Reprints All-New Collectors' Edition #c-56
Written by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams.
Penciled by Neal Adams.
Inked by Dick Giordano, Terry Austin and Steve Mitchell.
Muhammad Ali, Heavyweight Champion of the World, is in Metropolis, training for his next title bout. Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, reporters for WGBS News, find Ali and ask him for an interview. He agrees, telling Lois she's "prettier than Cosell."
Suddenly, an alien arrives. When Lois tries to interview him, the alien shoves her. Ali responds by punching him. The alien says he is Emperor Rat'Lar of the Scrubb. Rat'Lar has observed Earth and says its people are the most "warlike and savage" in the galaxy.
The Scrubb know that Ali is Earth's champion, so Rat'Lar proposes a fight between Muhammad and a Scrubb fighter. Ali doesn't really have a choice, since Rat'Lar has stationed a hundred warships in Earth's orbit. When Superman grabs Rat'Lar, the alien retaliates by launching missiles at St. Louis. Thankfully, Superman is able to stop the missiles.
Superman says that alien threats are more up his alley and he should fight the Scrubb champion. Ali believes it should be him, since he was born on Earth. Since they can't agree who will fight the Scrubb, Rat'Lar demands that Superman and Muhammad must fight each other for the right to face his champion. The alien says he can arrange for their fight to take place under a red sun, which will take away Superman's powers. Rat'Lar gives them 24 hours to prepare.
Ali is taken to Superman's Fortress Of Solitude, so "The Greatest" can give the Man Of Steel a crash-course in boxing. Thankfully, Superman creates a boxing ring around a Kryptonian Continuum Disruptor. This means their training can take place outside the realm of normal time, giving Superman months to train.
The training session is a learning experience for Superman. He learns that there's more to the so-called "Sweet Science" than punching.
When it's time for the fight, it's no contest. Even with months to train, Superman is no match for Muhammad Ali without his powers.
The champ pummels the superhero, knocking him out.
Thus, Ali will serve as champion and fight to save Earth.
Rat'Lar introduces Ali to his opponent, a giant named Hun'Ya. Rat'Lar says Hun'Ya was created in a Scrubb laboratory to be the perfect warrior. How can even Ali expect to defeat such a foe?
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| Ali and Superman are introduced to Hun'Ya! |
If Ali can't "whup" Hun'Ya, Rat'Lar will destroy Earth!
Can Ali out-box a seemingly unbeatable opponent? Will Earth be destroyed? Even if Ali wins, can Rat'Lar be trusted to spare Earth?
Review:
This is a great one-shot story. Like many children of the 70s, I was a big fan of Muhammad Ali. He was the most famous person on Earth and the closest thing we had to a real-live superhero. I owned the Muhammad Ali doll and I cried when he lost his championship to Leon Spinks. So I've been a fan of this story for a long time. It's written, penciled and inked by some of the greatest comic book talents of the Bronze Age.
Story:
This story is the definition of fun. The original credits for the story say "Script based on an original story by: Denny O'Neil; Adapted by Neal Adams," so I'm guessing it's mostly scripted by Adams. In any event, it's a great tale with good dialogue from all the characters. The script captures Ali's public persona very well. The champ is always confident that he'll beat any opponent thrown at him, no matter the odds. Adams even gives us some of Ali's Ringside Poetry. There's a great scene where Ali says a Scrubb spaceship looks like "a cross between Star Wars, Lost In Space and a pregnant blender," which made me laugh.
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| Superman and Ali prepare to face off in the ring. |
Superman is also well-written. He's shown as a hero who will do anything to save his adopted home planet. His interactions with Ali are also enjoyable. Rat'Lar is a great antagonist for the good guys.
Readers who are unfamiliar with Bronze Age Superman stories may be surprised to see Clark, Lois and Jimmy working as broadcast journalists working for WGBS, rather than as newspaper reporters. During the 1970s, this was the status quo in Superman comics.
