WC #1 - Superman

Wednesday Comics #1 (Superman)

Writer - John Arcudi

Art - Lee Bermejo

Colors - Barbara Ciardo

Letters - Ken Lopez

Edits - Mark Chiarello

Well, stop me if you heard this one before... we've got us a Superman strip!

Folks who have been following this humble blog for awhile will likely recall the absolute (sarcasm) joy (/sarcasm) I had going through the "Superman Strips" during our Action Comics Daily coverage back in 2019!

Woof, those were pretty rough.

Let's see if Wednesday Comics manages to crack the code on making a Super-strip into something readable!

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We open in Metropolis with Superman being punched all the way across the city by the latest generic hulking monster he's got to fight!  He lunges back toward the villain and proceeds to pummel it a whole bunch... actually shattering it's weird helmet, and revealing his wildly unpleasant three-eyed mug!

As he continues punching the baddie... a couple of goofballs wander up to cheer him on.  Uh-oh... a Superman strip with some goobers who seem to worship him?  This doesn't exactly bode well for us, do it?

Superman shouts at the lookeyloos to back the eff up... and the monster takes this opportunity to ask the Man of Steel a strange question indeed.  It addresses him as a Kryptonian, and suggests that he doesn't truly belong here.

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Well, first things first... the art here was amazing.  Truly a joy to behold... especially at this blown up newspaper size.  It's funny how the comics industry has gone to the slicker (more expensive) paper... and we always seem to hear that it's to the benefit of the art.  I think the fabulous work we're seeing here (and throughout Wednesday Comics) is a testament to just how nice art can look on regular old newsprint!  So, howsabout we go back to the cheap stuff, and maybe knock a buck or two off the cover prices?

No?

Anyway... let's talk story, of which, we don't get much.  It's Superman fighting a great big hulking monster... otherwise known as "Tuesday in Metropolis".  Nothing we haven't seen before... and nothing we won't see again (probably each and every week in the Super-books)!

I am kind of interested in the Super-fans who rushed in as our hero was beating the crud out of the beast.  Even though I was certainly no fan of the "Church of Superman" serial that ran through Action Comics Weekly... I will admit, if this is a callback to it, it'll get a decent pop out of me!

Other than that... not a whole heckuva lot to say.  I'm looking forward to seeing where this is headed... which is more than I could ever say for those old ACW strips!

Superman/Gen¹³ #1 (2000)

Superman/Gen¹³ #1 (June, 2000)
"The Never-Ending Prattle"
Story - Adam Hughes
Pencils - Lee Bermejo
Inks - John Nyberg
Colors - Guy Major
Letters - Mike Heisler
Edits - Eric DeSantis
Cover Price: $2.50

Here's one I've wanted to discuss here for a while now.  It's a fairly common one to find in the cheap-o bins... so much so, that anytime I saw it, I always assumed that I owned it!  Imagine my surprise when I actually set to reading the thing... and realized that I didn't!

Heck, even now, I don't have the other two issues of this thing... so, this won't be a three-part post (for that my blog-stats are thankful).

Without further ado... let's git it!

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We open with the Gen¹³ kids being told where they'll be spending their next field trip.  Ya see, it was all left to Caitlin, and the only place she wants to go is... Metropolis... for "reasons".  The rest of the gang is not keen on this, and actually feels as though Metropolis might be the most un-hip place on Earth.  Ol' Lynch peels off some cash for the kids to spend on their trip, entrusting it to Fairchild.  They hop onto a stinky train before transferring to a stinky bus... and finally arrive in the big city.

Upon de-boarding, the kids notice a bit of a kerfuffle going on in the distance.  People are rushing toward it, and Fairchild's eyes perk up.  She wonders if she's finally going to catch a glimpse of... him.  Suddenly it's all too clear to her teammates why she chose Metropolis.

And whattaya know, there "he" is!

