Superman Through the Ages! Forum

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"The Many Deaths of Superman", begins with Lex Luthor contemplating Superman's vulnerabilities. Lex is so unselfishly devoted: for the good of humanity Superman must die. Geoff Johns captures the true essence of Luthor's criminal mind. While, Art Adams renders Superman's most malevolent foes. My favorite piece is a Kryptonite eyed Titano holding a grief stricken Lois. Why doesn't Art Adam work a monthly title? He's fantastic!   

"Who Is Clark Kent's Big Brother?", illustrated by Eric Wight, reintroduces further Silver Age elements into Superman's current continuity. Gone are Iron Age Smallville retcons, expect Clark Kent as "Superboy" without the costume. Plus, everybody's favorite Daxamite makes his entrance as Superman's big brother. 

Legend Joe Kubert pencils "Mystery Under The Blue Sun". Thanagarians are losing ships in Sector 1482... I'll leave it at that.  ;)

"Secrets of the Fortress of Solitude" brings back classic Silver & Bronze Age coolness to the fortress with a few updates. Key, science lab, Kandor, and are those Legion statues, oh my?! Phil Jiminez and Andy Lanning pencil this two page spread with Krypto faithfully by his masters side.

"The Criminals of Krypton", artwork by Rags Morales and Mark Farmer, retells the Superman the Movie interpretation of General Zod, Ursa, and Non. Secret's and lies abound before Krypton's imminent destruction, poor Non.

Tony Daniels illustrates head shots of "Superman's  Top 10 Most Wanted" with a short synopsis. What no Bloodsport, come on!  ::)

"The Deadliest Forms of Kryptonite", pencilled by Gary Frank and Jonathan Sibal, ends with Lex revealing his discovery of different colors of Kryptonite and how each effects Superman. One Superman rogue gets an upgrade. Also, look for Clark Kent getting blasted by Superman with heat vision. Silly Lex, will he ever learn?   

SPOILERS

Regard the return of Mon-El - yes, he's now named Mon after Monday and El after the Els of Krypton; he and the young Superpowered Clark had grand super adventures, and Mon regained his memory, was exposed to lead, and had to be sent to the Phantom Zone for his survival - a modern retelling of the original story with a couple of motivational differences.  BUT (and here's the big BUT): Clark has apparently not adopted a Superboy costume or name in this continuity - he just flies really fast so that no one can see him (ala Man of Steel, only now he's younger):  So we've got a Clark Kent, in normal street clothes and GLASSES, flying around and performing super-feats alongside a costumed Mon-El!

How CRAZY is that?  If Clark has no secret identity at this point, why in the world is he wearing glasses??!??  Don't get me wrong - I love the fact that he's got them again - but it just doesn't work unless he's also Superboy.  Without a secret identity to protect, there's no reason to wear them.  In fact, you'd think that he'd remove them whenever he's performing super-feats, just on the off chance that someone might catch a glimpse of him and he might not be recognized as quickly if he isn't wearing them.  I think this glaring inconsistency was already pointed out by another forum member in an earlier Superboy thread about the final Superboy television comic.  So this issue of Action marks the 2nd time this bizarre idea has been used.

Just because I think it's crazy doesn't mean I don't like it, though - I think it's crazy and fun in a wild, Silver Age kind of way.


An incredible page, I hope to add it to the site at some point.  A wonderful fusion of pre-crisis goodness with some post-crisis elements.  The Bottle City of Kandor is present, but it's the post-crisis Tolos version populated by assorted aliens.  A bit strange, since elsewhere in the issue, it's mentioned that Brainiac has a penchant for going around shrinking cities.  Perhaps the new continuity hasn't completely settled down yet; or perhaps this is a fusion of the two cities.

