The Man of Steel has returned to Metropolis and must battle to rid Metropolis of Intergang!
He also faces trouble with Lois, looming problems involving Lana Lang, and a dangerous new discovery in Kazakhstan. You won't want to miss this deluxe, hardcover collection of the best-selling story Camelot Falls !
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.
Busiek did not read comics as a youngster, as his parents disapproved of them. He began to read them regularly around the age of 14, when he picked up a copy of Daredevil #120. This was the first part of a continuity-heavy four-part story arc; Busiek was drawn to the copious history and cross-connections with other series. Throughout high school and college, he and future writer Scott McCloud practiced making comics. During this time, Busiek also had many letters published in comic book letter columns, and originated the theory that the Phoenix was a separate being who had impersonated Jean Grey, and that therefore Grey had not died—a premise which made its way from freelancer to freelancer, and which was eventually used in the comics.
During the last semester of his senior year, Busiek submitted some sample scripts to editor Dick Giordano at DC Comics. None of them sold, but they did get him invitations to pitch other material to DC editors, which led to his first professional work, a back-up story in Green Lantern #162 (Mar. 1983).
Busiek has worked on a number of different titles in his career, including Arrowsmith, The Avengers, Icon, Iron Man, The Liberty Project, Ninjak, The Power Company, Red Tornado, Shockrockets, Superman: Secret Identity, Thunderbolts, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, JLA, and the award-winning Marvels and the Homage Comics title Kurt Busiek's Astro City.
In 1997, Busiek began a stint as writer of Avengers alongside artist George Pérez. Pérez departed from the series in 2000, but Busiek continued as writer for two more years, collaborating with artists Alan Davis, Kieron Dwyer and others. Busiek's tenure culminated with the "Kang Dynasty" storyline. In 2003, Busiek re-teamed with Perez to create the JLA/Avengers limited series.
In 2003, Busiek began a new Conan series for Dark Horse Comics, which he wrote for four years.
In December 2005 Busiek signed a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. During DC's Infinite Crisis event, he teamed with Geoff Johns on a "One Year Later" eight-part story arc (called Up, Up and Away) that encompassed both Superman titles. In addition, he began writing the DC title Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis from issues 40-49. Busiek was the writer of Superman for two years, before followed by James Robinson starting from Superman #677. Busiek wrote a 52-issue weekly DC miniseries called Trinity, starring Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Each issue (except for issue #1) featured a 12-page main story by Busiek, with art by Mark Bagley, and a ten-page backup story co-written by Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, with art from various artists, including Tom Derenick, Mike Norton and Scott McDaniel.
Busiek's work has won him numerous awards in the comics industry, including the Harvey Award for Best Writer in 1998 and the Eisner Award for Best Writer in 1999. In 1994, with Marvels, he won Best Finite Series/Limited Series Eisner Award and the Best Continuing or Limited Series Harvey Award; as well as the Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story (for Marvels #4) in 1995. In 1996, with Astro City, Busiek won both the Eisner and Harvey awards for Best New Series. He won the Best Single Issue/Single Story Eisner three years in a row from 1996–1998, as well as in 2004. Busiek won the Best Continuing Series Eisner Award in 1997–1998, as well as the Best Serialized Story award in 1998. In addition, Astro City was awarded the 1996 Best Single Issue or Story Harvey Award, and the 1998 Harvey Award for Best Continuing or Limited Series.
Busiek was given the 1998 and 1999 Comics Buyer's Guide Awards for Favorite Writer, with additional nominations in 1997 and every year from 2000 to 2004. He has also received numerous Squiddy Awards, having been selected as favorite writer four years in a row from 1995 to 1998,
Típico cómic palomitero lleno de batallas épicas de Superman contra múltiples villanos (Bizarro, Sujeto-17, Bromista, Khiber, Arión), pero con argumento algo fallido al centrarse en una idea falaz que se repite una y otra vez a lo largo de todo el tomo: la necesidad de que caiga una civilización ya en su decadencia para que resurja una nueva.
