I didn't expect that Waid would've brought back the superdickery for his short story. lmao. So much fun.
Issue 4 is out!
Waid - This was hilarious. Like the others said it was pure Silver Age Superdickery with Clark being an ass (but it’s all ok because it was just to teach a moral lesson). I liked the twist that playing his voice backward didn’t work for Mxy because “Superman” isn’t his “true name”.
Manupal - Great art, fun story
Venditti - Great art, pretty basic story about Pa Kent teaching a simple moral lesson that Clark carries out as Superman
Conrad - Great story, and great art, loved that Mxy was behind it all. Conrad writes a great WW with Cloonan and now I kind of want to see more Superman from him as well.
Douek - Quinones art was fantastic as always but the story was lousy, just “damn Zoomers and their damn streaming why don’t they appreciate the real heroes!”
For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/
Another really solid issue. Multiple appearances by both Mxy and Bizarro!
The Waid story was truly hilarious. Loved the description of all the stuff he did to mess with Mxy, as told by Mxy himself ("no dinner unburned, no pavement unfrozen, no room unfilled with whipped cream"). Great comedic montage overall. The art was perfect for that story too, nice blend of other-worldliness and nostalgia.
Manapul's story had incredible art, among the best of the series yet. Great use of the specific colors. (oh, and the rover robot reminded me of Johnny Five from Short Circuit )
Liked the Venditti one but not quite as much as the two preceding it. Was classic, simple and straight to the point (in a good way).
The Conrad story really makes you feel for Bizarro. If the Mxy in Waid's tale was the fun loving mischievous imp, in this one he's more of the mean-hearted bastard type imp. The end was great.
The final story was my least favorite of the issue. Maybe one of my least favorite in the series actually. Although I did like the last couple panels when he talks about all the bad guys wreaking havoc and all the people he has to save, but still takes the time for the little girl.
“Look, you can’t put the Superman #77s with the #200s. They haven’t even discovered Red Kryptonite yet. And you can’t put the #98s with the #300s, Lori Lemaris hasn’t even been introduced.” — Sam
“Where the hell are you from? Krypton?” — Edgar Frog
For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/
Superman: Red and Blue #5 Preview
Writers: Judd Winick, G. Willow Wilson, Joshua Williamson and Mark Buckingham
Artist: Ibrahim Moustafa, Valentine De Landro, Chris Sprouse and Mark Buckingham
High hopes for the Williamson story, I really like the Calvin bits he’s done in Infinite Frontier so far, and the Daniel Warren Johnson story will hopefully have some badass action scenes if nothing else!
For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/
I wonder if we'll have another "random person saves Superman" story again. Probably yes, and a "Clark remembers a lesson from his parents" story too.
Fetch - Hah well you were in the ballpark Ra-El, this is a flashback to Clark as a kid with his parents, but it’s the first appearance of Krypto! Short and sweet Superdog story
De-Escalation - Solid story about Clark talking down a would-be robber (the art was so reminiscent of JPL I had to check it wasn’t him, solid rendition of Reeve Superman as well)
Your Favorite - This was a nice Jimmy Olsen story!
Red Sun… Blue Dot - This one had fantastic art but felt like a copy paste of Brando/Crowe speeches. I think it would’ve been better if they had made it the ship’s internal monologue as it flies from Krypton to Earth
Generations - Yeah this was a straight take on what you were saying Ra but I honestly loved this? I remember that DWJ pitched a BL book about Pa Kent raising Clark and struggling with his Christian faith as he did so, he basically does an abbreviated version of that here. Great story!
For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/
Fetch: Cute story that doesn't do much other than tell you why Krypto matters. Liked how used Jonathan and Martha were to Clark's super-ness, though ("you normally eat 5 servings", "try not to throw it all the way to Michigan"). Jor-El wearing the suit Jon had when he first came back from space was weird.
De-Escalation: Felt too simplistic. Clark tells the would-be robber that "earning a living is harder but worth it", without even acknowledging the possibility that said person can't get a job (and compounding that with the emphasis on the girl studying). Decent enough for what it was, I guess.
Your Favorite: Cute. Not much else, but cute.
Red Sun... Blue Dot: Art is pretty good, but the copypasting of the movie Jor-El speech completely lets it down.
Generations: My issues with explicitely positioning Superman as the father figure of the world aside, this was a pretty interesting execution of that premise (and it's still a way better application of Superman/Jesus parallels than almost anything else with that premise). I particularly liked how it portrayed Jonathan's legacy to his son as not the perfect wisdom or encouragement to heroism it often is, but simply a father telling his son 3 phrases I'm pretty sure every good father has thought about their children, and it's that love that's his most important legacy. Sure would have wanted Martha to be important here too, though. Surely we could have had both of them repeating the same words of love and encouragement in different panels.
Overall, Generations is a keeper despite my problems with it, and everything else doesn't go much beyond "wholesomeness" fodder.
EDIT: It's also going to paint a real ugly picture of the editors of this anthology if next issue (and thus the entire anthology) doesn't have a Lois Lane story.
Last edited by Quinlan58; 07-20-2021 at 09:03 AM.
Best issue of the series so far in my opinion.
No matter how many reboots, new origins, reinterpretations or suit redesigns. In the end, he will always be SUPERMAN
Credit for avatar goes to zclark