Old is New Again

My favorite comic of the relaunch so far? No contest: it's Action Comics #1

What we're seeing here is a real return to a character's roots. We're always hearing writers say they are taking so and so back to his or her roots by stripping away their supporting characters or wiping their memories of whatever.

But Grant Morrison is really doing it. He's taken us back to the Superman of the 1930's. How exactly has he done that? By giving us the Superman of the 2010's.

This is a Superman who is fed up with the establishment. He doesn't care what the corrupt cops or greedy businessmen say or do. He's going to take them out because it's the right thing to do. It highly effective during the Great Depression when people were losing their jobs and homes while the rich and powerful walked away with bags full of money. And it's equally effective during the "Great Recession" where people are losing their jobs and homes while the rich and powerful walk away with bags full of money.

So who are the villains? In this Action Comics #1 the villains are the establishment. Superman doesn't fight to defend the bullies and the crooks. He fights to defend the little guy, the person who -- and this is key -- has nobody else standing up for him.

This was at the heart of Superman in the beginning and I'm glad to see it back. We hear that woman cried every night because she was being beaten by her husband. What did Superman do? He did what nobody else would. Neighbors probably heard her crying. The cops probably knew what was going on. But nobody did anything. Not because they couldn't but because they wouldn't.

But Superman can. And more importantly he does. He's not invincible, this Superman. But that doesn't mean he's afraid. He stands up for the oppressed and forgotten. The never-ending battle continues.

Volume 2, Number 1

I have no idea what DC is doing with Superman. They say they're going to make him "edgy" and "brooding." I guess that sort of thing has its place. And maybe there are some people who will enjoy that kind of Superman. After all, there is no single Superman. Since 1938 there have been dozens of different iterations of the character, and I suppose any one is as valid as any other.

But the Superman they're talking about for the new Action Comics isn't the kind of Superman I think I want to read about. That leads to the question: is it the sort of Superman that other people want to read about? Because everything DC has said indicates that they're trying to bring in new people with this relaunch. Is a solitary, brooding Superman what the general public wants?

Maybe it is. After all, Batman is arguably DC's most popular character. And people seem to think that he's a solitary, brooding character. Even though he's not really solitary. I mean, the man has a butler, four sons, police allies, a love interest who dresses as a cat, and is best friends with Superman.

Well, he used to be, anyway. Maybe isolating Superman and putting a spotlight on his alien origins will make him be a more popular character. Because putting him in a t-shirt isn't going to do it...

Thursday Night Thinking #187

Thursday Night Thinking, once again! Take it away, Superman!

You know, I'm actually glad they're doing away with the Lois/Clark marriage. Maybe we'll see more stories like this...

Last Days of the Justice Society

These are the last days of the Justice Society. At least until they decide to bring them back. It's inevitable that some day they will, but for now the JSA is off the table.

I'm sure that many people will be unhappy about this. It doesn't really bother me. I haven't really enjoyed the Justice Society since prior to its most recent relaunch. The book has felt adrift for quite a while now, and I think that probably has something to do with the decision to "let it rest."

That said, I think there are better reasons out there for taking the JSA out of action. Indeed, I think there are some very good reasons indeed. First has to do with age. In the past, DC has remained firm in tying the JSA founders to World War II. Setting aside what role they may or may not have originally had during the war, they've been tied to that time period pretty consistently for quite a long time now.

That presents a problem for the new DCU. DC is trying to make their DCU younger and fresher. And that's somewhat difficult to do with a team tie so closely to World War II. After all, with every year that passes the war grows more and more distant. The original JSAers go from being in their seventies to in their eighties. And eventually their nineties. And that's a problem.

But it's not the best reason to take the JSA out of the DCU. Under the current post-Crisis chronology the JSA creates a fatal flaw in the DC Universe. In my eyes, there's a big thing that's been missing for the past twenty-five or so years. I think it absolutely vital that Superman be the first super-hero.

