Superman: The Wrath of Gog

Superman Post-Crisis #52

by Chuck Austen

There are robbers to catch, children to save and the hordes of Apokolips to stop and Darkseids minions provide only a hint of the threats that challenge the Man of Tomorrow. From the Silver Banshee to Proteus to new threats like Weapons Master and Sodom Gomorrah, the relentless action is nonstop for the Man of Steel. Will he have enough strength in the end to face the villainous Gog?

Collects ACTION COMICS #814-819, plus backups from #812-813.

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

Hardcover

First published June 1, 2005

About the author

Chuck Austen (born Chuck Beckum) is an American humor novelist, comic book writer and artist, TV writer and animator. In comics, he is known for his work on X-Men, War Machine, Elektra, and Action Comics, and in television, he is known for co-creating the animated TV series Tripping the Rift.

In his most recent prose novels, Chuck Austen has been going by the name Charles Austen.

Reviews

[Pochodnia fandomu · Rating 1 out of 5]

To, jak przedstawiony był Superman, przysłoniło wszystkie dobre rzeczy, jakie w tym tomie były - ale ich też nie było dużo, głównie Kon i inni Tytani.
Supermanowi brakuje jednej z jego najważniejszych cech: delikatności. Bez tego jest zbyt pewny siebie, ma wygórowane ego, rzuca żarcikami, kiedy walczy ze złoczyńcami, a raz nawet pogroził zwykłym ludziom, którzy zorganizowali napad. Taki Superman jest najgorszą możliwą odsłoną tego bohatera.
Dodatkowym uderzeniem w twarz była druga część fabularna, czyli to, że Lana Lang nadal kocha Clarka i nie może o nim zapomnieć. Jakby tego było mało, scenarzysta stwierdził, że doda tu jeszcze element "Lana kontra Lois", gdzie ta druga nawet nie ma możliwości obronienia się przed zarzutami, które Lana rzuca Clarkowi przeciwko Lois.
(Wikipedia mi mówi, że nawet kiedy zeszyty zebrane w tym tomie wychodziły, to już fani mieli powyżej uszu tego całego "Lana kontra Lois" i scenarzysta kontrowersyjnie opuścił ten tytuł. I dobrze.)

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Superman religiously throughout the 1990s, but the Jeph Loeb/Joe Kelly stuff didn't click for me and I quit reading the monthly titles (and basically all serialized monthly comic book titles) eight or nine months into their run. I dabbled a bit around INFINITE CRISIS - Greg Rucka and Gail Simone in the lead-up, along with Busiek and Johns afterwards. Thanks to the library getting most Superman trades, I've been reading pretty regularly since Rebirth. But there's this entire era that I know NOTHING about - Steve Seagle wrote Superman. Mark Verheiden and Chuck Austen, too. (I read a handful of Joe Casey issues that fell into my hands. They weren't bad, as I recall.) It's a big blank void in my Superman reading, so while trolling through the library's database to see what obscure Superman trades they might have, I found this one and I borrowed it.

I guess I see why they didn't collect more of it. I mean, it has a few good points - solid character work with Impulse, Wonder Girl, and Superboy. Ivan Reis can draw. It's nice to see Superman standing up for what's right even when he's injured and should be resting.

The rest though? I dunno. It's a precursor to Zack Snyder's disaster-porn vision of Superman. EVERYTHING has to be destroyed. Page after page after page of smash/crush/boom. Nice showcase for Ivan, like I said, but it feels tedious after a while. Sodom and Gomorrah as a villainous couple? Kinda dull.

And the controversy - Austen's take on Lana as obsessed with Clark and wildly petty and vindictive toward Lois... I mean, I've always found Lana kind of a not-very-interesting blank slate, so I almost admire giving her something, but this isn't the right something. I think there's something better there than "jealous, mean-spirited ex." The entire "a wife should be there for her man" speech might as well have climaxed with Lana saying "She wouldn't even take your last name" or some other reductive vision of women's role in society. I definitely wonder if Austen expected us to identify or agree with it, or was it just a spiteful character assassination attempt on Lana?

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty solid read. I LOVED that this comic focused more on Clark Kent. Within the first few pages, we get a really sweet flashback of him not wanting to leave his mom for preschool, and Lana giving him a hug to make him feel better. Plus, Superman actually gets hurt in this book--he's so humanized that you couldn't help but turn the pages, wondering how he's going to get his "super" back. I also liked Lana's part in this--she's obviously struggling with her feelings for Clark, but I always liked their friendship. Add into that the fact that her questions about Lois--assignment or not, her husband could have died and was seriously hurt, and yet she didn't come?--were valid. I love Lois and Clark as a couple, but... come on, Lois! I'm curious how the next volume is going to address that. I also liked the Teen Titans' appearance in this. Though, some parts were a little unclear--why would Superman, in the beginning, tell that boy he was going to find his parents, knowing they were dead? That's something Superman would never do. And that last issue, with Superman fighting that super-couple, interspersed with his talk with Lana... and then it ended with him meeting up with them? That was more than a little confusing. Between that and the little boy, I'm wondering if there are two Supermen somehow....? I guess I have to keep reading to find out. Also, this take on Superman was a little cockier than I like him. He wasn't quite at New 52 level, but he was tiptoeing towards it. I've read other stories in this era of Superman, and he doesn't get close to that line, so I'm guessing it was just this particular writer. All of that together makes this a decent Superman story, a very solid Clark Kent story... but still far from the best take on Superman I've read. In short: if you want more Clark Kent, you'll be happy, but you might be disappointed in some aspects of the Superman parts.

