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Author Topic: Superman! - All-Star Superman #1  (Read 49025 times)
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Captain Kal
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« Reply #56 on: November 22, 2005, 03:19:34 PM »

Quote from: "JulianPerez"
One big case of the artist doing the writer's job is back in the first issue of Claremont/Byrne's "Dark Pheonix." On the first appearance of Kitty Pryde, her speech and actions in the story show very little about who she is. The ART, on the other hand, characterizes her perfectly: she has a star of David, and a big giant teddy bear behind her in her bedroom. (This is an example of characterization through art: what kind of a girl would have a big giant teddy bear with a bow on their neck in their room?)


While somewhat off-topic, with moderator indulgence please, let me speak to this.

A star of David tells us nothing about Kitty's character except that she's Jewish.  She could be one of those really nice Jews that you'd like to be friends with.  Or she could be an elitist, self-entitled kind of Jew who wouldn't want to be friends with you unless you were Jewish too.  That star tells us nothing about her character. (Yes, I used to work at a Jewish facility, got really close and was friends with one of the families there.  But once they learned I wasn't Jewish, they wanted nothing further to do with me.)

(Similarly, a crucifix on a girl doesn't tell us anything about her character either.  She could be a wonderful person.  She could be an uppity snob.  She could be just into crucifixes as fashion accessories.  You get the picture.)

While not all girls/women have stuffed animals, esp. giant ones, most of them I know adore the cuddly things.  Given the chance, most females I know would jump at the chance to own such a toy.  Again, this tells us nothing about Kitty except either her family is rich enough to be able to afford such a neat toy or she had a rich friend who gave it to her.  Or maybe she won it at a carnival.  Or she found it. Or she made it.  Or someone made it for her.  Or ... (I bought a giant Snuffles for my girlfriend and it cost me about $300 plus tax, so Kitty's bear is not a cheap bedroom toy.)
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Captain Kal

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« Reply #57 on: November 23, 2005, 01:11:37 AM »

Captain Kal;  your example of snobbery applies to all racial/religious/ethnic/economic class groups.  As we both know, the attitude of the snob (i will only associate with others who are exactly like me) is the attitude of an idiot.  Btw it's not just girls/women who like stuffed animals & plush toys.  




       Back to topic.  While i am disappointed that it's not the pre-crisis Earth-1 silver-age Superman that is in All-Star Superman, i did find it to be one of the best Superman stories i have read in decades.
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John Martin, citizen of the omniverse.
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« Reply #58 on: November 23, 2005, 04:44:03 AM »

Now here's a review, so we have seen what us Pre-crisis fans think, but what about post-Crisis fans?

The Superman Hompage just posted a review, so check it out:

http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/2006-post-crisis-reviews/c-review-2006.php?topic=allstarsup1
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« Reply #59 on: November 24, 2005, 04:41:33 AM »

The following is an article from the newest WIZARD. It's commentary about the first issue of All-Star Superman #1, made by Grant Morrison himself. SPOILERS(of the issue and potential future plot-points) AHEAD!






ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #1, Pg. 1: The Origin

Morrison: I wanted to see how little I could do it in. It was a deliberate attempt to say, "Here's something new. This isn't going to be six issues of retelling the guy's origin." It was a joke on the kind of long, drawn-out origin retellings that we've seen of characters. We wanted to see how far down this could be compressed--it was down to four panels and eight words. I just wanted to go with the iconic images.

Pgs. 2-3: The Icon

Morrison: It's fantastic, isn't it? Frank's done the iconic Superman image for the 21st Century. That's the one. It's the one people will remember.

Pg. 4: Death Trap

Morrison: Haven't you ever woken up and felt [like a genetically modified suicide bomb in human form?] [Laughs] The idea was for us to always do our own introduction to Superman. We didn't want to see 22 pages of Clark Kent making his way to Metropolis. We wanted the introduction of Superman to actually be a Superman adventure. It was really important for this issue to have a complete adventure of Superman in it at the same time as we get a little recap of his origin at the start.

Pg. 6: Lois & Jimmy

Morrison: Well, the thing about Lois is that she always thinks Superman is going to win, so she writes the headlines before she even knows the news. That's how Lois sees Superman. "Well, of course he's going to win-he's Superman." Why wouldn't she write the headline? And then there's Steve Lumbar (that's how it's printed in this article, folks, Lumbar instead of Lombard, probably a misprint-BMK) the sports guy, who's kind of Clark's rival for Lois in the office. I thought there should be another guy after Lois, who's constantly making Clark the butt of his jokes. And then you get a little glimpse of Jimmy Olsen. He's kind of a cross between Tin-Tin and the preppy, golf-punk style. I thought Jimmy should be really modernistic and fashionable and that's the kind of clothes we thought would fit the retro look but could also be quite modern. He's got to stay in fashion but also look kind of out of fashion as well.

Pgs. 8-10: Lex Luthor

Morrison: Lex is evil, but also kind of weird. Why is he piped up like that and holding a baseball bat? We do these things to make you feel weird. Luthor looks like he's up to something really bad, but we don't know what it is. We just know he's Lex Luthor. I think the best Superman stories are driven by big, human drama. I think rather than it be something comic booky, I thought that it should be that Luthor feels that he hasn't achieved anything. He's taken the idea that he's mortal and Superman isn't mortal; he wants to make Superman die like the rest of us, so he can die happy himself. He knows Superman is going to live forever if he doesn't do anything about it. There's something so simple about being jealous of the perfect guy, and everyone can understand that. I think we empathize with Luthor because he has really human motivations. No matter how clever Luthor is, he's never clever enough. There's always someone more clever. There always has to be someone in his life that he feels is responsible for his failure. And I think that's what defines us. He uses Superman as a foil for his own feelings of failure and insignificance. He basically blames all of his troubles on Superman.

