Superman: Our Worlds at War Omnibus

Our Worlds at War #1-2

by Jeph Loeb, Joe Casey, Mark Schultz

As the ultimate destructive force heads directly toward Earth, humanity's greatest defender, Superman, stands prepared to prevent the total annihilation of the planet. Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and a host of other heroes from the DC Universe join the Man of Steel in this last desperate battle for survival. Will the heroes' combined might be enough to stop an evil menace from remaking the universe in its own twisted image? Or will this be their last battlefield?

Collects Superman #171-173, Adventures of Superman #593-595, Superman: The Man of Steel #115-117, Action Comics #780-782, Supergirl #59, JLA: Our Worlds at War, Wonder Woman #172-173, Young Justice #36, Impulse #77, Superboy #91, and World's Finest: Our Worlds at War.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superman, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

492 pages, Comic

First published June 7, 2006

About the author

Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an Emmy and WGA nominated American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a Co-Executive Producer on the NBC hit show Heroes, and formerly a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost.

A four-time Eisner Award winner and five-time Wizard Fan Awards winner (see below), Loeb's comic book career includes work on many major characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Cable, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, the Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale, who provides the comic art seen on Heroes.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting inter-company crossover as it just takes place in the regular Superman comics with random other titles crossing over or getting special Our Worlds at War issues. This collection is massive at 500+ pages. The basic premise is the DC version of Galactus (Imperius) comes to destroy our galaxy. There's some cool scenes in this book, especially with Lex Luther. This is when Lex was the President and he's actually pretty badass. The issues don't always mess well together. A lot is repeated or takes place off panel which can be very frustrating. Overall though, I thought it was interesting and worth a read.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot be alone in reading Superman comics for the villains. It takes an act of incredible writing to make Superman himself remotely interesting--set him in the great depression, have him be raised by the government in secret, be Secret Identity--because too much power coupled with boyscout instincts just isn't a lot to work with. But a visit from Mr. Mxyzptlk is always funny, Brainiac can be interesting, and Lex is never anything less.

Lex Luthor is excellent in this story arc. The masterful way he manipulates Superman into doing exactly what he wants--into saying he belongs to Lex--is truly beautiful. Lena Luthor makes an appearance. Lex is the best possible President of the United States, or at least the most awesome.

Then, there are about a hundred little moments of awesome in this arc. Batman telling Superman to bug off about Arthur's funeral because he has a higher priority in searching for the missing Young Justice. In a side note, I kind of then hate Superman, Wonderwoman, and the Flash for not feeling exactly the same about Kon, Cassie, and Bart. Of course, Tim's awesome level far surpasses the other members of Young Justice, and Batman can never be accused of letting the private battles go in favor of the public ones the way Superman does. There are a number of awesome team-ups in this arc including Superman/Doomsday, Tempest/Diana/Donna/Darkseid, Young Justice/Lil' Lobo, and Steel/Darkseid for starters. Lex comforts Lois when Superman isn't in time to save her father. Lex tells Lois that Superman would have made it if it was remotely possible. Superman saves Lena for Lex. Kon and Robin have a fight over leadership on Apokalypse, and Kon realizes that Robin really, really should be the team leader. The Amazons pray to Darkseid. Yes, this arc is set well after he destroys half of Themyscira.

All in all, a very well done arc.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I sometimes read stories that I know I shouldn't read. I had heard many bad things about this crossover storyline, so I wasn't expecting much. Yet, somehow, it managed to come up short of my very low expectations. No character development, a nigh incomprehensible string of plot that never seems to logically flow from past events WITHIN THE BOOK, poorly developed alliances, jumpy story twists, barely understandable action sequences, stupid stupid stupid stupid deaths just to inflate the villain's threat (Maxima commits suicide, for all intents and purposes)---
Argh. Vomit. Vomit in comic book form.

This book should be bottled and given to your enemies.

Woo, Mark Schultz for at least trying to make a go of it, and Doug Mahnke and Mike Wieringo for making their chapters look pretty!

