superman

Back Issues [JLA Day]: JLA #43-46

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To celebrate the release of Justice League (Snyder/Whedon, 2017), DC Comics named November 18 “Justice League Day”. Setting aside all the drama surrounding that movie, this provides a perfect excuse to spotlight DC’s top superhero team, which set the standard for super teams.

Writer: Mark Waid – Artist: Howard Porter

Story Title: “Tower of Babel, Part 1: Survival of the Fittest”
Published: July 2000

Story Title: “Tower of Babel, Part 2: Seven Little Indians”
Published: August 2000

Story Title: “Tower of Babel, Part 3: Protected by the Cold”
Published: September 2000

Story Title: “Tower of Babel, Part 4: Harsh Words”
Published: October 2000

The Background:
In the 1940s, All Star Comics brought together eight superheroes from different publishers for the first time, birthing not just the Justice Society of America (JSA) but also the first ever superhero team in comics, allowing readers to see their favourite characters interacting for the same price in a single issue. The JSA’s ever-changing roster underwent their most significant change at the late-1950s, when then-editor Julius Schwartz had writer Gardner Fox with reintroduce and rebrand the team as the Justice League of America (JLA) to capitalise on the popularity of the American Football League and Major League Baseball’s National League. Clark Kent/Superman, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Barry Allan/The Flash, and J’onn J’onzz (or “John Jones”)/Martian Manhunter debuted as the JLA in The Brave and the Bold #28. Their origin story became a best-seller and the initial line-up of DC’s heavy-hitters is arguably the most iconic, which is exactly why they were at the forefront of the team’s revamp in the 1990s. Spearheaded by Grant Morrison, the new JLA title also became a best-seller and greatly inspired their celebrated animated adventures. This new team battled the likes of White Martians and the adaptable supervillain Prometheus, whose unexpected victory over the JLA laid the foundation for this widely regarded story. Marking the beginning of Mark Waid’s memorable run on the book, “Tower of Babel” had long-term repercussions, was critically acclaimed, and was even loosely adapted into a pretty decent animated feature.

The Review:
Although I grew up reading odd issues and random annuals from the 1970s and 1980s, this is the Justice League I mostly closely associate with. Superman (fresh off his brief stint as an energy being), Batman, Wonder Woman, Wally West/The Flash, Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern, Aquaman (in his best, most intimidating look), and even Patrick O’Brian/Plastic Man being included for some visual variety and laughs made for an impressive and powerful incarnation of the team. “Tower of Babel” pits this team against Rā’s al Ghūl, the “Demon’s Head” who fronts the League of Assassins and believes humanity is a danger. His anger at an aide accidentally dooming the Javan tiger to extinction only precipitates his latest plan to wipe out humankind, which begins with him playing spiteful mind games with his respected adversary, the Batman (whom he reverentially refers to as “The Detective”), by exhuming his parents. Rā’s then dispatches his daughter, Talia, to strike the Martian Manhunter with an explosive shell of strange nanites. Nearby, the Flash and Wonder Woman desperately fight a mysterious and aggressive forest fire, only to be amazed and horrified when the source turns of to be J’onn, his body engulfed in perpetual flames that the Flash extinguishes with his fantastic speed. Aquaman and Plastic Man are then attacked within the United Nations, Aquaman being gassed by a substance that makes him deathly afraid of water and Plastic Man frozen and shattered into a dozen pieces!

Batman’s horrified when Rā’s targets the JLA using his secret contingency plans!

The injured or affected JLA members are brought to their Watchtower space satellite by their teammates. Superman analyses the nanites infecting the Martian Manhunter and discovers they’ve forced his body to combust in air. Crippled by fear toxin, Aquaman’s condition deteriorates as he rapidly dehydrates and, though the Flash pieces Plastic Man back together, they’re unable to restore him. Realising that the JLA is being targeted, Superman coordinates with John Henry Irons/Steel and Barbara Gordon/Oracle to keep their reserve members are safe but Batman abruptly refuses to help. After switching to Clark Kent to use his sources at the Daily Planet for a possible lead, Superman and the staff are astonished to find that all text has become incomprehensible! Superman races to curb the ensuring madness, learning from Oracle that the aphasia’s caused by ultrasound waves, which he successfully disrupts by retrofitting some Brainiac tech. Finally, Wally and Diana find Kyle woke up suddenly blind, which understandably causes the artist great distress. Although Aquaman figures out that the League of Assassins are tracking their signal devices, his warnings come too late and Diana is trapped within a never-ending battle simulation courtesy of a virtual reality chip. The Flash is also shot with a “vibrational projectile” that induces epileptic seizures at lightspeed and Kyle, directionless and berserk without his eyes, is easily subdued by a begrudging Talia. The world is plunged into chaos as the stock exchange collapses, gang wars break out, planes narrowly avoid collision, military services grind to a halt, and hospitals are rendered useless. The Batman angrily confronts Rā’s in his modern-day Tower of Babel, where Rā’s relishes the chaos and threatens offers to resurrect the Waynes using his rejuvenating Lazarus Pits.

The JLA is left aghast and traumatised by Batman’s betrayal.

Despite clearly being tempted and overwhelmed by the proposition of being reunited with his parents, the Batman attacks in a rage but is horrified when Rā’s brandishes synthetic red kryptonite. Subdued by Rā’s’s troops, Batman fails to warn Superman who is caught completely off-guard when he arrives to help Wally, Diana, and Kyle with Martian Manhunter (wearing a special Atlantean water suit). Although Batman escapes Rā’s and Talia seems displeased at being her father’s lapdog, Superman’s crippled with agony when the rock turns his skin transparent and overloads him with solar energy. Alarmed that Rā’s has stolen his secret contingency files and turned them on his allies, Batman desperately tries to contact Aquaman with a solution, only for Rā’s to further disrupt communications. Luckily, Batman fools his pursuers with a fake death and Plastic Man finally pulls himself back together to teleport the JLA back to the Watchtower. There, Arthur is sustained by a telepathic illusion courtesy of J’onn, Plastic Man removes the chip lodged in Diana’s brain, and Superman focuses long enough to destroy the device tormenting the Flash. Finally, Diana and J’onn work with Kyle to deduce that his ring was slipped on him during sleep and that his blindness was caused by a post-hypnotic suggestion; by focusing, Kyle’s sight returns. The shellshocked JLA discuss Batman’s actions, their faith in their teammate shattered, with Superman feeling especially betrayed. Despite knowing the JLA distrust him, the Batman gathers them in Antarctica to infiltrate Rā’s’s tower, demanding the team work together to end the worldwide disruption. The battle is incredibly brief as Superman simply explodes in a burst of power, bringing the tower down and demanding an explanation from his comrade, only to be stonewalled by Batman’s stubborn nature.

Although Rā’s is stopped, the JLA are fractured by Batman’s questionable actions.

Despite the tower’s destruction, a disgruntled Talia informs the JLA that Rā’s is still a threat, leading Batman to split the fractured team up to handle each crisis. While Green Lantern, Plastic Man, the Flash, and Wonder Woman stop a chemical attack in Rhapastan, Batman explains to Superman that he created fail-safes after the alien tyrant Agameno swapped their consciousnesses with a gang of criminals. Finding little comfort in that explanation, Superman echoes Plastic Man’s uncharacteristically stoic and enraged demeanour by leading Batman through Rā’s’s stronghold. Though Rā’s prepares to retreat in frustration and Superman’s held off by the red Kryptonite, he covers his escape by dropping the Waynes’ coffins! Luckily, the restored Aquaman and Martian Manhunter pull both Superman and Batman’s parents from danger, leaving Batman free to pursue his adversary. While Rā’s escapes, his assistant, Doctor Kant, isn’t so lucky and takes the brunt of Batman and Aquaman’s retaliation, while Wonder Woman convinces Rā’s’s agent out of unleashing his chemical agent. With the danger over and the JLA back to full strength, the team debate what to do about Batman. While the Dark Knight awaits their decision, Superman questions whether they should have safeguards against their powers being manipulated. Aquaman believes the team should be based on trust, the Flash reluctantly thinks Batman has a point, and J’onn somewhat echoes this sentiment. When Arthur challenges J’onn’s loyalty to the Batman, pointing out that he once had similar dossiers, a fight almost breaks out between them, though J’onn ultimately votes in favour of Batman. While Kyle’s also not happy about what happened, he recognises that their powers are potentially dangerous and also votes to keep Batman on the team. However, while Wonder Woman agrees in principle, she refuses to fight alongside someone she can’t trust and Plastic Man coldly agrees. Although the deciding vote comes down to Superman, Batman makes the decision for them and quits the team without a word while they’re debating.

The Summary:
Like I said, this was a great time to be a JLA fan. The artwork was always really good in these comics and the team gelled really well together visually and with their contrasting personalities. It’s a very nineties period for the JLA, of course, with guys like Aquaman and newcomer Kyle Rayner offering very different interpretations of classic characters. I’ve always loved this version of Aquaman, though, with the harpoon hand and dishevelled appearance. Kyle is and will always by my favourite Green Lantern and I enjoyed the dichotomy he brought to the team as he obviously felt a little out of his depth and often deferred to his superiors as a result. These are characteristics reminiscent of Wally’s early days as the Flash, which led them to eventually form a tight friendship, but much of Kyle’s characterisation at this time was proving (or at least realising) that he’s worthy to hang with the big boys. Plastic Man was something of a wild card, for sure, especially due to his goofy nature and bizarre abilities. “Tower of Babel” showed that there was more to him than just being a wise-ass, though, as he’s so traumatised by being frozen and shattered (and by the Batman’s actions) that he drops the jokes and dismissively votes against Batman. Indeed, this story shakes the foundations of the JLA as, up until this point, they’ve all fought together on the understanding that they can trust each other. I’m pretty certain they all know each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and secret identities, for example, and feel they’re more than just colleagues. Thus, when they discover that Rā’s al Ghūl’s plot is due to Batman’s secret contingency plans, the team rightfully feels betrayed and angry, with Superman noticeably upset since he knows Batman the best and has worked with him the longest.

The JLA is divided and rattled by Batman’s betrayal and questions his trustworthiness.

Thus, the main enemy in “Tower of Babel” is essentially Batman, while technically also being the group’s insecurities, and more accurately being the devious Rā’s, who disrupts them to facilitate his latest scheme. The JLA is caught completely off-guard when Talia and her troops ambush them, wielding weapons designed specifically to neutralise their powers or otherwise subdue them. While I believe Batman’s plan was always to non-fatally pacify his teammates if they go rogue or were manipulated, some of his contingencies are very questionable. J’onn, for example, bursts into flame when exposed to air, something that would be both physically and emotionally traumatic for him considering his fear and weakness to fire. Aquaman is almost killed by dehydration when fear toxin variant made him deathly afraid of water, forcing J’onn to put him at ease with a telepathic vision so he could be safely placed in water. The Flash had it pretty bad, too, forced to endure what felt like days of torturous seizures in less than half an hour, while Superman’s powers raged thanks to red kryptonite. Similarly, it seems Wonder Woman would’ve eventually been so lost in her endless combat that she would’ve perished and Kyle was extremely distressed when he was duped into making himself blind. Seems to me that Batman could’ve just as easily used virtual reality environments for all his allies for a similar end, so it’s likely Rā’s al Ghūl perverted his countermeasures. Either way, the JLA are outraged at both the experience and the betrayal, believing Batman misled them and cannot be trusted. Even if he was right, since the JLA are mind controlled every other week and have extremely dangerous powers, the characters are angry at the deception. I doubt their reaction would’ve been much better had they known about Batman’s fail-safes, but it certainly would’ve lessened the sting since they put a lot of trust in him as their strategist and smartest mind.

A classic story that deconstructs the JLA and had far-reaching consequences.

This ethical quandary hangs over “Tower of Babel”, creating tension and animosity within the group for the finale, where they can barely function as a cohesive unit and are extremely reluctant to listen to Batman. Though he’s horrified by what Rā’s al Ghūl has done, Batman offers no apology and little explanation. He believes he was right to create contingencies and won’t be swayed from the belief, kick-starting a long-tunning theme of Batman being a stubborn, paranoid, and somewhat unethical character whose efforts to prepare for every scenario alienated his nearest and dearest. Interestingly, “Tower of Babel” doesn’t suggest what Batman’s back-up plan was if he went rogue (though it’s implied to be the remaining JLA) and barely gives him a chance to counteract Rā’s al Ghūl’s actions since the Demon’s Head keeps messing with their communications. I would’ve liked to see more of the world being plunged into chaos but I think “Tower of Babel” wisely focuses on the JLA and how they’re affected by Batman’s actions. The entire point is to fracture DC’s greatest superhero team, which literally happens by the end when the Batman walks away without hearing a verdict, but has knock-on ramifications as tensions are high amongst the others. I enjoyed seeing the team struggle to decide Batman’s future since they were personally disgusted and angered by the betrayal but recognised the need for fail-safes, and also how black-and-white the decision was for Aquaman and Wonder Woman, who felt the betrayal outweighed the risk. “Tower of Babel” easily ranks as one of the top JLA stories for a reason and it’s a great deconstruction of the team and exploration of their powers, weaknesses, and the fragile ethics that hold them together. It had far-reaching consequences for all involved and is well worth a read, especially for fans of this era of DC Comics.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

What did you think of “Tower of Babel”? Do you consider it a classic JLA story or do you think it’s over-rated? Which of Batman’s contingencies do you think was the worst to suffer through? Did you enjoy this incarnation of the JLA or do you prefer a different line-up? Do you think Batman was right to have contingency plans or do you agree that he crossed a line? How are you celebrating Justice League Day this year? Whatever your thoughts on the JLA, feel free to share them below, check out my other Justice League reviews, and go donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other JLA stories for me to cover.

Movie Night: Superman

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Released: 11 July 2025
Director: James Gunn
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $225 million
Stars: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, and Gabriela de Faría

The Plot:
When xenophobic madman Lex Luthor (Hoult) orchestrates a smear campaign against and conspires to murder Clark Kent/Superman (Corenswet), the Man of Steel must prove to the world that he is its protector.

The Background:
When Superman was brought to the big-screen with Superman (Donner, 1978), it resulted in a critical and commercial (if chaotic) success. Although this was echoed with Superman II (Lester, 1980), things quickly took a nose dive, despite Christopher Reeve’s iconic performance. After a nearly twenty year hiatus from cinema screens, Bryan Singer tried to to recapture the magic of Richard Donner’s original film with Superman Returns (Singer, 2006), a critical failure that derailed sequel plans and led to Zack Snyder reinventing the character with Man of Steel (Snyder, 2013). Although a box office hit, Man of Steel divided critics and, while Henry Cavill’s portrayal was widely praised, the subsequent DC Extended Universe (DCEU) struggled to find its footing and, despite long-running plans for a Man of Steel sequel and Cavill (eventually) reprising his role, Warner Bros. opted for a complete reboot of the DCEU with James Gunn at the helm. Initially titled Superman: Legacy, the film was the first live-action chapter in Gunn’s DC Universe (DCU) and was inspired by many of Superman’s most beloved stories. This was reflected in the new Super-Suit; designed by Judianna Makovsky, it combined elements from many different comic book sources. With Cavill out, David Corenswet won the role specifically because he embodied Gunn’s vision of a younger, more optimistic interpretation of the character and it was Corenswet who insisted the costume had the iconic red trunks. After missing out on previous DC roles, Nicholas Hoult was cast as Lex Luthor, shaving his head and studying the work of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely for the role. Gunn chose to skip the origin story and focus on a Superman in a world where costumed heroes are well established and was compelled to include Krypto the Superdog after connecting with his own adopted pup. Despite childish backlash from misguided die-hard Snyder fans, Superman was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews that praised a return to form for the inspirational hero, the action-packed fun, and the heartfelt narrative. Though some criticised the overreliance on CGI and cluttered runtime, Superman made over $560 million at the box office and paved the way for future DCU projects,

The Review:
In a fantastic change of pace for DC’s live-action efforts, Superman takes place in a world where superhuman individuals (or “metahumans”) are not only commonplace but accepted. In James Gunn’s DCU, metahumans have been public knowledge for about 300 years and Superman has been active for at least three by the time the movie starts, dropping us in a world where Guy Gardner/Green Lantern (Fillion), Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Michael Holt/Mister Terrific (Gathegi), the corporate sponsored “Justice Gang”, respond to alien, interdimensional, and metahuman threats alongside the world’s most powerful metahuman, Superman. In another change of pace, Superman distills the origin to a simple line of text and dialogue, giving us a Clark who’s already established as a reporter at the Daily Planet (one known for his exclusive interviews with Superman) and already in a relationship with feisty reporter Lois Lane. This also means that the world is well accustomed to Superman and other metahumans, with the Man of Steel celebrated as a symbol of hope and benevolent protector, though Superman is undergoing some scrutiny at the start of the film (and throughout) for taking it upon himself to intervene in a conflict between warring nations Boravia and Jarhanpur. While Boravian president Vasil Ghurkos (Zlatko Burić) launches a public tirade against Superman, the United States government refuses to act against the Man of Steel without proof of malicious intent, with General Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) being especially supportive of Superman, though even normal citizens question Superman’s unilateral actions when the “Hammer of Boravia” attacks. When grilled by Lois, Clark vehemently defends himself, claiming he did what was right and intervened to save lives. Thus, Superman sees the good in everyone and who has a very black and white view of the world; he knows what’s right and doesn’t hesitate to use his powers to help those in need.

Superman finds his relationships tested by his determination to put his powers to good use.

This desire stems from a damaged message from his long-dead Kryptonian parents, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara Lor-Van (Angela Sarafyan) in which they express their love and hopes for him to serve humanity as a protector. Superman takes great comfort in these words, finding solace in the knowledge that he has a higher purpose even if his people are long dead. Additionally, Clark was raised with the standard virtues of right and wrong associated with the character thanks to his adopted parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell), who nurtured his kindly nature and contributed greatly to his characterisation as a loveable goof. Despite his amazing powers, Superman struggles as much as any normal man, constantly swooping in to save those in danger and checking to make sure those around him are okay and always pushing to end conflicts with as little violence and death as possible. He’s therefore irritated when the Justice Gang mortally wound a rampaging kaiju and aghast at the idea that he should just stand back and let people die when he could intervene. While Clark and Lois have a very passionate relationship behind closed doors and keep up the pretence of being bickering co-workers, their views on this matter drive a wedge between them early on. While Clark wears his emotions on his sleeve and expects Lois to cut him some slack, Lois is more hesitant about long-term relationships and isn’t afraid to ask the big questions, even of Superman. Though she considers breaking up with him because of her doubts, Lois not only stands by Superman, she comforts him when Lex Luthor launches a smear campaign against him, and teams with Mr. Terrific to rescue him after he willingly surrenders to the authorities. This comes after Luthor raids his Fortress of Solitude and broadcasts the entirety of his parents’ message, which surprisingly reveals that Kal-El was sent to rule a backwoods people, severely shaking Superman’s outlook on himself and his mission to safeguard his adopted world.

While Lois has a lot to do, even teaming with Mr. Terrific, the rambunctious Krypto steals the show!

