Review: Tangent: Superman's Reign Vol. 2 trade paperback (DC Comics)

I like Dan Jurgens' writing, don't get me wrong. Not only did he pen stories from one of my favorite eras of Superman (and that's before Death of Superman, but also I've dug his Tangent concept and comics through three individual volumes and the first part of Tangent: Superman's Reign.

But the structure of Superman's Reign appears to be such that, while the first six issues (with art by Jamal Igle) took place firmly in the Tangent Universe, the last six issues (with a lesser rotating art team) take place mainly in our DC Universe proper. With this comes much less of a focus on the Tangent characters, and really not much to differentiate the story from your run-of-the-mill Justice League adventure.

Whereas the first volume offered a sort of Tangent "One Year Later," catching up with the Tangent characters since we left them in Tangent Comics Volume 3, this new volume mainly features the DC heroes fighting the world-conquoring Tangent Superman. Our heroes are quite clearly in the right and the Tangent Superman is quite clearly wrong, so there's no depth to this battle. Indeed, the Tangent Superman could have as easily come from another planet or from a parallel universe about which the reader had no knowledge, and it wouldn't greatly affect the outcome of the fight that ensues.

I hold up Devin Grayson's JLA/Titans as an example of a team crossover done right, where the reader gets a chance to compare the characterization of parallel characters and learn something in the bargain. The Tangent Flash runs alongside the New Earth Flash, but they never get to know each other, or consider how the Tangent Flash Lia is much like a young Wally West. There might've been room for plenty other inspired team-ups, like the Tangent Spectre/Plastic Man duo meeting, for instance, the like-minded Teen Titans Blue Beetle and Red Devil, but it's not to be. The Tangent Atom and Hex barely even make the stage.

Similarly, our heroes learn nothing from the Tangent characters. Quite a number of the Tangent characters reflect in awe at how "competent" and in charge our Batman is, as he essentially barks and orders his way through the story (seemingly decidedly like his pre-Infinite Crisis incarnation). Comparatively, our heroes see no benefit in the dystopian Tangent Universe, and as such there's no room for comparison, just easy concepts of "good" and "bad."

Jurgens' one standout character here is Lori Lemaris, formerly the Joker and now carrying the mantle of Manhunter. The Tangent Joker was something of a Harley Quinn figure, and the Tangent Manhunter similar to ours -- Lemaris's change is a better indication of the darkening of the Tangent Universe under Superman's reign than the scenes of oil magnates quivering at his feet. In the end I didn't quite feel the reader understood what Jurgens tried to say by Lemaris's transformation -- I might perhaps have liked to see some reflection of how our own world has changed since Tangent Comics began in 1997 -- but surely Lemaris's struggle is the strongest part of this series.

As well, I give Superman's Reign credit for feeling like a big story. The cast includes the entire Justice League plus three Green Lanterns and a handful of Tangent characters, and seeing them all on the page together evokes Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, and what have you. Unfortunately I didn't feel the art lived up to the epic challenge; Jamal Igle exits, and while Wes Craig does a passable job in the first two chapters (with interesting uncolored pencils around the borders), I couldn't much get in to the bland faces and indistinct figures of Carlos Magno in the end.

As much as anyone, I feel bad about the end of Tangent: Superman's Reign because of how much I've enjoyed these characters over the previous volumes. If DC published more adventures of the Tangent characters, I'd be happy to read them. But maybe what we've found here is that Tangent and the DC Universe just don't mix -- if Jurgens' creations are going to be overshadowed by the DC characters in his own miniseries, I'd just as soon the Tangent heroes stay at home.

[Contains full covers, "History of the Tangent Universe" section]

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Review: Tangent: Superman's Reign Vol. 1 trade paperback (DC Comics)

Ten years later (but only moments for me through the wonders of trade paperbacks), Dan Jurgens returns to the Tangent universe in the first volume of Tangent: Superman's Reign. For a burgeoning Tangent fan like myself, there's a lot to like here -- but strangely, as the Tangent aspects work, there's a lot about the DC Universe parts that miss the mark, interrupting what might otherwise have been some real potential.

