Superman Homepage - Mild Mannered Reviews (2006)

Noteworthy Superman dates to remember...

September 1: Traditionally recognized as the birthday of Jonathan Kent, Clark Kent's adoptive father.

September 5: George Lazenby, Jor-El in the Superboy TV series, born in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia in 1939.

September 6: Justin Whalin, Jimmy Olsen in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, born in 1974.

September 8: The Super Friends cartoon show makes its debut on ABC-TV in 1973.

September 10: Filmation's The New Adventures of Superman animated series premieres on CBS in 1966.

September 12: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman makes its debut on ABC-TV in 1993.

September 13: Artist Mike Grell (Superboy and the Legion of Super Heroes) born in 1947.

September 15: Jackie Cooper, Perry White in the Superman films, born in 1922.

September 16: Tommy Bond, Jimmy Olsen in two serials, Superman and Atom Man vs Superman, born in Dallas, Texas in 1926.

September 16: Writer Kurt Busiek (Superman & Action Comics) born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1960.

September 16: Steve Younis, owner of the Superman Homepage, born in 1971. :)

September 17: Bryan Singer, director of Superman Returns, born in New York, NY, USA in 1965.

September 17: Writer Roger Stern (Action Comics) born in 1950.

September 18: James Marsden (Richard White in Superman Returns), born in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1973.

September 22: Traditionally recognized as the birthday of Kara Zor-El, AKA Supergirl.

September 23: Writer Peter David (Supergirl) born in 1956.

September 24: 'Smallville' Season 10, Episode 1 'Lazarus' airs on The CW at 8.00pm.

September 24: Tommy Bond, Jimmy Olsen in two serials, Superman and Atom Man vs Superman, dies in 2005, aged 79.

September 25: Christopher Reeve, star of the Superman films, born in New York, NY in 1952.

September 26: Writer Louise Simonson (Superman: The Man of Steel) born in 1946.

September 28: Traditionally recognized as the birthday of Lex Luthor.

Mild Mannered Reviews - JLA Comics

JLA: Classified #14

Cover date: January 2006

Writter: Warren Ellis
Penciller: Butch Guice
Inker: Butch Guice

"New Maps of Hell" - Part Five

Click to enlarge

Story - 3: The plot of this story has slowed to a snail's pace. Warren Ellis started out with a pretty decent Justice League story but as the arc continues it has become boring and repetitive.

Each member of the League went through their own personal hell and the results were predictable. Instead of doing something interesting and innovative Ellis has the characters become trapped and then realize how to free themselves. The fact that, with the exception of Green Lantern, everyone came to the same conclusion at roughly the same time makes for a very uninteresting read. Maybe if it had been spread out a little more or if the scenes weren't so similar it would have gone a lot better, but it wasn't and it didn't.

I expected a lot of from Warren Ellis. His writing has always been entertaining, but it seems like he started strong with this story and then lost interest. I wouldn't be as disappointed as I am if things hadn't started off so well.

Art - 4: Butch Guice saved this issue. His art made a very boring story bearable. The different settings were just that, different. Guice wasn't given much to play with but he made it work just the same. The art of this story is the only thing that is keeping me interested.

Cover Art - 2: These covers keep getting worse and worse. There is nothing interesting about this piece. Superman looks decent enough, but the rest of it does nothing for me. Michael Stribling has talent, but his style leaves me a bit cold.

This cover receives a one out of ten on the 2005 Edition of the Grab Me Meter.