Superman may well give Lois more to do than any previous Superman-centric movie as she gives the Justice gang (particularly the conceited Guy Gardner) a grilling for abandoning their friend, braves Luthor’s unstable “pocket dimension” to locate her lover, and even pilots Mr. Terrific’s T-Craft to ferry him around when he’s injured. While Lois doesn’t hold back when questioning Superman, her deep-rooted desire for the truth sees her digging deeper into Luthor’s malicious vendetta against Superman. She’s aided by peppy photographer Jimmy Olson (Skyler Gisondo), who uses his unexpected way with the ladies to convince Luthor’s current squeeze, Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio), to give them the clues to both locate Superman and reveal that Luthor financed Ghurkos in return for half of Boravia. Lois is depicted as more than Superman’s equal, braving any danger for a scoop and meticulously presenting her evidence to crabby Daily Planet editor Perry White (Wendell Pierce), who supports her efforts to expose Luthor as a liar and a traitor. While his people are long gone, Superman’s aided by a handful of robotic helpers at his crystalline Fortress of Solitude and begrudgingly cares for the energetic and disobedient Krypto, the Kryptonian dog of his unruly cousin, Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Milly Alcock). While this isn’t Krypto’s first venture outside of the comic books, he steals the show here with his unruly and feisty behaviour, causing chaos due to his super speed and strength much to Superman’s exasperation as he’s struggled to train the pup. An all-CGI creation (though you’d never know it), Krypto’s an adorable superpup who pounds around in a cape, goes for the face when threatened, and nips at Superman’s heels at every opportunity. Though he reluctantly tolerates the dog, Superman is enraged when Luthor pupnaps Krypto, further damaging his reputation by storming into Lex’s office, and endures horrendous torture at the hands of the reluctant Rex Mason/Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) when he surrenders to rescue the dog.

While the Justice Gang’s methods clash with Superman’s, it’s nice to see established metahumans.

Although the Justice Gang are clearly the tools of corporate mogul Maxwell “Max” Lord (Sean Gunn), garbed in uncomfortable matching outfits and showing up to avert any crisis and get some much-needed publicity, they are extremely competent superheroes in their own right. While we don’t get any meaningful backstory on any of them, especially the alluring and deliciously battle hungry Hawkgirl, beyond some snarky comments from Guy about how he was chosen to be a Green Lantern, the team is well established and close enough to Superman to know his true identity. Although Mr. Terrific takes centre stage, I enjoyed the abrasive and egotistical Guy Gardner the most and was very pleased to finally see a Green Lantern on the big screen again. Guy is rude, belligerent, and full of himself, believing himself the leader of the Justice Gang and stepping up to anyone who questions his motives, authority, or even the group’s name. Guy is the most vocal of the group in turning on Superman, immediately condemning him as an alien threat, while Hawkgirl is more dismissive and Mr. Terrific is more concerned with the facts. Shown to be a somewhat stoic but unrivalled genius, Mr. Terrific utilises various tech, most notably his T-Spheres, to analyse a threat and determine the best, most efficient course of action, lethal or otherwise. While Superman bemoans their recklessness, the Justice Gang disregard his complaints as they don’t hold themselves accountable for property damage or loss of life, painting them as very rough around the edges. Mr. Terrific is both impressed and horrified to learn the Luthor has harnessed a black hole to create dimensional portals all over the world and kit out a hazardous pocket dimension as his own prison, where the egomaniac throws any dissenters and forces monkeys to slander Superman online. Metamorpho is kept under heel there to save his baby son and forced to transmute his body into Kryptonite to torture Superman. While he initially demands that Superman not try to talk or reason with him, Metamorpho has a change of heart after witnessing how cruel Luthor is and restores Superman to full health, assisting him in fending off Luthor’s goons and even joining the Justice Gang to curb the invasion of Jarhanpur.

Vindictive Luthor schemes to discredit and destroy Superman with his self-made enforcers.

After years of enduring subpar or wildly eccentric cinematic interpretations of Lex Luthor, Superman finally gives us easily the greatest and most despicable version of the balding madman ever seen on the big screen. Nicholas Hoult excels in the role, effortlessly commanding every scene and bringing a cold, clinical focus to Lex that’s matched only by his ruthlessness and descent into abject tyranny. Already resentful of metahumans, Lex is driven to a self-confessed envious rage by Superman, whom he sees as an alien interloper who is stunting human growth and stealing the spotlight from hard-working, natural geniuses like himself. Committed to first discrediting Superman and then destroying him, Luthor concocts a convoluted scheme to turn the public against the Man of Steel to gain authority to apprehend and destroy him, all while funding the Boravia/Jarhanpur conflict to profit from the war. Constantly in command of every situation, Luthor easily infiltrates the Fortress of Solitude and steals Superman’s personal data, employing his homegrown metahumans – the cybernetic Angela Spica/Engineer (de Faría) and the mysterious Ultraman – to distract Superman while directing a team of all-too-willing underlings to commit horrendous atrocities. Sacrificing her humanity for Luthor’s dream, able to turn her body into any weapon she can imagine, the Engineer attacks with nanotech, easily hacking the Fortress of Solitude and almost suffocating him. Equally, Superman meets a physical match in the ruthless Ultraman, who mirrors his abilities and is directly controlled by Luthor, who’s meticulously studied Superman to counteract and predict his every move. Beneath his silky-smooth facade, however, Luthor is a raving lunatic who condemns anyone who questions him to his pocket dimension, happily tortures and executes those who get in his way or is even remotely tied to Superman, and who relishes the chance to prove his intellectual superiority over the Man of Steel.

The Nitty-Gritty:
It’s clear that James Gunn is influenced by many different sources for this film. Obviously, the classic Richard Donner films are the most prominent, with composers John Murphy and David Fleming sampling the iconic John Williams theme and giving it a glam-rock edge and the opening and closing titles mirroring Donner’s films. The design of the Fortress of Solitude is also ripped directly from Donner, though Gunn populates it with distinctly “Silver Age” Kryptonian automatons who tend to Superman’s needs. The entire film pops with colour and exciting action, just like a comic book, and Superman is purposely given a corny edge to make him a loveable throwback to a simpler time. Superman also takes place in a world where metahumans, Gods, and monsters have become an accepted part of everyday life. Therefore, while civilians still flee for their lives when the Hammer of Boravia and a fire-breathing kaiju attack, it’s treated as another day in Metropolis, with even Superman and Lois barely acknowledging an interdimensional imp threatening the city during their reconciliation. Superman goes one step further with this, introducing pocket dimensions, establishing the Hall of Justice as the Justice Gang’s headquarters, and hinting at a larger universe beyond our world through a Green Lantern and certain dialogue. Everything feels very “lived in”, like we’ve jumped into the third film in a franchise, without being overwhelming or difficult to follow as the focus is on the characters, their interactions and relationships, and their different dynamics. The world is in awe of Superman but turns on him immediately once Luthor broadcasts his message, with even his allies questioning his true purpose, and this twist is used to push Clark away from being beholden to his lost and unknown people and back towards his true heritage: namely, his Earth parents and their lessons.

Even when Luthor turns people against him, Superman strives to do the right thing.

Although I wasn’t sold on the costume at first, seeing it as a mishmash of different elements from various Super Suits over the years, it looks fantastic on screen. It’s so gratifying to see the trunks and the cape symbol make a return and Corenswet fills the suit out beautifully, appearing as visually iconic as Christopher Reeve did all those years ago. Superman isn’t some invincible demigod here, either. Like in the John Byrne stories I grew up with, Superman is extremely powerful but still physical vulnerable, suffering a brutal defeat by the Hammer of Boravia and enduring incredible agony to return to full strength using a concentrated dose of solar radiation. Superman visibly struggles with his bigger, more impressive feats, increasing the stakes as it’s not always certain that he’ll succeed. Superman also makes a point to rescue civilians wherever possible, something the Justice Gang see as secondary, and even tries reasoning with the Engineer and Ultraman as he always sees the good in people. Superman’s greatest weakness here, however, isn’t just the Kryptonite Metamorpho synthesises to poison him but his own insecurities. Superman believed he was embarking on a sacred mission and is overwhelmed by doubt upon hearing his parents’ full message, but continues to fight anyway, determined to prove that he’s there to help regardless of what people say. The Kents, especially Jonathan, greatly contribute to this, encouraging him to forge his own path based on what he knows is right. To that end, Superman surrenders and allows himself to be imprisoned and tortured, all with the goal of rescuing Krypto and ending Luthor’s schemes, even if it causes him great pain, trusting that his actions will prove that he’s not a threat. Luckily for him, Lois helps turn public opinion back in his favour as Eve’s clandestine selfies reveals Luthor’s plot, though the people of Jarhanpur still believe in Superman since he helped liberate their people from tyranny.

Superman rallies to redefine his mission, battle his crazed clone, and disrupt Luthor’s mad scheme.

Thanks to Lois, Mr. Terrific activates one of Luthor’s interdimensional portals and, after convincing Metamorpho to aid him, Superman escapes from the pocket dimension, recuperating at the Kent farm, reconciling with Lois, and determined to stop Luthor. In his mad ambition to publicly discredit and destroy Superman, Luthor overloads one of his portals and causes a rip in space and time to tear through Metropolis, literally splitting the city in two. Though a mandatory evacuation spares many lives, the entire planet is threatened by this tear, which can only be stopped using Luthor’s access codes. After narrowly escaping being suffocated by the Engineer’s nanites, Superman is horrified to learn that Ultraman is a mindless, brutal clone of his grown by Luthor with the sole purpose of destroying and replacing him. This revelation comes quite late in the film and is easily telegraphed as we never see Ultraman’s face and he’s there when Luthor access the Fortress of Solitude, and I don’t feel it landed all that well. It might’ve been better if Ultraman had been revealed to be a degenerating clone like Bizarro, but I feel the image of Superman battling his mirror image wasn’t as strong as the visual variety offered by the Engineer. It’s moot either way as Ultraman gets tossed into a black hole, leaving Superman free to confront Luthor and engage in a slanging match, one ended when Lois’s story breaks and Krypto manhandles Luthor. His reputation in tatters and his plans undone by Mr. Terrific’s genius, Luthor ends the film disgraced and incarcerated and Metropolis is sewn back together when the rip is shut down. Having declared their love for each other, Superman and Lois rekindle their relationship, the Justice Gang gets a new member in Metamorpho, and the world’s faith in Superman is seemingly restored. Although Superman despairs when his rowdy cousin returns from a bender out in space, he now finds comfort in viewing his memories of his childhood with his Earth parents.

The Summary:
I’ll be the first to admit that I was annoyed that we got another Superman/DC reboot after years of false starts and troubled efforts to get a live-action DC universe off the ground. I was hoping for a course correction with Henry Cavill and slightly sceptical of the new suit, but the colourful atmosphere and light-hearted action of the trailer gave me hope…and James Gunn certainly follows through on that promise. Superman is easily the best big screen adaptation of the Man of Steel perhaps ever, taking inspiration from many different interpretations and comic books and stitching together possibly the most accurate live-action distillation of the character and his chief nemesis. David Corenswet was fantastic in the title role, thankfully spending more time in the suit and just being a good man doing good things, while also not being infallible or so invulnerable that he’s not relatable. Nicholas Hoult was equally captivating as, in my opinion, the best Lex Luthor we’ve ever seen. He brought a malicious spite and smug energy to the role that blew his cinematic predecessors away, appearing as a true threat with an immense hatred for Superman. While I admit some of the supporting characters weren’t as developed as they could be, I’m intimately familiar with all of them so I’ll accept that in favour of a rich, fully realised world where superheroes are the norm. It is a bit odd that Supergirl never told Superman what Kryptonians were really like and somewhat reduces the emotional impact of Superman’s robots being trashed when they’re fully repaired by the end, but the engaging action and thought-provoking character interactions made up for it. I liked that Superman was questioned but not to the point where he was hated and feared, and the painfully relevant metacommentary on the state of politics and social media, and how people rallied behind Superman regardless of his bad press as they could see he was a good person. This was the Superman we should’ve gotten a decade ago, an inspirational hero who can spearhead a colourful and comic accurate live-action universe that finally does justice to these beloved characters while still offering a few fun twists along the way.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Superman? What did you think to David Corenswet’s performance and his suit? Did you enjoy seeing him portrayed as fallible and vulnerable? Were you glad to see metahumans are the accepted norm in his new world? What did you think to Lex Luthor and would you agree this is the best cinematic portrayal of the villain? Were you a fan of Krypto and did you guess Ultraman’s true identity ahead of time? Feel free to share your thoughts on this new version of Superman, even if you’re a hardcore Snyder fan, in the comments, check out my other Superman content, and donate to my Ko-Fi to support more reviews like this.

Back Issues [Superman Day]: The Death of Superman

Dr. K4 Comments

In 2013, DC Comics declared the 18th of April as “Superman Day” so fans of the Man of Steel could celebrate Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, the superpowered virtue of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” who is widely regarded as the first ever costumed superhero.

Published: December 1992 to October 1993
Writers: Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson, and Roger Stern
Artists: Brett Breeding, Dan Jurgens, Jackson Guice, Jon Bogdanove, and Tom Grummett

The Background:
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster first met in 1932 while attending Glenville High School and, just one year later, dreamed up their first draft for a superman with “The Reign of the Super-Man”. About five years later, a revised version of this concept appeared in Action Comics #1 and the world met Superman for the first time. Not only was Superman an immediate hit, but he went on to become a cultural icon. After decades of increasingly over-the-top stories, DC Comics tasked John Byrne with reimagining Superman for modern audiences. Under Byrne’s direction, Superman was a more grounded character and his stories adhered to strict continuity guidelines. After Byrne left DC Comics over creative differences, Superman group editor Mike Carlin moderated frequent “Superman Summits” involving Byrne’s replacements. It was during these chaotic meetings that writer/artist Jerry Ordway would jokingly suggest killing the Man of Steel. With Superman’s sales taking a hit thanks to readers favouring more violent anti-heroes, the creatives planned to shake things up by having Superman reveal his identity to his long-time love, Lois Lane, and eventually marry her. However, these plans were postponed to coincide with a similar arc on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993 to 1997) and thus the idea of “Doomsday for Superman” was developed. Writer Dan Jurgens came up with the concept of a monster tearing through Metropolis and a climactic fist fight between it and Superman, before sketching a design for the creature that was subsequently dubbed Doomsday. Although DC always planned to resurrect the character, Superman’s death was headline news and became a best-selling title, despite being criticised as a publicity stunt. Despite also dying in this story, Doomsday would return to dog Superman, evading the literal death of the universe and evolving into both an ally and an intelligent being, though he never returned to the prominence he had in this first arc. Doomsday and the “Death of Superman” concept also appeared outside the comics: there was a videogame adaptation, multiple animated ventures, and it was long considered for a live-action adaptation before being brought to life first on television (with disastrous results) and then on the big screen (to similar chagrin) before finally having more faithful live-action renditions on Krypton (2018 to 2019) and Superman & Lois (2021 to 2024).

The Review:
Our story begins “somewhere else…” where, deep underground, in a reinforced prison, a mysterious monster repeatedly strikes its cage. Each blow sees the thing’s containment suit rupture little by little, revealing menacing bone appendages on its knuckles, and the metal wall crack and weaken until, eventually, the creature we now know as Doomsday bursts free! Oblivious to this impending threat, Superman’s far more concerned with tracking down the Underworlders, a group of misfits, monsters, and outcasts from the shady Project Cadmus who dwell deep beneath Metropolis. Led by the simple-minded but nigh-invulnerable Clawster (whose rocky design and bony appendages are eerily evocative of Doomsday’s final form), the Underworlders cut the city’s power in a bid to rise up and take the streets as their own. Luckily for Superman, young Keith White alerts him to the Underworlders’ plot and that they’ve taken Lois Lane hostage after she stumbled upon their lair. Though bolstered by technology stolen from War World, the Underworlders are no match for Superman, who easily fells Clawster with a grenade to the mouth, trashes their digging machine, and ends their plot. Thanks to Lois’s informant, Charlie Underwood, the plot is revealed and the uprisers are imprisoned to await trail by their more peace-loving people. However, while all this is going on, Doomsday runs amok across the countryside and causes chaos in Ohio…all with one hand tied behind his back! Thanks to Oberon monitoring the police band, Justice League International arrives to help with the rescue effort and, after learning the devastation was caused by a “monster man”, Ted Grant/The Blue Beetle rallies the JLI in pursuing the culprit. While Superman gives a candid interview of his life and allies, the JLI follow Doomsday’s trail of destruction. Though neither the mysterious Quintus Arce/Bloodwynd or the battle hungry Maxima’s psychic probes offer little information on the creature other than him being “hate–death and blood lust personified”, they soon come face-to-face with Doomsday when he wrecks the Bug with a tree trunk and starts tearing through a LexCorp oil refinery.

A monstrous creature tears across the countryside…and through the Justice League!

Never one to back down from a fight, Guy Gardner (who wasn’t a Green Lantern at this point but instead wielded Thaal Sinestro’s yellow ring) immediately attacks, only to be blindsided by the creature’s incredible speed and left damn near blinded when it pounds his face into the ground! Beatriz Da Costa/Fire’s intense heat blasts do little to halt Doomsday’s attack so Bloodwynd steps in. Summoning the “spirits of the dead” into a powerful blow, he’s stunned when Doomsday barely registers the punch and is then sent hurtling into the oil refinery (and an explosive end). The Blue Beetle rushes in to help his secretive ally, catching a glimpse of Bloodwynd’s true form before Doomsday strikes. With no superpowers and being little more than a child against the monster’s awesome strength, the Blue Beetle is manhandled by Doomsday and beaten into a coma. Enraged, Michael Carter/Booster Gold throws a “full-intensity blast” but barely has time to erect his force field before Doomsday sends him flying. Luckily, Superman intercepts him, having been alerted to the crisis by a stagehand. Unfortunately, though Maxima spirits the Blue Beetle away for medical attention, Superman’s too late to save Tora Olafsdotter/Ice from being tossed into the home of some innocent bystanders. Superman’s initially unimpressed by Doomsday, easily taking the creature’s first blow, but is astonished when the follow-up kick sends him flying harder than he’s ever been hit before. Realising Doomsday’s threat, Superman rallies and stands with the remaining Leaguers, who combine their individual powers in an intense barrage. Though completely encompassed by the onslaught, the effort drains Fire and Booster Gold’s physical and power reserves. Unfortunately, their efforts are wasted as Doomsday emerges unscathed save for his torn containment suit, revealing a scowling, gruesome visage that gleefully rushes the fatigued heroes. Booster Gold endures a horrific beating, then Doomsday easily tramples the others and causes another inferno before leaping away. Although Superman chases and temporarily subdues the creature underwater, he’s forced to help the injured Justice League rescue the innocent bystanders caught up in Doomsday’s rampage. With the JLI down, Superman resolves to pursue and stop Doomsday alone.

Despite Superman’s best efforts, Doomsday crashes into Metropolis and endangers his loved ones.

