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All-Star Superman

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04:22 / 23.06.06

Black Kryptonite seems to have been first created by the writers of Smallville -- unless it was really first referenced in some 1950s Superman comic. But in terms of recent use, first it popped up in Smallville, then in Jeph Loeb's (just after he had stopped a year-long writing/producing stint on Smallville) poorly-written Supergirl issues wherein she got exposed to Black Kryptonite and became Evil Kara.

I figured Jimmy programmed the hypnotic trigger to bring him out of it on a timer into his watch; and we just didn't see exactly what the word was, but the visual conceit is that it was displayed on the screen.

Jimmy Olsen with hipster hair. Love it! Also, very appropriate for Jimmy to turn into red-haired Doomsday since the old 50s Superman sillyfun comics always had Jimmy transforming into creatures like Turtle Boy, gaining weird powers for a short time, etc. etc.

One of the most charged moments for me: "Don't let anyone see him like this!!!"

04:24 / 23.06.06

>> a. where did that little superman symbol on the table come from? i didn't see any heat vision, or superprecise mircropressure, did i?

They've been slightly inconsistent with how they portray the heat vision, so I think it was his super-hot eyes doing it.

Yeah, Supes definitely burned it into the table with his heat vision, even boasting that his handiwork (well, not literally "hand" work) would raise the value of the table. Look carefully and you'll see that as the panels progress, Supes' hand begins crushing the table and splintering it via intense pressure as the eeevil cauldron inside his heart burns ever stronger and darker.

Johnny fighters

08:17 / 23.06.06

Jimmy definitely set the timer on his watch. That's the point isn't it, that he saves the day through his own resourcefulness. Of course the fact that it's his super watch that brings him round, reminding him of his super friend, is a nice touch.

My favourite bit was on p 23 where the Doomsday serum turns Jimmy into Wayne Rooney.

15:37 / 23.06.06

of course the watch brings him back, i definately should have gotten that. good call.

i loved the way superman slowly turns up the pressure on the cracking furniture. but the little symbol doesn't really look burned. but that's such a pointless quibble, it doesn't matter at all.

great point about the weekly strips! that would be an awesome format for these stories.

20:48 / 23.06.06

If the little S was smouldering, it would be more clear that it was his heat vision. I have to admit that part confused me.

Aside from that, though - wow!

Regrettable Juvenilia

21:07 / 23.06.06

This was just glorious. AS Superman hasn't really been firing on all cylinders for me for some reason up until this point, but this more than makes up for it. Every now and again Morrison does that great trick of taking an established character you didn't care about and coming up with a spin on them which is simultaneously totally unexpected and yet so right that it makes you think "why did nobody do that before?" Jimmy Olsen as the uberlikeable geek all the other geeks want to be, Seth Cohen before he became punchable (remember that season?), with the flat and the job and the girl and, most important of all, the kind of friendship everybody else dreams about. SO. BEST. He has it all, and here we see why he deserves it.

And it's Quitely who makes it work - those poses Olsen strikes when he's in Perry's office, that facial expression in the first panel on page 3... And the drag!

I would buy a Jimmy Olsen ongoing title if Grant Morrison wrote it, or if anyone else could keep him like this. Oh God, I think I'm starting to fancy him now. "Get over here", indeed.

14:10 / 24.06.06

Is it possible P.R.O.J.E.C.T. is not only an acronymn, but a study-research into what readers do?

15:00 / 24.06.06

Specially since Jimmy's role is one of "one day in the shoes of ___________" (and that when he asks the question, there's the "Projector" in the background).

edit: and please, somebody answer my question of the earlier page, concerning Lex's plans. I'm dying here!

15:16 / 24.06.06

and, embarassingly enough for a third time in a row, is Morrison allowed to know or choose where each ad-in-comic goes? I've been reading and there are some similarities between what's going on in the plot (or dialogue) and the closest ad (check Superman's arriving in spaceship and ad for "Shadow of the Colossus". Or Luthor's red lighting and those "masters of horrors" ad. Or "eat on this, ugly" and the anti-drugs ad. And on and on...)

