Jekylhyde14

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Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #6, A Plea To Before Watchmen

I know there’s already been a lot of argument and discussion over DC’s impending release of the Before Watchmen prequel series, and that there’s bound to be a great deal more. Far be it from me to enjoy adding fuel to the fire (heh, heh, heh…) but I think I’ve discovered some not-so-veiled evidence that not everyone in DC’s offices agrees with the move between the pages of Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #6 by Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli. If you haven’t read the issue and plan on doing so: DO NOT PROCEED. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. I have to talk about the plot in detail if I want to make my point.

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Frankenstein’s mission in issue #6 of his title is to assassinate a former S.H.A.D.E. Agent with atomic superpowers by the name of Col. Quantum. Frankenstein, Velcoro (the vampire), Griffith (the wolf-man), and Khalis (the living mummy) travel to Vietnam where the Colonel is hiding out, and Frankenstein informs the others of Quantum’s checkered past with S.H.A.D.E. This is where things started to remind me of Watchmen. In a flashback sequence, Frankenstein tells the tale of how he and Quantum were deployed to South Vietman in 1969 during the war to back up U.S. forces. We are immediately treated to a panel that’s an almost exact replica of the one from Watchmen depicting Dr. Manhattan and the Comedian fighting in the Vietnam War. This image was so iconic that it even made it into The Watchmen movie. In Frankenstein, we have the red (instead of blue) Col. Quantum in Dr. Manhattan’s position blasting Viet Cong with vague atomic energy while Frankenstein strikes The Comedian’s pose with the rail gun. Anyone who was ever obsessed by The Watchmen should have been hit with déjà vu by this image and by what followed.

The next sequence had Col. Quantum, this time, mimicking The Comedian’s role in The Watchmen. Frankenstein finds the Colonel in a Vietnamese bar of ill-repute being attended upon by a lady of the night. This scene is strikingly reminiscent of the moment in Watchmen where Dr. Manhattan confronts The Comedian in a Vietnamese bar only to witness The Comedian being confronted by and then gunning down a young woman he impregnated. In Frankenstein, there’s no pregnant young woman. Col. Quantum only informs Frank that he has no intention of fighting in the senseless war any longer, but you can see that Quantum is channeling some weird amalgam of Dr. Manhattan and The Comedian’s personalities in this scene. Later on in the issue, Frankenstein even informs the others that they originally mistook Col. Quantum’s energy signature for Captain Atom’s. I took this as a reference to how Alan Moore based Dr. Manhattan after Captain Atom when DC banned him from using the Charlton superheroes in his Watchmen story. All of this convinces me, as I hope it does you, that the character of Col. Quantum is supposed to in some way represent Alan Moore’s Watchmen.

The climax to the Col. Quantum adventure is where I see Jeff Lemire making his criticism of Before Watchmen. Frankenstein and his group find the Colonel in a mansion by the bank of the Mekong River. When Frank confronts Quantum, he finds that the Colonel has mutated into some grotesque atomic monster since the last time they saw each other. Quantum laments the fact that he cannot die and only becomes more hideous as time goes by. He begs Frankenstein to kill him. In this way, what started out as an assassination becomes a mercy killing. Frankenstein shoots Quantum in the head with an anti-nuclear payload given to him by Ray Palmer, and Quantum eventually succumbs to it thanking Frank with his last breath. Now, I could be reading too much into this or I could be misinterpreting it completely, but here’s what I think Jeff Lemire is trying to say with this whole Col. Quantum episode: Let The Watchmen die before becomes a grotesque parody of itself. If that’s what he’s saying, then I completely agree with him. The Watchmen was an important book for me. It probably changed my life. I know many of us feel that way, but we need to work past it. Otherwise it will just mutate into this monster we will never get over to move on to something new. In the end, DC is going to put out these Before Watchmen miniseries and there’s nothing I nor Jeff Lemire nor even Frankenstein can do about it. I urge all of you to ignore them because if comic books are to deliver something fresh again then we need to move on. The Watchmen was a masterpiece, but it’s been finished for almost 25 years. Let’s look toward the future and take up the challenge to find something new.

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My Theory Concerning the Identity of "Icarus" in Action Comics

Action Comics has revealed that Clark Kent has a mysterious informant who is aiding the young reporter in his crusade against Glen Glenmorgan. In Action Comics #3 we see "Icarus" reassuring Clark to stay in the game against Glenmorgan despite the industrialist turning the media's attention away from himself and onto Superman. So far, we haven't been clued in on Icarus' true identity. Yesterday, during an afternoon of idle thought, I mused on the question of the informant's true name. My first thought was that "Icarus" was a member of the Legion of Superheroes. This would fit his apparent knowledge of the future. Someone pointed out to me that the three beautiful people who visited Clark's apartment while he was away in Action Comics #1 were probably Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, and Saturn Girl (two men and a blonde woman). It's also been hinted that the Legion will make an actual appearance in Action Comics very soon. However, this is also the greatest argument against one of their members being "Icarus." It's the most obvious answer. Also, if Clark is already acquainted with the Legion (as evidenced by their visit to his apartment) then why would one of them need to hide their identity to be his informant? I decided to shelf the Legion answer for the moment and come up with some other possibilities.

I looked at the name "Icarus" and reviewed its mythological roots. In Greek myth, Icarus was a boy with wax wings who flew too close to the sun and it lead to danger. That's when a mad thought hit me. Who, in the history of Grant Morrison's work, flew too close to the sun leading him to danger?

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Why, that's what happened to Big Blue in All-Star Superman. Some of you are going to point out that All-Star Superman was an out-of-continuity story and definitely was not set in the DCnU. However, let me remind you that Grant has sewn alternate continuities together before. Solaris was a villain in both the JLA from post-crisis DC continuity and in All-Star Superman. Superman Prime and Kal Kent both appear in JLA and All-Star Superman as well. The All-Star Superman has interacted with past versions of himself before (All-Star Superman #6) and with his descendants. He would have the knowledge of the future to steer a younger version of himself to the right path. So, what I'm suggesting, is that "Icarus" is either the All-Star Superman or some future version of Superman with a history that's close in proximity to the All-Star version of the character. I could be wrong. It may sound a bit far fetched, but I think the proof is in the name. Only time will tell.

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The Best of Silver Age Superman


I’m possibly Silver Age Superman’s biggest fan. Before getting into the Silver Age mythology, I was not really a Superman supporter at all. Sure, I bought The Death of Superman story arc as a kid because I was swept up in the hype along with everyone else. In general I felt Superman was too much of a boy scout and a defender of the status quo to really interest me. I was more interested in the X-Men, the Hulk, and later on the Vertigo characters like Shade and John Constantine. Those heroes had a bit more edge and charisma, in my opinion. Then, a few years ago, something changed. Amid a long stint as a comic book store clerk in two different locations (both of which have closed down since), I read two Modern Age stories that changed my mind completely about Superman: Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman and Alan Moore’s Supreme. Both of these stories paid direct homage to the Silver Age version of Superman that formed under the editorial direction of Mort Weisinger. After that I was hooked and wanted to read as many Silver Age Superman stories as I could get my hands on to see if the character was that interesting. After a few years of picking through convention bins and garage sales, I can tell you that Silver Age Superman is my favorite character to read. The stories reach the philosopher and literature junky in me and gave me a new view on superhero comics as a whole. Now, I understand that many of you may not believe me and some of you have strong prejudices against the Silver Age in general. I’m hoping this post helps change your mind.

Here’s a list of some of my favorite Silver Age Superman stories. I'm being pretty liberal with what I consider "Silver Age" so I picked stories from the mid-50's when Mort took over as editor to 1970 before Denny O’Neil was asked to revamp the character. I would recommend picking up the Superman in the 50's and Superman in the 60's tpbs if you're interested since they contain some of the stories I'm about to list as well as a bunch of other fun ones (Turtle Boy, Superman Meets Kennedy, Bizarro World). I’m including a brief plot summary and a personal interpretation along with each story I list. If you’re worried about Silver Age spoilers, just make note of the story names without reading further. Anyway, here are 12 of my favorite Superman stories along with an issue number where you can find them. In no particular order:

 

"The Girl who Didn't Believe in Superman" (Reprinted in Superman in the '50's). This story is about standing up in the face of ultimate cynicism. Superman meets a blind girl who doesn't believe he has powers. Since all of Superman's deeds are visible things, a smart, blind girl doesn't buy them because she can't see them (and if you think about it, most people have trouble believing in things they can't see). The ending is WAAAY too happy and a bit of a celebration of the nuclear family, but this story is powerful and thought provoking.