Jurgens plays the "ten years later" aspect of this story like a symphony. Much of the joy of the book is in the surprise return of old favorites; I spent most of the book saying, "Oh look, it's [enter Tangent character.]" It was interesting to see how some characters, like the Joker, have undergone radical changes since the original Tangent event; others, strangely -- like the Flash -- haven't changed a bit (though I suspect this might be a trick). The "History Lesson" section in the beginning speaks to the complexity and interrelatedness of the characters, and that still remains my favorite aspect of Tangent.

Thought this story is not as political as Tangent volumes past, it's obvious that Jurgens tries to give weight to the moral questions of the Tangent Superman having taken over this universe in the missing ten years. The Tangent Superman debates a number of times the benefits of forced peace over free will; Jurgens doesn't have me seeing Superman's side, but it's a nice try. Jurgens also has Batman debate the ethics of our superheroes meddling in the government of another world; we all know Batman's going to do the right thing in the end, but again I give Jurgens credit for going there.

Unfortunately, a number of interesting characters and a couple philosophical debates don't a perfect story make. Jurgens's story feels terribly stretched to make twelve issues; two characters wander the sewers nearly the entire book, while the others engage in a repetitive morass of getting ambushed by the bad guys, running away, getting ambushed again, and running away again. There's not much content here, nor is Jurgens really able to characterize the Tangent universe as different from the DC universe short of our Flash calling it a "dystopian" world (which is what I thought the Wildstorm universe was supposed to be ... hey, now there's an idea for a crossover!).

In addition, I was terribly surprised and disappointed by Jurgens's writing of the Justice Leage (and remember, Jurgens wrote one of my favorite Justice Leagues). It's as if Jurgens took his pointers from Justice League Unlimited rather than Justice League of America -- Batman seems quite obviously in charge while Black Canary remains mostly in the background, and an impatient Flash lets loose a "dude" and thinks about how hungry he is in the midst of a crisis. Jurgens also had Green Lantern John Stewart saying "nuthin'" instead of "nothing" in two almost duplicate conversations -- all in all, the portrayals just didn't sit right with me.

I would say, however, that I'm so glad artist Jamal Igle is already on Supergirl; his Tangent art here is fantastic. I dug his work on Nightwing, but it seems to me his art style -- fluid, just on the cartoony side of realistic -- would be best served by something ultra-superhero-y like Supergirl. I'm looking forward to it, and despite my qualms, I'm looking forward to the concluding volume of Tangent: Superman's Reign, too.

[Contains full covers, Justice League of America #16, back up stories.]

We'll dip into a little Green Arrow/Black Canary next, and see where we go from there. Don't miss it!

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Review: Tangent Comics Vol. 3 trade paperback (DC Comics)

Finishing Tangent Comics Volume Three, it's hard to believe DC Comics and Dan Jurgens hadn't planned all this from the start.

In much the same way that the 2005 Majestic series encompassed the plot of the later Countdown to Final Crisis, the Tangent comics series (published in 1998) ends on a perfect cliffhanger for Final Crisis and the new sequel miniseries Tangent: Superman's Reign more than ten years later. Reading it in 1998, the finale must have been maddeningly frustrating; reading it in 2009, it's amazing how well the saga fits together.

Tangent Volume Three offers an "everyday man" perspective on the Tangent Universe. The superheroics and political intrigue of the first volume are still here, as are the supernatural elements from the second volume, but there seemed a greater emphasis on how the events--namely a world-wide power outage caused by Tangent's Ultra-Humanite--affected the world's population.

The first story introduces this world's Superman, a regular police officer until an accident triggers limitless powers; we see the people's fear of superheroes in both The Joker's Wild and Powergirl; and the fan-favorite Tangent Green Lantern offers three potential explanations of how a normal person came to hold the lantern.

This "street level" view of the Tangent universe coincides well with the introduction of DC Comic's heaviest hitters to Tangent--in name, at least. The last chapter of volume two introduced the Batman, and volume three brings Superman and Wonder Woman together with Green Lantern to form--you guessed it--the Justice League. As with volume two's Secret Six, there's great joy in seeing the Tangent heroes come together; one of the most enjoyable things about Tangent is how all the stories are interconnected, and there's a nice payoff when the characters finally meet.

