Adventures of Superman: Gil Kane by Gil Kane

Adventures of Superman: Gil Kane Reviews

• 
  Guilherme Smee

  Eu considero Gil Kane um dos melhores desenhistas do "estilo clássico" dos quadrinhos. Isso porque o seu estilo de desenho fica entre o vintage e o moderno, inspirado em ilustrações publicitárias dos anos 50 e 60. Mas além disso, Kane faz sua própria finalização, com traços simples, decididos e de espessura similares, conferindo à arte um teor muito peculiar que enche os olhos de quem vê. Fora isso, existe o legado que ele deixou na co-criação do Lanterna Verde Hal Jordan e da nova versão de Adam Warlock, além, é claro de muitos outros trabalhos realizados na Marvel, DC Comics e outras editoras. As histórias deste encadernado são divertidas, porém, bastante datadas. Isso é verificado no uso à exaustão do balão de pensamento, recurso que nas aventuras solitárias do Superman auxiliam, mas não resolvem. Isso podemos verificar tanto no Especial todo feito por Kane, quanto nas histórias roteirizadas por Marv Wolfman. O destaque do encadernado, contudo, é uma fábula de Krypton sobre a falta d'água escrita por Martin Pasko, que poderia resultar num belo conto de sci fi, ou ainda servir de exemplo de como as culturas se transformam e se modificam ao longo do anos. Ainda, como alguns preceitos se disseminam sem ao menos o povo que os valida saber de seus motivos e origens. O encadernado também traz a nova versão robótica de Brainiac vinda direto do desenho dos Superamigos dos anos 80. E agora é aguardar o segundo volume da coleção!
• 
  Guilherme Smee

  Como falei no review que fiz do volume um desta coleção, a arte de Gil Kane é prodigiosa. Contudo, os roteiros que comportam essa coleção deixam bastante a desejar. Neste volume, são de responsabilidade de Marv Wolfman, Roy Thomas e Cary Bates (que no quadrinho, por alguma razão foi grafado como Cary Bater - provavelmente o maldito corretor e o maldito revisor). Por Wolfman temos a saga dos Heróis Esquecidos, da qual faz parte o Homem-Animal que chamaria a atenção para uma revitalização por Grant Morrison. Em seguida pelo mesmo roteirista temos a história "E se o Superman não existisse?", uma homenagem aos seus criadores, Jerry Siegel e Joe Shuster. Depois, outra história imaginária, contando o que aconteceria se Brainiac não tivesse assumido seu aspecto robótico, que é muito fraquinha, por Cary Bates. Por fim, um encontro do Superman com o Capitão Marvel, enfrentando Doutor Silvana transformado em Capitão Silvana. Outra história bem bobinha, mas que fãs do Capitão Marvel, atual Shazam!, vão curtir só pela presença da mitologia da família Marvel. Conclusão: o primeiro volume era muito melhor.
• 
  Kieran McAndrew

  Adventures of Superman: Gil Kane
  
  Superman has been drawn by many great artists. In this volume, readers are exposed to the vision of Gil Kane, who draws with confidence and imbued his Superman with barely contained powers.
  
  The artwork is showcased, but the plotting is just as good. Some enjoyable adventures in this volume, some of which also appear in 'Superman Vs Brainiac'.
• 
  Robert Garrett

  Gil Kane is the selling point here, so I’ll say a few words about him. Kane is arguably best known for his 1960s work on Green Lantern and the Atom and his late 1960s/early 1970s work on Spider-Man, but he had a long, varied and illustrious career.
  
  This volume reprints Kane’s Superman work from 1981-1984. That’s not the peak of his popularity, I suppose, but there’s some very good stuff in here, nonetheless. His Supes looks good, with lots of dynamic poses, and Kane frequently shakes things up with unique panel shapes and camera angles. If I have any complaint about Kane’s art, it’s that his inks are sometimes a little heavy. That didn’t bother me much, though, and really, this is a nice looking book on good quality paper.
  
  While Kane is mostly known as an artist, he also wrote one of the stories in this volume (The original cover for this story graces the cover of the book.). In it, Superman confronts a villain who evolves himself into a futuristic man, and while it’s a fairly basic Superman tale, it’s also pretty entertaining and hits all the right beats. I haven’t seen much of Kane’s writing – and I don’t know if there IS much of it – but what I have seen makes me wish that he had written more.
  
  Kane holds a "story assist" credit on another selection. This one is a Superman/Captain Marvel team-up scripted by Joey Cavalieri, and it’s a mostly pleasant, diverting yarn that closes out the volume. Other offerings include an out-of-continuity (but still fun) Superman vs. Brainiac outer space adventure by Cary Bates and three mostly unmemorable “World of Krypton” and “Superman 2021” back-ups by Martin Pasko and Bob Rozakis.
  
  The majority of tales, however, come from Kane’s ACTION COMICS run with Marv Wolfman. I have fond memories of that run, and that’s the main reason that I bought this book. I’m pleased to note that those issues hold up pretty well over all. In fact, I’d argue that they’re quite a bit better than the ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN issues that Wolfman wrote a couple years later when John Byrne was concurrently writing the main SUPERMAN book, but I guess that that’s another discussion altogether.
  
  In retrospect, Wolfman, in his stories with Kane, was definitely bringing a “Marvel sensibility” to Superman - just as he and George Perez had recently done with the Teen Titans. We find Marvel-like characterization, soap opera sub plots (Clark Kent starts dating Lana Lang, while Lois becomes increasing jealous.) and multi-issue epics. At the same time, Superman is recognizably Superman, and he’s still something of a pure hero with godlike powers (He can rush into space in the blink of an eye and dive into the sun to clean his costume!). Villains include Brainiac, Vandal Savage (a sort of evil HIGHLANDER character) and two sorcerer-types named Satanis and Syrene. The Brainiac stories are especially noteworthy, as Brainiac is revamped here into a more chilling, murderous mechanical creation that is a more formidable threat to Supes.
  
