As we promised, we continue to talk about what comics you need to start getting acquainted with superheroes. Next in line is the one who this week will meet in hand-to-hand combat with Batman (which we wrote about earlier) - Superman.
Talking about the Man of Steel is a little more difficult than talking about the rest of the characters. If Batman had limited options human nature, the alien origin of Superman gave the authors too many options for the development of the plot. So it happened that in different time Clark Kent had a huge number of unusual abilities - from "builder's vision" (yes, in the movie "Superman 3" he rebuilt the Great Wall of China just by looking at it) to creating his own miniature copies.
Therefore, we will not talk about all the achievements of the Man of Steel. The selected comics will not only allow you to get acquainted with the world of Superman, but also to understand why this guy is so special.
Superman: Secret Origin
The ultimate guide to the world of Superman. "Secret Origin" not only reveals the origin of the character, but also talks about his formation, the main enemies and allies. If the story is slightly at odds with your idea of Superman - do not be surprised. As we already wrote, many authors told their own vision of the first steps of Clark Kent on this Earth.
What to look for: on the characters. They are all central figures in the Superman comic book universe. Starting from Lana Leng and ending with Lex Luthor, these guys will then meet you in all the stories about the Man of Steel. Therefore, it is better to remember at least a few.
"Earth-1/Earth-1"
One of the attempts to "modernize" the character. The comic allows you to appreciate how far Superman is from people and, at the same time, how close. In addition, the author paid special attention to the mystery of the character's identity. Namely, known issue: "how can he hide with glasses alone." The comic gives an excellent answer to this question.
What to look for: everything that surrounds the character. Despite the fact that the story focuses on Superman, the author has detailed the world around Clark Kent as much as possible. metropolis, hometown hero, sparkles here especially brightly.
"Lex Luthor: Man Of Steel / Lex Luthor: Man Of Steel"
You can't talk about a hero without talking about his enemies. Superman main adversary- Lex Luthor. This guy is different from other comic book villains. Not only bald, but also own history and motivation. Lex has no plans to take over the world or cash in on a bank robbery. He sees a threat in Superman and tries to do something about it. It is interesting to see the world through his eyes.
What to look for: some elements of this story were used by Zack Snyder in his Batman v Superman movie. A mini duel is included. In addition, the drawing of the comic book deserves special mention and emphasis.
"Action Comics v.2"
As we already wrote, in 2011 DC comics restarted all of its comics in order to attract an audience. Clark Kent received new history, and All-Star Superman author Grant Morrison was involved in its "update". The series provides an opportunity to take a fresh look at the already bored story of the "journalist and superhero". If you want to follow the exploits of the modern Superman - you are here.
What to look for: restarting the series completely changed the perception of both the hero and his enemies. Therefore, it is perfect for those who do not want to get acquainted with the legacy of Superman, which has been stretching since 1938. And yes, no red shorts.
Superman considered himself the most powerful hero on earth. But it turned out that, in addition to him, the world is also protected by another powerful alien from outer space - Deus (in the original Wraith - Ghost). True, unlike the Man of Steel, he works for the US government and does not advertise his affairs. Given the dissimilarity of the characters, the confrontation between Superman and Deus becomes inevitable. And it will only be a prologue to another disaster awaiting the planet.
Superman Unchained
Screenwriter Story by: Scott Snyder
Artist Story by: Jim Lee
Original Output: 2014
publishing house: "Azbuka-Atticus", 2015
In 2013, Superman celebrated his 75th birthday. Especially for the anniversary, DC Comics launched the Superman Undefeated mini-series from the stellar authoring team - Scott Snyder and Jim Lee.
Formally, the action of the comic takes place within the framework of the main chronology of The New 52 - it was just launched shortly before the series. But in fact, history is quite self-sufficient. Snyder almost does not rely on the hero's past, preferring to look to the future, and offers us a completely new enemy and a new conflict.
On the pages of "Superman Undefeated" the hero is waiting for a clash with a kind of dark twin. Deus cannot be called a villain - he, like the Man of Steel, serves people and is no less true to his ideals. But his chosen ideals and way of serving make Deus the antipode of Superman. Meeting him, the Man of Steel seemed to look into false mirror, sees what he could become if he was brought up as a patriot of the country, and not of humanity. Of course, there will be an open confrontation between Deus and Superman. But Snyder shows us a conflict not just of two powerful heroes, but of two life philosophies. No wonder one of Superman's strongest trump cards is his friends.
At the same time, the plot is not reduced to the confrontation between Deus and Superman. Snyder has created a very complex story, in which Superman will have to deal with cyberterrorists, and with a secret government organization, and with an alien threat. By the way, we are not talking about Superman for nothing, and not about Clark Kent. The role of the human alter ego in this story is minimal. It appears only in a couple of flashbacks about the times when little Clark did not yet realize his strength.
To match the history and design of the comics. With his work on Superman Undefeated, Jim Lee once again proves that he is rightfully considered one of the best comics artists of our time. Particularly good in his performance are the battle scenes, which the comic is simply replete with - and not only with the participation of Superman: Batman will also show off his fighting talents.
It is impossible not to mention the Russian, "deluxe" edition of the comic. In addition to the story itself, which is very impressive in volume, the weighty volume includes dozens of pages of bonuses - covers, draft versions of the script, page outlines, comments. It's expensive to watch.
Outcome: one of the best Superman stories released in the 21st century. This comic is great for readers who are just starting to get to know the hero.
With the release of the All-Star Superman comic in Russian, it's time to tell about it for those who have not read it yet, and talk about the themes of the series again with those who have already read it a long time ago. This work by Morrison and Quitely is considered one of the best, if not the best, Superman comics written in the 21st century. Today I will try to arouse interest in him among those who do not experience such interest. Also, I hope I will be able to return the love for this comic to those who read it a long time ago and left it on the far shelf.
Necessary warning: I don't think the plot of All-Star Superman is important enough to avoid discussing it for fear of "spoilers". What's exciting about this comic isn't that you don't know what to expect from the next page. I will try to avoid unnecessary retelling of the plot, however, the pictures accompanying the article and the episodes cited in the examples are taken from all issues of the comic and may spoil the pleasure of reading for some readers.
