Action Comics #977 & Batman #21

Action Comics #977
Story: Dan Jurgens
Art: Ian Churchill
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Rob Leigh
Covers: Andy Kubert, Gary Frank, Brad Anderson

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

The “Superman Reborn” story arc had literally merged the two most recent variants of the titular character (the version who had existed since Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the newer New 52 version) into one, marking the first step towards another line-wide rewriting of the DC Universe. But what exactly does that mean for its already impenetrable continuity? And what is Superman’s personal history like this time? This issue of Actions Comics introduces yet another retelling of his origin story. And it’s a darn familiar one. How often can one re-arrange the same primary elements over and over again? Lone survivor of the doomed planet Krypton. Raised by the Kents on a farm in rural Kansas. Reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper. Possesses fabulous powers from absorbing the rays of the yellow Sun. If this comic is any indication, the comparatively rich history of the Post-Crisis era is returning in a big way. But with a few tweaks.

The comic opens with Clark working at the bullpen of the Daily Planet as if the the exposure of his secret identity and his untimely death had never taken place. The image is a fairly reassuring return to the status quo. His cubicle is cluttered with photographs indicating that Lois Lane is still his wife, and that their son Jonathan was born on this Earth and not during the weirdness that was Convergence. Everything is right with the world, except for the nagging feeling that something is seriously wrong. So Clark flies to the Fortress of Solitude to ask its computer to play back his entire life story, via the neat trick of immersive holographic simulation. That’s such a Star Trek thing to do.

Krypton again looks like a Silver-Age scientific utopia, blending various elements from all past incarnations, rather than a genetically engineered dystopian society that denies all emotion. Martha and Jonathan Kent find baby Kal-El and decide to pass him off as their own biological son, much like in John Byrne’s comic retelling The Man of Steel. Clark grows up with Lana Lang and Pete Ross. But in a concession to Smallville-inspired reboots, Lex Luthor is also a childhood acquaintance. And just as before, Clark reveals his powers to Lana, instead of hiding his abilities from anyone like some vagrant until he reaches Metropolis. Suck it Zach Snyder!

The retelling in itself is fairly pedestrian. It’s mostly a bullet list summary of the main plot points of Superman’s early life. And it wisely leaves plenty of room to add new details in the future. The significance of this comic is more in how it demonstrates that DC is carrying out their promise to clean out much of the New 52 history if it’s deemed unsuccessful. But who can they blame for this mess? Read on.

Batman #21
Story: Tom King
Art: Jason Fabok
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letters: Deron Bennett
Variant Covers: Tim Sale, Brennan Wagner, Mikel Jannin

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.
Flash (Barry Allen) created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino.

So, way back in DC Universe: Rebirth #1, Batman found the Comedian’s smiley-face button inside the Batcave. In this issue, he’s still puzzling over how this thing got into his secret lair. The stymied detective calls the Flash for assistance, since he suspects this is all related to the Speed Force. Batman's not wrong, given the reappearance of Kid Flash heralded the Rebirth. Unfortunately for him, all hell breaks loose when the Flashpoint version of Reverse Flash comes back from the dead and proceeds to kick the living crap out of him. It is a pretty brutal beatdown, as that iteration of Eobard Thawne was and is a huge dick. It also doesn’t help that he remembers that it was his timeline’s Batman who gave him the shaft.

The comic also does an amazing job trolling the work of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Thawne has a brief vision of someone he calls “God”, the person probably responsible for stealing ten years away from the DC Universe and heavily implied to be Doctor Manhattan. Artist Jason Fabok et al. further strengthen the connection to Watchmen by mimicking Gibbon's nine-panel grid in most of the comic's pages. He actually makes a good case for the technique by showing how it can stretch out time. Thawne’s assault on Batman lasts barely a minute. But it must be the longest minute in the Dark Knight’s career.

What else? The comic’s first appearance of Batman has him standing in front of the Batcave monitors while a hockey game is playing. This reads similar to Ozymandias’ own habit of having numerous monitors playing in the background while he keeps his own company. The bloodstained smiley face motif recurs throughout, from the markings at the center of the hockey pitch, to a poster in the background while a number of Arkham Asylum patients (including a time displaced Saturn Girl) watch the same game on television, to Thawne’s grinning visage being covered with Batman’s blood-soaked spit.

So... DC still won’t officially reveal the story's true universal threat, but keeps brazenly telegraphing the integration of the Watchmen characters into their cosmos while drawing out this not so compelling mystery. What’s not to love?