The Fortress has the crystal computer from the movies; from the classic comics it's got the interplanetary zoo (now "habitat") that includes the thought beast; it's got the trophy room and museum with the LSH statues and that giant tyrannosaurus rex (I still don't know where that's from); the PZ projector and portal, the super science lab, and the super-weapons room.  Then from the post-crisis comics it's got the post-crisis bottle city and what looks like the Kryptonian War suit that he used during his "Reign Of/Death Of" arc (which is referenced as having taken place), only now the suit has been designed and built by Lex Luthor.

To answer Telle's earlier question (http://superman.nu/smf/index.php?topic=3096.msg24427#msg24427) about "where is the giant golden key," Superman still has it, he's just moved it inside to his Trophy Room.  It is described as "The Key.  A landmark from the original Fortress of Solitude, this once unlocked its giant doors."


Not completely from the movie.  It's shown that Zod and Non worked with Jor-El as he discovered Krypton's imminent doom, and were amongst the few people that believed him.  Sort of adds a whole Doctor Doom/Reed Richards element to their relationship.


In addition to Zod, Non, Ursa, and Lex - it's got the original Parasite, Mxyzptlk (although looking a bit darker and malevolent), the original Metallo, and the original Toyman.  The best part is seeing that the entire Iron Age Brainiace has been deleted and replaced with something very like the original:  "Brainiac is from the planet Colu.  His 12th level intelligence makes him the smartest being in the entire universe.  He is also the coldest.  From shrinking cities to annihilating entire alien races, Brainiac views the universe as his own personal lab and will commit any act in the name of science.  He is especially fascinated with Superman and his wealth of Kryptonian knowledge."  I don't think we've seen him sporting his green skinned, bald electroded head; nor wearing that funky big collar outfit in quite a long time.  Nice to see him back.

Re: Clark flying around with glasses -- file that one under "artistic liscence."

I suspect Brainiac now has a blend of his pre-'86 and post-'86 origins, which would be fine by me. (Imagine: in his early days Superman fought a city-shrinking green-skinned humanoid named Vril Dox; later Dox took over the body of Earthman Milton Fine, aka Brainiac, and later still transferred his consciousness into an android body...)

Everything old is new again, albeit tweaked and modernized. This is what should've been done in 1986, rather than turning Krypton into an emotionless dystopia and what not.

I subscribe to the idea that teen Clark wears glasses and perhaps acts mild mannered so that folks don't suspect that he IS super-powered... throws them off the scent that if there is a super powered being working behind the scenes, it could be a football jock, not some kid who wears glasses....

Secret History of Mon-El

Johns Interview

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/003375948.cfm

That's a good theory, I like it.  But it still seems odd for Clark to wear glasses while he's doing something like this:

(http://superman.nu/a/History/Mercury/mon-el.jpg)

He's pretty much "Superboy" in everything but name.  He's got the secret underground tunnel, the secret laboratory, and he's even got the Superman S shield ("House of El") flag hanging in his lab.  He just hasn't started wearing it yet.

Maybe he will when he visits the Legion in the future.

I pondered the glasses question when it came up in Superman Returns with the scenes of Clark as a youth wearing them. My impression was that maybe during the very early years of his life his powers only manifested in short bursts but he was otherwise a normal child who could get colds, have allergies and even eye problems. So he *needed* the glasses but then around later boyhood the powers started kicking in consistantly. So not only did eyes get better, but now he could see through walls! So he keeps the glasses as a way to make it look like nothing has changed.

This is the first Annual from DC that I can remember enjoying in... a  long time. So long I can't remember what the last one was!

Lots of fun but ol' hard-to-please me did have some mixed feelings as usual.

Great retro-style cover that actually attracts the reader with what is in the comic.

"The Many Deaths" story: Loved the Arthur Adams art and beautiful coloring. Good job of refuting the complaint that nothing can hurt Superman so readers can't relate to him, blah blah blah. Interesting concept in that this version of Luthor rationalizes that he WANTS to use his genius to solve hunger, disease and all the world's problems.... right AFTER he kills Superman, which of course he will never succeed in doing, so that pesky cancer will have to wait. I disagree with Johns' decision to lump in super-strong villains CREATED by magic (like Black Adam) with villains who actually USE magic, though... it's not really the same thing.

