Thanksgiving: Day 26

 The Last Thanksgiving Supper of Batman

by Glasmond 
(click link to super-size your meal)

 

Thanksgiving: Day 22

Superman balloon in Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, 1939

Think Snowth

via Dr. K.

Kingdom Come climax?

I have not been following the forums, blogs and previews close enough to know what is going to happen to the Kingdom Come Superman when the Magog storyline concludes in JSA but when I read this page from the January 2009 (JSA #21) issue...


I thought of this scene from the May 1975 issue of Kamandi #29 being a possible finale to the story.

Wynken, Blynken and Zod

Wynken, Blynken, and Zod one night Sailed off in a wooden shoe. Sailed on a river of crystal light, into a sea of dew.

"Where are you going, and what do you wish?" The old Moon asked the three.

"Revenge! We will kill the son of our jailer! Come to we, son of Jor-El! Kneel before Wynken, Blynken and Zod!"

While many of you reading this blog undoubtedly have lives that routinely lead you to sobbing relentlessly, howling your grief into the night until exhaustion pulls you into fitful unconsciousness, I quite often laugh (or at least giggle) myself to sleep.

The laughter isn't the shrieking, maniacal cackle of the unhinged, but rather a gentle chuckle that goes off and on for a few minutes before slumber. It annoys the wife greatly. I keep telling her it is just relief, the release of stresses at the end of the day as I finally relax, but it drives her crazy.

Is that weird? Am I the only one who giggles themselves to sleep? I can't believe I am the only one.

For us comic book geeks only

I didn't get the point of this...

Until I saw this...

Then it all made sense.

A dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do

"Go. I've got this."

Superman #680. Best comic of the year.

A Dog's Eye View

I've been pretty pleased about the current team of Robinson, Guedes, Magalhaes and the others on the current Superman title. They are doing a bang-up job with the Atlas story line. It's interesting and has me excited about seeing the following issue. In Superman #679 (Oct 2008) the creative team gave Superman a foe who could conceivably beat him to death without there being much of a stretch (though if it's an iteration of a Doomsday clone I'll be annoyed). They also did a good job of removing another, stronger player in the form of Supergirl from the immediate fight. Atlas would be no match for the cousins if they teamed up against him. Supergirl is still probably stronger than her cousin and should be able to take out Atlas, so removing her from the scene by having her fight on another front allows the drama required for Superman to rise to the occasion and defeat Atlas, the stronger and more vicious opponent.

One of the subplots that has me excited about the next issue is the involvement of Krypto. I love Krypto.

For those who were not paying attention, last month in Superman #678 (Sept 2008) Lois Lane and Clark (Superman) Kent are at home discussing among other domestic issues, the family pet. In what appears to be a simple flashback scene Lois is letting her feelings for the dog be known. She doesn't care for the super-dog, considering him dangerous and uncontrollable. During their conversation Clark is fully aware that Krypto is keeping an eye and ear on the humans he considers part of his pack, the Kent family. This is where Robinson shows some cleverness without being expository and respects the reader enough to catch on.

What looks like an artistic device of a flashback is really a dog's eye view of the Kent apartment from who knows how distant. Krypto is watching and is probably getting concerned about Lois' attitude. Since the dog uses steel girders for chew toys it is probably not a good idea to appear to be a threat. Robinson shows the reader that by Clark's emphasis on certain words he is not really speaking to Lois, but actually to the eavesdropping dog. Lois is obviously not catching on to her husband's odd turns of phrases. By reinforcing that Krypto is a good dog and that the dog should also love Lois, Clark is making sure that his pet doesn't do anything to harm his fragile, human wife while he is occupied elsewhere and is also ensuring that the dog would come to Lois' aid if she required it by protecting a member of his pack. Clark knows Lois would freak out if he had to tell her this because Krypto is dangerous, so he doesn't bother explaining it in depth to her or us, the readers.

This reinforcement of training for Krypto comes in handy later after Atlas knocks Superman out during a battle in the center of the city.

That's right! That "Grrr" can mean only one thing!

Wolverine!


No, not really. You wish, fanboy.

What it really heralds is the promise of a great next issue featuring KRYPTO! Yay! DC better not kill him.

I can't wait.

New original art

Two new sketches from animator Arland Barron. Snagged them when he visited my work place the other day.

Faster than a speeding bullet

This may be the first instance of Superman out pacing a bullet to it's intended target.

Panels from Action Comics #8 (January 1939)

Super-Nature vs Super-Nurture

Today the character of Superman is known as a big weeping boyscout, but it wasn't always that way. That characterization that he must always be perfect, good and kind is at odds with most story-telling and at times causes restrictions to creativity. But once upon a time Superman was seriously flawed, had a bad temper and was very much at odds with the status quo instead of being a tool of the system.