More NonSense: Ghost in the Shell Edition

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Jakob Free provides a primer the comics of Warren Ellis.

Diep Tran on Scarlett Johansson defending the controversial casting of her as the lead character in Hollywood's remake of the 1995 anime Ghost in the Shell.

Emily Yoshida provides a primer on the Ghost in the Shell franchise.

[Spoiler alert]

The most surprising part of this otherwise bland appropriation of the 1995 anime is that the lead character Major Mira Killian (Johansson) is within the film's fictional setting a literal whitewashing of Motoko Kusanagi. If the cast and crew exhibited more self awareness, this bizarre plot twist could have been used as a jumping off point to examine the often uneven cross-cultural interactions between Japanese pop culture and Western consumers. Naturally, a few film critics quickly drew comparisons with the reveal in the contemporaneous Get Out.

But there's nothing in Johansson's performance which would indicate any emotional depth beyond the character's immediate concern over her amnesia/false memories. Being "essentially identity-less" apparently means the Major having no discernible personality even after she recovers her real memories. The troubling implications of wealthy white people kidnapping ethnic Japanese in order to plant their brains into android bodies with distinctly caucasian features are completely swept under the rug in favour of a more generic message about the individual will triumphing over venal corporate interests. This is a short-sighted pastiche of much better movies set in a dystopian future, and misses by a wide margin the philosophical introspection of the 1995 feature.

[End spoiler]

Since the film had a disappointing opening weekend, Joanna Robinson wanders if its commercial failure will have a positive effect on future casting choices.

Four actresses of Japanese descent give their opinions on the film.

Barry Blitt talks about drawing Donald Trump for the New Yorker.

Marvel's VP of Sales claims that readers don't want diversity. G. Willow Wilson pens a logical rebuttal. In essence, we're witnessing the comics market outgrow the traditional direct market.

On a practical level, this is not really a story about “diversity” at all. It’s a story about the rise of YA comics. If you look at it that way, the things that sell and don’t sell (AND THE MARKETS THEY SELL IN VS THE MARKETS THEY DON’T SELL IN) start to make a different kind of sense.

Meanwhile, Rob Salkowitz dissects the dysfunction hampering the direct market. These aren't new observations. But it bears worth repeating.

Because of this topsy-turvy arrangement with misaligned incentives and mismatched roles everywhere, the direct market has become a walled-off free fire zone where everyone is fighting for the same dollars, but is structurally incapable of expanding. Everyone wants new customers in theory, but it’s no one’s actual job to reach out to them and serve their needs if they are any different from the existing core. In fact, some people might lose their jobs (or find themselves in jobs they don’t want) if it were to actually happen.

As their site goes into hiatus (again), the ComicsAlliance staff talk about why they love comics.

Congratulations to Alison Bechdel, Vermont's Cartoonist Laureate.

Congratulations to the people working on Ms. Marvel and Black Panther for their nominations for the 2017 Hugo Awards.

Abraham Riesman on the time Don Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017) appeared on Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen.

Ben Judkins asks whether lightsaber combat can ever be authentic.

G. Willow Wilson explains why Ardian Syaf's not so veiled reference (if you're Indonesian) to a Qu'ran passage in the pages of  X-men Gold #1 is a form of bigotry against Jews/Christians. Obviously not a good look for superheroes widely considered to be an expression of pluralism, and Marvel was quick to distance itself from Syaf's message. While not the first time the franchise has courted controversy, this case is more the result of not properly vetting the actions of the artist under their supervision. A cursory examination of the panels in question (as reproduced online) reveals that Syaf only made a minimal effort integrating those references into the setting. It's hard not to notice them, and they're pretty discordant with the rest of the comic's art. But the Marvel staff's relative ignorance of Indonesian politics and Islam probably allowed Syaf to hide them in plain sight, even though they should have at least raised a few questions about the meaning behind the text printed on Colossus' shirt. Naturally, someone would inevitably point them out once the comic was released. This is highly embarrassing for Marvel, and Syaf's tenure on the series will most likely be cut short at the publisher's earliest convenience.

R.I.P. Carolyn Kelly, daughter of Pogo creator Walt Kelly.