 

"'Lois Lane's Super-Daughter" ( Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #20; Reprinted in Superman in the '60's). This is the imaginary story where Superman and Lois get married and adopt Supergirl. Lois is forced to quit her job to make the adoption work, and has to stay at home bored while her Super husband and daughter go off to do their great deeds (like watching your husband go to work and your daughter to school). I really do think it makes a feminist statement by showing you what happened to many housewives in the 50's and 60's. A generation of American women languished in suburban depression without the opportunity to pursue their interests or exciting lives of their own. In the 60's women would be actively stepping out of that role and this story reflects on why that was happening.

 

"The Impossible Mission " (Reprinted in Superboy #85 and Superman in the '60's). This is the story where Superboy goes back in time to try and prevent the Lincoln assassination. We learn the hard lesson of how you can't change the past and we learn that even Luthor has respect for the great emancipator. I love how historical and mythical figures come and go in Silver Age stories.

 

"The Showdown Between Superman and Luthor" (Superman #164; Reprinted in Superman in the '60's). This is the greatest Superman vs. Luthor story. They battle on a planet with a red sun so Superman has no powers just like Lex. By the end, we see how heroic Lex can really be when he gives up his own selfishness and petty desires to save a civilization (we could all be great if we did those things).

 

"The Day Superman Broke the Law" (Superman #153). It asks the question of what do you do when the law is unfair and petty. Superman gets put behind bars a number of times due to some funny legal interpretations. Then he uses the law to his advantage to trap the corrupt politician that framed him. A pretty universal message since everyone feels hard done by the law at some point. Superman teaches you that the sword cuts both ways.

 

"The Sons of Superman" (Superman #166). An imaginary story where Superman has two boys: one with powers and one without. The son without powers gets depressed and discouraged next to his super-brother and Superman struggles to find a way to raise his son's confidence like any good father. Here Superman is dealing with the direct consequences of how powers like his make normal people feel. The dynamics here do reflect real families. How do you boost the confidence of a child who is less naturally gifted than his brother?

 

"Clark Kent's Incredible Delusion" (Superman #174). This is my favorite Superman story of all time. Clark wakes up with no powers, no super suit, and with another man claiming to be Superman. He goes to a therapist who tells him that he's delusional and only imagined himself as Superman because he feels disappointed at his mild mannered life as Clark Kent. It's a story that asks the question: "What if the rest of the world sees me differently than I see myself?" What if I wake up one day knowing who I am, knowing that I'm really Superman, but the rest of the world doesn't believe me and tells me I'm someone else. That I was delusional for ever thinking I was Superman. Would I be able to continue believing that I am the man I know in my heart I am? It's a powerful question and one that even Superman struggles to answer.

 

"Super-Mxyzptlk...Hero!" (Reprinted in Superman #174). This is among a series of stories that ask the question of what happens when Superman gets shown up and doesn't look like the greatest hero anymore. I've read quite a few of them (including the first "Mon El" appearance "Superman's Big Brother" reprinted in Superman in the '50's), but Super-Mxyzptlk is my favorite of them. Mxyzptlk decides to prank Superman in this story by becoming a better hero than Supes is and he succeeds since he has magic powers that bend reality instantly to his whim. Superman has to admit that Mxy is a more effective hero and steps aside. Unfortunately for Mxy, Bizarro pays a surprise visit to Metropolis and decides to erect a statue in honor of Metropolis’ new hero. Doing everything the opposite way, Bizarro spells Mxyzptlk’s name backwards on the statue tricking the imp into sending himself back to the fifth dimension. Think about that. Superman’s jealousy problem is solved by the version of Superman who does all the things the real Superman would never do. Hmmm… There’s definitely a psychological statement there.

 

"The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue" (Superman #162; Reprinted in the 1973 100-Page Superman Spectacular and a lot of other places). This story was billed as "The Greatest Imaginary Story Ever Told." It asks the very basic question of: What if there were two of me? Superman splits himself into two equally-powerful Supermen designated Red and Blue to solve all of the problems Superman can't normally solve on his own. Possibly the ultimate happy ending for Silver Age Superman and a hopeful story for anyone who has ever wondered what life would be like if they were twice as capable.

 

"Punishment of Superboy" (Reprinted in Superman Annual Vol.1 #7). This story shows Pa Kent struggling to properly punish Superboy who is more powerful and clever than Pa in almost every way. It speaks to any parent struggling to deal with a gifted child who may intimidate them in certain ways (you can see this happen in grocery and department stores across America). The end of this story might come off as a bit cruel and dysfunctional if you take it too seriously. I've always liked this view of Superman's childhood better than the Post-Crisis childhood of Clark. It makes more sense to me that an extraordinary guy like Superman would be a particularly brilliant and strange kid.

 

"Lois Lane, the Supermaid from Earth!" (Superman #159). In this imaginary tale, Earth blows up instead of Krypton and Lois is sent from Earth to Krypton where she grows up with Super-powers and constantly has to rescue powerless Kal-El. This story shows young, male readers how to act when you feel dependent on your more capable spouse which would happen to young men more and more as Women's Lib. gained steam. Critical feminist readers might not take kindly to the end of the story which sees a kind of return to status quo (perhaps wishful thinking from a male view?), but I would argue that this story is a step in the right direction as you get many examples of Lois saving and looking after a hapless, but well-meaning Kal-El.

 

"Leave Us...or We Perish!" (Superboy #168). This is the latest story on this list as it came out Sept. 1970 which I consider to be the final year of the Silver Age for Superman (as the more sweeping Bronze Age changes would take place by Jan. 1971), but we can see the origins of the Bronze Age start to creep in as Superboy is drawn in a more defined way and the story attempts to reflect on a specific real world problem. In this story, Smallville is invaded by the Nazis shortly before America joins WWII (this is poor continuity work by the writer who I assume is taking Superman in the late 60's early 70's as the same Superman who fought in WWII) and is held ransom against Superboy who is given the order to leave Smallville or the Nazis will destroy it. Instead of standing up to the Nazis to help the boy who has saved them on so many occasions, the people of Smallville become scared and give in to the Nazi demands by turning on Superboy to try and chase him out. This is a wonderful metaphor for what happened in Nazi Germany and many of the Nazi-occupied countries during WWII. The fear of Nazi power was so great that people would rat each other out or stay silent and hope they would be passed over instead of fighting back. A true statement on what happens when good men do nothing (except Superboy of course).

 

So that's it or at least it's enough for now. I really do love these Silver Age stories because I think they are making some real statements about real people and lives albeit in a fantastic and more universal way. For anyone to enjoy the Silver Age, I tell them to try and keep an open mind and try to concentrate on the basic message of the story rather than getting hung up about the politics of 50's and 60's society or the poor dialogue and funny plot holes. Maybe even think of Silver Age Supes as Everyman instead of Superman because I think many of these stories reflect on the problems of normal men in an exaggerated fashion. Instead of taking the Modern approach of here's a story about one man with powers and his continuing saga, the Silver Age says here's a story about everyone using one man with powers. Of course, there are a lot of just crazy, fun science fiction stories from the Silver Age as well and I hope you like those just as much.

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Man or Superman Part 3- Why You Won't Miss Post-Crisis Clark Kent

I wrote this blog post awhile ago and posted it on the DC message boards to prove a point and never thought I’d use it again. Lately, however, I’ve been hearing a lot of melodramatic comments coming from Superman fans who are against Grant Morrison’s September reboot in Action Comics. These fans have been bemoaning the loss of some Post-Crisis continuity, and have been claiming that this is regressive storytelling that will wipe out the realistic characterization that’s been built for Superman since Crisis on Infinite Earths. Now, I’m in favor of this reboot and I’m hoping it makes Superman the dynamic and interesting character he should be. Considering that it’s more than a month until the first issue is released, I can’t comment much on what the reboot will be like. I can, however, try and convince you that you’re not losing much with the revision of Post-Crisis Superman. I’m about to show you how he was the least interesting part of his own book.