Despite the military’s best efforts, Doomsday continues his rampage. As Superman battles the creature, he’s stunned by Doomsday’s complete lack of empathy and troubled that the snarling brute seems to be growing stronger as the fight progresses. Although Lex Luthor II (Lex Luthor inhabiting a young, fit body and masquerading as his own son) forbids Matrix/Supergirl (a protoplasmic alien rather than the traditional Kara Zor-El) from assisting Superman out of fears for her safety, Maxima jumps in to help…only to cause more destruction and endanger additional lives. After Maxima is left concussed, Superman asks James “Jim” Harper/Guardian to tend to her and continues pursuing Doomsday, determined to put the monster down before he does any more damage. Doomsday carves a path of destruction across the countryside and eventually winds up tearing through a Lex-Mart store, where a television commercial for a Metropolis wrestling match catches his attention. Obsessed with “Mhh-trr-plss”, Doomsday prepares to head there and Superman flies into a desperate second wind,  continuously amazed that his strongest blows barely faze the monster. With Lois and Jimmy Olson covering the battle, Superman accidentally hurls Doomsday into Habitat, a tree-city created by Project Cadmus. Resolving to fight smarter rather than harder since just hitting Doomsday hurts, Superman buries Doomsday beneath Habitat, only for him to burst free in a rage and resume his course towards Metropolis. Superman intercepts Doomsday and finally tries to fly him off-world, only for Doomsday to easily wriggle free and send Superman crashing into a construction site. As Jonathan and Martha Kent watch on horrified, Doomsday crashes into the Underworlder domain, inadvertently rescuing and then purposely slaughtering the prisoners, and causes a massive explosion to rock the city when his foot collides with a power line.

Superman battles valiantly and ultimately stops Doomsday at the cost of his own life.

Superman’s second attempt to fly Doomsday away ends with him skewered through the abdomen by one of Doomsday’s spines. Finally released to assist, Supergirl is immediately dispatched with a single punch that reduces her to protoplasmic goop and even Professor Emil Hamilton’s massive laser cannon barely fazes the beast. Still, these distractions give the injured Superman time to regroup; hoping that Doomsday is as fatigued as him, Superman redoubles his attack. Luthor’s paratroopers and even Metropolis’s finest try to aid the Man of Steel, bombarding the creature with laser blasts that seemingly have no affect. Battered, exhausted, and desperate, Superman’s constantly distracted by saving innocents so, after rescuing Lois and Jimmy, he bids an emotional farewell to his fiancée and flies at his adversary, determined to put Doomsday down by any means necessary. Despite fighting for most of the day and having journeyed across the country and endured horrendous punishment, Doomsday easily overpowers Superman, cutting and bruising him. Superman finally hurts the creature by targeting Doomsday’s bony protrusions before the fight devolves into a slugfest outside the Daily Planet. Each blow shatters windows as the two relentlessly pummel each other, neither backing down until, finally, they fly in for the killing blow. Superman and Doomsday strike simultaneously, the force of their final blows sending shockwaves across the country, and Doomsday finally falls, apparently dead. Too late to help, Bloodwynd and Ice can only watch in shock alongside the world and Superman’s nearest and dearest as the Man of Steel collapses. Lois cradles her beloved, unconcerned about hiding her grief, as Superman breathes his last and succumbs to his wounds. Lois is left wailing as Superman, his costume torn and tattered and bloody, lies still amidst the rubble of his titanic clash, leaving the onlookers and his friends and family stunned.

The Summary:
“The Death of Superman” isn’t so much a story as it is a long, protracted beatdown of the Man of Steel. Amidst the fighting, the story takes a few detours to explore Superman’s opinion of his fellow heroes and his impact on the world. While most people find him an awe-inspiring figure and celebrate him as the world’s greatest hero, others are more dismissive. A teen eventually caught in Doomsday’s rampage is especially outspoken about the Man of Steel, preferring hot-headed Guy Gardner instead, only to be indebted to Superman when he puts his life on the line to protect his family. Guy, especially, is overly critical of Superman, blinded by pride and arrogance and attacking Doomsday head-on only to be mutilated and humbled. Doomsday’s threat is so great that even some of Superman’s more duplicitous and mysterious allies aid him with Dubbilex attempting to probe the beast for clues to his origin and the supercilious Maxima throwing herself into the bout to try and prove her worth. While the outside world sees Lex Luthor II as a benevolent figure, he’s the same conniving antagonist he’s always been. He doesn’t get involved until Superman and Doomsday are literally tearing through his city and, even then, his tech and even Supergirl’s bizarre powers are no match for the creature. Nowhere is this better showcased than in Doomsday’s utter decimation of the Justice League. Sure, the JLI was never the strongest incarnation and his demolition of them isn’t as powerful as if he were shredding the likes of Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Princess Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, and Wally West/The Flash, but it sends a startling message when Earth’s greatest heroes are beaten by one creature. However, the narrative is quite repetitive after a while. I lost count of how many times Superman and other characters muse over the creature’s strength, tenacity, and origins and, while the art is good, it’s inconsistent throughout. For example, Superman’s injuries vary between issues, with some issues ending with him bleeding and bruised and others ignoring those injuries before leaving him with different ones.

When Doomsday decimates everyone else, Superman resolves to put him down at any cost.

As a story about Superman’s will, “The Death of Superman” is quite powerful. Where the JLI and others fail due to being significantly underpowered, Superman fights on, battling Doomsday almost non-stop across the country. During their fight, Superman constantly stops to rescue bystanders and is always trying to keep Doomsday from populated areas. When he realises Doomsday’s heading to Metropolis, Superman desperately tries to keep him from reaching the city and, when this fails, he commits to ending the beast’s rampage. Sure, Superman rarely tries to get Doomsday off-world, but Doomsday is not only incredibly strong, but extremely agile and he easily escapes Superman’s grasp or leaves him gravely injured. At one point, Superman tosses Doomsday several miles away so it’s possible he could’ve launched Doomsday into space. However, Superman constantly notes that Doomsday never tires, seems to be growing stronger, and adapts to each situation. What works against Doomsday once won’t necessarily work a second time, something greatly expanded upon in subsequent appearances, so I think this is acceptable enough as an explanation for why Superman doesn’t just toss Doomsday into space. The conflict causes great distress for Lois and Jimmy, who are forced to watch and report as the man they love and admire is beaten to death before their eyes. While Lois eschews the usual restraint regarding her relationship with Superman to comfort and tend to him, the Kents are forced to watch, helpless, as their son is beaten to a pulp on live television. The impact of Superman’s deteriorating health is felt by every character and is palpable through the artwork. There’s a real sense of desperation as the fight reaches its climax and a shocking gut punch as the final blows are struck.

The mysterious Doomsday lives to kill and is little more than a mindless beast.

In many ways, it’s disappointing that Superman dies not at the hands of a traditional villain but in a slugfest with a monster. However, Doomsday is a visually intimidating and impressive monster. Initially garbed in an uninspiring containment suit, Doomsday’s true form – a snarling, grey-hued monstrosity – is revealed as he tears through his opponents and shrugs off their attacks. Doomsday never speaks; he simply barks laughter, grunts, and mumbles a bastardised growl of “Metropolis”. He’s noted to be “faster than Flash”, easily overturns trucks and rips apart bridges and buildings, and is not only inhumanly strong but absorbs tremendous punishment. Even the combined energy powers of the Justice League barely faze him, blows from mighty man-made trees barely slow him, and even hitting the brute causes Superman pain. Doomsday is malicious and bloodthirsty, slaughtering wildlife and innocents and beating the JLI with relish, and becomes fixated on both Metropolis and Superman. Throughout the story, psychics try to learn his origins and find only hatred and destruction. Doomsday is, essentially, a blank canvas; a mindless beast determined to destroy. Later stories fleshed out his origin (which is actually really interesting) but I can totally understand why adaptations made him a man-made doomsday machine or added to his lore as he’s primarily an invincible McGuffin shamelessly designed to shock the world by killing Superman. Superman realises far too late that Doomsday can be hurt by targeting his bony protrusions and he barely takes advantage of this, breaking one before going back to trading punches with the beast. This is a bit of a shame as it means the finale was always anti-climactic for me. We never see Doomsday tire, he rarely shows pain, he has no injuries and survives shots that look far more devastating than Superman’s final blow. This, as much as the tedious nature of their fight, means I’ve never held “The Death of Superman” to very high regard beyond it being notable for killing the Man of Steel and introducing a monstrous new villain for Superman, one who sadly never reached these same heights again because it’s difficult to top killing the world’s most powerful superhero.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

What did you think to “The Death of Superman”? Were you disappointed that Superman wasn’t ended by one of his more iconic foes? What did you think to Doomsday, his design and characterisation (or lack thereof)? Were you disappointed that a more powerful version of the Justice League didn’t battle Doomsday? Do you think the story suffers from being little more than a prolonged slugfest? Did you enjoy Doomsday’s later appearances or do you think he peaked here? How are you celebrating Superman Day today? Whatever you think, feel free to share your opinions in the comments below and feel free to check out my other Superman content on the site.

Back Issues [Crossover Crisis]: Crisis on Infinite Earths

Dr. K13 Comments

Cover-dated April 1985, the first issue of this ground-breaking event precipitated the destruction of the “Multiverse” in favour of a unified DC canon. Though DC returned to this concept again and again, that doesn’t change how influential this massive crossover was and what better way to celebrate than with a “Crossover Crisis” of my own?

Published: 3 January 1985 (cover-dated: April 1985) to March 1986 (cover date)
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist: George Pérez

The Background:
In Showcase #4 (1956), writer Robert Kanigher and artist Carmine Infantino debuted Barry Allen/The Flash, the successor to Jay Garrick, who was established as an alternative version of the Fastest Man Alive. This concept was taken to the next level when Barry and Jay met face-to-face, revealing an infinite number of parallel worlds. Regular crossovers between the likes the Justice Society of America and the Justice League of America soon followed, allowing alternative heroes and various stories to exist simultaneously. Over time, writers like Mark Wolfman became frustrated with this concept, which made keeping track of continuity difficult and it was hard for both writers and readers to connect with the stories. Wolfman initially pitched a reader guide to simplify the DC universe, which then evolved into a sprawling tale of multiversal destruction seen as a risky proposition as it meant erasing all continuity and starting from scratch to attract new readers. Such an event was unprecedented and DC spent two years laying the foundation for this Crisis, hiring researchers to document every character and event in their library and bringing in George Pérez to illustrate, with the artist excited at the idea of illustrating every DC character. Crisis on Infinite Earths became a bestseller for DC Comics and was heralded as a turning point for both the publisher and the industry. The fallout saw every DC character rebooted, with Clark Kent/Superman notably being reimagined as a more grounded character and Wally West taking over as the Flash, though Carter Hall/Hawkman was irrevocably damaged for years as DC struggled to reconcile certain elements of his character. Praised as the greatest comic book crossover in history, the event popularised massive, cosmic crossovers and DC revisited this concept numerous times in subsequent years. The event was even adapted into an ambitious and well received television event and an impressive three-part animated feature.

The Review:
Confused by the concept of the multiverse? Well, Crisis on Infinite Earths has you covered, to a degree, as it opens with (and features throughout) narration and exposition from the tragic Kell Mossa/Pariah. In the beginning, before there was light and life, there was only darkness. Then, from nowhere, came a single light that grew and expanded and finally exploded in “pain [and] relief” as the multiverse was born. The idea is infinite parallel realities all co-exist at once, separated by vibrational planes, though this is noted to not have been the intention when the light burst into being. The story the shifts to one such Earth where the hooded, weeping Pariah witnesses the destruction of not only that world, but the entire reality, at the hands of an all-encompassing white light. As entropy erases everything it touches, Pariah begs to be taken with it, sparing him his grim fate, only to be teleported away as the universe meets its destructive end. We then jump to Earth-3, home of the Crime Syndicate, an evil alternative version of the Justice League. There, Harold Jordan/Power Ring and Clark Kent/Ultraman desperately try to stop the cataclysmic natural disasters springing up across their world as the anti-matter wave approaches. While Thomas Wayne Jr./Owlman and Jonathan Allen/Johnny Quick lament their helplessness against such awesome power, the world’s only superhero, Alexander Luthor, watches helplessly as lifelong enemies like Diana/Superwoman are devoured by the anti-matter wave. With no way to save his world, Alexander rushes to be with his wife, Lois, and baby son, Alexander Luthor, Jr. In a parallel to Superman’s iconic origin, the baby is loaded into a specially prepared rocket and spirited away to Earth-1 as his world dies.

With all universes at risk of annihilation, the Monitor assembles a team of heroes and villains.

The mysterious Mar Novu/The Monitor observes this from his orbiting, spherical space station alongside Lyla Michaels/Harbinger, whom he sends to recruit Earth’s greatest heroes and villains to stop the pending Crisis. Harbinger recruits King Solovar from Gorilla City, Dawnstar from the 30th century Legion of Super-Heroes, Danette Reilly/Firebrand from Earth-2 1942, Ted Kord/The Blue Beetle from Earth-4, and Roger Hayden/Psycho-Pirate from present-day Earth-2. She returns Psycho-Pirate’s emotion manipulating Medusa Mask and coerces him into quelling Louise Lincoln/Killer Frost’s bloodlust and bringing both her and Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein/Firestorm to the cause. Though Harbinger is possessed by a Shadow Demon when recruiting Ahri’ahn/Arion the Sorcerer, he joins the other recruits, including Kal-L/Superman, John Stewart/Green Lantern, Neal Emerson/Doctor Polaris, Victor Stone/Cyborg, Simon Jones/Psimon, and Todd Rice/Obsidian. With tensions running high, the group are attacked by Shadow Demons, which seem impervious to physical, mental, and energy-based attacks. While the likes of the Blue Beetle can only run and Firestorm struggles with Killer Frost’s newfound affections, Obsidian and the arrogant Dr. Polaris put their shadow- and magnetism-based powers to good use. The Monitor halts the attack and introduces both himself and the threat to their universes. Weakened by the spread of anti-matter and facing suspicion from his assembled forces, the Monitor reveals that he’s judged them as the best hope of protecting five devices spread across the different eras that he hopes will halt the anti-matter wave. Meanwhile, reality is warped across the multiverse: in prehistoric times, Anthro the Cave-Boy is as astonished to spot a futuristic city amongst the wilds as Querl Dox/Brainiac-5 is to see mammoths stampeding through the 30th century. Half a galaxy away on Oa, the Guardians of the Universe prepare to summon their entire Green Lantern Corps to meet the threat, only for a mysterious voice to corrupt the Central Battery and trap them in a stasis beam. On Earth-1, Bruce Wayne/Batman is busy confronting the Joker during his latest crime spree and is astonished when an emaciated, confused Flash suddenly appears babbling about the end of the world and begging for help before disintegrating before the Dark Knight’s eyes!

As the Crisis worsens, the Monitors prepares Alexander and a new Dr. Light to face the threat.

On the post-apocalyptic Earth-AD, Kal-L, King Solovar, and Dawnstar meet Kamandi, the last boy on Earth, and discover the Monitor’s device, a towering, golden Cosmic Tuning Fork that’s immediately (though only briefly) attacked by Shadow Demons. Arion, Obsidian and the Psycho-Pirate watch over another tower in Atlantis, only for the Psycho-Pirate to be transported to a dark realm and coerced into turning against the Monitor just as Harbinger secretly conspires with that same dark force. Oblivious, the Monitor experiments on the rapidly aging Alexander Luthor, Jr., an impossible merger of matter and anti-matter who potentially holds the key to defeating the anti-matter spread, whom Harbinger’s dark master wants destroyed before he can threaten his schemes. Meanwhile, in the far future of Earth-1, the Flash races to keep his world from being torn apart from natural disasters but is forced to vibrate at super-speed to escape death. This same anti-matter energy arrives on present-day Earth-1, much to the horror of the Teen Titans, who desperately try to both halt the destructive wave and save lives alongside Batman and Superman. As Linda Lee/Kara Zor-El/Supergirl does the same, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl gives in to self-doubt, and John Constantine arrogantly believes it’ll all work out, Vril Dox/Brainiac coldly observes the events concludes that, if he’s to survive, he must team up with Lex Luthor. While defending a Cosmic Tuning Fork from both Nazi forces and Shadow Demons in 1942 Markovia, the Blue Beetle discovers the mysterious Scarab fused to his suit is lethal to the shadowy entities but is wounded before he can put this to good use and returned to his world by the Monitor to spare him. Back on Earth-AD, the skies turn red and King Solovar succumbs to his wounds while Cyborg, Firebrand, John Stewart, and Psimon team up with some local heroes (including Jonah Hex) in 1879 to defend another tower, only to be as overwhelmed by anti-matter as the far-flung future of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Elsewhere, the terrified heroes of Earth-6 blame Pariah for the looming threat, to no avail (though Pariah does save Tashana/Lady Quark to ease his suffering). While the unseen villain forcibly recruits the Red Tornado, the Monitor activates an “ion-based energy ray” to empower Doctor Kimiyo Hoshi, transforming her into the new Doctor Light and sending her to defend his tower on Earth-1.

Following the Monitor’s death, his champions are convinced to unite and save the remaining Earths.

When the heroes attack her, believing she and the tower caused the entropy, Superman quells the fighting, though things take a turn when the Shadow Demons combine into one gigantic, terrifying entity in each era. Even Princess Diana Prince/Wonder Woman’s hopes of recruiting her Amazonian sisters fail. When Pariah berates the Monitor for not doing more to intervene, he reveals just how weak he’s become and then nobly faces his end at Harbinger’s hands. Distraught, Pariah weeps as Earth-1 and Earth-2 are finally consumed; confused to find his strength hasn’t increased as a result, the dark villain delights in having the Psycho-Pirate torture the Flash. Depowered, Lyla is distressed by her actions but a pre-recorded message from the Monitor reveals that his death allowed his essence to empower his Cosmic Tuning Forks and create a “netherverse”, a pocket dimension to keep Earth-1 and Earth-2 safe. After giving the Monitor an appropriate burial, Lyla, Pariah, and the now teenage Alexander Luthor, Jr. gather both world’s champions on the Monitor’s satellite to merge all existing realities into one lest all worlds and realities be lost. Since there are some doubters, Alexander has them witness the Red Tornado be forcibly transformed into a being of pure, primal force, one easily subdued by sorcerers like Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate and Zatanna Zatara (though Ted Grant/Wildcat’s legs are shattered during the fracas). Thus, even the most sceptical agree to defend their worlds, only for the satellite to disintegrate courtesy of the event’s big bad, the Anti-Monitor! Fleeing to the emptiness of limbo, Alexander moves to save Earth-4, -S, and -X, only for Harbinger to subdue him and take his place. While Yolanda Montez continues Wildcat’s legacy on Earth-2, the Freedom Fighters and the Monitor’s agents come to blows on Earth-X when the Psycho-Pirate, his powers augmented by the demonic Anti-Monitor, stirs fear and hatred amongst them. Similarly, on Earth-1, Billy Batson/Captain Marvel and his siblings mindlessly attack Supergirl and Wonder Woman, though the fighting ends when Harbinger forces Earth-4, -S, and -X into the netherverse alongside Earth-1 and Earth-2, exhausting her incredible powers but dooming them to be slowly merged together.

After Lyla relates the Anti-Monitor’s origin, Supergirl sacrifices herself to try and destroy him.