In the real world Superman is the first super-hero. There is little debate about that. He ushered in a new kind of fiction and changed our world forever. He did the same thing in the DCU: a world largely like ours existed until a man dressed in red and blue appeared in the sky and altered things irrevocably.

He was followed by many others, but there was no question that he came first and inspired those who followed him. And with the JSA as it has been conceived we can't have that. In order for Superman to be returned to his rightful place -- which it seems Grant Morrison intends to do -- the Justice Society must fade away.

Thursday Night Thinking #186

Welcome again to Thursday Night Thinking!

The big question left for the week: in the new "dark" and "edgy" DC Universe what sort of Superman will we see? Probably not this kind:

More's the pity...

Thursday Night Thinking #185

Yeah, it's been a while. But I'm back, and so is Thursday Night Thinking!

That's our Superman; always thinking about others.

Question, though: what the hell was Barack Obama doing in that issue? Last time I checked, he's not president in the DCU...

Thursday Night Thinking #184

Here's a quick Thursday Night Thinking! Enjoy!

Busy Week

It's only going to be quick posts this week, I fear. This is the last week of classes and my first big term paper is due a week from today. So I'm going to have to keep this short and sweet for a while.

So rather than go into a long-winded explanation of what I think about the Superman "citizenship" thing I'll just point you to Scipio's post on the subject. He sums up my thoughts pretty well.

Action #900

Action Comics #900 comes out tomorrow. That's quite the milestone.

In the end, of course, it comes down to Superman and Lex Luthor. We should have figured out long ago that he was the one behind the "Reign of Doomsday." After all, it always seems to come down to the two of them.

It didn't start out that way, of course. Lex Luthor wasn't one of Superman's first villains. And the Luthor we know today bears very little resemblance to the one who first appeared (but then, the same could be said for Superman).

Sometimes things just coalesce in a certain way. As time went on, the Superman story became about pairs of things. Lois and Clark. Earth and Krypton. Luthor and Superman. That last one is the trickiest, of course. It's about two incredibly powerful forces stacked up against each other.

One of them is pure, undiluted human greed, cruelty, and ambition. It's the mind that dreamed the atom bomb and the voice that launched the Holocaust. It's the great gifts of humanity turned in the service of unmitigated evil.

And the other one? That's the mind that cured disease, the voice that called out against oppression. It's everything good in humanity taking a stand against evil. That has never changed, even if the story has. Whether it's a megalomaniacal space-god or a man beating his wife, good will take a stand against its evil. And it will win.

It's a bird, It's a plane... It's Superman.

Read This, Too

I know some of you won't necessarily be able to follow my advice from yesterday. Monies are sometimes in short supply these days, and comic books are expensive. So how about this? An excellent free comic.

Some of you may have read Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant before. I may even have mentioned it before. But I can't recall, and since I can't get enough of her work I thought I'd mention it again.

The most recent comic is especially pertinent as it's about the always complicated relationship between Lois Lane and Superman. Despite what anyone might say, Ms. Beaton understands those characters cold. Go check it out.

Thursday Night Thinking #183

After a long absence we return once again to Thursday Night Thinking!

You can't. He's Superman. You're Red Tornado.

Thursday Night Thinking #182

Ah, it's good to be back again with Thursday Night Thinking! And what could be more appropriate for this week than a classic Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen cover?

Lois Lane Cast

The other big news from last week? Amy Adams has been cast as Lois Lane.

Now I'll level with you: I've never seen a movie with Ms. Adams in it. I don't get to see a lot of movies at the best of times and I imagine that a number of her movies came out when I was in Japan. I almost never went to the movies there.

Ms. Adams is clearly a "real" actor, however. She's been nominated for some Oscars as I understand it. Now, that may not really mean anything but it should count for something.

She also doesn't look too young -- a problem I had with Kate Bosworth (among others). In fact, at thirty-six she's actually older than twenty-eight year old Henry Cavill. This also does not bother me. Indeed, I'm of the opinion that Lois Lane should be older than Clark Kent. She's an established reporter by the time Superman shows up.

If things keep trending the way they have been this Superman movie could turn into something great. Here's hoping...