"10 Most Wanted": The Phantom Zone Villains should have been lumped together to free up more spots.

"Blue Sun": Joe Kubert is still a fantastic artist but his Bizarros look kind of fat, don't they? And (sigh) why do all the villains have to be murderous these days? Bizarros would certainly be erratic and dangerous but what's with more of the mass murder, DC?

"Clark Kent's Big Brother": A touching story of young Clark though legal issues apparently guarantee that he is going to stay "a super boy" instead of "Superboy". Thankfully Mon-El's overcomplicated history has gone back to the basics. I agree that Clark secretly adventuring in ordinary clothes and glasses is bothersome. Using his powers in secret to help people is one thing, but if he's going to be a secret Superboy in all but name he SHOULD have some sort of "action costume". If DC doesn't want him to actually be Superboy, my suggestion would be that young Clark wore some sort of slightly different looking red and blue costume (minus a cape?) when using his powers and it was later rewoven into the Superman outfit when he chose a name and went public with his career.

Interesting to note that Clark is a few years younger and more childlike in this story than in the original version. This makes it more poignant when he finds and then loses someone he can relate to on a super level. A change I didn't like was that this story, unlike the original, sort of lets Clark "off the hook". The original events taught Superboy a valuable lesson about being impulsive and leaping to conclusions. In this version, however, Mon-El's plight is entirely his own fault. He ASKS to be exposed to kryptonite (and thus the lead box). He ASKS to be sent to the Phantom Zone. Clark is changed to a confused kid who does whatever his respected "older brother" wants. He is following Mon's lead rather than making a tragic, youthful mistake and then vowing to atone for the consequences.

Did anyone else notice Clark and Mon's odd BROWN hair?

"Criminals from Krypton": Another change from the original, and even the movie version, but this one really REALLY bothered me. The Johns / Donner version of Krypton was shocking here. John Byrne's version of Krypton was criticized by many older fans because he wanted to take the movie version to the extreme and make Krypton a genuinely "alien" planet that "deserved to blow up". A place that Superman would not miss or feel connected to emotionally. Well, that was nothing compared to this! Byrne's Kryptonians were intellectually stagnant and emotionally sterile, with Jor-El a misfit longing for the adventure of the old times. But this Krypton was practically Nazi Germany!


The Science Council in the movie were stern and arrogant types, but here they are presented as vicious, paranoid tyrants who use sadistic torture.... and Jor-El is either cowardly or self-delusional for going along with them. The Kryptonian military-slash-police are quick to use brutal violence to keep the populace in line. And, while the majority of the planet may not be bad folks, they certainly are not depicted as eager to change their leadership, either. I really could not respect Jor-El in this story- he should have wanted to get his family away from Krypton even if it WASN'T going to blow up! Seeing Superman pay tribute to this Krypton in the Fortress would make me queasy. Plus, Zod and crew were depicted as just-following-orders cops who have an epiphany and become courageous freedom fighters, not as petty insurrectionists who would have wanted to seize control anyway. I like to see villains with sympathetic origins, but this went too far. It was as if Johns remembered "oh, wait, Zod is a VILLAIN" and stuck in one line of dialogue about him wanting to rule Krypton himself.

By the way, what was the explanation for Non being super-strong even ON Krypton? I must have missed it...


"Secrets of the Fortress": Nice art, good attempt to use the best of all previous incarnations of the Fortress, but the way it was drawn here, it came across as a mishmash. The movie Fortress and the Silver Age comics Fortress are not really compatible. What makes the movie version visually striking is that it is this vast expanse of pure white crystal... when you add the laboratories and statues and zoos it just looks like a cluttered freezer full of leftovers!
I preferred the All-Star version of the Fortress. It has all the technological wonders and alien souvenirs, but it is drawn with rooms so HUGE that the space within is still mostly empty, reinforcing the idea of "solitude".

