Thursday, January 12, 2012

Superman's 'New" Origin Story: Superb!

DC Comic's new "52" revamp includes a retelling of Superman's origin from Krypton in the latest Action Comics, No. 5 and I've got to admit DC payed incredible attention to a lot of gaps in the previous origin tales.
For example (spoilers ahead!):
-Why didn't Superman's parents just enter the Phantom Zone, instead of dying when Krypton exploded? They answer that the Zone's villains made that an impossible option.
-Where does Krypto the dog fit in? He entered the Phantom Zone before it shattered, trying to protect his family.
-Why did Kal-El's rocket ship crash on Earth, instead of land? It malfunctioned, hence the crash.
-Why didn't government authorities detect the rocket ship's crash? They did in the new 52 tale and the Kents scramble to cover up what they can.
-What powered the rocket ship? A Kryptronite engine. (And that is stolen and hence a new Superman tale coming up.)
ALL in ALL, this is an intriguing retelling of the Superman origin and best of all -- the Legion of Super-Heroes are shown as working with Superman to find the stolen engine.
"When Superman Learned to Fly" is the title of the next Action issue, No. 6.
Action comics is living up to its legend again. This is great stuff ... Marvel get out of the way ... the magic may be coming back to DC's flagship character.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

DC -- "The New 52" Update

OK,it has been a few months now since DC Comic's "New 52" or entire reinvention of all its characters began. How well is DC doing?
I'd give them a B grade, at least in how Superman and related characters have been handled so far.
Superman Comics themselves rate an A-
It is only how DC has mishandled Supergirl. Superboy and the villians that drags down the quality.
I like that DC has two different timelines going, in Action and Superman comics. One is present day and the other shows how he was some years ago, when his debut was relatively new.
It is great that DC would have Darkseid as the first real villain that the Justice League faces together. There's nothing like starting with the best villain of all.
Superman's new costume is OK too, but the villains in the Man of Steel's own comics so far have been simply lame and unimaginative.
I still don't care for Cyborg in the JLA either. He's the odd duck, even more so than Aquaman.
Looking back, DC really had no choice redoing everything, as the magic in all its heroes was gone. They've gotten some of the spark back, but other than concentrating so much on just the heroes, they do need to spend more time planning out craftier villains, because except for Darkseid opposing the Justice League, most of the rest have been dismal.
Great heroes shine best when they face great villains; and with the one exception, DC has yet to realize that.
--In other DC scrutiny, I do like the Legion of Super-Heroes and Star Trek crossover.
It's good stuff and who ever would have thought that Spock and Brainiac Five would ever meet, let alone work together!
I'm still hoping for a Superman and Star Wars kind of crossover someday, but I'd settle for a Superman and Star Trek tale at the least.
--Regarding DC's continuing "Elseworld" stories, I still strongly want to see "Secret Identity" made into a DC animated movie. It would be great and a few new twists of the plot could be made to keep it fresh.