All-Star Superman: the film versus the comics by Grant Morrison

One of the most celebrated Superman works, brought to the screen by a team who had to choose what they sacrificed. Decryption source by source, without disclosing the outcomes.

As in each article in this series, only verified information (creators, distribution, dates, publishers) is stated; the comparative analysis is ours, without reproducing dialogue or protected images.

All-Star Superman (2005): the definitive Superman

All-Star Superman appeared at DC from 2005 to 2008, written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Frank Quitely and colored by Jamie Grant. Twelve issues, outside of any continuity, designed as an autonomous story — a reader can open the first without knowing anything about the character.

The starting point is a trap set by Lex Luthor: Superman is exposed to a dose of solar radiation which increases his powers tenfold while dooming him in the short term. Knowing that he is going to die, he sets out to put his affairs in order — and the story follows these final acts, constructed as an echo of the labors of Hercules.

What sets the work apart from the usual Superman production is its refusal of torment. Morrison writes a fundamentally good character, whose power poses no moral problems and whose goodness is never presented as naive. Where two decades of stories had sought to darken the character to make him interesting, All-Star does the opposite and makes him moving through his generosity. The title is widely considered to be the best modern entry into the character, and has been widely rewarded.

Frank Quitely's design is the other reason for this status. Dense lines, slightly heavy analyses which give weight to the bodies, inventive cut-outs - and digital coloring by Jamie Grant, produced in close collaboration with the designer, which produces a luminous rendering without equivalent in the superhero comic of the time.

Compression, and what it sacrifices first

The 2011 film is set to squeeze twelve numbers down to around seventy minutes. Contrary toYear One, the source of which was naturally in the duration of a short film, we must choose here.

The choices made are coherent, and their logic deserves to be explained because it applies to all adaptations of this type. The film retains the backbone – the diagnosis, the revelation made to Lois, the confrontation with Luthor – and prioritizes the autonomous numbers, those which do not advance the main plot. However, these are often the most memorable in the comic: the one which takes place in the distant future, the one devoted to a visit to the Bizarro World, the one which deals with a moment in the life of Clark Kent without any rescue issue.

This is a general rule of compression: it favors intrigue and sacrifices digression, whereas digression is often what gives a work its singularity. We saw it at work onSandman, whose isolated numbers make the richness, and the mechanism is identical here. A reader who comes from the film will have followed the story; he will not have encountered the pages that readers of the comic cite first.

What Quitely does on the page that no film does again

The second loss is graphic, and it is specific to this title. Frank Quitely is one of the designers who most consciously compose their plates: a page can be organized around a geometric shape, a sequence of boxes can slow down or speed up simply by varying their size, and certain double pages can be read simultaneously as a single image and as a sequence.

This dimension is strictly specific to the printed support. It agrees with the observation established onYear One— even a plan by panel adaptation loses the architecture of the board — but the stakes are higher here, Quitely relying more on these effects than Mazzucchelli. Added to this is the colorization: the luminous rendering of Jamie Grant, obtained by special digital work, was not sought by the film, which adopts a more conventional television animation image.

The result is nonetheless one of the best-received DC adaptations. She faithfully conveys the point - a good Superman putting his affairs in order - and that's already considerable. But it perfectly illustrates a useful distinction: to carry a story is not to carry a work.

The characters, from paper to screen

• Superman— Benevolent and never tormented, faithful to Morrison's bias.
• Lois Lane— Recipient of the revelation, present in both versions.
• Lex Luthor— At the origin of the trap, and the arrival point of the story.
• Jimmy Olsen— Whose autonomous number is discarded by the film.

Morrison, Quitely and the “All-Star” line

It is worth explaining the title itself, as it refers to a specific editorial initiative. In the mid-2000s, DC launched a line intended to entrust its flagship characters to renowned creative teams, outside of continuity, to produce definitive versions accessible to any reader. The principle was excellent; execution was uneven, with several titles in the line experiencing considerable delays or difficult reception. All-Star Superman is the undisputed success.

Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely formed one of the most recognized duos in the medium at that time, after several notable collaborations at Marvel and DC. Their working method - a long-standing complicity, a designer involved very early in the design - partly explains the coherence of the result: Morrison's ideas are written for this particular drawing.

For the collector, the All-Star line draws a well-identified modern segment, with the first issues dating from the mid-2000s - a time when the specialized market's print runs were already much lower than those of previous decades, which mechanically limits the supply available in high grade.

The Superman Problem, and Why Animation Solves It

There is a deeper reason for the success of this adaptation, and it has to do with the character himself. Superman is known to be difficult to bring to the screen, and the usual diagnosis – he would be too powerful, therefore without stakes – misses the point. The real obstacle is one of register: Superman belongs to an openly fabulous world, populated by bottled cities, polar fortresses, robot servants and red suns. This wonderful assumption passes naturally onto a drawn page, where nothing pretends to be photographed.

In live action, it becomes a permanent problem. A real setting requires justification, an actor in costume requires treatment, and the constant temptation is to darken the whole thing to make it credible - which is what most of the actors have done, with varying degrees of success.recent attempts in theaters. However, to darken Superman is to deprive him of what sets him apart.

Animation doesn't have this problem. It makes no claim to any realism, so it has nothing to justify: a city in a bottle is simply a city in a bottle. This is exactly the mechanism observed onInvincible, and he explains why All-Star Superman conveys Morrison's tone so well despite everything he cuts. The film can afford to be luminous and generous, without having to negotiate with verisimilitude. For the reader, this means that the gap between the comic and this adaptation is not in nature – it is the same world – but in magnitude.

Collection side: what numbers to aim for after the film

All-Star Superman #1(2005) is the key to the title: first issue of a complete, autonomous and unanimously acclaimed story, whose reputation continues to grow. Its rating remains reasonable in view of its critical status, the absence of adaptation in real shots having never created a massive call for demand - a situation favorable to the patient collector. The launch cover variants structure a share of the market.

The twelve issues can be found without any particular difficulty, which allows the complete series to be put together at a low cost – a realistic objective, unlike many titles in this corpus. Collections and luxury editions, regularly reprinted, are the economical way to read, and Quitely's plates benefit from this in large format. As always, condition and gradation determine value; relying on real recent sales is strongly recommended.

Where to start reading

All-Star Superman #1(2005) is the ideal entry point, even for those who have never read a Superman comic: the story is out of continuity and is sufficient in itself. The reader who comes from the film will find the plot, but will especially discover the independent numbers that the adaptation had to leave out - and which are, in the widely shared opinion, the peaks of the work.

Timeline to know

• Mid 2000s— DC launches the All-Star line, out of continuity.
• 2005— All-Star Superman #1, by Morrison, Quitely and Grant.
• 2008— The story ends in the twelfth issue.
• 2011— The animated film, in seventy minutes.

Its place in the saga and for the collector

All-Star Superman will remain as the adaptation that succeeded in conveying a message by renouncing a work. It faithfully carries the essentials – a good Superman who puts his affairs in order – but sets aside the autonomous issues which make the comic unique, and does not seek to render the composition of Frank Quitely or the light of Jamie Grant. This is the ordinary price of compression, and it is particularly readable here. For the collector, the complete series remains one of the most accessible modern lenses given its reputation.

The verdict: the message transmitted, the digression sacrificed

• Loyalty: the initial diagnosis, the construction in twelve labors, a benevolent and never tormented Superman, the revelation made to Lois and the face-to-face with Luthor come from the comic.
• Freedoms: several entire numbers discarded - the stand-alone ones as a priority -, a rhythm becoming continuous, and neither Jamie Grant's colors nor the composition of Quitely's plates reproduced.
• Collectible numbers: All-Star Superman #1 (2005, DC), then the complete series in twelve issues.

All-Star Superman faithfully conveys Morrison and Quitely's point, but the compression first sacrifices the digression - that is to say precisely what the comic's readers cite first. For the reader as for the collector, it is an invitation to read the twelve issues.

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