#this is a major flaw of superman and lois

[cantsayidont]

Another dilemma with centering stories around the idea of Superman-as-immigrant is that while Superman is certainly an immigrant, and there is a substantial body of older Superman stories (mostly from 1958–1986) that present his homeworld and its culture as generally noble (and frequently Jewish-coded), it has become very common since the 1986 reboot for Superman media to treat Kryptonian culture as either decadent and corrupt (as in most of the post-Crisis comics) or actively invasive and evil (as in MAN OF STEEL or MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN).

In these stories, Superman has avoided this decadence or evil mostly by virtue of having been raised by white Americans in Kansas, and his nobility lies in his express rejection of his evil/corrupt heritage in favor of (white) American culture. These are intrinsically anti-immigrant narratives (and sometimes antisemitic as well), regardless of how much feel-good gloss the story may attempt to apply to it.

The first season of the current SUPERMAN AND LOIS TV show, for instance, plays out an alarmingly literal "Great Replacement" plot in which Superman's half-brother Tal-Rho attempts to carry out a genocidal scheme devised by Superman's eugenicist mother to resurrect Kryptonians in the bodies of living humans, while MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN presents Kryptonians as brutal invaders who have attempted to militarily conquer the Earth more than once. Neither of these series departs from the general details of Superman's origin, but they assert unequivocally that Superman being an immigrant from Krypton is of moral value only because it gives him super-powers that enable him to defend the American Way from others of his kind, and to uphold white culture in ways other Kryptonians do not or would not.

#comics #superman #it would of course be possible for superman to have #a complex relationship with kryptonian culture #but the modern stories have been very reluctant to do that #this is a major flaw of superman and lois #which tries to avoid talking about clark's feelings about his heritage as much as possible #in ways that don't seem realistic #(that show also suggests that clark and lois's sons are weirdly incurious #about the fact that their father is literally from another planet) #as for MAWS #i find its depiction of kryptonians as invaders and superman as a weapon disturbing #for these reasons #and because it's an homage to the iron giant #a movie i strongly dislike

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

I’m glad my asks are appreciated buddy :D anything to help your universe grow!

1: what is one villain they would avoid at any cost?

2: after watching Superman & Lois clips on YouTube, one of the boys said to Superman: what’s the dirtiest thing you ever heard? So my question is what’s the dirtiest thing the duo ever heard? or maybe just Chris since he has super hearing XD

3: how would the duo react if the other has died? How would they grieve? Fun fact, somebody asked me this question for my universe.

4: what is one of there flaws? Like Jake being too cocky during a fight for example. (Don’t know if he actually is)

5: what’s their favorite animal?

6: I’m actually running out of questions (ah oh) soooo for the giggles: who has the stinkiest farts? Gotta be Chris due to SUPER ones XD

It’s very appreciative that you help with it through these questions friend @pin-crusher2000

1) Probably Darkseid and Trigon for rather frankly obvious reasons. Well those two and Kite Man, the latter of which cause well they feel so bad for him

2) For Chris, that’ll be those few nights Clark and Lois were having one of their more ‘fun’ nights together while he’s trying to sleep but just couldn’t

For Jake, just about anytime he picks up on whatever his Uncle Jason, Detective Bullock and Captain Rohrbach mutter to themselves when frustrated, mainly a variety of cuss words

3) (Why yes, I’ve seen that. Deliciously painful XD) Both I can see temporarily drop their super heroics out of trying to grieve the loss of their best friend until further notice. Not that they’d actively stop helping people at all but not in a suit that’s a painful reminder of such a tragedy

As for individual reactions, Chris can likely slump into a major depression that only very few can ever get him out off. While laser focused on his schooling and daily routines, that spark of joy he’d have otherwise is long gone plus he’d suffer far far more nightmares combining Jake’s loss as a matter of it being his fault and of course his past life living under Zod. Its overall not a pleasant picture for him despite his attempts to hide it

For Jake losing Chris, he’d retreat to Mar’i and his secret ‘treehouse’, a lone asteroid with an artificial gravity and oxygen field overlooking Tamaran by himself a lot more often than normal where he can try to process his hurt and grief to varying degrees of success. As for his own powers, he can kiss those goodbye too as his emotions become so deaden by his loss that they’ve ceased functioning almost entirely. He just tries to live his best life and do his things despite this loss.

4) Jake can become too laser focused on his task and determined that it can ironically cloud his emotions which while it can be beneficial for a standard Batfamily member, since his powers are reliant on him using emotions, they can dampen by lack of their emotional input leaving him vulnerable to enemies that are far stronger than the average person

Chris can suffer from reluctance and lack of confidence in his abilities out of fear of them going out of control which districts him from Landing necessary knockout blows and counter attacks if his enemy is fierce in attacking him or those he’s trying to protect

And also both can end up snapping from anger and their powers can go out of control if pushed to that brink, leading to consequences not just for their enemies but themselves and especially innocents and allies that can get caught in the process

5) Chris: He’s very fond of an odd combination of both Orcas and Dogs. Orcas in that he finds them so majestic and lovely creatures in the wild despite their fierce reputation. As for dogs, I believe that both Krypto and Ranger (Jon’s Golden Retriever) influence him greatly for domestic pets

Jake: While Haley/Bitewing certainly gives him fond opinions and liking to dogs and the feline in his DNA (courtesy of Kory and Tamaraneans being descendants of feline ancestors) can relate well with cats big, small, wild and domestic, if he were to choose absolute favorites, it all be Penguins. Yes, Penguins, especially Emperor Penguins

6) why not, to indulge for once, in terms of sheer smell yes that honor would go totally to Chris, in particular after a small serving of beans or anything rich in fiber. Good thing the Kents have strong air fresheners to spray in the bathroom when that happens

#chris kent #jake grayson #starburst duo #sfw

[guddyburlz]

⁰⁰1. daisie kent-lane

background

daisie is a half-human, half-kryptonian girl who lives in the city of metropolis with her parents—lois lane (or kent-lane if you wanna get marital) and clark kent (not known to anyone else other than his family and close friends as superman). she was born and raised believing that she was a normal human being, but was aware of superman's existence for a long time. in high school, she starts to tap into her abilities, which were genetically passed down to her by clark.

clark and lois never felt the need to explain to daisie that clark and superman were the same person, as they weren't sure if she would have powers or even want to use them if she did. as daisie practiced with her abilities and started to get the hang of them, she developed the persona that she calls "byzantium," named after the shade of purple seen on her suit. she and superman would often end up bumping into one another while fighting crime, but never knew each other's identities.

daisie identifies as a lesbian and uses she/they pronouns.

abilities

inherited from clark kent (superman):

flight, superhuman durability, invulnerability, heat vision, superhuman strength, superhuman speed, superhuman hearing, superhuman sense of smell.

unique/not inherited by clark kent (superman):

lie detection — when people lie, either directly or indirectly to daisie, the nerves on their back briefly give off an uncomfortable physical sensation.

electrokinesis — daisie has the ability to control existing electrical particles and generate her own. the strength of the electrical energy she gives off depends on how long and how much of it she stores it in her body before expelling it. upon getting "electrocuted" or struck by an external energy, she can store or redirect it. this doesn't cause any pain.

weakness(es)/flaws:

like superman, byzantium's greatest weakness is green kryptonite. however, due to being half human, it doesn't make them as vulnerable as a full kryptonian.

a few of daisie's greatest flaws are their impatience, and their hate for being told to "sit back" or to "stay out of the way." she also dislikes being told that she's not needed, even if it's something as small as not being able to add to a project or not being needed somewhere at home.

relationships

lois lane (kent-lane) — biological mother

clark kent (kent-lane) — biological father

jimmy olsen — father figure (considering the fact that he's dating clark and lois)

ashanti hawks — best friend, love interest

murphy kent-lane — a white gerbil with golden brown points, house pet

byzantium — superhero persona

enemies

devil skater — devil skater is a rather young villain who often steals from large corporations in metropolis. they make their escapes with powerful metals, machines, blueprints, and sometimes even people, ranging from scientists to mechanics.

kid bolt — another young villain who occasionally teams up with devil skater. kid bolt is known for moving at extremely fast speeds and having cat-like agility. at some point, byzantium comments that despite not knowing kid bolt personally, it is clear that they are a physics major.

clark kent / superman (briefly) — during an argument with their dad about their identities, daisie grows a bit too aggressive and ends up attacking clark. when they leave (presumably to run away in the spur of the moment due to their overwhelming emotions), their father follows them as superman, which leads to them fighting above metropolis (it's more of daisie fighting and clark shielding himself in addition to preventing daisie from destroying anything in the city).

#guddypost #my adventures with superman #daisie kent #daisie kent-lane #mawsm #superman #superman oc #lois lane #clark kent #jimmy olsen #ashanti hawks #byzantium #superman byzantium #daisie #clark kent x lois lane #clark kent x lois lane x jimmy olsen #jimmy olsen x lois lane #clark kent x jimmy olsen

[bizarroidea]

I'm actually fairly new to superman comics overall, but you seem to have an investment in the character from a wide variety of places, and I've mostly only gotten the same two or three stories suggested when I ask (or just superman/batman stories. which are Fine some are good but I'm pretty neutral on them as a pairing which is a LARGE portion of Clark content in general)...do you have any recommendations for favorite Superman stories? feel free to put this ask aside if you don't want to go through the trouble. 👍

Thank you for asking my opinion, I appreciate it!

So I approached making this list by asking what I would give someone who's read all the typical introductory stories and wants to get a little deeper. But full disclosure, I haven't extensively read all eras of Superman, so this list only pulls from the late 2000s and a little from the bronze age.

Standalone issues:

Action Comics #847 - A story about Superman taking Pa Kent to space, written by Dwayne McDuffie. This story was a pivotal reason why I realised that I can't agree with people complaining about "silly silver age" aspects being brought back in modern stuff.

Action Comics #850 - I think this ties into a Supergirl arc I haven't read, but those aspects are just a framing device and it's not too obtrusive. It's essentially a "hits" of Clark's life and it's a good take.

Superman Annual #13 (2007) "The Best Day" - Just a cute little filler story about the superfam having a picnic on an alien planet.

Action Comics #884 - I'm recommending the Lois story. It takes place during New Krypton, but I don't think you need to read the whole event to get the gist of what's going on.

Superman 80-Page Giant (2010) - An anthology with no specific theme or timeline. The best stories are the first two, "Cold" and "Patience-Centred Care", but you can read the rest if you want. They're all decent!

Runs:

Superman: Confidential

A 14-issue anthology series from 2008. The first arc 'Kryptonite' is the best remembered, a decent story which portrays the characters as flawed; the second arc (#6-7) isn't great but still fun in a weird way (everyone in Metropolis gets turned into mermaids, what more could you want); and the rest is pretty good with some good character insights. The series definitely has STAS vibes, especially the artwork in the first arc which is by the same artist who did 'For All Seasons'.

Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns runs

Especially: 'Up, Up and Away!', 'Camelot Falls', 'Last Son', 'Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes', 'Brainiac'

Busiek just gets it. He's a very underrated Superman writer who handled just about every character well. Unfortunately, his run gets interrupted with Countdown tie-ins and James Robinson issues, which I tried to exclude from my doc as much as possible. (Robinson is better at writing Jimmy if that's any consolation).

Geoff John's run is decent as well, it ties into 'Secret Origin' as you might imagine. This era included the infamous reinvention/character assassination of Cat Grant, and also brought back Steve Lombard of all people as a member of the Daily Planet staff. But his writing of Clark, Lois and Kara is solid.

The 'Brainiac' arc leads into 'New Krypton', but I don't think you need to read that event because it had no lasting effects. The only story directing addressing it was 'Grounded', which is ooc and reactionary, and then the New 52 happened.

Link to my reading list for the era between Infinite Crisis and New Krypton.

Pre-Crisis:

This needs its own category because reading pre-crisis needs a different headspace. It's a separate canon as well as just a different context and stage of the character's history. I'm not reccing silver age stuff because I haven't read enough of it to be comfortable doing so.

DC Special Series #5 - A good "taster" of pre-crisis Superman. It has a fairly interesting conflict, and includes all the major characters so you get a sense of what was going on with them. And it has that particular brand of pre-crisis weirdness, which it is very sincere about.

Superman #296-299 - A story which explores the fracture between the Superman and Clark Kent identities, and has him come to a good conclusion about his identity imo. I think the first two parts are skippable, as #298 recaps what happened anyway. (But #297 does have the first clois hookup and the origin of boeuf bourguignon).

