This review covers some general plot points, but doesn't spoil any surprises.
The Story
The Story of the Year opens up with super-hero Supreme being introduced to the Supremacy, an alternate dimension filled with versions of him who have been retconned out of existance over the decades. There's the original Golden Age Supreme, the Fifties Supreme who was always undergoing strange transformations, the Sergeants Supreme and many more. Supreme learns that his own universe is undergoing a revision, and that as soon as it's over he'll be returned to his new life.
Which is Alan Moore's excuse to write out the previous forty issues of Rob Liefeld's Supreme comic and instead do what he wants with the title--which is to reconstruct the Superman mythos. Lady Supreme, the old Kid Supreme, and whatever else were in those first forty issues are quickly done away with, never to be seen again, and so begins the reinvention of Supreme.
It's worth taking a moment here to comment on the fact that Alan Moore is one of the folks credited with deconstructing the superhero genre in the 1980s, primarily due to his work on Watchmen. In the last decade he's taken the opposite tact, instead writing stories which "reconstruct" super-hero comics, recreating the joy, wonder, and humor found in comics of old, but doing them with modern sensibilities toward characterization and plotting. Moore has continued this trend in his later ABC Comics, particularly Tom Tomorrow, but it started here in Supreme, in The Story of the Year, which was published from August 1996 to September 1997.
Anyway, when Supreme returns to Earth following the revision, he finds his new "memories" slowly returning, and so issue by issue we're taken through Supreme's history. There's his secret origin in Littlehaven (Smallville) and how his dog, Radar (Krypto) also became super-powered. There's his earliest adventures as Kid Supreme (Superboy) and his meeting with the League of Infinity (Legion of Super-Heroes). The stories continue on through the strange 50s, the super-hero rebirth in the 60s, and we finally see Supreme head into space in the 70s (from which he has just returned).
However, the volume is more than just a rehash. It's a careful balance of two elements. On the one hand we have Supreme's past, told through flashbacks, each of which is a comic story told in the mood and style of the time. Contrasting this we have the framing modern day stories where we watch Supreme slowly regain his past, complete old tasks undone, and come to grips with his role in the modern-day. By this method, we see the stories of the past reborn in the present, creating a new but classic hero, which was no doubt exactly what Moore intended to do. The present-day story grows increasingly important as the volume goes by, as Supreme rediscovers not only only friends, but old enemies as well.
Overall, the 13-issue story collected in The Story of the Year is a beautifully orchestrated tale. It retells a new history for Supreme, revisits the entire history of Superman, recreates it for the modern day, and thus revitalizes it.
The Continuity
Though originally an Image comic, Supreme has almost nothing to do with Image continuity. Alan Moore used some of Rob Liefeld's Image heroes, including Supreme himself, but really created a new universe using these fragments. There were a total of 30 or 40 issues set in this new Moore-created universe before Rob Liefeld's new company, Awesome Entertainment, went bankrupt through, one would guess, tremendously incompetent accounting. There are three trade paperbacks of this continuity: Supreme: The Story of the Year, Supreme: The Return, and Judgement Day. A few additional Moore-written issues of Youngblood, Glory, and others remain uncollected (and incomplete anyway).
Much more important to Supreme is the continuity of DC Comics through the Golden and Silver Ages (meaning 1938 to the 1960s, roughly). Pretty much everything in this volume has a direct correlation in the DC comics of those eras. For example in one of the earlier flashbacks we meet the Allied Supermen of America, who are clearly the Justice Society of America. They include: Glory (Wonder Woman), Roy Roman (Aquaman), Super Patriot (?), Doc Rocket (The Flash), Storybook Smith (Kid Eternity/Johnny Thunderbolt), Mighty Man (Captain Marvel), Professor Night (Batman), Alley Cat (Catwoman?), Jack O' Lantern (The Spectre), Wax Man (The Sandman), and others. You don't need to know DC continuity to enjoy this book, but if you are familiar with it, you'll probably appreciate the volume and its in-jokes much more.
The Storytelling
Where this book really shines is in the plotting, both in its respect and usage for DC storytelling styles of the 1940s-1960s, and in its intertwining of the past and present. The flashback stories are usually fun, while the modern-day stories are often tense and suspenseful. I'm amazed at how well these two styles work together and create a cohesive whole that's more than its parts.
The characterization in the book is fairly shallow, but I did pick up some affection for Supreme and for potential beau Diana Dane. Really, the characters in the book are archetypes with some interesting twists, and not much more.
Still, my most important assessment of the book is that it drew me very quickly through the entirely volume, and imbued me with a sense of wonder as it did, all even though this is the second time I read the stories (the first being in the original comics). I don't think this is the best of Alan Moore's work. Probably all of his most highly lauded works are better (Swamp Thing, Watchmen, From Hell). However, I do think it's one of his most readable works, and possibly one of his most re-readable as well. For that reason I've given it a high "4" out of "5" for Substance.
The Artwork
The main art chores are done by a huge legion of pencillers and inkers. Joe Bennett, Mark Pajarillo, and J. Morrigan do the most work with 3-4 issues pencillng each. I can't really tell them apart. Most draw in the modern Image style, with strangely proportioned characters drawn with lots of lines. Attention to background details varies from non-existant to nicely detailed.
However, the actual star of the artwork is Rick Veitch, who draws all the flashback scenes for issues 42-52b. They are drawn with meticulous care to ensure that they fit the style of the particular era that Moore is revisiting. There are even unique logos for each flashback, which mimic the logos of the original DC comics, and lettering which fits in perfectly. They're beautifully done, and the transitions from modern-day to flashback and back are sometimes breathtaking because of the contrasting art styles.
I generally don't like the style that Image and other similar modern comics are drawn in, but somehow here, with the old styles to contrast against, it really works.
The Presentation
This book is printed as a very hefty trade paperback, all on pristine, glossy paper. Some of the line work looks a little washed out on this printing, but that appears to have been an issue with the original comics as well.
The original covers only appear, greatly reduced, on the credits page, but it's no great loss, as only the first couple of issues try to complement Moore's era-bridging story.
Overall, thanks largely to the superb work that Rick Veitch contributed to this volume, and the impressive heft of the overall book, I've given it a full "5" out of "5" for Style.
Usage in RPGs
In this volume Alan Moore has boiled down the essence of classic super-heroes. If you're wanting to run a classic super-hero game, based on the morality and ideas of the 1940s-1960s this is a great book to read, to cleanse your pallette of modern-day dark comics. It's Superman and it's archetypical, so I don't know if it'll offer any specific plot ideas, but as a general mood builder, it's great.
Conclusion
As I said earlier, this was Alan Moore's attempt to reconstruct super-hero comics, through the person of Superman, and he does a superb job of it. The very carefully structured writing shines and Rick Veitch's artwork really helps it stand out as a piece from a different era.
If you loved the Golden or Silver Ages of comics, and particularly if you liked Superman and the DC continuity, this is an absolute must-read book.