Thus, Lyla, Pariah, and Alexander assemble Earth-1’s Superman, Earth-2’s (Kal-L), Captain Marvel, the Blue Beetle, Lady Quark, and Uncle Sam and reveal that, ten billion years ago, the Oan scientist Krona dared to seek the beginning of the universe, witnessing a giant hand clutching a star cluster. This caused a cosmic fracture, creating not just the multiverse, but an anti-matter universe and a counterpart to Oa, Qward. After banishing Kronoa, the Oans created peacekeeping forces like the defective Manhunters and the Green Lantern Corps but were fractured by a civil war, birthing the Controllers. Amidst the fighting, the Monitor and his evil, anti-matter counterpart came into being. The Anti-Matter conquered Qward and created the Shadow Demons to spread his influence throughout the anti-matter universe before waging war against the Monitor upon sensing his presence. Evenly matched, they were rendered unconscious for nine billion years before being awoken by the misguided Pariah, once a celebrated healer and scientist who also investigated the origin of the universe. Pariah’s world paid the price, and he was damned to live forever and watch all worlds die, though the Monitor also saw him as instrumental in saving all reality. Alexander uses his unique matter/anti-matter powers to create a dimensional tear to the anti-matter universe, which Pariah leads the heroes to the Anti-Monitor’s vast stone fortress. Enraged that the Psycho-Pirate is too drained to corrupt them, the Anti-Monitor has his stronghold attack, injuring the usually invulnerable Kal-L. Dr. Light and Superman discover the Anti-Monitor’s solar collector but are attacked before they can destroy it and halt the merger of the Earths. Hearing her cousin’s agony, Supergirl flies to Superman’s aid, brutally beating the villain in a rage and chastising his disdain for life, tearing through his protective armour. Furious, the Anti-Monitor prepares to explode with all his energy and, in a last-ditch effort to destroy him, his machine, and save everyone, Supergirl tackles him, destroying his machine but being fatally blasted. As the Anti-Monitor’s deteriorating, incorporeal form slinks away, Superman mourns his cousin’s death and vows to kill the Anti-Monitor. Kal-L calms his counterpart and they escape, and a memorial service is held on Earth-2, where Superman pays homage to Supergirl, vowing to remember her and fight in her name. Despite the loss, the five worlds are saved; similarly, the Green Lantern Corps free their masters and almighty Darkseid wisely cloaks Apokalips from the Anti-Monitor’s gaze. However, the Anti-Monitor reconstitutes himself on his ship, where the Flash is imprisoned, and prepares a counterattack from Qward.

Despite the Flash’s noble sacrifice, the Anti-Monitor gains God-like power from his anti-matter universe.

Though saved, the five worlds are still overlapping, causing anomalies and damage to each while  the Anti-Monitor oversees the creation of the anti-matter cannon, which he plans to use to obliterate the worlds. Just as the Psycho-Pirate feels his powers return, the Flash escapes and angrily attacks the sadistic villain, forcing him to turn the Anti-Monitor’s slaves against their master as a distraction. Though stunned to find the anti-matter cannon is powered by concentrated anti-matter and realising that destroying it would kill him, the Flash bravely circles the weapon’s core to turn its destructive energy back on it. Staving off the agony with memories of his loved ones, the Flash runs fast enough to move back in time (explaining his earlier, sudden appearances). Though Barry successfully destroys the weapon, it costs him his life. Enraged, the Anti-Matter absorbs the anti-matter universe, literally sucking the life out of over a million worlds to feed his lust for power and vengeance, an act so awesome that it’s detected by both the Challengers of the Unknown and the embodiment of the Lord’s wrath, Jim Corrigan/The Spectre. In the face of multiversal destruction, the Guardians of the Universe offer Guy Gardner the chance to become a Green Lantern once again and, when all but one of them are all slaughtered by a sudden explosion, Guy vows to avenge them as their champion. The Brainiac/Luthor team then recruit dozens of villains to strike while the remaining Earths are weak and in disarray. As time runs amok on Earth-1 and Alexander, Lyla, and Pariah address the United Nations, the villains make their move, having conquered Earth-4, -S, and -X, encasing them within impenetrable barriers, and threatening to destroy the remaining worlds. Lyla and Jay recruit a reluctant Wally West/Kid Flash to breach the barrier with the cosmic treadmill, though neither Luthor or Brainiac care much about their losses since they still possess the power to destroy everything. However, the Spectre ends the hostilities by revealing that the Anti-Monitor still lives and plans to corrupt the flow of time and formation of life by travelling to the dawn of time.

The Spectre demands co-operation, resulting in a singular world being created.

With the villains back on side, Kal-L bids an emotional farewell to his wife, Lois Lane, to join the counterattack, alongside a surprising newcomer: the Superboy from Earth-Prime (a fictional approximation of the real world where he’s the only superhero). After a rousing speech from Uncle Sam, heroes and villains alike pool their technology and powers to travel to the dawn of time and confront the anxious Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor reveals that he, not Pariah, was responsible for the destruction of Pariah’s world after he took advantage of Pariah’s experiments to rebuild his power, absolving the tragic figure of his sins. Now grown to immense proportions, the Anti-Monitor withstands the assault of those assembled (with guys like Batman offering only support), absorbing their life energy to add to his power and allowing his hand to be the one that shapes all reality, as witnessed by Kronoa. His grasp is intercepted by the Spectre and the combined magic of the unified sorcerers, reducing the battle to a literal arm wrestle between the Anti-Monitor and the Spectre. Thanks to their bickering, Luthor’s underlings fail to kill Kronoa before he can cause the creation of the multiverse and the Anti-Monitor, and all seems lost. However, following a blinding light and the literal shattering of all time and space, Kal-L awakens on present-day Earth to find he’s on the same world as his Earth-1 counterpart. Sharing the same fragmented memories, Superman explains that time seems to be healing (albeit wonkily) and that elements of multiple Earths have been merged into one. For example, everyone knows Supergirl died but not how, the Flash is presumed vanished, and Earth-2’s Keystone City and Jay Garrick now live on this Earth. Jay, Wally, and the Supermen use the cosmic treadmill to discover Earth-2 is missing. Realising that the multiverse no longer exists, Superman has to force his older counterpart to return rather than throw himself into the endless void in despair. With the cosmic treadmill irreparably damaged, Wally assembles everyone at Titans Tower, discovering guys like Captain Marvel, Superbody-Prime, Uncle Sam, and the Earth-2 Dick Grayson/Robin also exist on this world, where they’re all shocked to see Harbinger alive and powered back up. The refugees are despondent and horrified to learn their worlds, pasts, and many loved ones are gone thanks to “cosmic irony” as Harbinger explains that there is now one Earth with one coherent timeline that folds their disparate lives into its flow, sending Kal-L into a crazed distress at having lost his wife and home.

A final, all-out assault ends the Anti-Monitor and starts the universe anew, with some casualties.

After questioning the imprisoned Lex Luthor, Batman, Jason Todd/Robin, and Alexander confirm that, while some duplicates remain and some lives were restored, others weren’t and only those who present at the dawn of time remember the multiverse. Just as they’re processing this, the skies turn red and the world suddenly shifts to the anti-matter universe, where the titanic, disembodied Anti-Monitor still lives! Though incensed by their efforts, the Anti-Monitor congratulates them for handing him his first defeat in ten billion years and then decrees that they must all die. Wally’s shock at his mentor’s death is mirrored by the abject panic that sweeps the civilians following the Anti-Monitor’s threat, which doubles when the Shadow Demons kill Don Hall/Dove, Helena Wayne/Huntress, and Tula Marius/Aquagirl. While the sorcerers remove the Shadow Demons, Harbinger assembles one last effort to stop the Anti-Monitor on Qward. Though the Anti-Monitor is too large and powerful to be damaged, Harbinger has Dr. Light absorb the star feeding him power, weakening him enough for Alexander to breach the villain’s armour. With the threat seemingly ended by a combined energy blast, Alexander struggles to return Earth home and the Anti-Monitor absorbs his exiled Shadow Demons to rise again and vaporise Wonder Woman. Rather than see anyone else die, Kal-L tackles the Anti-Monitor, believing he’s got nothing to lose, and Alexander and Superboy-Prime are trapped with him. Though Darkseid, watching from Apokalips, strikes a fatal blow through Alexander’s eyes, the Anti-Monitor refuses to die, so Kal-L delivers a final strike that obliterates the tyrant. Faced with the pending destruction of the anti-matter universe, Kal-L and Superboy-Prime prepare to meet their end only for Alexander to teleport them, alongside Kal-L’s Lois, to a pocket dimension. In the aftermath, Wonder Woman returns to the clay that forms Themyscira, her Earth-2 counterpart is welcomed among the Gods, the dead heroes are memorialised, and Wally assumes the Flash mangle. Confined to Arkham Asylum, the Psycho-Pirate is dubbed a raving lunatic since he’s the only one who remembers the multiverse and the catastrophic events of the Crisis.

The Summary:
Whew, there’s a lot happening in Crisis on Infinite Earths. There’s a reason I’ve put off reviewing it for so long, and why I rarely revisit it. It’s a very dense and complex story, full of exposition and cameos and faces both obscure and iconic. As a celebration of DC’s rich history and characters, it’s hard to find much better than Crisis on Infinite Earths, which stuffs just about every costumed character, hero or villain, into its dense twelve issues! My hat’s off to George Pérez; it must’ve been painstaking to sketch all these group shots, action sequences, montages, and dramatic events. Equal praise to Marv Wolfman as I can’t imagine how difficult it was to make sense of all these different worlds and come up with a cohesive way to explain, link, and destroy them all. In the end, the solution was simple: pure, destructive, unstoppable entropy. It’s fitting that the anti-matter wave is depicted as a blinding white light that erases everything it touches, for it symbolically represents a blank page or an artist’s eraser, indicating that these colourful and convoluted worlds are being literally wiped clean for a new status quo. Our guide through most of this is Pariah, a tragic figure doomed to watch each world die as penance for kick-starting the events that follow. Immortal but seemingly powerless to intervene, all he can do is shout desperate warnings and is powerless to rescue anyone and constantly met with aggression, suspicion, and accusations. He’s merely a pawn in a much larger game, however, much like Harbinger, who acts as an all-powerful emissary of the Monitor and deliver exposition in his stead. A conflicted individual burdened with the knowledge that she will betray and murder the man to whom she owes her life, Harbinger, nevertheless works to uphold the Monitor’s legacy and bring together heroes and villains alike to stand against his dark counterpart.

The Anti-Monitor’s power sends shockwaves through the multiverse and those who’ve witnessed it.

The dreaded inevitability of death is a focal point in Crisis on Infinite Earths. When the anti-matter wave hits, heroes and villains set aside their differences and use all their powers and resources to either stop it or save people from its destructive touch. Even the abhorrent Crime Syndicate find themselves fighting to save their world and Ultraman willingly enters the wave to die on his terms. Even before the wave arrives, the worlds are shaken to their core by natural disasters; volcanoes, tsunamis, and ominous, crackling red skies precipitate the disaster as much as Pariah. Perhaps no character is more synonymous with the coming destruction than the Flash; thanks to his super-speed, he ends up travelling through time, arriving before the likes of Batman and Wally as an omen of what’s to come and taking on an appearance that resembles Death itself. The Anti-Monitor echoes this in his design; though shrouded by his all-powerful armour, he sports a skull-like visage and dark, piercing eyes. Commanding demonic shadows, he’s very much the embodiment of Death and his lust for utter annihilation drives him to snuff out all life and light. Sadistic to the core, he employs the Psycho-Pirate to foster fear and hate, turning his would-be opponents against each other and causing countless more deaths. His ruthlessness seemingly knows no boundaries as he gleefully corrupts Harbinger, relishes the death of his counterpart, and nonchalantly obliterates his rebellious slaves without a second thought. His power and cruelty are so great that even the mighty Darkseid is driven to hide rather than confront him, striking when the villain is at his most vulnerable and largely avoiding the greater conflict. For all his God-like power, the Anti-Monitor still relies on technology; his merger and destruction of worlds can be halted or stopped by Cosmic Tuning Forks or destroying his solar collector. Indeed, it’s only after his massive, world-ending cannon is destroyed that the Anti-Monitor eschews all other methods and absorbs the entire lifeforce of the anti-matter universe into himself to literally take matters into his own hands.

The Supermen anchor the story, leading the assembled champions in battle and saving all reality.

There is no one central character in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Instead, it’s a team-up story through and through, meaning some of your favourites may be sidelined. In some respects, I don’t mind this; Batman outright admits how useless he is against the Anti-Monitor and it’s clear only beings of incredible power can stand against him. Yet, the Blue Beetle is said to be pivotal in opposing the villain, the Red Tornado is briefly said to be incredibly important, and Lex Luthor comes close to co-ruling five entire worlds and even leads the charge to assassinate Kronoa. The Earth-2 Superman, Kal-L, is often at the heart of the conflict, leading the others and inspiring confidence, as is his Earth-1 counterpart. It’s therefore more tragic seeing Superman’s grief-stricken reaction to his cousin’s death; holding Supergirl in his arms, the Man of Steel briefly forgets his morals and vows to kill the Anti-Monitor as recompense. This is but one of the unforgettable deaths featured in Crisis on Infinite Earths as the Flash sacrifices himself to deal a critical blow to the Anti-Monitor, making a martyr of himself for decades before DC made the bone-headed decision to revive him. There’s an odd dichotomy in Crisis on Infinite Earths; these alternative worlds and characters co-exist and are even folded into one by the end. Rather than wiping everything away and starting afresh by the conclusion, the story clunkily has the survivors forget key events and weaves characters like Captain Marvel and the Justice Society into a unified timeline. This works for me as I prefer a coherent narrative, but it essentially means Crisis on Infinite Earth takes place mid-way through the early years of the post-Crisis reboot and reimaginings like John Byrne’s Superman stories happen before and during this event, rather than after it.

Worlds lived, worlds died, and the DC Universe was never the same…for about twenty years…

These days, Crisis on Infinite Earths may be a lot for modern readers to take in. Many of its characters and concepts are either forgotten, wildly different, or have been done to death thanks to the multiple reality-altering events that followed (many specifically to address loose ends from this story). At the time, though, I’d wager many long-term DC readers appreciated the cameos and call-backs weaved into the story. I’m glad DC devoted twelve issues to the story and didn’t rush it, but it does get repetitive and convoluted as it drags on. The secondary threat of Brainiac and Luthor directing a team of villains to conquer the five worlds, for example, could probably be skipped or relegated to a tie-in comic. Similarly, the defending of the Cosmic Tuning Forks isn’t very interesting and doesn’t really add to the story since we barely see any action around this, the Shadow Demons are too powerful to be interesting, and it’s all negated by the Monitor’s death. In this respect, I think the event could’ve been cut down to eight or ten issues and still been just as effective, especially as many Earths and characters feature as quick cameos to be obliterated. The remaining five Earths are said to be the most important, which is a little disrespectful to those that perished by the Anti-Monitor’s hand and a bit of an insult to any fans of those worlds. I liked seeing new heroes rise during the chaos, like a new Dr. Light (who was an aggressive bitch throughout), Wildcat, and Guy being Green Lantern again, though it falls a little flat when you know the canon is going to be altered after this to return the status quo. I liked the Anti-Monitor’s design and his characterisation as a reprehensible being who craved only power and destruction, but it was hard to get a sense of his power and limitations. One minute he’s weakened by giant towers, then his armour is containing his energy, and then he’s being powered by a black sun despite having absorbed the lifeforce of his anti-matter universe. Still, the unification of heroes and villains to oppose him was fun to see, the sacrifices and determination were poignant, and the weaving together of a singular continuity, while flawed, was ambitious and visually engaging to behold.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Have you ever read Crisis on Infinite Earths? What did you think of this unprecedented mash-up of DC’s various worlds and characters? Which parallel world was your favourite and were you upset to see destroyed? What did you think to the Anti-Monitor, his vast power and his stubborn refusal to die? Were you shocked to see Supergirl and the Flash die so dramatically? Do you agree that the story dragged on a bit by the end? Which of the subsequent Crisis events was your favourite and what are some of your favourite cosmic events? Drop a comment below to share your thoughts about Crisis on Infinite Earths and feel free to check out my reviews of other notable crossovers.

Screen Time [JLA Day]: Justice League: Secret Origins

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To celebrate the release of Justice League (Snyder/Whedon, 2017), DC Comics named November 18 “Justice League Day”. Setting aside all the drama surrounding that movie, this provides a perfect excuse to spotlight DC’s premier superhero team, which set the standard for super teams in comics by bringing together DC’s most powerful heroes.

“Secret Origins”

Air Date: 17 November 2001
Director: Dan Riba and Butch Lukic
Original Network: Cartoon Network
Stars: George Newbern, Kevin Conroy, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Michael Rosenbaum, Maria Canals-Barrera, Carl Lumbly, and Kevin Michael Richardson

The Background:
In 1992, hot off the success of Tim Burton’s gothic Batman movies, Bruce Timm and Paul Dini produced one of the most lauded cartoons of an entire generation with Batman: The Animated Series (1992 to 1995). The award-winning animated series was soon accompanied by one of the greatest adaptations of Clark Kent/Superman’s adventures, and it wasn’t long after that The New Batman Adventures (1997 to 1999) and Superman: The Animated Series (1996 to 2000) were crossing over. Superman also introduced a number of additional superheroes into the celebrated DC Animated Universe (DCAU), colourful faces familiar to comics readers who would be pushed to the forefront when Dini and Timm collaborated on the illustrious Justice League animated series (2001 to 2004). The late, great Kevin Conroy (for many the definitive Bruce Wayne/Batman) returned to voice the Dark Knight, though George Newbern replaced Tim Daly as the Man of Steel, and the show came to define the values and appeal of the titular team. Starting with a bang with a three-episode arc that was later collected as a feature-length presentation, Justice League expanded its lore and roster evermore in its sister-series and has been widely praised for its mature themes, relatable characters, and for setting a new standard for animated adaptations, to the point that DC’s later animated ventures are often directly compared to the DCAU.

The Plot:
When the alien invaders who decimated Mars attack the Earth, the planet’s greatest superheroes are called together for the first time by Martian survivor J’onn J’onnz (Lumbly) to combat the threat.

The Review:
The DCAU started as a very grounded affair. Batman: The Animated Series largely stuck to street-level or city-wide disturbances, focusing on Batman villains who were crazed, yes, but largely human. There were obviously exceptions, but things rarely got too fantastical. That changed when Superman: The Animated Series was confirmed to take place in the same continuity; suddenly, Batman existed alongside aliens, magic, and other supernatural threats far beyond his mortal limits. Yet, even then, Superman: The Animated Series focused more on the titular Man of Steel and his exploits; when costumed heroes did appear, it was more of a spotlight or a cameo, a glimpse into an even bigger world. I say all this as “Secret Origins” wisely starts off from Batman’s perspective, with him investigating a series security breaches in WayneTech’s global deep space monitoring network and finding the culprits are guilty of more than simple corporate espionage. Confronting the facility staff as they attach an alien device to a satellite dish, Batman is stunned to find the employees not only speaking an alien language but exhibiting superhuman strength and an unnerving ability to reconstitute broken limbs. Stubborn as ever, Batman refuses Superman’s help when he stops by, only to end up aiding the Man of Steel when he’s half-crippled by what appears to be a psychic attack. Though Batman scoffs at the idea of calling for Superman’s help with his signal watch, he pockets the device and continues his investigation over the next six months, undeterred despite his enemy being far outside of his weight class. However, when checking out a Metropolis warehouse, Batman discovers more scientists, this time encased in disgusting, egg-like pods, held in stasis so the alien invaders can better assume their identities. When he’s attacked by an alien guard dog, Batman’s forced to signal Superman for help but even the Man of Steel is seemingly powerless when a series of meteors crash to Earth and birth gigantic, tripod-like alien walkers that decimate the world’s major cities.

When invaders attack, Earth’s heroes are forced to work together (and with J’onn) to fight back.

