Friday, April 29, 2011

"American Superman."

Don't ask why they're in front of Castle Greyskull.


This was knocked out in about an hour and a half, as to better strike while the bandwagon's hot...

I haven't read Action Comics #900 yet; just the head's up on Superman's citizenship status from Bleeding Cool. Who also points out Fox News' commentators on the subject.

This next part is going to be tough to say, since I try ever so hard not to swear here, but ugh, Fox News...does a pretty good job of getting a bunch of people to get worked up and parrot the party line. People who didn't read or care about comics before, until they heard they were 'un-American.' And who won't care afterwards. (Well, there will probably be at least one 'lifelong Superman fan' that'll get worked up to the point of selling his collection to cash in quick prove a point.)

But, ooh, in the meantime, Fox readers and such will shake their fists and pound their keyboards about how Superman's a pinko commie terrorist (or worse, with fouler language and more typos) for maybe half a news cycle. Just like Fox News readers threw a hissy fit about Wonder Woman changing her costume. (Probably more commentators on that one, than actual purchasers of said comic...) And they've thrown a couple tantrums about Captain America on the Marvel side, as well.

The weird thing is, I thought maybe if Superman renounces his American citizenship, he would go back to his earliest characterization, way back in the Siegal and Shuster days; when he was a bit more radical, more of a rabble-rouser, less a voice of the establishment. Which would just be weird, since Supes is as of now still owned by the establishment of Warner Brothers, which is in no hurry to give him back to the rabble-rousing estate of Siegal and Shuster...

Well, even if this turns out to be a throwaway line (some at Topless Robot have already pointed out that Superman doesn't necessarily have a paying job or social security number or anything, and that Clark Kent doesn't appear to be giving up his citizenship) or a complete debacle, it's already more interesting than the whole of Superman-walking-across-America; isn't it?

And if you can't give up the notion of American Superman, well, you probably won't like this. (And Supe's opening? Swiped from here.)

(The downside to trying to knock a post like this out fast is I miss stuff: I was going to mention JLA/Avengers, where for a good chunk of the story Supes and Cap instinctively dislike and distrust each other. I also wanted to give Cap a line like "I can't believe I let you use my shield and Thor's hammer." Thor is pretty much here to undermine Cap: back in the fifteen minutes he spent as Nomad, Cap tried a cape, and damn near broke his neck. And the Captain America movie will be released as the First Avenger in some foreign markets: all the better to cash in overseas, which is just as reasonable a reason for Superman's declaration as any.)

5 comments:

grifter said...

i knew those lyrics right away, and started laughing. i knew it was gonna be alright.

SallyP said...

Heh. Thor is the man.

Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

I really liked this one! You really could do a whole series about Superman and Cap debating about America. You should. Maybe when I get computer fixed again, and reload my poor man's version of photoshop, I might take a poke at it. Superman renouncing his citizenship? That's not all bad of an idea. Truth, justice, and the Kryptonian way? Good stuff man, keep it up.

James Figueiredo said...

Oh, man, ETERNAL LOVE to the Pet Shop Boys reference!

Susan said...

Geez, Thor didn't really leave Cap any legs to stand on at all, did he? Hadn't heard about the "Frist Avenger" overseas title, but it's not unusual for names to change from one market to the next in an effort to cash in better...of course, how are they gonna get around Cap's name within the movie itself?