Rating: 
Summary: Second Compilation Of A Great Crossover, But Incomplete
Review: "Our Worlds At War" is one of the greatest largescale crossovers in comic book history. In the two-volume trade paperback form, though, it is somewhat hampered by the fact that not all of the chapters are present - they've endeavored to get the 'main' chapters in here, but there are a large number of other issues (apparantly considered 'peripheral' to the overall story) that were omitted. The reader can still, of course, buy the issues not reprinted here separately, but it's still a major (and rare) misstep for DC to have not made this collection a set of three larger trade paperbacks to have the complete saga represented. My advice is to buy the trades anyway and try to get as many of the other OWAW tie-ins as possible too. Despite the mishandling of the presentation, I can't bring myself to give this anything less 5 stars.
I myself have read most of the crossover but have yet to secure a couple of issues from the early going; I have the "Volume 2" Trade Paperback and a slew of individual issues from the first half of the event, plus issues from the second half that actually fit in 'in between' individual issues reprinted here. I really wanted to review "Volume One" as well, but I don't have every issue reprinted within (even though overall I have most of the first half, including issues not reprinted in trade form). Some of the Trade Paperbacks I've done writeups on I have done based on the original issues reprinted (as opposed to the TPB format), but only when I have the complete material. I don't with OWAW Vol. 1, so I'll have to just do a writeup for this volume.
Now the crossover itself (if you're still reading, thanks for putting up with that preamble) - this is bigger and more far-ranging than any event DC has done since at least "Zero Hour", bigger even than "The Final Night" - far bigger in fact since this is a galactic, time-spanning conflagration that threatens to eventually consume the whole universe, and it crossed into numerous titles (although the title of the TPBs would imply it's an entirely Superman-oriented event that's not really true - the Man Of Steel and his cast play the biggest role but it involves just about all the main characters of the DCU. This volume actually does a better job of presenting a wider cross-section of the books involved than Volume 1 did). The great adversary of the event is Imperiex, a Galactus-level character who commands legions of "Imperiex Probes" that are basically smaller, non-sentient versions of himself, each of them powerful enough to alone be a challenge to Superman. Opposing this world-destroying entity is a vast coalition of planets, into which Earth is inducted at the beginning of the event. So great is the threat that not only have worlds like Almerac and Tamaran and the survivors of Kalanor (Despero's homeworld), destroyed by Imperiex prior to the OWAW Volume 1 TPB at the beginning of "Superman: Or Worlds At War Secret Files # 1", (which REALLY should have been included in the first trade), have come together, but even Apokolips itself is in on the alliance! Other players come into the fray very unexpectedly in this volume, and are best let unrevealed for the reader to discover on their own.
Clearly, this is not an 'introductory' book to Superman or the DC Universe - it's very complex and of necessity assumes a familiarity by the reader with a great number of characters, races and concepts; a saga for fans already deeply and passionately into the DC Universe. If you're not a Superman reader this crossover isn't the place to start - the "Superman: No Limits" trade paperback, reprinting material from a couple years earlier when DC did one of their periodic 'jumping-on' points to make it easier for new readers to come onboard, would be a good choice and fairly recent place to start off if you want to get into the comics - using this as a starting point would be kind of like starting off on "Lord Of The Rings" with the third novel (except of course that's the final novel, and there is no 'final chapter' to things like the DC Universe or Marvel Universe, and, God willing, never will be).
There is massive destruction in the event, more than in "Lord Of the Rings", the whole "Star Wars" saga, and "Independance Day" put together, and thankfully it's Felt by the characters, it's not like some action movies where everything blows up but nobody seems emotionally affected by it. Younger Superman fans might be better off going with some DVDs from the animated series of a few years ago, than something this intense and technical. People who don't read comics are unaware of how much there is to them these days in terms of intense action, drama, social issues, massive complexity, etc. There's also alot of humor, lightness, fun, etc. but OWAW is an example of how thunderous and grand-scoped they can get. All this is expertly brought to life by the writers and artists, to the point where you can practically hear the lava plumes of Apokolips.
