Source Material #396 - All-Star Superman (DC, 2006)

Up in the sky—it’s a bird, it’s a plane… it’s the Source Material Comics Podcast diving headfirst into the mind-bending, heart-punching cosmic masterpiece: All-Star Superman! Jesse Starcher and Mark Radulich team up to break down one of the most celebrated Superman stories of the 2000s (but with enough Silver Age soul to make your spinner rack spin), just in time to get hyped for the new James Gunn movie!We’re talking Grant Morrison's wild imagination, Frank Quitely’s soaring visuals, and Superman's ultimate challenge—coming to terms with his own mortality. From flexing on Samson and Atlas in an arm-wrestling contest to getting existential on Bizarro World (ugh, that dialogue!), the Man of Steel tackles 12 epic labors with cosmic compassion and all the hope you’d expect from Earth’s greatest boy scout.But don’t worry—this ain’t just some cape-sniffing lovefest. Jesse and Mark drop hot takes, wrestle with Morrison’s head-trippy metaphors, and even question why Lex Luthor has access to death-row chemistry sets. It’s a deep dive into why All-Star Superman is still the go-to book when someone says, “I don’t get Superman.” So grab your black kryptonite, crank up that John Williams theme, and tune in for a super-sized discussion packed with heart, heat vision, and a whole lotta nerdy love for the Big Blue Boy Scout!