Para ello Arión de Atlantis muestra el futuro desastroso que le puede deparar a la humanidad si Superman, y otros superhéroes, siguen interviniendo para evitar catástrofes y, por tanto, al interferir en la vida de los humanos (nos suena a ese "prohibido inmiscuirse en la vida de los hombres" que le suelta Jor-El/Marlon Brando a su hijo Kal-El/Christopher Reeve en "Superman: la película" de Richard Donner), ocasionan un acúmulo de tensión histórica a merced de fuerzas oscuras que finalmente lleguen a explotar provocando la extinción de la raza humana.
Ese futuro apocalíptico que muestra Arión a Superman, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen y Perry White y que se podría presentar por las razones ya descritas no resulta verosímil, al no dar explicaciones convincentes de qué fuerzas son las que producen dicha tensión histórica, ni tampoco el poco desarrollo de sus distintos finales, dejando abiertas y con interrogantes no solo la trama principal, sino también las subtramas de Sujeto-17 y de Khiber.
Lo que sí destacaría a favor del guion de Busiek, es su buen ritmo narrativo, lo bien que retrata el dilema ético al que se enfrenta Superman a raíz de la visión apocalíptica que le presenta Arión y algunas escenas que muestran con acierto al lector cierta vulnerabilidad de nuestro protagonista, además de tener una gran carga emotiva, y haciendo creíbles lo inverosímil: la celebración por parte de Clark y Lois de su aniversario, el reencuentro de Superman con dos de sus ex novias, los últimos supervivientes de la raza humana en esa visión de futuro poco halagüeña o el fantástico rival que resulta ser el aristócrata hechicero atlante Arión. Esto hace que apenas notemos el poco desarrollo de determinados personajes, fundamentales en la trama principal (esos dos jóvenes de la Legión de Nuevos Dioses de Nueva Génesis), o que sobran totalmente cualquiera de las intervenciones del villano Khiber.
Pero lo que es sobresaliente es el dibujo de Carlos Pacheco, que solo flaquea en su parte final, cuando el colorista que sustituye a Dave Stewart, Pete Pantazis, no está a la altura del gaditano ni de su formidable entintador, Jesús Merino. El detallismo de sus fondos, la caracterización de personajes, las poses de vuelo tan elegantes de Superman, entre otros, son indiscutiblemente de lo mejor que hemos visto del maestro Pacheco. Deseando estoy de hincarle el diente a sus "Siempre vengadores". Valoración final: 3'5 ⭐ de Krypton de 5.
Detrás de esta historia se esconde una idea interesante: hasta qué punto al condición de Superman como defensor de la humanidad frente a todo tipo de amenazas puede poner en riesgo al planeta por su éxito al ejercer este papel. Lo que Busiek y Pacheco construyen a su alrededor para plantearla es sólido, dentro de las pautas que suele tener un tebeo de Superman en continuidad. Su vida con Lois, su profesión de periodista, sus interferencias con su faceta de Superman, su relación con los secundarios habituales... Todo dibujado por Pacheco y Merino de manera primorosa. Sin embargo, una vez sembrada la semilla de la idea, el tebeo la deja a un lado y la convierte en una sucesión de peleas y apariciones estelares que se merienda hasta las aportacoines de los creadores (ese personaje del pasado de Clark cuya relevancia da risa), y un desenlace apresurado donde, además, el dibujo pierde calidad. Esta pequeña decepción no llega a hacer olvidar los aciertos pero ahí le anda.
This book is a masterpiece by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco. Everything I love about the Man of Steel is on display here—soul, heart, powers, action, scale—all beautifully tied together like a bow in a way only Superman can deliver.
It was a mediocre read from start to finish. The story was built upon the nonsensical ''fact'' that there was this vicious circle that human civilization rise, prosper to some point and fall to dark forces and start again... And it went on like this over and over again, this was the way of the world in the story.
