Random Thoughts On... Superman's Identity Revealed Arc from the New 52

Well, it has come to this. When I started this month, this was the first thing on the docket. I thought I would’ve gotten it out of the way first, but reading 30-something issues from this era of comics is a bit much. Still, I had to finish this race here. Last time, I said that this story killed the New 52 Superman. Was I right to say that? Not sure because I don’t know what DC’s plans for this version of Superman were. Still, you never know. Also… I kinda liked bits of this. Yeah, it’s actually a shocker.

So, what am I talking about today? After the Convergence event, DC transitioned from New 52 to “DC You.” Basically, the idea was to just go off the wall with certain things. Tom King was doing Omega Men, Hal wasn’t Green Lantern… again,  someone finally decided to give Starfire some frakin’ clothes (yeah, I’m bitter about how they treated my girl), Martian Manhunter got his own book, and Batman turned into a robo-bunny. Geoff Johns started up “Darkseid War” as well. This was a weird era.

As for Superman, someone had the “interesting” idea to out Superman’s double life as Clark Kent to the world. From what I can tell, it was mostly done for shock value. A lot had been done to this version of Superman. His parents were dead, he lost his marriage with Lois, he was in jeans during his early days, he hooked up with Wonder Woman, he got turned into a Doomsday (I’ll touch on that some other time), and he got a “totally rad” power called the solar flare. So, they decide to have Lois Lane out him, and not only that, he loses his powers. That’s a lot for one character, man.

Favorites - 13 Favorite Alternate Versions of Superman

Before I get to my last two posts, a thought popped into my mind: “What are my favorite versions of Superman?” I actually began to ponder on that. I mean, there are plenty variations of the character out there. That doesn’t even included the myriad of versions in other media. Even though things may be different from story to story or era to era, Superman is still Superman. It doesn’t matter if he’s good, evil, black, straight, living in Amish country, looking like Geralt of Rivia, animated, drawn, or old. There’s almost a version of Superman out there for everyone.

So, here are my favorite versions of Superman from... everywhere. One caveat I did give myself is that I wouldn’t include main continuity versions of Superman. So, no Golden Age, no Post-Crisis, no Grant Morrison New 52 version, and no Rebirth. If I do say something from main continuity, it won’t be the main Superman.  I’m also not just looking at alternate stories from the comics either. There are a crapton of TV shows and movies that feature the character and his world. So, in saying all that, let’s get the dictators out of the way!

13. Red Son Superman – We’ve gotten a few “evil” versions of Superman over the years… heck,  they're mostly in this century. The best of the bunch in my opinion is the Red Son Superman, though I don’t think you could perceive him as straight-up evil. You definitely can say that about Overman (Nazi Superman) and Injustice Superman. Kal-L from Red Son had a completely different backstory in that he landed in Soviet Russia during the 1930s. After Stalin dies, he becomes the leader of the Soviet Union and does some messed up things. Even though he wasn’t too altruistic, you did see points where the regular Superman shined through. I still haven’t seen the animated movie, but I will soon.

12. Injustice Superman – Now, when it comes to the Superman from Injustice, he’s definitely evil. After suffering some tragic losses, Superman and most of the Earth’s heroes decide to take out villains permanently. Superman even takes it further though by basically becoming Earth’s dictator. It ends up taking other heroes led by that Earth’s Batman as well another heroic Superman to take that evil version down. While I’m not the biggest fan of what was done with this Superman, I gotta say that he is pretty good at being bad.

11. Superman from Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman – Yeah, Dean Cain has made it to the list. It’s quite an achievement. While he might actually be like the jackass he played in that episode of A Different World, his Superman was interesting. Actually, his Superman kinda sucked. He wasn’t bad in the role, but something felt lacking. The thing that made Cain stand out was his portrayal of Clark Kent. The show took quite a few cues from the original George Reeves show, and this was one of them. This show was the reason I like a more natural, down-to-earth version of Clark than the version who is just a klutz.

