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Review: Superman #710

By | April 15th, 2011
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Written by Chris Roberson and J. Michael Straczynski
Illustrated by Eddy Barrows and J.P. Mayer

In the latest chapter of “Grounded,” the recently returned Bruce Wayne stops by Salt Lake City to pay a little visit to Superma – excuse us, Clark Kent! Learn how a legendary friendship was born as Bruce and Clark revisit the previously untold tale of one of their earliest meetings in which the teenaged duo faced the menace of the immortal Vandal Savage!

Man, do people not like “Grounded.” I haven’t seen such a stink about a comic story arc across the internet since the days of “One More Day.” The question is: does it deserve the hate? Find out my opinion after the cut.

Since taking JMS’s spot as the writer of Superman – though still following the Babylon 5 creator’s basic outlines – writer Chris Roberson has been meeting mixed reviews. For the most part, readers have been more accepting of the story since Roberson took over, but there are still plenty who have extremely negative things to say about it. Personally, I haven’t felt strongly either way. It hasn’t been great, but it certainly hasn’t been terrible.

The biggest complaint that I’ve seen regarding this issue so far (in, you know, the couple of days the issue has been out) is Roberson’s characterization of Bruce. From hesitant claims of “it’s just off” to more vehement declarations such as “Ladies and gentlemen, the death of the character Batman,” it’s been the particular topic of note. Personally? I don’t mind it. I’ve been reading Batman comics since my youth (which, admittedly, isn’t that long), and while I agree that Roberson’s portrayal of Bruce is a bit different, it’s understandable. Bruce just came back from the dead, and has a new vision of what Batman means – though whether or not you agree with that vision is your own prerogative. Maybe you don’t agree with the idea behind Batman Incorporated, but you really can’t argue that Roberson’s Bruce is acting out of line for what is currently happening in the Batman franchise.

There were a couple of things that did bother me about this issue, though. The first is very, very minor, but it bothered me nonetheless. The narrative dialogue between Clark and Bruce during the flashback sequence was incredibly annoying and unnatural. When one recounts a story with a friend – in my experience, at least – it’s hardly necessary to go through the entire experience word for word. I understand that Roberson used it to guide us readers through the story, and I’m not saying that the amount of flashback story pages should have been cut, but the narrative captions could have been at least halved. As is, the presentation draws too much attention away from the story to the captions, and just results in a slightly disorienting read.

The other thing that bothered me was the art. Now, Barrows isn’t worth complaining about, in my opinion. He’s far from being a favorite artist of mine, and would choose many artists over him to illustrate this book, but he’s hardly intolerable. J.P. Mayer, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter. To quote Multiversity contributor Gil, it seems like he was thinking “I’m gonna draw lots of crosshatches. Everyone loves crosshatches!” while working on the art. It was like the 90s all over again (only without the terrible anatomy). The crosshatching was thick enough to really obscure the storytelling, but from what I could tell we weren’t really missing out on anything in the first place.

The story as a whole wasn’t bad at all though. Sure, it’s hardly astounding, but it’s a fun little read if you’re a fan of Superman and his friendship with the Caped Crusader. Roberson has a very classic approach to the Man of Steel, and as pleasant as it might be for some, I can see how it may annoy others. As is, there’s nothing to set this apart from the rest of the superhero crop, but it doesn’t really fall behind, either. Give it a read, and if you don’t like it, then you don’t like it. No harm done.

Final Verdict: 6.1 – Browse


Walt Richardson

Walt is a former editor for Multiversity Comics and current podcaster/ne'er-do-well. Follow him on Twitter @goodbyetoashoe... if you dare!

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