Superman and other Super Heroes were stopping the dark forces and preventing fall of the civilization made those dark forces grow stronger and come back and in the end those dark forces would get so strong because Superman and other Super Heroes were preventing them from making the civilization fall that they would end all humanity. So to prevent this, an Atlantian Magician called Arion from 17 centuary or something time treveled to Modern day Metropolis of 2017 and warned Superman that he needed to stop saving humanity, let civilazation fall and start again or otherwise it would be the end of humanity.
Superman fought with an Alien on the process who was found by the wrong people on earth and experimented upon since he was a baby. The Alien had super powers and almost as strong as Superman, ofcourse so he could be a threat to Superman... And The Alien was a what if Superman was found by the wrong people on earth case. Highlights of the run, Lightray and teenager New Gods appeared, Zatanna appeared and Phantom Stranger appeared in the story at some point. Carlos Pacheco's art was fine as well.
Other than those appearances and Carlos Pacheco art, Yawn... It was a mediocre boring read felt like a waste of time. The fact that Busiek built the whole story on a ''universal fact'' that he made up which was impossible to buy into, it was such a nonsense... So the entire book was doomed to fail from the begining.
De esta saga,tenia un par de números sueltos, por eso, al verla hoy en la Biblioteca ,no lo pensé dos veces.
Superman escrito por Busiek, quien conoce todo el entramado de los Universos DC y Marvel, acá nos regala unas historias clásicas y muy entrañables, en la que Superman viaja y ayuda a una mujer de su pasado, ve lo que pudo haber pasado s el hubiera caido en otro país, en otro tiempo, lejos de los cariñosos Kent,además de la amenaza de Arion hechicero de Atlantis quien le advierte a Superman que su sola presencia puede ser el desencadenante de la destrucción de la humanidad y de la tierra, por lo que nuestro Kryptoniano favorito se pregunta si debe seguir en la tierra o dejarla, así, se enfrentara a dudas mientras que tendrá que hacer frente a magos, el matrimonio, una visión futura distopica en la que Khyber aparece como un enemigo que da miedo.
Eso por parte de Busiek, mientras Pacheco, me regala las mejores paginas que le he visto en un comic, siendo que soy fanatico del Gitadino hace años, desde su primera etapa en X-Men, Excalibur, Fantastic Four, Avengers Forever ( era mi favorito al momento) y su JLA/JSA que es divertidisimo, epro aca, el tipo se sale, es épico a manos llenas, desde su baile en las alturas, su futuro distopico con esa Metropolis rota, los jovenes Nuevos Dioses, su homenaje a Lovecraft/Neal Adams...lo de este señor es hermoso a un nivel que dan ganas de llorar.
... I don't think I've ever read a better-written comic whose underlying ideas I've HATED this much.
The entire plot of the storyline revolves around a single philosophical premise: that societies are meant to rise and fall as a matter of nature. Civilization grows until it's inevitably toppled and forced to rebuild... and if you PREVENT the destructive forces of nature from tearing down humanity, they will redouble over and over again until everything crumbles. So Arion (a wizard from ancient Atlantis) confronts Superman and tells him that he has to stop saving the world, or an apocalyptic doom will result that will kill all of humanity.
This premise is idiotic, and I hate it.
It's reactionary "disrupting the status quo for good only makes things worse in the long run" nonsense, conflating the rise and fall of civilizations with some fundamental, natural process of "things get good, then they get bad". It is SHOCKINGLY simple-minded, and fundamentally superstitious (even willfully ignorant) in nature; unwilling to engage with the sociological forces that lead to civilizations rising and falling, and trying to boil those forces down to some mystical rule of the universe. He might as well be saying that Superman should let civilization fall because his horoscope told him to.
