Superman 205b Michael Turner Variant Cover Azzarello Jim Lee Art 1st print

Description

Superman (1987 2nd Series) #205B

Published Jul 2004 by DC
WRITTEN BY BRIAN AZZARELLO
ART BY JIM LEE AND SCOTT WILLIAMS
COVER BY MICHAEL TURNER
Full Color, 32 PG

Brian Azzarello, Jim Lee & Scott Williams continue to tear up the Man of Steel in “For Tomorrow,” Part 2 of 12!

As if the mysterious vanishings around the globe weren’t enough for the Man of Steel, Superman soon finds himself standing in the middle of a conflict between two warring nations. But when Big Blue unseats a ruthless dictator, will he inadvertently cause more harm than good?

Key Events
First Appearance Elias Orr

Two of comics’ hottest art teams turn the tables on each other in May, as Michael Turner & Peter Steigerwald provide a variant cover for SUPERMAN #205 and Jim Lee & Scott Williams provide a variant cover for SUPERMAN/BATMAN #10.

“I’ve known Mike since he started in this business but we haven’t been able to work on anything together. Having helped set up the deal which brought his incredible talents to DC, I didn’t want to miss my chance to do something together,” says Lee. “It’s a blast jumping in on their storyline and also getting to work with my old bud, Jeph. Here’s hoping that this cover swap is just the first of many cool collaborations down the road.”

“I am really excited about this idea,” says Turner. “I’ve enjoyed Jim’s work for years, and we’ve talked many times about doing something together. It’s so cool to have that competitive fire again. Comics isn’t a contact sport but I love seeing something awesome and going back to my desk to try and come up with something even better. That’s a tough chore with Jim but I’m having a blast trying. I am having so much fun right now working with DC, and cool things like this make it even more fun!”

A waitress in a diner reminisces about the time Superman saved her from an escaped monster. She knows that Superman wasn’t there just to save her, but that’s how it felt. He made her feel like she was really important, and she’ll never forget that.

Father Leone walks through the streets of Metropolis and stops at John’s fruit stand. He asks about John’s son Randy, but John tells him that Randy is confused with everything that’s been in the news lately about priests. Father Leone tells him that Randy is always welcome back as John hands him a bag of peaches. Returning to the church, Father Leone pulls out a fruit, and swearing, hurls it at a wall.

Descending from the sky, Superman catches the peach and asks Leone if something is bothering him. The Priest tells Superman that it’s nothing he can’t live with. Father Leone tells Superman that better men than him have tried to save the world and failed. Superman asks why they failed, and Father Leone tells him that no matter how many people a man saves, his own life will always be the most important. Tossing the peach pit into the fountain, they watch the waves spreading out in circles. The vanishing looked the same way from the sky, ripples spreading out across the globe. They originated from the Middle East.

When Superman got there he found a city at war. He took their guns, along with every other weapon, and he destroyed them. Hovering in the sky, Superman told them no more. Most of them ran away, but one boy picked up a rock and hurled it at Superman. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it only took one to start it. The rest of the crowd rushed to attack each other with rocks and bricks, one catching the boy across the head.

Crushing a stone into a tiny diamond, Superman hands it to Father Leone, who tosses it over his shoulder into the fountain, commenting that even a perfect stone creates ripples.

Superman cradles the dead boy in his arms. From a mountaintop in the distance, a man looks through his binoculars at Superman, before turning back to his helicopter.

Azzarello’s storytelling is fantastic. The dialog is some of the best that we’ve seen in a long time. Great storytelling and an interesting story still makes this one a winner.

Lee’s art is absolutely beautiful. Lee’s Superman in Batman: Hush really didn’t appeal to me that much, but he’s made a few changes and now he looks great. The shots of Superman hovering above the Middle East city were just fantastic, especially the “No more” page. The man at the end of the book did strike me as looking way too much like Commissioner Gordon, but that’s the only negative I can find in the whole issue. There’s really not much else I can say, other than it’s about time Jim Lee is doing a Superman story.

Cover Art (Michael Turner): When DC first released this cover image it immediately became my desktop background. This is just a fantastic image of Superman. Sure, it has absolutely nothing to do with the issue, but it’s a variant cover, so I’ll ignore that. This should be a poster, and that’s about the best thing I can say about a cover.

Near mint, 1st print. Bagged & Boarded.