Superman: Earth One Vol. 2 **SPOILERS**

[greatmetropolitan]

No, he says "tissue paper" instead. Huge difference.

Oh, cool. It's only mildly horrendous then...

[greatmetropolitan]

Its actually not a one night stand. Its more like a date and woman do do that on dates and for their boyfriends.

If you have never experienced that before, you probably did not get laid enough.

If this is what you think you probably have never known the touch of a significant other.

[Desaad]

Its actually not a one night stand. Its more like a date and woman do do that on dates and for their boyfriends.

If you have never experienced that before, you probably did not get laid enough.

Very possible, but there it is. I've never had a girl who did that on the first date, not knowing me at all. Even girls who have put out on the first date/meeting/encounter usually don't go down like that.

It's very much something that you'd do for a boyfriend, to spice things up, eating dinner mostly naked like that, not at the beginning.

[Desaad]

To be clear I'm not hugely offended by this by any means or anything.

It's just a little cringe worthy at times, which is a bummer.

But maybe this is what comes from comics geared to a greater public? I don't know. I'm not really the intended audience.

But if this is the kind of stuff we can expect to see JMS deliver on normal universe titles, I'll be hugely disappointed.

[Lexrules]

I'm not liking the sound of this at all.

Why do these people think they could do whatever they want to a character that stands for something bigger then them. Superman is a symbol for a reason. You don't change the dynamics of the character and what it means and stands for.

[adkal]

If this was coming out at least twice a year...


But, alas...

[adkal]

One thing I am slightly disappointed by--we never got a chance to see Clark's reaction after watching Rocky Horror Picture Show. That's gotta be some comedy GOLD right there.

Hadn't he seen it on DVD? He hasn't seen the live-show yet.

hmm...maybe I should do that when I'm in NYC at the end of the year...

[adkal]

Maybe JMS is a big fan of Dexter? However you slice it, while Parasite worked well thematically he ended up being the weakest part of the book.

Ah, you saw aspects of Dexter, too

And I love how JMS writes Perry, Lois and Jimmy. Pitch perfect. Jimmy especially, who has finally moved beyond the boy idiot, bow tie treatment. In fact, every scene at the Planet, or with the Planet staff, was well done and enjoyable. I like how the Clark/Lois thing is working out. Its been an interesting twist on the normal friendship/love interest thing and makes a lot of sense in that Clark is clearly keeping his distance from his co-workers, whose job is uncovering the truth.

Perry was great - the whole 'don't rest on your laurels' was well done, I think.

Lois...well, this is why I've never liked 'the Superman story' to be Clark's hiring story - I prefer Morrison's approach (and the old Lois and Clark one). There was quite a bit of character growth for her, and I enjoyed that.

Speaking of which, the double L initial thing was.....well, traditional but still trite. But I like Lisa. She seems fun, caring, and I hope to see her and her relationship with Clark expanded upon in the next volume. And to be perfectly honest, alot of Superman fans are such prudes I laughed at this whole hooker setup. Oh, the panties that must be in a bunch at the very thought of Clark being close to a hooker! The Jesus allegory is obvious and overdone of course, but I can forgive that for the hope that we will get to see Clark's reaction to Rocky Horror next time around.

Have you read The Gospel According to Biff? There were aspects which reminded me of that

Yeah, all in all, a solid read and a nice improvement over the first volume.

If there were two volumes a year, this would work well for me. One every two years...meh

[nightrider]

One way to look at it is that this girl is a prostitute and not a regular girl. As of such, she could be more liberal or provocative.
I'm not saying this is critically acclaimed or anything. I just recognise what it is. Its a Superman on an alternate universe intended for general audience. Its not the Clark I grew up with, but he is how Clark could possibly appear should there be an infant from Krypton.

It wouldn't make sense for Earth One Superman to be too similar to regular continuity. Which is why I said for fans of tradition Superman, ita probably not for you.

[STC]

I dont think anyone mentioned that Lisa knows Clark is Superman. Wonder how thats going to work out in Vol 3.

[Desaad]

When it comes down to it, what makes me saddest is that this issue didn't not work for me because it changed anything about Superman. When JMS took on Supreme Power he wrote a very twisted take on Superman (and Hyperion). But I loved that series, regardless. I think I'm open to different interpretations of the character, even interpretations that drastically redefine certain key elements of the character, when you're dealing with different continuities.

My main issue with this book was that it was just bad. It was amateur hour. So much of it was telegraphed, and inarticulate, awkward. You know exactly what was going to happen to the junkie. You knew exactly what was going on with the girl. The girl's actions were unrealistic, at least by my experience, even for women prone to that kind of self destructive behavior. The resolution to the dictator situation was childish wish fulfillment, which is fine, if he hadn't made this point earlier that that sort of resolution was never going to fly in this more 'realistic' setting. No teacher from 7 years ago would go into such meticulous detail about a former student over the phone to a personnel office; again, it just wouldn't happen. Even little things like the TV news commentators breaking out laughing at the 'just doing what he thinks is right' is just such a cheap, easy and unnatural tactic to get the point across. Much less big things like JMS actually going so far as to use the 'Man of Steel, Women of Tissue Paper' line, and have Pa Kent say it.

I think part of the problem is that Earth One is trying to capture this feeling of youth, but JMS is as far away from youthful as any writer in mainstream comics, I think. I don't mean that as the crass insult that it may come off as, but I think he's writing outside his proclivity with this version of Superman, trying to be hip and provocative. In fact, one of the reoccuring themes of his work is the disappointment and corruption of the modern world, the failure to fulfill the promise of older, better, purer generations. It was plastered all over his Brave and Bold, it was all over the Marvel book he was doing with Weston.

When he was writing very classic superhero stories in "Brave and the Bold" I think, at least executionally, he was absolutely killing it time and time again. There is a poetry to his work, when he's trying, that really works, and his emotional manipulation tends to be more welcome when he's dusting off old characters and letting them shine.

The more I think about it, the more I decide that this just wasn't good, full stop. It's not an issue of me being wedded to anything that came before, its that this was not good.

And Shane Davis? Also not good.

[RoughNTumble]

morrison's earth one wonder woman is gonna stick out like a sore thumb next to johns' eath one batman and JMS' earth one superman

i pity the writer that has to write wonder woman earth one volume 2

[stk]

Much less big things like JMS actually going so far as to use the 'Man of Steel, Women of Tissue Paper' line, and have Pa Kent say it.

And to top it off, JMS thanks Harlan Ellison in the dedication, but not Larry Niven.

[Flash Gordon]

The book likes to think it's edgier than it actually is. Instead of getting a real character in Lisa, we get "hey I like sex and I hook on the side" nothing else there. The junkie "Did heroin and liked Bob Dylan" they're just cardboard cut outs. I'd fully welcome them both had they said something other than their MO.

I like seeing new supporting characters for Clark, but we need more than this. I mean at least Gene Simmons wasn't in this outing.

[Lokimaru]

I'm not liking the sound of this at all.

Why do these people think they could do whatever they want to a character that stands for something bigger then them. Superman is a symbol for a reason. You don't change the dynamics of the character and what it means and stands for.

Because Superman is a character in a comicbook, owned by a corporation maybe?