10. Earth-2 Superman (Val-Zod) – The new Earth-2 updated classic characters like Alan Scott and Jay Garrick to modern times. It also introduced some new variations of characters, and one of them was Val-Zod. Adopted by the El family and rocketed off to Earth with Kal-El and Kara, Val-Zod ended up being kept by the government for years. When Earth was in danger from the forces of Apokalips, Val-Zod decided to take on the mantle of Superman. Unlike most Supers, he really wasn’t keen on violence, but that doesn’t mean he’s a pushover. Him being black is even more icing on this cake.

9. Max Fleischer Superman – If you want to see the closest thing to a Golden Age Superman in action, then you can’t go wrong with the Max Fleischer Superman. It may have been short-lived, but it left an impression on a young boy. The cartoons are 8 to 10 minutes of fun action. You may not get Superman saying much, but actions speak louder than words. It also helps that the animation from that time looks beautiful.

8. Earth-23 President Superman – While it’s not the first time we’ve seen a President Superman, it definitely was the first we got of a black President Superman... I think. We haven't gotten much of him, but seeing him show up is always cool. Inspired by Barack Obama, this Superman (President Calvin Ellis) first showed up in Final Crisis. Even though the New 52 came, this Superman stuck around and even led the Multiverse’s Justice League Incarnate. If that’s not cool to you, I can’t help you.

7. DCEU Superman – What Superman Returns didn’t bring, Man of Steel brought. I was ready for a new take with Superman in live-action, and what we got was good. Henry Cavill felt right as Superman even though he’s more of the silent type. Hey, I like it since I’m a quiet dude myself, and as I said earlier, actions speak louder than words. Seeing him in a world that’s much more real and sometimes dour was interesting. It showed that even in the darkest times, he could still rise to the occasion and be the hero. Here’s hoping the Snyder Cut is decent and that we get more of Cavill’s Superman.

6. Superman: Secret Identity - Now, this was a fresh take on the character. One day, a young Clark Kent wakes up with the powers of Superman, who in this story is just a fictional character. Yeah, this Clark was never a Kryptonian immigrant, and his parents were apparently douches for naming him after Superman. We get to see Clark actually grow as a person through the miniseries. We see him rise, fall, get married, deal with the government, become a father, and grow old. Yeah, it doesn’t have the supervillains or the big theatrics, but it’s as valid as any Superman story.

5. All-Star Superman – I’m not the biggest fan of the Silver Age Superman, but All-Star Superman helped win me over if only a little. We have a character as close to a demigod in that story, and all he does is help people. Even when he’s klutzing it up as Clark Kent, he’s doing something to help folk. When he realizes that he’s about to die, he does all he can to help folk through his labors. Who does he think he is? Hercules? Anyway, it’s a good rendition. Grant Morrison can almost do no wrong. Just almost.

4. Donner Superman – Yeah, you know Christopher Reeve gotta be on here. He’s the first thing folk think of when someone says Superman. Reeve just sold the character. He was able to show all the best qualities of Superman. I’ve said this before, so I don’t need to say it again. Even though I’m not the biggest fan of his Clark Kent and some of the movies weren’t that good, Reeve was one of the reasons I became a fan.

3. Smallville Superman – Before anyone says that Tom Welling wasn’t Superman… shush! The dude had the role of Clark/Kal-El/Superman for ten years straight (over 200 episodes), wore some cool renditions of the suit, and did wear the suit in the end. He’s Superman in my book! Also, there’s Season 11 to consider if you want to get more technical. This was another thing that got me more invested in the character. We got to see Clark grow over 10 years. I liked that we got to see this Clark screw up and grow from those screw ups. This did what the Superboy comics did for folk back in the day. I also loved that the creators didn’t just stick to what was done before and did their own thing.