(And not only does Superman take Arion's warnings about the future ENTIRELY at face value, but the Phantom Stranger even CONFIRMS, objectively, that this conceit is actually 100% metaphysically accurate. It's infuriating.)
Also: Hooooooly sh*t. I never realized just how obviously and overtly this comic is basically "Superman vs. Post-9/11 Stereotypical Evil Orientalist Muslim Man". Like, JESUS CHRIST, he's not even hiding it! The first picture of Khyber, the prophesied doom of mankind, places him in a harem with half-naked women smoking a hookah and robed, sword-wielding assassins standing guard! This is SO F@$#ING BAD!
And making matters worse is that we're given NO insight into this guy's origins or motivations. He's just a scary, super-powerful Arab monster-man who single-handedly destroys the world! Like, F@$#, man! Some context to make this a little less RACIST would be very much obliged!!!
Busiek does try to mitigate the obvious problematic elements of this by introducing an Islamic superhero, Sirocco, to contrast Khyber... and at one point he includes a page of Superman stopping two skinheads from attacking a Muslim woman. But that's really not enough to offset the harmful tropes and stereotypes he plays right into.
There's decent stuff in here, to be fair. Prankster and Intergang and a special federal taskforce, Project K, that's designed to bring down Superman quickly if he should be mind-controlled. I even like Subjekt-17: an alien who arrives on Earth like Superman, but was discovered by the Soviet military and cruelly experimented on his entire life. But the main plot is a weirdly strained attempt to force Superman to solve the Trolley Problem by choosing between letting millions of people die or battling a terrorist boogeyman. It sucks.
Qué entretenidos y cumplidores son Busiek y Pacheco cuando quieren y, sobre todo, los dejan ir a su bola un rato. Quizás estas historias de Superman no queden entre las imprescindibles de su carrera editorial, pero sin duda se dejan leer lo más panchas y sin tener que hacerles demasiadas concesiones.
En un posible (re)encuentro con los tantos espléndidos trabajos comiqueros de Carlos Pacheco, este La Caída de Camelot se presenta como un atrayente título. Y es cierto que en su ámbito, estos números se presentan con un gran nivel por encima de lo usual en una serie regular del personaje. Es en la parte meramente argumental donde considero que esta historia queda a medio gas. Entendiendo también que forma parte de una cabecera regular donde no poder llevar su leitmotiv a toda la extensión de su potencial. Pero es cierto que en perspectiva, muchas de las sub tramas que seguramente encontrasen filón en entregas fuera de este ciclo argumental, aquí solo confunden una trama que acaba volviéndose reincidente y sin apenas impacto. Y ciertamente, la idea que propone Kurt Busiek sobre esa tesis de que existe un "equilibrio" en que la humanidad debe de pasar por grandes conflictos o cataclismos que, aún mermando su civilización, no suponen un fin definitivo. Esto amenaza con cambiar con la implicación de seres superheroicos que frenan la mayor parte de estas amenazas sin saber que están agitando "unas aguas" que provocarán un verdadero "tsunami" que sí que arrasará por completo a la humanidad. Siendo Superman el mayor causante de esto... Todo pronunciado por un místico y milenario ser que visita al Hombre de Acero desde el pasado.
La Caída de Camelot deja a Superman en dos grandes conflictos como personaje. Tanto por esa advertencia que básicamente le exige que no actúe como benefactor y salvador mediante sus grandiosas habilidades alienígenas. Chocando por completo con su ambición de ser un faro de Esperanza para la humanidad. Y también el hecho de que Arión es un practicante de la magia y hechicería, artes que suelen dejar en evidencia los poderes kryptonianos de Clark. Y en esta historia, solo veremos la ayuda de personajes de la parcela mágica de DC más como "asesores" del héroe que como aliados en las refriegas contra Arión. De todo esto, Busiek tampoco termina por hacer llegar a buen puerto su idea general en favor a la gran historia del personaje. Al final, el conjunto se lee y entiende como una trama "pijamera" más sin ese buscado gran poso de la historia.
