Not, as alluded to on the back cover, a wholly original collection, as the two Superman tales have been collected before (in the black and white Man of Tomorrow book and the Annual only in The Greatest Superman Stories Ever) - these happen to be the best tales in the book, so if you already have that one then think seriously before picking this one up. Also, not Moore's best DCU tales - the two-part Whatever Happened To The Man of Steel? wins that accolade for me. Finally, not hugely original, several of the backup tales vividly bring 2000AD Future Shocks to mind, just set in the DCU instead of a generic SF universe. However, even a slight Moore tale, or Moore retread, is miles above many other writers in the field, so a good collection nonetheless.

Superman Annual 11, For The Man Who Has Everything, is an interesting tale drawn by Dave Gibbons about Superman's birthday - Batman, Jason Todd's Robin and WW visit the Fortress Of Solitude with gifts for Big Blue, only to find Mongul has beaten them to it - and given Superman the ultimate gift - a Krypton that didn't explode. Slightly dissatisfying in how Superman breaks the 'spell', I just don't believe his will is that strong - Batman, yes; but Supes? No. Still a fun, and lengthy, story, better than many other Superman stories in the intervening years.

Night Olympics was a two-part backup strip from Detective Comics featuring Green Arrow and Black Canary - art by Klaus Janson. It's a very slight tale, based around the pun of comparing crime to athletic events, ultimately forgettable, but has a really nice scene with a wannabe Green Arrow - he looks formidable until you realise just how far out of his league he is. Bronze medal for this one.

Mogo Doesn't Socialize, art by Gibbons, is a Future Shock by any other name - the twist is obvious on the second page, the story just takes you there from A to B to C. Nice framing sequence though.

Father's Day, a two-parter from Vigilante, art by Jim Baikie, is a nice inversion of the typical superhero tale - an awful tart-with-a-heart sequence nearly ruins matters, but the story isn't afraid to shy away from consequences of violence, even if the story ends with a disturbing implication that Vigilante maybe feels sorry for the bad guy in the end? OK, it implies the situation isn't black and white, but when you find out what he does, the fact he loves his daughter is neither here nor there.

Brief Lives and A Man's World are backups from the pages of Omega Men, and read as Future Shocks once more, although the best quality FS money can buy. The former is particularly nice, dealing with both sides of a particular time equation (although an episode of the original Star Trek did it better), whilst the latter is made much more effective by having its violence take place off-screen, and only indirectly alluded too...ouch, it's nasty.

The Jungle Line is a very fine tale with art by Rick Veitch of a spore hitting earth from Krypton - affecting Supes - and Swamp Thing "teaming up" to help him fight it off. Another masterful Swamp Thing tale (although you feel Moore's sympathies lie with Swampie rather than Supes), top drawer material.

Tygers with art by Kevin O'Neill is a very good story, perfectly suited to Kev "Nemesis The Warlock" O'Neill, effectively telling who is really responsible for Hal Jordan becoming Green Lantern...nasty.

Footsteps, meanwhile, one possible origin of the Phantom Stranger, is nonsense; obscure, tedious...very poor. Nice art by Joe Orlando, though, especially the heaven scenes.

In Blackest Night with art by Bill Willingham is an excellent short, probably the best in the book, about a new Green Lantern created on a planet where there is no concept of light or lamps...it's brilliant.

Mortal Clay with art by George Freeman rounds things off, it's a Batman story with Clayface III, which is driven by a superb concept but outstays its welcome somewhat. The point is hammered home time and again, the story feels extended to fit the 20-odd page allocation, would've read much better at 12 to 15 pages.

Overall, a collection of oddities, primarily designed to save Alan Moore completists from trawling through back issue bins - bear in mind, these are all from the eighties and therefore should be treated as out-of-continuity tales. A must for all Moore fans, a good read for everyone else with the best tales still ranking up there with the best...but one or two duffers too.