Superman #19 & Action Comics #976

Superman #19
Writers: Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason
Art: Patrick Gleason
Ink: Mick Gray
Colors: John Kalisz
Letters: Rob Leigh
Variants: Gary Frank, Brad Anderson

Action Comics #976
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Art: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Jaime Mendoza, Christian Alamy, Trevor Scott
Colors: Wil Quintana
Letters: Rob Leigh
Covers: Patrick Gleason, John Kalisz, Gary Frank, Brad Anderson

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

[Spoiler Warning for the two comics]

Every major reshuffling of DC’s shared universe will include a few common elements: it usually begins with some version of the Flash acting as a harbinger of change, and ends with another rewrite of Superman’s story. As Superman goes, so goes the DC Universe. The Superman of the New 52 relaunch attempted to bring him back to his social justice roots, erase his romantic history with Lois Lane, and even strip him of his secret identity and much of his powers. DC even got rid of his iconic red trunks. Did any of this work for DC’s readership? Outside of Grant Morrison’s run, I don’t know. The DC Rebirth rebranding promised to roll back many of the New 52 changes. And just recently, the first indication of a cosmic reshuffling occurred within the pages of Superman #19 and Action Comics #976.

Rebirth introduced the theory that the New 52 was basically the previous DC Universe, only with ten years stolen from its history during the last universal reset, by an as yet unidentified entity. But it was already revealed a year before that the previous incarnations of Superman and Lois Lane were alive and well, living incognito with their son Jon. They’ve kept out of the way of New 52 Superman until the latter died. And they were the only refugees from the previous Universe until Wally West/Kid Flash showed up in the pages of Rebirth. You know who else knows of their existence? Mister Mxyzptlk. And for some reason, he’s mad as hell at Lois and Clark for not bothering to contact him all this time.

Superman #19 attempts to explain the paradox of two pairs of characters co-existing in the same Universe by going back to the cosmological well one more time - that powerful forces conspired to split Superman’s reality into two parallel versions. It’s not a particularly satisfactory explanation, given how often DC resorts to multiversal shenanigans to tidy-up their continuity. Equally unsurprising is the the well-worn resolution - the two versions must merge. Mxyzptlk has trapped the Kent family inside a limbo dimension in order to torture and eventually eliminate them. But this act inadvertently allows Lois and Clark to make contact with the souls of their dead New 52 counterparts. Presumably, the rest of the New 52 Universe has to somehow follow Superman’s example in order to fulfill the promise of Rebirth and regain those lost ten years.

At this point, this all feels like an elaborate form of hand-waving that doesn’t even begin to resolve the tangled mess created from contradicting other titles like New Super-Man and Superwoman, let alone Superman’s various appearances within the New 52 timeline. For example, what happens now to his established romantic connection with Wonder Woman? And how many times has Superman died in this timeline?

The end of Action Comics #976 further underlines the cynicism at the heart of Rebirth. As Mxyzptlk flees and the Universe is realigned around Superman’s new timeline, the comic ends with a panel of the planet Mars accompanied by the ominous words “Is it Superman who has the final say? Or him?” Yup, Watchmen character Doctor Manhattan, and not the guys who run DC, is still allegedly to blame for the crappy state of the New 52 Universe.

More NonSense: March

TCJ lists their best comics of 2016.

2017 marks the 25th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize awarded to landmark comix Maus. Women Write About Comics holds a roundtable about the work. Last year's article by Michael Cavna quotes several comics creators who were influenced by Maus, including Gene Yang, Chris Ware, and Jeff Smith.

March is the best selling book on Amazon, just in time for Martin Luther King Day.

Isaac Butler compares the story of John Lewis in March and the presidency of Barack Obama.

Who would have thought Superman's red shorts would have become a hot political issue? Comics, folks.

Barack Obama on the power of fiction and storytelling.

Chris Ware, Cosey and Larcenet are three finalists for Angoulême’s Grand Prix, while Alan Moore steps aside again.

The Winter Issue of the Martial Arts Studies is available for download.

Ben Judkins on the limits of authenticity in martial arts. Who would have thought these kinds of discussions would eventually include lightsaber combat?

Superwoman #1

Story/Art: Phil Jimenez
Inks: Matt Santorelli
Colors: Jeremy Cox
Covers: Steve Downer, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson

Lois Lane created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Lana Lang created by Bill Finger and John Sikela.

Superman and his supporting cast have always been at the center of every convoluted twist in DC’s shared universe. It wasn’t that long ago that the publisher brought back the Post-Crisis version of the character, then killed-of the newer New 52 version. The new Superwoman series is a homage to one aspect of the character’s history. As unexpected as was the announcement for this new comic, Lois Lane and her romantic rival Lana Lang have been known in the past to temporarily gain superpowers. The comic is rife with continuity nods that, depending on one’s perspective, is either a confusing mess that makes it very difficult for any new reader to understand what’s going on, or cleverly plays to nostalgic fans.

