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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 8, 2022 11:07:52 GMT -5
Before I go into the regular post-Crisis books, I'm going to look at a major mini-series released a decade later, set during the same time of Man of Steel. It's not a prequel, or a sequel as much as it is a parallel story. Superman For All Seasons #1
When I was younger, I got disappointed at comics that were just too short, especially some Lee/ Romita Spider-Man stories in the Essential Spider-Man volumes. I made an arbitrary declaration that a standard 20-24 page comic should have 100 panels. I didn't quite make the connection that I did really enjoy rereading the Lee/ Romita Amazing Spider-Man issues. I could still make an exception if the art was really impressive. Superman For All Seasons was an expensive comic at the time. It was twenty bucks for the set, and it was not dense. The first issue had 116 panels in 48 pages. If I'm not mistaken, the second had under a hundred. In order to be worthwhile, the art would have to be exceptional. Fortunately, Tim Sale's art is lovely. Individual panels could be in some museum of Americana.
Why is there a steam engine on that train? Diesel engines had pretty well completely replaced steam engines by the very early 60s and the mass conversion started in the 30s.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2022 11:13:19 GMT -5
I accept the timeless nature of comics, but I agree with Slam_Bradley here. There’s gotta be some consistency. I mean, I wouldn’t mind a Bruce Wayne flashback tale at an unspecified date - the date isn’t important - but if there were 50s-style diners and 1980s-style mullets in the same story, it’d be a bit distracting.
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Post by badwolf on Jul 8, 2022 11:38:44 GMT -5
I accept the timeless nature of comics, but I agree with Slam_Bradley here. There’s gotta be some consistency. I mean, I wouldn’t mind a Bruce Wayne flashback tale at an unspecified date - the date isn’t important - but if there were 50s-style diners and 1980s-style mullets in the same story, it’d be a bit distracting. There are a lot of 50s style diners though.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2022 11:50:51 GMT -5
I accept the timeless nature of comics, but I agree with Slam_Bradley here. There’s gotta be some consistency. I mean, I wouldn’t mind a Bruce Wayne flashback tale at an unspecified date - the date isn’t important - but if there were 50s-style diners and 1980s-style mullets in the same story, it’d be a bit distracting. There are a lot of 50s style diners though.
I miss out on so much, living here in the UK. No 50s-style diners, having to watch WWE PPVs at 1am, having to pay for a TV licence, no Greyhound, no MLB games, etc, etc. Still, at least our steering wheels are on the correct side of the car…
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Post by majestic on Jul 8, 2022 12:13:39 GMT -5
Re: steam engine. Here in PA some steam engines are still in service. Sure it's more of a novelty thing. Last fall I took a steam engine train ride from Reading to Jim Thorpe to see their fall festival. It was really a great experience.
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Post by majestic on Jul 8, 2022 12:15:44 GMT -5
And Batman the Animated Series did this sort of thing all the time. It was/is part of the charm of comic books. They can be timeless. Retro and modern and futuristic all mixed together.
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Post by majestic on Jul 8, 2022 12:16:45 GMT -5
And Superman For All Seasons was one of the best Superman stories ever. Great story with beautiful art.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2022 12:17:53 GMT -5
And Batman the Animated Series did this sort of thing all the time. It was/is part of the charm of comic books. They can be timeless. Retro and modern and futuristic all mixed together. They did, and it was great, but I feel it was a notable and acceptable exception to the rule. Still, I don’t mind it that much. It’s different, but I am forever seeing WWE merchandise where they’ll use a retro WWF logo next to a wrestler’s current-day image (or vice versa). I’ve seen social media complaints such as, “Why does your SummerSlam ‘92 Blu-ray cover have imagery that was actually from 1997?” (or some such complaint)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2022 12:20:28 GMT -5
Re: steam engine. Here in PA some steam engines are still in service. Sure it's more of a novelty thing. Last fall I took a steam engine train ride from Reading to Jim Thorpe to see their fall festival. It was really a great experience. I don’t buy them, but I noticed our magazine store here has four vintage train magazines on the shelves: Heritage Railway, Steam Railway, Steam World, and Steam Days. (Who’s to say niche publishers might not have their own magazines?) Clearly, even in a small, humble nation like mine, there’s an interest in steam trains, if four magazines can be sustained.