Despite throwing his best punches, Superman barely slows the destructive walkers, but another psychic barrage clues him in on the key to fending off the invaders. Closely followed by Batman, who’s no match even in his kitted-out Batplane, the World’s Finest find a strange alien humanoid held in captivity in an alien base. Freeing the visitor, they learn that he is J’onn J’onnz, the last survivor of Mars, and that he was attempting to communicate to Superman on a mental level. Though naturally distrustful, even after J’onn assumes a more human guise, Batman listens intently as J’onn relates how the once-peaceful Martian civilization was decimated by the relentless, gloop-like invaders. They destroyed all trace of J’onn’s people, committing mass genocide and even stealing their shape-shifting powers, and were only stopped when J’onn himself led a final, desperate attack on their underground stronghold and paralysed them with a nerve gas. Though he sealed the invaders away and kept watch for 500 years, J’onn was in a hibernation cycle when two astronauts accidentally opened the tomb, reawakening the invaders and turning their aggression towards Earth. Desperate to ensure that another civilisation doesn’t suffer as his did, J’onn escaped and tried to warn the Earth, only to be captured and studied. Luckily, he retained enough of his power to call out not just to Superman, but to Wally West/The Flash (Rosenbaum), John Stewart/Green Lantern (LaMarr), and Shayera Hol/Hawkgirl (Canals-Barrera), who all join the fight and take down a contingent of the alien walkers. Their efforts are further aided by Princess Diana of Themyscira/Wonder Woman (Eisenberg), a “rookie” hero (as John puts it) who abandons her island paradise to aid mankind. Though new to the hero game, Wonder Woman makes an immediate impression, deflecting incoming fire with her wrist guards and showcasing superhuman strength and flight, aiding Hawkgirl and taking down the walkers as forcefully as Superman. Still, distrust is rife amongst the fledgling Justice League; not only are they wary of J’onn but Diana’s expertise is called into question, and the group initially struggles to gel. John immediately takes charge, barking orders and dividing the group into teams to gain intel on the walkers, only to be lumbered with the childish Flash and left chastising Wally for his reckless nature. Such recklessness is echoed in both Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman, whose first instinct is to fight and cause them to blindly charge into ambushes and traps as a result. Superman is constantly trying to help everyone and therefore lets his guard down. Apparently somewhat complacent since he’s largely invulnerable, Superman’s easily subdued by the invaders’ powerful tech.

The fledgling Justice League ultimately triumph over the invaders and become a cohesive unit.

Although they’re unsure about J’onn, he proves to be dependable and is extremely capable in a fight. Boasting psychic powers, he can also fly, turn invisible and intangible, and exhibits superhuman strength on par with his peers. He also holds the key to shutting down one of the invaders’ drilling facility, working alongside Wonder Woman and Batman to steal the ion crystal, only for Batman to be left behind and seemingly gunned down. As the only member of the team without superpowers, Batman is at a physical disadvantage, but he does his best. He has his toys, of course, but his greatest asset is his mind. He colludes with J’onn to fake his death, an act that galvanises the team to work harder in rescuing Superman and Hawkgirl, and which deceives the invaders and their overseer, the Imperium (Richardson), a Lovecraftian, tentacled nightmare that delights in torturing J’onn before his newfound allies. The Imperium realises all-too late that Batman has survived as the Dark Knight sabotages the ion crystal, reversing its polarity and dispelling the polluting cloud that’s blanketed the Earth since the invaders arrived. It’s also Batman who deduces that the invaders are vulnerable to sunlight, a weakness the team quickly takes advantage of by ripping holes in the alien craft, killing the creatures without a second’s hesitation. Though they have no name, the alien invaders are a formidable force; they use shape-shifting abilities stolen from the Martians to impersonate public figures and even the heroes, laying the groundwork for their forces to arrive. They also wield laser blasters and are fully malleable, pulling themselves back together or reforming after taking damage. Most notably, they attack humanity using tripod-like walkers ripped right out of The War of the Worlds (Wells, 1898) just as the Imperium’s arrival is ripped from Independence Day (Emmerich, 1996). Their numbers and advanced alien tech make them more than a match for each of the team individually, even overpowered members like Superman and J’onn, but, once the disparate heroes start working together, the invaders are summarily driven off and Earth gains a powerful group of protectors.

The Summary:
“Secret Origins” has quite a mountain to climb. Sure, while DCAU viewers would’ve been well acquainted with Batman and Superman and have some knowledge of the Flash and the Green Lantern Corps, Wally, John, Shayera, and Diana are essentially brand-new characters in this sprawling continuity. Rather than spending time delving into the background of each of these new heroes, “Secret Origins” spends more time focusing on introducing J’onn and Wonder Woman, assuming the audiences will remember lore about the Flash and the Green Lantern Corps from Superman: The Animated Series and simply dropping Hawkgirl in our laps. I think this was a good approach; I liked that the first part was essentially another Batman/Superman team-up as it showcased neither man could fight off the invaders alone and that the two together wouldn’t be enough, either. This greatly aided in establishing the invaders as a true threat; they easily manhandled Batman, forcing him to ask Superman for aid, and Superman was distracted by J’onn’s attempts to communicate and unprepared to face a physical challenge. J’onn is depicted as a suitably tragic figure, one who’s seen his whole world die at the hands of these invaders and who is determined to prevent it happening again. J’onn even apologises for humanity’s violent nature and defends the very people who treated him so poorly when he arrived. He finds a kindred spirit in Superman and a surrogate family in the Justice League, who eventually accept him as one of them through his courageous actions. This arc is echoed in Wonder Woman, who renounces her place in paradise out of curiosity to explore “Man’s World” and a sense of duty to defend the planet from its aggressors. However, as she’s new to the superhero lark, she’s initially treated with contempt by the strait-laced John Stewart. A gruff military man who focuses solely on the job, John has no time for the Flash’s games and is dismissive of Diana for being a “rookie”. The others are much more accepting and even John is turned around after seeing the fantastic abilities Wonder Woman brings to the table.

Heroes old and new must learn to fight together to defend the Earth.

The dynamic between the fledgling Justice League is at the forefront of “Secret Origins”. J’onn calls them together to defend the planet but none of them have any experience working together. Sure, Batman and Superman have teamed up, but they didn’t exactly like it or make a habit of it. Indeed, the only one with a sense of teamwork is John and even he’s bad at it, ordering the heroes around like he’s king shit and simply expecting them to fall in line or work together without laying the groundwork first. Egos and personalities clash throughout, with Batman being his usual pig-headed self, Hawkgirl charging into conflict, and the Flash toying with his foes, seemingly oblivious to the stakes. Even Superman struggles with the team dynamic, feeling obligated to help everyone and being blindsided as a result, and consequently sees the value in bringing the team together as a permanent fixture. Superman’s focus is on solving all the world’s problems, so much so that he doesn’t even suspect he’s being manipulated by the invaders to weaken Earth’s defences. The invaders are relentless and extremely aggressive, laying waste to cities with little resistance, but are both formidable and extremely vulnerable. Even Batman takes them out with enough effort and their machines are brought down by the heroes, but their sheer numbers and tenacity mean they can easily subdue even the Justice League. It isn’t until they underestimate Batman and their weakness is exposed that they show any signs of fear, with the Imperium desperately fleeing once its exposed to sunlight, only for Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl to violently bring down its escape craft and send the rest of its kind scurrying back to the depths of space. Again, it’s a very War of the Worlds-like ending and perhaps a little too contrived and nonsensical for the invaders to have such a glaring weakness, but it’s used to emphasise the team coming together as a unified force, so I’ll allow it. Ultimately this was a great introduction to the DCAU Justice League. “Secret Origins” established their different and conflicting personalities and how their various powers and abilities will work going forward, emphasising that they all have a part to play, and showed that there are some threats that require a whole group of special heroes to oppose it.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

What did you think to “Secret Origins”? Did you enjoy seeing these heroes come together? What did you think to threat they faced? Would you have liked to get a little more insight into the Flash and Hawkgirl? Are you a fan of J’onn J’onnz? What are some of your favourite Justice League episodes? Feel free to use the comment section below to share your opinions and be sure to check out my other Justice League content across the site.

Back Issues [Superman Day]: Action Comics #23 / Adventure Comics #271

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In 2013, DC Comics declared the 12th of June as “Superman Day”, a day for fans of the Man of Steel the world over to celebrate Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, the superpowered virtue of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” who is widely regarded as the first ever costumed superhero.

Story Title: “Europe at War (Part II)””
Published: April 1940
Writer: Jerry Siegel (credited as “Jerome Siegel”)
Artist: Joe Shuster

Story Title: “How Luthor Met Superboy!”
Published: April 1960
Writer: Jerry Siegel (credited as “Jerome Siegel”)
Artist: Al Plastino

The Background:
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, sons of Jewish immigrants, first met in 1932 at Glenville High School. By the time they were sixteen, they were already accomplished comics creators and, in 1933, they thought up their first concept for a superman with “The Reign of the Super-Man”. This story depicted a bald mad scientist who attempted to dominate others with his telepathic powers. Though a far cry from the most influential fictional character in American history, the duo would revisit the concept of a bald mad scientist in 1940. Originally known only as “Luthor”, Alexander “Lex” Luthor would evolve beyond his relatively childish reasons for hating the Man of Steel and become Superman’s arch-nemesis. While Kryptonite might weaken or kill Superman, Doomsday and Darkseid might pummel him, and Vril Dox/Brainiac might threaten his adopted world, Lex Luthor has become infamous for pitting his mind against the Man of Steel. Whether a scheming industrialist with seemingly unlimited resources, an egomaniacal megalomaniac, or enjoying the power of the United States Presidency, Luthor has created robots, patsies, mech suits, and even cheated death itself and had a brief stint as a superhero, all with the aim of acquiring the power to either humble, humiliate, or destroy his alien foe. As Superman’s most complex and enduring villain, Lex Luthor is a staple of any Superman adaptation. Clancy Brown and Michael Rosenbaum are considered two of the finest to portray the character, though it was Gene Hackman who set a high standard for all future portrayals of DC Comics’ most conniving criminal mastermind.

The Review:
The first appearance of a dangerous maniac named Luthor occurred in the second part of the “Europe at War” storyline. As established in the previous issue, the “lesser nation” of Galonia was suddenly attacked by Toran and reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane were sent to cover the conflict as war correspondents. While sailing to Luxor, Clark was stunned to find beautiful actress Lita Laverne was a spy working alongside the Toranian Council of War to target the neutral vessel. Action Comics #23 picks up with the Man of Steel defending Belgaria from incoming shells before he (as Clark) and Lois meet with bald General Lupo, who’s confident that the war will end soon as a contingent of Toran officials are on their way to peacefully negotiate. Clark switches to Superman and flies ahead to take some photos of their arrival, only to witness the convoy be destroyed, which causes hostilities to renew. After sending an update to the Daily Star, Clark questions General Lupo, who insists that the Galonians would never be so deceitful, only to then make a suspicious phone call, completely unaware of Clark’s super-hearing. Suspicious, Superman trails General Lupo to a mountain range, where he disappears into thin air! Using his incredible strength, Superman rips open the mountainside and discovers a hidden passageway, where General Lupo is transfixed by a huge slab of rock, which bursts into hypnotic lights and a commanding face. General Lupo is astonished when Superman confronts him and, though he fears his disembodied master, desperately begs off being smushed against a wall and reveals that the mysterious “Luthor” is orchestrating events to engulf both nations in bloody warfare. 

Superman is perplexed by the mysterious Luthor, who plots to take over the word through chaos.

However, when Superman demands to know who “Luthor” is, green lasers suddenly burst from the wall-face and “[slice] the General in half”! Naturally, Superman is immune to the attack; he destroys the cave and escapes just in time to spy Luthor’s bombers flying overhead. He then destroys them all using his super strength and a mounted gun before warning both sides (as Clark) about Luthor’s machination. Although they don’t believe him since he has no proof, this brings him to Luthor’s attention, who orders Clark eliminated to keep him from talking. Conveniently, Lois happens to be looking for Clark in his hotel room, so Luthor’s minions grab her instead, transporting her to Luthor’s secret base, which is suspended from a gigantic dirigible “high above” Earth’s atmosphere! Although unimpressed that his goons failed him so badly, Luthor – a red-haired despot in a matching robe – nevertheless interrogates Lois, only to be met with confusion and sarcasm. While in her cell, Lois notices that her guard, a surly bald man, isn’t under Luthor’s hypnotic influence. She then threatens to expose him to Luthor unless he informs Clark about her capture and the guard is so terrified of his leader’s reprisals that he readily agrees. After reading the note, Clark flies into action as Superman, takes out a couple of guards, and bursts through a brick wall to rescue Lois. However, when Luthor threatens to harm Lois, Superman readily submits to parlay with the maniac, who describes himself as having the “brain of a super-genius” and plans to use his “scientific miracles” to plunge the world’s nations into conflict, weakening them so that he can assume control.

Superman is revealed to have known Luthor as a youth when he adventured as Superboy.

Luthor demonstrates his ability by strapping Superman up and bombarding him with an intense concentration of rays. However, Luthor grows tired of this and prepares to finish Superman off with a burst of deadly exposure, only for Superman to suddenly break free, turn the machine against Luthor’s underlings, shrug off its effects, and destroy the machine. After unsuccessfully trying to barter for his life, Luthor is equally unable to keep Superman from trashing the dirigible’s controls, sending it (and, presumably, all its inhabitants) crashing to the ground in a fiery blaze. The sight of the dirigible’s destruction is enough proof for the nation’s representatives to believe Clark’s story and the conflict comes to a peaceful resolution, with Clark praised for breaking the scoop and Lois eagerly awaiting her next encounter with the dashing Superman. Although Superman clashed with Luthor many times after this, it would take nearly twenty years to delve into Luthor’s origins, a story that took place during Superman’s youth in Smallville, Kansas, as Superboy. In this story, the young Lex Luthor has just moved to Smallville and, being the friendly youth that he is, Superboy flies in to say hello. Conveniently, a Kryptonite meteor lands right next to the Boy of Steel and immediately begins weakening him. Luckily, Luthor and his trusty tractor are on hand to save Superboy and the two quickly become friends. Luthor is a Superboy fanboy, as evidenced by his shrine to the young superhero, and a budding scientist, with ambitions to become a world-famous scientist. In gratitude for his help, Superboy builds a modern laboratory for his new friend using nothing by junk metal and his super speed and strength, which he fills with rare Earth materials for Luthor to experiment with. Although Superboy expresses caution since the chemicals are unknown and Luthor’s young and inexperienced, Luthor promises to be careful and the two part as friends, with Superboy owing his life to Lex and Luthor astounded to have befriended the Boy of Steel. Luthor wastes no time in getting to work, feverishly working with the chemicals over a period of weeks and producing a crude protoplasmic lifeform that he’s so excited by that he immediately sets to work coming up with a Kryptonite antidote so his new buddy won’t ever have to worry about that pesky substance threatening his health. 

Embittered after a lab accident, the once-kindly Luthor turns against his former friend.

Luthor retrieves the meteor from the lake, takes a few samples, and creates the antidote in no time at all. However, in his excitement, he accidentally knocks over a chemical flask that starts a toxic fire in his lab. Luckily, Superboy happens to be passing by and hears Luthor’s screams for help; he uses his super breath to put out the flames, accidentally blowing a jar of acid against the antidote and destroying it. To make matters worse, the gas fumes caused Luthor to go bald and destroy his weird protoplasmic creature, destroying all his hard work. And, while Superboy is apologetic and insists it was an accident, Luthor accuses him of being jealous of his genius and purposely sabotaging him, instantly flipping from a kindly boy to an embittered youth in the blink of an eye. Superboy offers to help him rediscover his experiments, and insists he’d never harm the boy who saved his life, but Luthor’s having none of it. He feigns sorrow to get rid of Superboy and then flies into a rage, destroying his Superboy memorabilia and plotting to avenge himself on the Boy of Steel with the last sliver of protoplasm. The next morning, Luthor has Superboy drink the “antidote” and then accompany him into space, protected by a space-globe Superboy brought along, to observe its effects. At first, Superboy is delighted to find he’s no longer vulnerable to the Kryptonite meteors floating around in space, completely unaware that they’re actually “Fool’s Kryptonite”, a ruse even Krypto the Superdog can see from a mile away. As soon as they return to Earth, Luthor spitefully reveals it was all a ruse and that the antidote is only temporary and vows to be more admired, and more famous, than Superboy, who flies away despondent and commenting that Luthor needs “a father’s guidance”.

When his attempts to outshine Superboy fail, Luthor resorts to attempted murder.

Some weeks later, Luthor approaches Smallville’s mayor with a fantastic invention, a weather-tower to keep the town perpetually warm by reflecting the sun’s rays, and the mayor is so impressed by his pitch that he approves it immediately. Both Superboy and the townsfolk are in awe and admiration of Luthor’s ingenious invention, which spares them the bitter chill of winter, and Superboy quietly wishes his former friend all the success in the world, harbouring no ill-will towards him. However, young Clark is alarmed when he notices that his adopted parents – Jonathan and Martha Kent – suffer from the intense heat. He’s even more startled when he sees the weather-tower is causing fires to break out all over the town, endangering its people, so he uses his freeze breath to cool the construction down, which effectively destroys it. Smallville’s populace are less than thrilled and openly mock Luthor in the street for putting their lives at risk with his crazy inventions, which he bitterly blames on Superboy. To atone, Luthor toils away for many months and produces seeds that promise to near-instantly produce fruit trees for the local farmers; although people are sceptical, they’re astounded when Luthor’s claims come true, but their elation soon turns to horror when simple rain turns the trees into marauding giants! Superboy deals with the issue, chalking it up to carelessness on Luthor’s part rather than maliciousness, but Luthor’s reputation is further tarnished and his hatred for Superboy only grows. This sees him unearth the Kryptonite meteor and lure the Boy of Steel into a trap and taunt the dying Superboy with the only antidote to his slow, painful death. In his arrogance, Luthor fails to remember Superboy’s super-breath, which allows him to suck up the antidote vial and save his own life, but Superboy chooses to consider them even rather than acquiesce to Luthor’s demands to be arrested. Out of respect for the friendship they once had and believing that Luthor could be a force for good, Superboy lets Luthor go, with the obsessed youth swearing to not only surpass the Boy of Steel’s popularity but destroy him in the process! 

The Summary:
Let’s tackle each story in turn here, shall we? “Europe at War (Part II)” is a typically Golden Age Superman story, featuring simplistic dialogue, illustrations, and concepts. Part of me enjoys this simpler time, when fantastical things were just taken as the norm and superhero plots were both grounded and almost comical in their content, such as Superman threatening to bash General Lupo against a rock wall and presumably casually murdering countless of Luthor’s minions. It’s amusing to read as I find myself questioning why Clark warned of Luthor’s threat in his civilian guise, rather than as Superman, and seeing him use a machine gun rather than his heat vision since he didn’t have his full gamut of powers at that point. The core concept of “Europe at War (Part II)” actually has some legs to it: two nations being manipulated into all-out war with spies, heroes, and villains on both sides, and the mysterious Luthor pulling the strings behind the scenes and offering a challenge Superman can’t settle with his fists since he needs to get to the root of the problem. Unfortunately, a lot of its concepts are left ambiguous or flat-out forgotten; apparently, Luthor can hypnotise people into following his every command, yet he only demonstrates this power once and doesn’t think to use it on Lois or Superman (or the nation’s leaders). Not to mention that Luthor’s secret base is an elaborate castle suspended from a dirigible, but no one noticed it, and why was that one bald guard immune to Luthor’s control? It’s not explained, but the number of prominent bald henchmen at Luthor’s command makes me wonder if that particular guard was actually the real Luthor and the red-haired leader was merely a patsy. 

