Superman: Secret Origins Pt.2

  A question I’m sure that probably came up from the first part of my review is this: why so many retellings of the Superman origin?  As stated before The Man of Steel was an attempt to streamline the Superman story after Crisis on Infinite Earths which could be considered the official end of the Silver Age.  Superman: Birthright as stated before was created to bring the character into the 21^st century.

  It was the Infinite Crisis event that restored a lot of the Silver Age back story that had been eliminated, so it rendered the previous retelling defunct. Secret Origin  was necessary to fit all those pieces of the puzzle back together. On with the review then….

                                              

      Part 2-Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes: We open on a drunken Lionel Luthor driving on a hilly road (in Kansas?) and he notices a large amount of debris blocking his way. He tries to hit the brakes but they fail causing him to drive off a cliff only to be saved by….Superboy! At the police station, Lionel tells his story and gets thrown into the drunk tank for his trouble. At the stately shack of the Luthor family, Lex gets a call about his father’s near miss with the person at the other end remarking that it was a miracle he didn’t crash. We can see from a well-placed book on auto maintenance and a pair of pliers that Lex cut the breaks. He remarks “miracles don’t exist.”

   At home that night, Clark looks out into the night sky when he’s joined by Pa Kent and the two make observations about how big the universe is and if there is life on other planets. The next day at school Clark runs into Lex in the library who tells him about his dream to make it big in the greatest city in the world, Metropolis and how he wants to get away from the small minds of Smallville. Despite being treated like dirt by Lex for not knowing who invented paper  (he sites Ts’ai Lun , a 1st century Chinese eunuch, yes you read that right, who is credited with the formula for modern paper) he invites Lex to hang out who brushes him off asking “why would I do that?” Anybody getting the feeling that you may have more in common with Lex Luthor at this point with their opinion of Superman?

   Clark then confides in Lana Lang about how Pete won’t talk to him anymore, Lana tries to kiss Clark but turns away her advances (and yes I’ll say it with you, he’s an idiot). As Lana leaves in a huff Clark with his super-hearing can make out the comments being made about him by other students. Clark leaves and begins to hear voices in a language he doesn’t recognize which then becomes English. He is then addressed by his Kryptonian name of Kal-El by two young men and a young woman; they are Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl respectively of the Legion of Super-Heroes. They explain that they come from the 30th century and have come to Clark to thank him for being an inspiration to them and tell him that he will one day be accepted for who he really is. Despite breaking the rules, the trio decided to bring him to the future and they end up in 30th century Smallville where they come across a group of human supremacists causing trouble.

   Superboy and the others intercept the group and end the disturbance, during the fracas Lightning Lad tries to act cool by coming up with a couple of really bad catchphrases. However it’s Superboy in answer to a supremacists’ cry of “death to the legion” answers with the phrase that will become synonymous with the group “Long live the Legion”. However, since the Legion is not sanctioned by any governing body, the police try to round them up with the supremacists. The Legionnaires make their escape only to run into three more members of the Legion in Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl (who gush over Superboy) and Brainiac 5 who lectures the other members for bringing Clark to the future in the first place.

      The Legionnaires soon return Clark to his time and after a short debate between them invite him to join them in their adventures again soon.  As a sing of their good faith, they give Clark a Legion flight ring, making him an honorary member of the Legion. Back home, Clark tells his parents about the events and relates how he feels that he can be more like himself around them. A rumbling then shakes the Kent home as a small spaceship heads towards them. Clark intercepts the rocket and brings it down to the ground. The rocket opens and the first sound from whatever is inside is the sound of a dog’s bark.

   We end part two with the police at the door of the Luthor home, telling Lex that his father has just died. After they leave and Lex closes the door he exclaims that “Today is my last day in Smallville”!

   This closes out Clark’s childhood story and the nest issue will move him and Lex on to adulthood in Metropolis. For now however we’re going to take a break because I feel a need to get the funk out. What does that mean? You’ll see.

Superman:Secret Origin Pt.1

       This review originally appeared on Geek is Good at geeksgood.blogspot.com. The man in charge there wrote a review that inspired me to write one as well

       For my first review I thought we’d take a look at the other end of the spectrum.  Throughout Tucker’s review of Batman: Year One he made a few swipes at a certain Last Son of Krypton, a character whose camp I find myself firmly entrenched within. Since I feel equal time should be given to make the case for Kal-El, that’s right….welcome to the dark side. Bwahahahahahahaha!!!

   Don’t worry though, this will be nothing diabolically painful but I do feel that as a lifelong Superman fan I can make an argument for the worth of the character beyond the “he’s an alien with insane amounts of power” argument. Like the Year One review I’ll go with the origin story, but the question becomes which version. Unlike Batman’s origin, Superman’s story has been told and retold many times, in almost 30 years alone we’ve been witness to 1986’s The Man of Steel, which was the first post-Crisis on Infinite Earths retelling of his origin. In 2003 Superman: Birthright retold the story for the 21^st century, and currently Grant Morrison with his run in Action Comics is putting his spin on the tale.