18:00 / 24.06.06

That would be that Morrison magic everyone talks about.

As for your theory on Lex's plans regarding suns, who knows.....I would say that your theory might be a bit out there at this point. All we know is that an upcoming issue of Morrison's Supes (sounds better than "ASS") will featured Lex, who is now sitting in jail after being brought to justice by our hero, hanging out with Clark, who will be thrown in jail for some reason. Morrison implied that Lex wants to be in jail at the moment, as it all fits in perfectly with his eeevil plans.

Solaris the Tyrant Sun has only showed up in DC One Million and in that series, was waaaay in Superman's future.

18:21 / 24.06.06

hmmm okay then. I was suspecting that in that explosion page there was something clearly implicit and I was the only one who wasn't getting it.

It just made sense to me somehow in one reading. Supes throws the guy there as Luthor would have predicted or something. And fitted quite nice with vampyreSun=dyingSuperman=dryiedHumanity.

18:40 / 24.06.06

Issue #4 will be Clark visiting Luthor in jail. He says in this very issue that he's going to get an interview with Lex.

Loved #4. Jimmy as the Ultimate CoolGeek. I'd so love to see an All-Star Jimmy ongoing. Grant really fucking rocks at writing super-reporters doesn't he? Jimmy Olsen is the Manhattan Guardian! For a day!

This issue really cemented what the All-Star line should be striving for. Bizzaros, Doomsday and Olsen all picked up out of the Superman Toybox and played with.

Also, Superman fighting giants. More of that, please.

18:56 / 24.06.06

This was so good words fail me, but I shall soldier on anyway and attempt to do it justice. This was just amazing, the plot, the characterisation, the silver age word bubbles on the cover.
The art alone would have made it worth buying: Clark's slumped shoulders in Perry's office, Jimmy's plus-four style short trousers (and argyle socks).
It made my day and reminded me why I still buy comics.

21:33 / 24.06.06

..and speaking of the art.

that one panel of superman streaking off into the sky after leaving perry's office. understated yet powerful. it conveyed more than a drawing filled with speed lines, clenched fists and gritted teeth could ever hope to.

re: in drag. jimmy as cat grant for a day?

was jimmy asking *US* what p.r.o.j.e.c.t. stands for?

loved the titans and B. clones launched from their silos.

doomjim's speech bubbles with bone spikes!

jimmy covering up for his pal was quite touching.

and for those that think frank draws ugly women. i would just point them towards lucy in that last panel. adorable.

jamie's coloring. just...jamie's coloring.

thanks for my smiles G. F. n' J.!

now for the waiting *argh* until next issue and luthor.

22:41 / 24.06.06

I like calling it "Morrison's Supes". Sounds like we're drinking something out of his kitchen.

(Although I used to like calling it "A.S.S." 'cause when said out loud sounded like a cool "S". So iconic somehow)

23:42 / 24.06.06

It seems to me that P.R.O.J.E.C.T. is funded by Lex Luthor, and that all of these mishaps will end up as part of his master plan.

Poisoned by Sun, Get killed by Lois, Lose Lois to morons/Atom-Hotep, Get poisoned by Black K then killed by Jimmy Olsen/Phantom Ray...

He may even *BE* Leo Quintum.

00:39 / 25.06.06

Is the whole 'descent into the underworld' thing one of Hercules' 12 labors? I know it's often part of the hero's journey...here we have Supes going into a literal underworld for a short period of time, after which he goes into a spiritual/psychological underworld by becoming eeevil.

Just trying to see where this fits into the '12 labors' structure.

"spin the [gravity] bottle'....heh. Also, love the infinity sign in the bank account.

12:56 / 25.06.06

Also: naked Jimsday hugging a prone Superman. Mmm. Yes.

15:06 / 25.06.06

The only labor that includes a "descent into the underworld" aspect is the capture of Cerebus, but that doesn't really fit. Given that Supes actually loses in this issue, none of the Labors really fit.

17:50 / 25.06.06

I agree. I reckon this issue is all about Jimmy and his friendship with Supes and what that says about Superman's character.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

02:10 / 26.06.06

Well, the series is about a lot of things, and the myths are more like background radiation to the main plots. And all the myths that have shown up in the series so far have been subverted:

Hercules steals the golden apples from the sun but develops incurable cell disintegration.

