MFT: Superman Adventures #41 - "Twenty-two stories in a single bound"

"Twenty-two stories in a single bound" is a title of Issue 41 of "Superman Adventures" comic book series. The issue was written by Mark Millar and illustrated by a murderer's row of illustrators including Ty Templeton, Terry Austin, Joe Staton, Neil Vokes, Bret Blevins, Min S. Ku, Cameron Stewart, Mike Manley, Craig Rousseau, Rick Burchett, Darwyn Cooke, Aluir Amancio, Philip Bond. It was released in March 2000 and It was the last comic of Millar's run on the title.

And for a curtain call he decided to do something out of an ordinary.

The issue consists of 22 one-page stories, all self-contained and dedicated to a particular character and specific element of Superman mythos. The narrative is built around "a day in the life" format focusing on key events in their most expressive forms.

For example, there is a story about just another working week of Lois Lane. She is depicted as a damsel in distress for the majority of the panels until the script is flipped and Lois is shown to be capable of standing on her own - you know, it's just she doesn't need to do it all the time.

Or there exploits of Mister Mxysptlk who tries to ramble and scramble and bumble and rumble Superman with his reality warping powers. It doesn't go the way he expects. On the other hand, bumbling backwards Superman adversary Bizarro gets his legitimate hero moment and that is nice.

There is also a page where all the key characters are sleeping and we can see what they are dreaming about. Which is exactly what you can expect - Lois Lain being Superwoman, Jimmy Olsen being The Boss to Perry White, Bibbo (don't ask) dreaming about sleeping (of course), while Lex Luthor dreams about Superman being defeated. The page is capped with Superman doing his job. As usual.

Overall, an issue can be described as a mosaic, a kaleidoscope of moments that seems disjointed but ultimately comes together into a cohesive whole. Every story is drawn by different artist which gives them distinct indentities even though the aesthetic is largely the same.

"Twenty-two stories in a single bound" is an exercise in ultra-minimalist condensed storytelling - one-part newspaper comic strip and one-part constrained comics of the likes of Chris Ware. In a way, it is a great showcase how to tell a story in leaps and bounds that omits everything superfluous and concentrates on the key elements.