this issue. I loved the shot of Atlas grabbing the Daily Planet’s globe. That was a very fitting image for Atlas. Atlas should be a great nemesis for Superman. What is nice about Atlas’ character is that he is not a straight up monster like most powerhouses that Superman fights. And there is no doubt that Atlas possesses the attitude and the power to go toe-to-toe with the big red S.

Robinson ends Superman #677 with a solid hook ending. We see Superman squaring off against Atlas. The reader is more than excited to come back for the next issue in order to check out the pending showdown between these two titans. Next issue should supply us with plenty of action.

Superman #677 is a fantastic looking issue. Renato Guedes and Wilson Magalhaes combine to deliver some gorgeous artwork. Guedes draws a wonderful looking Superman. The scenes with Superman and Hal were just incredible. However, the art was a bit uneven as some of the panels of Atlas rampaging in Metropolis were not quite as impressive.

The Bad: I have no complaints with this issue. However, I can understand if some readers found Superman #677 a bit too slow and that Robinson did not progress this story arc enough. And I can understand if some readers thought we got too much panel time with the SP officers battling the monster and then battling Atlas. Some readers may have wanted to see Superman in action at least a little bit in this issue.

Overall: Superman #677 was a well crafted issue. Robinson did a good job with his debut issue on Superman. This was a balanced issue that should have mass appeal. If you have not read this title in a while then I would certainly recommend giving Superman a try once again. I have a good feeling that Robinson is going to deliver consistently good reads on Superman.