Jurgens, Dan
About the Author:
Dan Jurgens was born in Ortonville, Minnesota, USA in 1959. He studied graphic design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design before getting a job with DC Comics. He currently lives in Minnesota with his wife Ann and children Seth and Quinn.
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
3.3 out of 5
(4 books)
TOP PICK:
Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey - Book One
Superman/Aliens
(Art by Dan Jurgens and Kevin Nowlan)
Superman finds himself on Argo, a city floating through space apparently inhabited by other Kryptonians, where he must face an infestation of Aliens as his powers dwindle.
I wasn't particularly impressed with all this, but that's largely to do with my general dislike of Superman as a character. It was interesting the way Jurgens uses this as an opportunity to tie the story of Kara (the version from the 'Supergirl' movie) into the comic franchise, but not nearly interesting enough.
Much better than Superman's part of the story is the bits that follow Lois. She finds herself trapped on a space station, caught between a loose Alien and the Lexcorp operatives who, predictably, want it for weapons research. Sadly, whilst better than the other bits of the story, Lois' scenes aren't anything we didn't see from Ripley in the Alien movies.
3 out of 5
Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey - Book One
(Art by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding)
Superman, suffering from nightmares about the ordeal he experienced at the hands of Doomsday, decides he has to discover the fate of the creature after it was thrown into deep space. Meanwhile Doomsday, very much alive, arrives on Apokolips and begins to wreak havoc on Darkseid's kingdom.
I actually read Book Two out of order some time ago, so it was nice to finally read the start of the story here. And it's a strong start too; exploring the understandable psychological trauma that Superman retains after having been beaten to death by Doomsday. It was also interesting to see Lois' horror at the idea of Clark seeking out Doomsday, having been so devastated by losing him the first time around.
As for Doomsday himself, it was interesting to see him go toe to toe with Darkseid, the two of them being Superman's most physically powerful foes. Also, stories involving villains versus villains are always more interesting because you don't have to root for either to win and can just enjoy seeing them unleash their power against each other.
4 out of 5
Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey - Book Three
(Art by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding)
The conclusion of the story sees Superman pursuing Doomsday for a final confrontation as the fate of an entire world hangs in the balance.
This book gets off to a fairly poor start when Superman is given a brand new outfit... an outfit made up of belts and pouches in the style of the worst 90s comic book designs. He looks ridiculous, but I suppose I should be glad that the outfit hides his mullet.
The book does get better, however, as we see that even with his new suit and its gizmos, Superman is still unable to fight Doomsday to a standstill. In fact, due to his ability to adapt countermeasures to his vulnerabilities, Doomsday continues to get more powerful as the book goes on. This means that Superman has to figure out an unconventional way of neutralising the monster.
It has to be said, though, that there just isn't the same impact and stakes in this battle between the two characters as there was in 'The Death of Superman' (reviewed here), so it comes off as a little anticlimactic.
3 out of 5
Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey - Book Two
(Art by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding)
On Apokolips Superman's pursuit of Doomsday is interrupted when he is forced into an alliance with Darkseid in order to defeat Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg.
This is the middle part of a three-part story, so reading it as I have, without access to the preceding book or the conclusion, makes it feel somewhat adrift narratively. We, naturally, don't get much of an introduction to what's going on and no resolution to the story involving Doomsday. However, the narrative of Superman and Darkseid versus the Cyborg is largely self-contained and reasonably enjoyable.
What we do get here, which I found very interesting, is the story of Doomsday's origins as a genetic experiment to create the perfect being gone wrong. It's nice to get some background to the bony behemoth, but it has to be said that Jurgens' grasp of how evolution works is somewhat ropey.
Overall a book not to be read in isolation but with some strong elements propping it up. Also, I can't not mention how much I hate Superman's stupid long hair in this era of his stories. Dying and coming back to life does not earn you the right to sport a mullet.
3 out of 5