[Matthieu Savignac · Rating 2 out of 5]

C'est quand même dommage, on a un sacré bon illustrateur, c'est vraiment magnifique et convient parfaitement à l'univers de Superman, mais l'histoire est quand même très vide.
Cela colle à la continuité (Loïs en reportage dans un pays en guerre), cela inclue quelques caméos par ci par là, les Teen Titans, Wonderman, on a quelques moments intéressant, comme Superboy qui demande à WonderWoman si elle est amoureuse de Sup, mais d'autres plus tiré par les cheveux comme la situation avec Lana.

J'ai lu ce Tpb hier et j'avoue qu'à part ces moments là le reste de l'histoire m'est passé par dessus la tête, peut être était-ce finalement qu'un prétexte pour amener à rendre Superman plus humain.

Mais j'ai quand même l'impression qu'il s'agit d'une solution de facilité. Comment écrire sur un personnage aussi fort et indestructible que Superman ? Otons lui ses pouvoirs, comme ça on pourra écrire sur son côté humain.
Trop simple, déjà fait, pas intéressant.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, Chuck Austen is not a good writer. I've read so many different high profile comics by him and he just doesn't have it. I wonder how someone gets so many chances. Here, he writes an insanely dumbed down book full of fights for no reason, terrible dialogue, and insane character choices. There is almost no chance this book will be remembered by anyone. Ivan Reis does a great job with the art but he has nothing to work with at all. Overall, how not to write Superman 101.

[Zachary King · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is really great, but nothing much happens outside of the action set pieces. Everyone is written out of character, and the Lana Lang subplot is maudlin soap. Points for Ivan Reis and Art Adams drawing the Fourth World, though!

[Michael Reiss · Rating 1 out of 5]

jeez-what a waste of time. don't read this even if it comes with free money.

[Ujjal Das]

Awesome

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good but really, really falls apart at the end. The stuff with Lana is just pointless and dumb.

[Juan Cortez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story the end was kinda hard to follow until you finally get what is going on.

[mayleh · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️2.5

[Allen Setzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing special. I did like the concern for Superman from Superboy and Wonder Woman. Good characterization. Then there’s how Lana was written in the last issue. I docked a star just for that.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I was in high school, Lois and Clark was my favorite show in the world, and I loved it with a fiery passion that only a fourteen year old girl could manage. A decade and a half later, I still have a soft spot for Superman, but I've never read one of the graphic novels. But my random game said I should read this one, so Wrath of Gog it will be.

I gather this wasn't necessarily the best introduction to the franchise?

At any rate, my thoughts:

Pages and pages of CRAAAAASH and BOOOOOM and CRUUUUNCH accompanied by corny quips from Superman are very boring. (And those quips are worse than Superman's quips in Lois and Clark. That is failing to pass an amusingly low bar.)

What is the deal with Clark sitting around in his own home, recovering from dire injury, dressed in full Superman regalia?

And what is the deal with Lana sitting around in Clark's home dressed in a liiiiiitle tiny crop top and liiiiiitle tiny shorts?

That scene at the beginning with the little boy who lost his parents was genuinely moving, and I almost gave it two stars just for that. But then the story didn't seem to follow up on that. I kept expecting this boy to appear in villain form, and then Superman would have to deal with the fact that he really screwed up there, giving a little kid cruel false hope in a vulnerable moment. But he never reappeared. Unless he was the horned guy? But I thought the horned guy was recruiting the boy? Maybe the horned guy was the boy's vision? I was confused.

Lois. Just. No. I guess they were working on ending the marriage at this point? (Did they eventually end the marriage? I think I read that Lois doesn't even exist in the current comics.) Authorial intent or not, Lois Lane should not be turned into a one-dimensional, selfish, and neglectful spouse. She is Lois Lane. She'd, like, stowaway on a military plane to get back to an injured Clark, even if she didn't know that Clark was Superman.

And besides, Lana's arguments that Lois loves Superman and not Clark seem pretty hollow when the man chooses to sit around in bedroom in a cape.

[Alice4170 🌙 · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have a bunch of super man comics at work so I decided to give one a go since it was dead today. I liked it actually.

[Zaira's Bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of negative reviews regarding this book... but I really liked it! I found it at a used book store and really wanted it, so I indulged myself and found a story that was really complex and interesting!

The art was fabulous, the appearance of a few Teen Titans was fun, and I really liked how Austen characterized our dear Superman. I really appreciated the appearance of Lana Lang (a new character to me at the time, new to all things Superman) and how she made Clark's and Lois' relationship more complex, more realistic.

I admit that the last issue was really confusing. It took me a couple of times to read over it to realize that a lot of it was one big flashback. It wasn't handled very well. Still, once you understood what was going on, it made lots of sense and clarity to the situation.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Superman is turned into Peter Parker here, inexplicably cracking flip one liners, but that massive issue aside, and there's some nice character work with Lana and Ivan Reis's art is impeccable. Scrapes by with 3 stars in lieu of being unable to award 2.5.

[Angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

See my short note on it here:
[http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/20...]

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Superman book series waffles back and forth between great and lackluster, and this was the latter.

[Koen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, but didn't like this one at all... What kind of rubbish was this :(