We live in a golden age of collected editions. Obscure comics or fan favorites, expensive or inexpensive have become available now as companies realize they can put out “new” product without reinventing the wheel. The entire comic book industry has shifted to hardcover and softcover collections of material due to bookstores and online retailers, which are great for fans as it saves us money and time tracking down comics we’d like to read. There are definitely pros and cons to this shift, but by and large I think it has been a huge plus. DC has gotten in on the act as well, and for my money my favorite formats of theirs are hardcover deluxe editions.
“Camelot Falls” got the hardcover collection it deserves after the passing of Carlos Pacheco last year. As a way of commemorating his career, DC reprinted what was probably his most high profile project for them. The stories collected here were published in the mid-2000s as standard size hardcovers, then trades, and seemingly forgotten after that, which is a shame as I thought they were really good. In addition to a brand new introduction by writer Kurt Busiek, who collaborated with Pacheco several times over their careers, this edition also includes an issue not previously collected which contains a framing sequence by Pacheco, a few more sketches and the series pitch from Busiek. It is a gorgeous book that I am happy to include on my shelf with other Superman deluxes!
The issues collected herein- Superman 654-659, 662-664, 667 and Superman Annual 13 (man that’s choppy publishing!)- were released during a time when comics had started being written, drawn and colored digitally. As such, there is not much required in the way of restoration, but I confess I’m hardly an expert on what that process looks like. Earlier comics can often look blurry or grainy when they are blown up and printed in a new format, which doesn’t do the stories any favors (see the disappointing “World’s Finest” or “Kingdom Come” deluxe editions for what I’m talking about). Here, the art on the pages looks clean and crisp, making for a great reading experience on the bigger pages.
The book also has sewn binding for the pages, and paper that’s glossy but matted a little bit to prevent too much glare when reading, which works very well. Plus, I love omnibuses and absolute editions, but the enormous sizes on those makes them more cumbersome to pick up and read. Deluxe hardcovers are just the right size to feel like you’re reading something special but also comfortably accessible as well.
As for the story itself, I’ve said before that the book is one of my all time favorite Superman stories and still holds up very well. Busiek is a great writer who makes everything feel fresh, and he and Pacheco blend together beautifully. The only downside is the erratic nature of how the stories were originally published, and the fact that Camelot was clearly meant to be a part of a larger narrative as well (ie plot threads that run before and after this story- the third Kryptonian, Chris Kent, etc). It’s still a phenomenal, highly enjoyable read, but not perfect as a stand-alone graphic novel. In a recent Twitter exchange I had with Kurt, he said the following, which also sheds a little light on the publishing process back then:
One wonders what might have happened if the creative team of this story had been left alone a bit more. I would have been in for the long haul of that for sure! Still, I would put this story in a list of top Superman stories ever for me, and this edition makes it a lot of fun to go back and reread time and again in the future. If you’ve never read “Camelot Falls” before, here is a great place to do it.
Capeage Meter: 10 out of 10
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