[Tony Laplume · Rating 4 out of 5]

The aftermath of the Our Worlds at War arc, from Adventures of Superman #596, became one of the most famous comic books of the modern era. That issue arrived in comic book stores on September 12, 2001, and featured Superman's bleak outlook on the devastation of those events. It was oddly perfect timing, since of course the day before was 9/11.

That issue is not in this collection, which is itself an oddly perfect story, the superhero equivalent to the traditional Hollywood disaster flick. This was from a time when DC was distancing itself from much of what it'd been doing in the '90s, when event crossovers happened every year (to the point where it let the then-unproven Geoff Johns write its 1999 effort, Day of Judgment, the last of the annual crossovers that began with 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths and picked up again in earnest with 1994's Zero Hour). The Superman books in particular were launching a new direction, led by Jeph Loeb (best known for Batman: The Long Halloween, Superman for All Seasons, and Superman/Batman), in which Superman once again became a truly outsized figure.

Our Worlds at War is basically a Superman story, and as such plays out mainly in the issues of Superman comics from 2001, with a few crossover issues from Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Young Justice, Impulse, and Superboy. As experiences during wartime, these tie-ins help round out the impact of the story, but the main action remains in the stories squarely featuring Superman, although Wonder Woman plays a significant role as well, sort of the birth of the modern Wonder Woman in some respects, where she's truly earned her place alongside Superman and Batman as the most important superheroes in the DC fold.

It's an event book insofar as it's a major story, but not until 2004's Identity Crisis did DC bring back the concept of event books as they'd been before this. Simply put, this was an attempt to show how dangerous these comic book cataclysmic events would be if all the stops were really pulled out. With Superman front-and-center (it would take 2008's Final Crisis to see that again), and in many ways bearing the brunt of the punishment (fans will remember a similar if more self-contained incident in the famous "Doomsday" arc), this is a chance to see just how far he can be pushed, and how remarkable his will to fight on actually is (short of, you know, dying again).

It's a strange time to exist in the DC universe. Lex Luthor has become President of the United States. There's no preamble to that in this collection, and no indication that anything he does here will impact his tenure in the White House (it does). Instead, it's merely a portrait of DC characters past and present (iconic war hero Sgt. Rock is among the victims; semi-obscure Superman recurring character Kismet is revealed to have been Strange Visitor, a newer hero who took on the look of the infamous "Electric Superman;" Steel dies and then gets better) in a situation that's as close to actual warfare with superheroes as has probably ever been depicted.

Throughout, Loeb features famous speeches (Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor address, Kennedy's inauguration remarks, and MacArthur's farewell) in his and his colleagues' attempts to sell all this with as much impact and resonance as possible. The results encapsulate this unique era in Superman comics quite well, not only in the remarkably uniform nature of the art (which is always a challenge), from the likes of Ed McGuinness, Doug Mahnke, and the late Mike Wieringo, among others, but an era of writers (Mark Schultz, Joe Kelly, and Joe Casey) that would all-too-quickly move on to other creative pursuits.

Our Worlds at War remains a unique superhero comic experience. People who complain about the depiction of Superman in the movies these days would probably do well to read this collection.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeph Loeb, Joe Casey & Kelly were part of the team selected to replace the "failed coup" of the Superman Now/2000 pitch by Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Mark Waid and Tom Peyer.

It's a shame they never got a run (like how Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner never got theirs) but this was DC doing a big event style comic. Loeb had Superman/Batman, Kelly wrote the AMAZING Superman #775, and Casey got to write his pacifist run. All fairly iconic storylines for B-Level writers.

So "Our World at War" is their big crossover event, and it was HUGE. Taking place in 2001 it had a stellar roster; Jeph Loeb, Joe Casey, Mark Schultz, Joe Kelly, Phil Jimenez, and Peter David, and artists that included Mike Wieringo, Ed McGuinness, Doug Mahnke, Ron Garney, and Leonard Kirk.

The series had Superman and the Justice League ultimately reaming up with President Lex Luthor, Darkseid, Zod, Doomsday and Braniac against Imperiex and his Warworld. Imperiex was the embodiment of entropy and his goal was to Hollow the Universe.

Jeph Loeb had really tone deaf War Speeches that rivaled the staccato of Paul Jenkin's allusions in Civil War: Frontline. Joe Casey doing some of his on-brand weirdness about Superman battling abstract concepts and Joe Kelly writing some Manchester Gold goodness.

