The Man of Tomorrow! The Superman thread

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > BSS: Bisexual Super Son > The Man of Tomorrow! The Superman thread

Lurdiak: Feb 26, 2006; I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do.

Yannick_B posted:

I think that show is televised disease, but its a pretty flawless delivery machine for all those terrible jokes, through even terribler characters.

So your idea of something lovely is something unsuccessful, and no matter how terrible something is, if it were lovely it would just get wiped out by the invisible hand of the free market?

# ? Feb 12, 2012 21:50

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 17:28

Yannick_B: Oct 11, 2007

Lurdiak posted:

So your idea of something lovely is something unsuccessful, and no matter how terrible something is, if it were lovely it would just get wiped out by the invisible hand of the free market?

A show that runs for a long time obviously has a lot of stuff figured out and there's a craftmanship to running a show like that. It doesnt necessarily make it good, but I think it excludes it from being lovely (which would be the worst since we're comparing it to poo poo!).

# ? Feb 12, 2012 22:08

^burtle: Jul 17, 2001; God of Boomin'

Entertainer13 posted:

It was basic sitcom fare with the only difference being that it glorified a toned down Charlie Sheen lifestyle. Since I find Sheen's way of life not too darn interesting, the show bored me. But in all seriousness, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I thankfully had the ability to not watch it.

Cool.

# ? Feb 12, 2012 22:49

Happy Hippo: Aug 8, 2004; The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Batman's Shameful Secret > BSS Derailed Thread: Spider-Island

Somebody talk about Superman comics please.

I don't typically care about Supes but I loved Morrision's rear end so I plan on getting the first trade of his Action comics. Has it ventured into Morrison weirdness? That usually puts me off.

# ? Feb 13, 2012 02:17

Staircase: Jun 6, 2011

Happy Hippo posted:

Somebody talk about Superman comics please.

I don't typically care about Supes but I loved Morrision's rear end so I plan on getting the first trade of his Action comics. Has it ventured into Morrison weirdness? That usually puts me off.

With issue #6 we're starting to venture into that territory of Morrison weird. That's not to say that it's bad though, it's just... Morrison.

# ? Feb 13, 2012 03:16

Yannick_B: Oct 11, 2007

It doenst get any weirder than JLA ever did.

# ? Feb 13, 2012 03:16

Some Pinko Commie: Jun 9, 2009; CNC! Easy as 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣!

Nerd Of Prey posted:

I finally got around to finishing up the whole series of Smallville, and overall I really dug it. There were always a couple of just absolutely lovely episodes per season, and a few bizarre plot elements that didn't quite work, but there was always enough cool stuff to keep me hooked. Taken as a whole, it was a pretty neat interpretation of the Superman story.

I think my favorite part was how dead-on they got Clark Kent in terms of his personality, his motivations, his strengths and weaknesses as a person. Superman can definitely be a challenging character to write, but they consistently nailed it. Tom Welling did a respectable job in the role, too. Probably the best small-screen Clark Kent.

I wasn't totally sold on their version of Lois Lane at first, but she really grew on me. I usually rolled my eyes at the various contrivances that put Clark's lady friends in peril, but it made more sense for Lois to be in trouble all the time because she was absolutely fearless to the point of being a little bit crazy. Lois has to be a little bit crazy for the story to work, and Superman stories don't always get that. The most powerful man in the world isn't going to fall for a boring, no-nonsense girl. She's got to keep him guessing.

I think they kinda dropped the ball with Lex Luthor, though. The actor was good, but the writing usually wasn't... and when he left the show it kinda got more interesting. The idea that they used to be best friends probably worked better on paper, too. His dad was a way better character.

I'm glad that Green Arrow ended up with such a major role. He was a really inspired choice for Superman's best superhero buddy. He's enough like Batman that you don't miss Batman, and a lot more likely to be friends with Clark. He was pretty much always awesome on the show.

The simultaneously best and worst thing about Smallville was that by the end they had set up conditions for a truly great Superman show... but at the same time it was clearly over as soon as he put on the suit. He had already faced all the best villains, conquered all his own doubts, and won Lois Lane's heart. What's left?

Still, if at some point Tom Welling gets bored and decides to play Superman again, I won't complain.

I saw a commercial for Smallville once that looked like it had a ridiculous low-budget version of Dr. Fate in it (as in, low budget TV show CG Dr. Fate, complete with helmet and cape and crazy pink lasers) and the Justice League tower, did that ever actually happen in the show or am I misremembering it?

# ? Feb 13, 2012 16:24

Jose Oquendo: Jun 20, 2004; Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie

Wade Wilson posted:

I saw a commercial for Smallville once that looked like it had a ridiculous low-budget version of Dr. Fate in it (as in, low budget TV show CG Dr. Fate, complete with helmet and cape and crazy pink lasers) and the Justice League tower, did that ever actually happen in the show or am I misremembering it?