Pg. 13: A New Power?

Morrison: This is actually an old power. I hope people notice the nod to the old, short-lived electric Superman. That's what it's referencing. But he gets some more new powers as the series progresses. [Laughs] He'll get as many as I can think of. It depends how many the stories dictate. It has to make sense.

Pgs. 14-15: The Strongest One There Is

Morrison: We get the great images of Superman as the strongman here, which we really haven't seen in a while-Superman straining his muscles and breaking big weight machines. It's really simple, Superman as the muscle-man image that I think Frank captured amazingly in those pages. Yeah, and then as Superman shows that incredible strength, he's also told that's what's about to kill him. That's the All-Star Superman. That's the difference between him and any other Superman. He kind of blends elements of the original Superman, up until the Silver Age and the John Byrne [Man of Steel] Superman, who was solar-powered and his powers were more scientifically explained. We're kind of using that version and blending it in slightly. He's powered by the sun and the longer he stays on Earth the more powerful he'll become, and suddenly he's reached a critical limit. His powers are starting to overload and destroy his cell structure. A lot of the science comes from stuff I just remember or sounds good. It's not strictly scientific. [Laughs] It's another thing you can't imagine happening to Superman- to have that vulnerability to the power. In the sense that his own body actually can't sustain the amount of power he's able to absorb. I think it's interesting that the sun is the source of his power and then it becomes the source of his death. The whole next 12 issues are about what would Superman do if he knows he's going to die. He has a plan-of course he has a plan-he's Superman.

Pg. 16: Bizarros?

Morrison: They set up a Bizarro story that's upcoming. They get sent into space and there's an accident. And that's where our whole new Bizarro concept comes from in issue #7 or #8. It's a whole new take on Bizarro.

Pg. 19: Clumsy Clark

Morrison: Clark is constantly on the lookout for people in trouble and bumping into them and spilling their stuff. They just think he's clumsy; they don't realize he's just saved their life. Superman is always on the alert for trouble and he just fixes it constantly.

Pg. 20: Lex Gets What He Wants

Morrison: Oh, [going to prison] is definitely what Luthor wants. We actually see that in issue #5, Clark Kent gets trapped in prison with him during a prison riot. That's where we find out a lot of what Luthor is up to and his motivation is.

Pg. 22: The Big Reveal

Morrison: I thought about doing the reveal to Lois later, but it fit into what I was doing in issues #2 and #3. It suddenly seemed like the perfect ending to issue #1, because it changes the status quo instantly. But what we do with it, changes the status quo back in a different kind of way. Lois' reaction isn't what you expect it to be.
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« Reply #60 on: November 24, 2005, 07:38:36 AM »

Quote
ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #1, Pg. 1: The Origin

Morrison: I wanted to see how little I could do it in. It was a deliberate attempt to say, "Here's something new. This isn't going to be six issues of retelling the guy's origin." It was a joke on the kind of long, drawn-out origin retellings that we've seen of characters. We wanted to see how far down this could be compressed--it was down to four panels and eight words. I just wanted to go with the iconic images.

I loved that. You almost expected it to end with "Yadda, yadda, yadda".
Quote
Morrison: Lex is evil, but also kind of weird. Why is he piped up like that and holding a baseball bat?

Weird works for me. I still wish they'd make him a nicer guy.
Quote
Morrison: They set up a Bizarro story that's upcoming. They get sent into space and there's an accident. And that's where our whole new Bizarro concept comes from in issue #7 or #8. It's a whole new take on Bizarro.

Me happy now.
Quote
Pg. 22: The Big Reveal

Morrison: I thought about doing the reveal to Lois later, but it fit into what I was doing in issues #2 and #3. It suddenly seemed like the perfect ending to issue #1, because it changes the status quo instantly. But what we do with it, changes the status quo back in a different kind of way. Lois' reaction isn't what you expect it to be.

Now I'm not so happy. I hate the whole darn business about Superman revealing his secret identity and Lois and Clark getting married. It's supposed to be a sort of cockeyed menage-a-trois, with Lois not knowing that the two men in her life are one and the same; it's an integral part of the story. Taking that sexual tension out of it emasculates the character.
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« Reply #61 on: November 24, 2005, 05:47:56 PM »

I think we generally agree that #1 was a great start.

I only hope Morrison can sustain this creative output for at least the 12 issues he promised this storyline would play out over.  I still recall how Loeb starts out strong on his projects than loses steam towards the end and seems to be making things up as he goes along.  Morrison seems to have a long-range plan for this run so let's wait and see.

I only hope this doesn't play out to the definite death of Superman in the end.  Superman's plan could very well involve a replacement for himself like Lois bearing the next generation Superman in the line.  Aside from his personal need to resolve his relationship with Lois in light of his impending death, perhaps siring the next generation is also part of why he revealed his ID to her.

What if Superman kept himself in stasis to be revived for only the most critical disasters?

Please refresh my memory:  Do the All-Star books happen in a shared universe or not?  Or is this Superman the sole super-hero on his fictional Earth?
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Captain Kal

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« Reply #62 on: November 24, 2005, 07:39:41 PM »

Don't know if he is the only hero of that Earth, but the comic is self contained.
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« Reply #63 on: November 24, 2005, 11:26:42 PM »

Mebbe when ol Supes is AOK, he'll lay some Superamnesium back on Lois
and everyhting will be status quo once again.

He would if it was 66 and the story was 8 pages. :wink:
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