Millar Writes A Love Letter To Reeve

Superior tpb
Marvel Icon
Mark Millar, writer
Leinil Yu, artist
*** mature content warning ***

The title character of this book may be named Superior, but it is clear that he has more than a passing similarity to Superman, especially the character as portrayed by Christopher Reeve. Therefore, it is no surprise when you get to the last panel and find a dedication of the story to Reeve and Richard Donner, the director of Reeve's debut as the Man of Steel.

Even if you aren't a fan of Reeve's portrayal of Superman, this is still a fun, engaging read, collecting all seven issues of the limited series. Millar's story is set in the real world where superheroes are characters in comics and on television and movie screens. Superior is a once-popular comic-book hero who also anchors a dwindling movie franchise, much to the chagrin of the actor most known for playing the character because he can't get any other work. But Superior still has fans.

One of those fans is Simon Pooni, a teenager recently struck by multiple sclerosis and all of its worst debilitating symptoms. Simon, once a decent athlete, has now lost touch with many of his friends because of his illness, and wishes that he was once again free of the ailment. One night, Simon gets his wish courtesy of a mysterious monkey who transforms him into his hero, Superior. The transformation of a youngster into an adult hero might seem to have more in common with Captain Marvel (now Shazam!), and there are some fun elements of the story that play up that aspect. But again, the main parallel here is to Superman, even down to a female reporter who is determined to get the story on the sudden appearance of the world's first bona-fide superhero.

The only caution I might add involves the language which gives this book a mature content label. Several of the characters are 12-year-old boys, and they swear quite proficiently. I don't think the language was an absolute necessity, but I also can't find fault with Millar's use of it here. In the absence of adults, this is how many young kids talk.

Leinil Yu's art works well in this story, too. I've criticized his work on Indestructible Hulk as being a bit muddy and hard to follow in early issues of that title. There are still a few panels here that suffer from that same over-rendered problem, but by and large, the character faces in this book are much cleaner, causing fewer issues of that nature.

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

I was also a bit surprised by the direction the resolution of this book took, but I can't really talk about that with revealing some pretty major spoilers, something I usually try to avoid. Stop reading if you don't want the plot of this book spoiled.

The motivations behind the monkey, Ormon, transforming Simon into Superior are kept a mystery at first. Once they are revealed, a religious aspect is introduced, which is rare in superhero fiction. In fact, the religious angle becomes a pretty important part of the story. Based on that, when the final conflict is introduced and Simon is forced to make a choice about keeping his new abilities and persona or going back to his old life, I expected the religious theme to still be a major factor. Basically, Ormon is a demon after Simon's eternal soul. Granting the boy these powers is the bait, and all he has to do to keep them is sell his soul. To further entice Simon to keep Superior's powers, Ormon also transforms the neighborhood bully into one of Superior's arch-rivals from the comics and films. When Simon ultimately chooses to keep the powers of Superior, it is not for his own benefit, but rather to stop the death and destruction being caused by the villains. His choice to sell his soul and keep the powers at first delights Ormon; this was his ultimate goal after all. But I fully expected things would work out OK for Simon because his selfless act -- opting to forgo his own soul's protection in favor of saving others, Simon's sacrifice -- would protect him from his soul being damned forever. That would be the logical conclusion to the religious aspect introduced into the story, I expected. Instead, while the end result of Simon being spared and Ormon being thwarted was achieved, it was done through superhero rationale, not religious. It works in the context of the story, but seems a little disappointing, too. Why introduce the religious aspect, then not follow through on it? It's a minor quibble, but it bugged me.

Cancel Those Smallville Or Metropolis Vacation Plans

Man of Steel (2013)
Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, Syncopy, DC Entertainment and Third Act Productions
Zack Snyder, director
David S. Goyer, writer
Henry Cavill, Amy Adams and Michael Shannon, stars

Today's headline is NOT a condemnation of the latest cinematic Superman reboot. In fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

As much as I still enjoy the first two Christopher Reeve "Superman" films, this one does a lot better job making use of the effects breakthroughs in the last 30 years to really convey the raw power of Superman. Reeve made us believe a man can fly, but that is not so uncommon these days in cinema. This film shows the utter destruction our world would suffer as the battleground for a pair of opposing Kryptonians. A good portion of Metropolis and almost all of downtown Smallville are pretty much trashed in the fight scenes included herein. Collateral damage would make both these cities poor vacation destinations for some time to come.