Neither story provides a particularly engrossing or accurate portrayal of Luthor.

And then we have “How Luthor Met Superboy”, a story that’s more influential than you think since it’s basically the inspiration for the entire series of Smallville (2001 to 2011). This is such a weird story that it almost reads like an elaborate dream sequence or fantasy story that recasts Superboy and Luthor as the best of friends thanks to a ridiculously convenient Kryptonite meteor (and don’t even get me started on the influx of similar meteors in near-Earth space!) People often criticise Superman for being infallible and unrelatable, but Superboy is the kindest, most trusting, and most understanding youth you’ll ever meet! He sees the best in Luthor all throughout the story, never once saying or thinking a bad word against him until he (as in Superboy) is dying at the young scientist’s feet and even then Superboy’s first act after saving himself is to forgive his former friend and hope that he turns his obsession to good deeds. It almost descends into parody as the story progresses, with Superboy genuinely believing that Luthor is trying to do good and has met with misfortune, and Luthor equally refusing to even think that he could be to blame for anything since he’s so embittered towards Superboy. It’s so strange seeing Luthor flip from a kindly boy to a venge-seeking maniac after the fire. Like, I get being mad at losing all your work and your hair but it’s a bit of a leap to blame Superboy. I think the implication is that the strange chemicals and toxic fumes altered Luthor’s mind in some way, though that’s not really explicitly stated (or even implied in the story text), but I think Luthor’s elaborate plot to cruelly taunt Superboy with the promise of a Kryptonite cure and to oust his popularity, to say nothing of his quick temper following the accident, go a long way towards suggesting that. 

Though amusing footnotes, both stories are fantastical nonsense unbecoming of Luthor.

Truthfully, neither story really gives the best impression of Luthor. It can be argued that the “Luthor” present in “Europe at War (Part II)” isn’t even Lex Luthor since he has hair, for one thing, and possesses hypnotic abilities. Sure, it could be a wig and his scientific acumen could account for the hypnosis and other inconsistencies, but he doesn’t really exude “Lex Luthor” energy and seems to simply be a maniacal, supervillain-esque third party for Superman to flex his muscles against once he stops his elaborate plot. “How Luthor Met Superboy” tries to flesh out Luthor’s character by providing him with a semi-sympathetic backstory and emotional connection to his hated nemesis, but ultimately reads like a non-canon adventure as I’m pretty sure no stories prior to his every hinted at the two knowing each other as youths. It is interesting seeing Luthor as an arrogant young scientist who idolises Superboy and is inspired to be a great scientist because of the Boy of Steel, it’s just a shame that the execution falters. Ultimately, Luthor’s hatred comes from losing his hair, rather than genuinely building towards a resentment towards Superboy or Luthor’s ego getting the better of him. Like, what was up with that protoplasmic creature? That could’ve factored into things, showing that Luthor is messing with things he doesn’t understand and his inability to recognise his limits and failings. Like, I would’ve maybe had Luthor build his weather-tower and plant those seeds before he loses his hair, so that when they go bad and Superboy has to intervene it adds to his growing bitterness towards Superboy for “stealing his thunder”. In the end, both stories can be largely ignored in the grand scheme of things and you wouldn’t be missing anything. They’re historical footnotes and amusing curios in Lex Luthor’s history, but you can simply skip to stories like “The Man of Steel” (Byrne, et al, 1986), “Birthright” (Waid, et al, 2003 to 2004), “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel” (Azzarello, et al, 2005), or “Secret Origin” (Johns, et al, 2009 to 2010) for better, more concise, and more in-depth explorations of Luthor and his complex relationship with Superman. 

Action Comics #23 Rating:

Adventure Comics #271 Rating:

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Terrible

Could Be Better

Have you ever read these Luthor-centric stories? Do you like the idea of the two having been childhood friends? What are some of your favourite Luthor moments and stories? How are you celebrating Superman Day today? Whatever you think, feel free to share your opinion and thoughts on Superman in the comments below.

Back Issues [JLA Day]: Justice League of America #9

Dr. K2 Comments

To celebrate the release of Justice League (Snyder/Whedon, 2017), DC Comics named November 18 “Justice League Day”. Setting aside all the drama surrounding that movie, this provides a perfect excuse to spotlight DC’s premier superhero team, which set the standard for super teams in comics by bringing together DC’s most powerful heroes.

Story Title: “The Origin of the Justice League”
Published: February 1962
Writer: Gardner Fox
Artist: Mike Sekowsky

The Background:
All Star Comics (1940/1941) brought together eight superheroes from different publishers for the first time, birthing not just the Justice Society of America (JSA) but also the first ever superhero team in comics, allowing readers to see their favourite characters interacting all for the same price as any one comic. The JSA’s roster expanded and changed over the years but the team underwent their most significant change in the late-1950s when then-editor Julius Schwartz tasked writer Gardner Fox with reintroducing and rebranding the team as the Justice League of America (JLA) to capitalise on the popularity of the American Football League and Major League Baseball’s National League. The Clark Kent/Superman, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Barry Allan/The Flash, and J’onn J’onzz (or “John Jones”)/Martian Manhunter debuted as the JLA in The Brave and the Bold #28, a title famous for featuring superhero team-ups. However, the team’s actual origin wasn’t revealed until this issue of their self-titled series, which became one of DC Comic’s best-selling titles. Over time, the JLA’s roster has also changed and many splinter groups and spin-offs have been introduced, but perhaps there is no more iconic line-up than this original roster of DC’s heavy-hitters.

The Review:
I was going to open this review by saying how odd it was that the Justice League’s debut story wasn’t actually a bumper tale about how these seven characters first came together, but quite a few first appearances of famous comic book teams and characters simply started with them already in their superhero role or somewhat established as a team, so I guess it wasn’t completely against the norm. “The Origin of the Justice League” gets off to a rocky start with perennial hanger-on, Lucas “Snapper” Carr, racing to the Justice League’s cavernous headquarters, the Secret Sanctuary, to celebrate a birthday, though he can only imagine which member of the team is to be honoured. When he gets there, he finds Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Oliver Queen/Green Arrow in the midst of getting the place and spik-and-span for the party; there’s something a bit odd about seeing Amazonian warrior and peacekeeper Diana Prince wiping down a table like a scullery maid but it’s great to see them making Snapper do menial chores like mopping the floor and cleaning out their display cabinets since this aggravating hipster youth really isn’t fit for anything else. It doesn’t take Snapper long to get distracted, however, when he spies a display case filled with wooden splinters that is directly tied to the team’s first mission. Wonder Woman has the entire Justice League pitch in getting the Secret Sanctuary ready for their event, which is of course to celebrate the anniversary of the first time they came together, and each of Leaguers take it in turns to share the story with their overexcited mascot.

J’onn and Aquaman are the first to encounter alien beings and to be transformed into trees!

J’onn J’onnz starts things off since it was he who first discovered the threat that would unite the world’s greatest heroes. After hearing a “queer report” about people spontaneously having turned to stone, J’onn investigated and found an entire town full of people turned to stone and confronted the source of the petrification: a massive stone giant that proves impervious physical assault. Using his “Martian vision”, the Martian Manhunter learned that the giant came from the alien world Appellax and was one of seven contenders to the throne who came to Earth in a meteor storm with the goal of conquering the planet to earn the title of Emperor (or “Kalar”) of his home world. Although the giant briefly sapped J’onn’s strength after learning of his weakness to fire, J’onn easily used his “Martian breath” to suck up some water from a fire hydrant to extinguish the flames and then attacked the giant’s weak spot with his great Martian strength. With the giant rendered unconscious, his victims returned to normal and J’onn summoned the police to “take the giant into custody” (apparently leading to them smashing the alien rock monster with sledgehammers!) but was transformed into a tree when he investigated the meteor that brought the being to Earth. While swimming through the Indian ocean, Aquaman learned from a dorado of another meteor, one causing panic in the seas after spawning a strange alien creature made of glass who turned underwater life to glass. Although also turned to glass the moment he investigated, Aquaman was still able to call upon his fishy friends to attack the creature, first attempting to shatter it with brute force and then succeeding in defeating the alien by causing massive sonic vibrations. However, when learned of another meteor and raced to oppose its threat, he too was transformed into a tree.

Wonder Woman and Green Lantern overcome their limitations to defeat their alien threats.

Wonder Woman’s arrival on Themyscira was ruined by the presence of strange glittering globs all over the island that unleashed a living blob of mercury that transformed the Amazons into liquid. Calling upon Hera for strength, Wonder Woman whipped out her magical lasso to ensnare the blob-like alien; although she was unable to simply fling it into space since her strength was divided between fending off the creature’s “queer radiation”, Wonder Woman was, inexplicably, able to swing the creature around so fast that it was destroyed by the resulting friction heat. Although this caused her great strain, Wonder Woman was ultimately successful and returned her sisters to normal, but she too was turned into a twisted tree-like being when she investigated the other meteor. Around the same time, Green Lantern was returning to Earth and was startled by the sudden appearance of one of these meteors, and even more shocked when it spawned a gigantic golden bird that systematically began transforming humans and animals alike into ghastly winged creatures using a “white ray”. Since his Power Ring is useless against anything even remotely yellow, Green Lantern was powerless and being partially transformed into a bird-man himself before luring the creature into a nearby waterfall and using his Power Ring to freeze both solid. With the winged terror effectively subdued, all of its victims returned to normal and Green Lantern got them to safety but found himself becoming a gnarled tree at the same time as Wonder Woman!

The Flash and the others help to free their comrades so Wonder Woman can finish off the wood alien.

While in Europe acting as a representative to an Interpol meeting, the Flash learned of a strange meteor falling near Italy and raced out to investigate, finding a flaming humanoid creature transforming humans into similarly blazing monsters. His attempts to whip up a strong wind, douse the flaming alien with water, and snuff it out with sand were all unsuccessful, however, when the creature proved powerful enough to turn these to steam and glass. The Flash quickly discovered the solution was the same as almost every situation he ever finds himself in and he simply ran around super fast to create a vacuum that extinguished the flaming beast, returning its victims to normal, but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid becoming a tree like his fellow costumed heroes. Their great powers rendered mute and their strength inert by the meteor’s radiation, the fledgling Justice League were powerless to stop a massive wooden alien from emerging from its cocoon and compelling them to follow its bidding. Did I say powerless? Well, not quite as Aquaman (of all people) summoned the strength necessary to chip a small piece of wood from Green Lantern’s hand, exposing his Power Ring and enabling him to free J’onn’s face. J’onn then used his Martian breath to free the Flash, who then helped to free Wonder Woman, thereby allowing her to regain just enough control over themselves to easily destroy the wood-like alien by stripping it to splinters with her magical lasso.  

Superman finishes off the last alien with little to no help from the other heroes.

This wasn’t the end for the colourful heroes, however; one last meteor landed in Greenland but, when they flew over to confront the final claimant to Appellax’s throne, they found Batman and Superman already clashing with the alien, this one a jagged, slender ice being. Although the other heroes were content to leave this last alien to the World’s Finest, Superman ran into a spot of bother when the meteor turned out to be made of Kryptonite, leaving him weak and vulnerable. Although his arms and legs were rapidly turning to diamond as a result of the creature, the Batman was able to use his Batplane to get the meteor away from the Man of Steel, allowing Superman to instantly destroy the creature by using one of his many crazy super powers to turn it into harmless coal. In the aftermath, despite none of the individual heroes even remotely learning anything about working as a team or coming together to destroy a threat greater than any one of them with the exception of Batman and Superman (who had already worked together numerous times by this point), the seven superheroes agree to form a the Justice League to oppose any threats to the sanctity of peace and justice. Back in the Secret Sanctuary, Snapper is blown away by the story, and Superman’s solution to the problem; although awestruck, he wants to know even more of the team’s secrets, like how the Secret Sanctuary was built, but is content to set these questions aside and join his masked friends in celebrating their anniversary.

The Summary:
Have I mentioned how much I detest Snapper-bloody-Carr? Jeez, I mean, of all the jive talkin’, hipster teenage characters in comics from this era, he’s got to be the dirt worst. At least he’s not constantly snapping his fingers like a moron throughout this story, but the way he talks just grates on me. Did the writers really think kids would appreciate seeing a character like this mooching off their favourite superheroes? It really blows my mind to think that this was ever considered a good idea; I mean, if you want to toss in a teenager for the young ‘uns to relate to, just use Dick Grayson/Robin! Anyway, luckily, Snapper is hardly in this story and he doesn’t get to take all the glory for himself like in the Justice League’s first issue, but that doesn’t make this story any better, to be honest. Like in their first issue, the Justice League is painfully divided here, and the focus is more on the less popular superheroes, meaning Batman and Superman don’t show up until the very end. To be fair, though, I don’t actually mind this; especially in today’s world, where Batman is everywhere, on every team, all the time and massively overexposed, it’s nice to see guys like Green Lantern and the Flash get a bit more of the spotlight (Hell, all Batman does is get the Kryptonite away from Superman; he’s probably in the story less than Snapper Carr!)

The combination of Snapper, a weak threat, and lack of teamwork make for a mediocre origin story.

Unfortunately, this isn’t really a compelling origin story. The idea that these seven elemental aliens have landed on Earth and are causing havoc has a lot of potential; seven threats for seven heroes to unite against. Instead though, each threat is dealt with individually; while this does showcase the power of Wonder Woman and the extent of Aquaman’s telepathy, it’s really not a good way to justify them forming a team. The only time they even remotely do anything even slightly team-orientated is when they free each other from the wood-alien’s control; they don’t get overwhelmed and need another hero’s help and they don’t come together to face off a greater threat. They just dispose of their individual menaces, get turned into wood like idiots, and then watch on as Superman finishes off the last alien since he doesn’t need their help. How much better would it’ve been if, say, one alien was boiling or freezing the sea, so the Flash had to use friction to help out Aquaman? Or if Wonder Woman had to bail out Green Lantern after his Power Ring proved useless? Or if J’onn faced the fire alien and Aquaman helped him out with water? The primary appeal of this story is paying the same price you would for a solo book and seeing seven superheroes in action, but the action and narrative really isn’t all the compelling; the aliens have no personalities or characterisations or motivations beyond this throwaway desire to rule the world, and they’re all pretty weak. The wood one is built up as this major threat, but it’s disposed of pretty easily, and the ice/diamond one is similarly undone in the blink of an eye by Superman. Honestly, I feel like Starro the Conqueror was a far more credible and League-worthy threat and, if you recall from my review of that story, he was basically a joke as well, meaning I can’t really take this menace that seriously or find the idea that these heroes would ever want to form a team after this lacklustre experience.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

What did you think to the JLA’s origin story? Were you satisfied with the explanation of how the seven came together or, like me, did you find the threat and motivation incredibly weak? What did you think to the aliens the heroes faced off with and would you have liked to see the heroes interacting a little more? Are you a fan of Snapper Car and, if so, why? Which era or incarnation of the JLA is your favourite and what are some of your favourite JLA stories? Who would you like to see in the JLA some day? How are you celebrating Justice League Day this year? Whatever your thoughts on the JLA, feel free to share them below or join the discussion on my social media.

Movie Night [Superman Month]: Man of Steel

Dr. K15 Comments

In 2013, DC Comics declared the 12th of June as “Superman Day”, a day for fans of the Man of Steel the world over to celebrate Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, the superpowered virtue of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” who is widely regarded as the first ever costumed superhero. This year, I expanded Superman Day to “Superman Month“ and have been spending every Monday of June celebrating the Man of Steel.

This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
If you’d like to support the site, you can do so at my Ko-Fi page.

Released: 14 June 2013
Director: Zack Snyder
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $255 to 258 million
Stars: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Antje Traue, and Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner

The Plot:
Just before the planet Krypton is destroyed, scientist Jor-El (Crowe) sends his young son to Earth. Raised by a kindly couple, Clark Kent (Cavill) hides his superhuman powers from the world but, when he discovers the truth of his alien heritage, he finally assumes the mantle of Earth’s greatest protector, Superman, just in time to defend his adopted home world from the maniacal General Zod (Shannon), a Kryptonian warrior seeking to terraform Earth into a new Krypton!

The Background:
For Superman’s big-screen feature back in 1978, producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind and Pierre Spengler initially convinced Warner Bros. to produce a two-part film, a decision which led to both financial and creative issues as director Richard Donner frequently clashed with the producers. Still, Superman (Donner, 1978) was a critical and commercial success and, despite all the behind the scenes drama, Superman II (Lester, 1980) was equally successful, but things quickly took a nose dive, despite Christopher Reeve’s iconic portrayal of the character, and Superman was absent from cinema screens for nearly twenty years. After numerous abortive and attempts to bring the Man of Steel back, director Bryan Singer attempt to recapture the magic of Richard Donner’s original film with Superman Returns (Singer, 2006) but, despite making $391.1 million at the box office, the film was maligned by critics and derailed plans for a sequel. Two years later, Warner Bros turned to notable Superman writers like Grant Morrison and Mark Waid to consider options for a reboot and, after settling a lawsuit, brought in writer David S. Goyer and director/producer Christopher Nolan to collaborate on a new Superman movie following their success with the Dark Knight trilogy (Nolan, 2005 to 2012). After Nolan won the studio over with his pitch to completely reboot the franchise in a similarly grounded way, director Zack Snyder was brought in to helm the project, and he immediately set about redesigning the character’s iconic costume with a slick, modern aesthetic that owed a lot to his Kryptonian heritage. British actor Henry Cavill finally won the chance to take on the role after having lost out to it before and underwent rigorous physical training to prepare for the role, while veteran actors Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe were cast to portray Superman’s two fathers who would raise the ethical and moral quandaries faced by the character. Weta Digital, MPC, and Double Negative created the film’s extensive visual effects, which were bolstered by documentary-style filmmaking techniques, infused Krypton with a whole new liquid geometry and alien landscape, and aimed to bring a real physical weight to the flying and fight scenes. Man of Steel was a massive success at the box office, where it made nearly $670 million, but reviews were somewhat mixed; while the action and performances were praised, critics questioned Superman’s characterisation, the widespread death and destruction, the Superman’s execution of General Zod. Regardless, Man of Steel was the start to the rocky and needlessly complicated DC Extended Universe (DCEU); it was followed by the divisive (to say the least) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Snyder, 2016) and a Justice League team-up that was fraught with its own issues, and both fans and Cavill were left salivating for another solo film for the titular superhero.

The Review:
Those who’ve read my reviews of the Richard Donner/Christopher Reeve films, and Superman Returns, will know that my relationship with those movies is a contentious one. While Reeve was undoubtably iconic in the role, and the first two films not only helped establish Superman in the eyes of the general audience but influenced comic books and their adaptations for decades, I also grew up reading the Post-Crisis version of Superman as written by John Byrne and firmly believed that the character had significantly changed since his wacky Pre-Crisis days. In the comics I read, Clark Kent wasn’t some bumbling reporter, Lois Lane wasn’t an obsessed stalker, and Superman was a relatable and at times vulnerable character; he got married, died and came back, and, crucially, had a humanity at the heart of his character and was far less God-like than in the sixties and seventies. Consequently, I was quite excited to see a new version of the character brought to the big screen, with a revised origin and no ties to the films that had come before it. I believe this is the route Warner Bros. should have taken with Superman Returns and, if they had, the nature of the DCEU could be quite different today. I was doubly excited since the studio not only had Christopher Nolan onboard as a producer but brought in Zack Snyder, who had impressed me with his visuals and brutal action-orientated storytelling in 300 (Snyder, 2006) and Watchmen (ibid, 2009), and even roped in Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe in pivotal roles.

