Today’s Trade> Tangent: Superman’s Reign V1

doesn't happen in this comic

I’m not usually what they call a “trade waiter”. I prefer my comics the old fashioned way, saving the graphic novel format for original stories that can’t bet told in the usual “floppies” layout. However, I didn’t hear about this comic until a few issues in, and being a fan of the “Tangent Universe” concept, I wanted to check it out.

I heard mixed reaction going on, but I still wanted to check this out. Note I ordered this well before the universe-killing Cry For Justice that turned me off to the DC Universe proper, and it’s been sitting in my pull folder for a while, since I’ve been recovering from last year’s sick time (and I’m not completely caught up savings-wise with the three-month sick time from two years ago even though the bills are paid off), but tax returns and some extra hours at work allowed me to finally pick this up.

Because there are seven comics in this book (the first six issues and Justice League of America #16, which acts as a prologue), I’m going to speed run through this one, and some of the other trades and GNs as I start picking them up over the next few weeks. With luck, I’ll have the pull folder all cleared out by Free Comic Book Day, or at least ConnectiCon 2010.

So JLA (Dwayne McDuffie; writer) is a prologue story setting up the Superman’s Reign story. Not really necessary otherwise, as is just has Tangent Atom shows up looking for the Tangent version of the Green Lantern, which has nothing to do with the Guardians but is a mystical artifact (wielded in the Tangent Universe by it’s namesake) that Kyle gave to Guy Gardner–who put it in a regular storage locker. How did it get there? The trade doesn’t say.

Which is the first problem with this trade. It was while looking up links at the DC Comics Database for any of you readers who haven’t heard of Tangent that I found out the Lantern, Tangent Atom, and Tangent Flash (my favorite of the Tangents) came into the “New Earth” DCU because of events in Infinite Crisis, Countdown (possibly one of the spin-off stories Linkara didn’t cover in his review of the event) and 52. In the main story we get mentions to various events, but not even a caption box. Way to lose new or casual readers, guys.

Ron Marz writes a bridge, getting readers caught up on how the Tangent Universe differs from the main universe as well as events that have taken place since the last Tangent set. (He also introduces Tangent Guy Gardner, a computer hacker with the screenname “Detective Chimp”. As far from DC Guy as possible, although they’re both redheads.) Police officer Harvey Dent slowly gains telepathic and telekinetic powers thanks to experiment performed on him when he was a boy, and start fighting crime alongside the Tangent Heroes we already knew. However, when his attempt to bring his wife to the ranks of superpowered leads to her death, “the SuperMan” decided to take over the world, leaving it a dystopia while convincing himself he is helping the people by eliminating war and want. Most people don’t see it that way, as freedom and responsibility are all but slagged in this new world.

Yeah, the Tangent comics may have had their dark side due to how the universe was formed, but this is a bit too far. They killed off one third of the Joker, another of my favorite Tangents, and pretty much did a number on a lot of what I liked about the Tangent stories. And now the Tangent Lantern has brought Tangent Flash home from “New Earth”, but with DC Flash and Green Lantern John Stewart in tow. The other DC Justice Leaguers attempt to find them, but everyone runs afoul of the SuperMan and his new bride, Tangent Powergirl. Now Harvey wants to invade and take over the DC Universe as he has the Tangent Universe.

Any interest I have in this story is Dan Jurgens’ ability to take a fool concept (like his name-maker event, “Death & Return of Superman) and somehow make it interesting enough to forget what he’s doing to favored characters. (He’s also responsible for at least most of the Tangent Universe concept.) I’m not sure if I can recommend it or not. Maybe when volume 2 finally comes out (if it does or if it already has, when I can get it) I’ll have a better idea.

Up next: The Best Scene of the Week in Sunday’s Weekly Wrap-Up

Monday’s Comic: Iron Man: I Am Iron Man, the first part of the long overdue (even longer, considering it’s been in my pull folder for a while) adaptation of the awesome movie.