It did. Most of the JSA did appear in a few episodes. Most of those were writen by Geoff Johns.

# ? Feb 13, 2012 16:40

Open Marriage Night: Sep 18, 2009; "Do you want to talk to a spider, Peter?"

Wade Wilson posted:

I saw a commercial for Smallville once that looked like it had a ridiculous low-budget version of Dr. Fate in it (as in, low budget TV show CG Dr. Fate, complete with helmet and cape and crazy pink lasers) and the Justice League tower, did that ever actually happen in the show or am I misremembering it?

Absolute Justice guest starred Hawkman, Doctor Fate, and Stargirl. You also get some glimpses of the rest of the JSA. Pretty drat fun. Also, the Geoff Johns penned episode Legion was good.

I've only seen about a half dozen episodes, but they've all been fairly entertaining. And I give the show credit that my sixty-something year old uncle with a PHD finally had something to talk about with this twenty-something slacker nephew.

# ? Feb 13, 2012 17:00

Yannick_B: Oct 11, 2007

Wade Wilson posted:

I saw a commercial for Smallville once that looked like it had a ridiculous low-budget version of Dr. Fate in it (as in, low budget TV show CG Dr. Fate, complete with helmet and cape and crazy pink lasers) and the Justice League tower, did that ever actually happen in the show or am I misremembering it?

It did happen. In its last 3 seasons, with a shift in creative teams, Smallville actually became a superhero soap show. You can defintely see the shortcomings in almost all of their special effects and other shenanigans but at the same time I cant help but smile that they did the Justice Society on a budget.

# ? Feb 13, 2012 17:15

Nerd Of Prey: Aug 10, 2002

For weekly TV, the special effects were always pretty good. The production design was pretty cool a lot of the time too, in terms of the sets and costumes and stuff. You could tell they didn't have a huge budget but they got really creative with it. The show had a "look" that was pretty unique.

The JSA cameo was definitely a high point of the series, in terms of the story and the production values. I watched a behind-the-scenes bit on the DVD about how they pulled it all off without breaking the bank, and speaking as a film student I was pretty impressed.

# ? Feb 14, 2012 08:52

COUNTIN THE BILLIES: Jan 8, 2006; by Ion Helmet

Picked up All-Star Superman TPBs today and loving them. Any ideas where I should go after these? I know nothing about Superman besides the movies and cartoon show.

I gotta say I've always been skeptical about Superman. He's just so powerful. But I think if someone can pull off a good story about him, I think it's worth more than a good story about Batman, or almost any other superhero.

# ? Feb 25, 2012 05:28

Teenage Fansub: Jan 28, 2006

COUNTIN THE BILLIES posted:

Picked up All-Star Superman TPBs today and loving them. Any ideas where I should go after these? I know nothing about Superman besides the movies and cartoon show.

I gotta say I've always been skeptical about Superman. He's just so powerful. But I think if someone can pull off a good story about him, I think it's worth more than a good story about Batman, or almost any other superhero.

The current Action Comics monthly is written by the same guy, so you might wanna try jumping on that.

Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke's Action Comics #775 is my favorite Superman story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_So_Funny_About_Truth,_Justice_%26_the_American_Way%3F

# ? Feb 25, 2012 06:20

IShallRiseAgain: Sep 12, 2008; Well ain't that precious?

Yannick_B posted:

For some reason, for more than HALF of the show's run, regular Clark is written as a bland, non-dynamic guy. If they had written him anything like the guy we're seeing in Action Comics right now, the show would've been much more different.

I'd go even farther and say he is an outright douchebag at times. To be honest, I had more sympathy for and liked Lex Luthor more than Clark Kent in Smallville. Clark was far more concerned about keeping his identity secret than helping people or his relationship with his friends. Lex Luthor, on the other hand, was a somewhat lonely individual who wanted to avoid becoming his father, cared deeply about his friendship with Clark, and generally wanted to do the right thing. Unfortunately, Clark's main concern was himself and only was friends with Lex when it was convenient. He stood by while Lex was forced down the path of corruption.

Of course, this was obviously not the intent of the creators, and only goes to show how bad the show was.

# ? Feb 26, 2012 00:25

horsepeen: Sep 21, 2010; Christian Financial Adviser

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Action Comic since we finally continue the storyline from issue 4. Though I am disappointed that this will probably be the end of the adventures of the t-shirt and jeans/can't fly Supes.

# ? Mar 6, 2012 21:06

Yannick_B: Oct 11, 2007

IShallRiseAgain posted:

Of course, this was obviously not the intent of the creators, and only goes to show how bad the show was.

I think it was. Sometimes in interviews, you could feel the smarm and how clever they felt about having a show where Lex Luthor was more sympathetic, like they had turned the entire thing on its head.