As I stated in Part 1,   John Byrne’s Man of Steel powered Superman down and put more of an emphasis on Clark Kent. Specifically he made Kent the man behind Superman rather than looking at Superman as the dominant personality. But what does Superman really do in the Man of Steel story? Well, he hits the boy scout routine perfectly, he catches Magpie with Batman, he beats some terrorists on Luthor's boat, makes Luthor angry, and beats Bizarro (who explodes and whose ashes magically cure Lucy Lane's blindness- and this is the more "realistic" version of Superman). Oh yeah, and he whines about being an alien A LOT. And this self-loathing over his alien (Superman) half would probably be Clark 's most unique human trait throughout the Byrne years. Honestly, none of the things Superman does in Man of Steel really impressed or interested me. Also, Kent's self hatred over being alien and Superman in these years presents to me a man who wants to conform rather than celebrate the things that make him unique and special. But- this was a version of Superman that obviously some people needed to see and that DC had been building up to without Byrne for a number of years. Man of Steel as a reboot was also generally pretty successful in renewing some interest in the character. But did this interest really last? Keep in mind what I said in Part 1 of the series, that Byrne believed Clark Kent would be the human link that made Superman more “relatable,” so the man that you’re afraid of losing to Grant Morrison’s Action Comics is basically this version of Clark Kent.

Let's take a look at some of the more memorable Superman stories post-Byrne to see if Clark’s relatability lead to their success:

1) Superman exiles himself to space and fights Mongul on Warworld- Superman abandons his Clark identity and has some space missions (a very Silver age concept).

2) Panic in the Sky- Brainiac returns to his Silver Age roots by staging an old fashioned alien invasion with Warworld. Not many moments for Kent and a more traditional use of the Silver Age villain Brainiac.

3) Death of Superman- Where they kill Byrne's Superman off after interest in him completely ran out. The first time Superman caught my attention as a kid and a highlight of the Modern Age. Clark appears only once in the beginning.

4) Reign of the Supermen- A great Superman story where Byrne's Superman is nowhere in sight. Instead we replace him with four more dynamic characters and we even celebrate Silver Age concepts like having a Superboy and a Superman who was completely alien with his eye on the bigger picture (Eradicator).

5) Dominus Saga- Where Superman drops his Clark Kent identity under mind control and takes over the world.

6) Emperor Joker- Where the charm of the story really came from pitting Supes against the most popular DC villain of all-time. Plus, it’s well-established that Jeph Loeb was doing his best to reintegrate Silver Age concepts like a traditional Krypton and Krypto the superdog.

7) Our World's At War- Where Clark shows up only twice (at the very beginning and very end) and Superman is dealing with insanely vague cosmic threats (again Silver and Bronze Age stuff).

What are the biggest storylines for post-Byrne Clark ?

1) Death of Clark Kent- How many people actually remember this story? How many of you care? It also contains some of Clark's worst fashion sense ever (for those of who are going after the new Action Comics costume). Does Conduit really stack up to any of Superman’s classic rogue gallery?

2) Wedding to Lois- And if you tell me this is an exciting story then you're either lying or really into marriage. It’ a nice romance story with some fine characterization for Lois, but it effectively kills the romance angle for many Superman stories that followed. And Kent wears a hernia belt…

3) Power Struggle - Where he lost his powers and was DESPERATELY trying to become Superman again.

All of this says to me that people really didn't care much about John Byrne's Clark post Man of Steel. Even in the most popular post-Byrne Superman story-arcs, Clark is still mostly absent. In fact, they all seem to have Superman dealing with some sort of cosmic threat. And these post-Byrne stories are still only so good. Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen picked up a Comic Buyer's Guide Award Each. Meanwhile, All-Star Superman has won , Eagle, AND Eisner awards while Alan Moore's Supreme picked up some Overstreet awards and an Eisner. Both of those series use an updated version of the Silver Age Superman with no thought to any kind of Byrne-esque relatability and they produced two of the most critically acclaimed modern Superman stories. All-Star Superman has generated more interest in the character outside of long-time Superman fans than any post-Byrne continuity story.

And yet, people still cling to this post-Byrne continuity. So what if Man of Steel isn't cannon anymore? A lot of what the Man of Steel wrought is still present in Superman today. His marriage to Lois, his lower IQ, the distance he feels from his Kryptonian roots (why else would he care more about Earth being attacked by Kryptonians than the genocide of his own people in the New Krypton story), his excessive self-doubt (caving so quickly to the "slap" in Superman #700), and leaving the legacy of Superman fans who believe in the red herring of Clark Kent so much that they don't think there can be a good Superman story without seeing him as the man behind the hero (even though I think I just proved that's not true). I believe if we just completely let go of this disappointing hero we've lived with for over two decades (and I know this is tough, we've spent a long time with this guy), we can replace him with a hero who has the guts to be a Superman and who will give us better stories that are more fun. Or we can go back to scenes of Clark eating Chinese take-out with Lois in his sweat pants. Your choice.

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Man or Superman Part 2- The Man of the Silver Age

In part 1 of this blog series, I illustrated the main difference I see between the Superman of the Silver Age and the Superman that was created by John Byrne in the Man of Steel series: That the two men are different because the Silver Age Superman sees Superman as his main identity while Byrne’s Superman sees himself as Clark Kent. In response, one of you has asked how I would have wanted to see Superman modernized or if I would have wanted him modernized at all. My answer is that I would’ve wanted him to stay the same man as he was in the Silver Age. This answer has garnered me a great deal of criticism from fans who see the Silver Age Superman as a cartoon with a two-dimensional personality. I see him under a completely different light. In my opinion, the Silver Age Superman had some very human personality traits that show him to be a unique and often neurotic individual. His values and fears shine out as clear as day to me from the stories told in the 50’s and 60’s, but since many of you doubt this, let me illustrate some of his more important characteristics.

Super-Arrogance:

            And I do mean arrogance. I remember in the Silver Age tale of how Clark Kent got his job at the Daily Planet, Perry White took Clark out for dinner to a fancy restaurant. As soon as Clark (Superman) stepped into the place he realized that he could out-eat everyone in the dining room. In the story “The Super Prisoner of Amazon Island,” he’s forced to go through a series of challenges thought up by women who want to marry him. He agrees to the gauntlet thinking that there’s nothing that any one of them could think up that he can’t do. Superman needs to have this level of self-belief. To a point, this is the quality that makes him Superman. He can do amazing and wonderful things because he believes he can do anything. The self-doubt and self-loathing we see out of him in the modern age did make him less effective in comparison. Some of you will no doubt argue that an arrogant Superman would come off as a jerk. My response is: So what? I’m sure you know someone in real life who is excessively arrogant, but is a good and likeable person despite this fact. Isn’t arrogance a believable and interesting human character flaw? I say we let Superman return to his braggart ways. This was the man who laughed as bullets bounced off of his face, and I would love to see him return to this sort of mocking self-confidence.

Fear of Becoming Mundane:

            This quality is why the identity divide between Superman and Clark Kent is so important. This part of my argument very much embodies the essence of David Carradine’s speech at the end of Kill Bill Vol. 2: Clark is Superman’s impersonation of normal people. When Superman is in his secret identity: Clark Kent has a boss, has limited ability to affect the world around him, has baseless fears for his own mortality, and is often forced to hide his real thoughts and feelings from his co-workers and friends. In other words, Clark literally acts like one of us. Don’t you ever find yourself frustrated at having to choke back criticisms over things you can’t change in your day to day life? Don’t you ever find yourself feeling like the people around you would treat you differently if they only knew who you really were on the inside? Don’t you ever want to change the world for the better more than you do at your day job? This is how we really are as people in varying degrees in the day-to-day world. Clark Kent is an exaggerated puppet show of the tragedies of being a normal man. In contrast, being Superman means having the power and ability to actively change and affect the world around you for the better. Superman is the guy you would be if you were always being the best of yourself, and he doesn’t mean as much unless you have Clark acting like repressed version of the selves we need to be just to get through the day. That’s why Clark is important and that’s why Superman cherishes this identity as much as he fears it. Silver Age Superman constantly feared the day where he’d be reduced to only living as Clark Kent like in Superman #163 when Wonder-Man told him to “retire” to his Clark Kent identity since he was being replaced as a super hero. After being a guy like Superman with so much power, responsibility, and freedom could any one of us comfortably settle down to a mundane life? Don’t real-life veterans of wars struggle through this very problem? That’s why I don’t like the post-Byrne view of Clark Kent being the real man behind Superman. It may be a self-esteem builder for normal joes, but it doesn’t work for the Superman metaphor.

