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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2019 10:06:07 GMT -5
The Unknown Worker:  |
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Post by chadwilliam on Feb 26, 2019 11:59:01 GMT -5
And I've got to say - I LOVE Steve Lombard in this series. It's been suggested that Superman's presence in the world acts as a sort of deterrent to the average person's ability to achieve their greatest potential, but with Lombard, you get the sense that if goofy Clark Kent weren't around to pull pranks on, Lombard's natural heroic self - he did leap to everyone's rescue during the Bizarro invasion and will later leap to Clark's aid when he collapses in issue 11 - would shine through. Instead, he's like some mythical being cursed to forever try and one up the most powerful man in the universe and fated to always wonder where things went so spectacularly wrong for him. I think this version of the character would make an appearance in the regular titles around this time, but unfortunately those issues were written by Geoff Johns so Lombard came across as a perverted old creep rather than harmless, lovable goof. Here's Lombard's brief moment of moral clarity in issue #12:  You know, it occurs to me that this redemption of sorts wasn't confined solely to Lombard. Bar-El eventually realises the error of his ways due to Superman's example and even Luthor has a similar moment of clarity in issue 12 with his "this is how he sees everything" epiphany, though that seems short lived as soon as Superman shows up. I believe Superman even makes reference to Solaris eventually becoming a force for good. I guess this is what happens when a writer takes Superman's adage that "there's good in everybody" to heart. Too often, it's a line delivered to make Superman look naive, but here it actually comes across as inspiring. |
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Post by rberman on Feb 26, 2019 13:20:15 GMT -5
Here's Lombard's brief moment of moral clarity in issue #12: You know, it occurs to me that this redemption of sorts wasn't confined solely to Lombard. Bar-El eventually realises the error of his ways due to Superman's example and even Luthor has a similar moment of clarity in issue 12 with his "this is how he sees everything" epiphany, though that seems short lived as soon as Superman shows up. I believe Superman even makes reference to Solaris eventually becoming a force for good. I guess this is what happens when a writer takes Superman's adage that "there's good in everybody" to heart. Too often, it's a line delivered to make Superman look naive, but here it actually comes across as inspiring. The story of Solaris in DC One Million is that he vacillates between extremely useful ally (even to the point of assembling and leading super-teams for millennia) to cosmic threat who must be destroyed. Action Comics #1,000,000 lays out the big picture of the DCU for the next 85,000 years. |
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Post by badwolf on Feb 27, 2019 15:20:13 GMT -5
All-Star Superman #4 “The Superman/Jimmy Olsen War!” (July 2006) I love how Quitely depicts Superman's heat vision: no rays, just an eye glow and their effect. |
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Post by rberman on May 26, 2019 8:13:41 GMT -5
Incorporating some recent Bronze Age reading... the idea of a Superman Clone had been broached numerous times before Quintum came along. Back in Jack Kirby's Fourth World stories in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen in 1917, The D.N.A. Project had cell samples from pretty much everybody including Jimmy, Lois, and the whole Justice League, including Superman. These were used to grow an army of clone-slave soldiers resembling Jimmy, which everybody thought was great for some reason. But Darkseid's mad scientists Mokkari and Simyan also got a hold of the cell samples. They created a giant Jimmy Clone coated in Kryptonite, which was defeated by a tiny clone soldier. Then they made tiny clones of the whole Justice League, which were defeated by tiny clones of Lois Lane. Aww, cute! A giant Superman clone would have been a more obvious threat, but they never made that, at least that we saw.  In Action Comics #399 (April 1971), Superman visits a parallel world in which he has died but replaced repeatedly by clones who are unaware that they are clones. The world needs a Superman! This parallels Quintum's story better.   |
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