2.5 stars — Camelot Falls is one of those Superman arcs I really wanted to love more than I did. The art is absolutely gorgeous — Carlos Pacheco’s work is the highlight here, full of dynamic action shots and classic, clean lines that make Superman look iconic on every page.
The story starts with a compelling premise: Superman faces a moral dilemma about whether his presence actually hurts humanity more than it helps. That idea really grabbed me at first — it’s thoughtful, big-picture Superman stuff that I usually eat up. But once it got past that setup, it just lost its grip on me.
The plot meanders, the pacing drags, and it never quite hits the emotional punch it promises. There are moments of deep introspection and big philosophical questions, but they get buried under exposition and side plots that didn’t hold my interest. I found myself setting it down and struggling to pick it back up, which is never a great sign.
So overall: amazing art, some fascinating ideas, but it fizzles out instead of sticking the landing. I’m glad I read it for the visuals alone, but the story just didn’t do it for me in the end.
Busiek is a great writer who makes everything feel fresh, and he and Pacheco blend together beautifully. The only downside is the erratic nature of how the stories were originally published, and the fact that Camelot was clearly meant to be a part of a larger narrative as well. There are just a few aesthetic things that really detract from this volume because the story is spot-on, and Busiek's writing is superb. The idea of Superman doing nothing may have seemed novel to Busiek, but it actually describes about ten years worth of the post-Crisis Superman run. Who can forget Superman bravely floating over wreckage and doing nothing in the aftermath of Our Worlds at War? Who can forget him weeping at the drop of a hat? Though there are some issues with the story overall it’s still a phenomenal, highly enjoyable read, but not perfect as a stand-alone graphic novel.
أنا مش من محبي سوبر مان بس القصة دي عجبتني ، مواجهة مع شرير محلي ، واكتشاف مثير لكائن فضائي غامض في كازاخستان موجود من أيام السوفيت المواجهة معاه كانت صعبة جدا ، وفجأة بيظهر ساحر من القرن السابع عشر بيطلب من سوبر مان وأصدقاؤه الخارقين يبطلوا ينقذوا العالم لأن كل مرة بينقذوا العالم من الشر الموجة اللي بعدها بتيجي اصعب وأصعب لحد ما هتيجي اللحظة اللي كل الأبطال هيموتوا والحضارة هتفني بالكلية ، فالأفضل ميقاوموش ويسيبوا الشر يتمكن وخلصنا ، لأنه موت ملايين دلوقتي أحسن من فناء الحضارة بالكامل بعدين ، ودي في رأيي فكرة شبيهة نوعا ما من بعيد كده بفكرة المليار الذهبي بتاعة ثانوس وان كانت بتاعة ثانوس أعنف وأقوي في كل تفاصيلها ومش مرمية كلها علي قرار شخص واحد اللي هو هنا سوبر مان الحدوتة والتنقل بين الماضي والحاضر كانت حلوة والرسومات كانت حلوة برضه وتسلسل النهاية يمكن مكنش بنفس القوة لكنه لازال كويس ويفتح الباب لأجزاء تاني عادي والقصة ككل حلوة
Busiek’s earlier “Up Up and Away” arc was pretty great and showed a lot of promise for the character moving forward. But this storyline was bloated, messy, and frankly all over the place as it starts out as a story about Supes trying to fight Intergang but then that’s forgotten about and it’s all about Supes fighting a magic guy that’s trying to prove to him that Superman’s constant saving of humanity will ultimately lead to its downfall. While I like the conversations this notion might spark, it’s sort of built on a silly idea and the story itself doesn’t really work all that well.
But there are some bright spots, like the fantastic issue with an old lady who believes that Superman is an angel from God and will always save her when she tries to stop evil as a vigilante. Might be one of my favorite single issues of Superman.