So, I have twelve reasons for you to love All-Star Superman. And that's the twelve issues that make up the series.
In the first issue, Morrison reminds us of all the key components of the Superman myth in a minimum number of pages, manages to uncover the plot of the series, and still has room for humanization of the characters and a double-spread with Superman flying towards the Sun. And this is a reason to talk about what
Grant Morrison is a brilliant and economical narrator
The All-Star Superman (ASS) series opens with a page that, in four pictures and eight words, reminds us—or tells us for the first time—everything we need to know about Superman's "origin." This is the shortest and one of the best origin stories in modern comics. Great Hope, faith in progress, love and new house- that's all that an image is formed in our heart. Then the authors will open it up, build some concepts on it, add depth - but all you really need is eight words and four pictures.
Just as economically, without unnecessary movements, Morrison constructs the world of his history and beyond. You can learn from him the art of putting facts into our heads and how to tell a story in the minimum number of frames. So, when Perry White first appears on the page, he has a door behind him with his name and position written on it. And every, literally every page with the participation of Clark Kent includes a moment when he quietly saves someone - or at least prevents a colleague from spilling his coffee. Kent's ostentatious clumsiness is one of Morrison's most interesting findings. After our attention has been drawn to it once, it continues to exist "in the background", and the next rescued person can easily be missed. However, Morrison never forgets about her. She comes back into the spotlight in issue 5, where Clark Kent must save Lex Luthor from certain death time after time without giving himself away.
While the series reads perfectly as a single book, when re-reading it, it is interesting to divide it into separate issues and see how they are arranged. Each issue - and to a large extent the tenth one - works as a separate relatively complete story, has its own mood, color and even a set of expressive means.
You can learn about how difficult it really is to write so easily by comparing the comic with its film adaptation. So in one scene there is a blatant moment where, due to the "gluing" of two consecutive micro-episodes into one, Superman becomes the actual culprit in the death of several people.
Morrison's minimalism doesn't fail him throughout the series. In the tenth issue, Superman comes to prison to Lex Luthor and tells him “Lex, I know there is good in you”, he spits into the glass separating them and stares unblinkingly at the hero towering over him. Here, the almost century-old confrontation between the hero and the villain fits into two or three frames.
Or here is the ninth number. The whole difference between Bar-El and Superman is not expressed in long speeches and not in illustrations of how differently they meet external threats. Not even in what other characters say about them. The difference lies in two panels, in which Bar-El casually throws a very heavy key to the Fortress of Solitude into the robot's hand - and Superman is instantly there to help his broken assistant.
Morrison is not the most concise dialogue writer, but when he is at the peak of his form (ASS is one of those “peaks”), he writes a text that does not contain a single random word. He himself, according to him, is especially proud of the “haiku about the unified field theory”, which one of the Quintum scientists speaks about in the first issue and which Lex Luthor says at the end of the 12th issue (unfortunately, the number of syllables was violated in the Russian translation) .
He also does not have random, meaningless details - even newspaper headlines and book titles that fall into the frame matter. Why is Luthor reading a book about cocktails in prison? You will find out in the next issue and you will be pleasantly impressed. Such tricks Morrison does at least once a number. At the same time, Superman from time to time discovers in himself new superpowers that the plot needs right now. Why? Because that's how stories were built in the Silver Age of superheroes.
In the second issue, Superman takes Lois Lane to the Fortress of Solitude, and what we see there provokes a conversation about how
This comic opens the door to the Silver Age of superheroes.
The entire history of superhero comics in recent decades is a protracted attempt to get out of the shadow of the Silver Age and the consequences of this attempt. It is hard to drag many years of chronology on oneself - and the hardest thing is to drag its "silver" part. The superman of the times of editor Mort Weisinger in the stories of the second half of the fifties fought the most ridiculous opponents, acquired incredible alien pets and, in the most puzzling way, got out of not just fantastic, but downright absurd situations. How to deal with all this?
The current comics about superheroes, to the point of losing their voice and pulse, argue with their past. Comics are "not for kids anymore", comics are now "serious". The proverbial “seriousness” of those eighties comics that have shaped the writers of today—and us as readers—deliberately contradicts the spirit of the “old comics,” the way a teenager builds his life on the denial of everything that his parents want from him.
It turns out that we all stand on the shoulders of giants, no matter how we laugh at these giants for show. And it would be nice to have an idea of what we are starting from, if not we, then the authors we read. Just as it is not necessary in the 21st century to love and understand Pushkin (or Dickens), it is still useful to know his heritage in order to trace the path that art has gone from “them” to “us”.
But how to look at the Silver Age? We cannot return to it. Even if we open old comics, we will not read them with the same eyes that children and adults of the past read them with. We are not accustomed to the manner used then to draw comics and write text for them. We will see flat plots, naive morality, ridiculous characters.
To look at the Silver Age of superheroes, we don't need him, but an idealized version of him. As in order to look at ourselves, we need Superman, an idealized version of us.
Morrison's ASS serves as such a version - this, as they say in the comic itself, is a time capsule.
The time capsule is not a museum. Not something to gawk at for fun and move on. A time capsule is a message from the past to the future, allowing you to look back, wake up, learn a lesson. The past of comics should not be shy - you need to learn from it.
“What it was like to live at the dawn of the era of heroes,” Morrison not only knows, but also knows how to show. He and Quitely create a book for us that "broadcasts" Silver Age comics in a way that we understand today. Many of the tricks and techniques here are either taken directly from the Silver Age or skillfully imitate it.
Look at how detailed panoramas of interiors and mesmerizing landscapes are interspersed with pages where all frames are devoid of background and contain only brightly colored figures of the characters. On the bright "technocolor" colors of the work of Jamie Grant. To dialogues in which the characters explain the incredible as a matter of course, and highlight every third word in a speech. On how “out of nowhere” solutions are sometimes taken for problems and there is a right to scoundrels. Finally, look at the small plots and how easily and even, I would say, naively, new characters and entities are introduced.
