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Superman
Ronin356
Nowhere MORegistered User regular
Nowhere MORegistered User regular
If Superman represents American, and Superman is now more vulnerable than his past self, does that mean that America is more vulnerable as well? That maybe America isn't the superpower it once was? And so our new Superman reflects our modern America?
It was a thought that I had whem I read Action Comics 1.
It was a thought that I had whem I read Action Comics 1.
Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small. We haven't time, and to see takes time - like to have a friend takes time.
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Georgia O'Keeffe
Be sure to like my Comic Book "Last Words" on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Last-Words-The-Comic-Book/458405034287767
and Magenta the Witchgirl!: http://www.drunkduck.com/Magenta_the_Witchgirl/
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Georgia O'Keeffe
Be sure to like my Comic Book "Last Words" on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Last-Words-The-Comic-Book/458405034287767
and Magenta the Witchgirl!: http://www.drunkduck.com/Magenta_the_Witchgirl/
But he's definitely back to Superman level in Justice League, so you may be thinking of this too much.
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I write about video games and stuff. It is fun. Sometimes.
I think he represents many ideals that are connected deeply with American ideals (or at least the highest interpretation of American ideals), but those ideals are not limited to the US.
Also he isn't less vulnerable because this is specifically shown as being in Superman's past before he developed his full powers. He is also depicted as growing in strength, should we take that as a metaphor for growing American strength? I don't really think so.
Or Uncle Sam. Doesn't he grow stronger proportional to the people's faith in America or something like that?
That is incredibly more accurate, yes.
Honestly, having only read the interviews and such, not the actual book, I can't comment too much. But I am curious to see how Superman's journey as a crusader for social justice, fighting against corporatists and the establishment, will actually end. At some point, it seems like he'll be forced to compromise, putting on a suit of armor and making nice with the government, joining the Justice League, etc.
It seems like that's where you'll see Morrison use Superman as a metaphor for today's world, where good-hearted optimists are always forced into compromise with cynical pragmatists, typically with little being gained.
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In the Dark Knight returns, Superman was represented in that book as the complete opposite of his golden age roots. He was a complete tool for the US goverment. Which is interesting to compare the two takes on Superman. Maybe the Dark Knight Superman compromised to much compare to this Superman?
Superman might as well be a metaphor for America. Just like the many immigrants who crossed the Statue of Liberty for a better life, Superman found himself in America. It is the ultimate immigant story and very American. Just like the hundreds of people who legally travel here to become American citizens for a better life.
I was thinking that since America is facing bankruptcy, recession, terrorism, and mass unemployment; It is feeling more vulnerable. If Superman was a metaphor for American? Maybe the Superman of our era such be more vulnerable and wear armor? Just to reflect our changing time. America is no longer the superpower it once was, now its China.
I was also thing that the armor of Superman is like the emotional armor that all Americans must put on to face the uncertainty of modern american life. If Superman was outdated and irrelvant before his reboot, wouldn't his good-hearted optimist new self make him even more an artifact of the past? I don't think people who have had their health insurance cut because of the ecomony feel the same good-hearted optismist? If you are Superman maybe you can't protect everyone? Maybe it's not possible without being stronger? People today are struggling to make ends met. So is Superman going to be like Olliver, the Green Arrow in the Green Lantern/ Green Arrow comics now? What is next? Sidekick drug use? I'm not sure people believe that one person can change the world now. Even if in history, it has been done. Just like Martin Luther King and Gandhi. We have a good hearted optimist in the White House. People have seen how much he has compromised on the stuff he has promised to get done.
Superman means different things to different people, and is open to multiple interpretations.
Georgia O'Keeffe
Be sure to like my Comic Book "Last Words" on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Last-Words-The-Comic-Book/458405034287767
and Magenta the Witchgirl!: http://www.drunkduck.com/Magenta_the_Witchgirl/
Also DKR Superman is terrible because Frank Miller can't write Superman to save his life
I dunno, Superman is one of those Superheroes who is frankly iconic and can be discussed with this depth and even much further. Superman as a metaphor for America is certainly a discussion that can be had.
DKR Superman is terrible though it's true.
Metaphor for America is too much like Captain America. Superman should always be the best of America/people in general, no matter what the times call for. If people are more jaded because of the times it's their own fault, don't drag Superman down with you. Now, always positive Clark in the face of angry people is a different story, and something that should be looked at more instead of making Superman lash out at "the man."
In all seriousness, whether direct and conscious or not, I agree with Solar and to an extent the OP (who I think takes it too far as a direct, intentional connection). These characters always reflect the world around us, and Superman and Captain America are at the top of that ladder because they were created directly in response to socio-political circumstances.
With the reboot isn't all that gone out the window again. I only ask because I remember that supposedly screwing up the Legion for decades after the original Crisis.
I swear the next time someone honestly tries to pull that one I might just scream "SUPERMAN IS GREAT SHUT THE FUCK UP" in their face.
But those are some crazy eyes right there
I guess the question is, what side of the line is she on?
like he is in my top 5 artists
but man he gives people crazy eyes sometimes
He draws really lovely stuff and his Superman art is usually beautiful
But those crazy eyes
they haunt my dreams
Great suction comes at a price my young friend. In time, that "crazy eyes" look, will be one you enjoy.
PEOPLE
so, if humans are exposed to a red sun, what happens?
I don't know Miller's intentions, but what I got out of it had to do with how the world he depicted changed and moved on from what Superman could effectively function in as he had in the past. You might be able to suggest that the implications of the Cold War immobilized Superman. I could definitely buy that he has been spending the last few decades on call for preventing nuclear holocaust from occurring, and doing his best to avoid anything that might rile the Soviets or anybody else. The book wasn't that interested in explaining his motivations, but I read it being Superman trying to fight the higher stakes of the Cold War within the context of the U.S. Government.
That, plus that ill-defined, Watchmanesque legislation that took place in DKR that kind of outlawed allowing public evidence of superheroics, or whatever that was.
But at the same time, I can't see him operating for the US government in that period. Especially because he'd be very aware of how the Russians might have percieved that, and thought it was a Superhuman arms race. Superman has always been pretty clear that he doesn't work for governments, he workswith them, and if the Russians had needed Superman's help then I think he woud definitely would have given it them. In the DKR this doesn't seem to be the case.
Like Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. So the V neck is just a V-neck.
Superman is Iconic. If the Dark Knight movie can be a parable about post 9/11, then Superman can be more than just a guy flying in his underwear! (Post- reboot). In the philosophy of Post Modernism, anything is worthy of literary criticism, even the back of a cereal box. Why not look more in depth in what is the first superhero??
Georgia O'Keeffe
Be sure to like my Comic Book "Last Words" on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Last-Words-The-Comic-Book/458405034287767
and Magenta the Witchgirl!: http://www.drunkduck.com/Magenta_the_Witchgirl/
And whores second.
It's close enough to the truth to be funny
He does have this weird attitude towards prostitutes about them all being powerful, liberated women
There is no excuse for referencing Shortpacked.
I've never read Shortpacked, just making a flippant remark.