Bonus points for restoring the Disintegration Pit, the Legion exhibit and... what looks like the Supermobile (lower right corner)! Points subtracted for the lame non-Kryptonian Kandor, especially since Bainiac is said to be shrinking alien cities again, anyway!

"Deadliest Forms of Kryptonite": A nice quick summary of the current versions (why was poor White K left out? A substance that destroys all plant life could be a very formidable bio-weapon). Metallo powered by Gold Kryptonite is very bad news for Superman, and I wish someone had used this idea before. Another idea I wish someone would use: a piece of Red Kryptonite having a GOOD effect on Superman for once!

I'd rate this Annual a solid A-minus. Except for the Krypton story ...    ;D

He fell into a cauldron of magic potion when he was a baby.

(And if anyone here doesn't get that joke, I'll be forced to post the Superman/Asterix cross-over issue)


You make a lot of good points about the Fortress.  Regarding Kandor, though, I think it's possible that DC is going to later "reveal" that the post-Crisis Kandor was actually stolen from Krypton by Brainiac and then shrunk.  Tolos just found it or something.  This would tie right in with DC's apparent "everything you ever read actually happened" approach.  Which gives us such things like the Supermobile still around in Superman's Fortress; yet he was also killed by Doomsday.

A neat approach.

All kidding aside, there's no reason that a giant strong-man can't be a scientist.....the same would hold true for a midget......it's just that you don't see it all that often

Just found another review:

http://www.filmfodder.com/comics/archives/2007/02/action_comics_annual_10_reveng.shtml

They really should've gone the STAS route with Brainiac and have him be Kryptons central computer.

I think that would've been too gigantic a retcon. It would have to be reflected in Mark Waid's Legion comic, too (i.e. in Braniac 5), which began publishing before Infinite Crisis.

BTW, Brainiac will be appearing in Superman/Batman in the near future.

Braniac could've been this gigantic Kryptonian computer conquering worlds like Colu on Krypton's behalf using robot spaceships and envoys (Eradicators, for post-Crisis weenies), while keeping all of the Kryptonians stuck on Krypton. 

Hmm...  the story possibilities abound!

I LOVED this issue, but I'm confused about Kandor. In a recent issue of Legion of Super-Heroes (which I also enjoyed), Supergirl visted the enlarged Kandor, which was full of Kryptonians. How then could the Tolos version (albeit altered slightly) still exist? Are there two Kandors? It was mentioned elsewhere in the issue that Kandor was "lost" (which could mean several things) and that Brainiac enjoyed shrinking cities. I don't think it's a case of the Legion and Superman teams being out of sync either, since Mon-El has been shown up in both of them. Brainiac is confirmed to show up in the Johns/Donner run, perhaps this might be addressed then.

In any case, I think I'll ask the editor.

Over on Geoff Johns' message board, Kurt Busiek said that it was intentional and all would be revealed in time.

At DC, continuity appears irrelevant.....52...heh  :D
 

Ah. Thanks for the info. Also, kudos to Kurt Busiek for answering fan questions.

I disagree.  I think Kurt's comment confirms what I've been saying.

After Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC was surprised at the fan backlash that resulted when they "threw out the baby with the bathwater."  DC then spent twenty years trying to move on, but the ill-will and criticism directed at them refused to die down.

They learned their lesson and this time around they are throwing nothing out.  They realize now that the fans take it as a personal insult when they do.

So it all happened in one form or another.  Everything.  The pre-crisis stories and the post-crisis stories.

This is a hallmark of good writing - this is what fans have been claiming is a sign of good writing and have been clamoring for.  Fans spent a lot of time saying that "hard reboots" which "sweep everything out the door" are just lazy writing by bad writers who don't want to be bothered to know old continuity or to have to think.

And now DC is taking up the challenge.

