“Clark Kent is a persona Superman puts on to hide his real identity”
I’ve seen this in various forms over the years, mostly from “Comic Fans” that is to say skinny legged hipsters and dudes with soul-patches with no double-chin to hide. It’s the dissembling of Supermand versus Batman that places them as opposite ends of the Heroic Spectrum; where Superman is the Natural State of Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne is the natural State of Batman.
This is so far from correct that it would take a series of GPS Units to Lead you back to almost correct.
While Superman may be naturally super-powered and simply taking advantage of his extraterrestrial birth; he isn’t “Superman” because of his powers. Superman is Superman because he was Clark Kent first. That’s why Clark Kent is so convincing to the people around him; that is the natual state of Superman. He may be the premier superhuman of the DC universe, but Superman relaxes by doing crosswords with Lois Lane in bed, not tossing Meteors at passing Comets (just in case).
Batman, or “The Batman” relaxes by pulling on his cowl and beating up muggers. An Ideal night for Bruce Wayne, going 12 hours without being called Bruce or Master Wayne once. Batman is the Natural State of Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne is a costume “The Batman” wears when he wants to get things done. He also moves around disguised as criminals.
Writers come and go for these two Characters; but the fundamentals have been fairly solid since the mid-eighties. Superman is a powerful homebody named Clark Kent who loves his mommy and goes home to his wife at every opportunity. Bruce Wayne is the farcical personality that the Batman has adopted to allow his activities to be funded and provide the means for his crusade to continue; The Batman barely tolerates Bruce Wayne and would NEVER go home if he could hack it.
I should keep comics on hand for these rants. Oh Well.
Sorry to throw that spoiler up front, but why bother? Unless there is some kind of amazing twist, the superhero as killer story is kind of stupid (and already being played out in another Mainstream Continuity that I still hold is being used as some king of editoral reset button to be used when the stink of pointless crossovers get too out of control and run on sentences rule the world dontchaknow?) So why bother? The Art is good. Really good. It’s going to be (at least) entertaining to read this (pile of) shit.
Somwhere in DC, an assistant editor is saying “Aw C’mon, not every reader is over 12. There must be a bunch of under-twelves who can fall for this crap” I have news for you; my 11 year old daughter saw JUST THIS PANEL and figured it out. One Page of images gave it away.
Too Bad.
Crossed 3 came out a while ago; it is kind of like a breather after the last two issues sort of dropped us into Wiry Meth-Head Rapist Armageddon. Mr. Ennis gives us a (somewhat cliche) “Man’s Inhumanity to Man” story with issue 3; which is hardly the issue to lose the momentum that was set up in Issues 1 and 2. One would have imagined that the story would reach a lull by issue 10, but this early break in the headlong run from the Crossed is kind of a letdown.
I’m not committed to the Characters yet, seeing them instead as a vehicle for us to ride on rather than actual “people in the story” if you understand. They don’t really exist as people yet, you see. They are brethless story ponys that we are riding with for now.
This is kind of where Crossed really drifts from what made “The Walking Dead” so good initially and so unsettling now; I cared about Rick and his family right away. I don’t care about any of the people in Crossed yet. That lack of empathy for the characters puts Crossed at Risk of being just a one-off Violent comic instead of a promising story about survival (or death) in the face of Skinny Redneck Violence Rapists.
Just Saying.
Aliens and Vikings vs Super Alien Predator!
During the reign of the Vikings, Kainan (Caviezel), a man from a far-off world, crash lands on Earth, bringing with him an alien predator known as the Moorwen. Though both man and monster are seeking revenge for violence committed against them, Kainan leads the alliance to kill the Moorwen by fusing his advanced technology with the Viking’s Iron Age weaponry
My rating: stars
I wasn’t too sure how this would come out; I’d been reading about the impending “Aliens Vs Vikings” movie since before I left the States and was equal parts excited about the concept and concerned that I’d be handed another Pathfinder. I’m very glad to say that no, Outlander is not pointless and stupid. It’s not some kind of action opus (the actors are WAY TOO PRETTY) for that.
This was actually something that annoyed me, Caviezel and his rival Wulfric (Jack Huston) are two of the prettiest “hardend soldiers” that have ever walked the earth, with nary a scar or mussed hair to distract from their guylinered eyes. Even after being sorely beated, Caviezel’s character never really shows the damage one would expect; as if the director was telling the crew “you keep those boys clean, who want’s to see an action hero all beat up and dirty?”
Otherwise the action is great, happens mostly in the dark with no clear view of it, but it’s still fine. I didn’t get too bored during it and while the plot is as complex as “Dick and Jane are illiterate mutes” it’s not so boneheaded that I wanted to just quit the movie. I recommend this movie for a pizza and beer group watch or a lazy sunday type movie.
The Dark Reign begins drowned in Internet Memes
Published by NiteMayr on March 10, 2009While I’m sure that Marvel folks are aware how the sound effect FAP is received on the Internets; I’m thinking they were trying to illustrate the sound of those guns landing.
Or are they?
Is this a subtle message from the Marvel art department? PREPARE FOR A MASTURBATORY CONTINUITY WANK FEST DURING DARK REIGN? No? I wish it was.
The Dark Reign Concept is a good idea; but it would have been better had it started before the whole Skrull invasion; the Skrull invasion was just kind of pointless and directionless. It set up some nice tension points, but it would have been just as easy to limit it to the major characters who had been replaced; without the need for the whole crossover.
Dark Reign has gotten off to a fairly good start, with Normon Osborne making nice in front of President Obama… yup, he’s there in Thunderbolts 128 talking to Doc Sampson and looking to get to work fixing the economy (after the Skrulls and not the former President or Tony Stary wrecked it)
With Norman Osborne running roughshod over the Marvel Big Titles and making it a crime to be a superhero at all (TAKE THAT PRO-REGISTRATION FORCES!) I’ll be reading all of these titles; but I’m looking forward tothe collected volumes with more anticipation than I did the Skrull Invasion. This feels like a real follow-up to Civil War and I’m looking forward to Steve Rogers return.