Here in the third issue, intelligent lizards appear, living in the center of the earth. If this happened in a modern comic, we (well, not all, but I'm not the only one) would climb to check when these characters were first introduced and what they have been doing so far. The non-human civilization under our feet is not something that you can suddenly include in the plot, use a couple of pages and then forget, right? But in the Silver Age, this was done all the time - that's why Morrison invented new creatures that "were always there." In the same issue, Atomhotep and his dynasty are introduced - and these are also new, previously unseen entities.
IN latest release Morrison demonstrates that, with a certain approach, no element of mythology is unambiguously ridiculous and meaningless. When the "Supermobile", Superman's flying machine, briefly appeared in the Silver Age in comics, it was to release and sell more toys. You can forget about the Supermobile, as about the most useless attribute for a person flying faster than a bullet. And you can, as Morrison does in the latest issue of ASS, find a place where the Supercar will look harmonious. Moreover - Morrison inserts him into the turning point for the plot, deadly serious scene, and gives the funny typewriter a symbolic meaning.
If there's one thing we need to understand about the Silver Age of superheroes, it's what they knew - the well of ideas has no bottom and doesn't get shallow. Let's take their boundless imagination, their belief in a better future, their ease with ideas, and put them in the hands of new authors and readers. At the end of ASS, Superman goes into the sun to become its "artificial heart" - and as it fills the whole world with peace, so the story of Superman shines on all the superheroics that began with him.
In the third issue, Superman gives Lois Lane the most amazing date imaginable on her birthday, and we can't help but talk about how
This comic is an ingeniously told good story.
There is one catch with the Superman comics, and I already mentioned it above in a different context. This problem is spared by most other heroes, and it forces the writers to be more resourceful than usual.
Superman doesn't have to fight.
Most superhero stories express any conflict - social, political, philosophical - through the physical confrontation of the characters. This is necessary because the comic is visual art, and inevitably, because certain traditions have developed in superheroics. But Superman can't do that - because we know he will win.
We know this about other heroes too, because we have read more than two comics in our lives - but when reading, we must “forget” that the victory of the protagonist is predetermined, and worry about the outcome of the conflict. Superman, on the other hand, is obviously stronger, faster and better than anyone - and therefore, it is useless to put him up to fight on fists. He is, by definition, better in physical terms than anyone with whom we will compare him.
Therefore, the trials that fall to his lot must require confrontation of minds or strength of spirit. Superman is supposed to find "super" solutions to problems, and he is allowed to use his fists only to put an end to the dispute.
It's a difficult task, and even Morrison doesn't always do it perfectly, in part because he deliberately limits himself to doing only what could, at least theoretically, be done in a Silver Age comic in ASS. But that's why most of fights in the series end after the first blow, and the most intense confrontations do not involve assault at all - like, for example, solving the great riddle. In the "New Earth Defenders" story, the test for Superman is not whether he can defeat the two Kryptonians, but whether he can save them. In the confrontation with Lex Luthor, only the villain wants the death or helplessness of the hero. The hero, on the other hand, wants - and this is taken as seriously in reading as it sounds funny now - to re-educate the villain. The only enemy that Superman just beats is Solaris. Why? That's right, because we already know from DC 1,000,000 that Solaris survived, rehabilitated, and began to help people, and Morrison doesn't have to waste page space talking about it.
In comics, inventiveness and storytelling are valued above many other things. I have already talked about how little space Morrison needs to convey a thought or develop a character. The same goes for his stories. Mastery is well demonstrated, for example, by the third issue. On the first page, Lois takes a potion that gives her the power of Superman. On the last page, he falls asleep in his bed. Between these two moments, one day passes, during which Superman and Lois manage to stop the invasion of underground monsters, meet other superheroes and time travelers, have dinner in Atlantis and kiss on the moon. And Superman defeats the two most strong people in arm wrestling and solves one of the greatest mysteries in the world. And it's not even that it all fits in one day - Morrison puts these events in twenty pages, and none of them seems compressed or cut down in relation to their significance.
That's what they mean when they say that Grant Morrison is one of the best comic book writers today. All the grandiosity of the Superman stories, all their traditional elements and moves, fit into one thin magazine. Each new confrontation in the issue had a different character and a different stake: Superman fights with Krull to save people, competes with the heroes to impress and show “who is who”, and answers the riddle of Atomhotep in order to save the most dear to him. him a man.
Well, and all this was not an etude of perfect form, not an illustration of the author’s thought, but simply adventures that we are interested in reading about. Isn't that why we open Superman comics?
The main character of the fourth issue is Jimmy Olsen, and this is a good start to talk about what
This is a comic about people, not about deeds.
What does Superman remember when his life is running out? Does he think about the deeds he has done, about incredible worlds in which you visited? At least about a native planet that you have never seen? No, he thinks about his friends - and the memories of them in the scene of Superman's farewell to former life more space and more words are allotted than for reminiscences of miracles. Because Superman didn't become a hero by design or command. He became a hero because his parents and friends helped him become a good person. Superman - both "inside" history and outside it, where we read a comic about him - is a creation of people. And Superman stories are stories about people.
The same is true for the entire ASS plot. In Morrison, Superman is not so often in focus - much more often we look at what Lois, Jimmy, Lex Luthor are doing and feeling. We see how Superman scares, inspires and motivates. We turn again and again to episodic characters from the Daily Planet editorial when they talk about Superman or interact with him - even try to protect and save him. And what's the only thing in Superman's vast mythology that didn't make it directly into the comics that's mentioned in words? His friendship with Batman.
Why is there so much focus on non-Superman characters in a Superman story? Because this way of telling the story directly and faithfully reflects our relationship with Superman as readers. We are not very interested in what will happen when this hero comes face to face with the villain - he is "super", and therefore wins. It doesn't matter what powers Superman has or how the villains' machines work. All Superman stories are stories about people. The exploits of Superman come into our view only when he saves people - individual or all of humanity.
Even when the story ends, the final chord is not the image of Superman or his words - this privilege is given to Leo Quintum, who speaks about the future. And before that, remember - we see a monument to Superman. But even on the page with him, our gaze is directed not to the statue (whose face we will not see at all), but to Lois and Jimmy.
When we are talking not about Superman's friends and parents, we use the hero as a point of reference. In the Silver Age comics, this question was asked a lot - what would have happened if Superman had not met Lois. Or would have been brought up bad people. Or he wouldn't have left Smallville. Or wield magic.