I won't go so far as to say this is a perfect Superman film; it's not. But it is very good and well worth your time to go and see.

Cavill does a good job portraying both the powerful alien Superman and the down-to-earth young Clark Kent, both looking for their place in this world. Shannon is superb as Zod, playing not so much a villain as the ultimate zealot, dedicated to his one goal -- the preservation of his species -- to the exclusion of all other considerations. Kevin Costner, Diane Lane and Laurence Fishburne perform their respective roles of Jonathan and Martha Kent and Perry White wonderfully. The inclusion of Richard Schiff as Dr. Emil Hamilton, a character from the comics, was a nice touch. And Amy Adams does a superb job bringing Lois Lane to life; she was just the right combination of hard-edged, no-nonsense reporter and soft, potential love interest. No one can call this Lois a damsel in distress as she is right in the thick of the action for most of the movie, by her own determination, but that doesn't mean Superman doesn't get the chance to swoop in and save her a time or two.

In fact, I only really have two little quibbles with the film that I'll mention here. The first is that I wish  Superman had come up with a way to defeat Zod other than the one depicted. I don't condemn the movie for the path they chose. Film is a different media than comics where changes are sometimes necessary, and the film did a fair job justifying the final resolution they used. I still wish the Man of Steel had devised another way to save the people Zod was endangering at the moment to better portray a character that should be the absolute best we can all try to aspire to be.

The second thing deals with the flashbacks to Clark's childhood with Jonathan and Martha. I think it was an inspired bit of storytelling to depict those scenes as flashbacks throughout the film. To present them all at once, in chronological order, especially after the amount of time spent on Krypton at the outset of the film, would have been a mistake. Adding scenes here and there to emphasize points in the current time period scenes was a great call. But the final flashback, the one that shows Jonathan and Martha watching their son playing in the backyard with a red towel pinned to his shoulders, that scene pulled me right out of the movie.

I know what Snyder was going for there; what child hasn't played Superman with a red towel or blanket flapping behind him or her in the breeze? But it doesn't really make sense that Superman as a child would pretend to be Superman, someone who doesn't exist at the time when he is a child. My wife pointed out that young Clark might have just been pretending to be another generic hero, some fictional character he read about in comic books. There's no reason to think comic-book heroes couldn't exist when Superman was a child. I readily concede her point, but in my mind, young Clark was playing Superman there and that just isn't right.

Here's A Little More Darkness

Irredeemable
BOOM! Studios
Mark Waid, writer
Peter Krause and Diego Barreto, artists

What would it take to make the world's greatest superhero into the absolute worst villain, someone so evil he became irredeemable?

Imagine Superman growing up without the influence of Jonathan and Martha Kent to help shape his moral center. Being a young boy with powers and abilities he doesn't understand and can't control would be scary enough. Add to that being bounced from foster home to foster home, dreading the day when each new family learns that he isn't normal and learns to fear him, wanting desperately to be free of him.

Despite all of that, the boy grows up and adopts the public identity of the Plutonian, a superhero. He works hard to save people from everyday dangers and criminal masterminds and alien invasions. He is beloved, but he has learned through long years of experience that others' love can be a temporary thing. One slip can turn that love into fear and loathing.

Other heroes begin to show up on the scene. Plutonian reaches out to these other heroes, seeking friendship and understanding. Several of these heroes join forces to form the Paradigm, the world's foremost superhero group. But always, Plutonian must be on his guard. Any mistake will bring disaster, and he has the emotional scars to prove it.

