Superman: The Man of Steel 8 Paperback – January 7, 2014

I give 4 or 5 star ratings to each paperback in this series to indicate which volumes I prefer. And I'm mainly rating the Byrne content, whereas if I were to consider the material by other creators I *might* be giving a few of these 3-stars each.Highlights here for me...*Action 598- Checkmate. Superman encounters a new, American covert action agency, while trying to diffuse a hostage situation. The situation in the Middle East apparently reaches Metropolis! Here we see Byrne pencils with Ty Templeton inks- I wouldn't have recognized this as Byrne work if it weren't for the helpful credits. I still enjoyed the story despite the plain looking inks.*Superman 16- introducing Prankster! A villain who looks like an Andrew Loomis caricature, he's the host of a kids TV show, and he's attacking Metroplolis with deadly silliness. This is all out fun, and my favorite issue here. Kesel's inks shine again.*Action 599- Metal Men vs. Lex Luthor. A special issue penciled by Ross Andru, with figure inks by Byrne. The visuals look very loose & unrefined yet they have a certain charming quality that I like.*Superman 17- the return of Silver Banshee. We learn more about her... and her family?! She has a great visual design that works great with the coloring of the 80's. She's strictly black & white, which is a look today's 3D colorists would likely spoil by adding shading & highlights.*Action 600- celebrating Superman's 50th year. Wonder Woman & Superman have a 1st date, with Darkseid as a special guest! Pencils by Byrne, inks by George Perez- the inks are actually somewhat blurry looking yet I still enjoyed this issue.The inks are all over the place in this paperback, with many varying contributions. I'm still greatly enjoying this, with Byrne & Kesel being my winning combination. People often say Superman is boring; I didn't feel any sense of this here! Byrne handles the character like a dream come true. I'm a *huge* fan of 80's comics, and Byrne's Superman run is to me a highlight of the decade. It's deservedly considered among his best-ever works, and I'm still clamoring for an omnibus or two. Get with it DC!

I've never been the biggest John Byrne fan and I had nostalgic ambivalence over the "reboot" of Superman after DC's first (and now seemingly bi-annual) attempt to simplify its long-standing comic book continuity.Byrne's stuff was okay, typical Byrne, filled with over-simplified stories and pretty pictures. The real treat of the reboot was the work done by the other creators, especially Jerry Ordway, along with Wolfman and then Stern.Their stories had a tangible feel to them, involving the rest of the Superman cast in a friendly and intimate sense, a sort of modern version of the old Adventures of Superman TV show.For a period, these were the best Superman stories in decades and this time frame, when it was still fresh, is full of energy and newness. Definitely worth picking up (especially if you're confused by the myriad and sometimes depressing versions of Supes out there today).

Las mejores historias de Superman comenzaron despues de la crisis en tierras infinitas. Man of Steel 8 es la prueba de ello!

The Man of Steel graphic novels are by far the greatest stories of Superman throughout the 80's and in my opinion belong on the list of the best superman stories of all time. These stories are from the second series of Superman where Superman was rebooted from the original and came up with a whole new line of astonishing new stories about the greatest Superhero ever. I have the complete set of books Vol. 1-8 and can never stop putting these books down once I start reading them. Volume 8 is the latest addition to the TPB series and is just as great as the others with great art, story lines, and character study. If you are a real Superman fan you will love this novel as well as the other 7 volumes if you haven't read them already.

It's fun reading these Byrne stories from the 1980s, especially in light of the far different Superman stories from the first decade of the new millennium. The Byrne stories are rather tame by current standards and the artwork isn't nearly as sophisticated as it is now. The quality of the tales varies, but I generally enjoyed them, except for those about the tiresome Silver Banshee and Darkseid. This isn't the best volume in the series, but it's not bad, and worth getting at a good price if you're a completist.

I just picked this up and I love it. So much better than the new 52 stuff we're getting now. Superman is Superman. Very easy to follow and just a lot of fun

This volume collects 8 issues of the superman titles released in February and March 1988. One of which being the extra sized Action Comics 600. The art in most of these volumes is by John Byrne. The volumes included are Action Comics 598-600, Superman 16-18 and Adventures of Superman 439 and 440.This is the 8th volume of the series so far, so you should be warned that you are jumping into a larger overall story and there will be dangling plotlines. Supergirl crashes to earth at the end of the 2nd issue in the volume and we don't see her again, for instance.I rank the issues highly, especially when viewed nostalgically as these are superman comics of my childhood, when characters like Gangbuster and Bibbo Bibbowski were regulars. There are some classic moments like Superman disguising himself as Batman, and Superman and Batman meeting up and each deducing each other's secret identity.The only real downside here is the paper quality. It's cheap news print, like the kind used in the 80's. I would have preferred a higher quality even at a higher price.

I was a big silver and bronze age Superman reader and I had always felt that the character kept getting better and better, so I was concerned when Crisis on Infinite Earths was done and a new direction was to be done with Superman. John Byrne came from Marvel and the Fantastic Four and contiuned to make Superman comics better. I am not as proud of the accomplishments of his successors, but I really liked what Byrne did!

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Muy buena historia, buena narrativa y excelente calidad, muy buen servicio en el reparto del mismo con rapidez y eficiencia en el mismo

Best

Excellent collection of classic superman stories, a must for any superman fan.

The amazing issue #500 (reboot not withstanding) has Greek gods, New Gods, battles, John Byrne's amazing art and even George Perez' inks!There's also a taste of things to come, thanks to Roger Stern, plus the Metal Men and Paul Kupperberg!Silver Banshee returns, revealing some new secrets from her pas; the Batman and Superman engage in a game of wits; an alternate history of Krypton is revealed thanks to Mike Mignola's art.It's an entertaining fun that never falters, from the first to the last page!