Mild Mannered Reviews - Superman Adventures Comics

Superman Adventures #53

Superman Adventures #53

Scheduled to arrive in stores: January 17, 2001

Cover date: March 2001

Writer: Mark Evanier
Penciller: Neil Vokes
Inker: Terry Austin

"The Greatest Escape"

Reviewed by: George O'Connor (LukeSky500@mindspring.com)


Well, comic fans. Here we go again. After Mark Millar's brief return with a story that, though it had its faults, was, overall, entertaining at least, we're again left with a formulaic plot, absolutely wretched dialogue, and a cheesy Superman who seems as two dimensional as the paper this comic is printed on. Vokes' art only serves to cripple the issue even more (if this is possible).

But then... you're looking for a synopsis aren't you. Well... all right... *gritting teeth* I'll try to make it as brief as possible though.

Darkseid sends Granny Goodness to Earth to kill Superman in case he gets involved with the planned death of a bookkeeper who plans to rat on Intergang. On Earth, Supes picks right up where he left off by saving Mister Miracle again when, in fact, Mister Miracle doesn't want to be saved.

Now, hold up here just a moment. Didn't we learn anything from the first Mister Miracle issue... way back in issue 42? I mean, let's face it. It was a mediocre issue but it certainly didn't need a follow-up. It was also (and I'm quoting myself here) "as cliched as it gets." So why, oh WHY, are they having another issue with Mister Miracle? And why hasn't Evanier learned how to write after almost a year?

So anyway... Mr. Miracle finds out about a trap for him, and he, being the daredevil that he is, decides to show up anyway. Granny Goodness puts him in a giant tunnel with death traps galore so that he'll alert Superman. Supes shows up, the bookkeeper is vulnerable to attack, and Granny Goodness plans on using some Kryptonite gun to kill Superman when he exits the tunnel.

Supes and Miracle switch costumes. Granny shoots Miracle by accident... which by the way is quite interesting... shouldn't the radiation kill him anyway? At least do some damage or something? Anyway... Supes saves the bookkeeper at the last moment and Granny Goodness heads back to Apokolips along with some defeated Parademons to face the wrath of Darkseid.

What? You pretty much saw this coming? What a coinky-dink! So did I! So would the entire world if they were to read this issue! (Not that they'd want to).

1Story - 1: The fact of the matter is that Superman Adventures is starting to consistently stink. On a monthly basis I almost cringe every time I have to buy an issue. I'm thinking, "Fantastic. Another crappy issue of SA. I'll go home, read it, think about how much I hate it, and waste my time reviewing it." This is not how it used to be folks, as fans of this series know. Back in the good ol' days, SA was better than the regular Superman comics!! (Although with all that Millennium Giants crap that wasn't too difficult). Every month, there was a well thought out adventure with Superman against one of his rogue gallery villains and each month there was an interesting twist or detail that made the comic not only fun to read but kept you excited for the animated series. Now that there is no animated series, the talent seems to have just packed up and left the comic book. They don't want to elaborate on the series or take it in a new direction or do anything with it. All they want to do is regurgitate stories that have been done since the 1940s with no unique spin whatsoever, fill it up with awful dialogue, put in a Superman that we want to slap because he acts like some sappy character on a preschooler show, and put in more of Vokes' god awful work. It seems like they're just waiting for sales to go down enough so they can go ahead and cancel it. They may not have to wait too much longer.

1Art - 1: You know what I think of Vokes' work if you've been reading these reviews on a regular basis. It's the stuff worthy of lining your elephant cages with. No exaggeration there.

3Cover Art - 3: Eh. It's all right.


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Mild Mannered Reviews

2001

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic was on sale.

January 2001

February 2001 March 2001 April 2001 May 2001 June 2001 July 2001 August 2001 September 2001 October 2001 November 2001 December 2001 Annuals

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