Art:
Neal Adams is one of the finest illustrators I can think of and one of (if not) the greatest comic book artists of all time, and Dick Giordano does a nice job inking Adams. The art here is gorgeous from start to finish.
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| Jimmy Olsen serves as announcer for Ali & Superman's fight and sportscaster Howard Cosell makes a cameo |
Adams draws amazing likenesses of not just Ali, but also Ali's manager Herbert Muhammad and cornerman Bundini Brown.
In addition to fantastic renderings of Superman, Ali and the other characters, Adams fills this comic with lots of great looking aliens and futuristic structures. Adams also gives us lots of cool demonstrations of Superman's powers. And he has some unique ways of laying out panels in the book as well. A good example can be found in the image below:
How Does It Look?:
This portion of the review may be somewhat controversial. Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali has been recolored with "modern" coloring. Here's a scan of an original page from All-New Collectors' Edition #c-56:
Beautiful work by Adams and Giordano.
This is how it looks in the reprint book:
For good measure, here's another page, from the original...
...and how it looks in the reprinted version:
I'm sorry, but it just looks and feels wrong to me. It's my understanding that the recoloring was done with instructions from Adams himself, but I still can't get behind that. The "new" colors used here didn't exist in comic books published in the 1970s. It reminds me of George Lucas editing the Star Wars movies because they were made in the pre-CGI era. I also think the recoloring (especially the bottom panel of the above image) gives some of the art a muddied look.
Extras:
This book contains a new introduction from Adams where he discusses the process it took to create the book. DC Comics's longtime publisher Jeanette Kahn contributes an Afterword where she discusses DC's interactions with Ali and his management team.
The cover for All-New Collectors' Edition #c-56 featured likenesses of dozens of then-famous people. A key is included so that readers can figure out who's who in the cover drawing. The book closes with eleven pages of Adams' preliminary sketches of Ali and Superman.
Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali: Deluxe Edition features an exciting story where the first superhero teams with one of the greatest and most famous athletes of all time. Adams' art is fantastic, but the weird recoloring makes an otherwise enjoyable book a lot less enjoyable. It's still recommended, but the recoloring means I can't give it a higher rating.
J.A. Morris' rating:
.5
2 and a half Sals.
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| Bundini Brown punches Scrubbs, Ali slugs it out with Hun'Ya. |
In addition to fantastic renderings of Superman, Ali and the other characters, Adams fills this comic with lots of great looking aliens and futuristic structures. Adams also gives us lots of cool demonstrations of Superman's powers. And he has some unique ways of laying out panels in the book as well. A good example can be found in the image below:
How Does It Look?:
This portion of the review may be somewhat controversial. Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali has been recolored with "modern" coloring. Here's a scan of an original page from All-New Collectors' Edition #c-56:
Beautiful work by Adams and Giordano.
This is how it looks in the reprint book:
For good measure, here's another page, from the original...
...and how it looks in the reprinted version:
I'm sorry, but it just looks and feels wrong to me. It's my understanding that the recoloring was done with instructions from Adams himself, but I still can't get behind that. The "new" colors used here didn't exist in comic books published in the 1970s. It reminds me of George Lucas editing the Star Wars movies because they were made in the pre-CGI era. I also think the recoloring (especially the bottom panel of the above image) gives some of the art a muddied look.
Extras:
This book contains a new introduction from Adams where he discusses the process it took to create the book. DC Comics's longtime publisher Jeanette Kahn contributes an Afterword where she discusses DC's interactions with Ali and his management team.
The cover for All-New Collectors' Edition #c-56 featured likenesses of dozens of then-famous people. A key is included so that readers can figure out who's who in the cover drawing. The book closes with eleven pages of Adams' preliminary sketches of Ali and Superman.
Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali: Deluxe Edition features an exciting story where the first superhero teams with one of the greatest and most famous athletes of all time. Adams' art is fantastic, but the weird recoloring makes an otherwise enjoyable book a lot less enjoyable. It's still recommended, but the recoloring means I can't give it a higher rating.
J.A. Morris' rating:
.5
2 and a half Sals.