In ASS, almost every issue pits Superman against a character who is a reflection of him. At the beginning of the series, the motif of many alternative Supermen can still not be noticed, although it is constantly present - Samson and Atlas, Lois Lane becoming Supergirl for a day, Jimmy Olsen turning into a force capable of stopping Superman, and then Supermen from the future. In the second volume, each issue presents us with a new alternative to Superman - from Zibarro to Lex Luthor, who gained superpowers. We see a lot of more or less imperfect superhumans - these are our incomplete, one-sided ideas about Superman, about the ideal we want to strive for.
On the one hand, this is a controversy with those who understand Superman too simply, reducing him to stereotypes.
He's not just a "very strong guy", superhero bully like Samson and Atlas - he solves problems with his head and doesn't treat Lois like a piece of furniture.
He is not a haughty ideal who looks down on humanity - a fascist type often read in Superman and contrary to what we know what a good heart he has.
He is not a loner, unable to find unity with people - Morrison makes fun of such an often used image in the form of Zibarro, and his Superman is loved by everyone and inspires everyone. Morrison, by the way, said this before - in the end, his wound at the JLA, for example, where all people, inspired by the example of Superman, do the right thing.
On the other hand, all this is a demonstration of the power of ideas, one of Morrison's favorite themes, by the way. Ideas that can be destructive in the wrong hands and useless if applied thoughtlessly.
What about stories in which Superman simply fights creatures stronger than him? And stories in which we see how Superman would be "realistic" - you know, "as in life", with all the flaws, dirt and darkness inherent in people? Morrison has this too. Jimmy Olsen turns into a gray monster, his monochromaticity really stands out on the bright multicolored pages, and he and Superman thrash each other with their fists. Before that, Superman talks about people being like ants and how he could rule the world. Superman even threatens to take Jimmy Olsen's hand off.
This scene ends with Jimmy Olsen practically speaking to the reader: "Don't let anyone see Superman like this!"
In number five, Superman saves Lex Luthor time after time without him noticing, and Frank Quitely destroys the edges of the frame and page to release the story, and we start talking about
Perfection of form and compliance with its content
Although ASS is usually referred to as the series where Grant Morrison crystallized the "perfect canon" of Superman, one must know that Quitely brought a lot of innovation. So, although he did not come up with the idea of drawing Superman and Clark Kent with different postures, conveying strength and reliability in one image, and timidity and uncertainty in the other, it was he who ideally realized this idea. Quitely "translated" into the "language" of modern comics many parts of Superman's visual canon - for example, Kryptonian architecture, in which he combined the ideas of several of its best implementations.
In Quitely's work on the ASS drawing, one can see the prototypes of many of his future experiments - for example, experiments on "Multiversity: Pax Americana". Pay attention, for example, to the similarity of the spread, where the floors of the prison where Lex Luthor is being held are formed by panels and their dividers, with a similar page in Pax Americana.
But that's not what's great about his work. Quitely - at least in a pair with Morrison - has an amazing sense of proportion and "rhythm" of the comic book page. It gives each event and character exactly as much space on the page and time in action as needed.
A prime example of this is the death of Pa Kent. I'll stay strong with someone else's mind and quote what the critic Neil Szyminsky writes about this page.
Quitely must have been tempted to dedicate half a page or a splash to the young Superman's desperate attempt to save his father's life. But he and Ma Kent - who also runs to Pa for help - are in equal frames in the bottom third of the page. The skill of the artist has the finest expressiveness even in such a small fragment. While Ma is a small figure running across an infinitely vast field, young Clark fills the frame with himself and flies so fast - his hair even catches fire - that it seems that he is about to burst out of the frame.
On the contrary, remember how many giant figures Superman in the first issues of the series, where the hero is still omnipotent and succeeds in everything.
Quitely takes the "widescreen" panels of Bryan Hitch, who was king of the new approach to drawing during the ASS years, and uses them like classic old comic book shots, where they don't play for time and try to imitate the movie screen. He contrasts his bright and free stripes with another king of drawing - Frank Miller, who also rethought all the superheroics that preceded him, but for whom this resulted in tight gloomy shots of The Dark Knight Returns. The same Miller was the first to play with ultra-bright digital painting - and he did it twenty years before Jamie Grant - but either he did not succeed, or "Dark Knight Strikes Again" is still a misunderstood masterpiece of oversaturated colors and contrasting spots.
Another example of Quitely's skill is shots in which, as if due to a slow shutter speed, the same figure is depicted in several phases of movement at once in order to convey both the speed of what is happening and the details. Quitely, of course, did not invent this technique, but he uses it very effectively.
There are much more details in ASS than you might think, looking at the "empty" backs. For example, in Luthor's secret hideout, we see a lot of unexplained objects that clearly have stories behind them. This trick is also used frequently in the comics - the panorama of the Fortress of Solitude or the Batcave includes many trophies that refer to previous stories. But ASS is " new chronology”, torn off from any main series, there is as if there is no and should not be a past here. However, it, of course, exists, and cannot but declare itself with objects that come across our eyes - each of which means a separate comic book that we have not yet seen.
There are artists who paint more dynamically or "more beautifully" than Quitely. There are those who better combine realism and cartoonishness. There are those who, by all accounts, are better at facial expressions and gestures.
In the sixth issue, Superman meets Supermen from other dimensions and time periods, mourns his father and defeats the Time Eater, which means that you need to pay attention to the fact that this
A story about our relationship with the past and future
With the seventh issue, ASS returns the focus to Superman, who will now dominate the plot of each issue. The "second year" numbers of the series are combined into a coherent plot, which was much less in the first volume. One by one, numbers seven through twelve work on a common theme and lead us to a solemn finale. Moreover, starting from the seventh issue, the series begins to refer to itself, as if the first volume is separate work that can be quoted and rethought. Another expedition of Leo Quintum, another appearance of the Eater of Suns, a return to the small plots of the first issues in order to complete them. Do you understand what is happening? Morrison turns to the synthesis of the "new Superman" to the past of comics in every scale available to him - to the entire chronology, to Silver Age, and even to the first issues of their own series.
