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Yeah, the Orpheus in the Underworld tip is hot for the second act throughout really. Going down in the guise of a man (possibly even being leeched to the point of being one at a juncture?) to the jail to visit the damned (although there's some structural crossover with the cast arrayal issues here, but it's - you know - the main baddie,) back into the past to relive the worst moment of his life (I think we have to assume that Clark's 'holiday' was spent in Smallville, c. 10 years ago, in bandages, if this was at all unclear, and although the issue's laden with kindly Southern Christianity, beginning with talk of prayers and ending in a church - graveyard, it's that heartbreaking look back that really evokes the myth for me) and obvs, c. now, slipping under the universe on opposite world.
It's all I can think of.
Well, I also think of the story Mark Millar tells (shoot me if I've already mentioned this inthread, plz) about an early meeting with the George where he was doing some kind of banishing ritual and speaking in Bizarro all day, generally upsetting the neighbours, etc. Which I find almost pathetically inspiring, really. It's my favourite comic-pro story evs.
Wasn't too sure about the ish at first, and certainly at this point it seems the two-parter hasn't been a patch on the two immediately preceding - it's funny stuff and disorienting, renegating every clause for sense makes a trying first read and possibly offers some insight to what went through double-M's tiny mind on that fateful day, but really could and probably should have been done in one, I feel. Never mind breaking the single issue story basis because Bizarros am diff'runt.
There's the usual obsessions with the biota as single organism at play again and more light-hearted digs at the book's Batman counterpart but I can't, atm, get a handle on Zibarro, or Morrissey, as I prefer to call him. Is he supposed to be a counterpart of Clark, dressed in the working attire refashioned as supersuit, or Lex, the most intelligent and reviled native creature (particularly liked Le-Roj's 'No go' tears of detestation) on the planet? Lex is also notable by his absence as Bizarro-home feeds on Superman's memories, creating Lois, Jimmy and Perry... things. So it's bothersome, but I doubt we've seen the last of him.
Perhaps he'll assist when Lex's 'friend in [a] high place...' creatd by 'tampering with the sun' appears. Perhaps.
The art also - and I'm giving this an out - had the scratchy problems of earlier; Superman's face got super-liney at times. Now, perhaps this was intended to reflect some sort of emaciation/desiccation effect as a result of the sunspectrum powerdrain, but it did look remarkably similar to earlier stuff with the blue line occasionally getting picked up a wee bit more than necessary (#3 and #6, by way of contrast, are utterly perfect jobs) - I don't want to be supercritical of Jamie, the colours were lovely and evocative as always, and I have only a rudimentary notion of the inks process and also no talents barring perhaps that of annoyance, but still. I felt it warranted mention, apparently. |
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