As a kid I remember reading Marvel Comics with stickers celebrating thirty years of a character’s existence.
That felt old!
Now, we have no less than the third Superman special in about as many years (the other two being the Death of Superman and Return of Superman specials) celebrating thirty years of a milestone in the Man of Steel’s life.
Crazy.
There was no chance I was ever going to pass up a special about Superman’s wedding, especially if the Triangle Era gang was getting back together to do it.
How did it read? Let’s dig in!
Pros
From a big picture perspective, I absolutely love how Superman’s marriage to Lois has been celebrated for three decades now. It has been no less than the basis for two shows- “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” and “Superman & Lois,” the latter of which had the characters married for all four seasons. It’s even been touched on in movies and the comics, regardless of what continuity DC was going with at a given time.
One could even say that fans missing Clark and Lois’ marriage was the reason New 52 Superman was scrapped. That is some staying power!
Unlike Spider-Man, whose marriage to Mary Jane was seen as a hindrance by seemingly half of the creative teams at Marvel over the years, Superman and Lois have been a fixture. That does my heart a lot of good.
The premise of this story is teenage Jon Kent finds out about his parents’ wedding anniversary and decides to throw them a party. A great premise, to be sure, and handled well by Rainbow Rowell and Cian Tormey in the opening segment.
It’s a believable plot for these characters and one that fits Superman’s world well, especially since as the guests are being invited, old creative teams are essentially “invited” to the party as well.
Since trouble can’t be too far behind, a villain shows up to spoil the moment, in this case Mr. Mxyzptlk, who is upset that he wasn’t invited to the wedding all that time ago. He is a good foil, and really the only bad guy who can pull off monster cake toppers destroying downtown Metropolis.
Each creative team gets a section of the book to add their own spin to the story: Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove, Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett, and Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway. Veterans of the Super books and beloved by fans for years now, it is always nice to see those names listed in the credits.
Two more notes is the two-page spread at the end of the book that is a homage to the two page spread at the end of the 1996 wedding special- awesome- and Mike Carlin’s reminisce was great too.
Nostalgia alone was always going to carry this book part of the way, that was a given. From the jump, this book was going to be no less than a 5 out of 10 on the capeage meter.
Could the execution take it up a few more notches?
Well, as it turns out, not really.
Cons
The story is set in current Superman continuity. Strike one.
Try as I might, I just have not been able to latch onto the new continuity for Superman at all since Bendis.
I am still annoyed that they aged Jon Kent (Tomorrow Man?), Lex Luthor is in a green power suit again and it seems weird to have “Mayor Perry White” and “Lois Lane, EiC.” It all feels off, especially how Lois is now Clark’s boss…?
I am sure that that will change back to form some day soon, as continuity usually does. What I can’t understand is how DC’s new timeline works- it seems like old events from prior continuity have been folded in to this one?
The Return of Superman special had a similar timeline that left me scratching my head, and I have a feeling I missed a major event a few years ago. Regardless, the way the events of Clark and Lois’ lives are set up right now doesn’t make sense.
Not everything that came out in the ‘90s must be set in the ‘90s, but at least try to make it a new, believable timeline. That might sound like a minor quibble, but to me a big reason these characters are so appealing is because we fans feel like we are going through life with them. That is something that the books earned, and should not be overlooked.
Aside from that, as much as I love the artists in this special, some of their work has lost a step (Bogdanove in particular). A minor point also, the new designs on some of the DCU characters don’t quite work for me, or maybe don’t quite work with ‘90s art style, but maybe that’s just me.
Conclusion
I love and honor the intent of a book like this, I really do. And maybe I have just been holding a grudge for too long about cancelling the Rebirth books.
Whatever it is, I just haven’t been able to dive back into the pool of the Superbooks. I would have preferred this to have taken place in the Triangle Era or Rebirth, or something in between, but what can we do.
A nice nostalgia nugget, at least.
Capeage Meter: 5.5 out of 10
