JulianPerez
Council of Wisdom
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« on: January 12, 2006, 11:19:13 AM » |
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I don't know about you guys, but when it comes to Superman, these days I want to tap dance!
Anybody that says that Classic Superman is as dead as a doornail hasn't been paying attention to what's going on with the character in the past few years. Every single Superman work of significance has brought emphasis on his classic incarnation and elements over the 1986-2003 variation of Wolfman and Byrne.
More importantly, stellar talent, from Geoff Johns, Kurt Busiek, and yes, even Mark Waid and Grant Morrison (who at least understands who Superman IS) are being assigned to the character.
INFINITE CRISIS is restructuring the DC Universe to a configuration before it was rewritten by writer-artist singularities. INFINITE CRISIS is releasing Silver Age elements left and right to make even my cautiously optimistic statements about it now seem downright conservative. I mean, we've got Geoff Johns referencing, of all the things in the world, a lightning monster from an issue of TOMMY TOMORROW.
So, my question is this: at least as far as Superman is concerned, are we out of the Dark Ages?
BIRTHRIGHT is not perfect by any means, however, the Superman present is more inspired by Swan and Bates than by Byrne and Wolfman. The Krypton of BIRTHRIGHT was the gutsy science fiction world seen in pre-Crisis incarnations. Byrne went out of his way to paint Krypton as unsympathetic; Waid went out of his way to make it intriguing and its destruction a tragedy. Ditto for the character of Clark Kent; instead of being the handsome GQ model and football jock of the 1990s, he is once again the put upon, dismissable mildmannered figure of every single other incarnation except the post-Crisis variation. Luthor has his sense of humor, and his scientific know-how again - it's hard to imagine the 90s Luthor cracking a joke. He also has his Maggin-originated ability to create sympathy, he is once again one of the "sympathetic" villains like Namor and Magneto who is a foe by circumstance. Superman is superintelligent once again; he further has the "life sense" ability Maggin gave him in MIRACLE MONDAY.
Lois has black hair again. Yeah, it's a little thing, but it shows that Waid was writing in the spirit of Classic Superman.
Heck, they're even bringing back the original issue numbering.
And of course, we have Geoff Johns and his "Return to Krypton." The guy brought back the Fire Falls, the Gold Volcano, Mt. Mundru, Jor-El with a headband, antigravity belts...
And we have Mark Millar and his RED SON, which is Classic Superman while not in background, in terms of power level, purpose, and props: the bottled city, Lex as a genius scientist, Superman as super-intelligent, hypercompetent, and fearless, and so forth.
ALL-STAR SUPERMAN is clearly Classic Superman. Morrison has said as much, stating that he is Superman where the 1986 reboot did not take place, featuring Steve Lombardi, trippy concepts (the nitrogen-blooded zero-g giant was incredible), and "meek" Clark Kent. Most importantly: what is Superman's response when he discovers he is dying? Does he angst? Does he cry? No! He says (paraphrased), "there's always a way, Doctor, and I'll find it But if not, I'll take steps to make sure the earth is protected."
THAT'S the Superman we all know and love. My friends, Superman has returned!
Superman does reveal himself to Lois, true. But there's nothing specifically 1986-2003 about this. Superman's been revealing his identity to Lois since "K-Metal from Krypton." And this is the plot of approximately 4,000 Imaginary Stories.
Oh, and who are the next guys to take over Superman?
"Mr Silver Age" himself, Kurt Busiek. The guy that had Dr. Cyber be the principal villain in POWER COMPANY. The guy whose praise of Cary Bates's Superman is overflowing, who says he will bring back the Microwave Man at the earliest opportunity.
And Geoff Johns, too, is going to be writing Superman. The guy that returned Earth-2 Superman to relevancy, remember?
It would be enough if both these men were Silver Age junkies, like Mark Waid and Grant Morrison, who know who Superman is and how to have him behave. But even better, they're both also supertalented.
Byrne's "Superman" has joined the dustbin of failed variants that comics have forgotten, along with the female Dr. Mid-Nite, powerless Judo disco Wonder Woman, Connor Hawke, and Kyle Rayner, who is still around as an armistice concession to eighties-nineties fans - which I can live with as long as he's not THE Green Lantern. That parking space is reserved for another, better character.
I mean, what more do we all want?
The war's over, and old school fans like us have won. The urge to gloat is nearly insurmountable.
We won't have everything back the way it was in the Silver Age, which is just fine; the Super-UNIVAC, Jewel Kryptonite, and Supermobile were interesting but it doesn't make Superman SUPERMAN. But stories are being written with the same SPIRIT of that period, and with Busiek and Johns, with the TALENT of that period, too. There's no doubt in my mind that they're the Elliot S! Maggin and Cary Bates for a new generation.
Took a while, but it couldn't have happened sooner.
When Superman was made an unrecognizeable creative abortion by a talentless fraud who flushed all the oddity and imagination of five decades down the toilet, Alan Moore loudly and angrily proclaimed they had thrown the baby out with the bathwater and wrote the zany, acid inspired love letter to the Silver Age, SUPREME.
I highly doubt anyone will do the same for Byrne's "Superman" now that he's gone.
Alan Moore once said that no age lasts forever, not even a dark one. I hope to never mention that period again and get back to looking forward to Superman comics!
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