An excellent book this Volume 2 is, though of course anyone reading it should go with the Trade Paperback/OWAW issues that preceded it. One of the best of the 'giant-sized' crossovers, up there with the Batman "No Man's Land" event and Marvel's X-Men "Age Of Apocalypse" saga from a few years back.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit disjointed
Review: Despite what many say this is not a horrible story. In fact, the plot itself is quite good. The problem is that it was written by seven different writers, each doing thier own chunks of the storyline. They all do a fine job, but the end result is a disjointed narrative. If this had been a mini series written and drawn by one creative team(like Crisis on Infinite earths) it would be a classic. As it is, it was not and is just a fun, but mindless and ulitimately forgettable romp.
Rating:
Summary: A bit disjointed
Review: Despite what many say this is not a horrible story. In fact, the plot itself is quite good. The problem is that it was written by seven different writers, each doing thier own chunks of the storyline. They all do a fine job, but the end result is a disjointed narrative. If this had been a mini series written and drawn by one creative team(like Crisis on Infinite earths) it would be a classic. As it is, it was not and is just a fun, but mindless and ulitimately forgettable romp.
Rating: 
Summary: A good story that's worth your time
Review: Every so often, it seems the DC bigshots decide to scale up the traditional superhero battles between good and evil. Usually, this involves a sort of "mega villan" where every superhero, their cousin, the army, and their arch nemesis have to pitch in to avoid universal destruction. As Doctor Evil would say, pretty standard really. This is basically a in continuity version of Crisis on Infine Earths (which is great as well). Our Worlds at War part I & II continue this fine tradition of throwing out a huge, evil pinyata for our heroes, and villians, to wail on.
The two books are loaded with great action, but there are some very good character moments as well. Superman has to overcome his doubt and uncertainty in the wake of his (supposed) parents death. Surpisingly, some of the best moments are between Supes and his long time enemy Lex Luthor. While they still hate each other's guts, both men realise they have to set aside not only their rivalry, but their preceptions of each other to save the world. They actually have to *trust* each other and work together as a *real* team. The two might still hate each other by book's end, but you get the feeling they understand each other better. Lets just say by the end of the story, Superman gets mad, REALLY mad. People who value their lives should learn not to do that. Kudos to the team for bringing back a lot of interesting supporting characters back into the limelight. World War II veteran Frank Rock and telepathic British badass Manchester Black both make cameo appearences (with a pretty important impact on the war's strategy).
I find it a little silly people criticise these books because they're "rip offs" and "unorigional". Hello? The entire history of comic books is ripping off other people's work. The only good ideas are the ones you steal. These trade paper backs lose a star for not including the JSA issue of Our World's At War (which is a pretty important part of the plot) and for some inconsistency in the art work. Overall though, if you want to see some old fashion superhero smackdown, you really can't go wrong with Our Worlds At War.
Rating: 
Summary: A Big Mess
Review: I'm giving this 3 stars, but this is a VERY GENEROUS 3 stars. The only reason I'm doing that is because the action is pretty good and there's a lot of it.What is going on here? I know Superman doesn't quite have the resolve of Batman, but Superman is supposed to be the standard of the DC Universe. The one they turn to when all else fails. So why is he whining so much? Why is he neglecting Lois? Why is he so annoying? Who knows. They don't explain it to us. It should be noted that there is a lot missing. Most of the DC Universe books touched upon this crossover & they can't all be included. However, that doesn't explain why the plot is so confusing. There are parts that are just cryptic. There are some genuinely suspenseful parts, the subplot between Lex and his Brainiac'd daughter being the highlight. Again, there's a lot of pretty good action (including a good slap 'em up between Supes & Darkseid). But what separates the guys who wrote this from the truly great writers is plot. And that is lacking here.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip this...you won't miss a thing
Review: Let me start off by saying that I am a big-fan of a lot of the writers involved in this project, i.e. Jeph Loeb, Joe Kelly. Individually, these guys have produced some of the most memorable super-hero stories of the last few years. But this massive cross-over leaves a lot to be desired, especially a cross-over so heavily advertised and touted as "Will shatter the DC Heroes forever".
A lot of the reviewers are right when they say that the story makes no sense. The readers are basically bombarded with cast of characters, slug-fest after slug-fest after slug-fest, massive casualties and a vain attempt at being emotional. The story basically revolves around Imperix probes landing on Earth and for some cliched reasons wants to destroy Earth. Of course Superman, the JLA and every major DC heroes are going to try and stop them. There is one battle after another...people die (Aquaman, Steel, Wonder Woman's Mom, The Kents etc.) There is also a Supergirl story thrown in there for no reason...and the story is pretty bad. The idea however had a lot of potential but the pacing and the particular focus of different writers drag it downhill. A better story is created out of the aftermath of Our Worlds at War, which is JLA: The Obisidian Age (see my review).