It’s great to see the underappreciated Phil Jimenez working in comics again. His densely packed pages with panels loaded with text is pretty much a throwback in today’s industry. And the first half of this comic is a bit of a headache to get through, which is devoted to explaining the current status quo. At first, I wasn’t entirely sure which version of Lois was actually in the comic. And Lana’s reinvention as a science/reporter type was a bit unusual. Oh, and Lex Luthor is again wearing another suit of armour and apparently suffering from Helicarrier envy. But the mid-story plot twist did at least end the heavy emphasis on exposition in order to concentrate on the seat-of-your-pants action sequence. And the plot twist did make Lana a much more interesting character in the series.

It’s difficult to say in what direction that much-discussed-on-the-internet cliffhanger ending is leading towards. My first guess was that it was a typical comic bookish misdirection. But most of online fandom seems to be taking it at face value.  If so, it’s not a particularly dignified way to send off a character that hasn’t been particularly well-served by the New 52 era. But unfortunately for that person, DC’s continuity does need a bit of uncluttering.

New Super-Man #1

Story: Gene Luen Yang
Art: Viktor Bogdanovic
Covers: Kelsey Shannon, Bernard Chang
Inks: Richard Friend
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Dave Sharpe

Superman created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel.

With the launch of New Super-Man, DC is hoping to replicate Marvel’s successful attempts to generate more diversity in their lineup through the use of legacy characters. A new Chinese Superman is being shepherded by no less than Gene Luen Yang. On the surface, this sounds like a move reminiscent of hiring Ta-Nehisi Coates to write Black Panther. Yang is an award-winning author known for his stories tackling the issue of Chinese identity. Furthermore, he’s got a much better comics pedigree than Coates. Yang was already writing for the New 52 Superman, a tenure which was negatively affected by the turmoil surrounding the DCYou initiative. With Rebirth, he's been given an opportunity to examine the larger world beyond America’s shores.

Clark Kent has been interpreted a hundred different ways, but he’s always been viewed as fundamentally a decent guy. Not so the new protagonist Kenan Kong. The reader’s first impression of him is that of a teenage bully. In an obvious subversion of reader expectations, Kenan is first shown harassing a stereotypical nerdy Asian classmate. It’s soon revealed that Kenan's reasons for picking on him aren't just because he’s a weakling. Kenan is carrying a lot of barely repressed rage over an untimely death in the family, exacerbated by a sense of helplessness caused by being a member of China’s overlooked working class. The story unfolds like an alternate timeline where Flash Thompson was bitten by the radioactive spider and got superpowers instead of Peter Parker.

Kenan exhibits only one sign of heroism. When a supervillain pops out of nowhere and attacks the very classmate he was just harassing, Kenan bravely but unwisely challenges him. His actions are enough to earn Kenan the attention of intrepid reporter Laney Lang. Naturally, he initially responds by hitting on her. But he’s also approached by another woman whose unsettling leer and black trench coat immediately marks her as a member of a nefarious shadow organization. She then makes an offer that apparently Kenan can’t refuse.

Yang utilizes enough classic tropes that the comic almost reads as one that could have taken place in one of the many parallel worlds of the DC Multiverse. Kenan may be a douchebag, but he’s still an underdog. His supporting cast embody several familiar archetypes. And the process that gives him his powers parallels many a dangerous procedure that was used on a Steve Rogers or a Logan. But it takes place in another country, not another Earth. Kenan lives in Shanghai, but he’s one of the people who've been left behind by China’s rapid economic growth. And while Kenan appears to be largely apolitical, his dad pontificates about the need for greater freedom.

Setting the comic on the mainline Earth allows Yang to engage in some meta-commentary about cultural imperialism and soft power. Most of DC’s characters live in the United States, and that bias is horribly skewed given the comparatively few characters that come out of Asia. This doesn’t reflect China’s own status as world’s most populous country and emerging world power, so the Chinese government decides to do something about this baffling metahuman gap by manufacturing their own superheroes. As befitting China’s real-world position as a manufacturing powerhouse,  their homegrown products look and sound like cheap knockoffs of their American counterparts. Even Kenan’s first costume gives the impression of an inexpensive action figure.

