CBR TV: Max Landis Calls His "American Alien" the "Anti-'All-Star Superman'"

[CBR News]

The "Chronicle" screenwriter spoke with CBR TV about his new Superman series featuring a murderer's row of artists, his growth as a writer and more.


Full article here.

[Virile Agitur]

When written simplistically, Superman is a very bland superhero. He's a messianic figure who can fly, is super strong and has a myriad of other powers. And the powerful you make him, the less interesting he becomes -- just because you lose track of him as an entity and of him as vulnerable

i couldn't help but start to nod when they started getting into that part of the conversation.

as much as i like superman as a whole, the over the top silver age lunacy and power(s) included etc...i just keep finding myself leaning more and more towards the original, golden age version. both in attitude and power set.

my like affair with the ultra-powerful, gooder than thou version of the character peaked with ALL STAR. by the time that series ended, i was ready for a more back to basics version of the character. it just kind of dovetailed that way for me.

and so with the N52 and beyond, there has been this kind of push pull with the character between the two extremes. and it doesn't seem to have settled yet.

its no secret that i am enjoying the heck out of the J&T version we have been getting. especially morrison's first issues of ACTION COMICS. if that version was maintained as the status quo, i'd be good to go. it might just all come down to how the "truth" storyline ends up i guess.

anyway, as far the rest of the landis interview went, it got me interested in checking out his series.

[FishyZombie]

A lot of the great superman stories are elseworlds like Allstar, Kingdom come and Red son. So I can see this being something special.

[Tim Pilotus]

I seem to remember the distinct demarcation for the All-Star line being disconnected from regular continuity, auteur-centric and self-containted. Sounds like All-Star Superman by Max Landis to me.

Unless he's going for the opposite of well-received, critically-acclaimed and much beloved...then, yeah, maybe it's Anti All-Star.

[Superlad93]

I seem to remember the distinct demarcation for the All-Star line being disconnected from regular continuity, auteur-centric and self-containted. Sounds like All-Star Superman by Max Landis to me.

Unless he's going for the opposite of well-received, critically-acclaimed and much beloved...then, yeah, maybe it's Anti All-Star.

He clarifies himself in the interview (he honestly shouldn't have bothered) He says "anti" as in where All Star looked at the character from a myth-like angle, his book will be looking at the character from a very ground level "stories Clark would tell you over a beer" angle. That's all he meant by anti-all star.

Him comparing it to all star in the first place is acknowledgement of them sharing the self-contained format.

[Miracleman]

It's like looking at Tim Burton from the late 80's but in a modern way of dress and hairstyle.

[Robotman]

"Yeah so you know how All Star Superman is considered one of the greatest Superman stories ever and one of the best comics of this generation? My story is the opposite of that."

[Agent Z]

"Yeah so you know how All Star Superman is considered one of the greatest Superman stories ever and one of the best comics of this generation? My story is the opposite of that."

Tbf, opposite of All-Star doesn't mean bad.

[Robotman]

Tbf, opposite of All-Star doesn't mean bad.

I know, I was joking.
Still, I'm not feeling the premise of this book. While All Star brought back the over the top fun of the Silver Age it sounds like this book will feature a troubled adolescent Clark Kent. It almost seems like a parody of the recent grim dark DCU that we're thankfully mostly rid of.
I guess DC/WB thinks that Superman needs to be brooding in order to be relatable. But who can blame them when all the fans seem to want is Batman.

[Ascended]

As tired as I am of the origin sequence, "coming of age" type Superman stories...Im looking forward to this. Might get three pages into the first issue and hate it, but I've been wanting something different and new and this is certainly that.

I disagree with Landis and his post-Crisis view of "Clark is who I am, Superman is what I can do" nonsense. However, as he expresses several times in the interview, he's not writing about Superman, he's writing about Clark Kent. And I think there's a lot of stories about how a young Clark grows into Superman, but very few, if any, stories about a young Clark growing into an adult Clark. And that's an aspect of his life Im interested in reading about. Clark might be partially a disguise and a mask Kal has been wearing his whole life (just as Superman is partially a disguise and a mask) but that doesnt mean the persona of Clark is a complete lie either, in the way it is with some characters (such as Batman).

I have to admit, the promise of the "most violent, scary Superman fight ever" also has my attention. I like my Superman to get into some serious brawls now and then, if for no other reason than to remind people that Superman is the most badass mutha out there, and he doesn't have to growl and emotionally abuse his sidekicks to do it.

I like a lot of what I read here, even if I disagree with Landis on some really fundamental levels concerning the nature of the character. Should be fun.

[Burning Eyes]

From what I've heard about this project it does kind of make sense, it being the Anti-All-Star Superman:

All-Star Superman can be thought of as leading up to the end of his time as a Superhero. Not really, but you know what I mean.
American Alien sounds like it can be thought of as leading up to the beginning, so to speak.