Bluebeard's wife is the villain of the piece and Bluebeard's evil room is where he keeps her birthday present. (Incidentally: the Unknown Superman = the Oracle at Delphi?)

Phaethon gets to ride the solar chariot without killing anyone, or Helen ends up loving Odysseus (the clever) after the footraces rather than Menaleus. Also, if you follow from the Unknown Superman as the Pythia, well, then you follow to the next piece of the Oedipal myth - Super-Oedipus against the Ultra-Sphinx.

So #4 - Hercules goes mad and tries to kill his family only one of his own monsters comes in and stops him. And if you follow along with the assumption that Luthor planned this, that makes Luthor=Hera. I like the idea of Superman into the Underverse being Hercules going to the Underworld for Cerebrus; especially because he himself is the Cerebrus he brings back, a Black Kryptonite-irradiated Bizarro Superman Cerebrus.

Incidentally, if there's going to be that Bizarro Plague, possibly it stems from the Black Kryptonite, which seems to induce radiation poisoning in the form of Bizarro degeneration.

ONLY NICE THINGS

07:22 / 26.06.06

Hmmm - hadn't thought of Heracles Mainomenos for this one. But I think, if it's anything, it's the rescue of Theseus from Hades, isn't it, with Olsen as Heracles and Superman as Thesues? Which is not one of the labours, but did take place during one...

10:45 / 26.06.06

I'm going to hold off on assigning this one to Cerebus, because I have reason to believe Supes may return to the Underverse before the series is over.

17:40 / 29.06.06

Heh, I liked. Especially the Whizzer & Chips bit where the hero gets tickets from the people he's saved who just happen to be millionaires. I was half expecting the next page to be Jimmy walking out of a tuck shop laden with sweets and a "reader's voice" balloon commenting on his good luck.

20:50 / 01.07.06

Especially the Whizzer & Chips bit where the hero gets tickets from the people he's saved who just happen to be millionaires. I was half expecting the next page to be Jimmy walking out of a tuck shop laden with sweets and a "reader's voice" balloon commenting on his good luck.

Definitely.
"Slap up feed; slurp sloo; not a word readers."

03:24 / 15.07.06

Is the #1's first page the haiku that scientist is working on? And is the adjective+noun pattern intentional? And is the superman "sunny splash" (*) a continuation of that pattern that should silently ring in our heads(afterall, "super man")?

I mean, this comic is definitly the modern haiku about some taoist unified field, the Solar-Prerrogative Positive DNA, the "There's Always a Way" and "Only nothing is impossible" (it always reminds me of the gone-away heroes from Flex). But I wonder if the baldie is consciously playing with that, or he's unintentionally trancing down these hymns as he talks to the Sun (both when it's born and when it's setting). I wonder how those Castañeda's sun-meditations might have it's place in the writing of this comic book, or what other practices (or alchemical, arthurians concepts he sometimes dwelled on -- dark-vampyre-sun, disfigured princes, royal weddings of Kings and Queens etc).

If somebody goes into that GM's appearance in San Diego, somebody could ask these types of questions (he'll be the bald guy in the front). I mean, this comic book is seriously invoking Godimages by stating Superman's true place and meaning (by being it, not talking about it).

(*)I like "sunny splash". Goes with the notion of "The Sun as a positive-cycle soothing-hope revitalizing-heirs warm-eletric-honey on slow-spray bathing us" this comic's all about (even though it is about it's death -- or even more about that when it's about it's death, 'cause even then: "there's always 'a way'").
("...riverun...")

06:00 / 15.07.06

i didn't like #04 as much as the previous ones, but it's getting better and better in further readings, faster than a speeding bullet I must say.

all those crazy Olsen adventures condensed here... Superman was almost not important - but then Grantely [sorry] manages to prove in simple strokes how that's a big deal for Jimmy and everybody else. he's Superman's pal, damnit! his life's so cool we have no idea.