Super-Sentimentality:

            This is the Silver Age Superman’s purest trait and also, perhaps, his weirdest. Superman loves people and he loves them in ways that would seem a bit creepy to normal people. The Silver Age Fortress of Solitude kept entire rooms dedicated to all of Superman’s best friends. He had statues and tributes set up for both his birth and adopted parents. He was often watching his friends from afar using his X-Ray/Telescopic vision just to make sure they were alright, and, of course, he gave his best friend that famous signal watch to keep him safe. Now take a minute to think about all this in terms of real people. If you knew one of your friends kept a room dedicated to you and was constantly watching you to “keep you safe,” wouldn’t you think they were stalking you? That’s the degree to which Superman loves his friends and family: To the point where he’s basically a stalker. Not that I’m saying he should go “single, white Super-hero” crazy or anything like that. All I’m saying is that his love should be so big that it’s off-putting to normal people who can cycle through relationships a bit more easily than Superman can. This stands to reason with who he is. Superman suffered a major trauma very early in life when he lost his planet and parents as an infant. What if this event made him instinctively neurotic over the safety of his loved ones and his adopted planet? This is part of what makes him selfless and heroic, but I’m saying that it can also make him a little weird and awkward next to how everyone else approaches their relationships. This would give him more character.

Fear of Commitment:

            As I mentioned in part 1 of this series, Silver Age Superman loved Lois but was in no rush to marry her. Whenever she would get too aggressive, he’d reply that marrying her would interfere with his mission as Superman. The editorial reason they did this, of course, was so the romance didn’t resolve itself too early and become stale. I see some good, realistic reasons for why Superman would want to avoid settling down, though. If you have a wife and family, you’re first responsibility is always to them. Think about the weight of this truth and think about how it can change your life. No offense to the family men in the audience, but doesn’t it restrict your freedom and choices? For instance, if, you have a wife and kid, can you leave a job you hate as easily as you can if you’re single? Can you afford not to have health or life insurance knowing your family might rely on it someday?   Can you make as many decisions without taking your wife’s opinions and well-being into account? These are the compromises of being married and they are just that: Compromises. Superman, once again, is the man who lives without compromises and he needs to so he can always make decisions for the greater good and to save the day. I love Lois. I’ve always felt she’s been an amazingly strong woman and Superman’s ultimate love, but I hate their marriage. It makes them both too comfortable and reliant on each other. It also kills the romantic possibilities in Superman’s stories. Superman used to have many different love interests and some that he would just meet in the rush of a single adventure. It made his love life dynamic and tragically limited. I think this is much more exciting than the domestic drudgery we’ve put him through the last decade.

The Super-Prankster:

            This is my favorite Silver Age Superman ability. Superman used to have a great sense of humor and often spent entire stories setting up complex tricks to fool his friends and enemies alike. Sometimes he’d have to wear disguises to protect his Clark Kent identity from Lana or Lois. Sometimes he’d shift the tectonic plates to help Clark avoid a shotgun wedding (Superman #94). He used to defeat more enemies using his brain than his brawn and you’d be interested in learning both how and why he did all the crazy things he did in the end. This is why his super-intellect is so important. It gives him more tricks to fight evil with. It also makes Superman a very light and funny comic to read because he’s having a laugh with us the entire time. One final note on this: He played tricks on EVERYONE. Silver Age Superman stories often get accused of sexism and, partly, I think this is due to the times they came out, but one specific complaint is that Superman is always fooling Lois to laugh at her female inferiority behind her back. I think this claim is ridiculous because he was always tricking and laughing at everyone including his male friends and villains. He was laughing at the pettiness of human behavior and not at any one group or gender. My Superman sees every person just as valuable and as capable as the next. He is not a sexist.

            Those are the five traits I find the most charming in Silver Age Superman and that, I feel, made him a unique and believable person even in our cynical Modern Age. Some of them you can still find in the modern Superman, but not as exaggerated or as amusing. Going back to Byrne’s Superman, I don’t see character traits in him that are nearly as charming or as interesting. When Byrne made Clark Kent into Superman’s identity, Clark became hardy while Superman became emotionally fragile. In fact, it’s almost as if the word turned upside down and Clark became the better man. Clark got the girls while Superman broke into fits of crying and self-doubt. Meanwhile, can you name for me any unique personality traits Byrne’s Superman had? What were his politics? What is his favorite band? What are his neuroses? The two unique traits I see in Byrne’s Superman are that he wants to have a love-life and that he’s kind of afraid of being Superman. Outside of that he’s filled with old-fashioned mottos with a rigidly humble personality. I don’t find this guy very interesting. He might be more “relatable” since we all want a girlfriend and we all want to see ourselves as not being an arrogant jerk, but that’s not Superman (it’s actually more like Spider-Man). Though Byrne’s Superman did receive a brief surge in popularity, it didn’t last. Sales slipped again and not five years after the Man of Steel revamp I was reading the same, old criticisms of Superman’s character: “He’s too powerful; he’s un-relatable; he’s arrogant.” Those were the complaints Byrne’s Superman was supposed to fix and obviously didn’t. Why not instead of making excuses for Superman and trying to change him, we just let him be Superman. I think we’d get a much more interesting character to read in the long run, and, in my opinion, it’s far better to be interesting than relatable. 

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Old Blog: Paradise Lost- The First AND Second War in Heaven

 Hey everybody. I was surfing the web today looking over some of my old comic blogs, and I found this gem on my Blogspot  ( http://cosmichobo14.blogspot.com/) from my undergrad years. It concerns two of my favorite topics: John Milton's Paradise Lost and the JLA. I wrote it after reading an excellent JLA mini-series by Mark Millar. I hope you enjoy and I'll try to have some brand new material up soon. Laaaaate!
 
 
Paradise Lost is an epic poem that was written by John Milton in the 17th century. The final version of the poem was separated into 12 books and was meant to be the Christian answer to the pagan epic poems like the Odyssey and the Iliad. Christian writers of the 17th century loved the pagan epics, but were uncomfortable with the violence, sex and other "unchristian-like" behaviors that the heroes of these epics displayed. Milton wanted to create a Christian epic with a Christian epic hero.



The plot of Paradise lost deals with the first war in heaven started by Satan's rebellion; the fall of Satan and his army; the creation of earth and man; Adam, Eve, and the apple; and God's promise of man's redemption through Christ. For most of the poem, we follow the actions of Satan who reads very much like a pagan epic hero along the lines of Odysseus or Achilles. He's quick to battle and undertakes great feats against mystical forces. We begin with him crawling out of Hell through chaos so he can mess with the newly created Earth to get some revenge on God. He decides the best way to do this is to convince man (Adam and Eve) to betray God just as he did by getting them to eat the fruit God forbade them to eat. He succeeds and is punished for it just as Adam and Eve are, and we end the book with a look into the future (a brief summary of the Old Testament) and a promise of man's redemption through Christ (a brief summary of the New Testament). This is a very rough summary, of course, and I encourage everyone to try and read this epic since it's a beautiful piece of work and definitely Milton's masterpiece (get an annotated or an abridged version, though, since this poem is stuffed with serious allusions to pieces of classic literature and myth that very few people, including myself, will get right off the bat). The conceit of Paradise Lost, put simply, is that good and heroism is obedience in God and God's order. Everyone who obeys God is rewarded and praised and anyone who doesn't is punished. Though I don't necessarily agree with this message (since I'm not a Christian), I have nothing but admiration for Milton and this poem. It's one of the most beautifully complex and sometimes flawed pieces of work I've ever read.
"But Dave," you say, "this is a blog about comics. Why are you talking about a 17th century poem in a blog about comics?" I'm glad you asked. Recently I've been working at a comic store in Dover, NH called Nellie Woe's Comics 'N Such (located in downtown Dover), and while working today something caught my eye: a three issue mini-series entitled JLA:Paradise Lost. Naturally my love for both comics and Milton kicked in and forced me to immediately purchase and read this series. It was written in early '98 by Mark Millar and Ariel Olivetti shortly after Grant Morrison began his popular run on the Justice League, and was supposed to help introduce us to a new character who would soon be a member of the Justice League: Zauriel the guardian angel. Ironically enough, Morrison's original intent with Zauriel was to create a character to stand in for Hawkman who DC put off-limits following one of their crazy continuity shake-ups (Zero Hour more specifically). I feel the result of having an actual Angelic presence in the JLA and a Milton-inspired mini-series about him is far more interesting than having boring, old Hawkman on the team but that's just me.

