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A review by helpfulsnowman
Superman for All Seasons by Jeph Loeb
4.0
After being a little disappointed by some recent Superman movies, I decided to keep an eye out for the best Superman comics. Superman's never been one of my go-to's. I don't know why. Something about him was just a little...boring, I guess.
But on the other hand, there HAS to be some great stuff out there. You can't keep a character going this long without some damn good stories. And hell, you can do good runs of Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, and LEGION. There HAS to be some good Superman stuff.
And I remember reading the Death of Superman when I was a kid. It was a big deal. I was a kid, and therefore I really thought this was the end of Superman. World Without A Superman, if you will. Superman: The End (For Real). And so on.
I'm happy to say, the search for good Superman comics is going well so far. This is one of the great ones.
Okay, okay. It's origin-focused, which isn't my favorite thing. There's very little Superman-ing, which is something I usually dislike in comics.
But I feel like, better than most, this comic really explains who Superman is, how he was raised, and why he makes the choices he does.
Because Superman, like most good superheroes, has two origins. How he got his powers, but then also how he decided to use those powers.
And I think a lot of the difference between a good and bad Superman story is respecting that dual origin. In a bad movie, he gets powers, and therefore is a good guy. In a good movie, he develops powers, but it's his life up to that point that informs how he uses those powers.
I think if you contrast this story with Mark Waid's Irredeemable, which is a story about a Superman-like character who does not have the emotional base that Clark Kent has, you can see why this is so important.
This is what Man of Steel should have been.
The complaints about the newest Superman usually run around the darkness. The killing, the cynical view of things. And I think that can be summed up by the fact that in Superman, we want a hero who's genuinely kind. I feel like that's his great power. He can do anything, and he could do it however he wants, but his best moments display his kindness and his generosity.
The newer movies seem to have a Superman who does the great things, and he saves lives, but he doesn't seem to actually rescue anyone or save people and have concern for their safety. Not like he does in Superman For All Seasons when he rescues a woman from a burning building, takes her to an ambulance and tells the crew that she's inhaled a lot of smoke and please take good care of her.
That's the difference, as I see it, between a Superman and most other characters. I like Daredevil, but he's not doing that shit. I like Thor, but he's arrogant and has to learn to be more humble. Iron Man, same deal.
I think what's missing from a lot of the newer superhero movies, it's not about them being too dark or too much spectacle. It's about never seeing that side. That generous, giving side of the superheroes. It's not for all superheroes. But I think it's right in a Superman.
But on the other hand, there HAS to be some great stuff out there. You can't keep a character going this long without some damn good stories. And hell, you can do good runs of Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, and LEGION. There HAS to be some good Superman stuff.
And I remember reading the Death of Superman when I was a kid. It was a big deal. I was a kid, and therefore I really thought this was the end of Superman. World Without A Superman, if you will. Superman: The End (For Real). And so on.
I'm happy to say, the search for good Superman comics is going well so far. This is one of the great ones.
Okay, okay. It's origin-focused, which isn't my favorite thing. There's very little Superman-ing, which is something I usually dislike in comics.
But I feel like, better than most, this comic really explains who Superman is, how he was raised, and why he makes the choices he does.
Because Superman, like most good superheroes, has two origins. How he got his powers, but then also how he decided to use those powers.
And I think a lot of the difference between a good and bad Superman story is respecting that dual origin. In a bad movie, he gets powers, and therefore is a good guy. In a good movie, he develops powers, but it's his life up to that point that informs how he uses those powers.
I think if you contrast this story with Mark Waid's Irredeemable, which is a story about a Superman-like character who does not have the emotional base that Clark Kent has, you can see why this is so important.
This is what Man of Steel should have been.
The complaints about the newest Superman usually run around the darkness. The killing, the cynical view of things. And I think that can be summed up by the fact that in Superman, we want a hero who's genuinely kind. I feel like that's his great power. He can do anything, and he could do it however he wants, but his best moments display his kindness and his generosity.
The newer movies seem to have a Superman who does the great things, and he saves lives, but he doesn't seem to actually rescue anyone or save people and have concern for their safety. Not like he does in Superman For All Seasons when he rescues a woman from a burning building, takes her to an ambulance and tells the crew that she's inhaled a lot of smoke and please take good care of her.
That's the difference, as I see it, between a Superman and most other characters. I like Daredevil, but he's not doing that shit. I like Thor, but he's arrogant and has to learn to be more humble. Iron Man, same deal.
I think what's missing from a lot of the newer superhero movies, it's not about them being too dark or too much spectacle. It's about never seeing that side. That generous, giving side of the superheroes. It's not for all superheroes. But I think it's right in a Superman.