The Official Superman Thread - Part 5

[Nicko-Ray]

I thought Secret Origins was good but I prefer Birthright and Earth One to that. To me Johns and even Morrison just seemed like they were trying to hard.

Oh Earth One is awesome. Out of those three, Earth One really stands out to me and may be my favorite.

I guess I had a bunch of expectation for Birthright, which is a bad thing to go in with.

 

[Superman Earth1]

Oh Earth One is awesome. Out of those three, Earth One really stands out to me and may be my favorite.

I guess I had a bunch of expectation for Birthright, which is a bad thing to go in with.

Birthright for me will always remain special because to me I see it as the way Smallville should've ended instead of the way it did end. Please much like Earth One Birthright was suppose to be ongoing as the start of DC Ultimate line.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

Birthright for me will always remain special because to me I see it as the way Smallville should've ended instead of the way it did end. Please much like Earth One Birthright was suppose to be ongoing as the start of DC Ultimate line.

Oh I agree on the Smallville. What I like about Birthright is it's length. It's really a solid round up of the beginning. Smallville was too "pre".

Wait DC was supposed to have an ultimate line?

 

[Superman Earth1]

Oh I agree on the Smallville. What I like about Birthright is it's length. It's really a solid round up of the beginning. Smallville was too "pre".

Wait DC was supposed to have an ultimate line?

Yea Birthright was billed as the start of the Ultimate DC line but somewhere in between it became the new origin of regular Superman. However now Earth-One is looked upon as the Ultimate DC line. But originally Birthright was suppose to be the start of that which is why Lana Lang fate was left as a mystery as well as a few other things.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

Yea Birthright was billed as the start of the Ultimate DC line but somewhere in between it became the new origin of regular Superman. However now Earth-One is looked upon as the Ultimate DC line. But originally Birthright was suppose to be the start of that which is why Lana Lang fate was left as a mystery as well as a few other things.

Interesting. Good to know. Thanks.
I thought the way Lana was left in Secret Origin was a bit loose ended as well.

But yeah I can definitely see Earth One being seen as the ultimate line. I really love that universe. And the art too. Whew. Can't wait for vol 3

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

I think Earth One has left a lot to be desired so far, but I'm eagerly awaiting Wonder Woman, and I wonder how Superman's costume will look in III.

 

[NosfeRomas]

Morrison's Wonder Woman Earth One will be spectacular. It is my most highly anticipated DC book along with Damien Wayne. On Fatman On Batman he gave some hints on what to expect and i got super excited for it.

 

[flickchick85]

I MUCH preferred Birthright over Secret Origin. It had much more of its own take on the story, imo. And I just think Waid's writing in general is stronger than Johns'.

Haven't read Earth One, though. I've heard so many mixed things.

 

[HighFivingMF]

I like Johns more than Waid generally. But Birthright > Secret Origin.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Earth One has some good stuff, but generally, I thought it was rather bad when everything was said and done. Some of the writing was just flat out bad, too. Never did read Volume 2.

 

[NosfeRomas]

Earth One was pure fun for me. I didn't expect anything amazing or groundbreaking and i was very pleasantly surprised.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I kept my expectations pretty low, especially after JMS's insanely lackluster Wonder Woman and Superman runs (well half runs, I guess), but I still found it kind of bad. The best part to me was how he had Clark Kent looking for other ways to use his powers in the beginning. That was pretty cool, and not something I'd seen, but it went by so quick it was hardly anything. Though the whole book seemed to just breeze by. Davis on art was the main saving grace to me.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

Vol 2 is great as well! Superman' struggle against Parasite was riveting.

 

[Cain]

Birthright is much better than Secret Origin if you ask me. It's a lot more inventive and it resonated a lot more with me. I'll put it this way I haven't read either since they were first published yet I still recall a lot from Birthright like I last read it yesterday. I can't seem to really remember anything from Secret Origin and that was 3 years ago compared to 9 for Birthright.

I suppose Secret Origin has good art but it has no heart and felt very disingenuous. At the end of the day pretty pencils and inks aren't everything. I would buy posters instead of comic books if that's all I wanted. It felt like Johns was really playing it safe. Rushing through it with no sense of organic cohesion while still giving every single type of Superman fan what they want so they won't be mad.

