Action Comics #1023 Preview/Spoiler Discussion

[manwhohaseverything]

It's about this character who seemingly has everything but also has this huge sense of internal loss that he still has to cope with.

That's the only way it can be interpreted with this superman, now. Silverage superman actually didn't have anything.His parents were dead, his friends didn't know him, his love interest was after superman... Etc.Alan moore's story was inspired by superman#141. There is a real sense of loneliness in kal. The loneliness is one of the reasons he is superman. He wanted to connect with people as he was an alien in hiding on earth. It's like naruto coming back to his apartment and finding it empty. Superman was the same.


That admission at the end is an admission of emptyness and loneliness along with gratitude and a bit of hope.
*cue sadness and sorrow

[Vordan]

"That Clark of yours would never come back from that". And so it begins with another "Superman would turn into a dictator without Lois" narrative. This is getting kind of stale at this point.

I don’t know if Bendis is referencing that specifically or if Red Cloud is just saying Clark would fall into despair. Plus she is the villain, so I dunno if she’s meant to be right about Clark, but unfortunately it seems to have become a mainstream view of the relationship. I mean it’s already too late at this point, unless someone kills Lois in a big story and doesn’t make Clark evil. DCEU Superman was going to go with that characterization, Injustice pushed it into the mainstream, even Arrowverse Superman said he could never sacrifice Lois like Kara sacrificed someone (can’t remember who it was). This is Superman now.

Oddly enough the guy everyone whines about as “edgy” DCAMU Superman, kept being a hero even after his Lois died in Apokolips War. Routh as Kingdom Come Superman was another subversion. It does mean that “Superman gives a rousing speech of hope” doesn’t move me at all like it used to. Clark’s a hypocrite who will break if Lois dies since I guess he’s incapable of realizing being a dictator is wrong without her around.

Just wait until Taylor gets the book, that’s going to be a nightmare.

Still looking forward to how this plays out though.

[manwhohaseverything]

I mean it’s already too late at this point, unless someone kills Lois and doesn’t make Clark evil. DCEU Superman was going to go with that characterization, Injustice pushed it into the mainstream, even Arrowverse Superman said he could never sacrifice Lois like Kara sacrificed someone (can’t remember who it was). This is Superman now. Oddly enough the guy everyone whines about as “edgy” DCAMU Superman, kept being a hero even after his Lois died in Apokolips War. It does mean that “Superman gives a rousing speech of hope” doesn’t move me at all like it used to. Clark’s a hypocrite who will break if Lois dies since I guess he’s incapable of realizing being a dictator is wrong without her around.

Just wait until Taylor gets the book, that’s going to be a nightmare.

Still looking forward to how this plays out though.

As said, That problem only exists because postcrisis superman is a "man who has everything" . He doesn't know true lose. He has naive notions about the world. He is out of touch,let alone fighting for the little guy. As said, every accomplishment and trials he succeeds in are due to ma/ pa, sky father/mother, honey,the sun... Etc. So, they depict him cracking at the face of real personal lose.See, what you have is this. A lighting struck messiah draining the life out of everything.

[Frontier]

Oddly enough the guy everyone whines about as “edgy” DCAMU Superman, kept being a hero even after his Lois died in Apokolips War. Routh as Kingdom Come Superman was another subversion. It does mean that “Superman gives a rousing speech of hope” doesn’t move me at all like it used to. Clark’s a hypocrite who will break if Lois dies since I guess he’s incapable of realizing being a dictator is wrong without her around.

He stopped being that after War.

As said, That problem only exists because postcrisis superman is a "man who has everything" . He doesn't know true lose. He has naive notions about the world. He is out of touch,let alone fighting for the little guy. As said, every accomplishment and trials he succeeds in are due to ma/ pa, sky father/mother, honey,the sun... Etc. So, they depict him cracking at the face of real personal lose.See, what you have is this. A lighting struck messiah draining the life out of everything.