Anyway, Zauriel's back story is that he was a Guardian angel set to protect a woman named Shannon Coyne from demonic possession. In the process of doing this, he fell in love with Shannon and asked the forces of Heaven to release him from his duty so he could live on Earth with her. Before he leaves Heaven he catches wind of a plot that fellow angel Asmodel was hatching to overthrow God. Zauriel meets the JLA and they all initially defeat Asmodel together. The Paradise Lost story picks up after these events.

In JLA: Paradise Lost, Zauriel meets up with Shannon and expresses his love for her. Before the poor girl can even respond, the demon Etrigan attacks them on Asmodel's orders and the two are forced to flee from further attacks along with Shannon's pudgy boyfriend Jerry. Zauriel is forced to battle Asmodel and his combined army of angels and demons with the help of the Martian Manhunter, a fellow fallen angel named Michael, and pudgy Jerry. In the end, God wins, Shannon surprisingly chooses Jerry over Zauriel, and Zauriel joins up with the JLA.

So what connects this three issue mini-series with the 12 book epic poem? Obedience and duty play a huge role in both. Asmodel loses the second war of Heaven in the comic because God takes away all of his power in response to his affront. In this way Asmodel loses before the battle even began. Satan lost his war in Paradise Lost in a similar fashion. Zauriel is also a wonderful character where this question is concerned. He initially disobeys God and casts off his duty so he can selfishly make a play for Shannon. This causes more damage than good as it brings Asmodel's forces to Earth and Shannon to be kidnapped by demons. Things are only set right when Zauriel decides to resume his duty and responsibility by fighting Asmodel's invasion of Heaven and attempting to rescue Shannon. This sequence of events impresses the importance of obedience and duty onto Zauriel has he accepts the post of Heaven's representative on Earth and in the Justice League.  
 

Zauriel's dilemma is a very human one. He chose something he thought he wanted over what he knew he was. Only when he once again accepted his place in the grand order did he feel fulfilled. Satan was the same way in Paradise Lost. He went after the power he wanted in spite of his place in the universe and was punished for doing so. The only difference is that Zauriel rejoined the fold while Satan found a new place in the grand order by playing the villain. Perhaps the universal message we can take from both pieces is that in the end who we are dictates where we'll end up in the grand scheme of things. Zauriel is a guardian so he ends up a guardian even when he tries to be a lover while Satan is a villain even when he tries to be a conquering, epic hero. In the end, you can't fight who you are (or if you're a Christian like Milton, you can't fight God's Will). But, hey, who knows if that's even true. This is all just poetry and comics. Until next time, keep reading.
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Superior 80's Nostalgia?

I honestly had high hopes for Mark Millar and Leinil Yu’s Superior. I know Mark is an avid Superman fan. He had a great run on the Superman Adventures in the late 90’s, he wrote one of the best Modern Age Superman tales in Superman: Red Son, he was part of the brilliant Superman 2000 pitch with Grant Morrison, and he even has his own Superman movie trilogy developed just in case he’s asked to do it one day. Plus Leinil Yu is one of the industry’s top artists and was my favorite New Avengers artist. I figured I was in for one of the best non-Superman Superman stories ever written. However, so far I’ve been a bit let down. We are four issues into Superior and I can’t help but feel the pace is a bit slow. I’m also often experiencing sensations of déjà vu as I read the pages of Superior. In fact, it sort of makes me feel like I’m back in the 80’s.

        The satellite catch from Superior #3 was my first big time warp moment. For those who haven’t read the issue, Superior’s big reveal to the world comes in issue #3 when he stops a falling Space Station from crashing into New York City. I didn’t think much of it at the time past the fact that it was a cool thing for Yu to draw. Not long after reading that, however, I was flipping through an old copy of Mark Gruenwald and Bob Hall’s Squadron Supreme #1 from September of 1985 and in the first few pages was treated to a scene of Hyperion (another Superman clone) struggling against a falling satellite. I was dumbstruck with how similar the scenes were. In both comics we have two caped strongmen pushing in vain against burning space stations plummeting towards Earth. 

 Superior's Satellite Catch
 Superior's Satellite Catch

 Hyperion's Satellite Catch
 Hyperion's Satellite Catch
 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  I started to wonder how many other times the satellite problem has popped up for Superman or one of his many clones. The first time I could find it happening for Superman was in Adventure Comics #247 during the first appearance of the Legion of Superheroes. Superboy gets diverted from his contest with Cosmic Boy because of an Earth-satellite that’s just about to crash. Superboy catches the blazing satellite and tosses it into a volcano crater. I also remembered that he caught a Satellite as Superman in Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s JLA #34 in a scene much like the Superior/Hyperion catches. The most notable moment, however, was Superman’s satellite catch in the opening scene of 1987’s Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Superman rights a spiraling cosmonaut space station and catches a wayward cosmonaut who had been left floating in space because of it. This satellite catch may be the key to understanding why Millar used the scenario as his Superior reveal. Mark Millar is known to have loved the Richard Donner Superman films to the point where he bought Christopher Reeve’s cape. Though Superman IV wasn’t directed by Donner, it was part of the film series and I wouldn’t be surprised if it stuck with Millar enough to subconsciously turn into a scene for Superior.

        Also, interestingly enough, I discovered a few more Superior coincidences during my satellite search. Take the powers test from Superior #2 for instance. After revealing his Superior identity to his best friend Chris, Simon and Chris go out into the woods to test Simon’s Superior powers. Chris has a stack of comic books with him for research and watches as Simon tests his super powers on the surrounding environment. Where have I seen this before? I asked myself. The answer was Alan Moore’s Miracleman Chapter 7 (printed in 1982’s Warrior #7 and 1985’s Miracleman #2). In this scene, Superman-clone Miracleman goes out into an abandoned field with his wife, Liz, to test out his superpowers on the surrounding environment. Liz carries a stack of comic books with her for research. Both scenes carry a similar feel to them as both heroes try to discover their limits for the first time. 


 Superior Comic Test
 Superior Comic Test

  

  


 Miracleman Comic Test
 Miracleman Comic Test

  

         Then there’s the near-death feint that Madeline Knox just recently pulled on Superior in issue #4. Desperate to grab an exclusive interview with Superior before anyone beats her to the punch, Maddie drives off a pier and into the river hoping Superior would save her. He does pull her from the water and she ambushes him with a camera crew and does a live-television interview. This is the exact same thing that happens in John Byrne’s 1986 Superman: The Man of Steel #2. Finding it impossible to track Superman down for an interview, Lois Lane drives her car off a pier hoping that Superman would save her. Superman pulls her from the river and flies her back home where she starts her interview (though Clark Kent beats HER to the punch by writing a story about himself). I’m sure John Byrne nearly $#!* himself with rage at the scene in Superior #4 because it’s THE EXACT SAME SCENE as in Man of Steel #2. 

No Caption Provided

 

 

  

         Why am I telling you all of this? Is it because I’m trying to tear Mark Millar down and out him as being unoriginal? No. Honestly, I never expected a series starring a Superman clone to be all that original in the first place. I also genuinely like Mark Millar. He’s perhaps one of the best comic writers still working and he always produces something that’s fun. I also really enjoyed Squadron Supreme and Miracleman back when these types of stories were still a novel idea. What I’m really trying to point out with all of this is that superhero deconstruction can only take us so far and to so many places. Part of what Mark Millar is trying to do with Superior is take the Superman mythos into a modern world that looks and feels a lot like our own. Millar is asking himself, if there was a guy like Superman then how would he interact with the world and how would the world respond to him? These are the answers he came up with and some of them happen to be the exact same answers that Mark Gruenwald, Alan Moore, and John Byrne came up with for their Superman deconstruction stories. Why do we have Superman figures catch so many satellites? Because it’s a realistic problem we could use a guy like Superman for. Why do we have modern Supermen test their powers in front of loved ones reading comics? Because that’s what we would probably do and because we’re aware that if a real superhero appeared then all we’d have to compare him to would be comics. Why do we have female reporters driving off piers for attention? Because we’re very cynical of the media these days and think they’d do about anything for a story (and they probably would).

I don’t think Mark Millar is necessarily ripping people off so much as he’s thinking about what his characters would realistically do in these situations in the real world and he’s either consciously or subconsciously taking himself back to 1980’s superhero deconstruction as a result. That’s, honestly, what disappoints me about Superior. In a lot of ways, it does feel like the same kind of Superman story we’ve been reading since the beginning of the modern age and that’s because it’s the exact same approach writers have taken to comics since then. The preoccupation of trying to make these stories more realistic delivers the same stories to us time and time again because our own world only changes so much. I was hopeful that Millar would be able to ignore this impulse and take a trip into the imaginative and the fantastic much like he did in his Superman Adventures run. Instead, we get another synopsis of what things would be like if Superman lived in the real world. Personally, what I want to see is Superman back in his own world: The world where anything and everything can happen so we’re not just watching him and his clones catch satellites over and over again. It disappoints me that Superior was not this project. 