This is an intriguing setup from a respected creator finally working on a project tailored to his talents. But it's let down by mediocre art. DC has so far been pairing Yang with artists who don’t mesh well with his comic sensibilities. Viktor Bogdanovic gets that Kenan is meant to look like a cad, but otherwise his style is so unremarkable that the comic comes across as just another disposable superhero title. Is this effect a deliberate choice? If it is, it doesn't bode well for the New Super-Man's future.

Superman: American Alien

Story: Max Landis
Art: Nick Dragotta, Ryan Sook, Tommy Lee Edwards, Joëlle Jones, Jae Lee, Francis Manapul, Jonathan Case, Jock
Colors: Alex Guimarães, Rico Renzi, June Chung, Lee Loughridge
Letters: John Workman

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

The seven-issue series Superman: American Alien is the best Superman story published in the last several years. That isn’t necessarily saying much. While I hesitate to describe it as a great story, it easily surpasses the Superman comics being published within the current DC Universe, not to mention the character’s more morose onscreen version. It’s a prime example of how something competently written can work when not strapped to the tight stylistic constraints of a shared universe. Screenwriter Max Landis makes an impressive comics debut by simply making his Superman act and talk like a real person. This doesn’t sound particularly extraordinary until a cursory glance at the pages of a typical mainstream comic from DC and Marvel reveals how everyone likes to communicate in exposition-heavy dialogue.

Given his approach, American Alien is less like a superhero comic and closer to a YA television series featuring adolescents struggling with how to use their superhuman abilities, along the lines of the late Smallville. Landis treats each of the seven issues as individual vignettes - A peak into a day in the life of Clark Kent. Each day marks an important turning point: the first time Clark learns to fly, his first attempt to fight crime, the first time he leaves Smallville, his first meeting with Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, etc. It basically amounts to a retelling of Superman’s origin story. The novelty of American Alien is that it allows for an even more intimate look as the story charts the course of Clark’s life from childhood to young adult. The reader gets easily pulled into the arc of his personal growth as a hero by Landis’ sympathetic representation of youthful indiscretion.

The narrative effect is further enforced by having each issue be visually distinguished with a different artist at the helm. Needless to say, Clark never looks the same with each issue. But they’re all excellent at conveying the relatively grounded quality Landis is trying to express in the story. Actually, the story is light on testosterone-filled violence and heavy on goofy behavior as Clark bumbles his way through life, gradually getting a handle on his abilities and figuring out his place in the world. Though events give way to the fantastic in the later issues. There is one gruesome scene where Clark unintentionally burns off the arms of one bad guy with his heat vision that serves as a reminder that DC Comics is still being run by Geoff Johns. Thankfully, the effect is far less graphic than if this were a comic drawn in the usual house style. And the scene is mercifully short.

Landis avoids portraying Clark as the lonely outsider found in the DC Cinematic incarnation. He’s not the classic paragon of heroism. He’s not a nerd. And he’s not the activist fighting for the underdog Grant Morrison yearned for during the inception of the New 52. Apparently, this is a Superman for today’s youth. So he leans a little heavily on the bro archetype, and this means that sometimes he nudges close to the image of millennials as being too self-absorbed. Clark is full of good intentions. He wants to use his abilities for good, but is not quite sure what that means.

The title’s comic might suggest that Landis is interested in exploring the immigrant experience. Sadly, that’s so not the case. Clark’s got a whole host of freaky powers that make him feel different. And he’s carrying all the insecurities of an adopted child still searching for his biological parents. But he’s not coping with dual identities. He’s not traumatized by memories of the destruction of his native home. He’s not dealing with racial prejudice. In fact, he passes quite effortlessly for a caucasian Kansas-born American. In case none of this is clear, the last issue’s set piece is a knock-down-drag-out fight with Lobo. The Czarnian is the antithesis of Superman, and their fight only underscores Clark’s very American loyalties.

Ultimately, Landis’ iteration of the Superman origin story feels somewhat diminished. Clark’s altruism is still his defining character trait in an otherwise average personality. The comic’s facsimile of its American setting is largely inoffensive, even leaning towards nostalgia. Smallville and Metropolis appear somewhat generic in nature. The only person-of-color of any significance is Jimmy Olsen, and he shows up only briefly. No real-world politics intrude into the proceedings. Clark goes through a process of self-actualization, but doesn’t develop any accompanying robust sense of social justice. He’s a disconnected hero for a more self-indulgent age.

