全明星超人 (2007)

All-Star Superman is a twelve-issue American comic book series featuring Superman that was published by DC Comics. The series ran from November 2005 to October 2008, written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Frank Quitely, and digitally inked by Jamie Grant. The series revolves around Superman as he accomplishes many heroic feats (The Twelve Labors of Superman) and attempts to make peace with the world before his imminent death due to overexposure to Earth's Sun.

The origin of the series started with Morrison's desire to tell a "timeless" Superman story that was not an origin story or followed a classic narrative. Morrison originally planned a revamp of the Superman character, titled "Superman Now", but after the approach was declined, they decided they would not write anything related to Superman until DC Vice President Dan DiDio contacted them. Some of the ideas planned for "Superman Now" were subsequently reused for All-Star Superman.

The series was the second to be launched in 2005 under DC's All-Star imprint, the first being All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder. These series were attempts by DC to allow major comics creators a chance to tell stories showcasing these characters without being restricted by DC Universe continuity.

All-Star Superman received critical acclaim for its emotional story, characterization, writing, and artwork. It is now widely seen as one of the greatest Superman stories ever written and one of the best comic books of all time. An animated adaptation was released in 2011, and the 2025 film Superman takes inspiration from the comic book series.

Publication history

Grant Morrison's approach to writing this series was to make the reading as universal as possible. He stated that they were not interested in "re-doing origin stories or unpacking classic narratives" but instead wanted to do "a total update, rehaul and refit". Instead creating a "fresh and relevant" update for new readers, Morrison wanted to write a "collection of 'timeless' Superman issues". The origins of this lie in a revamp of Superman, Superman Now, which began when Morrison and editor Dan Raspler were unsuccessfully brainstorming ideas for a new take on the character outside San Diego Comic-Con, when they had a "shamanic" encounter with a man dressed as Superman which helped spark the creative process and inspired the cover to the first issue. Morrison states in an interview:

He was perched with one knee drawn up, chin resting on his arms. He looked totally relaxed... and I suddenly realized this was how Superman would sit. He wouldn't puff out his chest or posture heroically, he would be totally chilled. If nothing can hurt you, you can afford to be cool. A man like Superman would never have to tense against the cold; never have to flinch in the face of a blow. He would be completely laid back, un-tense. With this image of Superman relaxing on a cloud looking out for us all in my head, I rushed back to my hotel room and filled dozens of pages of my notebook with notes and drawings.

The ideas generated by that meeting were refined and pitched to DC in 1998 by Morrison, Mark Millar, Mark Waid and Tom Peyer. They picked up on the fifteen-year cycle of reboots to the character, the previous one being John Byrne's The Man of Steel, and suggested a new approach:

The Superman relaunch we're selling bucks the trend of sweeping aside the work done by those who came immediately before. Unlike the 'cosmic reset' revamps all too prevalent in current comics, our new Superman approach is an honest attempt to synthesize the best of all previous eras. Our intention is to honor each of Superman's various interpretations and to use internal story logic as our launching pad for a re-imagined, streamlined 21st century Man of Steel. The 'cosmic reset' notion has been replaced by a policy of 'include and transcend' with regard to past continuity.

Our intention is to restore Superman to his pre-eminent place as the greatest super-hero of all.

Although initially greenlit, it was eventually turned down and Morrison said that they "didn't expect to be doing any further work on Superman" but the chance came as they were finishing their run on New X-Men. In an interview with Matt Brady from Newsarama, Grant Morrison said that they were contacted by DC Vice President Dan DiDio and asked "if I'd like to come back to DC to work on a Superman project with an artist of my choice". They mentioned it worked out well since they were also planning to return to DC "to do the Seven Soldiers project and the Vertigo books".

Morrison has confirmed that they made use of some of their Superman Now ideas for All-Star Superman, like "Luthor's heart-stopping moment of understanding", as well as drawing on their original proposal for elements later included in the "DC One Million" storyline.

In writing the character Superman, Morrison identifies different aspects of his personality: "'Superman' is an act. 'Clark Kent' in Metropolis is also an act. There are actually two Kents, at least – one is a disguise, a bumbling, awkward mask for Superman. The other is the confident, strong, good-hearted Clark Kent who was raised by his surrogate Ma and Pa in Kansas and knows how to drive a tractor. I think he's the most 'real' of all".

Artist Frank Quitely devised the visual style to present Superman as a "deity" and contrast Clark Kent's appearance as "if Will Eisner had drawn Superman in the 1940s", allowing him to "release his posture so that his shoulders slumped, his spine curved, and his belly stuck out".