The Non-Fan's Perspective: SUPERMAN

And off we go... Entry One in my recollections of the reactions of the students in the "Superheroes in Comics" class I took last semester. I'll do one entry for each week of the class, I think. We read one TPB each week, so that also means one TPB each entry. And remember, most of the class was made up of either casual fans or folks who weren't fans at all. I explained the thing here.

The facilitators made our first assignment the "The Death of Superman." Why, I have no idea.

It was actually the first (and only time) I read it. I'd never picked it up earlier because the plot didn't sound all that interesting. Superman and some monstrous heavy punching each other back and forth? Okay, but where's the hook? And now that I've read it? Well, on the one hand, I found it as tedious and boring as I thought I would, but on the other, I had to read it all in one sitting (so I could turn in my response paper on time), and that couldn't have helped matters. This is the type of arc definitely *not* suited for the trade paperback treatment. Maybe if I read it as it was intended to be... who knows? Also, it wasn't *quite* as single-stranded as I'd been lead to believe, what with that little kid, the other teenage kid, and all that other stuff surrounding the slugfest.

As for everyone else's responses, I was surprised by how warm the reactions were. They weren't particularly taken by it, but they by no means hated it, either. The reaction was a neutral "thumbs-sideways" one. If anything, I'd have thought non-fans would dislike it even more.

In the course of the class discussion, the whole "Is Clark Kent or Superman the real person?" question came up, as well as the Kill Bill scene that seems to be inevitably referenced each time this thing rears its head these days. What's interesting is that everyone thought of Clark Kent as the mild-mannered milquetoast of Pre-Crisis days, not as the bolder John Byrne version. This despite everyone in the room being born in the mid-80s. This is something I noticed in my own history with the character. I was born in '85, the Superman I was exposed to -- in the comics, in the Lois & Clark TV show -- was the Post-Crisis one, but I never noticed this guy I was seeing wasn't cowardly, wasn't a clutz! The idea of the timid Clark was just so ingrained in my mind that I filled in those traits myself. It wasn't until I read an article somewhere about the changes Crisis made to Superman that I realized, "Oh yeah, he *hasn't* been acting like that." (I'm ashamed to admit it might have been in Wizard, but in my defense I was a little kid.)

Seeing that others shared my misperception, I wonder if Byrne's leading-man-Clark was simply doomed to failure. Clark Kent, milquetoast, is simply so much embedded in Americana that people will see him that way no matter what, especially when he's still wearing glasses and a tie. He looks the part, so it is any wonder if people think he plays it, as well?

Also interesting: Even though everyone had the Pre-Crisis Clark in mind, some in the class still thought Clark was the real personality, not the Metropolis Marvel.

When the facilitators discussed the Justice League's (made up of Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Bloodwynd, and Guy Gardner) role in this story, they actually called them "the fake Justice Leauge" and said we'd be reading about the "real Justice League" later in the semester, by which they meant Waid's Tower of Babel arc. Whoa, what? I reiterate that these guys were born in the mid-80s. I didn't realize fans of my generation bought into that sort of rigid hierarchy. I mean, less-popular characters were already filling up the roster by the time we were *born*.

Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, one non-fan asked about the lack of villains with alter egos. It's something I hadn't really thought about, but it's true, isn't it? Obviously, most super-villains *can't* have secret IDs because the authorities know who they really are, but that's only writer's fiat, right? Why aren't there more archaeologist-by-day, thief-by-night types? There are non-costumed crime bosses along these lines like the Kingpin, but where are the cape-sporting, masked types who keep day jobs?

And now for something that has nothing to do with the Action Ace: I'm watching a re-broadcast of the PBS Celtic Woman concert as I type this, and I have to say... they should never show audience reaction shots for something like this. Each time they do, it's just so... I can't describe it... it's just too much. I'm putting this here because, well, I'm all alone in my home right now so where else am I going to communicate it?