Thomas, Roy
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
3 out of 5
(1 book)
Superman: War Of The Worlds
(Art by Michael Lark)
An Elseworlds story combining the Golden Age Superman with H. G. Wells' Martian invasion. 1938 and as ruthless invaders arrive on Earth from Mars, the hidden survivor of another doomed world emerges to protect humanity against the Martians.
This is a mash-up of Superman and 'War of the Worlds', it's as simple as that. If you're not onboard for that concept, then there's really no point bothering with this book.
What I found most engaging about it myself was the fact that the original Golden Age version of Superman is the one pitted against the Martians. This means that, although not set in Victorian England like the original story, there's still a historical feel to the story which works in its favour. It also reminded me greatly of the 1950s movie version of 'War of the Worlds', which I've loved since I was a kid (and which is infinitely superior to Steven Spielberg's version).
One of the things that disappointed me here was that there were some really interesting story threads that are left dangling at the end. I think it's a deliberate choice by the writer to suggest this world goes on after this story ends but I genuinely want to find out what happens in a post-Superman world where FDR, Hitler, Stalin and the British royal family have all been wiped out by aliens (and Britain has been taken over by the fascist Oswald Mosely). Kudos to Roy Thomas for creating such compelling concepts but bad-show to this book for never showing us how they develop.
3 out of 5
Collaborations & Anthologies:
Avengers/X-Men: Bloodties (here)
Captain Marvel: Captain Marvel/Marvel Spotlight On Captain Marvel (here)
Essential Spider-Man Vol. 5 (here)
Ghost Rider: Ghost Rider/Vicious Cycle (here)
Iron Fist: The Fury Of Iron Fist/The Last Iron Fist Story (here)
Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... - Doomworld (here)
Star Wars Omnibus: Wild Space Volume 1 (here)
Star Wars: Shattered Empire (here)
Superman's Metropolis (here)
The Amazing Spider-Man: In The Grip Of The Goblin (here)
The Black Knight: Magneto Walks The Earth/The Black Knight Lives Again/Vampire State (here)
The Vision: Behold... The Vision!/Avengers Icons - The Vision (here)
Warlock: The Power Of... Warlock/Warlock And The Infinity Watch (here)