Superman battles a giant ape... while, at the same time, trying to protect all of the civilians who'd gathered to gawk!  They're doing a really good job of illustrating how multi-faceted Superman's "gig" is.  Meanwhile, Caitlin is drawn to the Man of Steel like a moth to a flame, she tries to squeeze her way through the crowd to get a closer look.  Unfortunately, Superman gets pounded by the monkey... and sent flying toward the crowd, smashing right into Fairchild!

Superman brushes off the blow before realizing he just, ya know, crushed a civilian.  He gives her the ol' super-once-over, and is relieved to learn that she's still alive.  He covers her with his cape and promises to come back just as soon as he can.

It's here that the rest of the Gen¹³ kids decide to get involved with the skirmish.  Grunge leaps up onto the ape's shoulder with a resounding, uh, "Kowa-bung...hole"... yeesh.  He punches his way inside the beast, only to find it's being operated by a brain in a jar!

The brain, knowing the jig is up, ejects itself... and is out of sight before anyone can realize it.  Lucky for them, they've got Superman on their side... who, it turns out, isn't just faster than a speeding bullet... but can also hold his own against a brain.

Elsewhere, Caitlin begins to stir... and, she hasn't the foggiest idea who or where she is.  All she knows is she's holding Superman's cape.  She wanders into the street, and right into the path of a fire engine... and dents the sucker good.  Any guesses where this might be headed?

Back at the fight, Superman chats up Gen¹³ for a bit, and informs them that Caitlin isn't where he'd left her... he does hear a bit of hub-bub around a certain fire engine some 20 blocks away, however.  The heroes head over to get the skinny, and have the prior scene explained to them.

Superman leaves Gen¹³ to the search... and, they make a halfhearted attempt to find their missing friend.  Heck, instead of actually looking, Grunge pops into a McDonald's for lunch.  Anyhoo, we rejoin fugue-ish Caitlin, still clutching the cape, as she blows through the wad of dough Lynch gave her at a costume shop.  So... again, any ideas where this is goin'?

Gen¹³ decides their best bet to track down their pal might be... checking in with, ya know... Superman's pals.  And so, they're off to the Daily Planet, where they're introduced to... Jimmy.

Young Olsen escorts the team up into the offices where he introduces them to Lois... who, for whatever reason, is sitting very seductively on the edge of her desk.  The kids aren't so forthcoming with information... and so, she sasses them a bit.  She knows way more about them then they think she does.

She assures them, not only is she on their side... but, there are other folks here who can also be of great assistance.  One in particular, Clark Kent.

At that moment, across town, a bank robbery is goin' down.  The baddies flee the joint and run right smack into... well, just take a look.

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This definitely feels like a circa-2000 book, dunnit?  Pretty decompressed, with an art-style you wouldn't ordinarily associate with the traditionally more "cheesecake" Gen¹³ characters.

In fact, upon first opening the thing, I was pretty turned off by the art.  I just didn't think it "worked"... and, honestly, would have preferred J. Scott Campbell or a clone thereof.  In pressing on, however, I found a great appreciation for Bermejo's semi-stylized (and still somewhat understated) work.  I guess sometimes you really can't judge a book by it's cover (or opening splash page).

The story is... pretty neat!  I like the idea that Caitlin Fairchild is a big Superman fan... and would orchestrate an entire "field trip" around getting the opportunity to see him flyin' by.  Having her actually be involved as a bit of collateral damage, leaving her in an odd fugue state, was a nice twist... and, I'm assuming, will facilitate the second two-thirds of this miniseries.

Overall... it is a bit decompressed, leading to a relatively "breezy" experience.  That's not always a bad thing.  Can't say I'd tell ya to pay cover-price or above for this, but if you find it on the cheap, you can do far worse.

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Jim Lee's C-23 Special Edition (1998)

Jim Lee's C-23 Special Edition (1998)
Writer - Jeff Mariotte
Penciller - Lee Bermejo
Inker - Mark Irwin
Letterer - Denise Park
Colors - WildStormFX
Editor - John Layman

Today we're going to be looking at a weird one... also, since I'm technically on vacation, a short one!