Superman has returned to Metropolis and is trying to integrate himself back into the city life. Clark Kent is finding it hard to reestablish himself as well, with Perry White less forgiving of his timekeeping and reporting.
When Arion, a former prince of Atlantis, tells Superman that he is endangering the humans of Earth by protecting them too much, he gives the Man of Steel a simple choice. Step back once more, or be destroyed.
Some wonderful artwork and an interesting look at how the alien nature of Superman makes him feel isolated among the people he has sworn to protect. The relationship between Clark and Lois is smart and sweet, with both partners contributing to their lives. This is a good book which can be read on its own, but works far better when read in continuity.
As much as I think "prophetic vision of future" is a wildly over-used storytelling crutch to create lazy, unearned drama, I largely enjoyed Camelot Falls, excepting the doomsday vision itself. Arion's notion of a swelling darkness added a fun motivation to your standard hero vs. villain scenario, putting Clark in a scenario that he has to doubt his rightness. I would've liked a larger role and more development for Subjekt-17, but I did enjoy how Busiek handled Lois and Clark's relationship. I enjoyed the "if Superman is possessed by evil forces" protocols. And that Pacheco/Merino art team - WOW, they're explosive. Every page is beautiful.
I really enjoyed that start and middle of this, the later issues weren't as good. What I most appreciate, besides Pacheco's art, is that this story was just in the regular Superman title. Today it would be a miniseries. Just like Hush, put Great talent on a series and it will sell.
I enjoyed that Superman had to internally debate this issue and realised what the right thing to do was through his instinct and natural reaction.
Busiek likes his replacement K's Subjekt, Konvikt.
Historia entretenida, con dilemas morales y un buen reflejo del personaje. El arte de Pacheco en su linea, siempre es un gusto leerlo. Aunque me parece que abusan un poco del rollito sexy para todos los personajes femeninos. No he leído nada mas de esa época de la serie, así que tampoco se muy bien hacia donde fue a partir de aquí.
This was better than the other Busiek series of Superman stories. Camelot has some good lore and rich imagination. But you feel like this is going to end the same way like many other stories of Superman where a new big-bad comes to threaten Superman. The post-apocalyptic part was superb.
Kurt Busiek is always a reliable writer, and his too-short take on Superman (usually with Carlos Pacheco at the art helm) is bright and imaginative, drawing on standard tropes with with a freshness that makes me want more. Definitely going into the collection for future reading.
Historia muy entretenida del hombre de acero con repercusiones en el universo dc, y con el gran arte del tristemente desaparecido y genial dibujante español Don Carlos Pacheco.
You wouldn't think that Superman is all that interesting of a character, but I deny an assumption that the only kind of drama comes from wondering whether or not the protagonist is going to die or be injured. This graphic novel questions whether Superman himself is damaging civilization by saving ourselves so often that humanity grows weak as a whole, eventually leading to disastrous outcomes. It's an interesting question to ask, and one that, frankly, doesn't work quite as well if the superhero were in some way physically vulnerable, so Superman is the right vehicle to ask those kind of questions. I've never read a Superman comic before, so it was also interesting to see him running around trying to juggle all of his responsibilities, even telling a scientist at one point to keep talking, he'll use his super hearing to keep listening even if he's elsewhere fighting some bad guy. Sound doesn't travel all that fast, but sure, why not. Anyway, interesting insights into what it would be like to be Superman, and asks some good questions about human society. Great graphic novel.
Toda la caída de Camelot supermaniana en un lujoso tomo que la gente de ECC incluyó con buen tino en la colección Grandes autores de Superman. Ya es un poco tarde para llevárselo del local firmado por Pacheco pero nunca lo es para disfrutar de sus dibujazos.
Un gran dibujo (si no te importa que Lois Lane parezca Mónica de Friends con el pelo lamido por una vaca) para una saga que tiene una buena premisa pero que se pierde en las necesidades de una serie regular y se va diluyendo en una ensalada de tortas con poca profundidad.