With all the moving parts of titles, characters, writers and artists--it felt like jam session, so it was messy but fun. The finale issue perfectly encapsulated this--the cover is beautifully illustrated and name drops over 20 creators.

[Josh LaFollette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you ever watch a superhero movie where one hero singlehandedly saves the universe, and you wonder what all the other heroes were doing? Well, even though this is primarily a Superman story, it pretty much shows how every major DC character is involved in the fight. On one hand, this makes it a little convoluted at times, but on the other hand, it's one of the most expansive stories ever told in comics. Fair warning: if you go into this as a newcomer to comic books, you will be totally lost.

Being a massive crossover (seriously, it's probably twice the size of Watchmen), the art style and tone vary from chapter to chapter, but they manage to come together as a single story. The chapters range from grim and dramatic to straight-forward adventures, and from street-level to cosmic in scale. It grows a little disjointed in the middle as it switches between characters, but the Superman-centric beginning and end are much more focused and easier to follow.

Seeing so many of DC's characters interact is probably the best part. The intrigue and backstabbing that results from the heroes and villains teeming up is lots of fun, and the equal contempt and respect between Superman and Lex Luthor was great. I also found the conclusion to be very satisfying, particularly the clever way in which the crisis was resolved. Overall, there's quite a bit of great material in here, provided you're familiar enough with the characters to know what's going on.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In continuing my read through Dc Comics' event series (re-read actually and there are at least two that I will be skipping) my complaint about this collection is that it is just too long (over 500 pages). The collection might have been better served just being the core title without many of the crossover titles. Just think how big a Crisis on Infinite Earths would be with all of its crossovers.

On the plus side much of what came out of this story had an effect on titles after the event's conclusion (much like the first Crisis). The apparent death of Superman and Lois' fathers placed a terrific strain on their marriage, and led to a brief separation. The temporal displacement of Atlantis led to the entertaining (at least for me) Obsidian Age storyline in JLA (where I wish a spinoff about the Obsidian Age characters would have been done). Frank Rock goes off the grid (works for the later Suicide Squad title). I would have liked to seen something done with the new incarnation of the Balckhawks, but that appears to be a property that the publisher just can't get a grip on.

Another plus-trying to show the damage war does to the psyche of those fighting it. From Superman through Young Justice.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this more. It starts off well enough with Superman discovering Pluto turned into War World, kicking off what could be a fun epic Superman story featuring a lot of classic characters, and swell action scenes where stuff blows up good, stuff blows up real good. But it turns into a typical crossover event that gets weighed down by too many characters, and incoherent storytelling. Like much of modern superhero comics, too much is thrown at the reader without a proper explanation, meaning we're left not knowing much about what's going on, or who the characters are or what their relationships are, which makes it hard to understand what's at stake, or care about the outcome.

[Matej · Rating 2 out of 5]

Our Worlds at War Omnibus collects around 20 issues, mostly tie-ins, that are supposed to tell one big coherent story, unfortunately this is not the case here.
The plot is stretched out, all over the place and some parts are retold a few times while others are not even mentioned.
The art changes from issue to issue, but for the most part it looks good.
Overall, this feels like a huge event, but it should and could have been handled better.

[Walt Walkowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very confusing. Had no idea what was going on half the time, and the sentimentality was over the top. Thought the speeches included by American leaders during real times of war only confused the entire story line further...

[John Richardson · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I was critiquing by each individual chapter, it would be 4 stars. Most of the single issues that went into this were well-done in their own right. As a collected coherent narrative, this just doesn't hang together for me.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incluso habiéndolo leído ya muchas veces, debo decir que he disfrutado muchísimo de la relectura de Nuestros Mundos en Guerra, un evento DC que se desarrolló principalmente en las páginas de las cuatro colecciones con las que contaba el Hombre de Acero en los primeros años del siglo XXI, pero que tendría repercusiones y especiales en todo el Universo DC, con la participación de la mayoría de los héroes en activo, y numerosas bajas (que evidentemente con el tiempo fueron de ida y vuelta). La verdad es que Nuestros Mundos en Guerra es una obra que, como su título indica, habla de la guerra, y lo hace con una épica digna de la mejor película bélica, al tiempo que nos permite asistir al lado más oscuro de cualquier conflicto bélico: familias rotas, sacrificios, gente desaparecida...