Jim Lee's C-23... either a comic based on a trading card game... or a trading card game based on a comic, produced this puny little ashcan that we are going to look at now.

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We open up "a year ago", where some dude who doesn't get named calls the attention of another dude (who does get a name) Corbin to a fallen... uh, "Angelan" bad guy?  Maybe?  Either way, this fallen insectoid fella has an odd green mega-buster of sorts... which the, um... good guys (?) take.

Corbin takes the mega-busterand puts it on... as the other guy goes to kill the fallen fella.  Corbin then turns the buster... blade... thing toward him and demands he help the fallen guy up so they can take him prisoner.

Corbin helps the baddie to his feet and takes him away.  The other dude is surprised that Corbin was able to wield the buster-blade thingie... because as far as he knew... only Angelans could do that!  Uh-oh.

--

Toldja it was short!

Short... and kinda bad.  Not that a 2-page ashcan is the right place to go "heavy" into a story... but, at least tempt me to wanna pick up the next issue!  This was such a waste as a promotional piece... I mean, you want me to pick up the comic?  You failed.  You want me to collect the cards?  You failed again!  You've given me absolutely no reason to care about any of this!

The issue opens with a run down of the "World of C-23", and short bios of the characters (of which... as far as I can tell, only one appears in this comic).  Why even introduce these characters if we're not going to see them "in action"?  Just tell us who/what Corbin is... and maybe throw an extra page or two of "story" in.

As with so many of Jim Lee's projects... there's really is no "heart" here.  Seems as though so most of his creator-owned books are just boilerplate "what's in (and what's selling) at the time" superheroics.  As we discussed during the WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams episode of The Cosmic Treadmill... Lee takes the tropiest of the tropes, and throws a coat of paint on 'em.




In that book, it was: take the X-Men (or any "superteam") line-up, and shuffle up the colors a bit... here it's post-apocalyptic faction warfare... with a special "gene".  Can't help but to think we've read this before... probably several times over.  Though, in fairness... Lee was trying to sell a CCG here, so it might've best served him to keep it simple.  But this feels almost "too" simple... too boilerplate.  There's no meat on these bones... and there's no reason to choose this CCG over the glut of others that were shoveled out of warehouses during the second half of the 1990's.

It feels weird to really "rate" what is, in essence, a promotional piece... actually, there's no "in essence" about it... this is just a commercial... and, unfortunately... it's a bad one.

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Et-Cetera:

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Action Comics #836 (2006)

Action Comics #836 (April, 2006)
"Superman This is your Life, Part Two"
Writer - Joe Kelly
Pencillers - Dan Jurgen, Dick Giordano, Ed Benes, Ian Churchill, Phil Jimenez, Tom Derenick, Renato Guedes, Lee Bermejo & Doug Mahnke
Inkers - Kevin Conrad, Jose Marzan, Norm Rapmund, Andy Lanning & Drew Geraci
Colorists - Guy Major, Dave Stewart  Renato Guedes
Letterer - Nick J. Napolitano
Assistant Editor - Jeanine Schaefer
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.50

Sometimes we can get a little too "close" to our comics.  For the longest time, this was a Superman story I couldn't bring myself to reread.

I mean, as comics readers (or fans of any consumable entertainment/media), I think we've all experienced that feeling where we have an idea where a story is headed... and knowing that we're powerless to stop it.  That's how I felt reading this back in 2005-2006.

I remember the first time I heard (in comics) that a Crisis was on its way.  It was an issue of Teen Titans by Geoff Johns... and from that point on, my DC-reading fell into sort of a fog.  I wasn't around for the first Crisis... so this was really my first time not feeling "safe" as a DC Comics fan.

Of course, these days that almost seems quaint.  DC is getting just as bad as Marvel when it comes to reboots/relaunches/re-whatevers... and the industry has become so knee-jerk reactionary that I can't even remember the last time I felt "safe".

Anyhoo... this issue (and the story it's a part of) comes from a very... shaky time in my (and likely some others') DC fandom.  Things were weird... and nebulous at best.

