So is Superman readable yet?

[Lord Voldemort]

I've never been the biggest superman fan. To be honest he's too perfect, too dutiful, too rigid. Yet in group books he's a nice character to read. He's a nice character to read when he cameos as well. However as a solo character, his stories are stagnant.

That being said, I gave him a shot, and found some of his work passable. But they're making him a bit too super for my tastes. I stopped reading the series when he was on a plane, reading microscopic books at the speed of light while travel because his powers were evolving even further. How much more perfect does the character need to be?

So tell me? Is he interesting and conflicted? If he fun?

I don't think I'm along in feeling this way: unimpressed with an icon.

 

[Aristotle]

Of course you're not alone. It's been the popular, trendy way for comic-book readers to talk about Superman for, oh, at least twenty years.

 

[The Leaguer]

All the reasons you're not a Superman fan are the reasons I am a Superman fan.

That said, the Superman comics are terrible right now.

 

[Aristotle]

I don't know, Action's been pretty good lately with this current arc. At the very least, there might finally be some resolution to the Mystery of the Two Legions (I say that without having read 860 yet.)

Superman is pretty bad though. Insect Queen. Pfff.

 

[The Leaguer]

No, Action has been horrible. The first issue of the Legion story finally caused my disgust to overcome my curiosity.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Just ignore Leaguer, Action is great right now. He just hates it because Johns is on the book.

 

[Aristotle]

I'm aware of the automatic-Johns-hate breed, and I'm also aware of the sad self-parody that Leaguer has become.

I remember back in the days of the buildup to Infinite Crisis, when he had actual things to say. Those were good times in general, really. Good couple of years.

 

[The Leaguer]

Just ignore hippie_hunter. He just dismisses what I say because he can't fathom that people don't like Johns.

The book is lame. Johns hasn't a clue about how to make Superman interesting, and his take on Bizarro was embarassing to read.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Just ignore hippie_hunter. He just dismisses what I say because he can't fathom that people don't like Johns.

The book is lame. Johns hasn't a clue about how to make Superman interesting, and his take on Bizarro was embarassing to read.

No, I can fathom people hating Johns.

You just simply hate Johns because he brought back Hal Jordan (whom you hate with an extreme passion) and making him cool while screwing Kyle Rayner (one of your favorite characters) over.

Raping of Kyle's character aside, everything Johns is doing (Booster Gold, Action Comics, Green Lantern, and Justice Society of America) is fantastic right now.

 

[The Leaguer]

I love how you just dismiss everything I say because you made the moronic assumption that I only hate Johns because of Hal.

 

[Aristotle]

Kyle hasn't been raped. I roundly disagree with that whole canard that's been going around. So he had a rough patch there for a little bit. It's all smoothed out now, and he's one of the guys again. No problem.

 

[antonydelfini]

RECOMMENDED READING
1. ALL-STAR SUPERMAN
2. ACTION COMICS

Both are at the top of their game Voldemort. And by the way, I hated Superman before too (the thought of a super-goody hero with good moral values gave me a fit), but when I watched Superman 1 and II, then read the comics, I fell in love with this character. Superman sucks when they try to make him cool and badass and dark. He's at his best when his moral values show even when throwing it down with a villain.

 

[The Leaguer]

No, definite problem. At the risk of perpetuating hippie_hunter's idiocy, Kyle had his ongoing taken from him and given to Hal (a vastly inferior character) and then had his status as Ion taken from him, the whole time being depicted as inferior to Hal in every way.

 

[Aristotle]

As a huge Kyle fan, I didn't feel that he was portrayed as inferior in any way. It's a shame he had to lose his ongoing, but there was really nothing else that could have happened, once they were committed to doing Rebirth. It would have been nice to see Kyle on the League, Hal in the solo book, and John and Guy in the Corps, but I guess that's not to be. Oh well. Kyle's turn will come around again.

 

[Aristotle]

the thought of a super-goody hero with good moral values gave me a fit.

The problem with the world, with America, and with superhero comic books, summed up in a sentence.

 

[antonydelfini]

No, definite problem. At the risk of perpetuating hippie_hunter's idiocy, Kyle had his ongoing taken from him and given to Hal (a vastly inferior character) and then had his status as Ion taken from him, the whole time being depicted as inferior to Hal in every way.

Im not trying to mock you leaguer, im really unfamiliar with GL but Im planning on finally immersing myself in the GL monthly book and TPB's so Im really interested to find out what makes Kyle superior and Hal inferior? The only thing i know is that Kyle is a quiet guy and an artist, and Hal is cocky and flamboyant.

 

[The Leaguer]

Basically, Kyle is interesting and Hal is boring.

 

[Aristotle]

If you grew up on 90s comics, Kyle is superior. End of story. If you grew up on comics before the 90s, Hal is superior. End of story. Me being a 90s kid, Kyle is my favorite. Also, his story as Green Lantern is very markedly different from that of Hal. While Hal was a story of an individualist and cocky iconoclast of sorts making his way to the top of the field in an interstellar police force sworn to protect the universe, Kyle was a story of a lone defender of justice in a universe taking a decided turn for the darker. Kyle was a torchbearer for a proud legacy that had been all but snuffed out.

I suppose one could make an argument that such a story is a bit more unique and original and interesting, but one could probably make the opposite argument.

Kyle's my Lantern because I grew up with him. Same reason Wally's my Flash and Conner's my Superboy and Tim's my Robin and Cass is my Batgirl. And same reason that I will just never particularly care about the Justice Society's current Starman.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

If you want to talk about self-parodies, Starman's a good place to start. I really hate how Johns is pulling the "crazy guy = funny" card with him every chance he gets. I'm enjoying JSA as a whole at the moment, but there have been a lot of little things since the relaunch that have irked me, which are made all the more annoying by how good the series is outside of those stupid things.

Anyway, regarding Kyle and Hal, Kyle was portrayed as inferior consistently throughout the Sinestro Corps War. BrianWilly went over the points pretty well in his reviews for each issue, so I won't belabor them here. I do take issue with the idea that Kyle had to lose his title simply because of Rebirth, though. Clearly, that's not the case, as Ion sold almost as well as Green Lantern Corps for most of its run, and DC's clearly interested in making a major franchise out of the GL titles. I'm sure a lot of people would've continued buying Ion if it'd stuck around past its twelfth issue. I know I would have, and I'll even admit that it wasn't initially as good as I'd hoped it would be. Marz really seemed to be finding his legs towards the end with Kyle being a bridge between the somewhat walled off GL universe and the goings-on of the greater DC universe. Kyle's still very much a compelling lead character, and it's a shame to see him relegated to just another character in the ensemble cast of GLC now, and without the powers that he rightly deserves, to boot. Being "one of the guys" is a demotion for him, after all.

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

Action comics is great right now, busieks superman started off strong..but sucks big time imo.

camelot falls was the only good storyline.

 

[The Leaguer]

Why do you even post anymore.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

We've been trying to figure that out for a while.

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

do i? or do i just simply type?

 

[The Leaguer]

Why don't you try that? Type what you were going to say, but instead of hitting post reply, hit the little black X at the top-right of the window.

 

[Aristotle]

I don't dislike JSA's Starman, he just doesn't do anything for me. He's had some genuinely clever and funny moments (crazy people often ARE funny), but the problem is that the whole crazy thing sort of limits him from any sort of dimensionality. He's just a one-trick pony that will eventually get old.

Even if he wasn't, however, he's not my Starman. Jack Knight is my Starman.