Nuestros Mundos en Guerra recupera a un villano que Jeph Loeb y Ed McGuiness habían creado como enemigo de Superman, Imperiex, un ser de energía que se alimentaba de mundos y al que el Hombre de Acero ya había derrotado... pero en Nuestros Mundos en Guerra, Imperiex vuelve para amenazar esta vez la Tierra, ya que esta había sido el centro de los hechos que habían rehecho el Universo (la Crisis en Tierras Infinitas de Marv Wolfman y George Pérez), de modo que contaba con que la destrucción de la Tierra le permitiera lanzar un nuevo Big Bang y generar un universo "correcto". Los ataques de Imperiex sobre la Tierra son despiadados, pero no es el único participante del conflicto, pues Imperiex tiene una serie de enemigos a nivel estelar que acuden a la Tierra para enfrentarse a él, una alianza alienígena de la que forman parte personajes como Starfire, Máxima, Grayven, Mongal o Adam Strange... y dirigida por el propio Darkseid, que no duda en transportar Apokolips para hacerla entrar en órbita con la Tierra.

Lex Luthor se convierte en uno de los principales oponentes de Imperiex, pues en aquella época, Luthor era ni más ni menos que el presidente de los Estados Unidos, pero no será el único Luthor que se implique en la batalla, ya que también lo hará Lena Luthor, su hija, convertida en heraldo de uno de los más clásicos enemigos de Superman, Brainiac (Brainiac 13 en esta iteración).

No quiero decir nada más, ya que lo cierto es que Nuestros Mundos en Guerra es una de esas historias que esconde sorpresas prácticamente en cada página, muy equilibrada en nivel guiones y dibujantes, desde el espectacular Ed McGuiness hasta el sombrío Jae Lee que hizo su aparición en la portada del número que ponía fin a la saga. Una auténtica maravilla.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our Worlds at War is a sweeping epic about an alien force threatening Earth and the coming together of different forces to stop it. I think big event titles like this can often get lost and lose focus on the characterization, coherence, and story. And this book does this at times, but largely succeeds due to its focus on Superman and its treatment of the core themes of the story. The brutality of war and the idea of sacrifice is heavily focused on here, which may be surprising for a superhero tale, but the artist and writers do a good job of showing the devastation that comes with war, especially on that deals with superpowered beings. As powerful as Superman is, he is still just a single being in a war and can't be on all fronts at all times. This leads to vulnerability and losses, something refreshing for the character, who is often portrayed as invincible. And this is compounded by the unsteady alliance of the JLA, President Lex Luthor, Darkseid, and others. There's a lot to like. But its ultimately still feels bloated, with villains and huge plot points undercooked and lacking, perhaps due to too many writers on the title. But I appreciated the unique aspects of it, the weight of the many deaths, and being a decent Superman tale.

[Nate]

As with most crossover events, this is clunky and heavily plot-driven. But there are some good character moments here and more emotion than I anticipated. The differing art styles clash but it’s solid all around (especially Phil Jimenez’s Wonder Woman issues). All in all, Out Worlds at War is an interesting read, worth seeking out for a peek into DC around the turn of the century.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an overinflated slog to get through.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty crazy omnibus so many of the Justice League get fucked up. Superman teams up with Darksied and Doomsday to beat Imperieux and Braniac 13. So crazy!

[Bevans · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a bit rough in parts, and the fact that the story was told over several concurrent comic series meant there was some jumping around in the timeline, but overall this is one of the most well-written of the huge, epic, major events.

This is pretty much every character in the DC world - both good and evil - teaming up to stop Imperiex, a cosmic force that's trying to destroy the entire universe. Superman and the Justice League have to work alongside some of their greatest foes - Lex Luthor, Darkseid, even Doomsday - to save the day. And there are plenty of surprises.