Let's give it a look and see if time has soothed this fan's soul.

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We open with three... kinda different tellings of Superman's origin story... it's a tale of three Kryptons... three families of El... three rockets, and three sets of Kents.  Yeah, there's definitely something weird going on here.  It's almost as though we're in the midst of experiencing a... Crisis of sorts.  Hmm...

We jump ahead to the events(ish) of Man of Steel #1, where Lois and company are about to crash the "space plane".  They find themselves saved by a strange flying man, who upon setting them down gives Lois a peck on the cheek and introduces himself to her as "Superman".  Well, that's not right... right?

We briefly pop into the present, and find Superman in the heat of battle with... somebody.  This somebody is commenting on the corruption in the world... and is wondering why Superman hasn't done more.

We hop back to the past... this time, it's the first meeting between Superman and Batman.  This is a contentious meeting, so clearly post-Crisis.  Batman tells Superman if he steps near him, it will set off a bomb that will kill an innocent.  Superman calls his bluff, because he knows the bomb is on Batman's person.  They agree to team up.

We briefly check in with the Earth-2 Superman, who is holding vigil over the ailing Earth-2 Lois Lane.

Back to the past!  We relive an... altered version of Lex Luthor's Kryptonite Ring saga.  It starts similarly enough, Lex taunts Superman with the one thing that appears to hurt him.  He (Lex) then contracts cancer due to the Kryptonite exposure.  Then, on his death-bed, Superman makes Lex an offer he can't refuse... he'll use Kryptonian technology in order to grant Lex a quarter-century of life.  Lex accepts.

Then... a couple of versions of Lois Lane learning "the secret".  They both end the same way.

Then... Doomsday!  It's a greatest hits (pun!) from Superman (vol.2) #75... right up until the ending.  Ya see, the titans both land their "finishing blow"... only, this time around Doomsday's punch isn't enough to keep the Man of Steel down.

We jump ahead... though, still in flashback... to the events of Identity Crisis.  The satellite-era League is arguing about what they ought to do about Doctor Light.  Just as in the original story, half of the team seems a-okay with the mindwipe... and the other half ain't exactly on board.  Superman arrives to offer a third alternative.  Well, he doesn't so much offer it as "invoke" it.  He zaps Doctor Light... and banishes him to the Phantom Zone!

This, somehow, is viewed as the worst option by the League.  Mindwiping is totally cool... but Phantom Zoning is "crossing the line".  It's not that I disagree, but, c'mon... the League was acting a bit shady in the original Identity Crisis story.  It's not like they have all that much room to talk.  Anyhoo, the League holds an intervention with the Man of Steel... it seems as though the "Phantom Zone banishment" has become something of a go-to for him.  Superman decides to disband the JLA... to which, Zatanna attempts to put Superman "to sleep"... but cannot seem to muster the words.

Then we meet Superman's new running buddies: The Elite.  Well, the Justice League Elite.

We wrap up back in Metropolis where Jimmy Olsen and friends are having drinks and trying to ride out the apocalypse.  Jimmy tells his pals that Superman has the situation under control... and there's nothing to worry about.  Then... something happens.

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Such an... uncomfortable read.

This entire issue just feels "off", which I suppose is the point.  It's like the "fun-house mirror" version of the post-Crisis Superman story.  Added the "jam" of artists here... I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.

I get that this is just running alongside the actual Infinite Crisis event book... so things are being left purposely nebulous, but today... just as over a dozen years ago... I really can't talk myself into liking this.  Perhaps it is the years of hindsight we now have... or maybe I just never let go of my reboot-bitterness.  We've definitely hit, at least in my opinion, the point where these sort of things have diminishing returns.

I think back to the early days of the "Berganza era" and the influx of, what many post-Crisis fans referred to as "S.A.S." (that's Silver Age Sh-tuff)... and how that didn't really bug me.  I felt like that was adding something, where I feel like this is only taking away.

