Everything old is new again.
The genius of Grant Morrison's rendition of Superman sounds like he's jumping over the Silver Age version where Superman was at his peak popularity and depicting a modern version very reminiscent of his earliest appearances. Superman as a reactionary rabble rouser rather that an icon of the status quo. If that's the case, I fully believe there is the potential for this book to become my favorite current series.
It's not that we haven't seen pastiches of this Superman in relatively recent times. Warren Ellis gave us a version when he wrote about "The High" in Stormwatch. The High even looked a bit like the early Superman, and he shared the idea of using his powers to make the world a better place (most importantly) despite what the powers that be would wish. He had some radical ideas that, if implemented, would alter the landscape of the world beyond almost any technological advancement. The story arc "Change or Die" in Stormwatch is one of my favorites because of it, but the problem is that Ellis ended the story by illustrating that a character like that would be destroyed by the system no matter how powerful he is.
What I'd like to see in the new Action Comics is Superman as The High, but without the predetermined fate that his rebel ideas are for naught. A hero who cares not a whit about governments, corporations, religions, or other traditional world controllers, but at the same time isn't a Wolverine/Punisher type of psychopath.
Morrison may have the best version of Superman for me out there yet.
Replies
Philip Portelli said:
"Superman as a reactionary rabble rouser"?
Sounds like the Glenn Beck version of Superman.
The opposite. For one, this Superman appears to be sane.
George said:
Sounds like the Glenn Beck version of Superman.
That amused me, because I know Rich's politics enough to know that's not what he means. :) That, I think, is the beauty of this particular revamp...at his heart, Superman should be a defender of truth and justice. Rich and I, from the conversations we've had, likely have some different ideas about what "truth and justice" should mean, but after reading the preview of Action #1, I'm anticipating this more than any other comic this week. While I may come at things from a conservative-libertarian point of view, and Rich...doesn't (love ya, bro!)...there are things in this rendition of Superman, that, so far, we agree on. I haven't been this excited about a Superman story since 1986.
Absolutely. At the core, we both agree on certain things, though we disagree on how to get there. If Morrison manages to bridge that gap and present a Superman that appeals to both, then he'll go down as the best Superman writer ever, in my opinion.*
*Of course, if he appeals just to my side, I'm cool with that, too. :-P
Don Collett said:
I loved that arc of Stormwatch too. But I will be very surprised if the people who vetoed Robertson's story about tolerance for US Muslims will allow Morrison to do anything too radical, politically.
But yeah, this new Superman couldn't stick it to the man hard enough for me!
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