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The ParanoiAvengers #1: The Dire Wraith Genocide

I once heard someone describe writing comics like writing a haiku. In each issue you have so many pages, so many panels per page, and so many words you can fit in each panel to tell your story. Being a genre that’s part visual and part literary, comic writers get the added advantage of having illustrations to back-up their words but are restricted in the amount of words and time they have to get their point across. The literary restrictions of the medium often force writers to take story-telling short-cuts to fit their stories into the confined space of a single-issue. These short-cuts are often pointed out by critics to mar comics as trashy literature. However, being a long-time fan, I’ve come to see these plot short-cuts as the necessary evils they are and even have grown to appreciate how certain writers can wield them creatively enough to make them welcome additions to their stories rather than annoying hindrances to plausibility. That being said, we do have decades among decades worth of comic stories filled with these plot holes and examples of telling over showing. My favorite type of story-telling short-cut often used by comic writers is when they TELL you how to feel about an event that’s just occurred so you don’t feel like your favorite heroes are acting like villains. Comic writers reach for this short-cut when they’ve had their main character (or characters) do something morally questionable when they don’t intend for you to question the character’s moral standing. I’ve found that there are MANY examples of this in the Avengers throughout the years, and I wanted to use this series of blog posts as a creative way of pointing them out.

I’m a big fan of Post-Modern literature. These are stories that use alternate perspectives to rethink narrative and history. In other words, they take multiple perspectives of an issue into account to break down the idea that there’s only one kind of morality or only one way to look at a conflict. For instance, Thomas Pynchon’s Against the Day tells the story of the Industrial Revolution and World War I from the perspective of anarchists or how William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch tells the story of heroin addiction from the perspective of someone trapped in the disease (rather than having its ills delivered down to you by an anti-drug initiative). Superheroes have suffered in the face of Post-Modernism. One man’s champion of justice is another man’s restrictive fascist. It’s lead to many modern writers struggling with characters who are supposed moral pillars like Superman and some nasty new outlooks on superheroes as characters like Garth Ennis’ Boys. Taking post-modernism to heart, I’ve decided to take a look at some of these short-cut moments within the pages of the Avengers from a new perspective: The harsh perspective of an opposite point-of view. After a series of these, I hope to come up with a brand new way at looking at the Avengers and their history or, rather, an alternate history of the Avengers using the same stories. I do this not because I don’t see the Avengers as heroes but because I want to prove that the world of comics is, was, and always has been as morally complex as our own. You just need to look at it a certain way. I’m going to write these posts as my very own Marvel fan-fiction character Felix from my World Search series (http://www.comicvine.com/forums/fan-fic/8/marvel-world-search-series/584653/). Without further ado, here’s Felix’s perspective on the events of The Avengers #268 by Roger Stern, John Buscema, and Tom Palmer:

They’ve been called Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, champions of justice, and the best hope for the future our modern world has. I know things about the Avengers that prove they’re anything but. I see them as nothing more than a mechanism to defend the status quo and force it on the rest of us. Despite the humanitarian efforts they perform in the eye of the public, there are other, more sinister missions they engage in on a regular basis that would make many free-thinking individuals question their judgment and morality. I understand that the Avengers are heroes to many and most people will close their eyes and ears to the information I’m going to put before them. I hope those of you with free wills and good conscience will see it in yourselves to question a group that is allowed to trample over our freedoms and lives in the pursuit of a “better” world. In many cases, you’ll see, it’s hard to distinguish the actions from the Avengers from those “villains” they demonize in the press.

There are those who doubt its existence, and recent announcements by the Catholic Church don’t help in this regard, but Limbo is a real place with real inhabitants trying to live decent lives. Take my good friend Jim Clayton and his wife Avesma whose family was victimized by the Avengers underneath the shroud of Limbo. Jim was an honest, American worker in the automotive industry who fell into Limbo after his car factory was shut down amid the energy crisis of 1979. Winding up alone, unemployed, and directionless in the changing economy of the early 80’s, Jim awoke one morning to find himself in the formless void of Limbo.  Never being one to shy away from a challenge or hard work, Jim eventually carved out a place for himself in the mind-bending realm by building a small cottage from debris near the outskirts of Chronopolis. Eventually, Jim met the love of his life, Avesma, who just happened to be a Dire Wraith. Avesma and her people had been exiled to Limbo after an attempt by the Wraiths to infiltrate and conquer Earth was thwarted by the Avengers and an alien android called Rom. I make no excuses for the Dire Wraiths’ attempted conquest of Earth, but will point out you can’t blame an entire species on the failings of its government. By this point, the mighty Dire Wraith Empire had been reduced to a rag-tag band of refugees flooding Limbo for sanctuary. Avesma, herself, is a kind-hearted being with a warm personality. Jim was attracted to her kindness and would always joke that it’s hard to beat having a wife that can shape-shift into ANY woman. Jim and Avesma married and set to work trying to build a small community in Limbo on the edge of Chronopolis.

Eventually, their small community and the new Dire Wraith population came to the attention of Chronopolis’ ruler, Kang the Conqueror. Now Kang is admittedly a controversial public figure. His repeated attempts to conquer Earth as well as all space and time are well documented, but he is Chronopolis’ rightful leader and the only major employer close to Limbo. Many young Dire Wraiths found employment and purpose guarding and maintaining Kang’s factories spread throughout Chronopolis. Avesma’s young nephew Grex was among the ranks of Kang’s security force. Being grateful for their newfound jobs and lives, The Wraiths did the best they could for Kang and Chronopolis. This, unfortunately, would be their downfall.

Amid one of his infamous schemes, Kang teleported three members of the Avengers (Wasp, Hercules, and the Black Knight) to Limbo by surprise. Belligerent and confused, the members of the World’s most prominent superhero team searched Limbo for answers. In the meantime, Kang sent a small security force of Dire Wraiths to intercept the band of heroes and lead them to Chronopolis. Unfortunately, a massacre was all that followed the Avengers meeting with the Wraiths. As Avesma tells it (since the skirmish happened not far from the cottage she shares with Jim), the Avengers attacked the small group of Wraiths with deadly force as soon as they laid eyes upon them. Hercules pounded them to pulp with his demigod strength; the Black Knight sliced and stabbed with his Ebony Blade; and the Wasp used her famous stings with fatal force. The small security force didn’t stand a chance and, to make matters worse, their demise was witnessed by a majority of the Dire Wraith population settled in Jim and Avesma’s small community. The Dire Wraith community was incensed by this senseless act of violence and set upon the Avengers to detain them. Unfortunately, the bloodlust of these “heroes” knew no end and the Avengers went on to slaughter every Dire Wraith that had the nerve to approach them.  

   


    
No Caption Provided

 (Images of Dire Wraith Genocide taken by Jim Clayton)

   

After the dust had finally settled and the Avengers moved on to assault Chronopolis, Avesma and Jim were left to mourn their small community. The three Avengers had killed a majority of their community and the Dire Wraith refugees that had been left alive after the invasion including Avesma’s nephew Grex and his parents. Those still breathing would now be too few to save the Dire Wraiths from extinction making the Avengers culpable of genocide. The worst part was, when confronted with this dubious action, the Avengers defended their massacre by explaining to the press and authorities that if they hadn’t killed the Dire Wraiths then Kang would have done so himself through torture. This excuse is as laughable as it is disgusting. Why would Kang torture his own employees to death? Especially considering there is a limited population in Limbo to hire. Yet, the US Government accepted and endorsed this excuse for genocide like it happened every day. Even the Geneva Convention was hesitant to bring charges since Limbo lies outside their sphere of influence. I, however, do not accept this excuse and will call this act of violence the war crime of Genocide that it is. 

