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#1-
Standard model S-shield, ghosted by the original redesign that Quitely made. While the redesign might be sweet, sticking with the "classic" (ie standardized) model makes sense from an intertextual point of view.
#2-
Fortress of Solitude door - glimpsed in the background of a initial two-page spread, the Silver Age door was always, as far as I recall, a big gold rectangle with a keyhole; not an S-shield done in gold.
Superman Robots - they have golden frames with red inlay, and red S-shields on the back of their blue capes. Traditionally the Superman robots were near-identical to Clark in costume and look rather than these more robotic versions. This reversal is particularly interesting given the presumed artistic error of the non-reversed Bizarro S-shield on the title spread pages.
Kal Kent's descending gold circles, glimpsed in the Time Telescope's hologram. S-shield as reduced to pure iconic information devoid of obvious meaning (An "S" pattern), cross-reference with the Legion's Interlac icons -- Element Lad's Interlac "E" is only a vaguely gun-like shape unless you know the significance of it.
The Unknown Superman's "?" mark, S is for Secret. Is the "S" the important part of the S-shield, or is the Shield shape - the invulnerable diamond pentagon - is the important element? Also, the upper portion of the ? is reminiscent of the classically reversed Bizarro shield and consequently suggests a possible Horrible Fate for the Unknown Superman, or a redemption for a future Bizarro.
#3-
Superwoman's S-amulet - broach, cape fastener, S-as-accessory - crossreference the fasteners for faux big-brother Mon-El and faux-foe Captain Marvel. This amulet-style S-shield reflects the idea that Superman's given Lois his "mantle" to wear for the day and reminds us of the "mantle" to be passed down to successive Supermen as demonstrated with the Time Telescope in #2. As exemplified on the cover, Superwoman's "S" follows the "two fishes" school of S-Shields and the emphasis on negative space as much as figure. Also, it foreshadows the Golden Super-Yin Prime's shield later in the series. Instead of emblazoning her chest which is significant to Superman's strength, possibly, Lois has hers just below her throat, signifying her super-power -- her voice. Could make a Kabbalistic Abyss reference as well...plus there's also phallic diamond entering more vaginal circle if you wanted to go there.
Atlas's Earth-Broach/Shield. Not strictly an S-Shield, but runs as a counterpoint to Superman's Sun God existence with Atlas as the grunty Malkuth chthonic sexy figure.
#4-
It might not seem like much, but the scorched desk "S" vandalism is Black Kryptonite Superman's S-shield, Superman reduced to infantile tagging that mostly just copies a pre-existing model rather than truly being creative. S-shield associated with destruction and immaturity, confusion, despair, existential crisis.
#5-
Damn the baboon! Because if you deleted Leopold you'd have an Issue without S-Shields as spoken of in the Gospel of Lex Luthor. If you can ignore the baboon you can almost acknowledge the issue's S-shield absence is significant especially when taken up against the plethora next issue...
#6-
Kal Kent -- looking much younger than his Time Telescope projection -- with the reductive three gold circles. This is significant because, as it's not recognizably an "S," Superboy doesn't quite make the connection with his own legacy.
Unknown Superman ?-shield -- reflects the cold chill Young Clark feels upon shaking his hand.
Klyzyzk Klzntplkz's five-dimensional shield - Like looking at an S-shield through a Kaleidoscope, possibly, and suggesting more of a full diamond shape rather than the typcal pentagon. Busy and not classic which reflects the Super-Mite tendency to use gimmicks like the Hyperpoon and stray from the classic colour scheme with the purple derby.
Superwoman of the Future - she does look, costume wise, like the original Superwoman doesn't she? Kristin Wells? S-shield pentagon style but following the two-fishes rule as exemplified by Miss Lane.
Super-Yin Prime with his Yin/Yang shield - only the barest elements remain and effectively grafts one icon (S-shield) to another (Yin-Yang) and demonstrates Clark's eventual finding of serenity and transformation. The infector becomes infected with an outside idea after infecting Earth Culture for so long.
Superboy of the Future - Rare that it completely eliminates the gold completely without replacing it, at least, with Superman's blue; the triangle shape and the serifed S font suggests the much simpler, less streamlined Golden Age variants before the S-shield stabilized. The flexibility of the Superman Dynasty. |
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