But then, one day, despite all of his efforts, or maybe simply because of all the pent-up pressure he has placed on himself all these years, the Plutonian makes that one mistake that slowly turns everyone against him. And first the Plutonian's world falls apart, and then in a rage, he makes sure the rest of the world falls apart as well.

That is the premise that begins this series, the brainchild of Mark Waid. It isn't Waid's first foray into a darker, alternate version of superheroes. But it is an interesting read, a terrifying take on what might have happened in other heroic universes. The entire run of Irredeemable is collected in 10 trades, and there is also a companion series, if one is interested, called Incorruptible, about the Plutonian's most persistent foe turning into a hero in the wake of the Plutonian's fall from grace.

My only complaint about Irredeemable is that none of the heroes of the Paradigm are really all that likable once you get to know them. Each one is flawed and has a multitude of secret shames, it seems, just none that have fallout as disastrous for the world as the Plutonian's downfall. But the story Waid has crafted is nonetheless an interesting one. And the ending serves to not only tie everything up, but even offer a bit of a nudge and a wink to the heroes whose popularity makes it possible to explore these kinds of "what if" scenarios.

This Was A Missed Opportunity

Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness 1-4
IDW Publishing
Mike Johnson and Roberto Orci, writers
David Messina, artist

Let me start by saying that this was a good story within the ongoing IDW Star Trek series. Let me also say up front that the film this series leads into, "Star Trek Into Darkness," was good, and I very much enjoyed it.

Neither of those statements changes the fact that the film did have a few issues here and there, and that this comic series doesn't lead into the film as smoothly as its predecessor did.

Back in 2009, IDW published a four-issue prequel comic to the J.J. Abrams Trek reboot called Star Trek: Countdown. This series told in detail how Ambassador Spock's plan to use the "red matter" to save the Romulan homeworld from its sun going supernova went awry, and how Spock incurred the wrath of Romulan miner Nero and his crew, the sole surviving Romulans in the universe. Those events were recapped in the film as flashbacks when "old" Spock and "new" Kirk first meet, so no movie-goer could feel they didn't get a full story. But for comics fans, this was a fleshed-out portrayal of those events, a bonus, if you will.

Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness was supposed to do the same type of thing for the 2009 film's sequel. It does flesh out ideas discussed in the film, but no action in the comic series directly leads to actions on the screen this time around. That was a little disappointing, especially when the opening scenes of the new film could use a little fleshing out.

For instance, why was the Enterprise underwater to observe the alien culture at the opening of the film? The Enterprise has always been portrayed as an orbiting starship not designed to enter an atmosphere. In fact, any time the Enterprise has entered a planet's atmosphere in the past, it is a sign of very real distress. An orbiting starship wouldn't risk exposure to a pre-space flight civilization like one submerged in its oceans would. In fact, how did the Enterprise get into the ocean in the first place if taking her out of the ocean was such a risk?

Also from the opening scenes, why does Kirk take a scroll from these aliens, an action that sets up the chase scene to follow? Sure that scene provides most of the film's lighter moments, which are needed to offset the darker tone of the bulk of the film, but we are never given a reason why Kirk would risk exposure to take the scroll, especially when he so quickly abandons his find at the end of the chase.

While certainly a fun part of the movie, this entire opening sequence is poorly explained or justified beyond moving the action toward the bulk of the film. A prequel comic series could have explained any or all of these silly questions.

Instead, this mini takes the Enterprise crew to survey the planet Phaedus IV and check in on another pre-space flight culture. Once there, however, the crew finds the aliens much more advanced than they should be. Debating the rightness or wrongness of the Federation's Prime Directive of non-interference quickly takes center stage as the Enterprise crew discovers that both the Klingons and Federation members are arming different factions in a planetwide civil war. Debating the Prime Directive is a topic in many classic "Trek" episodes, and humans and Klingons fighting through proxies on primitive planets is also a frequent theme of the series. Other nice touches in this comic series include familiar names from past incarnations of the show such as Capt. Robert April, Harry Mudd and Klingon Commander Kor.

