Superman General

In honor of it being Superman Day let's have a Superman thread!

I was going to type out the 90s Superman theme but I decided to just link it instead.

Epic link!

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/superman-history-infographic-1938-2013.html

Ok, perhaps I'm missing something obvious, but why is today Superman day? Didn't Action Comics debut in June (but then, it was only cover-dated June, so I suppose it might actually have come out in April...)?

Cover dated for June, but hit shelves on the 18th of April.

Who is this H'el character in H'el on Earth anyway? He seems like a substitute for Dru-Zod to me.

Here's the first radio episode, before the opening became standardized.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIYbe6vtyJE

I tend to see H'el on Earth as more of Supergirl story guest starring Superman. Kara seems to be taking the most long term repercussions from that plot (unfortunately, as it did her no favours at all.)

Getting back to Clark I thought he was a bit of a jerk to Cat Grant in the last issue of Superman. Even if she did think up a name like 'Clarkcatropolis', she was still the only one in the Planet who walked with him.

He is Broly. And raditz. Except a Kryptonian instead of Sayian.

ten poins to deadpool

loving lobdell silver age meets dbz. Sunturians? Seriously?! Awesome.

Ah, so here is a proper Superman thread. Good.

Does anyone know what is the most powerful incarnation of Superman? I heard that Superman is actually on higher power class than Super Saiyans, and one of the more powerful versions can actually throw universes around.

Silver Age Superman and Superman Prime (aka Superman after 85000 years of Solar exposure, at this point he's a physical god who can even create life).

Well, hot damn.

I see what you did there! Yes Superman Prime could easily be the biggest contender for Most Powerful Incarnation. Hell, his descendants (including Kal Kent, who can leap worlds in a single bound) get their powers through him so long as they have his blessing.

Two days ago I bought a collection of all the stories Alan Moore wrote about Superman.

Anything I should keep in mind before diving in?

They're set Pre-Crisis/Silver Age so they follow that era's story elements. But they're pretty easy to read and jump into. For the Man Who Has Everything is a classic and while I personally don't like Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow I know a lot of people think it's a great finale/coda to the Silver Age era of the character.

Those people are wrong. Man of Tommmorow is mean spirited insult to all that came before.

You want a real Alan Moore Superman coda; read Supreme.

edited 12th Oct '13 11:47:29 PM by HyperAlbion

I can definitely see that - although I disagree, since the various anticlimaxes and the disturbing nature of the violence has a point, in that it creates an unsettling enough tone that it reads well as a grand finale for Superman when he finally faces down his final foe. The way said confrontation goes down is also a very good fit for the characters, and the ending is perfect in my book.

I could craft a response, but it would literally spiral into a essay and I dont wan to go down that rabbit hole. Especially given the 3 page back and forth debate that may ensue that would make by Phil Papers look like tweets.

Ever notice that Alan Moore never spent much time with Clark Kent? I think the biggest part he ever gave to Clark was in the Superman-Swamp Thing team up he wrote for DC Comics presents, and that Clark was part of Superman's fever dream. May not be his fault, but still.

Moore was of the opinion that Clark Kent never "existed" as a legitmate person, that he was just a persona that Kal-El wears like Superman.

Hell, even during the Justice League cameo during the Swamp Thing vs Woodrue story, Superman was referred by "Kal" rather than "Clark". The fever dream was just Moore being more obvious than usual.

The stories he did were mostly pretty damn good, but Moore has an arrogance that everything he does is and should be the final say in the matter even when it obviously isn't. Hell, he thought he had the clout to bring about the end of the DCU with his "Twilight of the Superheroes" proposal.

Moore was writing Superman in the Silver Age, or at least the tale end of the Silver Age. That was an era that defined Superman pretty much as the kryptonian Kal El while Clark Kent was just the false mask he wore.

Moore was only continuing that era's themes. It's why Superman's Black Mercy dream is living on Krypton and giving no shits about the Kents whereas, I think, a Black Mercy dream for the New 52 or Post Crisis Superman would be very very different. At the very least elements of Smallville and Metropolis would be integrated into the Krypton dream like what JLU did.

It wasn't really until Post Crisis that the Clark Kent side of Superman became far more prominent and defining.

But that's wrong. Superman imagines Krypton because, as he hasn't lived there, it had become idealized in his head; an ultimate fantasy for him. Even the characters in Krypton (like his wife) are just him transferring his Earth emotions over to the fantastic idea of his homeland he had.

Think of all the "Supreme Africa" type stuff you see in American Blacks, or the very basic Changeling Fantasy. Having Biological Parent fantasies is something adopters do at times.

Krypton to Superman therefore represented his personal heaven; the world he could never save.

Epic short of the history of Superman by DC.

I understand entirely what you're saying, and agree with you to a certain extent, but Moore's "For the Man Who Has Everything" story, at least the bit of Kal-El on Krypton, was a bit of a call-back to a silver-age story in which Superman when back in time to Krypton and fell in love with an actress named Lyla Lerrol (I think I got that name right). Apart from the Black Mercy's fantasy screwing with timelines (Lyla was about the same age, or slightly younger, than Superman's parents) it draws from Superman's actual experiences from the times he "returned to Krypton."

But yeah, he's "longing for the life he never had." Silver Age Superman lived on Krypton until he was about 3, so he DID actually have memories of the place. Since Byrne, it's pretty much canon that he came to Earth as a newborn, or at least only a few weeks/months old.

And yeah, I like most of Moore's Superman stories a whole lot, but he frequently does seem to give off the vibe that no one else should write the character when he's done with them. I imagine he doesn't really feel that way, but jeez, man....leave some wiggle room for the writers who come after you.