Superman: Infinite City.
March 7th 2008 22:07
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
“Look up in the sky… is it a bird… is it a plane…no its SUPERMAN!”
Superman originally created by: Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster.
Publisher: DC Comics.
Production Team: Mike Kennedy – writer, Carlos Meglia – artist, Rob Leigh – letterer.
Cost: US $17.99.
You’ve all heard the story of the infant Kal-El who was rocketed to the planet Earth before his homeworld of Krypton was completely destroyed in what astronomers would call a major stellar catastrophe caused by Rao, the giant red sun around which Krypton orbited. Baby Kal-El’s rocket crash-landed in a Kansas field in the vicinity of the town of Smallsville; there he was discovered by Martha and John Kent who took him in an raised him as their only child; mild mannered Clark Kent. If you haven’t heard this tale then you’ve either not encountered Superman at any stage or you just have no real knowledge of pop culture. As well as being known as the Man of Steel Superman is generally thought of as being the last Kryptonian and that his world was effectively destroyed along with all who still lived on that doomed planet at that cataclysmic moment. At least that was what he and the rest of the world had believed…
The opening pages of this graphic novel open with the impeding destruction of Krypton and the efforts of brilliant scientist, thinker and visionary Jor-El, Superman’s biological father. In the end all that Jor-El can do is place his infant sun in a rocket and dispatch him out into the deeps of interstellar space hopefully to a new home were he will grow to manhood and live a prosperous and fulfilling life. Thankfully Jor-El’s rocket shots safely off into space with his son aboard, avoiding the carnage that is wreaked upon Krypton and the rest is as they say history. From the death of Krypton the action moves to downtown Metropolis in the contemporary era, carnage is being caused by a lowly mugger who has managed to get his hands on some really serious firepower, firepower that is quite literally not of this world.
Things look fairly grim as this newly empowered mugger is letting loose some significant carnage, then out of the blue comes…Superman. Naturally as is his way Superman asks the mugger to put down his weapon willingly and turn himself into the authorities, hoping to prevent the situation from getting any uglier than what it is. The mugger decides not to go with this option and things get ugly, his gun manages to cause a brief sting to the Man of Steel but he quickly regains the initiative and swiftly defuses the situation. In the eyes of the Police the situation is effectively wrapped up, all that’s needed from this point on is clearing away the wreckage, fortunately no lives were lost and no one was injured. Superman who has the strange gun in his hands feels that there is more to the situation than meets the eyes, even his incredible eyes. On the side of the gun is written Infinite City Industries, Infinite California. His curiosity piqued Superman decides to look into Infinite California and work out just what exactly is going on, who is the source of such powerful weaponry.
Naturally this journey to discover the source of the powerful weapon used by a third rate mugger leads Lois Lane and Superman into something much bigger than what they were expecting. It all begins when after the chaos in downtown Metropolis the two arrive in the place that is marked on the map as Infinite California. A single very retro looking diner, deserted, and situated all on its lonesome way out in the middle of literally nowhere. Something is decidedly suss about the place so naturally the two go in and have a look, the whole vibe isn’t improved when neither Superman in Clark Kent mode and his wife Lois are unable to find who is running the diner and Clark is picking up some weird sensations from the whole place. He has grit in his eyes yet their was no wind or sand blowing when the two of them arrived, the windows are freezing cold which is unusual as its fairly hot outside, its all rather strange. Lois is the first to discover precisely how strange it all is when she walks through a door and literally finds herself in another world.
It seems that this diner way out in the boondocks is one of many gateways into a region known as Infinite City, the city is literally endless and the location described on the maps is simply a convenient point for travel between the Earth realm and that of Infinite City. A bit like the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe except the wardrobe is a diner and rather a talking Lion there is an artificial intelligence running the show and the Witch is a mad multisquillonaire in charge of Infinite City Industries who has ambitions beyond his means. It’s also interesting that all the locals in this city without limits speak…cue drum roll please…Kryptonian. Yes it seems that the language of Superman’s homeworld is the lingua franca of Infinite City and once he comes through the gate he’s as puzzled by this as would be the readers when this revelation occurs.
Of course language is not the only other factor that Infinite City shares with Krypton, it seem just like that planet the world of Infinite City is on the brink of destruction. As the Mayor, the artificial intelligence which governs the city, informs Superman its all down to the very nature of the place in which the city exists as well as the microbots which were used to create the bubble reality in which Infinite City exists. You see even though the microbots have created the gates that allow contact with other worlds and other realities they do not stop creating gates if given enough impetus and the more gates that are opened and the more traffic that comes through them it creates a weakness on the bubble in which Infinite City exists and this in turn leads to destruction, on both sides of the gates, a destruction which only the Mayor and the microbots have survived twice previously; due to their artificial natures.