Action Comics #510-512 - You know that cover of Superman stealing Luthor's bride? That's from here. This story is fantastic though, it really steps up Luthor's level of evil with the reveal, but doesn't make him boring in the process. The whole thing gave me Morrison vibes.

And if you want to dive into origins after that, Action Comics #500 and the Superman: The Secret Years miniseries both delve into the backstory and psychology of bronze age Clark.

#I'll definitely change and update this in the future this is just what I'm feeling right now #superman comics #recs

[reganisdefinitelyprobablyhuman]

When an Episode about a French Gorilla and a Brain in a Robot Pulls at the Heartstring (MAWS episode 6 review)

Following the dramatic and controversial events of episode 5, the next episode “My Adventures with Mad Science” has been highly anticipated. With grievances still between them, mostly from Lois, Clark and Lois team up to search for a missing Jimmy. Meanwhile, Jimmy has been kidnapped and about to be executed by Monsieur Mallah, the superintelligent French Gorilla and his German robot lover, The Brain. However, despite their initial suspicions he is a spy that will bring danger, Jimmy strikes an unexpected friendship with the Mallah, who is delighted to show an excited and fascinated Jimmy around his lab, which reveals the world’s wild conspiracies are real. 

The continuation of the next storyline is strong. I like how they further developed Lois’ character and her shaken trust. On one hand, it’s important for Lois to understand that Clark hiding his secret identity is valid, yet it’s also valid that she would question everything, including Clark’s feelings towards her. This revelation about Lois’ thought process adds more depth to her character and makes sense considering her past with her father, a deceptive figure in her life. Nevertheless, he reaffirms his feelings through his act of bravery where he wasn’t sure if he was bulletproof but knew she wasn’t. 

This act of bravery also gave a lot of audience the fanserve of shirtless Clark, which further reinforces how MAWS has a prominent female gaze. The camera briefly gawking at Clarks’ abs and chest is a nice change after the several instances male gaze in superhero media, and in this case it's not even that gratuitous.

This episode further gives justice to Jimmy. While I haven’t read a lot of superhero media, I am aware that Jimmy Olsen has been a more minor character compared to Lois and Clark. In this episode, they give him more development by addressing his third-wheel status among the three. Furthermore, this episode proves he isn’t just a conspiracist, he’s a competent one. The narrative fills a plot hole where one would question how would a conspiratorial person NOT pick up his friend as a superhero alien, and the answer is that he notices, like, immediately. In a fun twist some fans predicted, Jimmy knew about Clark’s Superman identity all along, yet his decision to wait for Clark to reveal himself lends further dimensions to his character. He could’ve used Clark’s powers as real proof for his Flamebird project, but his friend was far more important to him. 

Mallah and the Brain are also super wholesome. Their sweet desire to find a place where they can love serves as a clear allegory to queer relationships, which is then extended to Clark’s identity as reconciles with his feelings of shame and confusion. Furthermore, because of said identity, he is seen as dangerous and hunted down. Another strong choice in terms of representation is that the couple received their happy ending. I saw some people predict the Brian and Mallah would have had to sacrifice themselves to save the main cast during the episode’s climax. However, they didn’t fall into any literal or literary black holes and stepped into (hopefully) a better world.

One moment I hoped for but didn’t see (yet?) is for Lois to recognize and apologize for her entitlement to people’s secrets. In the final scene, she still demands that Jimmy should’ve informed her about Clark. However, this episode was filled with other great moments like uncovering Clark’s fears about how people will perceive as an alien. I don't mind that this part was resolved. Because Lois’ relentless and flawed hunt for truth is such a major character trait, I think her realizing the boundaries pursuing the truth should be a more detailed arc. I think there could be one storyline where Lois witnesses how secrets can be a form of protection, and reveals could do more harm than good. 

The final scene does well to heighten the threat. The General (Lane) is on their tails with a now vengeful Ivo on his side. The ending fills me with dread of what is in store for characters later on but it seems with the next episode it will take a lighthearted break before the finale of the season.

#my adventures with superman #lois lane #clark kent #superman #jimmy olsen #episode review #episode 6 spoilers

[gainaxvel3o]

Fixing Teen Jon Kent

I was enjoying Superman Son of Kal-El for the first few issues. However, as the series went on, it’s gotten more criticism for it’s mediocre handling of Jon and awkward discussion of social issues that the book was perported to be fighting against. The DC Pride story featuring Jon hadn’t helped much either, as his “Pride is a party” thing only brought him more infamy- or antipathy- depending on your point of view. 

Some people clamor for him to go back to being a kid, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the answer. The main problem is that Jon is boring; He is the son of Superman, but he hasn’t had time to develop a fleshed out personality or interesting opponents during his tenure in Tom Taylor’s run on the character. For all that he’s supposed to be the Superman that tackles issues, most can agree he iisn’t living up to his full potential. Unfortunately, I think I can agree with that... one with major exception, but I’ll get to that later. I’m proposing some potential fixes

The obvious first step would be to get some LGBTQ writers to start having a go at him. So long as none of them are Devin Grayson, I think a good writer along those lines could bring some fresh perspective on the character that’s sorely lacking, as Tom Taylor has had the bulk of Jon’s comics run not exploring Jon’s sexuality as deeply as he could do. That seems right.

It’s ironic though, because Taylor’s writing of Jon in the annual actually did show a way he could be made more interesting:

The Jon presented in this annual is cocky. He is intelligent and clever, but there’s a bit of spunk to his attitude even as he’s trying to convince Lex to do the right thing. As one can see, Clark never plays Lex, but Jon takes advantage of the fact Luthor underestimates him to win and rubs it in a little. In a sense, you see he has as much of Lois’ genes in him as he does his dad’s kindness. Play this up more, have the son of Suerman have a reckless confidence that he can change the world, then give him problems that challenge that ala the New 52 incarnation of his father. Make him frustrated that he isn’t doing the changes like he wanted. Give him a mischevous side where he feels like he can troll with bad guys (like the way he took down the L on Lex’s building in the annual), and build stories on how that can bite him in the butt. Mostly, I think it would be great to have a rival or villain that brings out some of his moew flawed side. Give him a drive, and maybe stop having him ruin Pride parades, I think Teen Jon could get more fans.

I’m not sure I’m the only one that thinks that either. While the show’s treatment of him wasn’t perfect, Superman and Lois’ take on Jon also has a bit of that cocky streak I was talking about, and could serve as a basis for the character in the future. Jordan Elsass’ performance was able to provide balance of being a sweet, suffering older brother who’s always there to help his family, and a sometimes mean little shit who messes with Jordan, an energy that helped ground this take on the character even as Season 2 didn’t give him the best material to work with. More than a few people prefer him to be Superman’s successor over Jordan, so perhaps giving Comics!Jon more of this personality would be for the best.

Also, he should probably get a really big win in the near future. As of this moment, Clark Kent is off to liberate War-World from Mongul’s grasp, while Jon is strugling against a single man running a dictatorship. With that comparison in mind, it might be best for Jon to do something appropriately epic to show that he is worthy of the Superman name and deserves to be at the head of that legacy on Earth. Otherwise, too much mediocrity will drown out any other potential he possesses.

#Jon Kent #Teen Jon #Superman #Superman: Son of Kal-El #Comics #Opinion

[give-me-stuff-to-watch]

Watching Stuff Day 1 - 7/7/2023 - Current Streak: 1

I've been meaning to make myself watch more movies/shows lately since I've found that I haven't really seen all that many compared to my peers and want to broaden my horizons with media. I'm bad at keeping up streaks for goals I set for myself though (this isn't the first time I've tried to do this), and figure if I make this somewhat public then I'm more likely to hold myself accountable. So I'm aiming to both watch a movie/show-pilot I haven't seen yet and write about it here. I've done 2 years at tech school for animation and am majoring in animation when I start college, so I'm probably going to look slightly more into animated productions so I get more familiarity with media that I might end up being asked to use as reference for work in the future. So if you have any recommendations for shows/movies (especially animated ones), please feel free to send them to me! Don't think anything is too mainstream to recommend. I was very sheltered with what media I could watch as a kid which caused me to still not be too adventurous with what genres and media I watch/read now, so even if something is super popular, there's a decent chance I haven't seen it.

Now onto the actual show this first post is about. I decided to see the two-episode premiere of the new animated Superman show, My Adventures with Superman. I haven't seen many super hero shows/movies and only one of them I saw had Superman, so I went in not knowing much other than what I knew from cultural osmosis and a few video essays I had as background noise for work.

I ended up enjoying it quite a bit! I really liked the anime inspired artsyle used for it and the character designs. The animation itself did seem a bit choppy at times but that could've just been some sort of connectivity issue on my end. It does mix in some 3D elements at times for stuff like giant robots and cars. I generally don't mind that much when shows do that, those kind of things can be particularly tedious and time consuming to do in 2D. I just wish they had used a shader that matched the shading style of the 2D elements more, it felt a bit off to me.

As for the show's writing, I really like the work done for the characters and character dynamics. I think they did a good job setting up Clark as someone who can't help but help and support the people around him even before he becomes Superman and setting up his struggles with not knowing where he came from and what his background was before the life he's lived on Earth.

I also liked his dynamic with Lois. They had some cute scenes together and I thought it was interesting how they contrasted their characters by showing that Clark is trying his best to appear normal in his everyday life while Lois wants to be someone extraordinary. It seems like they could do really interesting stuff with that as things go on and the characters start to potentially come into more conflict regarding their investigation into Superman. I also liked the mini character arc Lois had at the beginning with learning to not just rope people into her schemes and to put trust into her new colleagues rather than trying to manipulate them. I think it was a neat way to establish her character while also providing tension for the fate of the group before the characters decide to make-up and stick together in the end.

I don't know how accurate Jimmy is to the source material, but I really liked his character here too! I think him being a conspiracy/outlandish theorist guy gives him an interesting angle as part of their investigative trio and as a comedic character. I do wish he got more of an arc here like Clark and Lois did, but I understand why the pilot episodes would want to focus more on those two characters though.

I also liked the villain they had for these first two episodes. I think they did a good job establishing her character and character flaws. She was shown to be smart and competent by setting up back-up plans like the bombs in the sewers and she was shown to be a capable physical threat because of the tech and combat skills she possesed. However, they also wrote her as arrogant at some points (lines like "yes, I am the smartest person here!" as a retort to what another character said) which makes her defeat more satisfying because her defeat was only possible because of her over-confidence. Her tech/electric attacks seemed to be doing a good job of harming Superman, and if she had kept some distance from him, she might've been able to beat him or at least stun him for a bit so she could try to get away. She could've also potentially bluffed by saying she could also detonate the bombs she placed with the tech she had on her to create a sort of hostage situation in order to make Superman let her get away. But since she was arrogant about her own abilities, she fought him head on and allowed him to get close enough to remove the power core of her suit. I think it would be interesting to see her as a recurring character since they've set-up these character flaws and she could eventually learn to better analyze the options and power she has in situations in order to become a more competent antagonist or potentially a strong circumstantial ally to the heroes against the shady organization that abducted her at the end. I also like how they made tech/weapon dealing and dispersal a part of her character because It also acts as a way to naturally explain how even small-time villains Superman will have to deal with in the future can have high tech weaponry and be a threat.

Some other small stuff I liked but didn't find a way to fit naturally into all that:

I like how Clark's mom made adjustments to his suit. Seems kind of symbolic of how Clark's Kryptonian parents made him and sent him to Earth (made the suit and gave it to Clark) but it was his Earth parents that raised him to be the person he is (added onto to the suit and made it the suit it is now)

I liked the kid's newspaper/intel group. I thought it was cute and funny and hope it continues to show up.

Overall, I really enjoyed it despite not having much knowledge of the source material. Really liked the artstyle and character writing. I'll probably keep watching it as it comes out.

For my next thing I'll watch, I think I'll watch the Nimona movie that recently came out. I've heard good things about it, and read the graphic novel back in middle school, so I'm definitely interested in seeing it. After that I'll probably do something older so I'm not just watching recent and newly on-going things. If you happen to stumble upon this and have any other recommendations for movies/shows, feel free to message me about them.

#superman #my adventures with superman #animation #review

[buriedalienfma]

The flaws of DC Rebirth: Superman

In 2016, DC Comics a new Superman comic book title under their new DC Rebirth relaunch. The comic title was written primarily by Peter Tomasi with art by various artists, and was meant to place a strong focus on Superman as a parent.

For those not in the know, Superman has been married to Lois Lane for several years in the DC comics continuity, and in 2015, the writer Dan Jurgens introduced Jon Kent, the son of Clark and Lois, who has inherited Superman's powers.

Peter Tomasi's Superman Rebirth run was meant to focus specifically on the new Superfamily as it follows Superman, Lois and Jon trying to make a new home for themselves in the fictional small town of Hamilton.

