Superman: H'el on Earth: the New 52!

The story is pretty good, it's not a masterpiece, but it's a fun ride. The art was generally good. I see many complaints from people on this story focusing on H'el and his unexplained origin and how he has such great powers. While it is never fully explained in this story, his origins are explored further in a villains month comic that focuses on him and his origin as well as explaining how he has such strange powers. The comic was collected in the Krypton Returns trade paperback(which I have not read yet, but I did read the villains month comic.)

Love it

Contents: BEWARE - this includes issues 13-17 of Superman (plus Superboy 14-17, Superboy Annual 1, Supergirl 14-17). The hardcover collection Superman vol 3 Fury at World's End includes the very same Superman 13-17, with the additional #0. Why did DC print both? I guess if you're standing in the store comparing them, fine; but if you pre-order on Amazon you get stuck with two copies of the same thing - Superman 13-17. I'd say just get this version and skip on Superman vol 3; I didn't read #0 yet, but you are in effect paying $20 for it if you already have this H'el on Earth collection.Story: The story started out interesting, but just went on and on without anything new really. There's a copy of Marvel's Galactus and The Watcher; it just sounds too familiar. The Superboy sub-plot is interesting, as Kal-El has to help him figure out his powers; Superboy seems totally new compared to any old versions of him.Characters: Superman is a jerk. I guess they're trying to make him young, as in inexperienced and youthful, but honestly I didn't admire him; I simply tolerated him. He's almost flippant and reckless, but not in a youthful way in which you could forgive him. Supergirl is very strange; I wasn't convinced by her character. H'el could have been interesting, but his one gimmick - he wants to undo the destruction of Krypton - is played over and over again in the story, and somehow he has God-powers yet he can't launch his ship off earth without destroying it.Plot and dialogue: after the plot stalls out, it is very tedious. the dialogue is dreadful. I guess this work might be geared to a younger audience, or someone new to comics?, or perhaps Lobdell is stuck in the 1980s, but every bit of dialogue is pretty much either (1) describing what we see happening already, or (2) going off on long lines of exposition that have nothing to do with the action or plot. It was painful at times. With the predictable plot and the tedious dialogue, I just started skipping the words after a while and looked at the pretty pictures instead. I don't think I missed anything.Artwork - Kenneth Rocafort's artwork is amazing! The layout was dynamic and engaging, the inking and coloring was subtle and powerful. (The tie-ins from Superboy and Supergirl were fine, but nothing stood out).So, nice artwork, the appeal of Superman and the whole mythology permits me to forgive a few things here and there; but the duplication of the Superman vol 3 issues, the stalled-out plot and the painful dialogue make me want to give it only 2 stars, with another thrown in for the art and, well, it's Superman and it's very colorful.

When Superman was relaunched as part of the "New 52", changes were made. The costume was updated, both in looks and how it 'works'. Clark was made younger, and any romance with Lois became only a dream in his heart. His adoptive parents are deceased, and this version of Clark is a bit more impetuous.This book reveals that Superman's power level has also been changed. As in the 'Silver Age' version of the character, he can survive in space seeming indefinitely, and he is credited with strength that can move planets. In many ways, it seems as if the Byrne/Wolfman reboot of Superman from the mid 80s has been abandoned in favor of the Superman of the 50s, 60s and 70s--which is not surprising, as Grant Morrison, architect of the Action Comics relaunch (the companion series to Superman), has repeatedly professed his love of those old stories (All Star Superman being a prime example).So why three stars? I'm knocking off one star because I MUCH preferred the Superman of the last 25 years--by increasing Clark's powers back to planet-shaking level, DC is dramatically limiting the kinds of foes that can put Superman in jeopardy. A mistake, in my opinion, and one which interfered with my enjoyment of the character in this volume.I knocked off another star for dragging this story out unnecessarily. This book compiles a large crossover event between three series--Superman, Supergirl and Superboy. But the story is padded and loses dramatic tension as a result. It simply ran for too many issues. Given the page count, more could have been divulged about the villain of the piece--but how he came by his extensive power suite is left for some future tale.The story has emotional heft; Supergirl and Superboy in particular have clear motivations that make sense story-wise, while the chief draw regarding Superman is when the story examines how other people react to him. The art from the issues of Superman is great, from Supergirl is good, but from Superboy is spotty and sometimes lacking. All in all, worth a read--but so far Superman has not returned to the greatness of the late 80s and early 90s.

Great story I wanted to re-read!

I absolutely loved this book. Superman faces one of the most dangerous villains that I have seen him go against. Kenneth Rocafort displays amazing art and it left me wanting a part 2. Amazing!

It was a pre owned book that said it was in good condition. It did not mention that the pages were ripped out and hanging out of the book.

This is a good story and a fun crossover between Superman, Superboy & Supergirl. I recommend this compilation in lieu of the individual titles.

A good story that doesn't get the credit it deserves.One complaint levelled against the Superman character is that he doesn't get the opponents he needs to be tested and is often too strong for those that do. So what happens when he comes across someone who has his abilities, is stronger than him and manages to turn people against him? This is the question that H'el poses and the threat is great enough to pull in Superboy and Supergirl, as well as support from the Justice League itself.H'el arrives suddenly on Earth and immediately searches for his fellow Kryptonian survivors, observing their behaviours. When he finds Superman he spins him a tale of his relationship with Superman's father Jor-El, suggesting that Kal-El is a brother to him, but when he reveals plans to bring Krypton back to life he becomes hostile and marks him for death. He finds Supergirl and manipulates her into falling in love with him and turning her against Superman. When he finds Superboy he believes the clone is dangerous (there is precedent for this, as Krypton was once almost destroyed by clones) and tries to destroy him, but is saved by Superman who stabilises the young hero.H'el takes possession of Superman's Fortress Of Solitude and the race is on for him and Superboy to find help in order to stop H'el from destroying Earth, and in his desperation he turns to his worst enemy.......

This actually my first time purchasing any DC comic as I'm normally a manga reader. I know this is probably not the best entry point for someone new to the DC comics, however I am not completely clueless about the DC universe, as I read on the origin of most these heroes and villains. Having said all that I actually found this book very interesting and fun to read, and I thought it did a great job explaining things especially about the heroes that showed in the story. As a fun of action I though seeing superman going at it against someone equal or even superior to him in strength is always a delight to see. I would definitely recommend reading this book, but with a slight warning to newcomers.

I thought it was ok. Very disjointed at places and requires bit of re-reading.It feels like the teams were no communicating well during this crossover.Characters and Ideas get introduced but never explored further.Also the Supergirl is just written terribly.I gave it two stars due to the banter between Superbly and Superman.

Nice premise and a lot of good characters. Interesting to see how Supergirl has her own fortress in the New 52, and how Superboy is treated with suspicion by pretty much everyone.I really enjoyed the Clark Kent moments in this, something we do not see a lot of in the action orientated comics of today.

Enjoyed this immensley