"Well, that'll happen."
"It's funny, y'know? And kind of sad. Never once... in all the decades I spent solving every problem with my fists — did anyone ever accuse me of preaching violence. But now... when I talk about finding another way... a better way... for us to live... they're always accusing me of ramming my views down people's throats..."
The Life and Times of Savior 28 is a miniseries published by IDW, written by J.M. DeMatteis and drawn by Michael Cavallaro. Savior 28, a Captain Ersatz of Superman and Captain America, has been called the Avatar of Liberty for 60 years. His real name is Jimmy Smith and he is 102 years old, even though he still looks to be 35. However, Savior 28 has finally decided to stop fighting for justice with violence and become a Pacifist. Of course, being an Actual Pacifist and a Technical Pacifist are two different things. Also, there are supervillains eager for his blood, superheroes who wonder whether he's an evil impostor, and his former sidekick, who narrates the whole tragic tale. Dennis McNulty, formerly the Daring Disciple, assassinates Savior 28 midway through the first issue.
The miniseries is based on an idea J.M. DeMatteis had for Captain America in the early 1980s, where Cap would decide to become an advocate for peace and eventually get assassinated. After 30 years and Cap's own (temporary) death, DeMatteis wanted to use the miniseries to explain how fruitless the use of violence can be in solving conflict, in general and specifically in superhero comic books.
Tropes:
- The Alcoholic: Smith's problem with alcohol is mentioned quite often.
- Beware the Superman: "But my employers knew there was nothing funny about a raging alcoholic with a history of mental illness... who just happened to be powerful enough to take the whole damn country, maybe even the whole damn world, down with him."
- Captain Ersatz:
- Savior 28 has a lot in common with both Superman and Captain America. There's a bit of Captain Marvel in there as well. The three vastly different origins (aliens, government experiment, the Spirit of America) he has told cloud the issue even more.
- Hadrach the Lemurian seems to be a mix of the Sub-Mariner and Swamp Thing.
- Roar is one for Kraven; see Creator In-Joke.
- Clothes Make the Legend: Savior 28 altered his costume over the years to fit the times. McNulty mocks his love beads in the '60s and black leather in the '80s.
- Comic-Book Time: Averted, as Savior 28 has been around for 60 years but hasn't aged.
- Creator In-Joke: At one point, McNulty reminisces about how a supervillain named Roar drugged 28 and locked him away in an asylum for some time. In the meantime, Roar took 28's costume and went around disguised as him, attacking all criminals who crossed his path—"everyone from hard-core hitmen to two-bit pot-dealers"—with equal ferocity. McNulty also specifies that this was during 28's "black leather phase" ("God, he looked ridiculous."). This is a reference to Kraven's Last Hunt, which DeMatteis also wrote.
- Cut Short: This was originally going to be a six-issue miniseries. The removal of one issue leaves questions about certain bits of dialog and plotlines.
- Dating Catwoman: Savior 28 and Queen Shakti.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: We get to see the life and times of Savior 28.
- Evil Counterpart: Savior 13. They both got their powers from The Master Stone.
- Evil Knockoff: Savior 13
- Femme Fatale: Queen Shakti
- Fallen Hero: Right before his assassination, we see that Savior 28 has fallen out of favor with the public. We learn how in issue 5.
- Flying Brick: Savior 28 has the basic flight, strength, invulnerability set of powers. He gets them from the Master Stone.
- Good Is Old-Fashioned: Savior 28 was seen as outmoded or an "establishment tool" by the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Savior 28 himself sees violence as old fashioned, saying it goes back to the ancient myths and the Old Testament. He wants to find a better way.
- Green Rocks: The Master Stone itself. The final issue reveals that The Master Stone is somehow the only thing that can "fatally" hurt Savior 28. Savior 13 once nearly killed him with a dagger made of the stone. Dennis uses bullets made from his piece of the Master Stone to finally murder Savior 28.