   The version I’m going to look at is the 2009 version written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Gary Frank, Superman: Secret Origin. So the question before we begin: why this one, what makes this one so different from the ones that came before or the ones that came after. The short answer as far as I’m concerned, it’s much more enjoyable and much more complete (especially since Morrison’s run has yet to be completed). Man of Steel left a lot out of the equation, Birthright did as well but it also got a little didactic at times.  Secret Origin keeps the mythos pre- and post- crisis intact while adding some of the more emotional moments of Birthright, and keeps it all within six issues.

Part 1-The Boy of Steel: We open with a young Clark Kent staring up at the sky when his attention is brought back to Earth by a young boy calling out to him to go long during a pick-up game of football. Clark catches the ball and makes his run with his friend Pete Ross gaining on him, Pete makes the tackle but in the process breaks his arm which stops the game and brings the ambulance and the parents to take the kids home. The next day at school, Pete is reveling in the attention his broken arm is getting him from the girls. Pete offers Clark a chance to sign his cast when Clark’s x-ray vision kicks in and revels the broken bone to him. Clark runs off upset, revealing to Lana Lang that having been responsible for breaking Pete’s arm.

  Lana tries to comfort Clark and at the end of a tale about how he had saved her as a child, Lana kisses Clark. This event however triggers Clark’s heat vision which causes a fire in the school. The fire gets put out with authorities scratching their heads on what caused the fire. Clark gets picked up by Pa Kent and taken home with Clark asking the question “what is wrong with me”. Back on the farm, Ma Kent tries to cheer up her son when Pa Kent says it’s past time to tell Clark the truth. The family go to the barn where Pa reveals to Clark the object that “answered their prayers”, a small silver space ship.

    Clark’s first reaction to the rocket is awe, which is quickly changed to surprise when he touches the rocket and a holographic image of his birth parents appear. The pair is introduced as Jor-El and Lara and they explain how Krypton, their home and Clark’s birth planet was destroyed by their sun going nova. The revelation that he’s not the Kent’s birth son or even for that matter human enrages Clark and he unleashes his heat vision on the rocket which does nothing to damage it and then starts to pound away at it before he runs crying into the cornfields with Pa chasing after him.

  Clark falls and Pa Kent catches up to his crying son upset that the father he knew is not his father. But Pa embraces Clark and encourages him that he will always be his son. Elsewhere in Smallville a young Lex Luthor runs from his drunken father and trips over a green glowing rock which Lex describes as “fantastic”. The next morning we see Clark wearing a pair of glasses two sizes too big for his face, the lens were crafted from the lens on the rocket which withstood Clark’s heat vision and allow him to keep this power in check. Clark arrives at school and we find him making excuses to keep from participating in sports with the other students, Lana Lang notices and remarks at how bad Clark is at lying.

   Lana invites Clark to help here with a flower booth at a fair where he comes across a booth manned by Lex Luthor who is selling his old books for money because he has memorized the best ones and disproven the rest. He also says he needs money to get out of Smallville. During a discussion about the possibility of life beyond Earth, Lex produces the green glowing rock which seems to have an adverse effect on Clark and causes Lex to drop the rock. Suddenly, a tornado appears over the fair (it’s Kansas, what would expect?) which causes all sorts of havoc and pulls Lana into its funnel. Clark rushes in and saves Lana and in the process learns that he can fly.

    Clark returns home and excitedly tells his folks about going up, up, and away. His clothed are a mess, so Ma Kent decides to create some clothes that he can wear while in action. Using the blankets he was wrapped in as a baby, Ma and Clark put together the iconic red and blue costume and….Clark is embarrassed wearing the thing remarking “this is the last time I ever wear this”.

Pop Culture is Culture!

    Did you know that culture is pop culture? It's true! The Ceramic Vase found in Crete that tells the story of the Minotaur that can now be found in the museum? That's pop culture! The plays written by Shakespeare that were condemned by his contemporaries and are now considered among the best literature in the western world? That's pop culture! A book written about an explorer that's about 70% complete fiction but is regarded as fact? O.K. that's kinda sad, but still, that's pop culture!
   This blog is going to be dedicated to talking about pop culture in as many as it's aspects possible. Not just for your entertainment, but also because it is important to sometimes look and analyze why these things have become such an indispensable part of our culture. Those who consider themselves too highbrow, too intellectual, too above it all will not find anything of value here. And if you can't find something of positive value in these writings, oh well, move along.
      Welcome to Classics of Pop Culture!