More NonSense: Dawn of the Civil War

Critics and fans have observed that a common theme connecting the much-derided  Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice ( leading to a corporate reshuffling) and the more well-recieved Captain America: Civil War is how both comment on the current political climate in the U.S., namely the issue of America's descent into authoritarianism. Some have noted, with some dismay, that the titular hero Steve Rogers has now become an un-American douchey libertarian/unilateralist. It's also a 180 degree turn from the days when Tony Stark was the jerk telling Congress and the military to kiss his @$$, but is now willing to work with more government oversight because he once unintentionally created a genocidal AI called ULTRON who almost destroyed the world. On the other hand, unwieldy bureaucracies (the U.S. army, World Security Council, S.H.I.E.L.D.) have consistently let Steve down, and the government tossing his pals into a maximum security prison located in the middle of the ocean without due process isn't helping him change his mind. Good or bad, it's not entirely out-of-character for Captain America's cinematic incarnation. For all the hype, the filmmakers doesn't necessarily side with him on this.

Superheroes may not be real. The Manichaean world view the genre espouses doesn't quite fit the real world. But their central themes of authority and violence seem to have struck a familiar chord with film viewers. Or maybe it's the cool special effects that only the studios can afford.

Some have noted that with the release of X-Men: Apocalypse, the X-Men film franchise has not kept up with superhero movie trends. With Civil War's reveal of a dorky, bright spandex-wearing Spider-Man and the unexpected success of fourth wall breaking Deadpool, there's greater pressure on filmmakers to be faithful to the source material. Alas, Superman's red trunks will probably not be making a comeback given that they've been banished from the comics.

One of the more noteworthy features of Civil War was the number of Black superheroes on screen. Particularly important was the introduction of Black Panther. Unlike the Falcon and War Machine, he's clearly a hero who goes through his own character arc, and not just a sidekick. This primes the audience for the upcoming Black Panther movie, which reportedly has now cast Michael B. Jordan and possibly Lupita Nyong'o. That's a pretty strong cast. There's also an article on how Nate Moore, the lone African-American producer in Marvel Studios' film division, helped bring these characters to the screen.

DC Comics released a statement regarding their sexual harassment policies. While not addressing specific incidents, this is clearly an attempt to address regarding the allegations against Eddie Berganza and the firing of Shelley Bond. Honestly, the banal wording feels like an attempt to downplay/bury the controversy over DC's less than ideal workplace culture. It's the kind of culture which finds it acceptable that Berganza can be the editor for Wonder Woman: Earth One, a book about a feminist icon created by an all-male team.

R.I.P. Darwyn Cooke (1962-2016), who lost his battle to cancer. His family has indicated that donations can be made in Cooke's name to the Canadian Cancer Society and Hero Initiative. Cooke's distinctive style didn't ape trends toward more complex and murkier art, but often evoked a more classic age, making him one of the most recognisable artists working in mainstream comics. He's perhaps best known for DC: The New Frontier. and his adaptations to the Parker book series.

R.I.P. Maurice Sinet, a.k.a. Siné (1928-2016), French political cartoonist and activist known in his home country for his anti-colonialist, anti-capitalist, anarchist views. He founded the short-lived journal, Siné Massacre, in 1962, and L’Enragé in1968. He worked for a time at Charlie Hebdo until he was controversially sacked after being accused of anti-semitism (Siné was a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause). Siné died after undergoing surgery at a hospital in Paris on May 5th.

There's an article on why Kate Beaton recently decided to return to her hometown of Mabou, on Cape Breton island, and how the move has changed her perspective. This piqued my curiosity about her planned book about Fort McMurray.

Here are some photos and panel recordings from the Toronto Comics Arts Festival (TCAF), which took place from May 13 – 15.

Webcomic: Batman V Superman

Go to: Batman V Superman by Alex Fellows (via Tom Spurgeon)

Supergirl: By Special Arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family

Cringe-inducing lines such as "Oh my God. you're a lesbian" and "Why? Because she's just a girl?", two uninspired terrible bosses (I think a Veronica Palmer or a Sam Saperstein type would have been way cooler) and an annoying nerdy best friend stereotype notwithstanding, lead actress Melissa Benoist managed to make the Supergirl pilot an entertaining hour of television. The show has a genuine star In the making, and a mostly capable supporting cast. So maybe the writing will improve in future episodes and get over everybody being needlessly mean to Kara?

And could the people involved just maybe find a way to work in an acknowledgement of Supergirl's creators?