Thursday Night Thinking #181

All right, people; it's Thursday Night Thinking. I don't have time for a substantive post, so take this image from the most recent issue of Superman. He's thinking, am I right?

That's Not Terrible At All

I'm sure that many of you have seen this image before:

That is an page from 1978's now classic The Super Dictionary, a children's book. Unsurprisingly, Luthor's nefarious deed is the entry for "forty."

Luthor's cake stealing has been something of an Internet "meme" for quite a while now as I understand it. It is a delightful image and I think I've featured it here on the blog at one point in the past.

But this week's Superman #709 takes it to an entirely different level and brings the cake thievery into DCU continuity:

Truly, we live in an enlightened age.

Thursday Night Thinking #178

It's Thursday Night Thinking, and that means another crazy cover from the depths of the Silver Age!

They say it's Lois Lane... But it feels like Jean Loring to me!

The New Superman Movie

Apparently all the people who make comic news take Presidents' Day off. That's not really fair. I mean, I don't get the day off. I still had to go into school and try to instill a joy for 17th century samurai culture into a bunch of kids who would rather be doing keg stands while dressed as Abraham Lincoln.

But I digress. The only remotely comic related news I can find is this article mentioning that Kevin Costner -- yes, that Kevin Costner -- has apparently been linked to a role in Zack Snyder's Superman reboot.

Let us consider this for a moment. Set aside the fact that I'm not sure that's a good idea. Consider another fact we know about this film: all rumors point to Zod being the villain.

Now before you stop me, I'm not suggesting that Kevin Costner is up for the role of Zod. I'm just saying that there seem to be some serious deficiencies in some of the things we hear about this film (setting aside the apparently excellent casting of Henry Cavill).

Here's my problem with all signs coming from this film: It seems to be making some of the same mistakes that Superman Returns (which I liked well enough) made. One of these problems is connecting it too closely to the original Superman movies. Superman Returns did this by making it an explicit sequel. This new movie almost seems to be doing the same with having Zod as the villain.

Why would they make Zod the villain? There are a lot of Superman villains (good villains) that have never made it to the big screen. Zod has had his shot. And that's exactly the problem. Zod has probably been chosen because the general public is aware of the character from Superman II. A lot of people who know nothing about the Superman mythos know the phrase "Kneel Before Zod."

That brings me back to Kevin Costner. There's a real problem in my eyes with casting actors that are better known as themselves than they are as their characters. Superman Returns had this problem. Never once while watching this movie did I ever think of Kate Bosworth as being Lois Lane. She was always just Kate Bosworth pretending to be Lois Lane. I was never able to suspend the disbelief and think she was really Lois Lane.

Kevin Costner is that same kind of actor to me. It's always "Kevin Costner as Robin Hood" or "Kevin Costner as Elliot Ness." Those characters were never simply those characters when I was watching the movies. They were always Kevin Costner playing those characters.

Now, I'm not saying this new Superman movie should have all unknowns or anything. But it needs actors that I can believe. Despite not having a great script to work with, Kevin Spacey was a believable Lex Luthor. I was able to forget that I was seeing Spacey on the screen.

And when I see the new Superman movie I don't want anyone pulling me away from the story. I want to believe that Superman and everyone around him are real for an hour and a half. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Thursday Night Thinking #177

With typical fanfare we return again to Thursday Night Thinking! Gaze upon the wonders of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen!

Yes, Jimmy... Your "good looks." I'm sure that's why they did it...

Thursday Night Thinking #176

It's Thursday and that means Thursday Night Thinking!

I've been seeing a lot of thought balloons in comics lately. That makes me more than a little happy. And Superman seems to be improving slightly too. That also makes me happy...

Thursday Night Thinking #175

I took the last few days off (mostly because the weather made me not feel like posting). But if there's one thing I won't miss it's Thursday Night Thinking!

There was a lot of good stuff in this week's Superman 80-Page Giant. But for my money the Jimmy Olsen story was far and away the best. It really encapsulates the madness that life must be when you're Jimmy Olsen...