writer: Grant Morrison
artist: Rags Morales, Brad Walker
Last issue's surprising development of Superman sacrificing his Clark Kent identity was less a stunt (see: "The Death of Clark Kent," a 90s arc, for evidence) and more Grant Morrison continuing his unique look at the Man of Steel, and now we get a little more about that, though not exactly in the "shocking reason" advertised on the cover. We already know why. This is the fallout.
In a revealing conversation with Batman, he admits that it was perhaps a rash mistake, but this is a more human, more vulnerable Superman, who is capable of overreacting. This is not so far off from the Superman of other eras, who wasn't always at the same level in his stories as he was in DC's publishing schedule. In Crisis on Infinite Earths, he's basically just another hero in the mix. It wasn't until the Man of Steel relaunch that he started to take the center of importance, culminating, arguably, in Morrison's own Final Crisis. Most writers, for many decades, have struggled to come up with stories that depict him in the godlike fashion dismissive fans have pegged on him.
Yet Morrison may be the first writer to take the actual depiction of Superman to its most logical iteration, as a guy who runs around in a t-shirt (Sholly Fisch has a typically amusing and informative backup feature about these t-shirts and their unexpected effect on the street level) and is just trying to figure things out and do the most good possible. He is now spending most of his time as Superman, which at the moment he finds refreshing, and some of it as the firefighter known as Johnny Clark. You can either dismiss this as completely temporary or enjoy Morrison's ride, because few writers are capable of this level of immersion, and fewer still with a character as supposedly daunting as Superman.
I think the popular perception is they made Superman too powerful. This was something that was epitomized in the movies. I mean he can spin the Earth backwards to turn back time! He can hurl an entire continent of Kryptonite into space! Besides that even his eyes are apparently bulletproof and he has super speed, freezing breath, heat vision, X-ray vision, not to mention he flies. I suppose that's why in the comics along the way they had to make as many flavors of Kryptonite as there are at Baskin-Robbins. You need something to level the playing field.
ReplyDeleteThat's really what I think Alan Moore was describing with Dr. Manhattan in "Watchmen," how a superhero can be so powerful that ultimately he becomes detached from the people he's trying to protect.
The funny thing is, Superman really isn't too powerful. It's the writer who doesn't know what to do with Superman that makes him seem too powerful. The movies weren't really representative of his abilities. He doesn't go around spinning the world backwards in the comics. As Jason Alexander suggests in an episode of Muppets Tonight, that just doesn't make any sense.
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