Superman proceeds to set all of their stashes on fire:
Smooth. And then, Superman does the more careless, negligent thing you can possibly imagine:He asks a ten year-old to take a threatening "message" to the gangsters he just burned.
Repeating: Superman couldn't be bothered to interrupt his walk for even half an hour, so he had a little boy tell angry drug dealers to move on or else.Now, what do you think the odds are that this child comes out of this unscathed??
Remember, the kid is from that neighborhood, and has no secret identity. The pissed off gangsters have to know where he and his family live, so even if they don't rough him up or kill him on the spot, there's a pretty goddamned good chance his house is going to see some drive-bys, right? Because aggressive, gang-banging drug dealing thugs are pretty well-known for reprisals. (And also remember, we are told that even the police are afraid to come into this neighborhood, so good luck getting protection.) Or maybe the thugs will just take the hostage as leverage against Superman keeping his promise to come back.
Oh, sure, you can postulate a lot of scenarios--these guys are suddenly scared of Superman where they weren't before, or don't think to put their stash in lead-lined fire-proof safes in the future, or suddenly find Jesus, or whatever. But that's bullshit--the way the scene has been portrayed, and the way it takes place in what JMS would like us to think is "the real world," you know that's not going to happen. There's no way the kid or his family doesn't get hurt. Kal-El has as good as signed their death warrants.
If you think about it, this is the equivalent of Batman asking some innocent bystander kid (aside from Robin) to take a threatening message to the Joker...or maybe Orion making some Apokalyptian waif to take a challenge to Darkseid. And you know how that would turn out.
It's stupid, it's thoughtless, it's selfish, it's grossly negligent, and it's something Superman would never do. But JMS just a) had to have his cool scene but b) couldn't have Superman interrupt his walk.
And when JMS has that little concern for the character of Superman, well, that's why I'm dropping the title. Call me when the walk is over (or when JMS gets bored and bails...like The Twelve, or Supreme Power, or Thor, or...)
Another spot-on observation. His solution is also just "move the problem somewhere else" - rather than tackle the issue at source, as he would be able to do; after all, he is supposed to be freakin' Superman!
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't get is Superman can spend five or six pages listening to that woman whine on about how her life sucks, but couldn't spend the same time debating with the drug dealers why society has forced them to do what they do?
My own particular rant on this issue can be found at: http://www.heropress.net/2010/07/just-how-bad-is-superman-701.html
I'm giving this title one more issue (there's supposedly aliens in the next story) to decide whether I jump ship or not.
I don't even buy that there IS a problem that needs to be tackled. Why is Superman suddenly as hard to write as Wonder Woman apparently is? And if they ARE that hard to write for, shouldn't you put someone who actually can write good comics on their titles?
ReplyDeleteWhy does Grant Morrison get the easy Batman assignments?
We stated your objections. This isn't the first time that super man has gone into super creep mode (I believe superdickery.com handles that list well), but its the first time where it is coupled with narcisstic, pompous, blindness. To the creative team of superman, I ask you to call mel gibson. I think he can state what to do with yourselves.
ReplyDeleteLazarus Lupin
http://strangespanner.blogspot.com/
Art and review
I'm less put off by this run that I might ought-to-be, but every point you've been making crossed my mind as well when reading it.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to keep reading, though. JMS is one of those writers that, for a lack of a better description, challenges me. Not to say I think his "super lectures" are convincing in any way (or whenever he has heroes philosphying) but it's always a story I want to read, nontheless. I loved his Spider-Man run, despite is occassional "Parker Views", spouting how JMS actually sees the world through Peter's eyes. So I'm game for where ever this is going. At least he's trying something bold and new. It's sappy as all hell - but it's good sap... at least I think so. (See, there's the challenge I'm talking about! ^_^)