12 issues will not be enough... there should be at least 6 more, if only so we can see Jimmy in full drag.

and why haven't DC solicited a collection of the first 3 issues? it could sell like hotcakes. even a cheaper jump-in edition of #01 [in newsprint?] could do good business or just being handed out at special stands.

RETURNS has just opened in Brazilian theaters and I just finished watching a back-to-back rerun of SUPERMAN 1 and 2 on cable. the Glasgow boys have borrowed more from those movies than just the oranges spotted at the end of #01. it all just blends so well my nerd genes cheered.

great caesar's ghost!

18:26 / 15.07.06

Hector, I remember hearing plans for a TPB of the first 6(?) but when the 12 are all done, the lot'll be out in hardback for eveyone's perusal and enjoyment, forever.

16:06 / 16.07.06

thanks for the tip, Jamie. maybe it'll be on time for the DVD. I'm all for publishers/authors capitalizing on sales for the material's original media with other media tie-ins.

[hope that makes sense]

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

04:54 / 17.07.06

Having seen the movie, finally, this week, I picked up a weird symmetry between the Ultra-Sphinx's quantum uncertainty trap [dead/alive] & the "Superman Dead!" future headline and the scene in the movie between Perry and Richard, with the alternative headlines of "Superman Dies" and "Superman Lives." I like that. I like that a lot.

The opening pages as unified field haiku - enh. It's a cute idea and even works if you assume "Sun Splash" as the final two syllables, but what does it have to do with the unified field theory? It's more Supermanku.

So...#5, coming soon to a theatre near your brain. Clark Kent in the Big House, presumably to interview the Man of Evil, Lex Luthor hisself. Will he gain respect for the plight of the Phantom Zone criminals?

11:35 / 17.07.06

nice one, Papers. journalists more often than not live in the realm of quantum possibilities... until the wave collapses. i loved that as well, as I did love most of the scenes at the Daily Planet in RETURNS.

to tell the truth, my overall impression of the movie was so "meh, another wasted opportunity" that I'm glad we have all*supes... who needs flawed movie adaptation of comics when the comics themselves are good like this?

sorry for the threadrot.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

15:24 / 17.07.06

Well, at least All-Star Luthor has the right scope to his plan - screwing with the sun itself! To induce world-wide water shortage! Giving him a monopoly. Rather than some dodgy crystal growing at the bottom of the sea.

16:30 / 17.07.06

Rereading these the other night (even #'s are bestest by far) it finally struck me why Samson's 'Yo-ho' was so familiar. He's Raoul from the Diet Irn Bru ads, eh?

20:57 / 17.07.06

I thought it was a pirate thing ("yo-ho yo-ho a pirate's life for me!") since the bastard is all about buried treasures.

Question aside, was Atlas supposed to unconsciously sound as a overcompensating Gob-Tobias from Arrested Development with all it's double-entendres? His first line to Lois Lane is all about "ooh you make a man very horny", the 2nd was "I'd give a big wank for you!" (I'll crush diamonds in my fist so you can drink!? C'mon!) and the final "How about we wrestle?"...
The first time I read it sounded like Morrison was playing on the homoerotic-herculean key he mentioned in Flex (I remember when I read for the first time in thinking, "aww no! fellow strongmen wrestling on the floor this'll be" when I sensed the intentions those two had. Thank God it all ended quite simple -- with a plus aside, the ego-clashing Invisibles-theme with the penetration-penetrated motif).

PS: and wassup with Samson? Taking a girl to see the crucifixation on a date? A car called Chronomobile (I kinda got that one, with all the middle-aged supercars and deathDrive superpenetration, but still...). That would be as creepy as a dinner on the Titanic -- altough I think Super's obsession with all that wreckDeathGallery was more in terms with "Fell-From-The-Horse-Now-Get-Up" (each one of them was a SupermanPioneer dying, but something was learned from each "death").

21:36 / 17.07.06

Don't see why it can't be both Sha*am. Raoul's full catchphrase is 'Yo-ho ladies!', so that works too. Also, wouldn't be the first Morrison/Quitely tribute to the horrible orange drink; there was a billboard in Genosha, New X-Men #115.

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