Trying to cater to everybody while ironically only catering to a few in the end anyway. Simply because he didn't want to have detractors like the other previous 2 origins did and sacrificed originality and interesting subversions for it unlike Waid and Byrne. In the end it becomes a cluster**** with no real identity.

It was just pastiches of better Superman works being spread across a few issues. Birthright felt more personal. Really felt progressive and like a new take on a familiar story that wanted to add something more to the formula. It didn't just rehash old tropes and spend it's time winking at the audience.

It had guts and even when it made a call I didn't really identify with I could still respect it for it's inventiveness and sincerity in execution. It stood by it's own convictions and did it in plausible and logical ways. It was smoother writing. Also Birthright was more impactful, we had almost a decade with it as a backdrop who's details got subsequently tweaked. Secret Origin was outdated and and superfluous within a year of publication.

I think Johns did much better work with origin concepts in things like Action Comics #850 and Action Comics Annual #10. Those felt more creative and inventive and more personal while still paying homage. Those issues gave new layers to familiar concepts something Secret Origin didn't really do since it just felt like Superman: Greatest Hits.

Superman: Earth One is harmless to me. Nothing completely god awful (though sociopath Parasite's origin was kinda cringe inducing with it's cliches) but nothing really all that special either. Still interesting enough that I keep buying them because I did end up getting Vol. 2 as well after all.

To me it feels more like what JMS has always wanted to say with the character than Grounded ever did. It's also more inventive and to it's credits has added some interesting new twists to the old Superman conventions too. It feels like this is his take of what Superman would be if he created it for today and that's pretty much the idea anyway so it works well enough. I find it more engaging than Batman: Earth One actually.

 

[Spade]

Secret Origin started off good, then went downhill once Clark moved to Metropolis.

I really enjoyed Morrison's approach, starting off running and explaining as it goes along. It felt like what the Man of Steel movie wanted to do, but sans the belief that Clark has to dwell on his feelings of detachment and disaffection in between the fisticuffs.

 

[Hush]

The Action Comics Annual was awful.

 

[Panthro]

Birthright is much better than Secret Origin if you ask me.

I would most definitely agree that Mark Waid's Birthright is vastly superior to Geoff Johns Secret Origin. With Secret Origin it just felt like Johns heart wasn't really in it and he just phoned it in with no real effort, like they basically forced him to sit down and write it against his will. Compare that with Waid's Birthright where you definitely feel Waid's energy and determination to do the story right and bring new ideas to the table. With Johns it felt like his thinking was "There is really no point writing yet another version of Superman's origin" and it shows in the story's sloppy, disenchanted execution.

 

[Compi716]

For those who are still following along with the monthly Superman books, two things just happened:

1. This week's Action Comics (a "Zero Year" tie in) was pretty great, in my opinion. It showed a young, cocky Superman learn some humility, and added new elements of the Clark-Lana Lang relationship.

2. In Superman last week it was revealed that the thread from Perez's run was continued, and [blackout]Lois knows Superman is Clark[/blackout]. I'm looking forward to seeing how this storyline progresses, and hopefully DC editorial doesn't get in the way to make sure everything sucks.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

Anyone pick up Unchained #4? That was yesterday right?

 

[NosfeRomas]

Everybody go pick up Action Comics #25 ! It was awesome !

 

[Hush]

Everybody go pick up Action Comics #25 ! It was awesome !

This and Unchained were ****ing awesome.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

Currently reading All-Star Superman for the first time. Supposedly it's you know, god sent. Barely started but it's definitely different from the Supes books I've read so far.

 

[Tron Bonne]

It's truly an amazing story, but based on some of the stuff you've said you've liked...I'm going to guess it's not your cup of tea. For instance, it's basically the polar opposite of what JMS attempted with Earth One, like galaxies away as far as takes on the character.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

It's truly an amazing story, but based on some of the stuff you've said you've liked...I'm going to guess it's not your cup of tea. For instance, it's basically the polar opposite of what JMS attempted with Earth One, like galaxies away as far as takes on the character.

I see. I'll keep an open mind. I like the aesthetics so far and I tend to care a lot about that. And plus, I'm trying to soak in the many different takes of the character.

 

[ares834]

I'm fairly conflicted on Superman/Wonder Woman 2. It really hyped up Superman (which is great!) but it was at the expense of Wonder Woman and her cast.