When I first started reading this run, I was very excited. Superman has this reputation of being 'unrelatable' because of his powers and because he tends to come across as a perfect 'boy scout'. I don't necessarily think that's true, but I thought that Superman Rebirth might have been the perfect way for Superman comics to shatter the idea of him being unrelatable since it would focus on the challenges of parenthood. While Superman has been portrayed as a father figure in some stories, he has never really had a child of his own outside of a couple exceptions in the comic books. Seeing Superman tackle the challenges of being a father is interesting. It's not a problem that he can punch away, and while Superman does tend to be written as an aspirational figure, he has never had any experience with being a father. As such Superman Rebirth could have been the perfect opportunity for the writers to humanize Superman and show him making some relatable mistakes in his approach to parenthood. Currently, the Superman Rebirth series is very well regarded by Superman fans, but I feel that this run doesn’t quite live up to the hype and has several missed oppurtunities that hold the book back from being a great Superman comic book run.

In the first two story arcs, we're introduced to the intriguing idea that Clark is somewhat over-protective of his son. In Issue 3, Jon Kent falls from a tree and is knocked unconscious. One of Clark's neighbors sees this and brings Jon back to Clark and Lois's house. Upon seeing an injured Jon, Clark lashes out at his neighbor in an uncharacteristic display of anger. Later on in the story, we see Superman being violently protective of his son when he is threatened by the supervillain, the Eradicator. In the second story arc, Robin essentially kidnap Jon Kent so that he and Batman can study him in the Batcave. When Superman finds out about this, he flies into a rage and breaks into the Batcave demanding that Batman gives him his son back.

You may argue that in some of these moments, Superman was perfectly justified in being angry, but it is still very uncharacteristic for Superman to behave this way. I liked these moments. I enjoyed seeing Superman being blind-sided when it comes to his son. It's very relatable and an understandable flaw for Superman to be over-protective of his son and this idea could have lead to some very interesting story arcs. Unfortunately, this plot thread pretty much fades away after the first two story arcs. For the rest of Tomasi's run on the title, Superman pretty much becomes the perfect saintly father figure who doles out inspirational speeches to his son at the drop of a hat.

Essentially, Superman takes on the challenges of parenthood, but just....being a perfect father. It’s a rather safe and boring approach for the book to take since there isn’t any tension, drama or conflict between Clark and his son that could have helped to make the relationship more realistic and engaging.

 It doesn't help that Tomasi's writing starts to suffer as the run goes on. Take the "Black Dawn" story arc as an example. This was a story arc that Tomasi had been building up to for the majority of his first half of his run. It features Manchester Black, a long time Superman enemy who is usually depicted as someone who disagrees with Superman's approach to heroics, arguing that Superman's methods are outdated and ineffective. Basically Manchester Black is a strawman stand-in for anyone in the real world who dares to criticize Superman and what he stands for. In the "Black Dawn" arc, Manchester Black seeks to corrupt Jon Kent by turning him against his own father.

This story arc could have been the perfect way to inject some drama into the relationship between Clark and his son. Prior to this story arc, Jon tends to comes across as someone who idealizes and looks up to his father. "Black Dawn" could have been the perfect way to shake up this dynamic. Maybe Jon could have been made aware of some of his father's flaws and this makes him more willing to rebel against his father's teachings. This might lead to some conflict between Clark and Jon. Unfortunately "Black Dawn" is a mess of a story arc. It's unfocused, it has underwhelming plot twists and its resolution feels half-baked. What's even  worse is that the story does not bring any changes to the dynamic between Jon and his father.

After the "Black Dawn" arc, you can sort off tell that Tomasi ran out of ideas for his run. The rest of his arcs feel like aimless filler more than anything else. This leads to a somewhat notorious two-issue story arc in issues 27 and 28, where the Superfamily go on a road trip across America, and the story becomes a soapbox-y spiel on American History.

To this day I have no idea what the writers were thinking when they wrote that. It feels so out of left field of what the book was supposed to be about. Tomasi's story ends on a mediocre three issue story focused on Bizarro.

Overall, it was an underwhelming comic book run that felt more and more unfocused as it goes on. The stories in Superman Rebirth are full of missed opportunities. I talked a lot about Superman as a father, but I should also mention that Lois is completely wasted in this run. There is barely any attention given to how Lois deals with being a mother, especially when you consider that Lois hasn't had the best parental figures growing up. For the majority of the run, Lois is reduced to a housewife, a background character who only exists to back up Superman. It's a waste of an iconic character.

Now let's talk about Dark Crisis: World without a Justice League: Superman by Tom King and Chris Burnham.

Yes I know that is a mouthful of a title for a comic.

This story is a single issue, out of continuity story that, much like Rebirth, focuses on Superman, Jon Kent and the challenges of parenthood. Despite being a single issue story, it blows the entirety of Superman Rebirth right out of the water and in my opinion, comes across as the perfect antithesis to the Rebirth run.

 Dark Crisis is essentially a montage of all the various stages in Jon Kent's life as he grows older. The story takes the idea of Superman being an over-protective father to its logical conclusion as Superman forbids his son from leaving Earth and going to visit other planets even though Jon Kent's super-hearing can pick up on all the people suffering on the other side of the universe. While Jon desperately wants to go help those people as superheroes are supposed to do, Superman keeps him confined on Earth in an attempt to keep him safe.

In a sense, Superman is portrayed as a bit of a fallen paragon in Tom King's Dark Crisis story. He has succeeded in keeping Earth safe from external threats, but has failed to spread his protection to other people and aliens on other planets, which is made worse by the fact that the story indicates that there is a massive war going on on those other planets that is killing a lot of alien beings. Natural, Jon Kent severely disagrees with his father's methods and makes several attempts to travel to those other planets putting him in conflict with his father.

When you put aside all the fantastical elements of the story, Dark Crisis is a coming of age story for Jon Kent as he learns to follow his own path in life rather than live in his father's shadow. It's also a story where Superman must learn that to be a good father for his son, he must learn to let go and encourage his son to seek his own destiny. There is a real sense of drama and conflict which makes the father-son relationship between Clark and Jon feel way more interesting than the portrayal of the relationship in Tomasi's Rebirth run. There are a lot of excellent little details in this story. Grant Morrison once remarked that Superman is the story of an everyman who lives his life on a grand scale. Dark Crisis is a great example of that idea. In the story there is a bit where Superman and his son must take their dog on a walk, but since this is Superman we're talking about, the dog is a Super-dog and the father-son duo take their dog on a walk on the moon instead of anywhere on Earth. In Peter Tomasi's Superman run, Jon Kent has this odd little quirk where he refers to his father as "sir" instead of "dad" or any other name/title.

 I don't quite get the point of this little quirk and I don't think other Superman fans get it either. In the Dark Crisis story, this little quirk is brought up again. After Jon disobeys Clark's orders, Clark gives a stern speech to his son, which leads to Jon begrudgingly agreeing with his father and calling him "sir", which is a small little detail that shows that Jon is starting to see his father as less of a father and more of an authority figure.

Even Superman's tendency to speechify is deconstructed in the Dark Crisis story. In Superman Rebirth, there were pages and pages of Superman spouting inspirational speeches. In Dark Crisis,  there is a moment where Superman tries to calm his son down with yet another one of his wise speeches, and Jon immediately shuts his father down and shows him just how empty his words are.

 It feels like such a breath of fresh air to see Superman portrayed as such a vulnerable and imperfect figure. This story isn't perfect. Like the Rebirth title, Tom King tends to neglect Lois Lane, as she is once again reduced to a passive mother figure in this story. I'm a lot more forgiving of his since this is just a single issue story and the story needed to focus on Clark and Jon more than anything else. I would argue that Tom King does somewhat struggle with writing Lois Lane, in this story and in his other Superman stories, but that's a topic for another day. Overall, I think that Dark Crisis: World without a Justice League: Superman is a great story, an excellent deconstruction of the Superman Rebirth run and one of my favorite Superman stories period. The best thing about it, is that it can be read as a standalone story so I would highly recommend picking it up.

#superman #jon kent #clark kent #dc comcis #lois lane

[thevindicativevordan]

Superman's Deadly Sin: Wrath

Mentioned this before in other posts and wanted to really go in-depth: Superman's Deadly Sin/Fatal Flaw is Wrath.

Take a good look at the first depiction of Superman ever created. You may notice that this isn't a picture of a smiling savior embodying hope and compassion. Instead this depicts a pissed off man smashing a car against a rock while bystanders gaze or flee in terrified disbelief. From the beginning, Superman was a creature of righteous Old Testament style fury and anger. He was an outlet for Siegel and Shuster, a way for them to vent about the various issues of the day they had opinions on. So as much as Superman has become associated with the brighter side of human nature, our ability to hope for a better tomorrow, or to care about the plight of the oppressed, Superman is at his core tied to rage as well.

Golden Age Superman was not a man anyone wished to provoke, as he was all too eager to put hands on anyone who he suspected of evil-doing. Silver Age Superman could get downright spiteful when he felt slighted. Bronze Age Superman under Alan Moore is where we first start to see the red eyes flare up when Superman gets enraged. Moore's depiction of Superman's wrath in For The Man Who Has Everything and Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow? are truly terrifying to behold. Post-Crisis Superman frequently struggled to keep his temper in check where Luthor was involved, seriously considering the idea of killing Lex on more than one occasion, and of course his entire feud with Manchester Black is fueled in part by anger. New 52 Superman started out with a lot of anger towards the Metropolis elite who were profiting off the lower classes misery. Rebirth Superdad was so angry at the sight of Lex wearing the S-shield, that he threw caution to the wind and exposed himself to the world just to take Lex down, and he was furious at Batman for Damian abducting Jon. Bendis Superman wanted to burn the Phantom Zone to ashes. PKJ Superman seems set on attacking Mongul in part because Mongul has successfully baited him by enraging Superman with the enslavement of innocents.

All of this is meant to illustrate that rage has been a constant component of depictions of Superman. Overused as it's become, the image of glaring red-eyed Superman is every bit as iconic as him winking at the reader, opening his shirt to reveal the S-shield, or smiling as he performs some heroic deed. Such images aren't necessarily untrue to the character, Alan Moore frequently used depictions of Superman getting well and truly pissed to great effect, but there's been a growing sense of pushback against such portrayals. Some argue that Superman isn't meant to lose his temper like that, and while I do think there's been too many angry, red-eyed Supermen in recent media, I can't agree that an angry Superman is antithetical to the character's core.

No less authorities on Superman than Mark Waid and Grant Morrison have depicted him as a man with a temper underneath that sunny exterior. All-Star Superman even has a brief panel where that "ideal" Superman breaks out the heat vision glare on Samson and Atlas for putting Lois Lane in peril. I sympathize with the people who get upset about yet another cover showing Superman gnashing his teeth while his eyes glow red. Do that too much and you end up with a Superman like the DCAU incarnation, where his rage overshadows all other virtues. Yet I can't endorse the idea of getting rid of that attribute because I see it as a good way of humanizing Superman. Without it you run the risk of Superman's major flaw being sickly-sweet Mary Sue crap like "he just cares TOO much!" which isn't a flaw at all.

How I Would Approach Superman's Wrath

Fundamentally I think the way to make Superman's temper work is to make it clear that's it's a deliberate character flaw. Similar to Batman's Pride, Superman's ability to control his Wrath is something he will always have to struggle with. Guys like Lex and Manchester Black know how to rile him up, even though he knows he shouldn't take their bait. I don't need him barely restraining himself from vaporizing someone with his fists or heat vision, but at the same time I don't think it's a problem to say that Clark has trouble reigning himself from jumping in head first when he's provoked, without taking a moment to assess the situation first. Have other characters bring it up and call him out on it when he fails to control himself properly. Have Lois, or his fellow Leaguers, or even normal everyday Metropolis citizens check him when he is in danger of losing himself to the rage. Shazam calling out the League in the DCAU for how far they've fallen from their ideals is a perfect example of what should happen when Superman seems to be in danger of losing the battle for self-control.

Trick is to make sure that most of the time, his wrath is connected with his compassion. Frequently what should cause him to recklessly dive into situations is that he sees someone suffering or in need of help, and he helps. He doesn't stop to coldly weigh the prudency of doing so, his heart goes out to a person in need, his temper is inflamed at some villain tormenting others, and he acts to stop it. Love the Hulk, but Superman isn't the Hulk, his compassion has to be the number one attribute he has. Ultimately even Superman's anger needs to be a product of the love he feels for life and the task to protect it that he strives to live up to. Make sure that is something that comes across and I'm fine with an angry Superman.

