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Very true about how we haven't seen yet by issue 6 Superman laying out a punch. I thought of many reasons for each occasion, but issue 3 has in my particular viewing the best one. And there's also the -- what it seemed to me, younger -- overtly soldier-like Superman of A.D. 853,500 that fights young Superman. "You can't resist me", and stuff. Both sound extremely foolish in each of their eagerness and measuring powers around (though YoungSups seems more chilled with the almost-joke "But I have my dog"). Just like the insecure black kryptonite Superman from #4.
Yeah, Chronovore's threat seems only thematic and goes a longer distance than simply "we must stop it". It's basically what I think was YoungClark's defeat and AllStarSups' victory, as one yells to the other to "let go" (as one of them too youngly overenthusiastic trying to pull the chains on time itself -- and for that very reason losing three minutes; while the other gets to, literally or not, Meet His Father/ find accordance with his father's spirit, essence, memory or his Will etc). Each "Labor" (almost one step in, as said before, fixing up the house. Always brings me to those 12 Steps of the A.A.) seems like knowing which fight is good, worth it, and which fight is about not fighting/"fighting". A very personal and intimate sweet story about a man attending to his own garden. Still think though that some labors is about the reader's own journey and choices in his reading as well (like filling the blanks on "how they 'won' over Chronovore", for instance).
The themes of surrendering, being open, vulnerable, of acceptance, of friendship, invitingly reaching out to people. A*Superman seems like about being taoisticly a Cup instead of a masturbational male power fantasy games of the Lance ("Superman is a dick" when a insecure alien with huge key, and demeaning and trying to bully all others -- Lois, Jimmy etc -- to second banana).
Basically I see it as a purging of all the stories, motifs, myths, subtexts and symbols of male "adolescence" in grimgrittyness and basically all things around it to play with what's more important and fun about Superman and stories overall, without falling prey to simplistic weakly critique.
(while I write this, I just read in a comic blog news that Marvel will put out a gritty rusty-spiked S&M Spawn-like character whose name sounds a bit too much like... well, his name is "Penance". I might buy those issues just to see those Marvel's type of dramatic "big speech balloons for just red-bold name" on some main character's yelling in mid-battle, just so I can try to imagine what's on people's head around that character. Ok, drunken wondering gone too far beyond pertinent point).
It's really satisfying to read each comic. Cheesy but true sentence: I was pretty much convinced for a few years I'd never get a better reading on the subject (or a better comic) than Flex Mentallo (well, this is almost a direct sequence in my view).
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(on another note, was reading #1 again. I just noticed how blowhard dramaqueen Lex says "I'm reaching critical MASS" while in that psychotic MESS of a room. Don't know why, just thought it was cute) |
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