So, here's the big question: who'd win in a fight? Superman or The Hulk?
I'm out-of-sorts this week. As I get older, I find that a fever is followed by a cough, then a swollen ear. I can only hear good with my left and I'm watching for sudden gusts of wind.
I was asked the above question on Monday at the library, after I had returned their copy of Justice League Vol. 1, Origin. I thought it was okay, a bit of an obvious attempt at offering a blueprint for anyone producing a live-action film adaptation, including timely bits of characterization (I think Geoff was counting on the Green Lantern film to be a hit, because Hal has a lot more screen time than he ever did in an average issue of JLA). The librarian, a dark-haired and cute, if slightly overweight (Carolyn Keene's unfortunate description of George Fayne & Bess Marvin forever stayed in my head) wanted to know what I thought:
"Superman. Because he has all these powers and ... actually the Hulk fights dirty, so he'd win it."
I can't help thinking that I've been poisoned by 20-30 years of bad comic book writing. Of course Superman could take down the Hulk - he could toss the green giant into space. He could combine his x-ray vision and heat vision and perform laser surgery on ol' jade jaws. He could use his ice breath to give Hulk frostbite. He could run fast enough to make him dizzy. And he's STRONG. He used to be able to move PLANETS! And that's when he's not "holding back", as if we're even sure what that's supposed to mean..
"Used to". That old chestnut of showing how tough a bad guy is by punching out Supey with one blow has done a lot of damage. His rogues gallery is actually better than the Hulk's - one of the few examples in which you can say it is so. Okay...you know what? Hawkman and The Atom's rogues gallery is pretty weak. Daredevil's is even worse. Does Ant-Man even have a rogues gallery? And then there's that cruel YouTube fan film - a lovingly made, knock-down, drag-out, cgi brawl between the Hulk and a comparatively frail Superman that vaguely resembles Christopher Reeve (talk about pouring salt on an open wound). I'd rather let you guys search for this all-too-convincing brouhaha than offer a direct link. The last few seconds will made even the most hardened fan hide behind the sofa. Hey, if you didn't see it, it didn't happen.
So, for the record, Superman wins. We're just not likely to ever see it. Same thing with a Superman vs. Wolverine brawl - I recall Wolverine slammed The Vision against an ice cream truck once ... isn't The Vision one of the few characters that could kick his ass? Guess not. Hey, is anybody interested in a crossover where Lex Luther replaces Wolverine's adamantium skeleton with a kryptonite skeleton and brainwashes him to go after Superman? Well, I guess that's just me, then...
Showing posts with label Lex Luther. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lex Luther. Show all posts
Friday, June 15, 2012
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Graphic Blandishment Featuring Superman - Part 2
Symmetry...The Strand has copies of Superman: Krisis of The Krimson Kyrptonite for $17.50. It's moments like that where I'm glad I found a nice copy of an old book for a better deal. In this case, it was a well-preserved copy for 5 bucks.
This book is the long middle chapter in a trilogy of sorts - 3 stories in which Mr. Mxyzptlk gets Lex Luthor into his "Mx". Here, we see him create/offer Red Kyrptonite to Lex as a kind of magic lamp - wish a fate upon Superman, and that wish is granted. Lex wishes Superman was his equal. The rock takes away Superman's powers. Unlike Mr. Ebert, I will spoil it for you: the wish is valid on one condition - Lex cannot tell Superman where the rock came from. Lex brags about it to Clark Kent, instead, and Superman gets his powers back.
That sounds awfully simple, right? Cute, right? Good enough to have been adapted into an episode of Superman: The Animated Series, yes? Of Course! Why didn't they do that?
That outline I just described was used as a kind of sandwich for 5 issues of a powerless Superman/Clark Kent riddled with doubt about his fate as a superhero. Aside from Lex and Mxy, we meet a lot of "run-of-the-mill" (quote lifted directly from the script!) villains who are not even 3rd string, and some soap opera about Clark proposing to Lois Lane (she said yes, but it seems the pros wanted her to say no - check the current Superman comics and see for yourself). There's a lot of late-80's continuity abound, but not enough to make you want to go back and check out those issues - it's really like looking at a moment in time - with one exception: Roger Stern's Starman seems likeable enough, and it was nice seeing a seemingly angst-free superhero guest star - his costume could use a redesign, though. Maybe give it the Starman costume Batman wore in that zany story that was reprinted in Batman: The Black Casebook? Just a thought...Oh, and Gangbuster seemed O.K., even though his bailiwick wound-up handed over to Steel in the 90's.