#superman #wrath #dc comics

[anothertimdrakestan]

Damijon Christmas Present!

FOR THE DAMIJON SECRET SANTA I HAD... @nymph-patt

dear nymph:

hi love! i haven’t written in a fat minute and i’m a little rusty so bear with me hehehe. i hope you have a wonderful holiday season! all my love -elle!

I’ve got a fluff christmas fic and a lil headcanon for ya! 

Merry Stress-mas

“You can’t plan Christmas like a battle strategy Dami,” Jon groaned as Damian wheeled a whiteboard into their living room. “Actually, I’ve found it to be quite similar. Pay attention Kent, I know sticking to the plan has never been your strong suit.” Damian’s foot was tapping like crazy, Jon noted his clear anxiousness- needless to say Damian wasn’t the holiday type. Makes it a million times harder when it’s your first Christmas together as a couple. 

*super-couple. 

Jon gasped as Damian flipped the whiteboard like a school teacher, revealing meticulously drawn out plans mapped in expo-marker. “We start with my family, we stay until Jason is ten shots in, after that Christmas always becomes a nightmare so we head out. With your super speed it’ll be only an 14 minutes 37 second trip to your family where we stay for the majority of the night. At the end you rush us back to Gotham to console Dick after Bat-Christmas fails as always. Our emergency word is tyrannosaurus should anything go wrong at the drop we flee. Any questions?” Damian was flying through the plans, pointing at bulleted lists and analyzing possible flaws. 

Jon took a deep breath, a smile creeping over his face. “I didn’t think you’d care so much about our first Christmas together with our families, it’s kind of sweet.” Lazily he reached for Damian, clinging to his back while Dami shook his head, mumbling as he edited the board. “Not really our first Christmas Kent and I definitely do not care about family tt,” Jon didn’t reply, he just smiled into the crook of Damian’s neck.

“Our suits bring down our aerodynamic potential so I’ve taken the liberty of adjusting our arrival time to 15 minutes 43 seconds. Does that sound accurate?” Jon hummed in response as he straightened Damian’s tie, it was already perfect but he’d take any excuse to get closer to Dami. “Ready my love?” Jon glanced at Damian who was checking his watch. “Yes.” Damian responded, absent mindedly clasping Jon’s hand as they made their way to the mansion. 

“DAMI’S HERE!” Steph’s screech announced. She was hanging off the banister as she stole popcorn pieces from the massive tree. “Wonderful- Miss Brown I must ask you don’t eat the decorations tonight, have some festivity,” Alfred shook his head as he made his way to Jon. “Magnificent of you to join us Master Kent, I assume you will also be heading to your family’s festivities as well?” Jon opened his mouth but Damian answered first. “Yes Pennyworth, we plan on just saying for hors devours,” his curt reply brought a knowing smile to Alfred’s lips. “Always planned with you Master Damian,” his accent was playful making Jon chuckle. 

Dick descended the stairs, Damian groaned at his bright green and red striped suit, Jon couldn’t help but laugh either. “Hellllooo super boyfriends! Are-You-Readyyyy-For-Tonight!” Dick practically skipped towards the two, pulling them into a tight hug before Damian could slip away. “We won’t be long Grayson we must attend the Kent family Christmas too,” Damian nodded curtly, shifting closer to Jon who got the message and moved forward into the living room. 

“Actually, where are all the bat-siblings? And where did Steph run off to?” Jon noticed no one was around but Alfred who was preparing something delicious in the kitchen. Dick began chuckling, a devilish smile spreading across his face. “Oh, everyone is down in the batcave. C’mon.” Damian looked taken-aback but Jon was never to shocked by batfamily-antics. 

The two followed Dick to the secret door. “Now, we heard from a little super birdy [Dick winked at Jon who was now openly grinning] that you were a little nervous about having to deal with two Christmas’ this year, so we felt it’d be easier for everyone if we just-” Dick popped open the door to a winter wonderland of a batcave. A large table was put out, filled with their family members. “Merry Christmas!” A chorus of laughter broke out as Damian’s jaw dropped. 

At the table were the batfam, Kents, and even a couple speedsters littered around. All were laughing and smiling at one another. It was the biggest family gathering Jon has seen ever. “No need for crazy plans my love, just enjoy tonight with everyone,” Jon whispered to Damian as he scanned the room. “I- How did you- Thank you,” Damian settled on the last words of praise for the wonderful man who made every single day better. “No need for thanks, I’d get you the world if you wanted it, but for now let’s have a very Merry Christmas!” Jon took off towards his family and Damian would help but feel the corners of his lips betray him with a smile. Heart full he made his way down to his family.

“JASON DO NOT FLIRT WITH KARA SHE’S OFF LIMITS!”

“WALLY DID YOU EAT ALL THE COOKIES ALREADY?”

“BRUCE, CLARK, STOP FIGHTING OVER WHO GOT THE OTHER THE BETTER GIFT. YOU’RE BOTH RICH!”

very merry indeed. 

~

Okay so I haven’t absorbed much batfam content at all for weeks so hopefully my spin on the HC is still cute : )

I don’t think Jon gets enough credit for how observant he is. 

Too often Jon is forgotten, the second super boy, the sidekick, the boyfriend, the man who left everyone for space. 

It’s true, technically. But Jon is so keen at reading those around him, especially the un-readable Damian Wayne that I would argue it’s a super skill in of itself.

He gets it from his mother you know, Superman was always a little dense, but, though no one believes it, he always had Lois to help him out. Too often the quieter, smarter, more analytical side gets forgotten and that’s no different with Jon. His friends don’t see the way he checks up on them, taking in their facial expressions and reading them to know the right thing to say at the right time to help them out. They don’t realize he spent whole days memorizing their heart beats and their breaths to know if they’re ever in peril. And they don’t see the way he looks at them so fondly, beyond grateful they’re in his life.

Lois sees it.

She saw it when Jon met Damian. 

A young boy mesmerized by the wittiness and strength in the human boy. The greatest irony, the Superboy more human than the murder weapon now called “Robin”. But the two hit it off almost instantly- though Damian may not agree to that last bit. 

Lois knew Jon adored Damian, every deep red was “Robin Red” every Wayne Ent. building they walked past brought up stories of his adventures with the youngest Wayne, every Justice League trip meant begging for his dad to send him to Gotham for the weekend while he was out. He was young, but Lois knew a pair of soulmates when she saw them. 

There were these nights when they were teens. Jon would burst out of bed and rush to his mother. He never needed to say anything. There was this look in his eyes, Damian needs me. “Go” she’d always whisper, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead thinking back to when Clark would do the same for her. 

She remembers the frantic December weeks Jon spent toiling on Damian’s Christmas gift. “What do I give a trillionaire who has the world?” Jon would whine and mope around the house for any semblance of inspiration. 

Your heart Jon, all he wants is your love. Lois always thought to herself, she was quite aware of the two boy’s growing infatuation with each other, her husband was always slower in the “feelings” department and if he was slow she imagined Bruce was a damn sloth. So, she let the boys feel safe in her presence. Damian slowly spent more time at her home when Clark was out, she grew to have a sort of friendship with Damian. He’d comment on whatever news article she recently wrote, endure a three second reply and be on his way. She was always astounded at how up to date he was on all her pieces. 

Lois was always proud of the love Jon showed Damian. She’d be the first to tell Bruce he needed to hug his damn kids, but there was a special kind of caring Jon held only for Damian. A love woven only for the two of them. Like an invisible string linking them no matter where in the universe the other was at, there was a friendship, a kindness, a passion, a love.

Overtime, Jon’s analysis of Damian led him to his own feelings. And over an even longer period of time Damian discovered his own. Jon never stopped caring, he never stopped worrying, and he never stopped loving. 

Those, are the parts of Superman that Damian, and the world, need most. 

~

Merry Christmas! <3

#damijon #jondami #shoutout whelm for putting this together u rock #damian wayne #jon kent #damian wayne x jon #damian x jon #damian wayne x jon kent #batfam #batfam christmas #batboys #batboys christmas #lois lane #superboy #superboy headcanon #damijon headcanon #jon kent headcanon

[movie-magic]

How Superman & Lois Is Avoiding Falcon & Winter Soldier's Fatal Mistake

Superman & Lois is avoiding the storytelling and pacing issues that hurt The Falcon and the Winter Soldier by focusing on the characters.

Despite Superman & Lois featuring the Man of Steel as a lead, the Arrowverse show is keeping its story grounded, thus avoiding the biggest mistake the MCU made with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The CW's series focuses on Clark Kent and Lois Lane as a married couple raising two sons. Despite Clark being Superman — arguably the most powerful being on the planet, and likely Earth's most important hero — Superman & Lois uses conflict within the Kent household as its primary narrative conflict. In the Arrowverse, Clark already knows how to be a hero — but he's still learning how to be a dad.

So far, Superman & Lois has successfully distinguished itself from the rest of the DC titles — particularly other Superman-focused series like Smallville — by focusing on a different period in the hero's life. Superman & Lois season 1 centers on Jordan Kent developing powers, and the family moving from Metropolis back to the Kent farm in Smallville, giving the troubled teen a chance at a new start in a quieter environment. This comes at great personal cost to twin-brother Jonathan, who loses both his star quarterback status and his girlfriend. Still, the predominant theme of the series is family bonds, and although there is tension between the Kents, every person is incredibly supportive of their loved ones.

Superman & Lois is leaning into the CW's strengths: relationships. Rather than having each episode feature a "villain of the week," the Arrowverse show wisely reserves its action for small scenes — saving on the effects budget while still satisfying Superman fans — and lets the conflict between characters be the main narrative thrust. The Marvel show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier did the opposite: instead of focusing the short 6-episode series on the relationship of its two leads, the Disney+ show overcomplicated its story with the Flag-Smashers plot. That fatal mistake prevented Falcon and Winter Soldier from living up to its potential.

Falcon and Winter Soldier had a strong premise: Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes coming together, coping with the unexpected loss of Steve Rogers and grappling with Captain America's future. The show's initial marketing presented the series as something like Marvel's version of a buddy-cop story. However, just like so many of the MCU movies, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier introduced a global crisis for its heroes to solve: the increasingly violent terrorist group, the Flag-Smashers, and the resurgence of the Super Soldier serum. The stakes became much higher than the reluctant partnership of Sam and Bucky — and as a result, their interpersonal drama took a backseat in the story.

There were many aspects of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier that worked really well, and largely, these are tied to strong characterization. Bucky's at his best when he's being introspective and flawed: the show hints that he is still drawn to violence, but is deeply ashamed of the Winter Soldier's violent actions. With Steve Rogers' Captain America gone, Bucky is more alone now than ever, being a relic of the past. All of the people he grew up with are dead or much older than he appears to be — and while he's grown accustomed to this new world, he acts perpetually uncomfortable. It's a theme the show sets up in the premiere but doesn't adequately address.

Falcon and Winter Soldier was poised to give Sam and Bucky a relatable, complicated, and resonant relationship — but this never came to fruition. Instead of genuine conflict between the two, the show relied on forced quips and odd-couple banter. Sam Wilson's past as a PTSD counselor made him the perfect figure to help Bucky cope with Steve Rogers going back to the past: something Bucky no doubt wished for himself, and — given his history with Steve in the MCU and how close they were — may have felt resentful of. At the same time, Bucky could have helped Sam on his journey to becoming the new Captain America. Bucky, as a white man, is ill-equipped to help Sam grapple with issues like systemic racism in America — but as a friend, he could have offered quiet support.

There are hints at the show that could have been in Falcon and Winter Soldier: in the ending, for example, when Bucky helps Sam fix up the boat and joins in on the family celebration, or the scenes of Sam and Bucky training with the shield together. The action in the series is often exciting and is executed well — but any antagonist would have worked for those scenes. Sam feeling such an affinity with Karli Morgenthau never made sense — he literally held her in his arms after she shot Sharon Carter, his friend. In general, the character motivations in the show were underdeveloped, all because not enough screentime was spent on exploring the relationships that mattered. This was the fatal mistake Marvel made with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: not using the characters' relationships as the focus of the narrative.

How Superman & Lois Avoids Making The MCU's Biggest Mistake:

The CW was wise to make Superman & Lois largely about the Kent family adjusting to major changes: the death of Martha Kent, the children learning the truth about their father, the family moving from Metropolis to Smallville, and the realization that boys could have inherited their father's Kryptonian powers. While there is a larger conspiracy at the heart of Superman & Lois season 1, the Morgan Edge plot is secondary to the story of Jordan discovering his powers and Clark trying to balance being a hero with being a father. The show isn't about super-powered beings donning costumes to beat up bad guys. While other Arrowverse shows have dealt with similar themes, Superman & Lois is the first to do so without focusing on being a superhero. For example, Black Lightning dealt with similar family themes, but is still primarily about Jefferson Pierce fighting The 100, and his daughter begins crimefighting almost immediately after discovering her powers.

