Supreme #63

Of all of Image Comics early to mid-1990's titles my favorite, by far, was Supreme. Almost two decades before Mark Waid's Irredeemable, Supreme was created by Rob Liefeld around the idea of Superman without the patriotism and strong moralistic foundation of a certain Man of Steel.

After appearances in Youngblood, Supereme's own title begins much like Superman Returns, with the character returning to Earth after years in space to a far more advanced world than that which he left, filled with new super-human heroes and villains, and old enemies.

The character's origins and were tweaked by several writers over the years including Keith Giffen and Alan Moore. Moore's take on the character abandoned much of the character's history and rebooted him as Silver Age Superman for the modern world in tales featuring multiple realities, numerous versions of the character, time paradoxes, the Supergirl-ish Suprema, and even a Supreme version of Hoppy the Marvel Bunny called Oscar the Omnibunny.

Issue #63 finds Moore's final storyline seeing print for the first time. As Supreme shows his new girlfriend Diane Dane around the Citadel, his arch-nemesis Darius Dax finds himself trapped in the Daxia with other versions of himself where he discovers the key to defeat Supreme.

Rather than an end to the character the story opens up a new storyline for Supreme and Dax which will be written and drawn by Erik Larsen (who provides the art for this issue). At a time when DC seems to be draining all the fun out of their comics by recreating their characters as gritty 90's version of themselves it's humorous that Image publishes this 90's tale that so warmly embraces the comic styles of the Silver Age.

After years in exile once again Supereme has returned to the Image Universe, with a terrific final issue from Moore that's a perfect reintroduction to the character. I'll be interested to see where Larken takes the character from here. Best of the week.

[Image, $2.99]