Review: Superman- Savage Dawn

Quick Summary

Pros: Watching Superman save the day without powers is a unique experience. Most of the book is exciting and filled with great action.

Cons: Jumps between chapters create problems in logic and pacing.

Overall: Though there are a number of problems throughout this collection, the end result of this crossover event is a positive one. It starts and ends with Superman stories that are filled with excitement, ones where it appears that the Man of Steel will never make it out alive. However, transitions between series fill the middle of the book with abrupt shifts in pacing and confusing logic. All of this together creates a book that ends up being slightly above average and provides a satisfactory conclusion to recent events in Superman’s life.

Story

Superman: Savage Dawn is an action-packed crossover event that shows Superman going head to head with Vandal Savage, despite not having the vast majority of his powers. The high stakes and seemingly insurmountable odds give the story a lot of tension and help in building excitement. However, the disjointed nature of the crossover creates a number of pacing and narrative problems, especially near the book’s beginning. Overall though, a solid ending saves the book from mediocrity and turns this into a satisfying climax for all of the recent trials Superman has suffered.

(spoilers start here)

The book’s opening chapter is great; it sets context for both Superman and Vandal Savage while also telling a good story. On one side, we see Superman struggling to deal with his lack of powers. This provides what is essentially a distilled version of all the emotions the Man of Steel has recently experienced and is a great way to introduce (or reintroduce) readers to his current situation. On the other side, we discover the secret history of Vandal Savage and learn how this history has inspired his current agenda. This shows readers exactly how brutal Vandal can be and sets him up as an intimidating enemy.

From here though, things start to become a bit disjointed. Just when Vandal’s plan is introduced and Superman leads the initial charge against him, the story experiences a few rather abrupt shifts. The next moment, Superman is going through trials with the gods of Olympus and then is attempting to reestablish his powers in an A.R.G.U.S. base. These stories are not necessarily bad on their own, they simply do not flow well into one another.

To add on to this, some aspects of the crossover just come across as confusing. For example, Steve Trevor seems completely unconcerned by the giant spaceship orbiting the Earth until Superman comes to him for help. In addition, different chapters seem to stumble over their own continuity; Wonder Woman and Superman appear to be in love in some chapters but are firmly split in others. Luckily, most of these problems are relegated to the first half of the book, as the second half is much better.

This second half sees Superman gain back some level of his powers and, once again, make a play against Vandal. This portion of the book brings back the fun and excitement of the beginning and is a large improvement overall. Vandal Savage appears to always have the upper hand, leaving readers in a constant state of questioning how Superman will manage to win the day. Also, several interesting concepts are pushed forward here, including having Superman powered by Kryptonite and setting the heroes against Vandal’s children.

Finally, the book concludes with Vandal making one last attempt to defeat the Man of Steel. He shows Superman the benefit to a world where only the powerful survive. He explains that this setup eliminates the need for heroes and protects humanity against larger threats. It is a well constructed argument but still one that flies in the face of everything Clark Kent believes in. In the end, Superman is able to defeat Vandal and things start looking up for the first time in a long time.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Though there are a number of different artists providing work for this book, the vast majority of it ends up looking pretty good. Artists like Doug Mahnke and Aaron Kuder excel in this collection, bringing a number of beautiful looking pages with them. All of the artists’ work is different but each of them manage to get the important parts right, making Superman a symbol of hope and making Vandal Savage a villain to be afraid of. Artistically, this Savage Dawn ends up at an above average level of quality.

However, it is worth noting that this collection contains work by many different artists with very different visual styles. There are over a dozen different pencilers throughout this book and nearly as many inkers. The variety here makes the already choppy transitions even more noticeable, enhancing one of the book’s main problems. This is not a complete deal breaker though, as the artwork still trends positive, but it does make the book a fraction less enjoyable.

Continuity

Superman: Savage Dawn is a crossover story arc taking place across the Superman, Action Comics, and Superman/Wonder Woman series. Since it includes all three of these series, it is preceded by whatever happened most recently in each one. This means Savage Dawn immediately follows the events of Action Comics Vol. 8: Truth (Review), Superman/Wonder Woman Vol. 4: Dark Truth (Review), and the first half of Superman Vol. 2: Return to Glory; however the events of Superman Vol. 1: Before Truth (Review) actually have much more relevance here than Return to Glory.

The story here is immediately followed by Superman: The Final Days of Superman.

This volume also references stories from other comic books, detailed below:

• Action Comics Vol. 8: Truth (Review) comprises about a third of the prelude to this book. This includes:
  • Superman’s new costume
  • The Fortress of Solitude’s inability to recognize Superman
  • Superman’s struggle against the black mass and Wrath
• Superman Vol. 1: Before Truth (Review) comprises about a third of the prelude to this book. This includes:
  • The loss of Superman’s powers
  • His secret identity being revealed by Lois Lane
  • John Henry Irons’s reference to Superman releasing his “solar flair” ability at the Justice League headquarters.
• Superman/Wonder Woman Vol. 4: Dark Truth (Review) comprises about a third of the prelude to this book. This includes:
  • The “throw-down” that happened at John Henry’s lab.
  • Superman and Wonder Woman’s relationship troubles.
  • The things that “Diana did” to Superman’s friends, which Superman mentions to Steve Trevor.
  • Superman’s fight against the Suicide Squad and Parasite
• The addition of Lex Luthor and Shazam to the Justice League happened in Justice League Vol. 6: Injustice League (Review).
• Wonder Woman references a time when Superman left her behind in order to fight Mongul. This happened in Batman/Superman Vol. 2: Game Over (Review).
• Vandal Savage mentions joining and leaving the Demon Knights. He joined them in Demon Knights Vol. 1: Seven Against The Dark and left them in Demon Knights Vol. 3: The Gathering Storm.
• Strife references Hell’s battle with the First Born from the very beginning of Wonder Woman Vol. 6: Bones.
• The engagement ring Eros has was first revealed in Superman/Wonder Woman Annual #2, collected at the beginning of Superman/Wonder Woman Vol. 5: A Savage End.
• Metallo’s current condition is explained in Superman: Doomed (Review).
• Haemosu joined Superman’s cause at the beginning of Superman Vol. 2: Return to Glory.
• Baka became friends with Superman back in Action Comics Vol. 6: What Lies Beneath (Review).
• The background behind the Batman seen in this volume can be found in Batman Vol. 8: Superheavy (Review).