Superman also teams up with Darkseid to stop Imperix but the nature of their relationship escapes me...one moment they are advicing each other and the next moment, Darkseid is beating on Superman to get him to wear a suit?!
The art is pretty bad also. I never was a big fan of manga and Ed. McG mostly draws manga. There are other artists whose work is sub-par. The best of the lost being Doug Mahnke.
My advice is to skip over this arc. It is pointless, confusing and you'll soon wish for a refund (anybody want to buy mine?). Trust me when I say you won't miss a thing. This money is better spent on JLA: Trial by Fire or JLA: Obisidian Age.
Rating:
Summary: Up, Up, and ... Away?
Review: One of the staples to Supes personal history is the fact that he's held to standards that other superheroes might not be able to match ... until now. Reading Superman say the words, "I'm going to kill him," is perhaps the most startling revelation in the two-parter trade paperback OUR WORLDS AT WAR. Despite some negative reaction from a large part of the Super-fan base, OWAW is a good read but far from great. It presents a Superman that readers largely haven't seen before, one driven by a passionate instinct for revenge. While the books do possess some continuity issues, there are parts of the story important to our time: acts of terrorism, good surrendering to evil, the loss of life in times of war, etc. However, these two books do suffer from one crucial shortcoming that appears to be a growing trend in crossover / trade paperbacks, and that's the fact that the reader might be told of pivotal events several times from differing perspectives ... once from the Superman installment, once from the Young Justice installment, and once from a Wonder Woman installment. Whereas the end result should be interesting, it's far more confusing here, as some events toward the climax are reviewed slightly out-of-sequence. That said, a Darkseid story is always welcome at my house, and I enjoyed the pure escapism of a reasonably entertaining Superman story for what it was worth. Would I recommend purchase? Erg. These two books are rather pricey for a story that isn't as tightly woven as it could've been. I would have rather seen the publishers create one volume, with a reasonable price, than two with a slightly higher than necessary pricetag. Damn capitalism. Damn commercialism. If you can get your hands on copies to borrow, I'd take that route first.
Rating:
Summary: Up, Up, and ... Away?
Review: One of the staples to Supes personal history is the fact that he's held to standards that other superheroes might not be able to match ... until now. Reading Superman say the words, "I'm going to kill him," is perhaps the most startling revelation in the two-parter trade paperback OUR WORLDS AT WAR. Despite some negative reaction from a large part of the Super-fan base, OWAW is a good read but far from great. It presents a Superman that readers largely haven't seen before, one driven by a passionate instinct for revenge. While the books do possess some continuity issues, there are parts of the story important to our time: acts of terrorism, good surrendering to evil, the loss of life in times of war, etc. However, these two books do suffer from one crucial shortcoming that appears to be a growing trend in crossover / trade paperbacks, and that's the fact that the reader might be told of pivotal events several times from differing perspectives ... once from the Superman installment, once from the Young Justice installment, and once from a Wonder Woman installment. Whereas the end result should be interesting, it's far more confusing here, as some events toward the climax are reviewed slightly out-of-sequence. That said, a Darkseid story is always welcome at my house, and I enjoyed the pure escapism of a reasonably entertaining Superman story for what it was worth. Would I recommend purchase? Erg. These two books are rather pricey for a story that isn't as tightly woven as it could've been. I would have rather seen the publishers create one volume, with a reasonable price, than two with a slightly higher than necessary pricetag. Damn capitalism. Damn commercialism. If you can get your hands on copies to borrow, I'd take that route first.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: This book is a collection of one of the worst "earth shattering" DC events in a long time. I'm not sure if it's the story or the way it's presented (maybe parts are missing) but it absolutely makes no sense whatsoever. It's boring, convoluted and confusing. The art is passable, and even good in certain issues, but that's not enough to keep me interested. What a mess. This is why I stopped collecting comics on a regular basis and started buying TPBs/Graphic Novels. This is a waste of paper.
Rating:
Summary: A Big Mess
Review: This is a big DC crossover involving too many different titles. The two volumes attempt to collect stories involving Superman, Wonder Woman, Young Justice, and Impulse. A lot of back story seems missing and the artwork often looks like bad manga. I am really hating these kinds of crossovers, and reading these stories in this GN format is extremely confusing.
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