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Post by zaku on Jul 8, 2022 13:03:47 GMT -5
I was reading some history behind Superman relaunch and, wow!, everyone hated Superboy's guts! Every single proposal wanted to rid the concept of Superman beginning his career as a kid.
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Post by Duragizer on Jul 8, 2022 21:59:10 GMT -5
Don't blame 'em. I've always hated the Superboy concept, too.
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Post by chadwilliam on Jul 8, 2022 23:25:07 GMT -5
I liked Siegel and Shuster's initial idea for Superboy before DC pulled the rug out from under them and released their own take when Siegel was in the Army - "Superman before he developed a social conscience". In fact, I can't help but wonder if Mr. Mxyztplk was borne from this germ of an idea - an unmalicious little sprite using his powers for fun rather than for the public good. Still, too many great Superboy stories for me not to miss the kid and hey, it gave us what Superman as an adult couldn't - Ma and Pa as regular characters. Even the town of Smallville had its own appealing flavour.
Byrne has since mentioned that he regrets not keeping Superboy in the picture since he wanted to present a Superman who hadn't yet learned the ropes. Apparently, DC wanted Superman up to speed when his run began however, and Byrne felt he missed out. Which brings me to...
A lot of writers seem to like the idea of a wet behind the ears Superman and uses his farm boy upbringing to justify such a presentation. Byrne even had his take tell Wonder Woman that he wasn't in her class since he was "just a farm boy from Kansas". Now, Superman: For All Seasons doesn't denigrate the character like this, but it does plant some seeds. Why does Tim Sale make Smallville Clark Kent look like he's auditioning for the part of Lennie in Of Mice and Men? He's just a big lummoxy looking oaf here and his bedroom filled with model airplanes, baseball posters, and socks strewn about doesn't help (is he supposed to be 12 in this or an adult?). Lois calling Kent "Smallville" is another problem I have. Not necessarily here, but man, did it start something I wish it hadn't.
Byrne had his Superman lack so much intellectual curiosity that when his ma mailed him a scrapbook filled with newspaper accounts of his exploits (but either forgot to mention it was from her or the return address fell off), he had to ask Batman to figure out who sent it. I get that the post-Crisis Superman didn't get his powers until he was 18 or so, but you'd think that eventually he'd grow out of his sheltered ways and develop a penchant for exploring the world others can only speculate about. It just seems like he's shirking his responsibilities by not using his microscopic vision to learn about fingerprints, atoms, DNA, and so forth. Had his Superboy history been kept intact (or at least substituted with something similar) writers could have had a field day exploring a Superman not proficient in all the things that frankly, a guy with his abilities should be proficient in. Want a Superman who blushes around girls, gets condescendingly called 'Smallville' by friends, can't understand the ways of Gotham since he's too naive to understand true evil? Use Superboy for that and let Superman be an adult with some worldly experience behind him.
Again, not laying this all at the feet of Loeb and Sale, but man, I wish Smallville wasn't so synonymous with where Superman's development started and finished. Superboy, sure, but Superman? No.
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Post by zaku on Jul 9, 2022 8:21:11 GMT -5
Do you know what's funny? The first story of Superboy is from 1944, the first of the Superman of Earth 1 is around the mid-1950s. So the Man of Steel had a longer career as a kid than as an adult. And despite this, with the exception of the stories with the Legion of Super Heroes, the Boy of Steel left us virtually no memorable stories (except the one where he sleeps with an amnesic girl who was brainwashed by a robotic pimp to be able to seduce him, but let's say it is "memorable" for other reasons...)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2022 8:37:20 GMT -5
Do you know what's funny? The first story of Superboy is from 1944, the first of the Superman of Earth 1 is around the mid-1950s. So the Man of Steel had a longer career as a kid than as an adult. I never really got hung up on dates. Every adventure is taking place now. I don’t feel the need to put it into a chronology.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2022 8:39:06 GMT -5
Lois calling Kent "Smallville" is another problem I have. Not necessarily here, but man, did it start something I wish it hadn't. I hate that, too. I come from Birmingham. If a woman I dated kept calling me “Birmingham” (either before or during dating me), I don’t think I’d want to know her. How can it not be pejorative?
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