It's the end of this Tangent volume that takes some figuring. As with the final chapter of Tangent 1997 (found second-to-last in volume two), events here are unresolved--the Ultra-Humanite, without much explanation, runs rampant over the Earth and the Secret Six seem unable to stop him, while the Nightwing organization hunts the rest of the world's heroes. Any conclusion is essentially found in the details--in a lawless world, the Tangent Justice League rises; and, in the prior Powergirl chapter, the conflict between President Schwartz and Nightwing begun in volume one's Metal Men comes to a head. Were there not the new Tangent: Superman's Reign, this is what we'd be left with; fortunately, the conclusion's not just left to our imaginations.

[Contains full covers, minor sketchbook and interview section.]

We'll finish our current romp through the Tangent universe next with Tangent: Superman's Reign volume one.

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Review: Tangent Comics Volume Two trade paperback (DC Comics)

Seven Soldiers of Victory fans, I keep saying, go read Tangent Comics. Tangent Comics Volume Two admittedly, doesn't quite stand up to Seven Soldiers, but if you're a fan of slowly unfolding, multi-title, conspiracy-ridden comics universes, you'll soon discover why I've enjoyed Tangent Comics so much more than I thought I would.

The Tangent universe takes its cue, as writer Dan Jurgens explains in the first volume, from Julius Schwartz reinventing the DC Comics superheroes in what became known as the Silver Age of comics; the Tangent heroes share the names and some similarities with the DC Universe heroes, but also have great differences. In the Tangent universe, the Cuban Missile Crisis left Florida destroyed, replaced by the futuristic city New Atlantis; the third generation hero Atom (this universe's Superman equivalent) discovers that his grandfather may have been the cause.

Tangent Comics bear much resemblance not only Seven Soldiers, but also to the Amalgam Age of Comics that stemmed from DC/Marvel Comics crossovers. I felt often frustrated with Amalgam, as a character would have a relevant name (like Black Orchid in this books Nightwing story), but I wouldn't know enough about the character to get the joke or want to know more. In Tangent, there's no joke to get; the names are similar, but the characters tie back not to DC lore, but to the intricate conspiracy of the covert Nightwing group and its leaders' relationship to the Atom. In this way, Tangent keeps me interested even despite the number of new characters I'm meeting.

Indeed what I liked about the first Tangent volume was the strong undercurrent of political espionage; this was a book as much about superheroes as about conspiracy theories. The second Tangent volume, alternatively, introduces a bunch of supernatural elements to Tangent, unexpectedly. At first I felt disappointed that there wasn't more politics in volume two, but at the same time, the (minor) change in tone helps to differentiate the two volumes in a way that I felt gave Tangent more depth overall.

I don't know that Karl Kesel's Joker was necessarily my favorite in this volume, but the surprise ending of the story continues to resonate with me; the villain in Chuck Dixon's Secret Six was a little silly, but I'm a sucker for seeing some of the Tangent mainstays come together (especially with art by Tom Grummett). I found Doom Patrol a somewhat unsatisfactory end to the Tangent 1997 stories (the Batman story included here is actually part of the Tangent sequel, Tangent 1998) in that it didn't quite bring to a head the Nightwing, Atom, or Meridian storylines, though if you squint and tilt your head a little bit, the time travel included therein does sort of bring things full circle.

By the end of Tangent Comics Volume Two, you'll come to see that everything you've just read takes place essentially over the course of one day. The inciting incident is the first volume's appearance of a new Atom, and most of the events -- the Doom Patrol's arrival from the future, the Joker's romp through New Atlantis -- stem from or reference that event. What I liked especially is how we see in volume two the fruition of events mentioned in volume one (for instance, Plastic Man tracking and capturing the Spectre) -- these issues were originally published concurrently, but there's some delight in two volumes where the second answers questions from the first that you didn't even know you had.

[Contains full covers]

Inasmuch a fan of the DC Universe proper as I am, not often jaunting to Wildstorm or elsewhere, Tangent Comics have continued to delight. I'm on now directly to the third Tangent Comics volume, and then to the first volume of Tangent Comics: Superman's Reign. Come join!

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