That a superhero is fighting the establishment is something of a cliche now, having been explored most famously by Marvel Comics in the character of Peter Parker as Spider-Man (and enjoying something of a revival with many characters in Marvel after the Civil War story lines). But Superman was different from the comic characters that would ape his success later. In his early days, Superman was a vigilante who was sought after by the authorities for rabble-rousing and his upsets of the system. The authorities were annoyed that Superman he did not follow the rules, didn't "understand" how things worked and often did a better job than them of catching crooks. Superman cut through red tape by taking direct action and was the symbol of the frustrated working class who did not have the resources to fight injustice or better their situation. Superman basically embodied revolution in one body and that worried those in charge.

In Action Comics #8 (January 1939), Superman comes to the aid of a group of dead-end kids. Lured into organized crime by a Fagin-like criminal, the kids are double-crossed and given up to the police when their crimes begin to lead back to him. Superman gets involved and violently frees all the captured youths from the police.

Once Superman proved himself as a tough-guy of the mean streets, the kids vow to change their ways and go straight since any feller so tough is awright with them. Superman then opines that the kids are dangerous, murdering delinquents due to their living in a ghetto and sets a plan into motion to force the government to rectify their living conditions, thereby halting all crime.
Superman accomplishes this by organizing strikes and petitions and creating greater public awareness of the plight of the poor. Just kidding! Actually, Superman forces the authorities take care of their citizens by making homeless refugees of the ghetto residents, attacking the city and destroying the slums by smashing up all the buildings and infrastructure with his bare hands.

Since no government could possibly remain idle while a force of nature wreaks havoc on a city, the military is called to respond and put a halt to Superman's urban renewal efforts. Unable to stop Superman with ground troops the government then escalates the situation and applies a scorched earth policy using fighter aircraft. The attacking airplanes swiftly finish the job Superman started by bombing the the ghetto and leveling the entire district, turning it into a gutted wasteland while in the process failing to even muss Superman's spit-curl.

Unlike in the real world, after a disaster the administration of the DC Universe swiftly replaces the destroyed slums with modern, clean and affordable housing instead of rezoning the land for the construction of casinos, golf courses and luxury tourist destinations.

In a few years time Superman would go on to become little more than a one-man branch of the Department of Defense and unquestioningly support any authority figure and policy that draped itself in an American flag. This boy scout image of Superman is a persona he has been unable to successfully change in spite of the best efforts of the comic book creators of the 90s. Superman's plan to give people a second chance at life and hope for the future by enabling people to overcome their environment and lead happy, productive lives failed miserably. This was possibly due to Superman being an alien who grew up in Kansas and he may have been unfamiliar with human nature and the concept of "pooping where you sleep". In very little time the new urban centers that held such promise would be not-so-affectionately known as "Suicide Slum" and is considered one of the most crime-ridden, blighted and dangerous sections of Metropolis.

The Mighty One, Jack Kirby

It's Jack Kirby's 89th birthday and in recognition of that I present The Tablet of Revelation from Kamandi #29 (May 1975).

All of us fans build our own comic continuity in our heads, keeping bits of lore we like or think should be included and discarding those we feel do not do justice to the characters and their history. Kamandi #29 by Jack Kirby is one of those episodes of lore I keep as a character's true story.

As far as I was concerned Jack Kirby tells the legend of the true Death of Superman in Kamandi #29. In the story it is revealed that The Man of Steel did not die in a fight scene against a creature that should have been a Highfather clone sent by Darkseid (but wasn't). Kirby had Superman die as a real hero, preventing the planet Earth from destroying itself and being destroyed in a series of cataclysmic events that included World War 3 called by survivors as "The Great Disaster". Though the Earth was saved the task proved too much for Superman and he later died. Years passed and all that remained of Superman and an Age of Heroes was his indestructible costume that a cargo-cult of semi-intelligent gorillas worship as a religious talisman. Kamandi, The Last Fanboy On Earth, has his own ideas for the use of the super-suit. He is desperate for a symbol for the beings of his world to rally around and rise above post-apocalyptic barbarism.

Kamandi was convinced that one day Superman would return to fix things and killed a gorilla who desired to misappropriate the costume for his own selfish ends by dumping him into lava. Interestingly, Kamandi was correct that one day Superman would return, however briefly. In a nice hat-tip to Jack Kirby, Jeph Loeb had an alternate time line Superman appear in Kamandi's earth in Superman/Batman #16 (Feb 2005) and reference the story.

Crisis on Infinite Earths pretty much erased the fate of Superman that Kirby penned but the recent Infinite Crisis brought the possibility roaring back. In an industry where creative teams sniped at each other and rendered invalid another's work with regularity no one refuted Kirby's account of the death of DC's cornerstone character.

That says a lot about the respect Jack earned.

Don't forget to visit the Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center online!

Don't let the door to the Fortress of Solitude hit you on the ass on the way out

Since his debut back in 1938 there are countless scenes that define greatness in the stories that feature Superman. Smashing a car, breaking chains by flexing his chest muscles and juggling planets. When Superman executed the Phantom Zone criminals. When Superman and Wonder Woman made a skin flick. When a terminally ill Lois first declined Clark's marriage proposal because he wasn't Superman, when they married for real and when Superman died for a while.