In the end, what works is the iconic stuff: Superman vs. Lex and Mxyzptlk, Round 2. I recall the 1st round had Lex tackle Mxy alone while Superman was in space for the Exile storyline. Round 3 was a story by my favorite Superman team, Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummett, which concluded the trilogy with a play on that familiar logic puzzle involving a choice between three levers and who's telling the truth about picking the right lever. Maybe someday they'll put all three stories together - or all the Modern Age Mxyzptlk stories from the 80's and 90's into one trade. They're very good.
This book has been out-of-print for years but is not too hard to find - I think the final fight between Mxy and Superman loosely inspired the chase sequence in the episode of the animated series that featured Gilbert Gottfried as the voice of Mxyzptlk. The idea of having the imp re-introduce old concepts in modern continuity, as well as offering power to other DC villains pretty likely inspired the Emperor Joker storyline as well. There's also one of the best inside jokes I've ever read in a superhero comic, courtesy of John Byrne.
In the past few weeks, I've reviewed two books collecting stories that featured Kryptonite. Both were very mixed, or "Mxyd" bags. Did DC get around to trying "Best 1 Out of 3"? Yes, Yes, they did... 
This book is the long middle chapter in a trilogy of sorts - 3 stories in which Mr. Mxyzptlk gets Lex Luthor into his "Mx". Here, we see him create/offer Red Kyrptonite to Lex as a kind of magic lamp - wish a fate upon Superman, and that wish is granted. Lex wishes Superman was his equal. The rock takes away Superman's powers. Unlike Mr. Ebert, I will spoil it for you: the wish is valid on one condition - Lex cannot tell Superman where the rock came from. Lex brags about it to Clark Kent, instead, and Superman gets his powers back.
That sounds awfully simple, right? Cute, right? Good enough to have been adapted into an episode of Superman: The Animated Series, yes? Of Course! Why didn't they do that?
That outline I just described was used as a kind of sandwich for 5 issues of a powerless Superman/Clark Kent riddled with doubt about his fate as a superhero. Aside from Lex and Mxy, we meet a lot of "run-of-the-mill" (quote lifted directly from the script!) villains who are not even 3rd string, and some soap opera about Clark proposing to Lois Lane (she said yes, but it seems the pros wanted her to say no - check the current Superman comics and see for yourself). There's a lot of late-80's continuity abound, but not enough to make you want to go back and check out those issues - it's really like looking at a moment in time - with one exception: Roger Stern's Starman seems likeable enough, and it was nice seeing a seemingly angst-free superhero guest star - his costume could use a redesign, though. Maybe give it the Starman costume Batman wore in that zany story that was reprinted in Batman: The Black Casebook? Just a thought...Oh, and Gangbuster seemed O.K., even though his bailiwick wound-up handed over to Steel in the 90's.
In the end, what works is the iconic stuff: Superman vs. Lex and Mxyzptlk, Round 2. I recall the 1st round had Lex tackle Mxy alone while Superman was in space for the Exile storyline. Round 3 was a story by my favorite Superman team, Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummett, which concluded the trilogy with a play on that familiar logic puzzle involving a choice between three levers and who's telling the truth about picking the right lever. Maybe someday they'll put all three stories together - or all the Modern Age Mxyzptlk stories from the 80's and 90's into one trade. They're very good.
This book has been out-of-print for years but is not too hard to find - I think the final fight between Mxy and Superman loosely inspired the chase sequence in the episode of the animated series that featured Gilbert Gottfried as the voice of Mxyzptlk. The idea of having the imp re-introduce old concepts in modern continuity, as well as offering power to other DC villains pretty likely inspired the Emperor Joker storyline as well. There's also one of the best inside jokes I've ever read in a superhero comic, courtesy of John Byrne.
In the past few weeks, I've reviewed two books collecting stories that featured Kryptonite. Both were very mixed, or "Mxyd" bags. Did DC get around to trying "Best 1 Out of 3"? Yes, Yes, they did...
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sovereign Seven - guest staring Comic Book Rehab
The Last Smallville (aka: "Dawson's Creek with Capes")
That joke was my first reaction to hearing about development on this T.V. series - which might have had its origins in a pilot script for a "Young Bruce Wayne" series that never went into production. The 3rd season of Smallville hinted what might have been when a character named Adam Knight was introduced and had fans guessing - but that turned out to be a red herring (proof positive that every idea gets used).
Anyway... I was always ambivalant about this show - it fell into predictable soap opera patterns - far too few thing happening, gimmicks (Kyrptonite-powered villains of the week, Clark's senior ring gem made of Red kryptonite, that cave, and Jor-El - the longest-running voicemail ever). When it got better was when it got closer to the source - and that was the problem. The show was a new twist on a series/character that is in dispute (Superboy) so when it became more about 'Superman', it seemed like the show was reborn - that was the last three seaons.