Superman does appear in Superman & Lois and is presumably still averting Nuclear disaster and catching criminals, but much of this happens either offscreen or in brief subplots. The best moments in the show are scenes with Clark trying to coach Jordan, like the moment when he quietly tells his son to let out the built-up eye energy on the football field. These moments work because they're so earnest. While the circumstance is fantastic, the parent-child dynamic and the coming-of-age allegory are incredibly relatable. Clark doesn't know what to do, but he's trying his best. Jordan, as a typical teenager, lacks the maturity to make smart choices. He struggles to understand and control his powers, and he reacts to situations impulsively. He has the concerns of a typical teenage boy: his interest in a potential romance with Sarah, his newfound popularity thanks to football, and his emerging sense of self as he navigates puberty. Instead of scenes with Clark and Jordan stopping bank robbers or flying, audiences get glimpses of their family life; it's a story where the character motivations always feel genuine.

The relationships in Superman & Lois are realistically complicated and nuanced. Jordan and Jonathan Kent break the CW's warring brothers trope by being supporting and caring about each other, even when they disagree. Clark and Lois clearly love each other while having their own separate lives, and the show wisely avoids using Lois as a damsel in distress figure for Superman to save. None of the characters are perfect, with Clark in particular struggling with parental choices and the twin boys making the kind of dumb decisions teenagers make. Unlike The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which overcomplicated its first season with unnecessary global stakes, Superman & Lois keeps the story grounded on its family dynamic, which is a refreshing new standard for superhero stories.

- Screen Rant

#falcon and the winter solider #falcon #winter solider #superman and lois #superman #lois lane #tv series #movie magic

[jcogginsawriter]

Hand to Hand: Mark Waid’s Flash

I have been a fan of comic book characters for a long time. I started with the cartoons, and as I got older, I began doing deep dives into wikis, reading fanfiction, and participating in that shallowest of internet past times, the vs debate. I dabbled in writing fanfic for myself, but I spent far more time thinking about writing fanfic instead. I would come up with all these ideas about what I would take from the various different versions of the characters, and don’t get me started on the idea of Crossovers.     The point is, I knew a lot of what happened in the comics, but I never read many comics. I didn’t know where my local comic shop was, and even if I did, I wouldn’t have had the money to spend on them. The comics that I did read were usually fan translations of manga. I did read a few comics, big name stories like Death of Superman or Crisis on Infinite Earths, but they were few and far between.

Recently, I’ve begun to change that. I now follow several comics as they come out, most notably the current X-line. This change sprang in part because I began reading a lot more comics criticism. In particular, I followed the blog of a certain Superman fan, and began to eagerly digest his various takes. I wanted to be able to ask him questions about new comics without looking like an idiot (This is how 90 percent of my interactions on comics twitter go, BTW) and that was a kick in the pants for me.

After getting into a steady habit, I decided to look into reading some of the classic runs I’d read so much about throughout life. To go from knowing them second hand, to knowing them first hand. After a bit of hemming and hawing, I’ve settled on Mark Waid’s legendary run of Flash Comics to start off with.

(Spoiler Warning for some 30 year old comics, by the way)

As of this writing, I have read up to the final issue of his story arc Dead Heat, wherein Wally does battle with the speed cultist Savitar. Before we get into things like plot and characters, I want to discuss the art, because no discussion of comic books is really complete without talking about the art. Unfortunately, the art in this run hasn’t done much for me, but that’s not really it’s fault. I read this comics in manner that they were not created to be read, digitally and zoomed in. These comics were drawn with physical issues in mind, and I don’t doubt that they’re good in that format. It also doesn’t help that I’ve read far more manga than I have American comics. American comics have never clicked with me the way manga does. Even now, I still find the layout of manga more legible than the layout of an American comic. That’s not a value judgment, it’s just my personal experience.

I do distinctly recall thinking that the art was better up to issue #79 (The conclusion to the Return of Barry Allen storyline), than it was after. I prefer the less exaggerated character designs, and lighter inks, though it could very well be a case of me having gotten used to the initial style and not liking the change. One thing that thing I can say about the art is that it helped me grasp how Wally’s costume differed from Barry’s. Before this, I was incapable of separating them in my mind, but seeing them side by side made it clear to me how different Wally’s Costume was colored and shaded.

Now, onto the writing of the run, we’ll start with the lead, Wally West. My previous touchstone for Wally was the Justice League series from the DCAU, which I watched a lot as a kid. The Wally in these comics comes off as more serious that his DCAU incarnation. Not too serious, he still cracks jokes, but he’s more on the ball. He takes his adventures as seriously as any hero would, rather than the more carefree attitude I recall his DCAU version having. This is not unsurprising, Wally here is the lead whereas there he was part of an ensemble cast, and here we get his internal monologue which gives us a much more thorough sense of his headspace. Not to mention, the DCAU version was voiced, so we know with no ambiguity what tone his dialogue’s in. In text, tone is more up to interpretation.

Perhaps the biggest thing that set Comic Wally apart from DCAU Wally is that the Wally in the comic was more consistently angry and frustrated. While his DCAU incarnation had hidden depths, I can’t recall a time when he got seriously angry. This Wally is frequently irritated, usually by things which are enitrely understandable. On occasion, his irritability causes him to be rougher with the bad guys than he could be, and that feels uncomfortable sometimes, though thus far he hasn’t gone too far.

Going into this, I knew that one of the issues that Wally had to overcome was his mental block about surpassing Barry, and to my surprise, it wasn’t as much of a through-line as I expected. I was expecting it to be a reoccurring issue that was solved by the Return of Barry Allen storyline, but in reality there are only one or two times something like it comes up, usually in the context of him not being able to do the vibrating through walls trick. In the Return of Barry Allen, it feels more like an issue introduced in that story than a long running plot line. Granted, it may only feel this way because I’m solely reading Mark Waid’s Flash. I didn’t read the issues prior to his take over, so that storyline could have been more apparent there for all I know.

Moving on, starting with Waid’s run had another knock on effect, that being that the character introductions aren’t introductions. I came into this expecting to see when Wally met Linda, when he met Jay Garrick, when Pied Piper redeemed himself, but all of that happened before Waid took over the book, so they’re already part of the cast from the start. Again, not a flaw of the work, it’s just a result of my personal experiences. Now, let’s take a look at some of these characters.

I’ve heard a lot about Linda and Wally’s romance, and so far it’s not bad. I wouldn’t rate it as one of the best of all time, but I haven’t gotten to most of the major moments yet, so that’s not a huge surprise. One thing that’s very apparent is the Lois Lane DNA in her character. Some of that is to be expected, which the love interest to your superhero is a reporter, but I see a lot of similarities in their personality as well. There’s a lot of the same fire in her. Fortunately, the fact that Wally’s identity is public lends a very different arc to their relationship than what you see with Lois and Clark, so Linda doesn’t come off as a Lois rip-off. Linda’s concerns that there’s no place for her in Wally’s wild superhero life is the kind of relationship hurdle that isn’t present in Lois and Clark’s Relationship.

Next, let’s take a look at the first Flash, Jay Garrick. Within this series, Jay is perfectly pleasant, and by no means unlikable, but he also comes across as...kind of superfluous? There are three elderly male speedsters in this comic, and of all of them Jay is by far the least defined and has the least role. Max Mercury is the Wally’s mentor in the ways of speed, the one with the most knowledge of the Speed Force. He’s basically what I expected Jay Garrick to be going into this. The third of the group is Johnny Quick, a speedster who is the father of another speedster, Jesse Quick. Jesse is also very skeptical of Max Mercury’s teachings, which veer from the scientific into the mystical.

Because Johnny takes the role of skeptic, Jay is left without a role in the narrative because being the nicest of Wally’s friend group. Veering over to Hollywood for a second, whenever a book gets adapted into a movie or TV Show, minor characters get lost in the transition. Either they get composited with other characters, or they get cut entirely. Game of Thrones is the most prominent example in recent memory. I bring this up because, if Waid’s Flash were to go through that process, it’s hard to argue that Jay wouldn’t get the ax. Despite being the most important of them in the context of the universe at large, Jay is the least important Speedster in this narrative. Of course, Jay’s importance in the context of the larger universe means that in this hypothetical adaptation, he probably be composited into either max or Johnny. More likely Max, since mentor is the logical position for the first Flash to take in the Third Flash’s narrative.

I mentioned Jess Quick there, so let’s talk about her. Thus far, her most prominent role in the narrative has been to call Wally out and be his critic, though she does have very good reasons to be angry. In the Terminal Velocity storyline, Wally believes he’ll die soon, and tells the Flash Family that Jesse will be his successor, but it turns out to be a lie in order to motivate Bart Allen to take things more seriously. Jesse has remained angry with Wally since then, though it hasn’t seriously impacted her hero work. That’s good, because her continued competence lends legitimacy to her anger within the narrative. She’s not being punished for being mad at Wally for mistreating her. Hopefully it stays that way going forward.

Now let’s take a look at the character Wally chose over Jesse, Bart Allen AKA Impulse. I’ll say up front that I’m not reading Bart’s solo series during this read through, as I didn’t want the hassle of going back and forth between books. As such, the only issues of it that I’ve looked at are the ones that tie into the Dead Heat arc. I feel it’s important for me to say this, because I’m basing my opinions of Bart primarily on his showings in Wally’s book, not his own. In Wally’s book, Bart’s character flaws are more on display.

Bart is a character deliberately designed to be obnoxious, and such characters are a hard tightrope to walk in fiction. Gotta be annyoing enough to get the point across, but not annoying enough to turn people off from the work. Bart in Wally’s book isn’t perfectly balanced, and tends toward the too much pile. Not to an egregious extent, but a little bit. I found myself echoing Wally’s frustration with Bart more than a few times. In Bart’s defense, Wally does share some of the blame here. He doesn’t do a very good job as a mentor, and handing those duties off to Max is probably for the best.

I find it interesting, that a character like Wally who is so defined by inheriting a legacy is a poor mentor, to both Bart and Jesse. He makes different mistakes with both of them, but he still fails both of them. I’m eager to see how that plays out in the future issues.

Now that we’ve discussed the supporting cast, let’s discuss some of the book’s villains. We’ll start with the one who is most infamous, Eobard Thawne. Thawne’s spends the majority of his time in this book thinking he’s Barry Allen, and if I’m being honest, he’s more effective under that guise that he is as Eobard. The scenes where what appears to be Barry Allen turns evil out of jealousy of his successor are powerful, more so than the more traditional villain Eobard displays after the reveal. Not that it would have been a good idea for it to actually be Barry, of course. Much as I prefer Wally to Barry, having Barry go full supervillain would have been very out of character. In any case, this run had a profound impact on Eobard’s character going forward, solidifying him as an agent of toxic fanboyism, making him a dark mirror of Wally West.

The next major villain of the run is the cult slash terrorist organization Kobra. That might bring thoughts of GI Joe to your mind, and you honestly aren’t far off. So far as this run goes, the biggest differences between DC’s Kobra and Hasbro’s is A) DC’s version prefer green over blue, and B) Hasbro’s version has more in the way of distinct characters. Kobra thus far is more of a plot device than  anything else. They’re generic terrorists with little to make them distictive. Their storyline, Terminal Velocity, is more notable for it’s introduction of the Speed Force, Wally preparing for his upcoming ‘death’, and Linda going on a revenge quest after said ‘death’. All things that Kobra is incidental to, any villainous organization would have sufficed.

The final, as of my current point in the run, major villain is Savitar. Savitar was formerly a soviet test pilot who gained a connection to a the speedforce, gave himself the name of Hindu god, and started a speed worshipping cult. It says a lot about my mind that my immediate thoughts upon reading Savitar’s origin were. “Huh, an AU where Hal Jordan became a Speedster the same way would be neat.”. Savitar is in some ways an improvement on the Kobra Cult from Terminal Velocity. This time the Cult has a more direct connection to the Flash and his mythos. Dead Heat is by no means a retread of Terminal Velocity, but if you wanted to mesh them into one story, it wouldn’t be hard. And it’d improve on both, in some ways.

One of the things I like to do in my fanfic ideas is connect the other speedsters to Thawne’s theme of Toxic Fandom, and it wouldn’t be hard to do that with Savitar. His entire motivation is to deprive those he considers unworthy of their speed, and that can easily by played as a metaphor for gatekeeping.