 


No Caption Provided

 

  

Since the Dire Wraith Genocide, Jim and Avesma have done the best they can to pick up the pieces of their shattered community. With the population drastically reduced, it’s become harder for them to farm for food in the haze of limbo (if you think regular farming is hard then just try growing grain in an abstract concept). They have also had to face the hard truth that the days of the Dire Wraith species are numbered and they struggle to find a glimmer hope in this fact. Jim and Avesma are working hard with the doctors of Chronopolis to find a way to mix their DNA, create a race of human/wraith hybrids, and one day have children. The process is slow, though, even with all the medical technology space and time has to offer. The most tragic thing about all of this is that they struggle in anonymity. Most people don’t know a thing about the Dire Wraith Genocide and those who do refuse to admit the Avengers were at fault. The Avengers themselves refuse to apologize or even give sufficient reasoning for the murder of so many Dire Wraiths. This is strange for a group who claims to avoid killing if and whenever possible. Perhaps that policy only applies to human lives. The fact remains that the Dire Wraiths will be gone within a generation and there’s no one to answer for it. I urge any of you who are as troubled by this fact as I am to start speaking up and against the Avengers for this act. Their defense of US land and policies does not give them the right to act as judge, jury, and executioner to an entire species. For those of you who aren’t convinced of the Avengers fallibility yet, just wait for my next installment...

Stay Defiant,

Felix

                

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Straczynski Leaves the Superman Monthly in Limbo

Yesterday’s announcement that J. Michael Straczynski will be dropping writing duties on the Superman and Wonder Woman monthly titles in deference to concentrating on original graphic novels will have numerous repercussions on the comic world at large. I’m most concerned with the possible consequences it will have on Superman’s ongoing adventures. The last few years have been an interesting era for Superman comics. Last year, the man of steel was in the middle of the New Krypton saga being lead by writer James Robinson. The massive storyline told the tale of Superman’s home planet being reborn from survivors on Kandor. It ran for over a year, teased the idea of a big finale, and then ended quietly in a four-issue miniseries after sales fell and critics turned sour. It’s also likely that New Krypton’s end was rushed a bit to make way for big name writer J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Superman’s title.

               The transition from the sci-fi blockbuster that was New Krypton to Straczynski’s more philosophical take on Superman was less than clean. Superman had just watched the Kryptonian race wiped out for a second time at the hands of American forces in the conclusion to the War of the Supermen mini-series. In the beginning of Straczynski’s “Grounded” in Superman #700, however, Superman appears unconcerned about the genocide of his race but does become emotionally troubled after being slapped in the face by a woman who believes Superman let her husband die of cancer. This was an auspicious start to Straczynski’s run because it signaled that he was not interested in Superman’s recent history or continuity and wanted to initiate his story as quickly as possible without dealing with what came before. To fans that jumped onto Superman simply for Straczynski, this was not a problem because they would rather just jump into JMS’ tale without having to be bogged down by the New Krypton’s somewhat-complex history. However, to many long-time Superman readers who want to see all the character’s adventures as a single, unified story, Straczynski’s unwillingness to deal with New Krypton’s aftermath didn’t make sense in context of the story and spoke to an egotism within JMS. Three and a half issues of Straczynski’s “Grounded” storyline hit the shelves with a few delays and mixed reviews before JMS himself announced he would be dropping the Superman monthly title to focus on his popular graphic novel series, Superman: Earth One.

               Though it may be a better decision for JMS’ career since Superman: Earth One was released to better sales and reviews than “Grounded,” his fly-by-night departure from the book may leave Superman’s monthly title in a sort of limbo. Writing duties for Superman will pass from Straczynski to relative unknown Chris Roberson who will conclude Straczynski’s “Grounded” in a contracted manner using JMS’ notes. This move will, in all likelihood, kill “Grounded.” Many readers will leave the book along with JMS and no matter how talented Chris Roberson is he won’t be able to finish “Grounded” the same way Straczynski would have which will dilute the story and its themes. Then DC will have to face the problem of what to do next. Where do you go with Superman after two major storylines that were not completed as originally planned? What story do you tell after New Krypton and Grounded and do you trust an unknown like Roberson to tell it or do you try to reach for another big name writer? In any event, it feels like the Superman title is some ways away from being stabilized.

               In a lot of ways, the current Superman dilemma reminds me of the years shortly before Crisis on Infinite Earths and the John Byrne revamp. DC knew they were going in a brand new direction with Superman but they still had some time to publish Superman stories under the old guard. This created a lot of Superman stories that dropped new plot threads only to go nowhere as well as stories that were single-serving plots that you could forget the next day without feeling guilty. I’ve heard Superman in these years described as a “lame duck.” The story’s meant little because the creators knew there was no tomorrow. Are we in that sort of situation now only with no revamp in sight to work towards? The Straczynski situation also begs the question of whether we should be trying to tell these stories in continuity like they’re a single story. Many fans of “Grounded” were quick to blame long-time Superman fans for complaining over the lack of continuity rather than accepting the JMS story-arc as it came. This rang with the time-honored criticism of Superman fans being part of the problem. Granted, those of us who are loyal Superman fans all have one, specific era of the character in mind that we always want to see reflected in the current stories. We also rarely agree with each other as fans of the Man of Steel. It’s been suggested that the character’s history and fan expectations make Superman nearly impossible to write. But is the solution to this really doing away with continuity and taking each story as a brand new world? That approach seemed to work for All-Star Superman and Superman: Earth One which achieved popularity and critical acclaim out-of-continuity. Or do we try to forge ahead in continuity hoping a writer who can deal with all the history and pressure comes around? One thing is certain, Superman lacks a definitive direction. As long as that’s true, his monthly title will continue to struggle with sales and popularity. Who out there can save the man who always saves the day? Who can save Superman?

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Man or Superman Part 1- What Byrne Did

This is an old blog post I did for my hubpages blog (www.hubpages.com/hub/From-Cosmic-Spheres). I'm thinking about ending that blog and just posting stuff here. This post is about my favorite comics hang-up: Why I don't enjoy Post-Crisis Superman. Enjoy:  
 

Superman is an icon. He was the very first comic book superhero and has been fighting for truth and justice since his first appearance in 1938. Yet he hasn’t always been the same man. In fact, the Superman we read in comics today has gone through many different changes to personality and power throughout his 72 years of publication. Taking this into consideration, I’ve come up with a theory as to why Superman has struggled to maintain his popularity in the Modern Age of comics (roughly the mid-80’s to today) and why a majority of his stories in this age seem to fall flat. I believe these failings in Superman’s modern mythology stem from the character’s revamp in 1986 by writer/artist John Byrne.

            Let me first get a few things out of the way: I don’t hate John Byrne. He’s one of my favorite creators from the 1980’s who gave my childhood some of the best X-Men stories ever put to page. I also like some of the things he did with his Superman revamp. Lois Lane was a very strong, admirable, career woman under Byrne. I also liked what he did with Lex Luthor by making the villain a corporate leader embraced by the public (this always made sense to me despite the criticism he got for it). I’m also well aware that I’m not the first to blame Byrne for Superman’s recent failings, and, in fact, people have been complaining about it since it was released. I’m also sure I’m not the first one to make this particular argument about Byrne’s Superman, but I feel like it really is the answer to Superman’s problems. If nothing else, I know I can shine some new light on the issue. My theory is this: Byrne weakened Superman as a character by making Clark Kent the man’s true identity.

            “HOLD ON!” Some of you shout. “Isn’t Clark Kent supposed to be Superman’s true identity?” The answer is yes and no. You see, since John Byrne and the late 80’s, the approach to Clark Kent has been that he is the real man and personality behind the hero while Superman is just the identity that Clark uses to fight crime. This was not always the case. In fact, prior to 1986, Superman was the man’s true identity while Clark Kent was more like an act Superman put on so he could interact with humans and protect his loved ones. You can clearly see this when you compare Superman stories from the Silver and Bronze Ages of comics (known as Pre-Crisis continuity to DC fans) to comics from the Modern Age (Post-Crisis or Post-Byrne if you like). In fact, let’s do some of that now just so I can show you how transparent the differences are.

 

CHILDHOOD:

 

Pre-Crisis- Before the Byrne overhaul, Superman had grown up in Smallville as Superboy. He wore his super costume and fought crime as an incredibly powerful and super intelligent young man. As Superboy he could fly so fast he could break the time-space barrier and was smart enough to build Superboy robots to protect his secret identity. However, his childhood was very lonely. Clark couldn’t take part in sports or even make too many close friends because he was afraid succeeding like that as Clark would tip people off to the fact he was really Superboy. He could only seem to identify with kids who had powers like his, but they were few and far between. His parents definitely had their hands full with him and the situation sometimes reads like two mortals trying desperately to contain a child who was a superior being. One of my favorite Superboy stories centers around his adopted father, Jonathan Kent, struggling to punish a child he can’t physically harm or outthink. In the Silver and Bronze Ages, Superman had a childhood that was just as epic and alienating as his adult life and reinforced the belief that Superman was meant for greater things than ordinary human existence.

