The Trial of Superman

Rating:
Summary: Weak writing and poor artwork cripple this project.
Review: A weak attempt to turn Superman into an intergalactic "Fugitive" is hampered by poor plotting, dialogue, and artwork. The initial premise might be workable for other characters, but Superman, by his very nature, does not fit into the mold of the hounded underdog.

Do not recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Weak writing and poor artwork cripple this project.
Review: A weak attempt to turn Superman into an intergalactic "Fugitive" is hampered by poor plotting, dialogue, and artwork. The initial premise might be workable for other characters, but Superman, by his very nature, does not fit into the mold of the hounded underdog.

Do not recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Weak writing and poor artwork cripple this project.
Review: I thought that the book was well written but the art by some of the many illustrators was weak. I really liked Tom Grummet's, and Stuart Immonen's work though.

Rating:
Summary: Good Writing, Average Art
Review: I thought that the book was well written but the art by some of the many illustrators was weak. I really liked Tom Grummet's, and Stuart Immonen's work though.

Rating:
Summary: There was no evidence!
Review: Setups are everything! This one was not good. How does a tribunal of vigilantes go about the galaxy and capture alleged (by them)criminals without regard to the rule of law including Superman? Fortunately, there is plenty of galaxy-spanning action with excellent artwork on slick pages. Still, the setup needed to be better.

Rating:
Summary: Trial And Error-A Drawn Out Epic
Review: The Trial Of Superman is another muti-part comic book story, that spanned 3 months, when it first appeared in single issue format. Billed as another major event, in the man of steel's life-ala The Wedding, Death and Resurrection, and others published over the last decade, Trial ends up as a story of mixed results.

As Superman battles the villian known as Parasite, an alien tribunal that has been keeping an eye on him for some time, decides to charge him for the crimes of his ancestors. They believe that it is those actions-that doomed the planet Krypton-Superman's homeworld In order to clear his name, the last son of a long dead world, must become a fugitive from justice, or face death. The problem I had with the story was its length. Unlike the epic Death Of Superman story, that begged for a larger canvas, I think that the Trial Of Supes story could have been told in far less time, than it actually took to play out. After reading the trade paperback, I would have to say, if the story were not as drawn out, it would have been a stronger story At times, especially during the sky pirates subplot, the story seemed to wander aimlessly and things get very unfocused. The writers should have taken just 6-8 "chapters" for this storyline. That would have trimmed the fat.

The art for the story was completed by a talented group of folks Some of it, as you might expect, turns out better, than others. The use of thicker paper stock and a gloss, punches everthing up a bit, over the standard paper used in single comics. This helps to lessen the different artist's styles of the book. But that's not enough to save the story

The book includes a cover gallery and a few guest stars as well. The 263 page trade paperback is recommended, only if you like things drawn out, almost to point of boredom

Rating:
Summary: If you love Superman, then you'll love this book!
Review: This is a must book for all of you die-hard Superman lovers. This book tells the story of Supermans trial. If you liked Superman\Doomsday Hunter\Prey, or Superman vs. Aliens then you'll love this book. Trial of Superman is a graphic novel, which means it tells the story but with drawings on every page. If you missed out on the Trail of Superman when it was in the comics, then buy it now and learn why Superman is such a great comic book.

Rating:
Summary: A Memorable Epic
Review: This is everything a Superman epic should be...almost.

Superman's battle with a new and improved Parasite is rather rudely interrupted by agents of an intergalactic tribunal headed by a Kenneth Starr type who thinks Superman must own up to the destruction of Krypton. Supes goes on the lam while Eradicator and Team Superman search for him. The Cyborg seems eager to collect the bounty placed on Superman, but his real plans are far more ominous.

Although many don't share MHO, I like the Cyborg. Brainiac and Luthor are better, but he's got alot of angst, he striking back at a world that no longer considers him normal.

I also liked that Supes wasn't framed for a crime he didn't commit. Though unjustifiably targeted for a witch hunt, he does have a dark page in his family history that he has to own up to.

My only complaints are omissions in the TPB. The origin of the smarter Parasite, and Luthor's explanation of how he got the healthy body at the end of The Death of Clark Kent TPB are conspicously misson from the collection, though they clearly needed to be there. It's bound to slightly frustrate readers when they look at the cover gallery and see Luthor on the cover of part 8, but find that all his scenes were cut from the TPB. Also, I believe they made a mistake by having this story at the same time as another crossover was occuring through the DCU titles. They should've planned things a little bit better in that regard. All in all though, I think they should do another big "Space Epic" crossover, so this and Exile could be part of a trilogy.