Over all, while the run is far from perfect, I must say I’m enjoying these comics a good deal, and if you’re like me and have read a lot about comics without actually reading them, I don’t think you’d regret jumping into them.

#opinions #personal experience #dc comics #The Flash #wally west #mark waid

[handlewithkara]

Lying about your Superhero identity: Why Clois and Westallen (Flash tv) just work and Clana (Smallville), Lauriver (Arrow) and Kara&Lena (Supergirl) don’t

A while ago, I wrote a bit about why I think the way Mon-El lied to Kara about his real identity is fundamentally different from when Kara lies about her superhero identity and the fact that she is an alien (tldr: Mon-El lies about his past, Kara lies about her present and things that are fundamental to her character). 

This made me think about superheroes and their relationships in general. I have long since maintained that if one applied real life relationship standards (whether as a friendship or as a romantic relationship) to Kara and Lena, they just have a really, really awful relationship, steeped in lies and distrust. 

Kara and Lena fans have always claimed that their relationship has a lot of parallels with Clark and Lois. I for one, have always felt that those so called parallels are extremely superficial and tenuous and to me completely miss the core of what Clois are about as a couple. That those things they do NOT have in common (such as being reporters who work together and Lois being drawn to Superman first, the fact that Lois does not go full on hateful psycho when she finds out the truth) are actually really important in regards to what make Clois tick. 

So.... why does Clois work? 

If you look at the core of it, Clark hiding his identity from Lois is, especially if looked at with modern sensibilities, is kind of skeevy. 

I argue: the thing that is most often levvied against Clois as a couple and Lois as a character, namely the fact that Lois initially fawns over Superman while ignoring or discounting Clark in one way or another, is actually one of the key factors that make them work as a couple. 

We can discuss whether the tendency of people to take this as the reason to call Lois is shallow (for overlooking the niceguy(tm)) is problematic in its own way. But regardless of whether it is or isn’t, it is the way that Clois has worked for the majority of its existance. 

Lois being hot for Superman (or “The Blur”) while partially disregarding Clark allows them to set up a situation where both partners are flawed and both are “at fault” (Clark for lying, Lois for being “shallow”). It is what allows the reveal of Clark’s true identity to go over a lot smoother, because there is a lot more room for Lois to be portrayed as either “I should have seen it” or “Maybe I knew on some level”. 

I truly think that the creators of Flash understood that and that’s why Iris initially very similarly has a flirtation with the Flash and at the same time has a good reason to not see Barry as a romantic option (one could argue that this is one of the ways that Flash “softens” or improves  on Clois, because this element of Lois teasing Clark or belittling him isn’t there for Westallen and also the timing for when Iris finds out is very different from the way most longer running Clois stories  (comics, cartoons, tv) do it). 

A lot of the time it seems like some writers are dissatisfied with the concept of “shallow Lois” and feel tempted to “fix” the Clois formula by writing the woman as loving the “Clark” side of the Superhero. This is the case with both Smallville’s version of Clark and Lana and Arrow’s version of Ollie and Laurel, where they made them childhood sweethearts from before Oliver becomes Green Arrow. 

But they all overlook that “sweetening” the woman by having her love the guy under the mask first actually completely ruins the Clois formula. Because if the girl sweet and attached to the hero, it makes the hero lying to her about his secret identity so much more morally worse and makes a bad reaction to it a lot more called for (or makes the story feel like it is missing something when there isn’t one, because then it is even more that the superhero was just basically being mean to the nice girl who loves him). It makes the relationship way more unbalanced and hence causes it to not work longterm. 

I truly believe that the writers of Smallville loved Lana the character and even loved the torrid, tragic nature of Clark and Lana’s relationship. But I feel, once they introduced Lois, they noticed that ... Clois just works. No matter how unsatisfied people might be with the concept of “shallow” Lois, this story archetype just works and almost writes itself, allowing Smallville to transition from Clark and Lana as the driving relationship to Clark and Lois to the driving relationship, allowing the show to stay on the air for many additional years. 

They wanted to strengthen the Clana relationship by giving them a dynamic closer to Clois by having Clark hide his identity from her, not realizing that this actually weakened them as a couple in regards to longterm potential by pitting Lana into the unattractive long suffering woman position. I believe this is the reason why they kept giving Lana so many other partners, in a deperate attempt to “balance” the scales between Clana and give Lana a bit more power in the relatinoship. 

In the comics, the triangle situation of Clana versus Clois arises specifically from Lana knowing the secret and Lois not knowing it, and the core dynamic of the nice girl high school sweetheart versus the challenging high maintainance city girl. Because of this, I’m fairly certain that any attempts to do a Lana/Clark/Lois triangle will not work on the new Superman & Lois show because the Clois versus Clana dynamic (even as it is generally considered as being already decided), doesn’t work even short time when Lana does not at least temporary have it “over” Lois that Lana knows the secret and Lois doesn’t. If neither knows (like on Smallville) and if both know (like potentially on Superman and Lois) Clois is just cleanly superior. 

To me this is also shown in Lauriver versus Olicity, where when you have the Smallville Clana archetype (girl loves the guy before the hero and is lied to), in that circumstance, the girl who knows (Felicity) suddenly gets the upper hand.  

I think a lot of male writers fall into this trap of trying to “fix” the Clois archetype and ruining it in the process, because they view the story only from the point of view of the male character and look at it as “Oh, but wouldn’t it be so angsty if he has this girl he really loves, but he was like forced to lie to her, because he’s like just such a damn big hero and he angsts and it is this big sacrifice” and don’t realize that while it makes a good foundation for hero angst, it makes for a really crappy basis for an actual future long term healthy couple. 

(I might also eventually do another post on this topic where I argue that the Clois trope is a very male centered trope and why it makes sense that it was not chosen for any of Supergirl’s romantic relationships, for the record, I think Supercat was slightly closer to having a somewhat Clois like dynamic, even though there were still some significant spins and changes to it ) 

#clois #clana #lauriver #westallen #anti-supercorp #supergirl #olicity #supercat #karamel

[aion-rsa]

10 Injustice Characters the DC Animated Movie Needs to Get Right

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As we wait an announcement pertaining to the existence of NetherRealm Studios’ Injustice 3, we at least know that Warner Bros. is set to adapt the games into a DC animated movie.

Ever since its release in 2013, the Injustice franchise has not only become a staple of NetherRealm’s roster, but the comic spinoffs have made it a beloved part of the DC multiverse. The plot revolves around a reality where the Joker was able to mess with Superman so badly that the Man of Steel gradually became a mass-murdering dictator, with the support of several members of the Justice League. Left without any other option, Batman brought in counterparts of the Justice League from the “mainstream” universe to help him fight a civil war against his former friend. It was a story that merged the Justice Lords two-parter from the Justice League cartoon with Marvel’s original Squadron Supreme comic series.

A popular prequel series was released, mostly written by Tom Taylor, that explained the five years in-between Superman killing the Joker in cold blood and Batman’s last stand. Sometime later, the game’s story was adapted into the comic Injustice: Ground Zero. And the Injustice universe has only continued to grow since then.

As snazzy as NetherRealm’s story modes are, they are going to have to make some changes to the narrative for the animated movie. It’s not like every character is going to stumble into exactly four best-two-out-of-three fights in a row before someone else is the focus. Knowing that there will be alterations, some characters are really going to need some tender love and care.

Superman (Both of Them)

Injustice: Gods Among Us didn’t invent the idea of an evil Superman, but things are a bit over-saturated these days. Face it, “Dark Superman” has been done to death, what with Brightburn, The Boys, Invincible, and everything Zack Snyder intended with his Justice League movies.

It’s important that the animated movie really get into the WHY of what turned Superman evil instead of the Joker just getting a tragic win over him. The Injustice comic nudged him over and over again with multiple betrayals and manipulations before he finally snapped and angrily broke every bone in Green Arrow’s body. Hit all that, or at least enough of it.

More importantly, Injustice is a story of two different Supermen. The mainstream Superman has to ring true. He has to be the beacon of hope and positivity that pop culture has been missing for the past decade.

Ultimately, as long as they don’t do that minigame where Superman blows up cars and the people in them with his eye-lasers, we’re cool.

Batman

In this DC take of Marvel’s Civil War, Batman is by default the better person when compared to Superman. He has a line he won’t cross and that means no murder and no tyranny. That said, he still needs to be portrayed as a flawed hero. He may be competent, but he still behaves like a total douche at times and deserves to take one to the chin every now and then.

Being a paranoid futurist who buries himself in contingency plans means alienating allies, friends, and even family members. There’s a great moment in the Injustice comic where he reveals that he infected Cyborg with a virus within a week of meeting (you know, just in case), which Killer Croc says is outright sinister. It’s this kind of behavior that led to Superman’s fall to darkness, because even if Bruce wasn’t behind any of the horrors, he still chose coldness and paranoia over being there for a friend who was going through some serious shit.

Harley Quinn

A hype trailer for Harley painted her as a major protagonist in the first game but the game’s story mode just didn’t measure up. The comics did a better job and the Ground Zero volume was specifically about telling the game’s story from Harley’s perspective. I’m not saying that she should be joined by her team of BFF henchmen from Ground Zero, but she should definitely be a prominent hero.

Similar to the Mark Waid comic series Irredeemable and Incorruptible (also about an evil take on Superman), Harley’s turn to heroism is the universe’s response to Superman’s actions. She’s done some horrible things and may never make up for her actions under the Joker’s thumb, but she’ll keep fighting to stop Superman’s atrocities.

Wonder Woman

While Batman did a bad job trying to pull Superman from the darkness, Wonder Woman succeeded in pushing him in. It’s noted here and there, but this Wonder Woman was also altered by tragedy. In this timeline, Steve Trevor turned out to be a Nazi traitor. His betrayal left Diana feeling much less optimistic and hopeful than her mainstream self.

Wonder Woman’s villainy isn’t as pronounced as Superman’s, but she’s definitely the friendly face who eggs him on and wants him to stand over all mankind. As Superman uses her to fill the void left from Lois Lane’s death, the power couple become very good at bringing out the worst in each other.

Damian Wayne

The Injustice game did Damian a little dirty, revealing deep into the story that the Nightwing fighting on Superman’s side was not Dick Grayson, but Damian. According to Batman, Damian murdered Dick. The comics dove deeper into that and made it more of a freak accident brought on by Damian being an impulsive and angry child. Still, Bruce and his son were unable to make amends due to their shared lack of warmth.

Later stories, and even Injustice 2, added more depth to Damian. It always made sense that he’d join Superman’s Regime, but there was a soul in there who would eventually see that this wasn’t the right path. In the comic Injustice vs. Masters of the Universe, which was treated as a sequel to Injustice 2’s dark ending, Damian took up the mantle of Batman to oppose Superman and even grew a long-missing sense of humor in the process.

Lex Luthor

The great tragedy of the DC multiverse is that Superman and Lex Luthor just can’t get along. They will always be at odds no matter what Earth they come from. The Injustice universe was the one exception, as Luthor was portrayed as fairly warm and altruistic. Much like Batman, he has contingency plans up the wazoo, but they don’t come off as creepy.

Seeing him there as Superman’s longtime friend who sadly has to stab him in the back brings back that multiversal truth about the duo. Just because this is a world where Superman kills and things get very bleak doesn’t mean it’s the worst world and that it isn’t worth saving. The mainstream Cyborg is reluctant to come to terms with this heroic Luthor, but he ultimately accepts the miracle that this universe created a Luthor worth befriending and even looking up to.

Hal Jordan

Maybe it’s just me, but I was never a fan of how Geoff Johns retconned Hal’s past and gave him deniability for everything he did as Parallax. I liked that a boring hero dude like Hal snapped, did some bad stuff, and then had to accept his failures in an attempt to be better. With Injustice, they gave us that exact Hal.

Read more

Games

Injustice Beat Zack Snyder’s Justice League to the Punch

By Matthew Byrd

Comics

Injustice: Year Zero Brings the Justice Society to DC Alternate Universe

By Jim Dandy

Overflowing with willpower and being an otherwise competent space cop, Hal is still something of a dunce at times, and he’s susceptible to manipulation in the right situation. He’s already following Superman’s lead, but having Sinestro pop in to indoctrinate him into the Sinestro Corps makes him actually interesting. Let Hal be the worst version of himself here so he can double back on it in the sequel and beg Guy Gardner’s ghost for forgiveness.

Shazam

Injustice may be the B-side to Mortal Kombat, but the game itself is fairly tame on the violence. Joker’s death isn’t actually shown on screen, Luthor’s end is fairly clean, and Grodd taking a trident to the torso is relatively tame.

