Book Review: Superman for All Seasons by J. Loeb et al.

Superman for All Seasons written by Jeph Loeb and art by Tim Sale

With comic book characters who've been around for a long time, it's hard to come up with new stories. Lately creators have either gone epic or gone back to retelling origin stories. This book takes the 80-year old character Superman and tells some stories from Smallville and Clark Kent's first times in Metropolis working for The Daily Planet and saving people.

The book has four parts, one for each season (hence the title). Each season is narrated by a different character, starting with Jonathan Kent in Spring. Young Clark learns more about his powers and ponders a bit about his place in the world, something a lot of teens deal with. Lois Lane narrates Summer. The most interesting and entertaining is Lex Luthor narrating Fall where Clark/Superman face hard challenges engineered by Luthor. Winter is narrated by Lana Lang, Clark's childhood sweetheart and something of a soulmate who helps him through the darkness from the Fall.

The story is interesting and feels fresh. The art follows the early style where Clark is huge and blocky and earnest. The whole package feels classic and is highly enjoyable. This is probably the best Superman story I've read, and I loved Superman: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns.

Highly recommended.