Doctor Fate #1 and Superman #41

Doctor Fate #1
Writer: Paul Levitz, Sonny Liew
Artist: Sonny Liew, Ibrahim Moustafa
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Nick J. Napolitano

Doctor Fate created by Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman.

I like the idea of Doctor Fate more than I like the character itself. In reality he doesn't distinguish himself enough from all the other sorcerer supreme types. The DC Universe is awash with magicians from decades of continuity - lone wolf John Constantine (until he joined Justice League Dark) currently being the most popular character to come from their ranks. On the other hand, Fate is traditionally associated with the Justice Society of America. But I haven't been keeping up with that group, post Flashpoint, or know if they even still exist. So can veteran writer Paul Levitz infuse a more unique perspective onto such a staid figure? Not yet, judging from this issue.

The new Fate is a NYC resident and pre-med student Khalid Nassour, called on by ancient Egyptian goddess Bastet to fulfill his destiny by donning the magical helmet and fight against her evil counterpart Anubis. The latter seems intent on initiating a new worldwide deluge. Yeah, it's not a very original good vs. evil set-up for a superhero comic. And its use of mythology already feels old fashioned in our post-Neil Gaiman/Alan Moore era. Levitz is clearly attempting to make his characters sound more relevant and hip (and look, they're texting each other with their smartphones). But the for now, Khalid comes across as little more than a cipher for the reluctant hero.

If the dialogue can be a tad generic, the title's promise comes from new artist Sonny Liew. I'm pleased to see the current DC regime moving away from the baroque New 52 house style. Liew's emaciated forms combined with Lee Loughridge's strong colors produce an unsettling psychedelic effect, which compliments the story's fantastic milieu. But here's hoping Khalid does something more interesting with his costume, which for now is just him wearing the helmet over his normal street clothes.

Superman #41
Writer: Gene Luen Yang
Artist: John Romita Jr., Karl Kerschl
Inker: Klaus Janson
Colors: Dean White
Letters: Rob Leigh

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

A source of potential confusion over DC's handling of Superman is that the character is spread over several interconnected monthly titles. A story arc which began in one title is picked up by another. Several weeks ago, Superman's status quo was drastically altered in the pages of Action Comics #41. This involved among other things, a reduction of his powers and a change in costume. The new status quo was explored in Batman/Superman and Superman/Wonder Woman. But it's only with the recent release of Superman #41 has the cause of the change being revealed, though only partially.

The task of explicating this part of Superman's collectively molded saga is given to newcomer Gene Luen Yang. He joins the already established art team led by John Romita Jr., which lends a sense of continuity because the Superman title hasn't been able to hold on to its writers for very long since George Pérez took over in 2011. Romita and inker Klaus Janson imbue the character with a certain gritty dynamism and down-to-earth presence - qualities not usually associated with past portrayals from the character's more well-known artists.

But it's Yang who's the revelation here. Having established himself in the industry with critically lauded creator-owned passion projects, a high profile corporate property like Superman is uncharted territory for him and his fans. But Yang acquits himself very well, easily updating the well-established relationships between Clark Kent, Jimmy Olsen, and Lois Lane with relaxed, informal, and youthful banter (though Jimmy's use of a smartphone over a DSLR/ILC was ridiculous). I like how Lois rather quickly insinuates herself into an investigation the former two are secretly conducting. The story pays homage to Superman's early crusades against corrupt politicians and arms dealers, as well as the character's propensity to fight giant killer robots. There might be hope that the Superman title will finally have some stability if DC can retain Yang.

Unexpected Answer to an Age-Old Question

Go to: Go to: May Contain Content by Kerry Callen

The real question is why are the two just standing there like dorks when they can move at super speed? Is there like a kid behind them whom they're shielding?

And yes, henchmen need to grow up.

Read an Online Copy of Action Comics #1

Go to: CGC Comics, by Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster et al.

Cartoon: The Daily Planet Files

Go to: Another Brittney Williams by Brittney Williams (via Kevin Melrose)

Why does he hate that car so much?

Go to: May Contain Content by Kerry Callen (via Heidi MacDonald)

The League of Supermen!

Go to: The DalyShow (via Dan Wickline)

When in doubt, blame mythology

By the way, his Kryptonian name of Kal-El means ‘God’ in Hebrew.” (It actually translates as “Voice of God.”)...

I wanted the movie to have a mythological feeling. In ancient mythology, mass deaths are used to symbolize disasters...