Spoilers follow:
One of my favorite parts was when Superman teamed up with a brainwashed Doomsday, the unstoppable creature that had once KILLED Superman, to fight Imperiex early in the battle. The writers do a great job of showing you immediately how powerful this new enemy is by having him incinerate Doomsday with a single bolt of energy from his hand. Jeez.

[Craig Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume is every bit as epic as one would imagine with a title like "Our Worlds at War", but perhaps a more fitting title would have been "Our Worlds at Bore". Yeah... that one was a bit of a stretch, but apt nevertheless. I've never been much of a Superman fan, but I do like Jeph Loeb and Ed Mcguinness enough that I figured I'd give this a shot. It was a little laborious to get through, and quite frankly, epic, Universe shattering events like this don't mean much when one knows that all of the characters that get killed over the course of the story will eventually be brought back to life somewhere down the line. So when Aquaman died (oh no, what a loss) it barely registered either emotionally or even intellectually. It was just kind of "meh", which pretty much sums up this graphic novel. Meh. Your time would be better spent watching the final season of Justice League Unlimited.

[Bryson Kopf · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting crossover that tries, and somewhat succeeds, in altering the status quo not just for Supes, for the DCU as a whole. Like any crossover, this phonebook of a collection suffers from some incoherence from part to part (especially when shifting from the Superman titles, to the outside ones like Wonder Woman and Young Justice), and many of the big climax fights where poorly paced and vague. What is fun, is we get a big throwdown all of the best Superman heavies: Darkseid, Braniac, Luthor (who is fascinatingly on the side of the angels nearly the entire fight), and the ur-villian of the week, Imperix. There are some interesting elements too with Superman really breaking down emotionally, but it fails to really go anywhere interesting.

I nudged up the rating a bit since I did enjoy a lot of the art here; there is good stuff from Mike Wieringo, Doug Mahnke, and Ed McGuinness.

[Victor Orozco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome story. Reads like a collection of war films but all the same war. A little choppy at times but very good. Being a history buff I adored the references to great historical speeches of Lincoln, FDR, JFK and Douglas MacArthur.

I know that this was mostly a Superman story and allowed a multitude of great characters but I really wish this involved more of Batman. Still I loved how well this incorporated Wonder Woman.

There are some minor imperfections but as a whole I can't say how much I love this story. A-

[Andrew Uys · Rating 3 out of 5]

At nearly 500 pages, this major (until the New 52 reboot happened) storyline weaves between all the Superman titles (and a few more), with the return on Imperiex & the destruction of the entire universe. With a massive supporting cast that features Wonder Woman, the JLA, Titans, Young Justice, Steel, and classic villains like Lex Luthor, Darkseid, & Brainiac, this Omnibus edition makes for a great entry in any Super-fan's library.

[Rahisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many characters and incoherent storytelling. Too much is thrown at the reader without a proper explanation.which means that were left not knowing much about what's going on, or who the characters are or what their relationships are, which makes it hard to understand what's at stake, or care about the outcome.

[Nurul · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was utterly horrendous. The fact that I do not like Superman probably affects my perception of it but I can't even bring myself to finish reading the issues with Batman or Robin (my two favourite DC superheroes) in them. Do not waste your time. Wikipedia and DC Wikia are your friends.

[Aditya Sanyal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lex is interesting in this, lots of manipulation on display. A few threads remain unanswered which I guess is left for another arc to pick up. I had some problems with continuity.

Overall, Ok, but nothing spectacular.

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pure crap. Confusing, terribly written, and incomplete - the plot does NOT wrap up at the end. Avoid.

[Blake Petit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd forgotten how good this storyline was...

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Were it not for the sheer scope of this book, it would have been painful to read with the sub-par artwork.

[Frank Taranto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Freat art and an interesting if sometimes confusing story. Suoerman acting like a man and not just a suprhero was well done.

[Matthew Bartlett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seemed like a great idea, but looking back on it, I feel like they dropped the ball and wasted Superman. Why is it so hard to write a good Superman story? We haven't had one in such a long time!

[Ryan Scicluna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice concept but a bit too long. I especially liked the Brainiac-13's plan, however it was a bit foreseen if one takes into consideration previous issues of Superman.