Overall... this is a difficult one for me to recommend.  I will say, if you do decide to give this a whirl, read the entire three-part story... and not just the middle chapter like we're doing here.  It's available digitally, and has been collected in the Superman: Infinite Crisis trade paperback.

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Action Comics #775 (2001)

Action Comics #775 (March, 2001)
"What's so funny about Truth, Justice, & The American Way?"
Writer - Joe Kelly
Pencillers - Doug Mahnke & Lee Bermejo
Inkers - Tom Nguyen, Dexter Vines, Jim Royal, Jose Marzan, Wade Von Grawbadger & Wayne Faucher
Colors - Rob Schwager
Letters - The Gang at Comicraft
Assistant Editor - Tom Palmer
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $3.75

The Internet loves lists... heck, there are entire websites devoted to them.  They're easy... they're lazy... and, for whatever reason, they get a lot of views.  There are lists of all kinds... but the ones that seem to aggravate me the most are of the "10 Most Underrated _____" variety.


I mean, is there anybody out there who still thinks that Ico for the PlayStation 2 and The Nightmare Before Christmas are underrated?!  Well, Google "Top Ten Most Underrated..." and you'll find out!

Now why in the hell am I mentioning this?  Good question.  If one were to Google "Top Ten Superman..." well, anything, the book we're going to discuss today would probably be on it.  "Top Ten Greatest", "Top Ten Underrated", "Top Ten Overrated", "Top Ten stories of the 2000's"... what I'm sayin' is, this book gets a lot of play.

So much play that I've actively put off discussing it!

When I cover a book like this I feel a weird internal conflict... is it "cheap heat"?  Will it look like I'm doing this simply for the retweets/karma?  Worse yet... what if I realize I like it far less than the Internet... will I look like I'm just being a contrarian?

Well, we're going to push all those thoughts to the back-burner today... and celebrate our 775th Daily Discussion by finally covering the 775th issue of Action Comics.

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We open with Superman leaving Metropolis en route to Libya, where they are in the midst of a terrorist crisis.  Worth noting, each leg of his trip is time-stamped... it takes him over seven hours to arrive, which tells me Superman can't fly as fast as I'd thought... or this was a pretty leisurely flight.  Anyhoo, by the time he arrives... he finds the crisis has already been... well, notsomuch "averted", but dealt with.  A giant ape lays across the city... and there are plenty of casualties.  But who would--?

Well this is, of course, the introduction of The Elite.  That team of metas who's crime-fighting philosophy has a means-to-an-end approach.  Back at the Daily Planet, the gang is checking out a glowing review of the Elite in the Daily Star... when the writer of said review, jerk-ass Jack Ryder pops in to declare the Age of Superman over... and rings in the Age of The Elite.

We shift scenes to the White House, where our main man President Lex is being given an intel-report from Amanda Waller.  He (and we) learns that the Elite are on a whole 'nother level power-wise, dwarfing even Superman.  Lex decides that the Elite haven't yet become a problem for the United States... and he plans to sit it out until they do.  At that point, well... he'll decide what to do about them.

Up at the Fortress of Solitude, Superman chats up Steel about the Elite's methods.  Steel appears to be impressed by their ability to spread their word... downloading their "manifesto" onto every computer on Earth.  Superman goes to ask if he feels that the world has moved on from the idea of "Superman"... but is called away to a crisis in Japan before he can finish his thought.

Upon arriving in Japan, Superman is hit with a strange pulse... causing him to crash into the ground.  He finds himself before Samurai Roshu and his team of... very odd baddies.

Before a fight can begin, Roshu and his gang are all killed... slaughtered, really... by, The Elite.  Here's our first look at The Hat, Coldcast, Menagerie, and their leader Manchester Black.

Superman approaches them, and is whisked away to their ship (referred to as "The Bunny").  Superman tries to plead with these hyper-violent "heroes" about changing their methods... but gets shot down with the quickness.  Ya see, Black explains, this is the real world... Superman's "play nice" methods only work on television and in the comics.  In a cute bit, Black suggests that the true reason Superman's so peeved is due to... jealousy.

