Review: Superman Red & Blue 2025 Special

Last week, Superman Red and Blue Special #1 came out, a sort of autumnal surprise in this summer of Superman. I was a big fan of the original Red and Blue series, a prestige anthology series that came out 4 years ago (!!). As with any anthology series, that one had hits and misses. 

But I am happy to say that this special has four stories, all of which are very good and very entertaining. Whether planned or not, the stories seem to focus more on the person of Superman is and less on fast and furious action. 

Moreover, unlike some holiday specials which seem like a type of New Talent Showcase, this one is filled with names of established crators whose work I standardly love - Paul Dini, Mirka Andolfo, Dan Abnett, Rainbow Rowell, Cian Tormey, and Chris Samnee. It also has some established creators that are new to me like Michael Walsh and Caitlin Yarsky.

And yes, Supergirl shows up in the issue and I have to say there was a sigh of relief on my part as the story unfolded. 

So if you are looking for a lot of punches this might not be for you. But if who Superman is at his core is one of the things that intrigues you, you should seek this out for sure.

On to the stories.

Review: Superman Annual 2023

Wow.

Superman Annual 2023 came out this week and was phenomenal. I really feel like we are riding a wave of superb Superman stories and this annual was a near perfect reflection of that. In writer Joshua Williamson (and Phillip Kennedy Johnson) I feel we have someone who understands the character, respects Superman's history, and wants to move forward with fresh new stories. 

This Annual isn't really a Superman story. He is on the periphery of this story. Instead we deep dive into Superman's supporting cast, both allies and villains. There is a page that was an emotional gut punch for me. And we end on perhaps the most delicious cliffhanger I have read in a while. There are a couple of new faces to boot, adding new spice to the delicious mix.

We have callbacks to the modern era and Cat Grant. We have callbacks to the Bendis era (I feel I am a bit of a Bendis apologist here). For someone like me, this shows respect for those that came before. 

Add to that a heady mix of excellent artists and you have a winner. Jack Herbert brings his fine-lined detail here. Edwin Galmon has a sort of water color panache. Caitlin Yarsky brings a solid look to Mercy Graves. Max Raynor is ... well .. Max Raynor, bringing energy and polish. And old Supergirl friend Mahmud Asrar is here. I do wish that the book was separated into chapters with each artist getting the credit they deserve. Or give us old school page numbers and list which artist was on which pages. They deserve people to know.

I outright loved this book. It was joyous and raucous and sad between the covers. Brilliant.

On to the details.