So Superman finds himself within a world that is on the brink of doom for the second time in his life with his own wife Lois also at risk as she has been kidnapped by the infamous terrorist group Black Zero; another throwback to the days of vanished Krypton. This work certainly is a departure from the usual fare that is associated with Superman and his exploits, you often find him either battling with some super villain or criminal mastermind in downtown Metropolis or trying to prevent some disaster from occurring in various locales around the world or else trying to unravel one of Lex Luthor’s many nefarious schemes. Trying to cope in a city with no limits and in a bubble reality whilst looking for is lost wife is not standard Superman fare, still when you get into the story it does work and it has it’s many interesting facets. Carlos Meglia’s artwork is simply fantastic giving the whole show a really vibrant and, dare I say it again, retro look. Infinite City has the feel of a place that is a montage of elements from nineteen fifties science fiction, the art works of Frank Frazetta along with Japanese manga. Superman: Infinite City is worth checking out if you get the chance.
Superman originally created by: Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster.
Publisher: DC Comics.
Production Team: Mike Kennedy – writer, Carlos Meglia – artist, Rob Leigh – letterer.
Cost: US $17.99.
You’ve all heard the story of the infant Kal-El who was rocketed to the planet Earth before his homeworld of Krypton was completely destroyed in what astronomers would call a major stellar catastrophe caused by Rao, the giant red sun around which Krypton orbited. Baby Kal-El’s rocket crash-landed in a Kansas field in the vicinity of the town of Smallsville; there he was discovered by Martha and John Kent who took him in an raised him as their only child; mild mannered Clark Kent. If you haven’t heard this tale then you’ve either not encountered Superman at any stage or you just have no real knowledge of pop culture. As well as being known as the Man of Steel Superman is generally thought of as being the last Kryptonian and that his world was effectively destroyed along with all who still lived on that doomed planet at that cataclysmic moment. At least that was what he and the rest of the world had believed…
Naturally this journey to discover the source of the powerful weapon used by a third rate mugger leads Lois Lane and Superman into something much bigger than what they were expecting. It all begins when after the chaos in downtown Metropolis the two arrive in the place that is marked on the map as Infinite California. A single very retro looking diner, deserted, and situated all on its lonesome way out in the middle of literally nowhere. Something is decidedly suss about the place so naturally the two go in and have a look, the whole vibe isn’t improved when neither Superman in Clark Kent mode and his wife Lois are unable to find who is running the diner and Clark is picking up some weird sensations from the whole place. He has grit in his eyes yet their was no wind or sand blowing when the two of them arrived, the windows are freezing cold which is unusual as its fairly hot outside, its all rather strange. Lois is the first to discover precisely how strange it all is when she walks through a door and literally finds herself in another world.
It seems that this diner way out in the boondocks is one of many gateways into a region known as Infinite City, the city is literally endless and the location described on the maps is simply a convenient point for travel between the Earth realm and that of Infinite City. A bit like the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe except the wardrobe is a diner and rather a talking Lion there is an artificial intelligence running the show and the Witch is a mad multisquillonaire in charge of Infinite City Industries who has ambitions beyond his means. It’s also interesting that all the locals in this city without limits speak…cue drum roll please…Kryptonian. Yes it seems that the language of Superman’s homeworld is the lingua franca of Infinite City and once he comes through the gate he’s as puzzled by this as would be the readers when this revelation occurs.
Of course language is not the only other factor that Infinite City shares with Krypton, it seem just like that planet the world of Infinite City is on the brink of destruction. As the Mayor, the artificial intelligence which governs the city, informs Superman its all down to the very nature of the place in which the city exists as well as the microbots which were used to create the bubble reality in which Infinite City exists. You see even though the microbots have created the gates that allow contact with other worlds and other realities they do not stop creating gates if given enough impetus and the more gates that are opened and the more traffic that comes through them it creates a weakness on the bubble in which Infinite City exists and this in turn leads to destruction, on both sides of the gates, a destruction which only the Mayor and the microbots have survived twice previously; due to their artificial natures.
So Superman finds himself within a world that is on the brink of doom for the second time in his life with his own wife Lois also at risk as she has been kidnapped by the infamous terrorist group Black Zero; another throwback to the days of vanished Krypton. This work certainly is a departure from the usual fare that is associated with Superman and his exploits, you often find him either battling with some super villain or criminal mastermind in downtown Metropolis or trying to prevent some disaster from occurring in various locales around the world or else trying to unravel one of Lex Luthor’s many nefarious schemes. Trying to cope in a city with no limits and in a bubble reality whilst looking for is lost wife is not standard Superman fare, still when you get into the story it does work and it has it’s many interesting facets. Carlos Meglia’s artwork is simply fantastic giving the whole show a really vibrant and, dare I say it again, retro look. Infinite City has the feel of a place that is a montage of elements from nineteen fifties science fiction, the art works of Frank Frazetta along with Japanese manga. Superman: Infinite City is worth checking out if you get the chance.
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