As I said, it's a good comic, and the film is good, too. But the comic could have been so much more and helped the film out of a tight spot or two, as well.

I'm Left Scratching My Head A Bit

The Boys
Wildstorm/Dynamite Entertainment
Garth Ennis, writer
Russ Braun, Darick Robertson, John McCrea, Keith Burns and Richard P. Clark, artists
*** mature content warning ***

I don't read only superheroes in comics, but I'm also not one of those people who is embarrassed about enjoying superhero comics. I enjoy the escapism and the adventure in older comics where the heroes are always right and the villains are always beaten and everything exists in a black-or-white, yes-or-no reality. I also enjoy some of the moral gray areas that tend to crop up in more modern comics. And when done right, I occasionally enjoy a tale where the "heroes" are not necessarily that heroic.

Garth Ennis takes that idea to the extreme in his epic The Boys. In the world Ennis and his illustrators create for us, all superheroes are "manufactured" by a single company and treated as a commodity. In the interests of profit, the company churns out as many heroes as they can with the resources available to them, and as a result, most of these heroes aren't really all that heroic. They are more accurately described as self-centered, sex-obsessed idiots with god-like abilities and little or no impulse control. The general public isn't aware of this, of course, but that is the reality.

The Boys in this world are a small off-the-books government entity created to keep an eye on the superheroes of this world, slapping them down if they get too far out of line with their various antics and depravities. The team is made up of five individuals, all of whom have their own reasons to hate the "heroes" of their world. Billy Butcher is the leader of The Boys, and obviously the most sadistic of the bunch. Mother's Milk, The Frenchman and The Female round out the rest of the group as the series opens, but they quickly add Hughie to their number after his girlfriend is killed in an "accident" involving superheroes.

This series started out at Wildstorm but was canceled quickly by that publisher; it seems the property was just a little too extreme for them. It soon found a new home at Dynamite and resumed publishing with only a short break. I didn't pick up the series from the start; it wasn't even on my radar at first. But the title got a LOT of publicity when it was canceled by Wildstorm and later picked up by Dynamite. I was curious after that point, so I bought and read the first five trades to try out the series. I was intrigued in spite of myself. Parts of the story and illustrations repulsed me, but I was very caught up in the story of Hughie as he becomes a part of the world of The Boys. I didn't buy them, but I did borrow the next three trades from my local library to continue on with the story.

After those eight trades, I was current with the series and had to wait for another to be released. In the meantime, I kind of lost interest with the series and might have never finished it, but I learned that the series was coming to an end shortly. The series as a whole consisted of 72 regular series issues and three limited companion series, all of which are collected in 12 sequentially numbered trades. (I mention that the trades are sequentially numbered because the three limited series have a particular place in the overall narrative, and are numbered as such in this series, but that isn't normally the case.) Anyway, with a definite ending in sight, I returned to the series and read those final four trades once they were all released.

Overall, I'm glad I read this series. It was very well written and illustrated by these talented creators. Hughie's story and wanting to find out what would happen to him and his new girlfriend, Annie, kept me coming back. I cared about the characters, and wanted good outcomes for them. Despite some of the simply horrendous things they do for their jobs, I also enjoyed reading about Mother's Milk, The Frenchman and The Female. These were also characters I came to care about through these issues.

Butcher is another matter. His character seems easily as depraved as the super-powered maniacs who also populate this universe. His life could have turned out much differently, but it didn't. Whether that is his own fault or the fault of the circumstances around him is open for debate, but ultimately, Butcher is not a very nice man. Having said that, this team of creators is so talented, that once we finally get Butcher's back story in the 10th trade -- which collects the final limited series, "Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker" -- I began to feel some empathy for even this character.

This series did not end in the way that I expected it to. Likely that is a point of credit for Ennis; despite all his clues, I did not see coming the specific ending to the series that I received. In fact, truth be told, I'm not entirely sure I completely "get" the ending. I understand all of the points that are spelled out, what happened and why. But I feel there is maybe something deeper than those surface details I should be getting from this book that I'm just not quite grasping. If you don't mind, or can look past, the graphic violence of the series, it is a good one.

