Action comics #988 Spoilers

[FishyZombie]

Well that was the darkest issue of a Superman comic I've read in a long time. So we learn the secret origin of Mr. Oz
spoilers:

- Gut punch #1: Turns out Kal's maternal grandpa, Lor-Van was the real jerkass of the family. Betraying Jor-El, undermining his plans to evacuate Krypton, ironically dooming himself, his daughter and his entire race. - Gut punch #2: I always figured the Kryptonians didn't suffer, that they died swiftly, that was apparently not the case. They all basically burned alive, that image of Lara's face burning off, yikes Anyway Doctor M (don't get exited, we still don't get a good look at him) wisked Jor away and sent him to earth, to some wartorn 3rd world country. His wounds were tended to by a family of good Samaritans, risking their lives to hide him from the local warlord. You'd think this would be a somewhat positive first impression on humanity, but the youngest of the family betrayed the others to the warlord, and the rest of the family is executed. Jor-El discovers his heatvision, and kills the solders, but is once again wisked away. This time he's brainwashed, forced to watch holocaust videos and whatnot, to make him hate humans. Ok, I'm actually on board with that, for now. Less cop-out-ish than if it was mind control, but he's still not in his right mind, and is more of a victim than villain, so the door is open for redemption. In the end Oz tells his son he wants him to gather his belongings and leave earth. I'm curious where he wants to go. Just wander space maybe? Mars?

end of spoilers

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Wow, all of that sounds even worse than what I feared.

If this is supposed to be a critique of Watchmen, and the impact its had on comics, making things darker and whatnot, it maybe the worst way to go about it.

[FishyZombie]

Wow, all of that sounds even worse than what I feared.

If this is supposed to be a critique of Watchmen, and the impact its had on comics, making things darker and whatnot, it maybe the worst way to go about it.

to be fair, it's a chapter about the antagonist's origin story. Kinda has to be dark. And if it's going to be about Watchmen's influence, I imagine the idea they're going for is that Superman is going to be confronted by it, and ultimately opptimism and hope will win out. Whether they succeed with that angle, remains to be seen.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

to be fair, it's a chapter about the antagonist's origin story. Kinda has to be dark. And if it's going to be about Watchmen's influence, I imagine the idea they're going for is that Superman is going to be confronted by it, and ultimately opptimism and hope will win out. Whether they succeed with that angle, remains to be seen.

If this is all supposed to be a critique of Watchmen's impact on comics, making things darker and more cynical, it fails right out the gate because Jor-El is taking a dark turn for the purpose of the story. Rather than examining instances of Watchmen's actual impact on the DCU, they've chosen to critique it by taking a character that wasn't dark or tortured or villainous (Byrne's origin not withstanding) and doing to that character what they are supposed to critiquing.

Superman's optimism winning out in the end in this story, is like putting out a fire that you started.

I'll keep some hope alive since the story's not done yet, but it seems to be getting worse with every issue.

Also, still jealous that you get to read comics hours before I do.

[FishyZombie]

If this is all supposed to be a critique of Watchmen's impact on comics, making things darker and more cynical, it fails right out the gate because Jor-El is taking a dark turn for the purpose of the story. Rather than examining instances of Watchmen's actual impact on the DCU, they've chosen to critique it by taking a character that wasn't dark or tortured or villainous (Byrne's origin not withstanding) and doing to that character what they are supposed to critiquing.

Superman's optimism winning out in the end in this story, is like putting out a fire that you started.

I'll keep some hope alive since the story's not done yet, but it seems to be getting worse with every issue.

Also, still jealous that you get to read comics hours before I do.

ah, but they did make Krypton and Jor-El darker during the Byrne stuff though, just like you mentioned.... and roughly around the same time as Watchmen was happening if I'm not mistaken. And others here have speculated that Rebirth isn't just commentary on the influence of Watchmen but what followed Crisis on Infinite Earths as well. hmmm....Now that I think of it, Jor-El/Oz's robes is remarkably similar to his Byrne post crisis on Infinite Earths outfit....
(me in devils advocate mode)
btw what time are you able to get your funny books anyway?