- Humans Are Bastards: Dennis McNulty's opinion about humanity.
- Identity Impersonator: McNulty filled in as Savior 28 while Smith was catatonic after World War II, at the request of President Truman. McNulty says Jimmy saw him as an impostor, but Dennis isn't the most reliable narrator.
- A Million Is a Statistic: McNulty says that if someone treated every death as if they "really mattered", he would go catatonic. Savior 28 goes catatonic after helping free Buchenwald in his civilian identity. In the opening scene, 28 and Savior 13 have their epic final battle that causes mass casualties (offscreen, of course) and massive amounts of property damage. During a dark moment, 13 leaves 28 in rubble while announcing that he's going to go and kill Samantha, 28's ex-girlfriend. 28, who until then had been trying to get 13 to surrender peacefully, immediately gets up and delivers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on 13, who simply chuckles that he knew that would get a rise out of 28.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: While we see various real-world celebrities and historical figures, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Orson Welles, Dennis McNulty looks a lot like Jack Kirby. Artist Mike Cavallaro himself has said he didn't intend McNulty to look like Kirby, instead trying to go for James Cagney and Leo Gorcey. "So yes, Dennis does kinda look like Jack Kirby. But he also kinda looks like James Cagney with maybe a little Leo Gorcey, which is what I was really shooting for," Cavallaro says. "No attempt was made by either J.M. nor [me] to draw any connection between Jack Kirby's beliefs and those of the character, Dennis McNulty."
- "Not So Different" Remark: During their final fight—the first issue's first scene—Savior 28 tries to get Savior 13 to surrender, saying that he can turn himself in and 28 will help him get his life together. 13 simply says that 28 has done this routine before, and that the latter should just admit that he enjoys fighting and beating people up as much as 13 does. "So stop pretending you're better than me," 13 coldly replies.
- Odd Friendship: James Smith was good friends with Orson Welles.
- The Paragon Always Rebels: An interesting take on the concept; Savior 28 doesn't become an outright supervillain like in most Beware the Superman tales. Rather, 28 becomes disillusioned with fighting after defeating his long-time rival Savior 13 and realizing that he still feels empty at the end of it all. Moreover, he mourns 13's death as a waste of life. After 9/11 happens while he was hungover, 28 decides that he won't help in the War on Terror, opting instead to advocate for pacifism and peace for all parties involved. Naturally, the very pro-war American population and US Government see this as 28 "betraying" them.
- Samaritan Syndrome: Whether it is more about doing good or feeding one's ego is brought up.
- Show Within a Show: Various movies and serials were done about Savior 28, usually ending in a climactic battle with Savior 13.
- Sidekick: Dennis McNulty's original job as the Daring Disciple.
- Super Hero Origin: We never get a full origin of Savior 28 and how he got the Master Stone. The three versions we're given all at once are drastically different. Dennis comments that most origins are bogus and the heroes themselves don't even know.
- Take That!: McNulty's comment about 28's black leather phase being ridiculous can be seen as a mild one to Peter Parker's time with the Black Symbiote suit. Notably, DeMatteis, while still proud of the work he did writing Kraven's Last Hunt, has commented on his blog that it was reflective of the struggles he was dealing with at the time, hence the more melancholic and somber mood. He has since moved on and become a much happier person since then, so this whole bit about 28 could just be a little laugh at his past Darker and Edgier self.
- While people are mourning 28, George W. Bush is shown claiming that Saddam Hussein used a mind-control device hidden under Baghdad to cause 28 to go down the path that led to his death. This is an obvious jab at the Bush Administration's claims that Iraq had hidden weapons of mass destruction. The whole work in general takes a huge swing at Bush and the War on Terror.
- To Be Lawful or Good: The dilemma of Savior 28's peace movement, especially with the War on Terror just getting started.
- Unreliable Narrator: McNulty may be projecting a lot of his own issues with himself onto Savior 28.
