No, I’m not auditioning to replace Kevin Spacey in the next Man of Steel movie. I just really dislike the character. Maybe hate’s too strong of a word but ever since I was a kid I just never could get into the character. He was too strong, too powerful, too invulnerable. And then there was the hokey signal watch, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, and the rest of the Daily Planet crew. Captain Marvel on the other hand, I did like. Yeah he was big, red and cheesy, but he was basically a little boy in a Superman-like body, with his powers based on magic. That for some reason never bothered me. And he was never as tough as Supes.
Heck, even the first two Christopher Reeve Superman movies were great and I loved the character. But when it comes to the comic books, there are literally a handful of Superman stories I can stomach. That’s why I very reluctantly ordered Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen’s “Secret Identity” trade paperback recently from Amazon. I was looking to pick up something good, that was self-contained and I knew next to nothing about. My buddy Justin recommended it despite my loathing of Superman and I have to say… he was dead on. When Kurt Busiek is on, he’s on. His personal, everyman approach really humanizes any character, in this case, Superman.
Now this isn’t the same Superman we know; it’s set on an alternate Earth where superheroes never existed, only in comics. Why, just like our world. And on that world is a kid named Clark Kent, who’s relentlessly teased about his name. Except a funny thing happens when he hits his teenage years… this Clark actually starts developing Superman-like powers. And the rest of the series explores those powers but more importantly, his reaction to them and how he deals with them. I was intrigued by the end of the first issue and completely sucked in about halfway through the second. And it delivers straight through to the end. And Stuart Immonen’s art is a perfect compliment to Busiek’s prose. I was actually sad when I got to the end, looking and hoping for just one more page. If these two ever do another Superman-related project, I may just have to pick it up.
So now I can add Secret Identity to the very short list of Superman stories I like. The others would include a pair by Alan Moore (The two-part “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” and “For the Man Who Has Everything”), Frank Miller’s Dark Knight (where Superman’s a complete tool and actually redeems himself in the end), and Mark Waid and Alex Ross’ Kingdom Come.
Anyone else have any seriously killer issues/trades/mini-series starring Superman that I just have to check out? I’m slightly less skeptical these days about Superman stories, thanks to Kurt and Stuart…
I despise the character of Superman because every time there is a crossover with another company and character that involves a physical confrontation, Superman always wins. Even against characters he should clearly lose to (i.e., characters with magic based powers who are just as strong as him…) or who are just clearly superior to him, he wins. It’s a bunch of crappola.