I've had a few more conversations about the changes in Superman and what Grant Morrison is doing to my favorite hero. And I'll say it once again... I'm in an optimistic, wait and see mode. But we do have a blog, and we sometimes need a place to voice our opinions... and since Tracie kind of inadvertently hit another new nerve about this change. I decided to rebut here on the site. Tracie posted a quote on my facebook page that said the following.“They’re playing up more of the Kryptonian stuff at the other title, but mine is about the farmboy in the city, and Clark Kent is doing as much work on fighting social injustice as Superman is. Superman isn’t Batman. he can never be brooding and sitting on gargoyles. Batman, only two people died in his life and he’s been sad ever since. Superman lost billions and still has a smile on his face. So my Superman will be a pro-active, young, powerful guy. It’s Action Comics, so Superman has to be doing stuff!”
But the part that pushed my buttons is Morrison's next quote...
| "He's only darker in the sense that he gets stuff done. he's no longer a friend of the law, he stands for Justice, and that may conflict with the law sometimes." |
What is this suppose to mean? Could it mean that he's likes most Super-hero vigilantes and just doesn't have a badge and sometimes bends the rules. Typical comic book things. I'd argue that's what Superman does now. What I fear this line really means is... Superman could kill. Invoke justice... instead of the law. And that does not sit right with me. Not for Superman. Nope! NO!
Again, I may be jumping to conclusions... its vaguely stated. But people (Ahem, Tracie) keep trying to point out all the good Grant is showing and how he is sticking to whats important. I feel he's an excellent writer. But every day I keep learning of a new bold change and its wearing on me. I can be talked into him not being married to Lois. I can respect the decision to kill off both his adopted parents. I can even buy yet another new origin, story when we've had like 6 in the last 20 years. But...
But I can not get behind a Superman that will kill. I can not. Can you see a Dr. Who who kills? Even in the most extreme situations... he does everything in his power to NOT take a life. Even the villains. Superman should not be that type of hero. For gods sake, he even thought the lives of the Aliens from the "Aliens vs Superman" cross-over were worth saving. The whole storyline that pulled me into Superman was because he killed the 3 Kyrpton Villains that destroyed 6 billion lives and it drove him mad. You can't change this, Grant. You can not.
I haven't read anything to suggest that he will be more violent, much less murderous. I take "no friend of the law" as meaning that Superman will not uphold the laws of man arbitrarily. He is to be a champion of justice and a hero for the downtrodden. We have a lot of oppressive laws in our society, created out of bigotry and fear, and I think it's perfectly fine for Superman to transcend those in order to uphold actual moral justice, not "justice" as defined by man, centuries ago.
ReplyDeleteI will support this with another quote:
ReplyDelete" We want to go back to what originally drove Superman. He was created in the Depression to be a champion to the oppressed. We're in a different kind of depression now and I think to put Superman back in that place — to make him very much a champion of the oppressed, the underdog and an outlaw rather than a patriot figure or someone who works with the police — that's what we want to do. To bring him back to his roots."
But in the original issues of Action Comics Superman killed a criminal. Leading back to this fear. Again I may be jumping to conclusions and i hope I am. Just some wording scares me.
ReplyDeleteThe wording is weird, but I highly, and I stress highly, doubt we are going see a murderous Superman. One of the images released this weekend highlights what they mean by him "no longer being a friend of the law", it's the one of him holding up the old guy while being confronted by his security. He isn't going to let people who profit off of other people hide behind the letter of the law, he will confront them directly. This is also going to lead into him becoming a reporter for the Daily Planet where he is going to mainly write stories about people being mistreated (we can see this in the pages that introduces Lois's new boyfriend in Superman). Eventually I suspect that this is going lead to Clark quitting the Daily Planet when comes to logger heads with the new management.
ReplyDeleteI am getting the impression that a major theme in the new DCU is going to be the idea of social justice. Not only with the traditional ones like Green Arrow (which after seeing the preview pages for I am getting) but also most of the "Justice League" titles in general.