2. Kingdom Come Superman – Of all the alternate Supermen we’ve got over the years in comics, this is probably my favorite version. This Superman left the civilized world when humanity wanted a more brutal type of superhero. He only comes back when a tragedy strikes and he can’t take any more crap from vigilantes doing whatever they want. Kingdom Come takes this version as well as other heroes down a path where the right thing may not be the best thing, and even Kal-El (he abandoned his human name for a while) has to learn some tough lessons. There’s a reason why I think this is one of DC’s best. Also, that suit was the bomb!

1. DCAU Superman – Finally, we got what is, to me, the definitive Superman in other media. This beats all of the live-action series, movies, and other cartoons. While this version of Superman wasn’t the most powerful, he had everything that makes Superman work. He was earnest, bold, and had a nice solid uppercut. It also helped that Tim Daly and George Newburn did some dang good voice-acting over the various shows. It was always cool to see either of them return in other animated properties.

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I know there are more versions out there, but I gotta stop somewhere. If any of your favorites didn’t make the list, let me know. Now, if you excuse me, I gotta put the finishing touches on this Truth storyline. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.

Random Smallville Episode - Infamous

Next up for the month is a return to Smallville. Since I got a bit of a motif this month with the whole “identity revealed” trope, I thought I would find one of those. Quite a few folk knew Clark’s identity on Smallville especially by the 8th season. At this point, the show had two hurdles they had to overcome: the departure of important actors (Michael Rosembaum and Kristen Kreuk) and the executive producers (Miles Millar and Alfred Gough). Still, I thought they were able to overcome them both. Season 8 is fine, but a bit rocky in places especially towards the end. Clark’s finally at the Daily Planet, he’s being more active in the superhero business, and he’s getting closer to Lois. Add the fact that Smallville starts to add more comic lore to the show, and you get a decent season.

Where we’re at during this point isn’t its best time though. At this point, we just got off a five-episode run where Kristen Kreuk returned to the role of Lana Lang. Also add the first appearance of Doomsday, the Legion of Superheroes, some J’onn Jones action, the death of Lex Luthor, and the horrible end of “Clana” in two of the worst episodes of the series (“Power” and “Requiem”). That run was a mixed bag and what we got would be a bit of a mix too. Tonight’s episode is “Infamous”, and it features the return of Erica Durance (was notably absent during the Lana episodes) and Tori Spelling as annoying gossiper Linda Lake.

Tales from the Trade - Man and Superman

Next up for the month is a look at an old but recent book. Back in 2006, DC was releasing a book called Superman Confidential. I don’t remember the purpose of the book, but I think it was supposed to show out-of-continuity stories as well as the early years of Superman. Think of it as Superman’s Legends of the Dark Knight. It had a rotating creative team.  I remember that Darwyn Cooke’s and Tim Sale’s “Kryptonite!” story started that off. That  reminds me, I need to read that one day. The series ultimately got cancelled after 14 issues.

One story that was supposed to make in was a story from Marv Wolfman. Man and Superman was the name the story was given. When I saw it 2019, I picked it off the stands since I have a liking for Wolfman. He helped mold the Post-Crisis Superman. My other guess on why this didn’t get released back then was because Geoff Johns was doing his own revamp of Superman’s first days with Secret Origin. The artwork was done by Claudio Castellini. Hi-Fi handled the colors while Tom Orzechowski did the letters. So, how much of a screw-up was Clark Kent during his first days as Superman, aka “Ski-Mask Man,” “Many Muscles Man”, and my favorite, “COVID-19 Man”?

TV Talk - The Adventures of Superman Season 3 and 4

Hmm... how can I explain this episode where a gangster who's trying to steal a pie gets accosted by two Supermen (long story) in the North Pole???

Next up for the month is a return to The Adventures of Superman. Last year, I looked at the first two seasons, aka “The Black-and-White Era.” Now, I’ve gotten to the colored era for the show… or at least most of it. Apparently, some viewers would’ve seen the show in black-and-white since some TVs were just made for that setting. I was going to try and get through all four seasons, but I gotta stop somewhere in this binge. Besides, things are a bit “eh” this time. I’ll get to why below.

