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Underground > Comic Books >

D.C. Showcase Presents...

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22:23 / 02.06.09

Um seriously did you READ the Superman volume? OK, he occasionally fights a bank robber, but he spends most of the book coming up with complexly insane ways to convince various people he isn't Clark Kent, and/or being transformed in complexly insane ways. The whole thing is complexly insane! Favourites so far: the opening story! Don't want to spoil this but so great, who is the mysterious intruder in the Fortress of Solitude? And what prank will Superman use to overcome him? And The Lady and The Lion - Superman is turned into a half-lion creature - a transformation he finds weirdly humiliating - but still manages to fight crime and entertain orphans! But what will Lois say when she realises he's not the man he used to be? Who knows - you'd think she'd still be pissed at him since he spent the last issue pretending he was going to marry her, only for it to turn into an elaborate prank.

Weirdly, I can see kids not liking these - a lot of them are badly plotted romance stories with inane SF elements - but I think they read real well for a contemporary adult audience.

10:47 / 03.06.09

Some Comic shop owners I've talked to tell me these are very popular amongst parents buying something for their kids. Probably the value thing. But a whole generation of little minds are having thier heads twisted with this stuff.

The Superman collections are on an another level to the other books. There is just so much going on in them. Superman is a scientist, philanthropist, orphan, alien, farmboy, time-traveller, member of intergalactic superhero police team, lover of many fine women, dreamer, artist, surrogate father, avuncular prankster etc etc. Oh and an occasional superhero.

The first story in vol 1 is a masterpiece. My favourite bit is that he paints distant galaxies using x-ray/super vision. He paints them on big canvases with a really long-handled brush so he can reach the top. "Hey dude, you can fly, remember"

Janean Patience

20:04 / 21.07.09

Superman Family v1 in Daily Planet headlines:

LUMBERCAMP HOAX EXPOSED BY JIMMY OLSEN
DIAMOND MYSTERY SOLVED BY JIMMY OLSEN AND SUPERMAN
SUPERMAN AND BOY PAL NAB BANDITS
CUB REPORTER FOILS BOOK THIEVES
WELCOME BACK, CITY SENTINEL
SUPERMAN'S PAL CAPTURES GUNMAN WITHOUT SUPERMAN'S HELP
MAGICIANS ELECT SUPERMAN HONORARY "KING OF MAGIC" FOR BRILLIANT CRIME TRICK
JIMMY OLSEN AND STAR FLASH WIN BY HAIR
JIMMY OLSEN SAVES SUPERMAN WHO SAVES CITY
BOYS MAKE BIG "STRIKE" -- FIND THE TRUTH PAYS OFF
JIMMY OLSEN METROPOLIS MARBLE CHAMP
CROONER OLSEN IS BOBBY-SOX FAVOURITE
CROONER OLSEN BOOED! NOW JOBLESS
JIMMY OLSEN, CUB REPORTER, NABS DISGUISED EMBEZZLER
JIMMY OLSEN PERFECTS TIME RADIO
SUPERMAN AND HIS BOY PAL CRACK "UNSOLVED CRIME"
SUPERMAN SAVES EARTH FROM SPACE
ASTRONOMY SOCIETY OFFERS $50,000 PRIZE FOR ANSWER TO RIDDLE OF MARTIAN CANALS
JIMMY OLSEN CONTACTS MARTIAN "HAM"
HOW JIMMY OLSEN EXPOSED "CRIME SCHOOL"
FATHER-AND-SON CLOWN TEAM BREAKING BOX-OFFICE RECORDS
NO PROOF OF DINOSAURS ON MYSTIC ISLE!
CUB REPORTER MISSING!
INVISIBLE JIMMY OLSEN FOOLS CROOKS WITH "SUPERMAN" TRICKS
CUB REPORTER HURT CLIMBING TOWER
JIMMY OLSEN MATCHES CRIME BULLET, CONVICTING JEWEL THIEF
SUPERMAN AND JIMMY OLSEN PUT "SAHIB SIK" BEHIND BARS
RIDDLE REPORTER SAVES PRINCE
RIDDLE REPORTER FINDS LOST AIRLINER!
JIMMY OLSEN PROVES PLASTIC ROBOT UNSAFE
SUPERMAN FINDS GOLDEN METEOR
SUPERMAN SMASHES CRIME RING*
"MERMAN OLSEN" BRINGS UP SUNKEN LOOT
SUPERMAN'S STUNTS STARTLE WORLD
MYSTERIOUS "WONDER LAD" STOPS CRIME WAVE
SUPERMAN SAVES LOIS LANE
S.S PELICAN DOCKS AFTER STORMY OCEAN VOYAGE
GEOLOGIC MYSTERY
GIRL REPORTER THWARTS SUICIDE

* This generic headline appears in a scene where kids are throwing rocks at Superman for two straight pages and he does nothing about it.

07:19 / 22.07.09

He's Superman. Why would he have to do owt about rocks. Everyone knows when people throw things at Supe he just puts his hands on his hips. Haven't you seen the American Express advert?

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

04:45 / 27.07.09

Reading some of the Superman volumes, it's so clear to me that the editors thought their readers were utter idiots that I can't get more than a story or two into them before the contept for me as a reader drives me away.

However, the odder, quirkier Showcases are just a blast of fun. The Doom Patrol reads like a early 90's Vertigo book, with strange ideas filling the pages. Metamorpho is fun, but become repetitive quickly, almost as if they were making one of those 60's sitcoms like "I Dream Of Jeanie" or "Bewitched".

The ones I am really happy I got were the Mystery" ones. House of Mystery and House of Secrets show that Joe Orlando as an editor has been under-rated. The art in most stories is much better served by the black and white reproduction, with some really beautiful linework. The stories are also good for what they are, although the twists end up being pretty same-ish.

I just picked up Bat Lash, written by Sergio Aragones and drawn by Nick Cardy. A mix of the Spaghetti Western nihilism and Sergio's ability to set up a gag has made the first couple of issues much better than I ever could have expected.

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