All-Star Superman pt. 1

This is collected in two trades, the second of which I quit before finishing. Once I saw that my good friend Bizarro, aka Ruiner-of-Stories showed up, I threw in the towel.
Of course, it wasn't just that. There were a few reasons that All-Star Superman should have been called Some-Star Superman.

Frank Quitely is an artist that I discuss from time to time with a friend who is very into comics. He isn't a Frank Quitely fan.

I can see a lot of his points. A lot of the faces look very much the same. Just about everyone is ugly as hell, ugly as a comics blogger drawn in comic form even.

But to be honest, I dig Frank Quitely's stuff.

For one thing, I think that he draws bulky characters better than anyone. I like the Ed McGuinness Superman with the basketball biceps, and as much as that pleases my eye I think it doesn't have the range I like. It's a little difficult for me to take that Superman seriously, to have him go through some more serious shit.
For example, I love that Superman pounding the shit out of Mongul, but watching him sit across a table from Lois Lane is harder for me to buy than a $500 Prada bag.

Quitely's bulk works better for me. The superheroes don't have that ripped, vascular look. They all kind of look like Rulon Gardner in his heyday. But that's a different sort of look for things, and one I can get by with.

In All-Star Superman in particular, I think Quitely did something that I haven't seen a lot of, which is a Lex Luthor that is somewhat physically threatening when standing next to Clark Kent. Not since the power tie was invented has Lex Luthor been able to scare people on a physical level, and it's kind of nice to see for once.

The other thing, the characters being ugly as hell, is undeniable. They all look a little caveman, a little like they may have had a horrible accident where their faces were crushed. And the women look a little bit like NFL linebackers with wonderful natural breasts.

In this instance, I'd like to compare him a little to Ryan Ottley, artist for Invincible, who I adore. He draws good. Real good. And he does some excellent monsters, machines, and just about anything you can think of. The one thing I would say about his characters is that, bizarre aliens with exposed brains aside, they are all fairly attractive. Hell, even the dude with the exposed brain is pretty hot if you only look at the lower half of his face.

Part of me likes to think about a Frank Quitely world where there's room for uggos. The characters have melon heads, crooked teeth, and wrinkles, which is something I don't mind. You could debate for days on which comic artist draws the hottest women, a debate that I'm sure would attract only the good kind of attention, but I think the debate about ugly characters would be pretty short. Steve Dillon comes to mind, as does Robert Crumb, of course, but the list is damn short.

Another problem I have with Quitely's characters is the dumb fucking things that come out of their mouths. So, I guess spoiler alert for part two.