5/8/14

Superman (Part 3)

~Tired of hearing (er, reading) me talk about Superman yet?
Don't worry- this is the final part!:

(How awesome is that?  Our Worlds At War had a lot of cool moments in it!)




   So, as we have been discussing: Superman does not kill.  (He can be a total dick, but...) 50+ years history of the character says he does not kill. And if all you can point out to say that he does are Elseworlds, "What If's", alternate timelines and/or universes, or non-cannon video-games; then I'm sorry: Your argument holds NO weight. Quickly though- I wanted to go over a few other instances I've seen, on message-boards and whatnot, used to justify (by association) the ending of Man Of Steel:

"He killed Zod in Superman II!" -They like to say... But no, no he did not. 


   -Not only did the movie never show that Zod was dead (like the Joker after his fall in the Tim Burton Batman film), but there is no reference made to that being the case at all in the movie.  You can assume, I suppose- but you know what they say about people who assume...
   Anyways, there is even a deleted scene of all three de-powered Kryptonians being arrested outside The Fortress Of Solitude, along with Lex Luthor, by the...... Arctic Police Department? Really??? -My Gods, that's ridiculous... It's on the "Donner Cut" DVD, and also probably YouTube someplace...

"He killed Doomsday!
...Well, they killed each-other.  And both kind of not really at all, in the long story.  
-Because COMICS!  


   Also, Doomsday is barely a sentient living being- more of an unrelenting, cloned, organic weapon- if you are familiar with his origin... which was first detailed in the above comic.

And finally, I'll admit that I don't know what comic specifically they're referring to; but I've seen people say "He killed Brainiac" too.  Brainiac is a super-computer.  -Not really a living being. (-Let's not get into an Asimovian debate here...) 

(Another page from Our Worlds At War)

-But any 'body' he has had has been robotic, or cloned organic tissue, housing his super-computer brain.




So, along with alternate-reality-Zod (Superman #22 Snoochie-boochies!!!) from the last post; you may just see all of these as technicalities... but that's okay.  Comics are confusing- and I assure you: my over-explaining all this in detail is just as annoying as people who over-simplify it. Wrong is still wrong- even when right is annoying as fuck. 

   I really loved the Kelly, Loeb, and McGuinness run on Superman.  Obviously.  -I should also recommend reading "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?" (Action Comics #775) and the followup "Ending Battle" story-arc... because they deal with exactly what I've been talking about these past three postings.  The Superman vs. The Elite animated movie is good- but not as awesome as the comics are- in my opinion.

Manchester Black: "You think that's it? It's not over, you poncy twit. If you think I'll just go to jail and rot, you're living in a dream world!"

Superman: "Good. Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us into something better. And on my soul, I swear that until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice are the reality we all share, I'll never stop fighting. Ever."






I had nowhere else to put these last couple of panels- but they make me laugh so I had to include them.  It's no secret that I fucking hated Kyle Rayner.  And here Superman tells him how it is:


Ha!  Truth hurts...  even if it is all just a trick to piss him off- seeing as how he's Joker-gas-infected.


Super-dickery at its best! I like to think there was a sliver of truth in it all. -Because I did hate Kyle as GL, him and his refrigerator-girlfriend! 
(From the Joker- Last Laugh storyline: Superman in Action Comics #784 by Joe Kelly and Duncan Rouleau)


 -I'll leave you all with this:


6 comments:

  1. those were some funny ass videos but if you have one more Superman posting about how he doesn't kill i'm going to snap your fucken neck K.o.T.

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    1. You got it! -Per your request: Six more posts about Superman's morals!!!

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  2. Didn't see the Kyle issue, but damn was he dead on, even if he was being a superdick about it. Of course Kyle quickly proved himself, and it wasn't an issue anymore.

    How Man of Steel ended is indeed how it should've ended....complete with Batman/Supes coffee talk afterwards, and the Aquaman cameo. "Justice Leagueeeeee" LOL.

    Good article overall King. Really good points made as far as backing up your belief that Superman doesn't kill ever. Of course he will or force batman to kill him in these alternate stories. Writer-fanboys can't help themselves from going to that well way too many times.

    Basically Superman's Jesus/God/ a true paragon of virtue. He shouldn't kill because not only does he set himself to a higher standard, but so do we. When he stops being that, and is brought to our level, he ceases being morally superior/the bar under which we all strive(heroes included) to be.

    So who's up next for debate King?

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    1. Kyle proved himself? Must have missed that. I was too busy thawing all this meat, for dinner, that Major Force stuffed into my freezer...

      Fuckin' Aquaman BETTER be in the Justice Leagueeeeee movie!

      Alternate-timeline stories are fine- it's fun to think about. And they're basically just fan-fics anyways... Of course everyone goes there. It's an easy story to tell poorly. I just resent the unnecessary dark tone of M.o.S. -I want a fun, hopeful, Superman movie where he punches the fuck out of villains while being a God-damn super hero! Maybe in another 10 years, if I'm still alive- colorful super-heroics will be retro and they'll be making those kinds of movies...

      Shit... they sure didn't skimp on the in-your-face Jesus-imagery in the last two Superman flicks! But yeah- Spider-Man is on our level, Batman, Daredevil... Superman is an icon. He should be the example- not the exception to the rule.

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  3. LOL! He did, trust me, or else he wouldn't still be used today.

    Aquaman should be in the new JL movie damnit. I hope they don't pull a JL:War, and replace Arthur with Shazam again. Unless Johns is super-involved, that may happen. Ugh.

    Poor Shlomo. 6 more to go. Ha! I love it;)

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    1. I doubt it- but I'll take your word for it, I guess...
      Captain Marvel is cool too, though! He has been rumored to get his own movie for years now... Chances are- they'll fuck it up. Most comics writers can't even tell a decent story with the poor guy. Like it's really THAT hard to understand what makes that character work. One of my favorite examples of a good Big Red Cheese story is, again, from Superman in Action Comics #768. Wonderful issue.
      Yeah- Shlomo is in for a treat for the next six posts: A Top 10 list of favorite Superman crotch-shots, followed by a list of things that have the same colors as Superman's costume, a montage of every time Superman uses the word "the", then an animated gif of Superman shooting himself, followed by ANOTHER blog about how Superman does not kill, and finally- an entry of me analyzing every single line of dialogue from Man of Steel and pointing out what is wrong with it. It's gonna be a blast! -Right Shlomo?
      Right???

      ...hello?

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