stamen
05-16-2007, 10:16 PM
So Action Comics went from being the sixth or seventh book I read in a given week to the book that I actually took time off of work for to drive out to the shop, purchase, and read first in the parking lot. Props to Fabian Nicieza for generating that level of interest in a DC Comics fan that has never really liked Superman. (That would be me.)
So it's a filler two issue arc. Big deal. Cry me a river. Read the damn book and comment about the work itself. So I eluded last week that it didn't really matter how Fabian ended his story. The first part of this arc raised the right questions, so no matter how you come down on them, at least the comic forces you to think them through. (Unless of course you were just looking for Superman smashing things.)
So, to stick to my guns, I did not agree with the way Fabian answered the questions he raised in #848. But let me offer a huge BUT... I loved the answer he provided. Fabian's answer was not my answer. It will never be my answer. But that doesn't mean that I didn't love every second of Supes answering such difficult questions representing a complex level of moral conflict.
I am tempted to break down my post into "Likes" and "Dislikes," but that just won't do. Fabian's work is a unified whole, and each piece plays into the other pieces in a way that you can't just pull out like a mud vein in a crayfish. No, no, you have to consume the whole to appreciate the bits, I believe.
Spoilers --
We begin with the Redemption / Supes battle. Fabian goes out of his way to make Redemption strong. At first I disliked this, but read below. The issue's sermonizing begins around page three. I felt like some of the subtleties of issue #848 were lost in the follow up. The primary message of Fabian's story became transparent before we were half way through this issue. There were several other subtleties, but I will save for later if I have time.
The Redemption / Supes battle isn't that bad. Superman's "villian" is actually able to hurt him which I found interesting, though often over-played. In this instance, I felt like the pain was justified, and again I will delve into it below. My biggest issue was the strange passage of time that happened after the fight, when Redemption asks Superman to go and aid the Sakira. All of that happens off panel, and I had to read it a few times to figure out what happened.
The re-visit to Barbara Johnson was an awesome tribute to Kurt's beautiful story a couple of months ago, which also was heavily laden with complex moral messages. Thank you Fabain, for referencing this phenomenal story written by Busiek.
Flash through some Oracle stuff, some plot stuff, and arrive in Smallville as Clark discussing dropping out of church with his parents. They didn't mind. They were glad that Clark was independent, but still acted from a basic moral foundation.
The sermonizing begins again, as we see that the primary enemy in the story is a man driven by his own guilt. And his need for Redemption was a projection of his own guilt. Here enters what seemed to me to be Fabian's critique of the Christian church (albeit quite veiled). I found myself identifying with his critque with a series of "Yeah, but's..."
Of course we get the showdown between the young pupil and the guilt-ridden evangelist. The best part???? Superman just flies away. Good for him. Why get caught up in petty matters of ideology when you have reality hittng you from every side. Besides all that, he decided "to have a little faith." Supes flies away, believing that the evil of a guilty religious leader will be noted by the flock who follows him.
((( How ironic that Falwell died this week? )))
Fabian raises questions about mission work, evangelical Christianity, and a litnany of other issues. I give MAJOR props to him, his editors, and to DC Comics for having the balls to run this arc. I loved it!
I did not agree with the conclusions. But I will save that for some philosophy board, out there somewhere... as far as comic stories go.... it was beautiful.
ETA -- crap, I forgot the read below part.... I think this whole story makes better sense if Redemption's meta-gene was actually feeding off of Superman's faith just as much as Reverend Hightower's. Superman's faith in his actions started to waiver in his attack on Redemption, and Redemption weakened. Redemption was near Superman's equal when Supes was acting to save the innocents around him. And if you remember #848, the art kind of showed Redemption only melting the guns of the baddies (not the baddies themselves) when Supes was near him. So maybe he was feeding of Superman's faith? I kind of liked that intepretation.
So it's a filler two issue arc. Big deal. Cry me a river. Read the damn book and comment about the work itself. So I eluded last week that it didn't really matter how Fabian ended his story. The first part of this arc raised the right questions, so no matter how you come down on them, at least the comic forces you to think them through. (Unless of course you were just looking for Superman smashing things.)
So, to stick to my guns, I did not agree with the way Fabian answered the questions he raised in #848. But let me offer a huge BUT... I loved the answer he provided. Fabian's answer was not my answer. It will never be my answer. But that doesn't mean that I didn't love every second of Supes answering such difficult questions representing a complex level of moral conflict.
I am tempted to break down my post into "Likes" and "Dislikes," but that just won't do. Fabian's work is a unified whole, and each piece plays into the other pieces in a way that you can't just pull out like a mud vein in a crayfish. No, no, you have to consume the whole to appreciate the bits, I believe.
Spoilers --
We begin with the Redemption / Supes battle. Fabian goes out of his way to make Redemption strong. At first I disliked this, but read below. The issue's sermonizing begins around page three. I felt like some of the subtleties of issue #848 were lost in the follow up. The primary message of Fabian's story became transparent before we were half way through this issue. There were several other subtleties, but I will save for later if I have time.
The Redemption / Supes battle isn't that bad. Superman's "villian" is actually able to hurt him which I found interesting, though often over-played. In this instance, I felt like the pain was justified, and again I will delve into it below. My biggest issue was the strange passage of time that happened after the fight, when Redemption asks Superman to go and aid the Sakira. All of that happens off panel, and I had to read it a few times to figure out what happened.
The re-visit to Barbara Johnson was an awesome tribute to Kurt's beautiful story a couple of months ago, which also was heavily laden with complex moral messages. Thank you Fabain, for referencing this phenomenal story written by Busiek.
Flash through some Oracle stuff, some plot stuff, and arrive in Smallville as Clark discussing dropping out of church with his parents. They didn't mind. They were glad that Clark was independent, but still acted from a basic moral foundation.
The sermonizing begins again, as we see that the primary enemy in the story is a man driven by his own guilt. And his need for Redemption was a projection of his own guilt. Here enters what seemed to me to be Fabian's critique of the Christian church (albeit quite veiled). I found myself identifying with his critque with a series of "Yeah, but's..."
Of course we get the showdown between the young pupil and the guilt-ridden evangelist. The best part???? Superman just flies away. Good for him. Why get caught up in petty matters of ideology when you have reality hittng you from every side. Besides all that, he decided "to have a little faith." Supes flies away, believing that the evil of a guilty religious leader will be noted by the flock who follows him.
((( How ironic that Falwell died this week? )))
Fabian raises questions about mission work, evangelical Christianity, and a litnany of other issues. I give MAJOR props to him, his editors, and to DC Comics for having the balls to run this arc. I loved it!
I did not agree with the conclusions. But I will save that for some philosophy board, out there somewhere... as far as comic stories go.... it was beautiful.
ETA -- crap, I forgot the read below part.... I think this whole story makes better sense if Redemption's meta-gene was actually feeding off of Superman's faith just as much as Reverend Hightower's. Superman's faith in his actions started to waiver in his attack on Redemption, and Redemption weakened. Redemption was near Superman's equal when Supes was acting to save the innocents around him. And if you remember #848, the art kind of showed Redemption only melting the guns of the baddies (not the baddies themselves) when Supes was near him. So maybe he was feeding of Superman's faith? I kind of liked that intepretation.