The stage set, the story is divided into three parts. "Prelude to War" sees Superman and his allies deal with the first strike against Earth, not to mention the not-very-considerate preparations of their alien partners-in-arms. "All-Out War" sees Earth's heroes in the thick of it, defending their planet against Imperiex and other mysterious forces after our terrestrial assets. Superman is forced to face Doomsday, who "killed" him the last time they fought, and the other heroes confront their own deadly enemies. "Casualties of War" brings the crossover to a conclusion, with the heroes learning the true price of victory.

Review

Okay, campers, here's our new word for the day:

de · riv · a · tive -- adj. 1. not original; secondary. n. 2. something derived.

Not that I expect you, an obviously intelligent reader, to need a vocabulary lesson. But if you happen to come across anyone involved in making this crossover, please do us all a favor and do whatever it takes to beat the meaning of this word into their heads.

I know I can be cranky in these reviews. Believe me, even after the debacle that was Day of Judgment, I really, really tried to give this crossover the benefit of a doubt.

But I can't get past the blatant rip-offs, recycling, and just plain unoriginal ideas. To wit:

	Alliance of aliens defending the Earth? Not that far off from an alliance of aliens invading it, when you think about it.
	An all-powerful alien whose only purpose is to destroy everything he comes across meets his Waterloo at puny little Earth, where heroes and villains join forces to make a stand? Shoot, I know I saw that someplace...
	A big part of Kansas wiped off the map? Been there, done that...
	"Aspects" of the main villain going to different parts of the world to implement their master's machinations? What, did you miss that the last time it happened...?

I mean, the writers of this crossover couldn't have made their rip-offs any more blatant if they tried. One of the Superboy issues, for example, has our main character dreaming a panel that's an almost carbon-copy duplicate of the cover from Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 (only with him instead of Supergirl lying dead in Superman's arms). Is there ANYTHING about this crossover that strikes anyone as remotely original?

Okay, I grant you the whole "kidnapping 6.7 million people out of Metropolis to use their city as a home base" bit was fairly nifty to watch (though, call me perverted if you must, but an awful huge percentage of Metropolitans sleep in their jammies -- what, there's an ordinance against sleepin' in the buff, or something?).

And yes, I can appreciate the occasional "homage" as much as the next disturbingly sane comics fan. But really, folks, take a look at this offering and boil it down to its essential plot: Big alien comes. Heroes team up. World in the balance. Life will never be the same. Yadda yadda yadda.

And can I get a few kicks in about the artwork on today's books while I'm at it? I'm not sure when it exactly happened, but why do all the characters in comics now look like they're auditioning for Japanese anime flicks? Hey, I'm all for cross-cultural exchanges, but there's a distressing trend to make all characters, super-powered or otherwise, look like "Astro Boy" extras.

Saucer-shaped eyes, canoe-sized feet, grossly distorted mouths to express surprise, male characters with muscles apparently chiseled by blind marble sculptors, female characters with lemon-sour puckers for mouths and ridiculous waist-to-hip-to-breasts ratios, any semblance of subtlety or nuance driven out to the desert and left to die...

What, think I'm kidding? Okay, then -- take any of the Superboy or Young Justice issues in this crossover and compare the artwork to anything done by, say, Jack Kirby. Or Art Adams. Or Paul Smith. Or John Byrne. Hell, even Rob "Perspective? We don't need no stinkin' perspective" Liefeld is good for a chuckle, and you can at least recognize his work.

Yeah, go ahead and tell me this is the kind of writing and artwork the fans want these days. All I see is the work of a lot of writers and artists that, with some exceptions, are walking in shoes way too big for them to fill. A nice effort, but this is one crossover that needs -- literally -- to go back to the drawing board.