Superman Through the Ages! Forum

Enjoy!

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Wow, that splash page looks terrific, though three pages on Lois and Superman having a conversation? Lousy decompressed storytelling. I wasn't about to point it out, however, because Quitely's art is so breathtaking.

I absolutely dig the whole Silver Age style cover. What IS the secret of the forbidden room? I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting antsy in my pantsy to find out and a month is just TOO long. This was the beautiful thing about Silver Age covers, even at their very worst: 1) they were often done by Curt Swan and Neil Adams, and 2) they made you eager to get to the contents inside. What IS the secret of "Silver Kryptonite?" Why IS that guy King of the Giant Mechanical Ants?

For that matter, movie posters that are basically headshots bother me for the same reason: what happened to the gorgeous painted ones that have a robot carrying a voluptuous blonde?

I gotta point out.... It's actually HALF of the actual splash page in the comic (Buzzscope only showed one page).

The cover looks amazing and the artwork looks awesome. I sure wish these were released monthly, but I suppose they are well worth the wait, though the TPB seems to be so far away.

Impressive! Lois seems to look less like Jennifer Lopez in this issue...

I'm happy to report that I subscribed to A.S.S. today on the DC website. *immature chuckle*

However, I think it takes 6-8 weeks to get your first issue, so I'll have to pick this one up at my "local comic shop," which is over an hour away.

It's funny you mention Jennifer Lopez.  When you read the second issue, you'll see what I mean.

Loved it. God, after all the grim 'n gritty dreck it can be so refreshing to find a superhero comicbook that knows what it is but doesn't take itself ironically; it is what it is and it revels in it. Grant Morrison is a mad god, between this work and his Seven Soldiers stuff I'm in fanboy heaven.

 So much about this issue is grand. It's like coming home again and finding out that the old playground wasn't torn down, but has only expanded and become even more enjoyable. Morrison's dialogue is great. This is the Earth-1 Superman, make no mistake. The exchange between Lois and Superman at the beginning of the issue was golden.

 " What  happened to the big golden key? The one you used to have? "

 " Didn't think it was secure enough. "

 " So you and Batman nixed the Toyman's plan to turn Gotham City into his own personal Disneyland of Death? How is he? "

 " Batman? Great. You know Batman. "

  " Robin? "

  " Great kid. I always wondered if I should have taken a partner. "

 Hehe.

 Quitely's art is great in widescreen. I'm warming to it a bit, but he's still no Chris Sprouse ( I know, I know. But c'mon. It would've been awesome.) The Fortress looks so incredibly cool. But what's up with the Superman robots? I mean neat, yeah. . .but still. Kooky.

 I won't spoil the rest, but this issue is a real treat. It's comicbook fun that doesn't take itself seriously or laugh at the 'pithy' conventions of the genre. Superman is Superman, he's powerful and good, and he's coming clean with Lois. Or he would, if she believed for a second he was really Clark Kent. ;)

 -Def.

I love the Silver/Bronze age cover style.

Today, we have a lot of pin ups... But I want covers, not pin ups!

I LOVED the issue with only one flaw.


I almost THREW UP when Lois called Sups "Superman" (Gosh how materialistic) She shoud at least call him Kal El

Wow! Superblacksmith! He looks pretty impressive forging the miniature sun. Do you think he somehow going to feed his excess solar energy to the baby sun-eater?

One thing I at first liked, but am now getting a bit tired of -- Isn't Superman just a little bit too aloof? I know Morrison's rationale with making him completely relaxed; when you've got that much power, it's going to take a lot to faze you, but he's almost the Superfonz here.

I enjoyed it so much I started a separate thread. My bad.

She must be a real friend then, Superman is his nickname, once a friend of yours has a nickname, you never call them by their birthname.

I thought his nickname was "Smallville". Of course, she still doesn't buy that he's actually Clark. Why would she call him Kal-El? I know it's his real name, but nobody ever calls him that; he himself probably thinks of himself as "Clark".

Well, I have more than one nickname, and no one calls him Kal-El other than other people from Krypton. Batman calls him Clark.

I think it depends on the person. I've noticed that extremely powerful heroes (like Wonder Woman) tend to call him "Kal."

I loved it. Prime sense of wonder stuff that is the essense of what sometimes draws me to Superman.  The dwarf-star-matter-key, the young sun-eater as a pet...although personally I would have used a small fusion reactor to make minaiture suns rather than something mystic from New Olympus...

Still, Superman does have a touch of the hubris that he sometimes exhibits. He said he wouldn't lie to Lois, but he DID lie, in the "never better" after the sun-bath comment.  I know he's doing it for her sake, but she'll resent him all the more when she finds out...which she will.

I have this secret theory though, about the Fortress. I bet he uses it as a giant isolation chamber. Think about it. Hundreds of miles from civilization, from the constant noise of the city---granted he only needs a little sleep, it must be hard to get to sleep while hearing what half of Metropolis is doing, smell half the odors, pungent and unpungent, in Metropolis. If he opens his eyes, he can see through 344 Clinton Street's apartment walls and through half the city....

He NEEDS something like the Fortress. I bet those walls are sound-proof as can be, so he just hears the keening of arctic winds, and is probably lead lined over most of it, so he can look out from certain viewpoints but for the rest is blessedly able to block it out.

Hence, the name he lifted from Doc Savage, "The Fortress of Solitude".

--Al.

I've always liked that paradoxical part of Superman, which was unwittingly brought to the fore in the first movie. "I never lie," he tells Lois earnestly, presumably forgetting that he spends half his time pretending to be someone else.

I didn't know that the Fortress of Solitude originated in Doc Savage. In fact, I don't know much about Doc Savage at all, you don't get much pulp stuff in Europe. Thanks for pointing that out!

Permanus wrote:



Maybe it's splitting hairs, but Lois usually just comes out and accuses Clark, "You're Superman!", where Clark might respond, "You're being ridiculous, Lois...you think I'm Superman?".... instead of, "Are you Superman?"..."Of course not, Lois. I am not Superman."

It's more of an omission, than lying.

At least, in my opinion.

Well, I think lying by omission is still lying, and so do many of my ex-girlfriends. But when Clark suddenly runs away and says "Oh... Feel dizzy... Must lie down..." -- well, that's just downright lying! Be honest, Clark. You don't feel dizzy and you're not going to lie down. You're going to change into Superman and do superstuff.

I can't heap enough praise on this series. I went an hour out of my way to buy the second issue from a comic shop, and now I've gone to the DC website and subscribed to it.

The way the story is being introduced and set up reminds me of Supreme: The Story of the Year. However, both series have the same inspiration, so it makes sense.