Seasons 3 and 4 aired from 1954 to 1956. We only got 13 episodes for each season, and that’ll be the same for the last two seasons. Nothing’s really changed with the cast itself. George Reeves is still in as Superman/Clark Kent, Noel Neill is still around as Lois Lane, Jack Larson is still cub reporter Jimmy Olsen, and John Hamilton is the grouchy Perry White. We also got Robert Shayne back as Inspector Henderson for a few episodes. The format is more or less the same:

• Long-a$$ intro that’s pretty similar to the Max Fleischer cartoon
• We’d get introduced to the main theme of the episode
• Superman/Clark, Lois, and Jimmy would be doing their job and such
• Lois, Jimmy, or Perry would somehow get into trouble
• Clark runs off, changes into costume, and does his crime-fighting thing
• Cue Superman march and possible marching band

 One thing that has changed is that both seasons have a more lighthearted, whimsical feel to them. Things aren’t as darker as the previous seasons were, and I’m not talking about the fact that we’re in color either. It wasn’t that dark to begin with, but those early seasons did have a crime show vibe to them. Some plots could be a little silly. Even when things got serious, you still felt that there was no peril.

No, you don't have to adjust your channel.

This especially affected Superman who barely throws punches on bad guys. He might karate-chop them, but that’s it. The bad guys would end up knocking themselves out sometimes. They also became caricatures since you’d have some pretty dumbfounded lackeys along with the criminal mastermind. Also, we probably got some more cases of brownface unless the Native Americans we saw were the real deal. The jury’s still out on that.

This just seems off. I guess someone decided to shoot on Gunsmoke's set for a day.

Some characters are more one-note than before. You definitely see this in Jimmy Olsen who kinda got on my nerves with these seasons. Yeah, he could be a little naïve, but man, I wanted to slap some sense in the boy! Perry was still his grumpy self, but he had some moments that were decent. I didn’t know he was also a nuclear scientist on the weekends! Lois and Clark are probably the one who come out of these seasons the best. I’ve warmed up to Noel Neill’s Lois, and Reeves’ Clark/Superman is good as as usual.

Sorry, Jack, but I wanted to slap Jimmy for a bit.

While it seems like I’m not liking these two seasons, I did think they was fine. The plots are pretty much the same old, same old. You got Superman going up against robbers, gangsters, weird machines, cowboys…, and pirates. Yeah, you read that right. I told you this starts to get silly! You find that out in the first episode of Season 3 when everybody gets teleported back to the caveman era. That being said, they were times where the silliness could be pretty funny. This one nutty scientist creates a machine that can mess with someone’s senses. Basically the camera was turned upside down, and that was kind of creative. Other than all this, that’s really all I got for now.

HIGHLIGHTS AND FAVORITE EPISODES

I know I want to return to the black and white era, but this is too much!

While I didn’t have too many favorites from these seasons, there were some I wanted to highlight.

Season 3:

• Through the Time Barrier – A criminal causes a professor’s time machine to malfunction, and it teleports them, Clark, Lois, Jimmy, and Perry back to caveman times.
• Great Caesar’s Ghost – Perry begins to hear voices and even sees the ghost of Julius Caesar. The team try to figure out what’s going on.
• Clark Kent, Outlaw – Clark gets framed for taking money from a criminal, so he plays into the act to take them down.
• Flight to the North – Things get weird and silly as Sylvester J. Superman comes to town… yeah, I know. Just watch the thing!

Season 4:

• Joey – Superman and the team have to help a young girl with a horse named Joey. Yeah, “it’s so sentimental,” I sarcastically say. At least horse loves may like it.
• The Big Freeze – A corrupt politican gets a scientist to use a freeze ray on Superman (zaps him of his powers) in order to win an election.
• Topsey Turvy – A group of robbers manipulate a scientist with a mind-bending machine to rob banks.
• Jimmy the Kid – It’s another look-a-like episode as a gangster takes Jimmy’s place to steal some evidence from Clark Kent.
• The Phantom Ring – Superman and the police have to contend with a gang who use invisibility to commit robberies.