To a large extent, ASS is a comic about how the past affects the future, and the future influences the past.
The primary commodity that delivers superheroics to its readers at four dollars a magazine is timeline. All or almost all of the stories we read continue the lives of characters we know. What happened in the comics last year kind of "really" happened. It's hard not to think about it or not pay attention to it when we have to consider the consequences of what happened.
To get rid of the burden that grows day by day, potent drugs are invented - “retcons”, reboots of characters and series, erasing old realities and creating new ones. But the load in the minds of readers does not disappear. Superman in a new suit, just arrived in Metropolis - this is still Superman, who "used to be like this", and even earlier - "but remember ...", and before that "oh, in the Silver Age there was generally a devil- What".
Grant Morrison is a master at comic book chronology - we already started talking about it when we started talking about the Silver Age.
Morrison seeks to show that neither flight from the past, nor its denial, nor slavish adherence to it allow one to truly "defeat" this very past. To stop being a prisoner of the past - and what are you, what are you, we're talking about comics, not about life, don't worry - you need to be able to learn from it, build on its foundation. Leo Quintum speaks of science as his desire to overcome the evil fate of the past that draws into itself.
Yes, we can mentally return to the past, having the power of the future - and make it better, put things in order in it. We cannot correct the mistakes we have made - but we can find peace and strength to move on. So Morrison returns to the Silver Age, so Superman, covering his face with bandages, returns to his father before his death. So we can, after finishing reading the novel, open it from the beginning and read it again. Morrison once said of his The Invisibles series that it's a comic book that needs to be read twice because it's one of those experiences that feels best when you're already familiar.
And how can I not say about the most exciting concept put forward by Morrison's fans and commentators. This concept was neither confirmed nor refuted by the author, and probably will forever remain a hypothesis. But you can't tell about it.
If you haven't read All-Star Superman yet, then skip a few paragraphs and jump straight to the next section of the article. And if you've read it, get ready to reread it.
So, some readers and critics believe that Leo Quintum is Lex Luthor, who returned to the past to correct his mistakes. You can find the evidence to build this theory yourself on the Internet if you want. I will cite only a few of them.
Luthor/Quintum is wearing the same jacket as before, but he added the colors of Superman to his "signature" colors, so it turned out to be a rainbow. Quintum has hair and glasses - this is the perfect disguise, because, as we know, it is the hairstyle and glasses that allow Superman to become Clark Kent for everyone. Quintum talks about how he seeks to escape from the "cursed past", and once warns Superman - "maybe I'm the devil myself, who do you know." And when, in the first issue, Luthor speaks to Quintum through his remote-controlled monster and threatens him with death, General Lane asks him: “Lex? Are you talking to yourself again?"
There are much more details that add up to this picture. For some they look convincing, for others they look ridiculous. We can only say with certainty that, knowing this theory, you re-read the series with different eyes. Especially places like the one where Superman says to Luthor, "You could have saved the world years ago if you wanted to!"
And if this theory is true, then Superman won his last and most important victory - he was able to reach out to Luthor and change him for the better.
In number seven, the Bizarro invasion occurs on Earth, Superman fights the whole planet like one big monster, and then he can't leave the Underverse, which means it's time to talk about what
This comic breaks the boundaries between storytelling and the reader.
Less pathetic to express the idea of this title, without using words like "metatextuality" and references to postmodernism, I did not succeed. However, you know - where Morrison is mentioned, there will definitely be a speech about postmodernism.
The new Multiversity series that everyone is talking about now is the pinnacle (hopefully not the last) of Morrison's desire to create comics that will speak directly to the reader. Not in the sense that the author's point of view on the most important life issues will be poured directly onto the pages, as happens with the late Dave Sim, Frank Miller, and in some places with Alan Moore. No, Morrison wants us to be able to interact with comic book characters like real people. existing people- and at the same time they did not forget for a second that we were holding in our hands the fruit of someone else's imagination. Morrison does not play with the "fourth wall" - he stretches his hand through it and grabs the reader by the collar.
Most early example This, of course, is in the Animal Man series, in which Morrison, at the end of his wound, himself appeared in a comic book and spoke to the hero - but really to the reader - about how comics work, and how we can make them and ourselves better. .
In ASS, interaction with the reader begins as early as the cover of the first issue, where Superman turns around and looks at the reader. In the future, the text will refer to us more than once or twice - it's us, not herself or Clark Lois says "Let's go!" When she drinks the "Superman" potion, and Jimmy refers to us when he says "Don't let him be seen like that !"
But the crescendo sets in in the latest issue, when Lex Luthor, with tears in his eyes, looks down at us from the page and sees how the universe works. “We are all we have,” but who is Lex talking about when he says “So this is how he sees all the time, sees every day” - about Superman ... or about the reader? And if you say it's about Superman, then I'll just remind you that in every issue (with rare exceptions) there are moments when we look at the world as if through Superman's eyes. No, we don’t just see other characters looking at us from the page point-blank, but we find ourselves in Superman’s place - when he flies towards the goal or looks at the changed Metropolis. To bring them into an article with the proper context would require publishing entire pages, which we will not do. By the twelfth issue, pupils looking at the page have already become the pupils of Superman more than once - and now Luthor, who sees the true structure of the universe, looks into them.
And note that Luthor, who is aware of himself as a fictional character - or sees the vastness of the universe, if you don't like this meta-historical approach - feels insignificant, while Superman, who "every day" sees the same thing, is performing feats. hero. As another fictional character repeated after the classics, contemporaries, writers and philosophers - if nothing that we do matters, then only what we do matters.
In the eighth issue, in order to leave Bizarro Land and get out of the Underverse, Superman and Bizarro the Injustice League construct a rocket and tie a hero to it, and therefore it cannot be said that "All-Star Superman" is
A comic book that opens up new subtext every time you read it.
All-Star Superman is one of the few modern comics whose authors know and understand Superman well. A hero with almost a century of history has endured many rethinking and interpretation, and only a small part of them has benefited him. In the last quarter of a century, authors seem to have two wrenches left to drive in bolts - “deconstruction” and “cultural commentary”. Where Superman does not become Christ or the Nietzschean superman (on whose denial he was originally built), there he is confronted with topical issues and, preferably, they do it in such a way that Superman is powerless. In the forties, it was necessary to come up with a reason why Superman did not defeat Hitler alone - now it seems that the whole world has appeared in Hitler's place, which Superman should never be allowed to improve.