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

ah, but they did make Krypton and Jor-El darker during the Byrne stuff though, just like you mentioned.... and roughly around the same time as Watchmen was happening if I'm not mistaken. And others here have speculated that Rebirth isn't just commentary on the influence of Watchmen but what followed Crisis on Infinite Earths as well. hmmm....Now that I think of it, Jor-El/Oz's robes is remarkably similar to his Byrne post crisis on Infinite Earths outfit....
(me in devils advocate mode)
btw what time are you able to get your funny books anyway?

If they used the Byrne versions, then we might actually have something, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It would have been tricky anyway, because I'm fairly certain Man of Steel came out before Watchmen.

I usually get them like half an hour from now, maybe an hour at the most.

[Miles To Go]

Haven't picked the issue up yet, but...yeah, this sounds unnecessarily bleak.

spoilers:

Just feels like overloading Jor-El with trauma is a little too cliche, like it takes the power and decision making out of his hands somewhat

end of spoilers

[GreatKungLao]

To me dark tone and pessimism isn't what made The Watchmen what is. It was total absence of feeling victory at the end of the journey. That world had super heroes who fought for justice, it had the most powerful being and the smartest man alive, yet it didn't felt like they won in this story. The Watchmen ending pretty much implied that those actions were futile and in time when the truth will be revealed the world will come back to fighting, wars and other stuff that Mr Oz despise in humanity now. It felt kind of pointless and this is what I want The Oz Effect and Doomsday Clock to research about - do our actions even matter if in the long run it migh lose its significance, can the world be really saved, can people really change and can we actually achieve true and eternal victory over ourselves? If the world can't be saved through lie like in The Watchmen and if humans still come back to their basic instincts in the moment of selfish opportunities even when they have truth and justice flying around, then what is the answer?

[Superfan90]

I thought this was fantastic to be honest.

[Miles To Go]

You guys may want to pick up Detective Comics today as well...

spoilers:

Tim Drake learns Oz is Jor-El

end of spoilers

[dzub]

I liked the issue..better understanding into Oz's head

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Not a lot here that wasn’t fairly predictable. If you’ve seen the various covers, you pretty much have all the information you need to understand what’s going on. The bit about Lor-Van being a douche, just like the Science Council, is a nice touch, I thought.

[manofsteel1979]

I get the feeling the Lor-Van stuff is at least partially inspired by the first episode Superman Animated series. Jor-El's father in law is an initial roadblock there as well before coming around ( too late to save anyone but Kal-El though.)

Still am really unsure about the whole Oz/Jor-El thing.

[Soubhagya]

Taken as a companion to Detective Comics i can say there is hope for Jor-El's redemption.

To be fair the motive i have gathered is

spoilers:

Take his son(and probably his son's family) and leave Earth. A sensible conclusion for someone with his life experiences. Superman is doing the exact thing he was doing. For someone with his experiences after Krypton which consists of one real and other being getting prolonged history lessons as in Clockwork Orange this is not pure evil but more self preservation. Hope replaced by cynicism.

end of spoilers

In Detective Comics

spoilers:

He sees similarities with Tim. Ability to see the bigger picture, carrying burden of the world. He questions him and allows him to think. Better to quit being a hero. He does not hate humanity but is cynical. But his motives are not fully clear. He still spoke of a bigger plan.

end of spoilers

[AntoKent17]

Let alone the ridicolousness of the story, which is a total insult to the Jor-El/Superman mythos, what really makes this story a total crap is the fact that it is totally predictable.

What do you think is going to happen in the last episode of The Oz Effect, guys?

Jor-El will be a little redeemed, he will disappear and will make a final appearance on Doomsday Clock saving the day with his renewed hope in humanity. Of course he will die at some point along the way.

I said that before: nobody draws Superman better than Jurgens. But as a writer he is lame.
And DC Should have never "touched" Jor-El and the history that made the Superman Myth.

That is an insult.