SuperMON #688 Discussion+Preview (spoilers)

[Karl O'Neill]

Here is the preview for next week's issue of superman, now called supermon by me and many fans!

Looks like the shit is going to explode with the superman attack squad against Mon el and the Gaurdian.

Art is great.

http://dcublog.dccomics.com/2009/05/21/head-into-friday-with-some-pages-from-superman-688/

[Karl O'Neill]

Good issue.

His powers are trying to cure the serum,The serum is trying to cure the powers, blah blah blah.

Mon el is now gay i think, He is being chatted up some bloke in this issue, and don't be a stranger, blah blah blah.

They rescue TELLUS. who helps them against codename assassin. He blocks his telepathy.

CA is told by general lane that the gaurdian has a kid, he is going to kill her.

Mon el on last page is seeing in paris drinking some hot chocalate in the same place hemmingway and camus drank it.

he says. I WANT TO LIVE.

[IvCNuB4]

Mon el is now gay i think, He is being chatted up some bloke in this issue, and don't be a stranger, blah blah blah.

Does this mean you'll start referring to him as Gay-El now ? :biggrin:

[Sanlear]

Mon el is now gay i think, He is being chatted up some bloke in this issue, and don't be a stranger, blah blah blah.
That's probably going to disappoint Harper's niece when Mon-El hooks up with her (as seen in the Omens and Origins issue).

[Vic Vega]

I am beginning to think Robinson's excellent Starman series was a fluke.

This is a dull as all hell to me and I'm a Mon-El fan.

The best thing about this issue was the guards discussing philosophy.

That's not a good sign.

[Retro315]

Good issue.

His powers are trying to cure the serum,The serum is trying to cure the powers, blah blah blah.

Mon el is now gay i think, He is being chatted up some bloke in this issue, and don't be a stranger, blah blah blah.

They rescue TELLUS. who helps them against codename assassin. He blocks his telepathy.

CA is told by general lane that the gaurdian has a kid, he is going to kill her.

Mon el on last page is seeing in paris drinking some hot chocalate in the same place hemmingway and camus drank it.

he says. I WANT TO LIVE.

I agree ... I gave Robinson his time to slow burn into things being interesting, and things are getting better every month (slowly). I partially believe that a lot of the lack of excitement is the art. Renato Guedes is capable of some iconic, gorgeous spreads when he has the time to work on them ... but for some reason, his stuff just isn't that dynamic. I even like the clean lines and the very "modern, sleek" vibe his art gives Metropolis and the heroes of said city ... but it's just too ... slow to look at.

Also, and maybe it's because I just read this after not having slept in 36 hours ... but the dialogue seemed really, really odd this issue.

But there were some great moments that make you warm up to Mon-El, for starters, the way he proves he's not Kryptonian, and then the end, where he wants to live. Also, if that guy running the cafe was hitting on Mon-El ... it seemed like he had no clue. He's new to Earth, and especially metropolitan Earth, so he may have no clue what the hell was happening, other than "oh ... nice human, feeding me treats".

Other than that? The pacing was as weird as any of the rest of World Without Superman has been under Robinson, with zero showing of your Atlas or your Steel from last issue, but we trade them in for the rescue of Tellus and a faceoff with Codename: Assassin - which is good, because Assassin has been "out and about" for a good many issues now, but he's supposed to be General Lane's ace - but lately so many more Lane flunkies have popped up that Assassin has ultimately been relegate to "just another flunky".

I can see Lane's at least coming up with a super-rival for all of Superman's super-friends group ... and quite a few for Superman himself and Supergirl. But we get Assassin to fight Guardian and that light tattoo girl to fight Doctor Light and so on and so forth. Also, Doctor Light showing up is nice continuity with her appearance Action. She's the go-to-gal here ... and it's nice to see her outside of JLA - the super-books are a good spot for her appearances.

Now, that aside ... and ignoring the quirkiness here ... I think Robinson is juggling WAY too many characters. I understand that in his quest to really set up a living Metropolis and show slices of life all over it, we're bound to see cutaways to even more Superman characters and that many of them will actually tie in somehow to main goings-on ... but man ... with all the characters he's throwing around, the ones with promising upcoming stories do suffer a bit. For instance, what exactly has Jimmy Olsen discovered lately to help his research? We haven't even seen him ...

But at least a broad mission statement is coming into focus now, four issues in - Mon-El now knows he's running out of time, and so he's going to start getting things done and not just beating up random one-shot cameos like Shrapnel or the Squad K.