But one of  my favorite scenes ever in comics wasn't a punch-em-inna-face. It was real story and had good drama. It is when Superman once and for all kicked Lana Lang to the curb.

While Lana was featured regularly in the Superboy stories she was absent as a character from his adult life in Metropolis. Lois Lane was firmly established as Superman's Girlfriend and except for the occasional manipulative heiress Lois had no real competition for Superman's affections. Enter: Lana Lang.

Cute and bothersome as a teen, Lana had grown up to be DC's glamorous vamp, an ambitious Silver Age Sharon Stone type. Well, not initially. As revealed in Lois Lane #7 (Feb 1959) while on a story in the Metropolis slums "pretty reporter" Lois discovered that Lana was homeless and living on the streets.
Since this is the DC and not Marvel and it is the Silver/Bronze Age, the comic did not go into detail about Lana's personal situation like it would today. No graphic details about drug addiction, prostitution or porn movies here! That was all subtext, baby. Use your imagination. With Lois's help Lana gets cleaned up and established and secures steady employment. At first, Lana was a good friend to Lois. Having put her childhood relationship with Superboy behind her she often assisted Lois in her crazy schemes to win over Superman. Eventually though, Lana proved to crafty and manipulative and was revealed to be shallow and selfish, becoming a serious rival as a love interest for Superman. They had a history, Lana was prettier than Lois and had red hair so you can't blame the guy for thinking with his Johnson-El.

Soon, Lana was making a name for herself in the popular media exploiting her personal history and friendship with Superman (nee Superboy), presumably in a far more lurid manner than Lois, Jimmy and Clark (in maintaining his secret identity) did. She wrote books, appeared on television shows and a went on a lecture circuit pandering to a public that couldn't get enough juicy celebrity gossip about the Man of Steel. Of course, Lana showing up and befriending Lois makes the issue of Superman's secret identity even more ridiculous and shows just how inept an investigative reporter Lois really was. You'd think they'd compare notes or something.

Superman himself was characterized as being torn between the two women and couldn't decide which one to choose from so he strung them both along for years.

The defining moment. Here's where the War Between the Girlfriends began.
From Lois Lane #7.

Not to be a Typical Guy, I understand that actually. Let's face the facts. Not many women could keep up with Superman and the craziness and media attention that comes along with him. The two women who could were also both major league ass-pains. Way back in the days before my own precious state of marital bliss I lived by the code of always having a Plan B in place. That is, if Plan A doesn't work out then you have to implement Plan B. So then if I broke up with my current girlfriend, she was mad at me or went to work I'd break out the Plan B, aka Reserve Girl. Now that may sound callous, but there isn't a man or woman out there alive then and now that didn't walk the same path I did when dating (and it is even more true today than when I was single, especially with women and their emasculating concept of the "Uhm-Friend") so save the self-righteous anger and focus on the comic books, OK?

For years Superman tolerated Lana and Lois' romantic shenanigans. During a great story arc in which Superman got more in touch with his Clark Kent persona (Don't forget that in is this era Clark was the disguise) the Superman and Lois relationship intensified and Lana was pushed to the sidelines. Lana became increasingly more desperate for attention and eventually Superman decided to put a halt to the relationship.

In one great scene, Superman finally makes it clear to Lana and the readers that he chooses Lois once and for all. All the comic noobs out here reading today's tales may not know it but there was actually a long-running controversy over Lana and Lois and who was better. It was a question nearly as great as the one about Ginger and Mary-Anne*.

From Superman #332 (Feb 1979). Click images to super-size.

Lana does not take it very well and proves Superman's assertions by raging at him instead of being saddened or accepting his decision. Cleverly, the reader's were not privy to her rants because of the thick glass but it is obvious that Superman could hear every word. Superman understood that while both Lana and Lois desired being "Mrs. Superman" it was only Lois who accepted the responsibility of the relationship. Lana was only seeking the next celebrity spotlight to stand in.

Fortunately for readers Lana didn't stumble upon the Eclipso gem next issue, because all us Silver and Bronze age fans can recognize a stupid cliche when it is shoved in our faces. Cheese we can accept, but don't insult us.

Since then Lois has been (kind of) portrayed to show that she isn't defined by Superman and doesn't require fame by association to make her way in the world. After a few reboots and because of the Smallville television program Lana was once again brought back into Superman's life. In a moment of editorial clarity she wasn't portrayed as a brunette Asian-Hispanic proto-Lois like in the show, but (in spite of her being the spouse of a powerful politician) DC did choose to make her a desperate loser once again as she was when she re-appeared back in 1959. Now that she is the CEO of LuthorCorp I expect that she is in a better position financially and emotionally to go after Clark again. Being CEO may be her forte and as her personal power and influence grows she might feel she is a match for Lois and Superman once again.

* Ginger.