 

Post-Byrne- When John Byrne went about rewriting Superman’s childhood, he basically decided to start from scratch. John Byrne threw out Superman’s colorful, heroic childhood as Superboy and replaced it with a more ordinary upbringing. For starters, Clark grew up believing he was human and didn’t even learn of his Kryptonian heritage until after he grew up and had started his career as Superman. This also meant that Clark never had a reason to act timid or weak growing up and didn’t feel alienated by his powers. Taking a nod from the Donner Superman films, Byrne’s Clark Kent was even a high school football star. Though Clark’s powers were budding as he was growing up, he didn’t reach full power until adulthood. The interactions between this Clark and his parents were also more in line with normal parents raising and guiding a normal child. In one post-Byrne tale, Adventures of Superman #474, we even get to see Ma and Pa Kent lecturing a young Clark on the dangers of under age drinking and drunk driving (one of the stranger Smallville flashbacks ever). As you can see, Superman’s childhood resembles a much more normal human upbringing than he once had and one that would reinforce his identity as Clark over his role as Superman.  

 

AS SUPERMAN:

 

Pre-Crisis- The Superman of the Silver and Bronze Ages was more like a demi-god than a human man. By adulthood, this Superman was more alienated than ever having lost his parents before he left Smallville to a tropical disease from the past (no kidding). He was also insanely powerful. Superman could move planets, travel in time, mimic voices, and had an amazing super-intellect. In fact, Superman had such a keen intelligence to him that he was a genius level inventor, scientist, and problem solver (as I mentioned before, he built robots and he worked on scientific inquiries constantly). As Clark, he continued to act timid and weak to conceal the fact he was really Superman. He only chose for Clark to work as a reporter at the Daily Planet because he knew that would be the perfect job to keep him updated on situations that needed Superman. This Superman also avoids romantic entanglements at all costs. Whenever Lois or Lana would get too close or too aggressive in pursuing him, he would gently turn them down by reminding them of his responsibilities as Superman or by promising to end up with them someday in the far future. The Pre-Crisis Superman was focused on his career as a hero and was willing to give up all the comforts of human life to follow a noble path of truth and justice.

 

Post-Byrne- Just as he altered the man’s childhood, John Byrne made Superman into a completely different adult. For starters, Byrne left Ma and Pa Kent alive so they could continue to be Clark’s support system well into his time as Superman so he started off a much less alienated person than he used to be. Byrne also scaled down Superman’s powers significantly so he was no longer time traveling, pushing planets around, or even flying into space without a breathing apparatus. Most notably, Superman was no longer super-intelligent. Not to say that Byrne’s Superman was dumb, but he was no longer building robots, creating new inventions, or even outsmarting enemies nearly as much as he used to. In fact, a new character named Professor Hamilton was introduced to invent cool things for Superman since he was no longer going to be doing it himself. Byrne’s Clark Kent also never really pretended to be that timid or weak. Compared to the Pre-Crisis Clark, Byrne’s Kent is a well respected and well rounded guy. He even at one point had some serious aspirations to further his career as a reporter as evidenced by his eventual resignation from the Daily Planet in favor of an editorial position at a rival newspaper (happened in the post-Byrne Superman Vol.2 #39). Clark’s romantic life was very active in both of his identities during this period. Byrne’s Clark Kent was in a love triangle with vivacious career woman Lois Lane, promiscuous single mom Cat Grant, and townie girl next door Lana Lang and actively pursued these relationships. He viewed his identity as Superman as competition for Lois and by 1996 finally took the plunge and married Lois (something he’d successfully avoided for 58 years) as Clark Kent. Byrne’s Superman was far more human and more focused on his human life than his Pre-Crisis counterpart ever was and, from my view, these things would serve as distractions from his mission for ultimate good.

 

IDENTITY- MAN OR SUPERMAN?:

 

Pre-Crisis- Originally, Superman knew he was greater than human and that his Clark Kent persona would be nothing more than a play at being human. When the Silver Age introduced Superman’s origins as Superboy, Superboy is shown to have made a clear and conscious decision to KEEP his identity as Clark Kent as a secret identity rather than be Superboy 24/7. You don’t DECIDE to keep an identity if you actually feel like that person on the inside (you simply just are that person). This Superman was also so intelligent and powerful that living a human life was no challenge to him and there’s evidence that supports the idea that he could pick up and drop human identities like bad habits. He even shows on many occasions that he’s willing to drop his Clark Kent identity if need be. In Superboy #169, he’s almost forced to give up his Clark Kent identity after Clark is believed to have been shot and killed by most of Smallville. Superman did abandon his Clark Kent identity in Alan Moore’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” story which acted as the goodbye tale for the Silver and Bronze Age Superman. This Superman also took on secret identities outside of Clark Kent for various reasons like when he took on the identity of Chris Delbart to throw off a villain from discovering his Kent identity (in Superman #283). They also wrote a series of stories from the Bronze Age where we met Superman’s grandson, Superman-III, and learned that he maintains multiple human identities as a challenge (Superman #423). All of this suggests that this Superman didn’t see Clark as his true persona and in general felt a bit of distance from human identity and existence. In contrast, in Superman #174, Clark is lead to believe by an enemy that he is not and never was Superman and the experience is rather surreal and scary for Clark who realizes that without his Superman identity he’s stuck being cowardly Clark Kent in a mundane life. To me, this Superman embodies the phrase “Man of Tomorrow” by being something beyond a normal human man. This Superman lives an extraordinary life and his personality is larger than life to follow suit as he never really doubts himself or is shaken by fear. Rather than being human, his identity is something we humans aspire to be: Perfectly wise and noble with the power to back it up.

 

Post-Byrne- Beginning with his earliest work on the character, it’s transparently clear to see that the main thing John Byrne wanted to change about Superman was his relationship with the Clark Kent identity. Byrne obviously felt that Superman would be a more sympathetic character if he was seen as more human, and Byrne made the Kent identity a focus to further this goal. In issue #6 of the miniseries that introduced us to Byrne’s Superman, The Man of Steel, Clark outright tells you what he thinks of his Superman identity: “Superman isn’t real. He’s just a fancy pair of longjohns that lets me operate in public without losing my private life”(page 4). This clearly shows that Byrne’s Superman sympathizes more with his human identity and sees Superman as a construction. Byrne again reinforces this with another quote from Superman Vol.2 #1 when Clark is thinking about romantically pursuing Lois Lane he states: “If I’m going to win her it’s going to be as me, as Clark Kent”(page 7). Byrne was having Clark repeat things like this to reinforce the idea that Clark was the actual man now and Superman from then on would be an extra identity and an extra concern. Byrne even took Superman through a failed romance with Wonder Woman (long thought of as a perfect mate for Superman) where Superman ended it after realizing that Wonder Woman was basically a goddess while he still felt human on the inside. As I mentioned earlier, Byrne’s Superman didn’t discover he was an alien until he was an adult. After he discovered this, Superman was bothered by the idea that he wasn’t really human living on a world of humans and continually went through identity crises over the need to feel and act human despite this. Post-Byrne Superman constantly doubts himself and his actions like when he destroyed the military capabilities of terrorist nation Quarac or when he made a personal mission to try and convince Cat’s ex-husband to let her see their son. He also outwardly shows fear on occasion like when he first runs into magic after learning it can harm him. Where the Silver and Bronze Age Superman appears to be the ultimate step in human evolution, Byrne’s Superman appears to be nothing more than meets the eye: A Midwestern farm boy who happens to have super powers.

 

            And there you have it. Hopefully by now I have shown you how Byrne made his Superman completely different than the Superman that came before simply by focusing more on his Clark Kent identity. By setting up Clark as the true identity behind Superman, Byrne changed Superman from a noble demi-god to a human man with everyday concerns. I’m sure many of you are asking: Isn’t that a good thing? Normally in literature we want our characters to seem more human, so what Byrne did should have been more engaging, right? I’m arguing that in this case that approach was wrong because Superman was a character that was never meant to be human quite that literally. In my next entry, I hope to show you exactly why Byrne’s characterization of Superman fell flat and why the issue of Superman’s humanity isn’t quite as simple as it may seem.

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