Amidst a chaotic opening, Jor-El is able to spirit his infant son to safety before Krypton is destroyed.

As is tradition at this point, Man of Steel opens on Krypton, a world decidedly different from what we’ve seen onscreen and in the comics before. While many interpretations of Krypton like to draw upon Donner’s cold, crystalline wasteland, Man of Steel presents a vast alien world whose technology is based around a sort of fluid nanotech, genetic engineering, and artificial intelligence. The landscape is also much more alive and vibrant, with massive creatures roaming the ground and the skies, other planets dominating the horizon, and a tint of copper red/orange applied to the world, whose architecture is a curious mixture of almost Aztec-like structures and advanced anti-gravity technology. In this version of events, Krypton is quite the lackadaisical race; having grown weary of colonising other worlds, they’ve allowed themselves to become somewhat stagnant on their home world. Their society is comprised of genetically engineered individuals pre-programmed into specific roles, such as warriors, scientists, and politicians, and thus the infant Kal-El is the first natural birth in centauries. However, their hubris remains as steadfast as ever and they ignore Jor-El’s warnings that the planet’s core is quickly destabilising after (presumably) decades of mining it following an energy crisis. Realising the planet is doomed, Jor-El pleads with the Kryptonian Council to allow him access to the “Codex”, a complete record of their society and genetic history, in order to ensure that a new generation of Kryptonians survives the calamity, but his demands are quickly interrupted by a coup d’état led by General Zod, who disposes the council and causes the planet to erupt in all-out war despite the looming danger. Consequently, Man of Steel has an extremely chaotic opening where we’re bombarded with information and explosive visuals; Kal-El is born, Krypton is said to be close to destruction, war breaks out!, Kal-El is imbued with the vaguely-defined Codex and rocketed to safety, Zod kills Jor-El before his insurrection is quashed and is banished to the Phantom Zone alongside his cohorts, and then the planet explodes all within the first twenty minutes! While this is clearly important to give us a glimpse of Kryptonian society and the sacrifices his parents made, and absolutely a narrative device used in Superman media time and time again, I can’t help but feel like the opening could have been trimmed down a little and scattered throughout the film, especially as Jor-El’s holographic interface later gives Clark the rundown on these events, and Zod also relates things from his perspective, meaning we essentially learn the same information twice.

Having struggled with his powers, and guilt over his father’s death, Clark with his place in the world.

This bombastic and visual cacophony then gives way to a much more nuanced, grounded, and undeniably Nolan-influenced portion of the film where we jump ahead some thirty years to find the now grown-up Kal-El travelling Earth as Clark Kent and trying to get a better understanding of himself and the nature of humanity in order to figure out how best to utilise the fantastic abilities afforded him by our yellow sun. This narrative device makes far better use of the film’s run time to parallel Clark’s journey as an adult with his childhood growing up in Smallville, Kansas, where young Clark (Cooper Timberline and Dylan Sprayberry) was initially overwhelmed with his developing abilities, which cause him pain, discomfort, and fear and are framed very much as an allegory for puberty. Clark’s superhearing and x-ray vision are depicted as being harrowing for the young boy, who has a full-blown panic before his kindly adopted mother, Martha Kent (Diane Lane), helps him to focus himself, to block out the noise and the visions that plague him, and to master his abilities. As he grows older, he comes to resent having to hold himself back and to hide his powers, which very much sets up an ongoing moral conflict within the film. Indeed, his adopted father, Jonathan Kent (Costner), even suggests that he should have let a busload of his classmates drown rather than risk revealing himself since he’s of the firm belief that the world isn’t ready to accept the truth of what he is. However, Jonathan and Jor-El both believe that Clark, and his gifts, have world-changing implications; his presence will inspire both fear and hope, reverence and hostility, as humankind realises that they’re not alone in the universe and that their world has been forever changed. Jonathan recognises that this is not only a huge burden but will result in Clark being viewed as something other than human, whether for good or ill, and just wants his son to be prepared to either face up to this great destiny or to walk away from it without regret. Clark’s fear and confusion eventually turn into resentment and adolescent rage as he grows older and becomes tired of having to hide himself and lashes out at Jonathan without thinking, only to have to watch, helplessly, as his adopted father is swept away by a tornado since he was forbidden to act and expose himself before he was ready. While this death is overly dramatic and lacks the subtle nuance of Jonathan succumbing to a simple heart attack thus teaching Clark that even he cannot stop nature, it does result in him being so guilt-ridden that he travels the world to try and find himself and learn how best to honour his father.

Lois is integral to Clark’s decision to reveal himself as Superman and is at the forefront of the chaos.

By the time he’s an adult, Clark has experienced much of the conflicting nature of humanity; there are bullies and assholes but also those who will go out of their way to save others, proving that humankind has a spark of decency buried deep beneath the conflict. When he discovers the Kryptonian scout ship and meets the holographic representation of his birth father, Clark learns of his true heritage and the reason for his existence and finally discovers the means to reconcile the conflict within him. Donning an absolutely glorious alien suit and flowing cape, and inspired by both his fathers, Clark finds he has only begun to realise the true extent of his abilities as he defies Earth’s gravity, clearly basking in the feelings of liberation brought not only from flying through the air but from finally accepting his birthright. Clark is shown to have always had a strong relationship with Martha, who only ever showed him love and affection and tried to help him to focus his abilities. While both her and Jonathan loved him unconditionally, their methods at helping him through his adolescence and his burgeoning powers differed somewhat, as she was perfectly happy to just let him grow up, fully confident that he’d make the right decisions, whereas Jonathan continually went out of his way to stress that Clark is there for a reason and has a greater destiny. After Jonathan’s death, Clark’s bond with Martha grows even stronger, partially due to his guilt but also because she’s all that he has left and he flies into a rage when her life is threatened by Zod and his cronies later in the film. Of course, intrepid reporter Lois Lane (Adams) remains a central influence in Clark’s decision to embrace his destiny and put his powers to good use; depicted as a strong-willed, curious, and empathetic woman, Lois is a fearless reporter who doesn’t hesitate to put herself in harm’s way, or the most extreme environments, in order to get a good story. When she learns that a centuries-old Kryptonian scout ship has been located in the Canadian Arctic, she doesn’t hesitate to head out there, immediately establish herself as a woman of some fortitude before the somewhat disapproving Colonel Nathan Hardy/Guardian (Meloni), and even brave the frigid environment to get up close and personal with the ship. After she’s attacked by the Kryptonian security droids and Clark saves her life, she throws herself into trying to track down her mysterious saviour, much to the chagrin of her editor, Perry White (Lawrence Fishburne), and is intrigued by the many and varied reports of a superpowered do-gooder helping others before disappearing.

Strong supporting characters flesh out the world and ask new questions about Superman’s presence.

In a fantastic change of pace, Lois experiences Clark’s abilities and is privy to his identity right away, doing away with the need for him to assume the guise of a bumbling fool. Lois not only gives him the name Superman (in a roundabout way), but also plays an important role as an audience surrogate as she uses her reputation as a celebrated reporter to accompany and talk to him after he surrenders himself to the distrustful Lieutenant General Calvin Swanwick (Harry Lennix) and even goes with him to Zod’s ship after Superman willingly agrees to give himself up to spare his world. Cavill and Adams have a real tangible onscreen chemistry and Lois very much acts as a mediator between Clark’s somewhat sheltered upbringing, the awe that his presence (and unparalleled physicality) inspires, the suspicion of Swanwick and some others, and the demands of Zod. General Zod announces his arrival by broadcasting an ominous message across all media platforms and in all languages to deliver Clark with an ultimatum, thereby giving him another moral quandary over whether to surrender himself to the Kryptonians or to humanity, neither of which are particularly trustworthy. Zod isn’t alone in his mission, of course. He’s joined by a number of Kryptonian followers, the most prominent of which are Faora-Ul (Traue) and an unnamed towering brute who ransack Smallville to draw Superman out for a conflict. Much like Ursa (Sarah Douglas), Faora-Ul is absolutely devoted to General Zod and follows his every order without question. Interestingly, she sparks up a rivalry (and, apparently, a mutual attraction and respect) with Colonel Hardy during the conflict between the military and the Kryptonians that eventually drives them to go out in a burst of glory during the finale. Perry White also has quite a prominent role here; not only does he bust Lois’s balls over daring to suggest the Daily Planet print a story about aliens, but he’s also less than impressed that she protects Superman’s identity and actually takes an active role in helping his staff (and others) during the cataclysmic finale. Lieutenant General Swanwick takes the lead in the military’s investigation of Superman; legitimately concerned and thrown off by the revelation that an alien has been living amongst them for thirty-three years, he treats Superman with a great deal of apprehension since he has such incredible power but acts independently of anyone’s interests, to say nothing of those of the United States government.

Zod is a cruel and malicious warrior who is dedicated to ensuring the survival of the Kryptonian race.

I do think that the film would have benefitted from a slight restructuring to allow for a time jump between Clark discovering his suit and Zod’s arrival; Clark is Superman for barely a day before the Kryptonians arrive to cause havoc, meaning his first real test is right in the deep end against a bunch of fanatical warriors and I think it would have benefitted the film (and the sequel) to have had a bit of a montage that showed him performing superheroic feats across the world and lay the seeds for the hope and fear his presence inspired in people. Kryptonian society is a little different to what we saw in the old films; genetic engineering is the norm, so everyone has a predefined role; while Clark, as the first natural-born Kryptonian in centuries, is the exception to this rule, General Zod is a warrior through and through whose desire to ensure Krypton’s survival drives him to extreme and devastating actions that he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. Having spent a great deal of time in exile and spurred by the perceived betrayal of his fellow Kryptonians, Zod is an interesting dichotomy; he’s both one-dimensional and multi-dimensional since he is fixated on ensuring Krypton’s survival and yet he’s genuinely hurt when Jor-El refuses to join forces with him in meeting this goal, and at being forced to fight against his old friend. Rather than being a criminal and a conqueror simply for personal glory, Zod seeks to terraform Earth and extract the Codex from Clark in order to rebuild Kryptonian society and is disgusted that Clark shares the same compassion and weakness as his father. As much as I was glad to see that Man of Steel avoided using typical Superman villains and devices like Lex Luthor and Kryptonite, I was a little disappointed that Zod was used as the main antagonist; Michael Shannon is amazing in the role, don’t get me wrong, exuding an intelligence and a malice that help him be as distinct from Terence Stamp’s memorable rendition of the character as Cavill is from Reeve, but I do think the film could’ve been largely the same, and actually somewhat superior, if Zod had been replaced with Brainiac. By taking influences from Superman: The Animated Series (1996 to 2000) and elements of the Eradicator and Zod’s fanatical fixation on rebuilding Kryptonian society, Brainiac could have helped the film stand out even more from its predecessors, and Michael Shannon could have brought the same calculating intensity to that role as he does to Zod, but I very much enjoyed how Zod was such a devious, manipulative, and brutal foe here.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Man of Steel owes more than a little to Nolan’s grounded and gritty take on Bruce Wayne/Batman in the Dark Knight trilogy; like those films, Man of Steel is a very serious and thought-provoking deconstruction of easily the most iconic superhero in all of comicdom. The film is front-loaded with themes regarding destiny, nature/nurture, and realising oneself in a world that’s not as black and white as we’d like. More than ever, Superman and General Zod are presented as thematic opposites; while Zod is pained to have killed his friend and is acting only in the interest of preserving his long-dead society, Superman is determined to safeguard his world and others but has struggled for his entire life with finding the means to do so. Both Jor-El and Jonathan see him as a world-changing symbol of hope and the capacity to achieve something greater, and he even wears his family crest (the symbol of hope) as Superman, but a prevailing concern throughout the film (which later turns out to be true) is that humanity will stumble, to say the least, in their efforts to keep pace with him. As ever, Superman is accompanied by strong religious themes; one of Jonathan’s many worries about him exposing himself is how it will change humanity’s perception of their beliefs in both scientific and religious teachings, when Zod arrives Clark communes with a priest (Coburn Goss) before surrendering himself (fitting, considering his dialogue with Jor-El clearly evokes a conversation with the Creator), and of course Superman adopts the image of the crucifix before dashing off to rescue Lois’s escape pod.

Superman, his enemies, the tech, and the entire film shines thanks to a strong visual identity.

One of the benefits of bringing in Zack Snyder is his strengths as a visual storyteller; Man of Steel is beautifully shot, utilising a subdued colour scheme that gives the film a very tangible, grounded aesthetic. Shots of Krypton, and Superman, are given a suitably grandiose sheen, making for some of the most impressive flying sequences in a Superman film yet and ensuring that Superman makes a lasting impact every time he’s onscreen. Snyder is far from a subtle storyteller, however, though, here, his tendencies are clearly tempered by Nolan’s more measured and intellectual approach. Still, Snyder’s propensity towards spectacle and engaging visuals results in some harrowing sequences; one of the standouts is a dream-like confrontation between Superman and Zod where the Man of Steel sinks beneath the skeletal remains of billions of murdered humans. Superman’s powers are somewhat subdued here, potentially to maintain the grounded tone of the film; Superman exhibits superhearing, vision, and strength but he and the other Kryptonians primarily rely on their heat vision, superspeed, and flight rather than freezing breath. Thanks to fully utilising modern technology, Man of Steel has the best flying sequences of any Superman movie, taking the lessons learned in Superman Returns and cranking them up to eleven. Snyder loves him some dramatic camera zoom; it’s a little overused but actually makes it feel as though the camera is tracking the action and flying in real-time. Of course, I have to gush about Cavill’s super-suit; yes, debates will rage seemingly for all eternity about whether he should have trunks or not but this is, for me, the best Superman costume we’ve ever seen in live-action. The symbol is alien, and yet familiar, and the texture work is sublime. His cape is nice and long and flowing, making for some dramatic shots as it billows out behind him, and the colour grading allows it to be both colourful and realistic without being overly comic book-y. While the Kryptonian suits are all CGI, you’d never know it since they never appear to be fake; I love how they’re all garbed in this functional dark armour, which is a brilliant thematic and visual parallel between their dark designs for Earth and Superman’s heroism. Krypton and its technology are far more alien than is the norm, comprised of squid-like robotic aides, a sort of nanotechnology used for communication, and a life-like holographic projection of Jor-El that guides Superman and helps Lois. When Superman arrives on the Kryptonian ship and learns about his society, there’s a distinct visual contrast between himself and the world he knows on Earth and this unknown alien society, which is similar to ours but fundamentally different and far more advanced in so many ways.

Metropolis is wrecked by the destructive conflict in scenes analogous to a disaster movie.

Superman ultimately embraces aspects of both worlds by donning a Kryptonian suit and his father’s crest and using his powers to benefit his adopted world while also being mindful of his adopted father’s fears that society will never fully trust, or embrace, him due to how different he is. Thanks to having lived on Earth for his entire life, Clark has fully mastered all of the sensory bombardment that comes from his powers, however he’s still learning and is untested in operating in public. Onboard Zod’s ship, Superman is rendered powerless and as vulnerable as they are when exposed to Earth’s atmosphere, which initially causes them crippling pain. However, the Kryptonians are born and bred warriors, trained to master their senses and their environment, so quickly adapt to the atmosphere and the powers that come with it; they’re also far more adept at fighting than Clark, and not only outnumber him but have devastating terraforming technology at their disposal, meaning Superman faces a very real and formidable physical threat throughout the film. This results in Man of Steel being almost the exact opposite of Superman Returns, and its other predecessors, as it features more action, fight scenes, and depictions of gratuitous destruction than you could ever hope for…and it’s pretty freakin’ glorious! Even Jor-El gets in on the action, donning both the Superman suit and Kryptonian armour, blasting at Zod’s forces, flying through the battle that rages in Krypton’s sky, and even going toe-to-toe with Zod himself to help establish that Superman’s fighting spirit and defiance is potentially inherited from his father. The action is intense and brutal, with a huge area of Metropolis and Smallville being destroyed as Superman ploughs his opponents through buildings and Zod’s World Engine machine devastating the city with its energy cannon. This Superman is an extremely emotional and reactive character who flies into a rage and is determined to tackle his enemies using brute force, meaning untold collateral damage in the process that received a lot of backlash but is clearly evoking the imagery of cataclysmic events such as 9/11 to show how these God-like beings pose a real danger to the world. While I can’t deny that Snyder definitely went way overboard with the destruction caused during the finale (Metropolis literally looks like it’s been entirely wiped out at one point, and Superman sends Zod’s ship crashing right into the heart of the city, which absolutely killed thousands of people), Clark’s just become Superman and is being threatened by a formidable force who won’t listen to reason, so he’s not as experienced as his predecessor or comic book counterpart. Plus, I think it’s important to remember that Superman does make an effort, wherever possible, to save lives; hell, the entire reason Colonel Hardy learns to trust Superman is because he saved his life, and he pushes himself to the absolute limit to destroy the World Engine in the Indian Ocean, thus saving the entire world from destruction.

Superman takes drastic action to end Zod’s threat and settles into his new life as an unassuming reporter.

With his ship downed, his World Engine destroyed thanks to Superman and Hardy’s sacrifice, and his followers all dead, General Zod is left utterly devastated; he’s lost his world, the last remnants of his people, and his entire reason for living (nay, being) has been brought to ruins all because Superman, the son of his former friend and hated enemy, chose his adopted world over his birth planet. Fuelled by his rage, and his commitment to ensuring the greater good of his people, Zod flies into a brutal and merciless assault, resulting in a vicious battle between him and Superman through the remains of Metropolis. Thanks to the benefits of modern day effects, this fight isn’t restricted in the same way as the finale of Superman II was, allowing Superman and Zod to plough through buildings, tear through walls, smash through a Wayne Enterprises satellite in the upper atmosphere, and finally gives us the violent and exciting airborne fist fight we’ve wanted from a Superman film since seeing The Matrix Revolutions (Wachowski Brothers, 2003). Although the battle has already cost the lives of God-knows how many, Superman is ultimately faced with an impossible decision; trapped in a headlock, General Zod refuses to ever stop his destructive vendetta and threatens to immolate a nearby family with his heat vision, leaving Superman no choice but to break the fanatical Kryptonian’s neck to end his threat once and for all. Again, this sparked a great deal of controversy and I can fully understand that, but it’s not as if Superman hasn’t killed Zod before (he did it in Superman II (twice, actually) and famously did executed him the comics, too) and I would much rather have Superman forced to make that decision and then learn to deal with it rather than just sweep it under the rug because he’s supposed to “be better”. In the aftermath, Superman maintains that Swanwick will just have to trust that he’s there to help and isn’t a threat to humanity (something that, sadly, is a focal point of the sequel) and, in a move that I was genuinely surprised to see, goes to work with Lois at the Daily Planet. Considering how fast and loose Man of Steel played Superman’s identity, I was almost sure that Snyder would avoid using this trope but it is tradition, after all, and the film ends with the hope that the world will change for the better following Superman’s arrival (which, again, would be dashed in the sequel…)

The Summary:
After years of Superman being pigeon-holed into this outdated Silver Age characterisation as a God-like being forever embodied by Christopher Reeve, Man of Steel was a real breath of fresh air for the character and really changed the perception and portrayal of the character in interesting ways. I’ve said it before but playing Superman is no mean feat because Reeve cast a very long, dark shadow and comparisons will always be made between him and every actor to take on the tights and cape, but Cavill really brought a physicality and charisma that hadn’t been seen for some time. It helps that he’s an absolute beefcake, but his suit is incredible, and I enjoyed the deeper insight into his relationship with humanity and the burden of living up to the responsibility of his incredible powers. It’s maybe a bit too grounded and gritty and dour for a Superman film, especially as he’s meant to be a paragon of truth, justice, and the American Way, but I think it did a great job of introducing a new version of Superman to a new generation of audiences. The visual presentation and explosive action is an absolute spectacle; there’s a real sense of danger and consequence when Superman throws hands with his Kryptonian foes that may not be the most subtlest approach to take when it comes to disastrous events but absolutely makes for the most action-packed Superman film yet. Man of Steel is only bolstered by strong performances across the board; there’s a fantastic chemistry between Lois and Clark, Zod is a malicious and spiteful despot, and even the supporting actors all do a wonderful job of grounding this world and setting the stage for the coming DCEU. It’s a shame that so many people couldn’t get past the wanton destruction and more controversial aspects as there’s a lot to like here, and even more of a shame that Snyder (and Warner Bros.) squandered all the potential of this world with the follow-up by presenting Superman as a contentious figure and then killing him. While I have grown to despise die-hard Snyder fans and their antagonistic behaviour, I still really enjoy Man of Steel and am incredible happy with how it all came together to deliver a Superman much more in line with what I wanted to see onscreen.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Man of Steel? What did you think to Henry Cavill’s performance as Superman and how do you think he compares to other live-action Superman? Did you enjoy the new interpretation of Krypton? What did you think to the extended discussion regarding Clark’s powers and place in the world? Did you enjoy the way the film handled his secret identity and the new suit? What did you think to this version of General Zod? Were you put off by the destruction and Zod’s execution or did you enjoy the more violent aspects of the film? What is your favourite Superman story, character, or piece of media? How did you celebrate Superman Day this month? Whatever your thoughts, feel free to share them below or leave a comment on my social media.