This Is America?

The Adventures of Tintin: Tintin in America
Little, Brown
Hergé (Georges Remi), writer and artist

This third collection of Tintin adventures picks up where the second book left off. While in the Congo, Tintin was attacked repeatedly by a bearded assassin employed by someone known only as A.C. At the opening of this third volume, readers learn that A.C. stands for Chicago's own Al Capone and that Tintin is on his way to America to track the man down. Capone dispatches men to prevent Tintin and Snowy from ever setting foot in Chicago. Several attempts are made by various gangsters to stop Tintin, but each one fails, and in just a few pages, Tintin manages to capture not only the gangsters, but Capone himself. Unfortunately, getting the authorities to believe his story and come round up the hoodlums proves more difficult than capturing them in the first place.

While Tintin tries to convince the authorities that he really has single-handedly captured Capone and several of his men, the hoods escape, never to be seen in the pages of this book again. Perhaps Hergé thought better of using the real-life racketeer in his story, because from this point on, all of the "big bosses" Tintin comes up against are fictional gangsters. First he follows one from Chicago out into the wilderness of Redskin City where the American Indians are portrayed in much the same way as the natives of the Congo were in that book, and everyone else dresses in the finest cowboy regalia. Once this man is finally caught and turned over to the authorities, another Chicago "big boss" steps in and kidnaps Snowy to lure Tintin into a trap.

Again, this third Tintin volume, originally serialized between 1931 and 1932, doesn't read quite as well as the later volumes I am more familiar with. The story is entertaining, but a little more uneven in pacing than I would have expected. Many of Tintin's last-minute escapes this time out are due more to happenstance than actual ingenuity on the young reporter's part. Also, several people refer to Tintin as a young boy in this volume; his age is never quite nailed down, and while it is clear he is young for his position, I wouldn't expect anyone to call him a boy as he travels alone around the world.

I also think it is interesting to note that after Capone disappears from the book, all of the subsequent gangsters to confront Tintin are from a group of Chicago mobsters organized much like a union or corporation, but the name of that group changes each time it is presented. This may have been deliberate on Hergé's part, maybe even some in-joke that doesn't translate well into English, but it very much comes across in this volume as just an error.

I don't want to make it sound as if I didn't enjoy this Tintin adventure; I did. Just not quite as much as I remember enjoying the three from my youth. Maybe the writing in the series will get better and begin to resemble what I am more used to as the series continues, or perhaps my younger self was just less critical than I have become today.

************

I don't just collect comics. Like many of my peers, the comic book habit has spread into other areas, including action figures and toys based on my favorite characters. Sometime I might post some pictures of my figure and statue collections if there is interest. But today, I wanted to mention two specific figures I recently acquired. These are custom-made figures of two characters I created several years ago, made using DC Direct 13-inch figures as a starting point, and they were made by a talented customizer named Nick. He has a Facebook page and also sells on eBay, which is how I discovered him. If you are interested in action figures and are looking for someone to do some custom figure work, especially in the 13-inch scale, Nick gets my highest recommendation!

Not Quite Ready For Television?!?

Global Frequency trade
DC Vertigo
Warren Ellis, writer
Brian Wood, Garry Leach, Glenn Fabry, Liam Sharp, Roy Allen Martinez, Jon J Muth, David Lloyd, Simon Bisley, Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, Lee Bermejo, Tomm Coker, Jason Pearson and Gene Ha, artists
*** mature content warning***

I'd never known much about this book when it was originally published as a 12-issue series of standalone comics by Wildstorm between 2002 and 2004. I think I'd read or heard a few good things about it because I was familiar with the name. All I can say I knew for certain was that it was rumored to be in development as a television pilot a few years back. I had a light month of ordering comics a few months ago, so I added the trade collection of the series to finally check it out.

I'm glad I did, and I'm also a little glad this series has yet to be picked up by a television network.