- Zach Snyder, justifying the scenes of mass destruction in Man of Steel (via Charlie Jane Anders)

Because mass death in itself isn't a literal disaster, but an act of god.

Mass Murderer of Steel by Kyle Baker

Video: How Man Of Steel Should Have Ended

Go to: YouTube HISHE Channel (via Meredith Woerner)

Justice League....

More NonSense: Superman's 75th Anniversary Edition (Updated)

Entertainment Weekly celebrates the 75th Anniversary of the Man of Steel (via Kevin Melrose).

ComicsAlliance honors the artists who have given life to "Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's brilliant creation" these past decades.

Edward Helmore on the long legal battle to control the rights to Superman.

Siegel family attorney Mark Toberoff swears "This case is by no means over" (via Kevin Melrose).

Alan Moore on the seedy, disreputable comic book industry that profited from Superman's early popularity while ripping off its creative talent:

The industry’s apologists have offered various glosses for the shameful act of theft upon which the vast business that supports them seems to have been founded. One of the more despicable of these constructions has it that Siegel and Shuster should have been more shrewd in signing contracts, which appears to be a variant on the well-known American proverbial advice regarding suckers and the inadvisability of giving them an even break. More lately there have been attempts to mitigate the industry’s offence with an appeal to half-baked mysticism and postmodernism, maintaining that Superman and the commercial children’s comic characters which followed him are all in some sense archetypes that hover in the ether, waiting to be plucked by any lucky idiot who passes by. Ingeniously, this sidesteps the whole Siegel and Shuster problem by insisting that creators in the superhero field aren’t actually creators after all, but merely the recipients of some kind of transcendent windfall fruit that should be freely shared around. Even if this were true, it’s difficult to see exactly how it justifies a perhaps gangster-founded company of fruiterers (just to continue the analogy) declaring that these profitable magic apples all belong to them in perpetuity. Still, one can see why such a morally-evasive brand of metaphysics might appeal to the large corporate concerns which steer the comic industry; to those amongst the readership whose primary allegiance is to a specific superhero rather than the ordinary non-invulnerable human who originated him; and to those loyally and profitably labouring at franchises, who know they’re in no danger of ever creating an original idea which would be valuable enough to steal.

"Five Superman Publications I Like Better Than The Movies" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 by Tom Spurgeon and some other guys.

Joe Shuster draws Superman vs. a Grizzly Bear. Awesome.

Classic Superman Radio ads.

This town wants to be Smallville.

Tom Scioli thinks Jim Starlin’s brief stint on the character is the best Superman ever.

Jake Roper explains that Superman, or any superhuman for that matter, hitting an object with a fist that's traveling at 99% the speed of light would be really, really, really, really, really bad (via Kevin Melrose). I suppose that means that if you can take a punch from Superman, you're way beyond bulletproof.

Tom Bondurant on this week's Superman-related projects: Superman Unchained and Man of Steel.

Bully on the apocalyptic aspects of the movie.

Andrew Wheeler would like you to know that Henry Cavill is the latest in a line of unknown actors cast to play the Man of Steel. And if the pattern holds up, this role will be the high point of his entire acting career. It's a good thing then that he is one absurdly handsome man.

Marc Singer in his review of Man of Steel is irritated by the same elements that bother me, especially this particular pet peeve:

Like the ponderous Superman Returns, Man of Steel can't resist the cheap and easy Christ imagery. The subtext isn't helped when the villainous Kryptonian starts talking about how evolution always wins or how morality is an evolutionary weakness. Which I'm pretty sure is not how evolution works, but Snyder made his point. 

(The Superman I love the most, the genial scientist and humanist who walked into a golden sunset in 1986 and reappeared for a dozen glorious issues in the mid-2000s, would no doubt respond with some gentle corrective about how morality is humanity's greatest evolutionary adaptation. And then knock Faora into orbit.)

I'm rarely unequivocal when making recommendations, especially with superhero movies. And Man of Steel is not the greatest example of the genre. So for all the watered-down Nietzsche and muddled understanding of science, I still kinda like the movie, if for no other reason than on the strength of its cast. This off course in no way alters my skepticism of Zach Snyder.

Michael May asks whether there is a meaningfully right or wrong way to interpret corporate-owned characters.

Tom Scioli on how Man of Steel is filled with 80s nostalgia for geeks.

Ultimate Origins

Go to: Comics And Nothing But by David Lasky (via The Ephemerist)