Books: The World's Greatest Super-Heroes

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The World's Greatest Super-Heroes
Written by Paul Didi
Art by Alex Ross
2010




Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/

It's described as "oversized" and i'm guessing they're refering to the format it was published in, but it could equally apply to the characters and stories contained within: Superman: Peace on Earth, Batman: War on Crime, Shazam!: Power of Hope, Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth, JLA: Secret Origins, and JLA: Liberty and Justice. These are the biggest, super-heroes out there who not only bestride the worlds in which they inhabit: but also our own with their names, attributes and symbols branded into our collective unconscious (you think I'm exaggerating? Show me a child that's never heard of Superman and I'll show you a liar). In this collection of stories Paul Didi and Alex Ross afford each one of them the sort of reverence that once was only afforded to religious icons - with all but the last story told sans dialogue with that sort of slightly-ponderous narration you could easily imagine being voiced by Morgan Freeman. Forgoing crash-bang action adventures for uncomplicated parables (Superman fights World Hunger, Batman fights not crime - but the causes of crime, etc) and lovingly painted and composed by Alex Ross (so very very pretty): to continue the religious theme still further: it's bit like sitting in church - although the costumes are much prettier and the super-powers much more flamboyant it's still be hard resisting the urge to fidget and although it seems all deep and grown-up it doesn't exactly plum any depths: rather it takes the limits of a typical superhero comic and inflates them into something bigger, grander and more imposing - so like I said at the start: "oversized."

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Further reading: Marvels, Kingdom Come, Superman: All Star Superman.

All comments welcome.