Morrison, of course, refers to both Superman-Christ, and Superman-socialist, and children's cartoon about Superman, and to all other interpretations that are familiar to us. And for each it has its own symbolic level and its own place in history.
The symbolism of what is depicted, especially in pop culture, is a topic that one has only to raise, as everyone begins to wave their hands and convince you that it seemed to you that you were reading meanings that the author did not lay down. But tell me, are you sure that when Lex Luthor's path to freedom from prison is broken through by a robot that tells the greatest stories in the world (even though Luthor calls "Moby Dick" and "Ulysses" boring), this is just Morrison's joke or an accident? Or that when Lex Luthor kicks the door in flames prison cell, and later an unearthly monster falls on the streets of Metropolis, and we see it fall along with ordinary people, are these not references to the key works of Morrison's great brother in arms and eternal antagonist - Alan Moore? By the way, in the scene of Luthor's liberation there is also a burning bible, and here all accidents are excluded.
In the construction scene spaceship the exhausted Superman at first drags boards for the fire, under the weight of which he falls and cannot rise until Zibarro helps him. Later, Superman is tied to a rocket that is supposed to send him to earth (just like before the other, the Kryptonian rocket saved him from death and brought him to the Kent farm), while Leo Quintum and Lois Lane say goodbye to Superman in absentia, having lost faith in that he would still find a way to return from the Underverse.
Morrison can't help but make Superman a Christ—it's been done too many times before him for this element of symbolism to be brushed aside. But he does not do it directly and clumsily (like Zack Snyder, for example), and allows himself direct and noticeable references only in the most absurd, at the same time comical and very sad scene of the comic.
The story of Superman is not only optimistic, but also very tragic in places. No matter how strong and fast he is, some things still elude him. Tragedies still happen. Superman's father did not die at the hands of a bandit who could be stopped, nor was he swallowed by a monster from whose womb he could be taken. Death simply came to him, as it comes to all people in due time - and on the cover and closing page of the sixth issue, Quitely wordlessly conveys all Superman's despair before the almighty world.
Superman can't fix Luthor. Superman fails to convince Lois Lane that he and Clark Kent are the same person. Superman can't do good people criminals from the Phantom Zone, cannot take and fix everything. Before the free will of people, he is powerless. From here, from the first issues, the motif of Superman as a Christ-like figure begins - of course, inevitable in any case. With any cultural icon in America, this is inevitable - it happened, even Optimus Prime, the leader of the Transformers, was written down as Jesus. The question for Morrison was only how to deal with this motive.
By number twelfth, when Superman meets his heavenly father in desperation and is resurrected, guided by his words and his own choices, the analogy is complete. It remains to be admitted that Morrison handles this motive as well as any other.
In the ninth issue, Superman returns to the Earth, rebuilt in the Kryptonian manner, and meets with the surviving inhabitants of his dead planet, and we talk about what is in front of us -
A comic that takes up all the big themes of Grant Morrison's work
It is impossible to overlook when reading all of Morrison's favorite tricks, which are found from time to time in his superheroes. There is also time travel, and revelations received in the borderline states of consciousness, and the retelling of complex religious concepts in the language of ditties (I am not an expert and will not get into this, but smart people they say that the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th numbers should be understood through the concept of "Bardo" and the Tibetan book of the dead). But there are also more direct connections to other comics, without which an understanding of ASS would be incomplete.
ASS is most associated with the "DC One Million" crossover, which Morrison designed ten years earlier and in which Superman of the distant future in the 853rd century returns to people after long stay inside the sun. That is why the "golden Superman from the future" in ASS allows a chuckle when "our" Superman calls him his descendant - after all, we are not Superman's heir, but the same hero (yes, time travel is a difficult thing to retell).
Here appeared for the first time and “reeducated” by the 853rd century Solaris, which in the ASS became the last real opponent of Superman (except for Luthor, about which there is a special conversation). Initially, Solaris clearly referred us to the first villain that the Justice League fought - Starro, also a tyrannical star from space, though ... sea. But along with this, of course - and to classic fiction, the themes of which Morrison constantly uses, not forgetting to refer to them.
In the same Millionaire, Superman recalls how he and his "reflections" from other dimensions returned to the past to fight Chronovor - this one-panel retreat became the basis for the entire sixth issue of ASS.
But "Millionaire" did not appear on empty place. Morrison put into it the ideas that earlier that year he, Mark Waid, Mark Millar (then he was still good) and Tom Peyer presented to DC management as their concept for a "restart" of the Superman series. Then they just noticed that clean slate Superman stories start every fifteen years, and it was time to do it again. Here is what was said in that concept - pay attention to how much it resonates with what happened with Morrison in the end:
"The Superman reboot we're proposing plays against the 'brush everything that's been done before us' trend. Unlike the all-too-popular "cosmic nulls" of today's comics, our new take on Superman is an honest attempt to bring together the best of previous eras. Our intention is to honor each of the many interpretations of Superman and use internal logic history as a launching pad into the 21st century for a reimagined, streamlined Man of Steel. The approach of "cosmic zeroing" must be replaced by the policy of "using and comprehending" parts of the previous chronology. Our intention is to restore Superman to his place as the greatest of superheroes."
Morrison never gives up his ideas. Just as ideas from the 1998 proposal moved to DC One Million, and untapped potential from there to ASS, he applied ideas that remained unrealized within this series later. Morrison originally wanted to release a few more ASS "specials", but then used the ideas from some of these issues in his wound on "Action Comics", again in many ways expressing Morrison's views on the history of superheroes - only now not on Silver, but on Gold century.
In the tenth issue, Superman builds a model of our world and watches the birth of the idea of a superman in it, treats children from cancer and saves a desperate girl standing on the edge of the roof. After what you see, you can't help but admit that
This is a story about boundless optimism and why you need to believe in the best.
One of the most famous ASS pages is this one.
Morrison and Quitely have captured the essence of Superman and condensed it into one strong and sincere page.