But what we absolutely, positively have to see in the animated movie is Shazam’s death scene to really give an idea of how far gone Superman is. It’s bloodless from our point of view, but it’s grisly as hell and made worse when you remember that Shazam is a literal child under all the mystical power.

Batgirl

The Barbara Gordon version of Batgirl was one of the first DLC characters added to Injustice, but it’s unfortunate that she’s not in the main story mode — something the animated movie could fix by giving her a more prominent role in the fight against the Regime. Her ending gives her a kickass backstory where she returns to the cowl after her father dies at Superman’s hands. The comics go deeper into this, even making it so that Superman doesn’t directly kill Commissioner Gordon.

In this continuity, she was already wheelchair-bound as Oracle. She had to go under a very dangerous procedure under Luthor’s care in order to walk again. This is one of the storylines that could make for a captivating arc in the movie.

Alfred Pennyworth

Alfred isn’t in either Injustice game. He’s already dead by the start of the first game. But I don’t care. Alfred needs to be in the animated movie because he is the heart and soul of the Injustice comics. While others bow to Superman, follow him, or even try to reason with him, Alfred Pennyworth doesn’t play those games. He will straight-up verbally clown Superman for his actions without flinching. He is not afraid of the Kryptonian, no matter how red his glowing eyes get.

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This comes to a head in the comics when Alfred takes a pill that gives him Kryptonian strength and he kicks the absolute shit out of Superman for ruining his family. I know I’m asking for a lot, but I simply need to see Alfred stomp a mudhole in Superman so hard that his own shoe explodes from the impact.

The post 10 Injustice Characters the DC Animated Movie Needs to Get Right appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[currentfandomkick]

Why Marinette Hates Tim

Marinette blames Tim next summer for all that happened. Why? He cursed her with a vague theory. And Max and her Both know give her a clue and she has to follow it to solve the puzzle—a fatal flaw for her, Puzzler, Hero Stalker (Tim), Riddler and her father, Professor Strange (even if he is using an alias and supposedly dead as far as legal documents go).

Hero Staker Tim swore he’d become Robin if the current one left. It was a joke between them, she thought. Then he vanished the next summer, the first one where there wasnt any Robin mentioned anywhere. It was eery.

Then, then Timothy Drake, heir to some company-who looks a lot like her Hero Stalker—is a Wayne. And there’s a new Robin. This... deeply bothers Marinette. Why? New Robin seeks her out and talks a lot like Hero Stalker. And has a too similar movement pattern and tells.

And wasnt Hero Stalker Tim from a rich but high on neglient at best family? Didnt that happen to Timothy Drake before ending up as a Wayne?

Her that puzzle peice was central to figuring this out and goddamnit. Frost, who hates gossip, told her to just look up the rich families with kids Hero Stalker’s age and see who looked like him and to leave from to his lab and antidotes already.

Frost accidently gave her the vital method to see if Hero Stalker was that dumb to be become Robin after Robin the Second (Jason) was brutally murdered. The answer was yes.

And now Marinette had a crisis. She knew Batman’s identity was Bruce Wayne. How? Tim calls Bruce his dad. New Robin slipped and called him dad. And Tim is New Robin since Tim is Hero Stalker and no one else came close to looking like Hero Stalker from the data pool which involved more hacking than she ever thought she would do.

Marinette, a child, figured out who Batman was by age 9 becuase his new Robin/former Stalker was too obviously himself. She is embarrassed on his behalf, and honestly debates asking Riddler to separate him and Bats in a non-lethal puzzle trap just to lecture him. Becuase what the fuck Hero Stalker! If she can figure it out, then everyone else can too! Probably(?) likely. Either way its bad!

She doesnt though... Riddler puts together she’s concerned for the new Robin, traps Bats in a different puzzle maze from Robin, who is stuck with a grounded Marinette. Why was she grounded, easy. She got caught returning stolen jewlry on camera. It was punishment for failing basic stealth—always take out any witness.

And instead of pointing out she knows who Bats is, she tells him to work on a different persona since ‘i made you weeks ago. Its pretending to be someone you’re not completely is all. I have to do that around Maman and Papa all the time, and whenever i go out with anyone really. Up your secret identity game already!’

Riddler is busy with Bats and didnt do cameras. Why? “Im not redesiging a perfectly good grounding maze every time. They take time and i dint always have it. Its time economics Batman. I dont know what our lovely Princess said or did to your Robin. He’s fine though, see? No major injuries.”

Tim relized Marinette knew Hero Stalker was batman’s new Robin. This meant one thing—he could still help her and the RKC now! Why? He knew even if they made him out, they want to help people and never be like their parents, duh. And if they added to his budding information network with incredibly accurate information so long as he didnt rat them out to Batman, its fine.

Afterall, Pixie Pop wants to help poeple and is working the rouges into vigilantes to help more than hurt, and is doing a great job of it for the most part. So if Pixie Pop is Princess who’s the maybe kryptonian and her powers align with that theory, so what? Superman has an heir already and a bio!son too, apparently. Lois didnt tell him since they werent together then and yeah. So really, Superman didnt need another kid, and Pixie Pop didnt want another dad—“i have Papa and Father and now four of my friends’ dads in Paris called dibs on partial custody. I have more dads than i need for a quartet. That is far too many dads and i refuse to get another one!”

Then Marinette is talking to Alix and finds out about an old director at the Lourve her dad knew, Diana Prince. Marinette was working on a Wonder Woman inspired outfit, and knew her history of Wonder Woman thank you. Its just...

Wonder Woman appeared just after Miss Prince Left. And from the videos Alix sent of her new hero, she was terrifyingly similar to Wonder Woman. Not only did they look alike and have the same hair style preference, it was the same face if she did facial recognition with Markov, her robot son with Max. Then there was gait, generao stances and how she interacted with men and women so differently as both people and damnit. Same person.

She curses Hero Staker Tim for this. She now has to hide two hero identities. Why her?

The third was debatably Ivy and Harley’s fault, but defiantely still Tim’s. Why? He was the one that got her hooked on Barry Allen’s cases, and pointing out that he didnt see meta as bad or evil but as people who can be good or be civilians peacefully. That, she needed that with how much vitrol she had to swallow about her powers indirectly from everywhere but her school and some parts of Gotham.

In her defense, she is a nerd here. A nerd. So realizing the The Flash is also the forensics guy from Central City that she kinda follows on all her social medias, watches the cases of unfold, and knows has a reputation for being late a lot like her but is still well liked. So she may fangirl about his cases with Hero Stalker erm. Tim now, still.

And if one day she managed to pout at her father enough to get him to agree to let her go with Harley and Ivy to Central City for a few days to see the meta museum they just opened up (technically the Flash Museum, but Marinette didn’t care. It was focused on metas not being horrible and that meant a lot to her scared, meta closeted butt).

And then her favorite forensic investigator, The Barry Allen, shows up? Best day ever. He’s nice! And concerned about how much of his cases she knows. Its not her fault this time though! Hero Stalker—Tim—sent her a case of his that went cold and she liked his science and yeah. New hero added to her listpersonal heroes list.

Harley isn’t even mad, just amused as Marinette fangirls over someone that isnt her and Barry has no clue how to respond as a tiny child know him as Barry Allen and thinks he’s awesome? Why?? He is happy but so confused and Iris is dying until Marinette cites cases that she shouldnt know about and tiny child why, how, when and where did you get that information!

The only answer is a friend likes cold cases and has no qualms hacking to find interesting ones, if he’s stumped then Marinette (Jill Smith mr. allen sir!) gets to try. And she is good at it since she can ask an officer in France (officer Raincomprix) about logistical things, common error margins and then puzzle it all out herself from there.

Somewhere she mentions absently that her mom doesnt like her science-y side since her dad was a bad person and liked science but she still likes learning and helping, even if the family buisness is food and service and they want her to either take over or become a designer. She’s thinking maybe for people woth disabilites so she can do more mental work and toy with hiw things bend and move and such.

Iris and Barry are ConcernedTM and debating how to get custody, or get her away from her mom or both. Probably both—no science allowed for a clear science obssessed kid is a red flag for bith of them that somethinf is very wrong. Harley and Ivy wave it off as “trust us, her mom aint budging.”

then the Flash is needed because of some gorilla—Marinette was more focused on an outfit on display and muttering over aerodynamics and friction. Barry is Concerned (smart kid, likes helping, potentially a league ally?) before he bolts, determined to get more on her when he returns and possibly see if he can get cps involved.

Marinette only notices that her hero moving so fast and oh god she did it again damnit! That was superspeed. And only one speedster had similiar measurements, the Flash.

She cant even tell Hero Stalker now because he’s Robin and the Justice League would Flip if they knew she knew 3 of their hero’s identities. She just hit her head and said “i did it again!” Harley pats her head while Marinette burrows into her because why is she a danger to the Justice League and secret identities! She doesnt want to be or to know damnit!

Tim sneezes in the distance and wonders who’s talking about him behind his back this time. He messages batgirl about this bad feeling he has and she laughs it off as the boy developing Batman’s paranoia.

Her Fourth solve was Green Arrow. It was an accident! She swears. She just saw oliver queen with a bow and arrow in a video shooting. and noticed he had a very distinct and familiar style to someone but not who. Then compared it to various archers as her brain was nagging. Then saw a green arrow video and cursed herself again then Tim five more times.

She sent a message to Rose asking why she’s a danger to all secret identities. Rose tells her it is her curse for being too damn smart and not leaving things alone.

Marinette tries reallly hard not to figure out the next one. But really, it should have been an earlier solve and she’s mad at herself for missing it for so long, even if it was more aviodance than denial.

Admittedly this one should have been an earlier solve, but she was very little when she found out about the surgery and everything and it was uncomfortable damnit! So she did what any reasonable child would. Ignore it. Then she went over the file to see if maybe she could possibly target parts of the kyptonian DNA in her to weaken it. And saw who the intended donor was, Clark Kent, a reporter that has impossible luck with big hero scoops, is never injured or rescued, and never been sick. He also looks like... one quick photoshop of his glasses onto superman with a clothing change and she sees her usual disguise technique on goddamn superman. She is overwhelmed with this as ‘oh god superman will kidnap me if he finds out!’ And hides from him whenever he’s in the region—be it France or Gotham.

Her friends think its hilarious, Marinette feels sick from it. She doesnt like this and is genuinely scared for her life and family’s safety now. And we all know how nervous marinettes are.

If at one point batman tried to talk to her on patrol and somewhat suceeded. As in, she spoke beofre bolting.

“I didnt figure out who boyscout and amazon and boltbrain and arrowhead are! Or you and the batfam! Bye!!!!” Yes, clearly Marinette can lie very well.

Batman sees through it and feels sick. He forces a league meeting asap and fills them in.

“this kid put five of our identities together and cant even lie. We need to recruit them.”

“Batman, is this that kid KF mentioned to me?”

Batman nodded. Flash sighed. “Okay. We are on a manhunt for a kid kyptonian that is terrified of all of us, very smart, and may have an active gotham villain as a parent. And somehow knows me and—wait. bats, do you have any pics of your rogues in civilian clothing? I need to test a theory...”

A few minutes later and “oh my god that little kid i met as a civilian figured me out!”

A few days later Flash finds her by acccident as a civilian kid in broad daylight on her own in Central. He doesnt show he knows she knows, And finds out she’s waiting for her babysitter to finish a class.

Flash just asks about a case he put together as Barry Allen that she might know about and...

“Uh, mr. Flash? Why are you asking me? The lead florensics was Barry Allen.”

He tries insulting Barry Allen—he’s late and sloppy and—

only for Marinette to defend him to the death. “He’s late because he stays up late working on other cases. Appearances and organizational skills arent what matters with his expertise mr. flash! He even foghts for metas to have their circumstances and powers impact on them considered dueing sentencing!”

Flash is very touched and shocked. only then he manages to get out of her that where she lives (france) being meta is a life sentence to “a living zombie And jail-time for being born a lot, even if it is t in normal prisons. And you know what? Mr. Allen stated so many times that you need to contextualize powers and abilities and intent in his testimonies for meta cases. Back home youre put in prison for defending yourself...” she tugs at her sleeve here.

“Maman screamed at me when she found out a few kids were getting stalked and i helped out and someone got it on tape. Not becuase my powers showed or anything—father made a treatment so they dont, well, they stay off when i use them and follow all the behavior and environmental rules so they cant put me in one of the centers. But she, she’s stills cared someone will try to check me for abilities back in France, and that she’ll lose me. She doesnt always realize i have them until things like that happen...”