But the whole point is he's not really the man who has everything, people just view him that way because they look at the surface and not at the emotional underpinnings below that.

[Vordan]

He stopped being that after War.

But the whole point is he's not really the man who has everything, people just view him that way because they look at the surface and not at the emotional underpinnings below that.

I know but people still to this day complain about him lol.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

I know but people still to this day complain about him lol.

Tbf, he did really suck in War. The miscast voice actor didn’t help either.
I have a hard time seeing that douchebag as the same guy who was in DOS and Apokolips War.

[Vordan]

Tbf, he did really suck in War. The miscast voice actor didn’t help either.
I have a hard time seeing that douchebag as the same guy who was in DOS and Apokolips War.

I don’t really have a problem with him not starting out as “classic” Superman as long as it’s made clear he’s going through a development arc and each subsequent arc showed progress. Plus I really didn’t find him any more douchey than DCAU Superman who lots of people cite as the golden standard.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

I don’t really have a problem with him not starting out as “classic” Superman as long as it’s made clear he’s going through a development arc and each subsequent arc showed progress. Plus I really didn’t find him any more douchey than DCAU Superman who lots of people cite as the golden standard.

I don’t think that’s what happened though, unless having your personality change completely with no explanation offscreen counts as development. I mean people mature, but he went from Guy Gardner to well...Clark Kent in between War and Throne of Atlantis.

[manwhohaseverything]

But the whole point is he's not really the man who has everything, people just view him that way because they look at the surface and not at the emotional underpinnings below that.

Ok, what's Clark's lose? A civilisation he never really had touch with and rejected?He is more blessed than bruce wayne is and that's saying something. Money is just a medium. Clark has enough of it. On, top of that he got to have something that bruce could never have. A childhood.
If you are gonna go that route you would need to focus on the things he doesn't have without being over the top. So far, i haven't seen anything that strikes any of the balance. Yeah! I do generally believe moore's story doesn't work for any character that is not kal el, primarily.

I don’t think that’s what happened though, unless having your personality change completely with no explanation offscreen counts as development. I mean people mature, but he went from Guy Gardner to well...Clark Kent in between War and Throne of Atlantis.

Not really, war didn't have anything to sugest that clark was somekind douche. These guys were trying to box him in and chain him. On top of that one of em is a cop. Good luck! Chaining a vigilante alien strongman with chains. You are gonna get smacked. Clark was pretty normal with them afterwards.

[Masterff]

Sorry, only read the REVIEW so far, BUT did Lois really say something like Conner looks like if LEX and CLARK have a baby together???

I HOPE!!! that I misread that...

[Robanker]

Sorry, only read the REVIEW so far, BUT did Lois really say something like Conner looks like if LEX and CLARK have a baby together???

I HOPE!!! that I misread that...

Well "if x and y had a kid" is usually the short-hand people use in the United States for saying someone looks like two people. Considering he's a clone of those two people, it makes sense.

[rpmaluki]

Conner looks like both Clark and Lex, someone was bound to make the joke.

[manwhohaseverything]

I believe, smallville had lois make a similar joke. So not surprising.

[rpmaluki]

I believe, smallville had lois make a similar joke. So not surprising.

That's why it sounded familiar.

[Frontier]

Isn't Conner supposed to have Lex's eyes? I think that would be the only part of him that would actually resemble Lex.

Ok, what's Clark's lose? A civilisation he never really had touch with and rejected?He is more blessed than bruce wayne is and that's saying something. Money is just a medium. Clark has enough of it. On, top of that he got to have something that bruce could never have. A childhood.
If you are gonna go that route you would need to focus on the things he doesn't have without being over the top. So far, i haven't seen anything that strikes any of the balance. Yeah! I do generally believe moore's story doesn't work for any character that is not kal el, primarily.

I think losing an entire planet and culture that you've struggled to reconcile and reconnect with would weigh on anyone, especially when he'll never be completely human (and in some regards he'll never be completely Kryptonian).