# ? Mar 7, 2012 05:46

Nawid: Mar 27, 2011

COUNTIN THE BILLIES posted:

Picked up All-Star Superman TPBs today and loving them. Any ideas where I should go after these? I know nothing about Superman besides the movies and cartoon show.

I gotta say I've always been skeptical about Superman. He's just so powerful. But I think if someone can pull off a good story about him, I think it's worth more than a good story about Batman, or almost any other superhero.

It really is. I like Superman Red Son just as much as All Star, for what it's worth.

# ? Mar 7, 2012 06:01

sexpig by night: Sep 8, 2011; by Azathoth

horsepeen posted:

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Action Comic since we finally continue the storyline from issue 4. Though I am disappointed that this will probably be the end of the adventures of the t-shirt and jeans/can't fly Supes.

As nice as it is, I think we're at a good point to move past it. This story has been great, and he's at a stage where it's time for him to 'get super' to save people from a major threat.

# ? Mar 7, 2012 07:44

Space_Butler: Dec 5, 2003; Fun Shoe

Every issue of Action Comics outdoes the previous one. I loved the clever transition from jeans-wearing Golden Age supes into the super-suit Silver Age Superman at the exact point he goes from fighting golden age-esque corruption to having to deal with 1950's sci-fi stuff. I'm probably going to be downright suicidal when the day comes that Morrison announces he's leaving the book. And despite my past gripes about Morales' art, this issue was probably his best work of the run.

Even the backup stories are becoming consistantly good. This was a much better Steel backup than the last one.

# ? Mar 8, 2012 01:23

TwoPair: Mar 28, 2010; Pandamn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta; Grimey Drawer

The only thing that I missed in this issue is... how did Supes just know that the super-suit was there? Better yet, how did he make it change colors?

Aside from that, this issue was pretty rad.

# ? Mar 8, 2012 01:43

Yawgmoft: Nov 15, 2004

TwoPair posted:

The only thing that I missed in this issue is... how did Supes just know that the super-suit was there? Better yet, how did he make it change colors?

Aside from that, this issue was pretty rad.

He recognized the style of it from what his father wore. I'm guessing the color change was some sort of "power on!" kind of deal.

# ? Mar 8, 2012 01:51

Mike From Nowhere: Jan 31, 2007; I guess there has to be one thing I just can't help, Lois.

I was sincerely worried that we were getting a repeat of "Brainiac blew up Krypton," but the reveal there was perfect. Krypton destroyed itself, and Earth is on its way there - either due to an unrevealed threat or simply due to climate change or the threat of nuclear war.

To Brainiac, Earth is a lost cause. To Superman, there's no such thing. And that's why they're enemies.

# ? Mar 8, 2012 05:00

Space_Butler: Dec 5, 2003; Fun Shoe

I just realized that the tie of Glennmorgan's the bartender was holding in issue 7 was the same one he left with way at the beginning of issue 1. I wonder what the significance of that is/will be.

# ? Mar 8, 2012 05:55

d00gZ: Oct 12, 2002; Original Sin Murderer
Wild Guess #627
Edward Snowden

"My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them."

After #5-6, little dude is definitely Mxyzptlk.

# ? Mar 8, 2012 08:02

Mike From Nowhere: Jan 31, 2007; I guess there has to be one thing I just can't help, Lois.

d00gZ posted:

After #5-6, little dude is definitely Mxyzptlk.

I dunno, Clark's landlady doesn't have any vowels in her last name... something's going on there.

# ? Mar 8, 2012 11:37

d00gZ: Oct 12, 2002; Original Sin Murderer
Wild Guess #627
Edward Snowden

"My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them."

Magic Love Hose posted:

I dunno, Clark's landlady doesn't have any vowels in her last name... something's going on there.

Yeah, she's probably also from the Fifth Dimension. She mentions how Clark inspired her nephew, right? And the Kryptonian superscience thing they keep referring to over and over again is called EOEO, which is all vowels, and is EIEIO without the Is, and Clark was a farmboy, and .... I'm still trying to figure out what it all means.

# ? Mar 8, 2012 15:51

^burtle: Jul 17, 2001; God of Boomin'

And Krypto was his name, yo.

# ? Mar 8, 2012 21:04

redbackground: Sep 24, 2007; BEHOLD!
OPTIC BLAST!; Grimey Drawer

..with a Ha-La here and a Ha-La there...

# ? Mar 8, 2012 21:13

Crusader: Apr 11, 2002

I was semi-disappointed with Action Comics' apparent direction (and Morales' art) after issue 4, but between this last issue and the Rocket Song interlude, I'm looking forward to the conclusion next month.

Looking back, I'm a little astonished at how many vintage characters Morrison has already re-introduced without the arc feeling crowded or short-changed - now that the major stock villains and supporting cast have been established, I'm excited to see entirely new concepts/situations/foes/etc.

