Written by Dan Jurgens; David Michelinie; Karl Kesel; Louise Simonson; & Roger Stern.
Art by Ron Frenz; Tom Grummett; Stuart Immonen; Jon Bogdanove; Paul Ryan; Dan Jurgens; Curt Swan; Kieron Dwyer; John Byrne; Nick Cardy; Kerry Gammill; Dick Giordano; Gil Kane; Barry Kitson; Jim Mooney; Al Plastino; Josef Rubenstein; Denis Rodier; Dennis Janke; José Marzan Jr.; Brett Breeding; Jerry Ordway; Jackson Guice; Doug Hazlewood; Murphy Anderson; Terry Austin; Ray McCarthy; Bob McLeod; George Pérez; Art Thibert; Glenn Whitmore; Bill Oakley; John Costanza; Albert DeGuzman; Ken Lopez; & Digital Chameleon.
Cover Art by Dan Jurgens; Jerry Ordway; & Color Works.
SUMMARY:
Released by DC Comics in 1997, this 192-page trade paperback compiles 1996’s Superman # 118; Superman: The Wedding Album; Adventures of Superman # 541; Action Comics # 728; and Superman: The Man of Steel # 63. A powerless, post-Final Night Clark Kent is frittering in Metropolis as The Daily Planet’s temporary Editor-in-Chief. His days as the Man of Steel may be over, as his lack of super-powers now make him seem very mortal now.
Lois Lane is in fictional Bhutran (the equivalent of Nepal) chasing down a drug-dealing syndicate. After a new friend accompanies a head-clearing Mt. Everest-like climb, Lois opts to return to Metropolis. Yet, after being abducted off-screen, single-handedly thwarting her own shotgun wedding to international criminal Naga comes first.
Emotionally re-connecting, the estranged Lois & Clark proceed with pre-wedding festivities: i.e. searching for a new apartment, choosing a wedding dress & the tux fittings; the bachelor and bachelorette parties; and, of course, quarrelling with the father-of-the-bride. Meanwhile, Clark’s heroics as a powerless Superman have mixed results, including a save from Batman. Wonder Woman and fellow Justice Leaguer, Maxima, also make appearances in connection to the Man of Steel’s power loss. Even Lex Luthor throws in a wedding appearance.
After the wedding, the Kents find work intruding upon their Hawaiian honeymoon. A Superboy crossover and a wounded Clark’s abduction by Naga’s vengeful syndicate brings this storyline full circle. It’s up to Lois to become the necessary super-hero (without a cape) in the Kent-Lane family.
REVIEW:
Story-wise, the plotting is good but not great. Considering only some flashbacks deliver actual Superman, readers have to accept they’re really getting Lois & Clark, not Lois & Superman. The pre-wedding segments occasionally sparkle, but the scenes of Lois, in full-on SEAL commando mode, are debatable. While it’s smart thinking to script Lois personally rescuing her husband vs. a cop-out of calling in Clark’s super-friends, the writing team goes a bit overboard.
Had the writers depicted either Lois’ initial escape from Naga’s thugs or the climatic big rescue, that would have been inspired storytelling. Yet, when taken combined, Lois’ action sequences implying commando skills worthy of Batman seem excessive. The concluding image, at least, is a contemporary gem re: a married Lois & Clark’s equality as both partners and heroes.
Including several industry legends in this book’s art squad is seemingly a sensational P.R. move. Their star presence makes even more sense celebrating DC’s bold creative choice to publish this super-wedding … almost sixty years in the making. However, there’s at least three reality checks to keep in mind.
- 1. DC Comics had already married Superman & Lois once before – specifically, their original/Golden Age versions (on Earth-Two) were married for decades in DC’s original continuity.
- 2. TV’s Lois & Clark was already in the midst of its own high-profile nuptials. DC simultaneously cashing in to share this hype isn’t a surprise.
- 3. Despite so many talented old pros aboard, the vast majority of this book’s artwork isn’t close to impressive. At best, it’s average DC for that era. Unfortunately, the sudden shifts in artists (i.e. insert a legend for a few pages) come off more as a jolting distraction than something awe-inspiring. Only pages 67-72, 76-77 and the wedding sequence kick up the visual meter several notches.
DC’s effort is more sincere than its previous publicity stunt: cynically killing off the Man of Steel to boost sales. Superman: The Wedding & Beyond, in that sense, is an admirable, kid-friendly read – mostly, for nostalgia’s sake. At nearly 200 pages, readers aren’t skimped in terms of the page count.
Still, Superman: The Wedding & Beyond falls far short of what it might have been: a sixty-year retrospective of the Lois-Clark romance leading into a worthy DC mega-event. This book’s actual content isn’t nearly as magical as DC Comics wants fans to think it is.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
DC’s then-President & Editor-in-Chief, Jeanette Khan, provides a two-page introduction. Though well-worded, her message is still somewhat self-congratulatory — i.e. claiming Superman out-fames Presidents Lincoln and Washington. The book concludes with a cover gallery — each in a single-page portrait-style.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 5½ Stars