It may seem to you that you have seen this motive a thousand times already. As I said above, it is difficult even for a moment to forget everything that we have read in life. It is difficult to perceive everything as for the first time. It probably seems to you, like me, that there have been many such moments in the history of art, and even in a thousand Superman comics this episode has already been met. That is, that Morrison repeats some motive, and does not create it from scratch. Rest assured it is not. If only because a teenager about to commit suicide was, until recently, too serious a topic for comics.
Each of the major comic book writers has attempted to pack everything that's important about Superman into one episode. The most successful, as far as I know, are this scene with Morrison and the famous scene from "Hitman" by Garth Ennis, also taking place on the roof. But if Ennis's is a one-time — albeit admittedly brilliant — episode, then Morrison demonstrates what the Superman stories are all about in all twelve issues of ASS.
And the essence of this, of course, is that there is always a way out. We are much stronger than we think.
Yes, there are more "cool" superheroes, as Morrison himself says in a famous interview. They have more spectacular costumes, more fun life and more cool stuff owned. But exactly as the old comic says, each of us can be Superman. Morrison says he sees Superman as an ordinary person. He grew up on a farm, goes to work every day, and is in love with an energetic colleague. The glasses and suit hide who he really is. And each of us, like Superman, has our own Fortress of Solitude, our own super-pets and our own "cities in a bottle", which we sometimes forget about and then regret it very much. All this got into the Superman mythology before Morrison and got there almost by accident - but just as the theory grew out of the random details of Morrison's story that Lex Luthor became a good person and a truly great scientist, whether Morrison wanted it or not, out of the canon of silver Superman grew the image of "each of us", perceived and romanticized by Morrison.
As you can see, this is a very sincere and romantic comic.
While much of this article is dedicated to the merits of the work of Morrison and Quitely, which are comprehended rationally, one cannot but say about the emotional charge of the series. Real art gets not only to our mind, but also to our heart. Grant Morrison is one of the most gifted mainstream screenwriters in this regard. Of course, Morrison's author's series have always been the brightest in emotional terms, but ASS also has a lot of touching and inspiring moments.
Morrison does not sink into sentimentality and sobbing nostalgia for "other times", as is often the case with comics that refer to the past. He writes about sincere and strong feelings- and in best moments he manages to convey these feelings to the reader.
Readers traditionally consider the best numbers of the series to be the sixth and tenth - and it is these numbers that account for most of these moments. Golden Rose Krypton, Superman's pet dog, Papa Kent's grave, Siegel's first draft of Superman, the children's hospital... The list, as they say, goes on and on. And most of these moments are about what will be better next, and that it is our duty to follow the example set by Superman and make the world a better place to the best of our ability.
In Issue 11, Lex Luthor gains the power of Superman, and Kal-El leaves the Fortress of Solitude for good and goes to his final stand against the world-threatening star, and it's time to face the fact that
This is an epic about a real superhero
Have you ever thought about how we combine individual elements different stories about a hero in the “canon”, which we then consider more important than everything else that was not included in it? This process, carried out year after year by writers, editors and fans, is mostly more or less random. Only when some author faces the task of forming a new canon, it becomes clear what chaos hundreds of comics combined into one chronology really are.
When an author builds a canon out of necessity—like John Byrne or Geoff Johns in character reboots—they select elements of the canon from the point of view of the chosen paradigm, their own taste, as well as their own pragmatic considerations. The “canon” created in this way should serve the team of creators for a dozen or two years.
Morrison, who at ASS created the canon for a small but colorful finished series, could afford to reflect on the process itself and approach the matter philosophically. As a result, the very idea of \u200b\u200bforming the canon is part of the ASS - in the third issue, Superman has guests from the future who notify him (and us) that he will have to perform twelve feats in the near future. And although the feats are in no way arranged symmetrically in twelve numbers, are not marked in any way in the narrative, and in general some of them are difficult to notice without the author's instructions, we begin to look for these feats. And Superman doesn't, because he has more important and urgent things to do. The Twelve Labors of Superman is a canon that we ourselves form as we read. Just like the series itself becomes a "canon variant" of Superman as we read, whether we like it or not. After ASS, Superman according to Weisinger, Superman according to Siegel/Schuster, or Superman according to Byrne is followed by Superman according to Morrison, although it is not designed to tell new stories in the same "universe".
So, the twelve feats are not something that Superman realizes in the process of accomplishment, but what the top dozen will be called in the future. important events the year Superman prepared for his death. It will only happen in the future, outside of the comic - and there could be eleven or nine of them, but some numbers people love more than others. Canon, Morrison shows us, is not something objectively existing, not what is happening before our eyes, but what we remember when the book is already closed.
And these very feats - defeating Time, traveling to the "mirror" universe and back, creating life, defeating the sun itself and, by the way, finding a cure for cancer - inevitably lead us to the fact that Grant Morrison was not writing a simple story. He wrote an epic.
Although the word is erased and “epic” is now called anything large enough in design, the heroic epic is a rather definite thing. It has its own rules, its own rules and its own sequence of events. It is to comply with the laws of the epic in ASS, for no reason at all, an underground river and a boat on it, the world of eternal night and the city that has changed while the hero was absent, appear. We won't talk about everything here. If you haven't read Campbell, then you've read Tolkien and you'll figure it out, right?
I will only draw attention to the formal rigor of Morrison's composition. The events of the series take a year - from summer to summer - and at the same time a solar day from noon to noon. Every noon, Superman flies towards the sun, and in the middle of the series, at the beginning of the second volume, the sun sets, we see Metropolis for the first and only time at night, and then Superman goes to another world where everything is the opposite, and looks for a way to get out of there. And as the sun leaves the underworld, so Superman gets out of the Underverse and returns home with the dawn.
IN latest issue series Superman defeats Lex Luthor, chooses between life and death and remains forever in the sky above us, so
It's just a great Superman comic.
The article was supposed to come out on the previous Monday, but the author was busy with it a little longer, for which he apologizes to readers.
