DC Comics
Kurt Busiek, writer
Carlos Pacheco, Jesus Merino, Peter Vale, Mike Manley, Bret Blevins, Rick Leonardi and Eduardo Barreto, artists
Been examining a number of older books of late. That, of course, is due to me trying to winnow down my collection by a considerable amount for space reasons. But also, both posts this week seem to be about books I found a little disappointing. Not because they are bad, exactly, but more because they didn't quite live up to the hopes I had for them when they came out.
Kurt Busiek's run on Superman between 2006 and 2007 definitely fits into this category. There were a few one-off issues in the run that involved a fun little diversion with the Prankster (Superman No. 660), a guest appearance by Wonder Woman and a villainess named Khyrana (Superman No. 661) and a spooky little tale for issue No. 666, but otherwise, the majority of the books in this run centered on two running plots.
The first involves an old friend of Clark Kent's seeking the reporter out as a means of contacting Superman. An alien life form is found in an abandoned Soviet research facility, and Superman's help is needed to contain the being known only as Subjekt 17. This is the plot I had the highest hopes for as numerous parallels are drawn between this creature's life and Superman's. Both came to Earth as infants and grew to adulthood here. But whereas Superman was discovered by Jonathan and Martha Kent, raised as their own child and nurtured into being a great hero and inspiration to many, Subjekt 17 knew a life of only pain and cruel experimentation. Even Subjekt 17 sees how easily things could have been different for each of them as he learns more and more about humanity after his escape. But that only fuels his hatred of humanity, and sense of betrayal when Superman opposes him. I was really looking forward to how Superman would resolve this conflict with Subjekt 17 in a way that stayed true to the best elements of his character.
Unfortunately, that resolution was never allowed to occur. Interspersed with the issues that dealt with Subjekt 17 was the other major plot, during the course of which, Subjekt 17 is magically sent away in one issue and as far as I know, never was seen again. Busiek left the book shortly after these issues, and I don't believe either he or any other writer has ever picked up the plot threads started with Subjekt 17.
That other major plot involves the idea that superheroes, and Superman and other alien heroes in particular, are doing mankind no favors each time they stop some planet-wide crisis. The Atlantean magician Arion travels forward in time from the 14th century to warn Superman to stop fighting because each time he stops some global threat, it only delays the inevitable, and the threat will be that much stronger when it ultimately returns. Basically, Arion is arguing that a large portion of humanity must die off in some cataclysm periodically for the human race to survive and grow. But by stopping said cataclysm, Superman is only stalling. At some point, the threat will grow so big that Superman will ultimately fail, and when that happens, the cataclysm will be so big that the human race will be wiped out entirely. Basically, Arion is urging Superman to let thousands die in order to save the entire human race.
So Arion comes forward in time and gives Superman and some of his friends a vision of the very bleak future Arion foresees. Using this, Arion tries to guilt Superman into giving up and letting a lot of people die, by Arion's own hands, if necessary. If you don't already know, Arion was the star of his own comic title in the 1980s. He was a powerful magician from ancient Atlantis (before the sinking) and his adventures were of the sword and sorcery variety. I'll be honest, my exposure to Arion stories is very, very limited, but I don't see him being the hero of his own book and having the type of characterization we see in this story. The glimpse of the bleak future he provides is interesting, as is the moral dilemma he presents Superman with, but this entire plot was off for me because I didn't buy the characterization of the main antagonist. It didn't help that the Subjekt 17 plot I was more interested in got derailed by the Arion plot.
Feel free to leave a comment defending this storyline if it was one of your favorites. Who knows, if someone can help me like this version of Arion more, or let me know if the Subjekt 17 plot was ever resolved somewhere I missed, there might be some free comics from the stuff I'm selling in it for you. Thanks for stopping by and happy collecting!
4 comments:
I suspect that the point of the Arion arc was to capture the feel of both the classic Elliott S! Maggie story where the Guardians of Oa suggest to Superman that his involvement with humanity is holding back mankind from advancing themselves. Arion' s entire arc is essentially grasping that no matter what he does, Atlantis is doomed and his brother is irredeemable... it made him the perfect character to try and force that idea to Superman. But you're right... Subjekt 17 was a pretty interesting idea that the overplot swallowed.
Thanks for the thoughts, A.H.; appreciate you stopping by and for the insights into Arion's character. As I said, not as familiar with him. I guess his history might make someone a bit jaded.
The added bit is that Arion has had two series... one as an idealist learning some hard lessons, and one set thousands of years later, where he's genuinely bitter and cynical. This appearance is intentionally between them to help show his transformation.
Thanks once again, A.H. I don't profess to be an absolute authority, so I appreciate you pointing out that there have been two Arion series, and offering your insights into the character. I was going to hold off a few more days in case someone else left a comment, but as a "thanks" for your contributions to this post, I'm going to go ahead and say you get the free comics. You've earned them! Just drop me a note and we'll work out the details.
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