Superman gets in Black's face and strongly suggests he and his gang cut it out.  Black responds by teleporting Superman back to Earth.  We hop to Smallville where Pa Kent is talking about something one of his neighbors said... that The Elite made Superman look like a fool.  Welp, ya know it's bad when the people of Smallville already know the score.  Pa asks Clark if he believes, if push comes to shove, if he could defeat The Elite.

We then jump to, perhaps the most poignant scene of the issue... it's really something.  Superman watches while a group of children play "superhero".  There are a few kids dressed as members of The Elite, and one dressed as Superman.  The Super-kid mentions that it's not fair because Superman can't kill... and The Elite can.  The others tell him to quit his whining and let them kill him... afterward, he can just pick another hero.

We jump ahead to Superman fighting off Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones... well, I'm sure that's who they're supposed to be anyway.  Anyhoo, he's able to subdue the rogue D.E.O. Agents without any casualties.

Then... The Elite arrives.  Black mockingly applauds and asks Superman "what's next".  Superman replies with the standard "due process" type stuff... to which Black kinda scoffs.  He knows who these D.E.O. fellas are... and knows that they'll just be shipped off to some Shadow Cabinet and continue their work.  It's also implied here that Elite member Menagerie is a result of their experimentation.

Superman doesn't care... he'll just stop them again... and again, until they get the message.  Black orders The Hat to rain acid over the city... thinking that's a quicker way for everyone to "get the message".  Superman responds by slugging The Hat... a gesture that is caught by many a camera.  Black smirks, and challenges Superman to a fight the next day.

That night, we join Lois and Clark in bed.  Lois is rather worried that her husband's mouth (and fist) wrote a check that his backside can't cash.  She implores him to get the Justice League involved... but he refuses, claiming that this is his fight... and his alone.  They fall asleep in each other's arms.  Before sunrise, Clark sneaks out... and leaves Lois a note before heading off to face The Elite.

The Elite shows themselves and prepares for the fight.  Superman asks for a single favor... take the fight into space, so that no one on Earth will be hurt as collateral damage.  Black gives the thumbs-up, and next thing we know, we're on one of the Moons of Jupiter.  Luckily for the Earthlings, the battle will be televised.

With barely a thought, Manchester Black throws Superman across the planet.  As he pulls himself out of a crater of his own making, Superman is attacked by Menagerie and The Hat.  Coldcast then comes in to finish the job... placing his giant mitts over Superman's head like a vice grip until... 

When the dust settles, all that's left is Superman's cape.  The Elite looks at it as something they could add to their trophy collection... however, before they can begin to truly celebrate... they hear a voice.  Superman's voice.  He claims to now "get it".  He now understands the methods used by The Elite.

Suddenly... Menagerie is blown to pieces!

Then The Hat is suffocated in a windstorm... and Coldcast is swept away in a red, yellow and blue blur.

Superman finally shows himself... and he's looking like he's never really looked before.

He and Manchester Black go nose-to-nose... and Superman's eyes begin glowing red.  Black thinks this is hi-larious, because he ain't afraid of no heat-vision.  Superman smirks... he's not interested in cooking ol' Chester... he's got another idea.

Superman swats a powerless Manchester Black to the ground.  Black responds by "thinking" Superman dead... but it doesn't work.  Superman explains that he used his heat vision to... well, carve out a particularly nasty chunk of Chester's brain... "instant lobotomy".

Black begins to freak out... he even cries!  He points to the "television cameras" and tells Superman that the entire world saw him sink to their level.  Superman turns to the cameras... and suggests what the Earthlings just saw might've frightened them... after all, it even frightened him.

He then turns back to Black, and explains what really just went down.  The members of The Elite are fine... just kayoed at the moment.  Superman used his super-speed to make it look as though he was killing them.  Also, ol' Chester didn't really get an "instant lobotomy"... just a concussion.  His powers will return, however, by then he'll be in custody... and bogged down with more power-dampeners than anyone might possibly need.

