Tag Archives: Lois Lane

Mar 26 2014

Superman Unchained 6

 

superman unchained 6Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Superman Unchained 6, originally released March 19th, 2014.

Shelby: Comic books have to be one of the most restrictive forms of media out there. As a writer, you’re stuck dealing with characters with 70-odd years of history hanging around their necks like a lodestone. Deviate too much, and millions of voices cry out in anger before you find yourself suddenly silenced (creatively speaking). But if you don’t deviate enough, you find yourself with a story that is at best seen as a cliché and at worse doesn’t make any sense because there’s no way to make sense of that much backstory. I have a lot of respect for the writers who walk that line, and walk it well; I don’t envy them the choices they have to make. While I have lauded Scott Snyder in the past for his treatment of Batman’s origin story in Year Zero, his take on the Man of Steel falls a little too close to territory we’ve tread before for me to really enjoy it.

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Mar 5 2014

Superman: Lois Lane 1

superman lois lane 1Today, Greg and guest writer Shane are discussing Superman: Lois Lane 1, originally released February 26th, 2014.

Greg: When I was a little kid, I dealt with some pretty heavy duty separation anxiety. Going to first grade was a nightmarish ordeal on a daily level. I would do and try anything to get out of it — faked stomach aches, insistence on a high temperature, temper tantrums like nothing else. And if my parents did manage to get me to school, I was still a wreck — crying over nothing, lashing out at teachers and latchkey supervisors, generally weirding out my classmates. Eventually an attempt at a solution was posed: go to school, but bring a photograph of my family at home that I could look at whenever I wanted. I only had to try this once to know immediately that the pain this caused wasn’t worth it. Rather than soothe my anxieties, it stoked their fires. Looking at this photo and knowing I couldn’t be there evoked a cutting sense of nostalgia, the meaning of which comes from, as Lois Lane reminds us, the clash between the desire to return home and the pain of knowing you can’t. Superman: Lois Lane deals with these evocative themes like separation, reunion, melancholy, yearning, and family with aplomb, showcasing mature and heartwarming storytelling even amidst plot-busy coverups and set pieces.

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Jan 3 2014

Superman Unchained 5

superman unchained 5

Today, Mikyzptlk and Spencer are discussing Superman Unchained 5, originally released January 1st, 2014.

Mikyzptlk: Since the beginning, Kal El has been a man caught between two lives: Clark Kent and Superman. Sometimes, these two lives are shown in conflict, while other times they are shown in harmony with one another. No matter what though, these lives are a part of the Man of Steel. In Superman Unchained 5, the other superman, known as Wraith, attempts to use Kal El’s dichotomy to get Superman to see things his way. Continue reading →

Nov 12 2013

Superman Unchained 4

superman unchained 4

Today, Mikyzptlk and Spencer are discussing Superman Unchained 4, originally released November 6th, 2013.

Mikyzptlk: Superheroes and the concept of death have a…complicated relationship, to say the least. No matter how a particular hero has died, and no matter how long a character has been six feet under, there is no way to be certain that they will remain dead forever. Bucky Barnes was dead for 50 years before Marvel shocked us all with his resurrection. In the end, all it takes to bring a hero back from the grave are some creative pen strokes and an editor’s approval. With that, the concept of dying in a superhero comic has been diluted to the point of near meaninglessness. Superman Unchained 4 talks a lot about death, more specifically the death of Superman. Of course, we all know that Superman isn’t really going to die, and even if he did, he’d just come back later anyway. So, while Scott Snyder doesn’t actually have me worried about Superman’s fate, he certainly presents one hell of a foreboding issue.  Continue reading →

Aug 23 2013

Superman Unchained 3

superman unchained 3

Today, Patrick and Scott are discussing Superman Unchained 3, originally released August 21st, 2013.

Patrick: As problematic as Superman’s powers are for a narrative, Clark Kent’s moral purity proves even more bothersome. Mind you, it’s much easier for writers to dial down Clark’s ideology to bring him in line with modern heroes than it is to de-power him in any way: if Supes can’t stop a bullet with his chest, fans will cry foul; but if he starts making unscrupulous choices, only the purest purists will grumble. Plus, how else should Superman writers obey the mandate to make the characters younger and more relatable? Personality flaws, and plenty of ’em! It’s fascinating then, that when Scott Snyder trots a bigger, more powerful version of Superman, he also doubles down on reason and civility. If the goal of Superman Unchained is to put the concept of Superman on trial, then we’ve actually got to put both versions on trial: the invincible boyscout and powerful alien protectorate alike have to answer for their sins (even if they’re only sins of omission).