Flash is desperately trying not to adopt her. Wally would love a little sister, and Superman has enoguh kids, Bats does too. he is oreventing arrow form having another one as she’s powered and that isnt a good when working with Green Arrow unless the meta is his girlfriend. And the girl loves science—come on!

batman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman and Superman heard the Feance bit over comms and suddenly it hit them that the kid could be in danger for existing and that an entire country villified being meta to an extreme. That the girl is in hiding and probably using an alias constantly. Batman mentally adopted her ages ago and is now in Worried Dad mode like Flash and apparently Superman was falling into it too. Wonder Woman is in righteous rage mode and ready to fight france herself if she has to—no imprisoning metas for being metas!

Flash decided to be direct since he knew she trusted him as Mr. Allen and knows he’s Flash.“So, am i allowed to know which powers you have?”

Marinette shook her head, visbily distressed and floating skightly. “If, if they ever find out i cant. I cant risk Maman and Papa and Father. I dont know everything but Father only started being a good person after the, the incident where he had to go into witness protection. Maman is dead as far as a lot of people are concerned, or she never existed. Papa doesnt know about any of it. I cant. I cant risk what they worked for by being outted.”

Flash is very concerned. “Thats a lot of pressure to put in yourself, especially at your age.”

marinette didnt make eye contact then. “I have to. If i dont people can connect dots and dashes and blips. Father says its easy for him too and that possibilities are just what we’re both hardwired for but. But i shouldn’t catch as many as i do—my teachers keep saying i need to dial it back and stop catching on so fast and blurting it all out but, i just...” marientte is visibly drowning under the pressure to act not-meta and keep her family safe.

“Sounds like youre a real smart kid.”

“Smart kids dont get caught.” She meant herself with her jewlry returns, Flash thought she meant the JL, and tried to redirect the conversation.

If the JL was out then...

“If you cant tell me, can you at least tell me you have someone to talk to about these things?”

“Auntie Quinn and Rose. Rose doesnt like you guys though.”

Flash laughed a little at that. “Alright, fair enough. Who made her mad? Was it arrow?”

“Batman.” Marinette frowning as she said the enxt bit. “Something about her being given to someone that should never be allowed bear children? She rants a lot so i cant always keep up.”

Batman internally bangs his head against a table. Outwardly, he says “Ivy’s daughter, rose. That girl, she’s the Princess.”

The assemebled winced. They all pushed for Rose to be sent toback to her mother, Ivy, since they didnt trust her with any available mentor and Ivy was usually a low ranking Gotham eco-terrorist pacified by wayne gardens and green initiatives. Apprently Rose has a lot of sway over the Princess too.

Marinette changes the conversation while. Waiting for her babysitter, Ghoul, to leave class. She needs a distraction from her situation that the Flash was willing to give her.

“Can i look at the case again? Something doesnt add up... there! See? Its close to the Speedsters that leave marks at those angles but only if they really mess with the speed force and the spacetime continuum! But theres no evidence of that, its a lightning meta, Possibly using it to teleport since no one came in or out on camera. Its a slight angle and all but...”

Flash decides Marinette will join the Justice League one day or so help him! He also decides to target france’s anti-meta policies and possibly kidnap Marinette.

The League isnt letting him. But he has a fan of Barry Allen who is handling Gotham’s criminals and beign given slack by them... albeit also raised by in-part. But the girl has a strong moral compass that is a lot like most of League’s so.

He’s fighting Bats for custody on principle. His fangirl, he has dibs!

Dont know why it ended up with Flash becoming a ‘Marinette is my daughter now’ person but why not? Wally would like her as a sister, probably.

Marinette blames all of this and the future consequences on Tim. She hates her vanishing freind for this.

#maribat #bio!dad au #bio!dad strange #marinette strange dupain cheng #accidental secret identity solves #my au #my ideas #justice league is trying to get mari and there will be a custody battle #not just between heroes and rogues #but each other becuase yep. too many claims #wait until she gets tikki and diana throws her hat into the mentor ring

[dc-earth53]

#0001: Superman (Clark Kent/Kal-El)

Age: 45

Occupation: Reporter, adventurer

Marital status: Married

Known relatives: Jor-El (father, deceased), Lara Lor-Van (mother, deceased), Jonathan Kent (adoptive father), Martha Kent (adoptive mother), Lois Lane-Kent (wife), Jon Kent (son), Conner Kent/Kon-El (clone “brother”), Zor-El (uncle, deceased), Alura In-Ze (aunt, deceased), Kara Zor-El (cousin), Karen Starr (clone “cousin”), Lucy Lane (sister-in-law), Sam Lane (father-in-law, deceased). 

Group affiliation: Justice League of America

Base of operations: Fortress of Solitude, the Arctic

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 235 lbs.

History: 

45 years ago:

Jor-El and Lara send infant Kal-El to Earth to escape the destruction of the planet Krypton.

Kal-El’s rocket is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent near Smallville, Kansas. The Kents adopt him as their own son, naming him Clark.

33 years ago: 12-year-old Clark befriends Lana Lang and Pete Ross.

29 years ago: 

16-year-old Clark’s latent Kryptonian abilities including super-strength, flight, and invulnerability begin to emerge, thanks to time spent underneath Earth’s yellow sun. The Kents reveal to him his alien heritage, and he begins doing good in secret.

Clark and Lana begin dating, and Clark reveals the secret of his powers to Lana.

24 years ago: 21-year-old Clark graduates from journalism school at the University of Kansas and sets off to see the world, doing freelance reporting during his travels. Clark and Lana amicably end their relationship.

20 years ago: 

25-year-old Clark stops an experimental spacecraft from crashing in front of a crowd of people, and the incident leads him to decide that it’s time to come out from the shadows. Martha fashions a costume for him from his baby blanket, emblazoned with the family crest of the House of El.

Clark moves to Metropolis and gets a job at the Daily Planet as a reporter, meeting reporter Lois Lane, editor Perry White, and intern Jimmy Olsen.

Dubbed “Superman” by the media after saving Daily Planet staff from a helicopter crash, Clark makes his costumed debut while his identity remains a secret. 

Superman makes an enemy of billionaire Lex Luthor, who believed him to be an extraterrestrial threat to humanity.

19 years ago:

Superman meets Batman, and the pair team up to solve a series of murders.

Superman has his first encounters with opponents such as Mr. Mxyzptlk, Metallo, Toyman, and Rampage.

Clark and Lois begin dating.

Superman becomes a charter member of the Justice League of America after helping to repel an alien invasion of Earth.

18 years ago:  Superman meets the Eradicator, a Kryptonian artificial intelligence dedicated to the preservation of Kryptonian culture and driven to turn Earth into a second Krypton. The Eradicator builds a citadel in the Arctic, which Superman repurposes as his Fortress of Solitude.

17 years ago: 

Superman discovers the body of his cousin, Kara Zor-El, in suspended animation, when a rocket similar to the one he arrived in crashes to Earth. Kara takes on his colors and symbol and joins the fight for truth and justice as Supergirl.

Superman first encounters Brainiac, a rogue artificial intelligence from the planet Colu, when one of his probes arrives on Earth in pursuit of Kara’s rocket.

The shrunken Kryptonian city of Kandor is recovered from Brainiac and taken to the Fortress of Solitude.

16 years ago: Superman releases Dru-Zod and Ursa, Kryptonian war criminals, from imprisonment in the Phantom Zone, but is forced to re-imprison them when they attempt to take over Earth and turn it into a new Krypton. 

15 years ago: Superman is abducted by Mongul, the ruler of the artifical planet Warworld, and forced to compete in gladiatorial combat. He leads a revolution among the slaves on Warworld, and escapes, forcing Mongul to retreat. 

14 years ago: Superman first encounters Darkseid, despotic ruler of the planet Apokolips.

13 years ago: Mongul returns to Earth on Superman’s birthday, attacking him with the parasitic Black Mercy plant and trapping him in a world of his own fantasies.

12 years ago:

In the wake of Checkmate’s offensive on the Justice League, revealed to be a plot by Brainiac, Superman moves to disband the team.

Clark proposes to Lois, revealing to her his secret identity as Superman.

11 years ago: 

Superman, along with the rest of Earth’s heroes, fight against the Anti-Monitor. Supergirl perishes in the battle.

Superman encounters Bizarro, an early, flawed result of an attempt to replicate Kryptonian DNA.  

9 years ago:

Superman falls in battle against the living weapon Doomsday.

The Eradicator places Superman in a Kryptonian healing matrix hidden within the Fortress of Solitude, restoring him to life after a few months of hibernation.

Clark and Lois are wed.

8 years ago:

Clark and Lois’s son, Jon Kent is born.

Superman comes into conflict with pragmatic vigilante Manchester Black and his Elite.

7 years ago:

Superman fights against the Joker, who had stolen Mr. Mxyzptlk’s powers and twisted the Earth into his own image.

A third Kryptonian rocket crashes on Earth, containing Krypto, a dog-like creature belonging to Jor-El and Lara. Krypto comes to reside at the Fortress of Solitude.

Superman and Earth’s heroes fight against the allied forces of Imperiex, Brainiac, and Darkseid.

5 years ago: After a battle against Lex Luthor, who had given himself Kryptonian powers, Superman loses his powers from heavy exposure to red sunlight and temporarily retires.

4 years ago:

Superman’s powers return, in time for him to foil a new plot from  Luthor.

Superman foils an attempt from Brainiac to bottle Metropolis, restoring Kandor to its proper size in the process and locating it in the Arctic. Around the same time, Jonathan Kent passes away of a heart attack.

3 years ago: 

After failing to integrate with humanity, the citizens of Kandor use Brainiac’s technology to relocate Kandor to a new planet opposite Earth’s orbit - “New Krypton.”

New Krypton, led by Zod and Ursa, declares war on Earth as the new planet proves to be unstable. Superman and Earth’s heroes drive them off, but not without suffering many losses, which leave Superman as the true last son of Krypton.

2 years ago:  The Kent family leaves Metropolis for an extended period of time, taking a trip across America to reconnect with ordinary people. Eventually, they settle down in Hamilton County, Pennsylvania, a rural area west of Metropolis.

1 year ago:

Superman defeats Darkseid,  who had returned to Earth in search of the Anti-Life Equation, removing his threat from the universe seemingly for good.

Superman receives a warm welcome back to Metropolis when he’s attacked by Hank Henshaw and his Superman Revenge Squad.

Present Day: Clark helps 8-year-old Jon deal with his sudden development of powers similar to his father’s.

Commentary:

Superman’s origin is so iconic that Grant Morrison summed it up in just eight words: “Doomed planet. Desperate scientists. Last hope. Kindly couple.” In light of this, I see no reason to mess with a good thing. That being said, the story of Superman’s public debut has been retold with major differences four or five times now between the various Crises, and that makes things tricky to pin down. 

The version I ended up writing is mostly inspired by Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid. (Sorry, anyone who’s a fan of Clark as Superboy. While I don’t hate the concept, it raises the question of “why doesn’t anyone associate Superboy and thus Superman with Clark?” it doesn’t really bring anything valuable to the table that can’t be put elsewhere in the timeline: the Legion is more associated with Supergirl in this timeline, and Krypto is moved to later on.) His post-Crisis history is mostly intact, although with a few notable omissions, mainly Superman Blue. I hope nobody will miss that too much.

Superman’s history sets the timeline for the rest of the universe - while other heroes’ origins occur before his public debut, he’s the first of the major figures of the Age of Heroes to debut, twenty years prior to the present day. The rest of the Trinity follows within a year of his appearance, along with most of the iconic Silver Age DC heroes. This Superman is forty-five years of age at the current point in the timeline: a seasoned superhero who has saved the world time and time again, but who also lives a simple life as a family man with Lois and Jon.

He may be a Kryptonian by genetics, but at his core, thanks to his upbringing from Ma and Pa Kent, he’s a human - one who happens to have to balance his extraordinary powers and responsibility to the world (wait, is this Spider-Man all of a sudden?) with his alien heritage and the complications derived from such. He’s a champion of the oppressed, standing up for the “little guy” and those who can’t defend themselves against powers both great and small. Out of the Trinity, he best embodies hope - when the situation seems at its most dire, Superman’s the one to keep the faith and rally for one last push. He’s the hero who lands on a rooftop beside someone who’s about to jump and just sits beside them while they make their decision.

As for Superman’s costume, he’s currently sporting the Reborn look, sans trunks. I’m not saying the trunks are outright bad or silly, and envision them as being part of his original costume for certain, but the costume in the header is what he currently uses in this universe.

Have any questions about Superman or anything else? My asks are open!

#superman #clark kent #kal-el #profile #dc #dc comics #earth 53