We wrap up with Superman informing Black that he fights for a "dream", and will never, ever stop.

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Now... let's get it out of the way.  Does "What's So Funny...?" belong on an all-time Top Ten list of Superman stories?  Personally... without a doubt.

I haven't sat down with this since it first came out... and try as I might, I can't remember how well I "received" it back in 2001.  I never wound up falling into that Authority (and Authority-alikes) phase, preferring my heroes to be of the colorful-caped variety... so, maybe some of the meta-text was lost on me.

In reading it today... I can reflect on those hectic turn-of-the-century years, where everything was skewing toward the "real".  Real, as a relative term here of course.  Seemed we couldn't go a month without some hyper-violent, "wide-screen", group of "good guys" named after various agencies (one actually called The Agency, if I recall right) being introduced.

Wasn't my bag... but, I could see the merit in it.  Perhaps it's short-sighted, but I look at my trajectory as a fan as being pretty standard for people in my age bracket.  Although my first comics love was ElfQuest... my first "direct market" exposure came around the time of the Image Comics revolution.  I was in the "target demographic" for all that silly speculatory stuff.

As we (or I) "grew up" (so to speak), so did our/my comics.  Superheroes, foil covers, and polybags were the rage during my early-teens, Vertigo was poppin' during my late-teens, and these Authority-eqsue books all hit when I entered my twenties.  Again... I might be oversimplifying things here... but, it makes sense to me.

Anyhoo... the issue we have here is a deep dive into the relevance of Superman.  Growing up during the 80's and 90's, Superman was always that character we looked at as "old fashioned" even, at times "irrelevant".  I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in that.  That sorta view makes him the perfect character to pit against the take-no-prisoners Elite... who were, at the time, the "cutting edge" post-2000 superhero archetype.

The entire issue's build to a win-or-lose face-off was incredible.  I mean, the entire time Superman is questioning himself... can he beat them?  Are his methods outdated?  Is he outdated?  Added to that, the world around him seems similarly conflicted.  Do they feel safer with Superman constantly throwing bad guys into revolving door prisons... or would they prefer The Elite just straight up slaughtering?  Both options are plenty risky... which makes the question all the more important.

I feel like I'm at the point of babbling (or maybe I reached that point eight paragraphs ago)... but, this is the sort of issue that will do that to you.  It dredges up so many conflicting emotions.  I mean, it's never in question who we're "rooting for" here, but they make a good run at it.  I don't think we can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that The Elite are "wrong".  Wrong-headed, perhaps... however, the questions they ask Superman... and the world, are completely valid.  This is really spectacularly handled.

Before we end it for the day... I want to briefly (ha!) discuss that scene with the children playing hero.  This scene might've affected me more than any other in the book... and any other in quite some time.  I mean, it was just so "real".  Kids don't really understand what it means to "kill"... I mean, we all grew up knowing we could make a gun out of our thumb and index finger, right?  We just don't think we ever took the time to think about what we were pretending to do when we folded our thumbs down and said "bang!".

Kids looking at The Elite as "cool" and Superman as "beat" really says so much about how quickly (and easily) things can change when you're young.  I still remember the first time people stopped wanting to "be Hulk Hogan" in favor of the Ultimate Warrior when we played "wrestler".  Looking back, it's kinda heartbreaking... not that Warrior killed anybody or anything... it's just that his character felt so much "harder" than Hogan's.  Ehh, I think I might've taken babbling to a whole other level here.

All's I'm trying to say... in this ridiculous stream of consciousness I call a blog post, is that the scene with the kids was very moving... and highly effective at putting this entire issue into perspective for me.

I should probably put a bow on this at this point, lest I continue blithering.  I give this issue one of my highest recommendations... in a world where it seems every third book released is touted as a "10 out of 10" and an "instant classic", here's one that actually is!  The only thing I'd change about it is... the cover.  Not a fan of that image.  If you're interested in checking this out, it is available digitally.

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