Global Frequency is the name of a semi-secret, semi-underground rescue organization. Global Frequency is headed by Miranda Zero, a name we are fairly certain is not her real one. Zero is a tough-as-nails, no-nonsense woman with a large number of skill sets at her command, and she is not afraid to get her hands dirty on the various assignments her organization takes on. The only other constant of Global Frequency is Aleph -- yep, another code name -- a young girl who can multi-task both in terms of managing resources and cyberdata. Aleph runs the central dispatch and processing functions that enable Global Frequency to function, and she is often the only contact others on the Global Frequency ever speak with.

What kinds of things does Global Frequency do? It rescues people from things the general public often knows nothing about. The situations in these twelve stories run the gamut from kidnapping, international terrorism, bio-warfare, alien invasion, secret government military projects gone wrong, you name it.

Talented as these two women are, they simply could not do all of these things on their own. No, they are joined on the Global Frequency by 1,001 agents with various skills and abilities useful in these types of situations. Aleph contacts the people with the specific talents needed given the emergency situation being addressed at any given moment. These people have their regular jobs, regular lives, and are connected only by the specially made cellphones they carry. Most are completely unaware of each other unless or until they are called into service. Some are computer hackers, some are government operatives or military personnel, some are expert drivers or smooth talkers, some are simply killers, and some are just really good at one single thing from cracking codes to solving riddles to traversing an urban setting in record time by looking at it like an obstacle course.

You can see why this type of concept might be attractive to a television network. It has been successfully broadcast in the past in the form of "Mission: Impossible" or "The X-Files" or really, almost any cop-themed show. You have a different threat each week being stopped by the heroes. Except most any example you can think of that has aired on television has one thing that sets it apart from Global Frequency -- a set cast of regulars.

Beyond Miranda Zero and Aleph there is no set cast in Global Frequency. Part of the charm of the series is that not only are the threats different each issue, but so are the experts. And because there are so many operatives working through the Global Frequency, they are expendable in terms of the storytelling. Global Frequency agents can and do die in the course of their respective missions sometimes. That ever-present risk ups the ante and the excitement level for this series, and simply can't be duplicated with a regular cast that must survive to come back each new episode.

I would be all for seeing new installments of Global Frequency, but I'm willing to keep looking for that particular fix to come back to comics. Oh, I'll watch it and hope for the best if the concept ever makes it to television, but I think it is being handled the best with this writer and a different talented artist for each standalone issue.

I Like Aftermath Stories Like This

Nightwing 17
DC Comics
Kyle Higgins, writer
Juan Jose Ryp, artist

Let's back up a tad first.

I guess there was some outrage among fans at the way the Bat-crossover, "Death of the Family," concluded; some felt betrayed by the lack of a major character death. I had no such issues. I think the name clearly implies what we got as the fallout from the Joker's attacks has driven a wedge between Batman and his closest associates; they don't hate each other, but their relationships, their mutual trust have been damaged. I think this psychological-victory ending is more satisfying than any character death that would likely be reversed later.

Because I like Nightwing so much, it is nice to see this emotional fallout issue and the resulting closeness displayed between Nightwing and current Robin, Damian Wayne. I liked similar moments between Dick Grayson and Tim Drake handled in the past by previous writers. If Batman is the father figure of their little family, then all of the Robins are brothers (or sisters) with Dick being the eldest. It is nice to see the brothers interact and be there for one another from time to time. Maybe that means more to me because I can't visit as easily with my own brother these days, but I like it when writers acknowledge that bond between the Robins and handle it well.

It also makes a nice swan song for young Damian who, in fact, died in another story just a few short weeks later. (No real spoiler there; how could you miss that news if you have any interest in comics at all?)

We also have a guest artist this time out. The art is noticeably different from what we typically have in this title. That isn't to say the art here is bad. Ryp's interpretation of Alfred on the opening splash page seems just a tad off, but otherwise, his art is very nice, easy to follow, enhances the story, and his characters all look distinct enough to not confuse readers. Good job, sir; and DC, I wouldn't mind seeing more from this gentleman!