My familiarity with the Tolos Kandor is a little fuzzy and I don't recall if there were ever any story details over how the city was discovered, why it was in a bottle, or why it was so small.  According to the description on the Superman Homepage (http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/who/who-intro.php?topic=kandor), the city does in fact come from Krypton.

So it seems clear that a lot of plot seeds are being laid in Action Annual #10:  Brainiac likes to shrink cites; Kandor went missing on Krypton so was presumed destroyed; etc.

It's pretty easy to connect the dots here.  I'm just curious to see how DC does it.

I am guessing that at the end they will reveal that certain comics actually take place on different Earths.

Two different Kandors, from two different parallel worlds.

 

Come to think of it, didn't a miniature alien race come to inhabit the Kandor replica that Superman kept in his fortress after he resized the original Kandor?

Yep. It's funny how things work out sometimes.

It always seemed to me that if there's an infinite number of universes, there's got to be at least one where the Crisis never took place and therefore, well, you see what I mean.

Good.  There was never any reason why it shouldn't have all been canon, really.  All they had to do was say, "Now we're going to focus on an Earth you haven't seen before" instead of "the Earths you liked never existed and your old comics are moot."  They could still have started all the flagship titles over at #1...I think it would have been fun watching history repeat itself on a new Earth (I know I enjoyed watching Earth-Prime get a Superboy, for example), but when you throw out earlier versions altogether, you're putting an awful lot of pressure on yourself to come up with something actually BETTER.  Which in almost every case, DC has been unable to do.



It's more than that. It's a way to tell the same stories over again and pass them off as your own.  Byrne tweaked the Lori Lemaris love story and Bizarro's origin...he did NOT create the characters or even recreate them in any major way.  And his take on Superman's origin, while certainly different enough to cheese me off, was not nearly innovative enough to qualify as anything more than an edit to the Seigel and Shuster version. And yet you just know he got paid tons more than Jerry and Joe ever did just for basically taking their ideas and doing a glorified edit.

I for one am sick to death of re-tellings of the origin story, and consider them the height of laziness.  What I wish is that instead of going after Superboy and "Smallville," which are full of characters Jerry had nothing to do with, the Seigel family would instead sue for royalties on every telling of the Superman origin, since that tale is definitively, demonstrably and substantially his work, and despite all the tweaking over the decades remains very close to what he first wrote.  DC should be forced to pay the Seigels through the nose every single time they retell the story. I'm convinced that's about the only thing that will stop it.

Who's to say the Siegels aren't doing both?  Last I heard, that case on the Superman copyright-reversion was still going on.  I presume that under normal circumstances both cases would have been been ruled on long ago, but WB's coffers are deep.

They won Superboy, which is why Superboy will never come back and be called Superboy and wear the suit. DC refuses to pay them a red cent.

   Well, Superboy as a concept was created by Jerry & Joe.  DC rejected it when they first brought it up.  They ( Jerry & Joe) did create the Kents, Lois Lane, & Lex Luthor.

So if the Siegels decide to license the character to Marvel Comics, we'll get:

Superboy, Spider-Man, and Johnny Storm out for a night on the town in the Fantasticar;
Superboy tries out for the Fantastic Four;
The Superboy Robots vs. the Doctor Doom Robots;
Superboy vs. X-Factor;

and a Superboy movie that's really cool except for the parts where he wears a motorcycle helmet whenever he flies.

Except the part where Marvel could call him "Superboy", DC owns the name.

The issue is still in litigation, I believe that Warner Bros. filed an appeal. Which technically, they should win. Did Jerry not sell the rights to Superboy back to DC a few years after he won them the first time?

It's similar to the situation with Superman.  Because of the passage of time, the copyright on Superboy has reverted back to the Siegels.  The fact that Jerry sold Superboy to DC is legal proof that the character is different from Superman, and thus that these are distinct rights that are being debated.

WB's appeal is about attempting to dispute the court decision and dispute the proper effect of the laws.  This is new territory for all concerned - WB is probably also afraid of losing additional characters down the line.