  Admittedly, nostalgia was on my side as I read these, but…I found plenty of rousing, good vs. evil superheroic moments, regardless, and I was quite pleased. I believe that most fans of Kane and Superman will similar pleased, and thus, I do recommend this book.
  
• 
  Jared Millet

  This is the stuff I love. First, it's Superman - who, in my post-comic collecting days is becoming one of my favorite characters to go back to. Next, it's Gil Kane - who is right up there with Carmine Infantino and George Perez on my list of favorite DC artists. This collection reprints a year's worth of Action Comics issues drawn by Kane, as well several backup features, two Specials, and a DC Comics Presents Annual featuring both Superman and Captain Marvel. In fact, Kane gets to tackle most of the DC Pantheon of Heroes in this volume, including the JLA, Titans, and the introduction of the Forgotten Heroes (a team-up of Rip Hunter, Cave Carson, the Sea Devils, Congo Bill, Animal Man, Dolphin, and others I'm probably leaving out).
  
  Because the reprints are in chronological order, the weaker material is at the beginning of the collection with the stronger stories in the middle and the back. It begins with the aforementioned backup features such as "World of Krypton" and "Superman 2021" and moves on to an arc where Superman is split in half during a confrontation with Satanis. We only get the latter part of that storyline, since Gil Kane didn't draw the initial issues. But that's how comics were back in the day - you'd pick one off the comic rack at the local drugstore and find yourself knee-deep in an ongoing story.
  
  Later in the book is the origin and initial battle with the 1980s version of Braniac, designed to be a more serious threat than the original green version with the pink tights. Following that is a battle with Vandal Savage and a deep dive through time that culminates in my favorite issue reprinted here: Action #554, "If Superman Didn't Exist." It's an unexpected and loving tribute to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, with (if I'm not mistaken) a sly nod as well toward Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.
  
  As cheesy as comics were before the advent of Moore, Gaiman, Morrison, Bendis, etc., I still love all these books from the 70s and 80s and will continue to dig up more wherever I can find them.
• 
  Kris Shaw

  I was a Marvel kid growing up. I wouldn't even pull a DC Comic out of the slot on the spinner rack at 7-11, young comic snob that I was. Little did I realize that many of the creators whose work that I enjoyed via quarter box comics at the time were busy making new material over at the Distinguished Competition after being chased away from Marvel by that ol' taskmaster Jim Shooter. If you use the phrase dynamic action sequences in comics there should be one name that comes out of your mouth in the same breath as Jack Kirby and Neal Adams: Gil Kane. Kane was an absolute master of getting kinetic motion to translate to the printed page. Like Adams and Kirby, Kane's battle sequences were drawn with exaggerated anatomy to represent motion. He used perspective to also trick your eye into believing they were moving. Genius.
  
  Like many artists, Kane's craft deteriorated with time. His 1960s and early 1970s heyday was long gone by this point. While his panel composition and storytelling ability were still clear, he insisted on inking his own work here. Kane is a great penciler but a piss poor inker. He does not posses the heavy hand necessary to make lines survive the primitive four color printing process. If you compare the original comics and especially this book to scans of his original artwork you will see how much detail was lost. Kane was best when paired with the a heavy handed inker such as John Romita, Sr.
  
  I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable the writing was in many of the issues collected here, especially the one by Marv Wolfman. Wolfman is seemingly forgotten by modern fandom, which is sad because he was a solid craftsman who bridged the gap between the glory of the Silver Age with the creative renaissance of the 1980s. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time for accolades I suppose.
  
  My favorite issue in the entire book was Action Comics #544, which deals with the rebirth and reinvention of Brainiac. While I love the original version (mostly through my exposure from The Super Friends cartoon as a kid in the 1970s), this then-new version is pretty badass. DC Comics Presents Annual #3 was also really enjoyable. In it, Shazam and Superman face off against Dr. Sivana, Shazam's arch nemesis going back to the 1940s (thanks Internet- I have never read a Shazam or Captain Marvel comic). While these stories are all fun reads, the presentation and production values mar the experience.
• 
  David Austin

  Gorgeous art, mostly mediocre stories.
• 
  Jacob

  Public library copy. While I respect the work and craft of Gil Kane, I don't think his finest hour is represented in this Superman collection that features his body of work on the Man of Steel. For one thing the drawings of the faces are particularly ugly. The best thing was the dynamicism of the poses and energy of the panel layouts. The stories aren't anything to write home about and even judging the material from a 1980s standpoint, it's a far cry from the best-of from that era.
• 
  David

  Some of the stories are pretty dense and pretty out there.
  
  Yet, Gil Kane's artwork is outstanding. If you really want to get a feel for what Superman is all about, this is a good way to get to the heart of that. Big, over-the-top crazy adventures in which Superman's unlimited powers allow him to do everything.
  
  The stories themselves have no limits, which probably makes it a challenge for fans of more contemporary comic adventures.
• 
  Becky

  It was Superman so of course I liked it. But I didn't love it. The stories were all a little wacky. Evidently things got weird in comics when I went off to college. I knew Marvel went off the rails about that time, but I hadn't realized that DC had done so, too. Still, I liked the balance of story to picture, not like the posters they call comics now.
• 
  David

  Amazingly stunning Gil Kane work. Some of the stories are pretty good but there's a dated-ness that's in all.
• 
  Dave

  A fun, but not essential, collection of Superman stories. I do love the "Clark Kent: TV reporter" era though.