I'm curious to see if sharper focus makes the first few issues' slowness pay off, and what other payoffs Robinson gets by the time the Super-books shift after the August crossover. See what worked and what didn't.

[bottlecityofkanga]

I'm surprised to say I'm really enjoy this issue.

I'm no fan of the Guardian but the appearance of Tellus (my favourite Legionnaire) has perked that plot up.

Meanwhile Robinson's actually managed to make Mon-El interesting. The twist with the lead poisoning serum is inspired.

http://bottlecityofkanga.blogspot.com/2009/05/superman-688-there-wont-be-dry-seat-in.html

[Toonimator]

I liked the twist as well. Gives Mon-El an exit date, yet doesn't feel as contrived as I feared it would (and delivering it so EARLY in his story is also nice; I figured we'd get the predictable "cure negated" explanation only at the very end of his time in the book, leading to the inevitable trip to the all-new Phantom Zone to wait until the Legion can get him). I also appreciate the parallel of his powers & the cure with real-life situations, like transplant patients whose bodies attack the new kidney or liver or heart meant to SAVE them. :frown:

[Spiffy]

SuperMON and Supergirl have both been really excellent lately (although I'll admit to having problems with the last issue of "Girl", which I think fell off the wagon a bit).

[edhopper]

I'm a straight married man (15 years) I have had the same discussions about food, especially referring to ingredients that make something taste special. As many foodies who watch the Food Network also do.
I also have been to Paris a few times and love sitting in a wonderful cafe.
This might just be more of a metropolitan thing than a gay thing.
I also like Broadway musicals, still straight.

[RunningWithJuanPablo]

Another nice issue. I didn't think Mon-El was hit on or anything, rather, it was just a regular conversation about food and the world with a chef who takes pride in what he cooks. I did like the serum/powers twist, but I'm really starting to like Mon-el, so surely he doesn't actually die or anything.

Question. If the serum cures the powers then he'd live normally right? But that won't happen will it, since Dr. Light bluntly said that he'd die? Also, what was the stuff about Mon-El asking about his hair being dead?

[stingerman]

Seems, I am not the only one to think this had homosexual elements.

Read to me as it did - and when Mon El was in Paris he mentioned the women etc. which further led me to believe the conversation previous was more gay oriented.

Also, the "Don't be a stranger" comment seemed to confirm that as well.

[ScottyQuick]

I was wondering if I was the only one who read that as gay! I think that's kind of awesome.

[IvCNuB4]

So the dude may have been hitting on Mon. Why not ? He's hot :tongue:

[_OM_]

Seems, I am not the only one to think this had homosexual elements.

...Yeah, but could you see the amount of shit DC would get into if this exchange happened:

Mon: "I'm sorry, but I'm not homosexual. In fact, where I come from, it's biologically impossible."

Gay: "Don't knock it until you've tried it!"

Mon: "I warned you."

[Mon and Gay man start making out. Mon explodes, taking 1/2 of Metropolis with him.]

[ScottyQuick]

...Yeah, but could you see the amount of shit DC would get into if this exchange happened:

Mon: "I'm sorry, but I'm not homosexual. In fact, where I come from, it's biologically impossible."

Gay: "Don't knock it until you've tried it!"

Mon: "I warned you."

[Mon and Gay man start making out. Mon explodes, taking 1/2 of Metropolis with him.]

Because we all know when Lois Lane and Superman make out, Lois dies.

[Mon-el]

I read the issue on Friday. A few weeks after it had been out, and I must admit I have been reading through this thread before I read the issue.

I thought the issue itself was boring and dull.

The only bright spot in the issue that I found was Tellus being rescued.

The rest I could have read with any other characters in the book.

[gustopher]

Good issue.

His powers are trying to cure the serum,The serum is trying to cure the powers, blah blah blah.

Mon el is now gay i think, He is being chatted up some bloke in this issue, and don't be a stranger, blah blah blah.

They rescue TELLUS. who helps them against codename assassin. He blocks his telepathy.

CA is told by general lane that the gaurdian has a kid, he is going to kill her.

Mon el on last page is seeing in paris drinking some hot chocalate in the same place hemmingway and camus drank it.

he says. I WANT TO LIVE.

We don't have any indication that Mon-El is gay. The guy hitting on him clearly was, but Mon-El didn't seem to take too much note of this.

Anyway, reading this little summary reminded me of how much actually happened in this issue, even though reading the issue it felt like nothing happened. I guess I'm just really not into Robinson's writing here.

Also, shouldn't Mon-El be about 16? Wasn't that when he got stuck in the Phantom Zone? How did he get so old?