It's not All-Star, but it's the best a regular S book has been for me in a long time.

# ? Mar 12, 2012 00:30

Crusader: Apr 11, 2002

I also dig that this Brainiac is an amalgamation of the knowledge and technology secured from the worlds it's preserved, even in the way it self-identifies.

# ? Mar 12, 2012 00:48

TwoPair: Mar 28, 2010; Pandamn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta; Grimey Drawer

Crusader posted:

I also dig that this Brainiac is an amalgamation of the knowledge and technology secured from the worlds it's preserved, even in the way it self-identifies.

I like it, but... seriously? The Internet is Brainiac? Between that and "shutting down the internet" in Final Crisis, I'm pretty sure that Morrison is just gonna write the internet as whatever the hell he wants it to be. And I guess I should just learn to deal with silliness in my funnybooks, but it still irks me.

# ? Mar 12, 2012 00:59

Crusader: Apr 11, 2002

It didn't bother me as I interpreted it as what was once the Internet on Earth has been essentially copied into Brainiac, so now he is also "the Internet" in that he can recall/use anything that was available there. The "humans don't know much about you" line and so forth.

# ? Mar 12, 2012 01:53

Lord Krangdar: Oct 24, 2007; These are the secrets of death we teach.

quote:

I like it, but... seriously? The Internet is Brainiac?

I took that to mean that he waits until a planet's inhabitants reach the stage of their evolution where they have created a repository of all their knowledge and culture, then The Collector strikes. Basically he lets each civilization do all the hard work of collecting all that data for him, then he destroys their planet so he has the only remaining information and artifacts from that world. He is not Brainiac, he downloaded the Brainiac computer network on Krypton before he destroyed Krypton. He's also not the internet, he's just doing the same thing to Earth now that humans have created the internet.

# ? Mar 12, 2012 02:39

Open Marriage Night: Sep 18, 2009; "Do you want to talk to a spider, Peter?"

That's a hell of a nit to pick. Of all the things in Action Comics, you draw the line at the electronic storage of all human knowledge becoming self aware and taking over? I like it better than something like Skynet, because Skynet was created as military AI, while Brainiac is more of a social construct. He wasn't made for war, he was made for the accumulation of knowledge.

EDIT: Krangdar's theory is probably more accurate. Either way, this is some good stuff.

Open Marriage Night fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Mar 12, 2012

# ? Mar 12, 2012 02:47

Teenage Fansub: Jan 28, 2006

TwoPair posted:

I like it, but... seriously? The Internet is Brainiac? Between that and "shutting down the internet" in Final Crisis, I'm pretty sure that Morrison is just gonna write the internet as whatever the hell he wants it to be. And I guess I should just learn to deal with silliness in my funnybooks, but it still irks me.

If you haven't read Batman Inc 8, you have no idea.

# ? Mar 12, 2012 06:16

TwoPair: Mar 28, 2010; Pandamn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta; Grimey Drawer

Teenage Fansub posted:

If you haven't read Batman Inc 8, you have no idea.

Oh believe me, I have.

And the set-up for that issue was great. Having Batman strap on his Virtual Boy at the end of Inc 7 while Barbara yells about how there's trouble on the internet was fantastic.

# ? Mar 12, 2012 09:55

horsepeen: Sep 21, 2010; Christian Financial Adviser

horsepeen posted:

I'm just wondering if they changed the way Clark changes into Superman.

rotinaj posted:

I read an interview somewhere that said Superman carries around something called a "Power Morpher" now.

(no I didn't)

Looks like you weren't far off!

# ? Mar 28, 2012 19:56

Space_Butler: Dec 5, 2003; Fun Shoe

Superman #7 still isn't approaching as great as Action Comics, but the writing has improved by leaps and bounds over what Perez did. I'm glad I kept this on my pull list.

# ? Mar 28, 2012 21:48

Space_Butler: Dec 5, 2003; Fun Shoe

And that's a wrap on the first arc. It's a shame that Johns was in charge of rebooting the JLA and establishing the world being introduced to a team of heroes, because the tone at the end of Action 8 felt way more in line with how the real world would react to entering the age of the superhero; a mixture of confusion and hope. It was also great, after so many of the past issues having his spirit nearly broken by public opinion turning on him, to see Superman get back to being the guy with the puffed out chest and beaming smile we all recognize.

So, any guesses on the Kryptonian being spoken in the last few pages of the book?

# ? Apr 5, 2012 00:57

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 17:28

Kull the Conqueror: Apr 8, 2006; Take me to the green valley,
lay the sod o'er me,
I'm a young cowboy,
I know I've done wrong

Is the Brainiac spaceship going to be his new Fortress of Solitude? Because I think that's pretty cool.

# ? Apr 5, 2012 07:20

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