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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Superman #13


Well, this is the new creative direction for Superman with Scott Lobdell writing and Kenneth Rocafort leaving Red Hood and the Outlaws to illustrate Superman.

You may have heard Clark quit the Daily Planet. It's meant as a Jerry Maguire/Aaron Sorkin The Newsroom-esque indictment of the falling standards of the Daily Planet, but it comes off as soft because we haven't really seen these falling standards in the Superman books or anywhere in the DC Universe, so we're left to take Clark's word for it.

Speaking of Clark's words, Lobdell loves thought balloons. Which is fine, thought balloons are a tried and true staple of comic books. But it occurs to me, with all the thinkin' Superman does, it's because Superman is a weird cat with no friends. Of course he's always thinking and talking to himself.

This current Superman is strategically cut off from his supporting cast as a result of the DC mandate of doing stuff differently. The Kents are dead. Superman doesn't really hang out with his roommate Jimmy Olsen, whom he catches having sex in his shower with some woman. Superman doesn't have a relationship or even a friendship with Lois Lane, whom he apparently has the hots for. Clark even does a creepy Superman Returns-esque Supervision reading of her texts, despite the fact that he also has... something... going on with Wonder Woman. Even his Super family doesn't like him - Supergirl shows up accusing him of something and they've never gotten along since they met in The New 52. Superman also says half the world thinks he's a savior, the other half thinks he's the front line of an alien invasion.

It seems like no one really likes Superman all that much. He doesn't hang out with the Justice League, he doesn't have that buddy-buddy thing with Batman. Superman's only friend in the issue is a strange female scientist we've never heard of named Dr. Veritas who has a lab in the center of the Earth. Superman even says she is the only person he trusts. It's bizarre.

So, you know, speaking of Bizarre, maybe... DC should start over yet again, say the last 13 months of Superman was really a new Bizarro all along, and bring back, you know... SUPERMAN... the way people really like him... in time for Man of Steel hitting theaters next summer.

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