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In the end, these are two middling seasons. They’re not bad, but they aren’t that great either. It’s like someone wanted to sap out all the peril and coolness form the black-and-white seasons. Then again, you know how parent groups are with that thing called violence. Your mileage may vary with these here. I may be cutting it short for these series, but there is only so much I can say about them. Next time, I think it’s time to head back to Smallville. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - DC Comics Presents #92

Next up for the month is another issue from the DC Comics Presents series. It was basically a Superman team-up book akin to Batman’s The Brave and the Bold book from the Bronze age. It started in 1977 and ended in 1986, sometime after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Even though the post-Crisis had started, there were some vestiges of the pre-Crisis Superman out there. I’ve read a couple here and there. As for this one, I found it in the 50 cent bin and finished it off on the DC app.

DC Comics Presents #92 was written by Paul Kupperburg. He had actually took over for Marv Wolfman for the book’s guest star, the Vigilante. I don’t remember much about this character other than the fact that he first appeared in New Teen Titans and that he had a cool costume. Reading this, I now realize that it’s someone else under that mask other than Adrian Chase, the original Vigilante. Curt Swan handled the pencils, Dave Hunt did the inks, Gene D’Angelo did the colors, and Helen Vesik did the letters. So, what gets Superman to team up with a potential murdering Vigilante? 

Tales from the $3.99 Bin! - Superman #18: "The Truth"

Next up is another big moment that Brian Michael Bendis pulled in his run on Superman: the revealing of Superman’s identity! I wasn’t a fan when I first heard this. I imagine most weren’t because this isn’t the first time in recent memory where DC’s revealed Clark’s double life to the world. That being said, I was curious on how it would be handled especially since the last time was… a bit much. I’ll get to that later this month. Luckily, Bendis did state that he would handle it differently, and when it came, I will admit that I was surprised. Superman #18 was written by Bendis, of course. Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, who have been regular artists on the book, handle the artwork.

Tales from the $3.99 Bin! - The Man of Steel (the Bendis Version)

Before I get to “The Truth”, I wanted to start at the beginning with Brian Michael Bendis’s run with Superman. I just found out yesterday that his run on Action and Superman will be ending. A lot is going on at DC these days, and this is just another one. I’ll have to read both Action Comics and Superman again, but his run is okay. I know it’s considered to be mixed with some folk, and I can’t blame them. It’s Bendis, after all.

BMB started his time with DC Comics with 2018’s The Man of Steel. Not only did he bring back the trunks (you can find my opinion here), he also brought in a new enemy to face the Man of Tomorrow. Bendis was joined with a variety of artists for these six issues. We had Ivan Reis, Jason Fabok, Doc Shaner, Steve Rude, Ryan Sook, Kevin Maguire, and Adam Hughes doing artwork. Ivan Reis also did all six awesome covers.

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - Superman #4: Bloodsport!

Yeah, I’m starting Superman Month a little late. At least I pretty much know what I’ll be talking about this time. First up, I’m heading back to the beginning of the Post-Crisis universe. This is more or less my era of Superman. Even though I started to get into comics in the mid-2000’s, I would peruse this era a bit. Today’s issue is Superman #4 from April 1987. We got John Byrne writing and on pencils, Karl Kesel on inks, John Costanza on letters, and Anthony Colin on the colors. One reason I picked this one out was because of the villain, Bloodsport, will be appearing in the next Suicide Squad movie. By the way, that took me for a surprise. So, what carnage did the first Bloodsport get up to?

Random Thoughts #55 - "2020, Are You Alright?" Part 2

2020: The year where things and stuff happened. To say that it’s been a weird year is an understatement. I remember that my last Random Thoughts post talked about how weird the year was already being. I wonder what Ryell from March would think now!  Not only is the Mamba (Kobe Bryant) gone, our King of Wakanda (Chadwick Boseman) is now gone. That was a shock to my system, and we’ve already been going through stuff. Anyway, strap in for some more Random Thoughts.