Superman: For Tomorrow, Volume 2 Book

SPOILERS

This is a pretty ambitious storyline for Superman as it tells you that he created an entire dimension and that that was responsible for the mass vanishing that took place in Book 1. Brian Azzarello posits the theory that if Kal-El's father Jor-El created the Phantom Zone, that Kal-El should be able to do something similar except making it a utopia for emergencies, say if the planet is on the brink of destruction.

It's a great idea actually and gets to the heart of who Superman is and I can't fault Azzarello for basing these two books around it. But it takes some going back and re-reading and looking on the internet to find out that Superman is (indirectly) responsible for the vanishing - it's not really gone into in the book itself which is frustrating.

Then Zod shows up (looking awesome) but it's unclear how he came into the Utopia. Does it exist side by side with the Phantom Zone (which was created to house Zod as a prison)?

Then Wonder Woman and Superman fight, pointlessly - as if she could take him! And Batman puts in an appearance (pointlessly too). And while others have critiqued the catholic priest character, I found him to be a decent character and what they ended up doing to him was a bit crappy.

Who were the men in suits Halcyon were working for and were so intent on creating super soldiers like Equus and Superman's Orb? Because they're in suits they're instantly evil and/or governmental? And the mystic in the end turning out to be irrelevant.

The storyline eventually becomes Superman fighting Zod and all other plotholes are left unexplained which was disappointing. Jim Lee in an afterword tries to spin this as a positive, that it was always intended to be impressionistic, but I felt that Azzarello lost control of his various threads and never regained control again.

The artwork though is incredible, it's Jim Lee after all, though I felt he went a bit overboard in his depiction of Lois Lane - his version of her oozes sex appeal in every panel, rather than emphasising her intellect and character. His Zod though is perfect, I wouldn't be surprised to see it used as the template for next year's "Man of Steel" picture for Michael Shannon's role.

While the story went off the cliff and never recovered, there was enough left to make a decent book and the artwork helped keep the pages turning. Ultimately though I was expecting better and felt that the denouement doesn't live up to the first part of the series. Superman fans will still enjoy it though as there are plenty of good moments with the character and some interesting insight into his psyche.