Man of Steel Adventures of Superman 
Superman Volume 2 Superman for All Seasons 
Superman - Birth 
Superboy Volume 4 
Superboy Volume 6 Superman and Wonder Woman 
Superman - Undefeated 
Superman Volume 4 Supergirl Volume 4 Supergirl Volume 5 
Supergirl - Volume 6 
Supergirl - Volume 7 
Superman 
Birth All Stars 
Origin 
Superman Red Son Superman: Emperor Joker DC Comics. The first issue in which Superman first appeared was published in the pages of Action Comics #1 (06/1/1938).
The appearance of Superman dc comics is different in a colorful way. His costume consists of a blue turtleneck with a shield on the chest with an "S" symbol, blue tights over which are worn red underpants, a yellow belt, boots and a red cape. With the release of new comics, clothes changed and transformed a little. The underpants that he wore over the tights are gone, the belt has changed. Superman dc comics has won the hearts of many scientists and famous critics. Also in May 2011, he was ranked first in the list of "The 100 Greatest Comic Book Heroes".
Height, cm: 193
Weight, kg: 107
Hair color: black
Eye color: blue
Position: reporter for the Daily Planet
Superhero abilities (Superhero)
Superman dc comics is endowed with many abilities, such as:
- Flight - the ability to fly both in the air and in space;
- Super Speed - The ability to move at super speed. In a few minutes, a superhero can fly to the moon;
- Invulnerability - the hero's body is incredibly durable, almost invulnerable to damage;
- Strength - depends on the charge of energy that it receives from the sun;
- Regeneration - the restoration of damaged tissues and organs depends on the level of energy absorption;
- Superintelligence - superhuman mental abilities;
- Super-breathing - the ability to attract, extinguish, freeze objects with one of your breaths;
- Super-hearing - the ability to hear infrasound and ultrasound;
- Vision is the ability to distinguish objects in different spectra:
- microscopic;
- Telescopic;
- infrared;
- X-ray.
The hero's powers have changed with each new issue of the comic.
The name of Superman (Superman) is Kal-El (Kryptonian), Clark Kent (Earth). The hero was born on the planet Krypton, which was dying from nuclear radiation. His parents were scientist Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van. Knowing that the planet is doomed, they send Clark as a baby in a rocket towards the planet Earth, in the hope of a bright future for their only son.
His rocket was discovered by ordinary Kansas farmers in Smallville, Jonathan and Martha Kent. They raised him as their own son, giving him the name - Clark Kent. As a child, the boy began to show abilities that in the future he used solely for the sake of good. His upbringing provided him with strong moral values, true friends and girlfriend.
Superman dc comics takes on the role of a struggling super hero with dishonest businessmen and politicians, a social activist.
Yes, this is not a mistake. The ideal hero of the DC universe - you say? Let's see what is interesting in it from the position of a modern reader and viewer. Let's pay attention to the details and start dissecting his invulnerable persona.
When did Superman appear
Superman first appears in the June 1938 issue of Action Comics. For comparison, the first appearance of Batman is May 1939, The Flash is January 1940, Green Arrow is November 1941. I think Supsa can be considered, if not the main character of DC, then one of the main and undoubtedly the pilot.
What did a comic book reader need in the 30s and 40s? The hero as a symbol of overcoming and victory over the topical of that time social problems. So Sups' first adventures were to save an oppressed class, fight a wealthy, necessarily evil elite, later to confront nationalist threats, then avert dastardly communist misadventures, all shown either directly or in the form of apt allegories.
Superman comics
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No one really cared about the integrity of the character as such. No one has yet been interested in farmer Clark Kent, gradually becoming Superman as in the series Smallville (eng. "Smallville"). The more invulnerable and more omnipotent justice is personified in the hero, the more folk stories seem. Superman was perceived and was supposed to be similar to the ancient Greek mythological gods no logic of events, no explanation of how it works, no character and no emphasis on personal drama. Invulnerability is great! Superpower is awesome! Super speed is great! Super hearing and x-ray vision - incredible! And so on…
Paradigm shift
It seems that Soups has such abilities, as far as Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster had enough imagination at the time of creation. But now several other problems are being posed, the methods for solving which are not so unambiguous and have new solutions. The Modern Reader comic book analyzes events, evaluates the plot and its twists and turns. Scandals, intrigues, investigations. In 2Q17, it is no longer enough to limit analysis to simple "Superman is stronger than Lex Luther", "My dad is stronger than yours", "My car is faster than yours", "Elephant is stronger than a crocodile" and the like. In general, experiences and overcoming are now important to the Western school of comics, one or another ability of the hero is used almost exclusively for a plot twist, while others can be completely ignored.
A hero without weakness
So why exactly are Clark Kent's superpowers boring? A complete set of invincible abilities leaves no room for intrigue with " reverse side strength." In addition to the obvious "Imbo" of each ability - there is no shortage of it. There is no such genie here that fulfills a wish, leaving a dirty trick. There is no devil's shop with magical things, each endowed with its own curse. In addition, Superman's powers in the story are relative. In one issue, he breaks through the walls, as if not noticing them, in the other, with a suffering mine, he gets a car in the face. In Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Sups prevents a powerful bomb from detonating simply by holding it between his palms - how can such a hero even have problems?
Kryptonite, of which there are as many as 18 types - you say? Therefore, it had to be invented in such a variety - as this is a way to build a plot. Without emerging heroic problems - there is no plot, without kryptonite - they don’t really exist. Weakening kryptonite, releasing hidden desires kryptonite, paranoia-inducing kryptonite, kryptonite dividing into “human” and “kryptonian” essences are excellent plugs for plot holes. Yes, we can safely say that Superman's main vulnerabilities are the vulnerability of his loved ones. It usually has logic and interest. The hero of the three-part comic book “Superman. Red Son" by Mark Millar. A look at what would have happened if Superman had appeared not in Smallville, Kansas, but in the Soviet Union, became a kind of entertaining therapy for erasing the last negative matryoshka-balalaika communist stereotypes from the heads of Americans.
Released in 2016, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice plays out Sups's personal drama as a character - being an unbiased god or human. A more relevant drama for the modern viewer, suitable for Superman, in my opinion, cannot be imagined. And yet, while watching the teaser trailer for this film, at the moment (1:40 of the trailer video), when Ben Affleck () says his famous “Is blood flowing in your veins? It will spill!” Whom did you like more? Is it Supsu?