And what a terrific 3 seasons it was - cool takes on familiar stuff Lois and Clark at the Daily Planet, the early days of the Justice League, Doomsday, Checkmate, the Suicide Squad lots of their cool take on Green Arrow (which doesn't really exist in the comics - he's like a hybrid of the late 50's Batman wannabe and the late 70's-80's, pre-Mike Grell - when he was a columnist at a newspaper - that's a story that would would have made a fun subplot, with Oliver joining the staff at the Planet. Well, there's always the comics...just let me write it.) I liked how they let Lois and Clark be together and not wipe out her memories of his secret I.D. just to clean house - fans were guessing that would happen.
It made sense to me that the finale paid off the last 3 years rather than the whole show. Lex Luthor's return 'cameo' (that is the best way to describe it) was really just a way of dotting the i's and crossing the t's and putting the toys back in the box. We didnt' get to see Lex in his power suit joining Clark in the 3-way 'rassle with Darkseid - that's not really what the show was about, but yes, some fans were hoping for it, including me, just for a laugh. The only real showdown was the fight between brainwashed Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Clark at the wedding - that was well done. The business of stopping the invasion of the New Gods by pushing their planet away like a communications sattellite is more impressive in summary form, but an impressive visual. One visual however,...
We only got to see Tom Welling partially in the Superman costume, usually in extreme close-up. Anyone hanging in there from the begining hoping to see Superman's grand entrance in the finale was probably tossing their drink at the sight of a cgi Superman, instead. Was that their nod to the old 40's serials, where a cartoon substituted for the actor in flying scenes?
As for the framing sequence, I thought it was nice, if a bit cloying, though it had me wondering if Chloe's son is a young Connor Hawke - the 90's Green Arrow - Oliver's son in the comics. Yep, there's nothing new under the sun in funybooks...
This felt like my longest entry yet!
Take care. Be Good. Send me any Superman comics you don't want. Bye-bye. ;)
That joke was my first reaction to hearing about development on this T.V. series - which might have had its origins in a pilot script for a "Young Bruce Wayne" series that never went into production. The 3rd season of Smallville hinted what might have been when a character named Adam Knight was introduced and had fans guessing - but that turned out to be a red herring (proof positive that every idea gets used).
Anyway... I was always ambivalant about this show - it fell into predictable soap opera patterns - far too few thing happening, gimmicks (Kyrptonite-powered villains of the week, Clark's senior ring gem made of Red kryptonite, that cave, and Jor-El - the longest-running voicemail ever). When it got better was when it got closer to the source - and that was the problem. The show was a new twist on a series/character that is in dispute (Superboy) so when it became more about 'Superman', it seemed like the show was reborn - that was the last three seaons.
And what a terrific 3 seasons it was - cool takes on familiar stuff Lois and Clark at the Daily Planet, the early days of the Justice League, Doomsday, Checkmate, the Suicide Squad lots of their cool take on Green Arrow (which doesn't really exist in the comics - he's like a hybrid of the late 50's Batman wannabe and the late 70's-80's, pre-Mike Grell - when he was a columnist at a newspaper - that's a story that would would have made a fun subplot, with Oliver joining the staff at the Planet. Well, there's always the comics...just let me write it.) I liked how they let Lois and Clark be together and not wipe out her memories of his secret I.D. just to clean house - fans were guessing that would happen.
It made sense to me that the finale paid off the last 3 years rather than the whole show. Lex Luthor's return 'cameo' (that is the best way to describe it) was really just a way of dotting the i's and crossing the t's and putting the toys back in the box. We didnt' get to see Lex in his power suit joining Clark in the 3-way 'rassle with Darkseid - that's not really what the show was about, but yes, some fans were hoping for it, including me, just for a laugh. The only real showdown was the fight between brainwashed Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Clark at the wedding - that was well done. The business of stopping the invasion of the New Gods by pushing their planet away like a communications sattellite is more impressive in summary form, but an impressive visual. One visual however,...
We only got to see Tom Welling partially in the Superman costume, usually in extreme close-up. Anyone hanging in there from the begining hoping to see Superman's grand entrance in the finale was probably tossing their drink at the sight of a cgi Superman, instead. Was that their nod to the old 40's serials, where a cartoon substituted for the actor in flying scenes?
As for the framing sequence, I thought it was nice, if a bit cloying, though it had me wondering if Chloe's son is a young Connor Hawke - the 90's Green Arrow - Oliver's son in the comics. Yep, there's nothing new under the sun in funybooks...
This felt like my longest entry yet!
Take care. Be Good. Send me any Superman comics you don't want. Bye-bye. ;)
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