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Jul 15 2013

Superman Unchained 2

superman unchained 2

Today, Mikyzptlk and Drew are discussing Superman Unchained 2, originally released July 10th, 2013.

Mikyzptlk: The concept of the superhero is obviously a very compelling one. There are stories of superpowered beings throughout all of recorded history, but the idea of the colorfully clad, modern myths that we know of today have been going strong for 3 quarters of century. There is no question that these heroes and their powers are fun, and hell, who wouldn’t want to have a superpower of their own? As amazing as these powers can be though, they can be equally terrifying. Superman Unchained 2 explores what happens when enemies and allies begin to express their fears of the Man of Steel.  Continue reading →

Jun 18 2013

Chat Cave: Man of Steel

chat-cave-header

Between the commercial success of a near-constant stream of Marvel Studios Avengers movies and the critical success of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, there are impossible expectations for Man of Steel. Expectations like reigniting the public’s love for Superman; expectations like launching a blockbuster film franchise; expectations like being any good in its own right. Zach Snyder’s Superman slug-fest has a lot to accomplish. Does it achieve any of that? Welcome to the Chat Cave.

Drew: Like many comics fans, I was incredibly excited by the teaser trailer for this movie. In spite of the trailer’s own prominent reminder that Zach Snyder directed both Watchmen and 300, it felt like this movie got Superman. Indeed, the trailer trades in Snyder’s standard embarrassing music cues and slow-motion punches for meditative statements about Superman’s power as a symbol. Between story credits by Dark Knight Trilogy scribe David S. Goyer and director  Christopher Nolan, I dared hope that Man of Steel might be to Superman what The Dark Knight films were to Batman: an operatic drama that understands the defining nature of the hero.

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Jun 13 2013

Superman Unchained 1

Alternating Currents: Superman Unchained 1, Drew and Scott

Today, Drew and Scott are discussing Superman Unchained 1, originally released June 12th, 2013.

Drew: When DC began its New 52 experiment in 2011, they made a point of putting their best foot forward. The first issue (and ostensibly their flagship title), Justice League 1, featured one of comicdom’s most popular writers paired with one of its most popular artists. It’s a bit strange that they would repeat the same big guns formula (even going so far as to tap Jim Lee again) for an entirely new title in Superman Unchained. Of course, the way the title features the standard Superman logo with “unchained” incongruously typeset below suggests that this isn’t so much a new title as it is the Superman DC wishes it could publish if it weren’t tied (chained, if you will) to Scott Lobdell. But here I am reading between the lines on the cover. What about what’s inside? Continue reading →

Apr 1 2013

Superman 18

Alternating Currents: Superman 18, Drew and Scott

Today, Drew and Scott are discussing Superman 18, originally released March 27th, 2013.

Drew: Why do we like stories? Is it about amazing feats, or smaller, more relatable character moments? Early in Superman 18, Orion suggests that the New Gods’ lack of emotions makes them boring, in spite of their power and immortality. Writer Scott Lobdell would have done well to take his own words to heart — in spite of the powerful, immortal beings populating the pages of this issue, there are no emotions to latch onto. Orion would be bored out of his mind. Continue reading →

Nov 29 2012

Superman 14

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing Superman 14, originally released November 28th, 2012. This issue is part of the H’el on Earth crossover event. Click here for complete H’el on Earth coverage.

Shelby: It’s the holidays again, which means we must all learn the lesson: families are hard. As an adult, visiting your family forces you back to the person you used to be when your were a child. Sometimes, that’s a hard thing to reconcile with the person you’ve become. I’m super lucky; my family understands I’ve become my own person, and respects the choices I’ve made. I know there are LOTS of people for whom that isn’t the case. Clark Kent, on the other hand, is super unlucky in this regard. He spent all of his life thinking all his family was dead. Suddenly, he’s got a cousin who hates everything he loves and an adopted brother who not only hates everything he loves, but is also hell-bent on destroying it. Oh, and a clone. That makes for a real awkward Christmas dinner.

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