Game Corner [Superman Month]: Superman Returns (Xbox 360)

Dr. K3 Comments

In 2013, DC Comics declared the 12th of June as “Superman Day”, a day for fans of the Man of Steel the world over to celebrate Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, the superpowered virtue of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” who is widely regarded as the first ever costumed superhero. This year, I’m spending every Monday of June celebrating the Man of Steel as I expand Superman Day to “Superman Month“.

This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
If you’d like to support the site, you can do so at my Ko-Fi page.

Released: 22 November 2006
Developer: EA Tiburon
Also Available For: Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Xbox

The Background:
As I mentioned in my review of the film, Superman Returns (Singer, 2006) was supposed to be a pretty big deal for DC Comics, Warner Bros. and Superman in general. Absent from cinema screens since 1987, Superman had seen a fair amount of representation in videogames in the intervening years and ever since 1979, but the Man of Steel has had a difficult history with pixels and polygons and it’s not as if videogame tie-in to movies have an esteemed reputation. Add to that the fact that Superman Returns didn’t exactly impress critically and the videogame tie-in was off to a troublesome start before it even released. Developed by a subsidiary of Electronic Arts, EA Tiburon (who had developed a handful of sports-based games for the publisher) and incorporating a large open world version of Metropolis that required players to minimise collateral damage, Superman Returns received mostly negative reviews and Superman has continued to struggle with transitioning into a successful videogame adaptation.

The Plot:
Acting as part-prequel- part-midquel, and part-retelling of the events of the film, Superman leaves Earth to investigate the remains of his home planet, Krypton. There, he incurs the wrath of the tyrant Mongul and, upon returning to Earth after five years, finds his arch enemy, Lex Luthor, enacting a diabolical plot for revenge involving Kryptonian technology while also battling some of his most notorious villains.

Gameplay:
Superman Returns is an open-world action game that places players in the cape and tights of the Man of Steel, as portrayed by Brandon Routh in the movie of the same name. The main objective of the game is to defend the impressively-realised and expansive city of Metropolis from a variety of threats using Superman’s awesome powers, all of which are available to the player from the moment the game begins. By pressing Y, players can take to the skies and can even rocket away by holding the button down. While it is a bit disorientating once you’re in the air, it doesn’t take long to adjust to it and it can be quite a thrill to blast through the air and between skyscrapers at Superman’s full speed. By holding down the Left Bumper, you can speed through the sky, going faster and faster until everything around you becomes a blur and Superman breaks the sound barrier, however it can be very difficult to make tight turns and avoid flying head-first into buildings when going at full speed. You can land with Y and, when on the ground, sprint at superspeed by holding LB, which is equally unwieldy at times.

Rocket through the sky at breakneck speeds or blast enemies with Superman’s array of powers.

You can target enemies with the Left Trigger and attack enemies with, primarily, X; repeatedly pressing X and adding in presses of Y and A will see Superman pull off more elaborate combos to deal more damage, although there is a significant input delay when trying to perform combos (in a change from most games, it seems that you have to press each button deliberately rather than as quickly as possible). Superman also has the full scope of his superpowers available to use as well; these are assigned to the directional pad and activated with the Right Trigger and allow you to blast at enemies with heat vision, freeze them with Superman’s freeze breath, or put out fires with his superbreath. All of these can also be augmented by double-tapping the direction and can even be worked into your combos but be sure to keep an eye on the power meter, which will deplete as you use your superpowers and take some time to refill (though you can speed this up by flying up into the sky to bathe in the sun’s rays). One of the constant problems with Superman videogames is that, thanks to the prerequisite for character’s to have a health bar, the Man of Steel is often neutered or susceptible to damage and death rather than being the powerful, superhuman hero he is known to be. Superman Returns comes up with a truly inspired solution to this problem; not only are Superman’s powers restricted by a power meter, not only does he come up against powerful alien foes and robots that are able to bash him about like a ragdoll, but he must also ensure that Metropolis doesn’t suffer too much damage from the constant barrage of attacks that befall it.

In an ingenious twist, Metropolis takes damage in Superman’s place.

Enemies will attack civilians, set fire to buildings, and the environment is highly destructible, meaning that cars, trees, walls, and other objects and parts of the environment can be used as weapons or destroyed and, if the city is damaged too much, Superman will fail his mission and you’ll have to either restart the chapter or reload your last save. Replenishing Metropolis’ “health” can be quite a chore; you can pick up injured civilians (one at a time) and carry them to a specific ambulance to restore a bit of the city’s health but the best way to bump its health back up is to get rid of all the enemies or the threat in play or reload your last save. Unlike the vast majority of videogames, Superman Returns doesn’t appear to autosave after you complete objectives and missions; instead, you can/must manually save from the pause menu, which also lets you view Superman’s combos, statistics, and the experience points (XP) you’ve accumulated. XP is earned by defending Metropolis from incoming comets, burning buildings, and attacks from aliens, robots, and Cadmus’ monstrous creations; when you gain enough XP, Superman will level-up and his superpowers will automatically become more powerful as a result. Superman Returns features a nice little mini map on the bottom left of the screen that shows you where enemies and ambulances are located and Superman will pick up cries of distress and be able to see objective markers thanks to his super-senses. You can also view the entire city map by pressing the ‘Back’ button but this really isn’t all that helpful as no areas, secrets, or places of interest are highlighted and the only place you can fast travel to and from is the Fortress of Solitude.

Gameplay gets extremely tedious and frustrating very quickly.

Gameplay gets extremely repetitive very quickly and the game’s pace is all over the place; you cannot progress the story until you’ve defended Metropolis from a certain number of random attacks, which occur either so sporadically that you’re flying around aimlessly like an idiot or happen so often and have so many enemies that it becomes annoying. You cannot just fly away from these incidents and ignore them, either, as that’ll cause a game over but, even though you’re playing as frickin’ Superman, you often end up getting bashed all over the place by a barrage of attacks and are forced to mash buttons to get Superman’s useless ass back into the fight. A certain amount of strategy is required to take on enemies, who can race away across the city or are vulnerable to certain superpowers, but it all gets very frustrating and mind-numbing very quickly. Incidents where you have to blast meteors from the sky, put out fires, save citizens, or tackle incoming tornados help to break the monotony up a bit but they’re few and far between.

Graphics and Sound:
Similar to the movie it’s based on, Superman Returns makes extremely poor use of John Williams’ iconic Superman theme; in fact, the rousing “DUN-dun-dun-DUN-DUN” doesn’t appear at all in the game and is replaced by a very generic soundalike that really undermines the entire experience. Stars Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, and Kevin Spacey all return to lend their likenesses and voices but, sadly, like many videogame adaptations of movies, the game’s interpretation of the film’s events leaves out many of the characters and sub-plots from the source material and provides only a very basic recap of the film as story-based missions.

While the cutscenes look terrible, Superman’s character model is okay, especially when he’s flying.

Plus, while these actors do lend their likenesses, only Superman appears as an in-game character model. The game’s cutscenes are quite low-quality, very blurry, and extremely limited in their detail and length but, thankfully, Superman himself looks mostly okay. When you leave him standing around, he’ll strike a heroic pose (the camera even automatically changes position for the best possible shot) and NPCs will continuous be in awe of his presence, feats, or begging for his help. Superman looks best, however, when flying at high speeds; his head and neck seem a little disproportionate to his body and, like many Xbox 360 character models, he looks a bit more like a malformed action figure than an actual person with a logical skeletal structure. Superman ragdolls around when attacked and seems quite unwieldy at times as he’s both superfast but also clunky and his attacks are slow and have a limited range; additionally, there are some wonky instances of cape physics as well but, still, it’s probably the best rendition of the character in a solo videogame I’ve seen yet.

Metropolis may be big and impressive but it’s incredibly lifeless and empty.

Superman’s enemies aren’t exactly much to shout about either; indeed, it seems like the developers put all of their time and effort into creating a vast city for you to fly around in. However, considering how good a job Superman Returns does of recreating Metropolis, it’s quite a dull and uninspiring experience; although cars drive through the streets and non-playable characters (NPCs) wander around the place, the city feels extremely empty and lifeless and there really isn’t that much to do or see beyond iconic buildings like the Daily Planet and areas such as Suicide Slum. Metropolis may be very grey and barren at the best of times but you can damage and interact with a fair amount of it (which is actually to your detriment as it’ll cost the city health) and the environment does change at the start of the game, where you fight Mongul and his warriors on Warworld, and in the final chapters when the city is bathed in an ominous darkness and a tumultuous thunderstorm but you never get to go inside any buildings or freely visit other environments so it all becomes very underwhelming and boring very quickly.

Enemies and Bosses:
There are three types of enemies Superman will have to defend Metropolis against: the alien forces of Mongul, killer robots created and controlled by John Corben/Metallo, and the various monstrous clones created by Cadmus. As you play though the game’s story, you’ll encounter each of these, and their many variants, in successive fashion and, by the end of the game, entire groups of different enemies will attack the city and its inhabitants. For the most part, enemies fall into some recognisable tropes no matter their appearance, being susceptible to heat vision or freeze breath or more vulnerable against objects (such as cars and debris) being thrown at them. Some are smaller and faster, zipping around on the ground or flying through the air and firing Kryptonite lasers, energy blasts, or elemental plumes at you; others are larger, requiring more combos to damage or blocking your attacks; and others will directly attack the environment to distract you with fires and such.

Bosses like Overcast and Metallo eventually grow to gigantic proportions.

You’ll learn the basics of combat at the start of the game, where Mongul forces you to fight his minions, Phalanx and Overcast, before taking you on himself. This teaches you how to engage with multiple enemies, use the environment to deal damage to gigantic enemies, and the importance of holding B to block or pressing B to quickly dodge behind opponents. Each group of enemies you face from that point on is directly related to the main villain who serves as the recurring and final boss of that particular chapter; thus, when trying to put a stop to Metallo, you’ll first have to stop his robot minions from attacking the city. Complete enough of these missions, and Metallo will spawn into the map and you can fight him; similar to the enemies you battle on Warworld, Metallo attacks by pummelling you, blasting you with a massive Kryptonite laser, shielding himself like a bitch, and spawning in minions to distract you. Like Overcast, Metallo eventually grows to enormous proportions and begins trashing the city, forcing you to hurl cars at him. Once you deal enough damage, he’ll try to destroy the city with a missile, necessitating that you chase after it and complete a quick-time event (QTE) to stop it and bring him down once and for all.

Unless you use your powers in the right way, Bizarro and Riot can be a right pain in the ass.

Next, a breakout at Cadmus Labs sees a whole slew of vicious, demonic monsters roam rampant around the city, attacking blimps and causing massive damage with their big explosive attacks. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Superman’s flawed doppelgänger, Bizarro, is also running rampant; compared to Brainiac, Bizarro is a much easier fight as it’s much simpler to avoid his lumbering attacks and land some combos on him. To put him down for good, however, you’ll need to chase after him and ram into him to stop him destroying the city with his heat vision and complete another QTE in a test of heat vision, all while desperately trying to fend off swarms of flying monsters who pummel you relentlessly. That’s nothing, however, compared to fighting Frederick von Frankenstein/Riot, who duplicates himself every time you land a melee attack and can only be defeated by blasting him and his doubles with your freeze breath and then your heat vision, which can get very tedious.

After taking out Mongul, you’ll battle Superman’s ultimate nemesis: a giant tornado!

In the game’s final chapters, Mongul arrives on Earth looking for revenge, bringing with him an army of Phalanx warriors and Overcast, with all three spawning into the map at inopportune times to cause massive amounts of damage. Battling Overcast’s gigantic form while also juggling an endless swarm of Phalanx warriors and contending with Mongul is a hell of a tall order but, thankfully, you can (and totally should) focus on Mongul alone in order to compete this story mission and can worry about the rest later. The opening of the game teaches you that Mongul is a cheap bastard who likes to constantly block your attacks and that’s true in the endgame as well but he’ll also attack citizens and cars and spawns in more and more minions the more damage you do. Personally, I found it easier to just keep throwing cars at him until he goes down. Ultimately, the game concludes with a series of deadly tornados threatening the city; you must blow and freeze them away, put out the fires they cause, and rescue citizens from their path before contending with Superman’s most deadly and iconic foe…a giant tornado! To dispel this swirling mass of destruction, you must blast its core with either your heat vision or freeze breath all while cars and debris relentlessly slam into you but, with enough patience, it’s pretty simple to bring this chore of a game to a close.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
There’s nothing. Seriously, you fly all over the city fighting bad guys and righting wrongs and there’s literally nothing. The only way you can replenish health is to rescue citizens, stop whatever the current threat is, or reload your save and the only tangible power-up you get is from levelling-up. Unlike most videogames, you can’t freely spend your XP upgrading Superman’s skills individually, though; instead, his powers increase automatically, taking all agency and effort out of your hands entirely.

Additional Features:
Superman Returns has a whopping eighteen Achievements for you to earn; six of these are directly tied to defeating the game’s villains and finishing the story, while there are others for fully powering Superman up, defeating enemies with cars, lifting a certain amount of weight, or playing the game for twelve hours total (as if you’re ever going to bother doing that…). Sadly, despite the size of the city, there aren’t any fun Achievements tied to, say, knocking the globe off the Daily Planet or finding all the Planet Krypton restaurants or even finding much of anything for that matter.

Rescue kittens, race against Mr. Mxyzptlk, or cause destruction as Bizarro!

That’s not to say that there isn’t nothing else to do in the game; there are a hundred kittens hidden throughout the city that you can find for an Achievement and, at various points around the map, you’ll encounter Mister Mxyzptlk who’ll challenge you to completing increasingly-challenging races against him. These are quite fun but by far the most entertaining side mission are the instances where you get to play as Bizarro and cause as much damage as possible in a time limit. You can input some cheat codes to make the game easier but you won’t earn any Achievements (except for a 0G one) if you do this. As you play and level-up and explore, you’ll also acquire trophies to view in the Fortress of Solitude and unlock a couple of additional suits for Superman, which is nice, but there’s really not much to entice you back to this game once you’re done trudging through this God-awful borefest.

The Summary:
Superman Returns may very well be the most accurate and impressive Superman game I’ve ever played; being able to fly through and across an impressively-rendered recreation of Metropolis is a real blast and giving the city a life bar instead of Superman was an ingenious solution to the problem of having Superman take damage or be killed when he really shouldn’t be. Sadly, though, these aspects are the only real saving graces of this game, which is clearly a rushed cash-in produced solely to tie-into the movie. The story is basically nonexistent, the combat and gameplay extremely repetitive and boring, and the presentation is wildly inconsistent as, while the city and Superman look pretty good, the cutscenes and music and dreadful. In the end, only die-hard Superman fans will really be able to enjoy this one and, for the rest of us, it’s just a quick game to plough through to increase your Gamer Score that is more monotonous and frustrating than fun and entertaining so I’d say that it’s best avoided.

My Rating:

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Terrible

Have you ever played the videogame adaptation of Superman Returns? If so, what did you think to it? Did you enjoy the wide, open world of Metropolis and the feeling of having Superman’s full abilities at your fingertips? Were you also disappointed by how empty the world is and how tedious the gameplay was? Which of the game’s villains was your favourite and why and what did you think to how the game expanded upon the plot of the film? What is your favourite Superman videogame and would you like to see something like this tried again but with a bit more time, effort, and money put into it? How did you celebrate Superman Day this year and what are some of your favourite Superman stories?

Movie Night [Superman Month]: Superman Returns

Dr. K7 Comments

In 2013, DC Comics declared the 12th of June as “Superman Day”, a day for fans of the Man of Steel the world over to celebrate Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, the superpowered virtue of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” who is widely regarded as the first ever costumed superhero. This year, I’m spending every Monday of June celebrating the Man of Steel as I expand Superman Day to “Superman Month“.

This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
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Released: 28 June 2006
Director: Bryan Singer
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $270 million
Stars: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Parker Posey, Tristan Lake Leabu, James Marsden, and Kevin Spacey

The Plot:
Returning to Earth after five years in deep space investigating the remains of his home planet, Krypton, Clark Kent/Superman (Routh) returns to find former flame Lois Lane (Bosworth) married and with a young son. However, as he struggles to acclimatise to a world that may no longer need him, criminal mastermind Lex Luthor (Spacey) steals Kryptonian technology and enacts a diabolical plot avenge himself on the Man of Steel.

The Background:
Those that have read my reviews will know that my opinions of the four live-action Superman feature films produced between 1978 and 1987 are somewhat dismissive. There are elements from each of them that I enjoy, and obviously I enjoy Christopher Reeve’s iconic portrayal of the title character, but overall I feel they haven’t really aged well at all and often hold back reinterpretations of the character. After Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (Furie, 1987) turned out to be a dismal financial and critical failure, Superman was persona non grata from cinema screens for nearly twenty years. Oh, sure, he had a few live-action and animated shows to tide him over and some pretty big comic book events in the intervening years but Warner Bros. struggled to get a new feature film off the ground. After attempts by the likes of writer/director Kevin Smith and Tim Burton failed to materialise and cost the studio millions in production costs, director Bryan Singer conceived of and pitched the general idea of Superman Returns during filming of X2: X-Men 2/X-Men United (Singer, 2003). Wishing to recapture the magic of Richard Donner’s original film, Singer cast relative unknown Brandon Routh in the title role because of his many similarities to the late Christopher Reeve, acquired permission to repurpose Marlon Brando’s footage from the first two Superman movies, and envisioned the film as a continuation of Donner’s films. Superman Returns was supposed to be a pretty big deal for DC Comics, Warner Bros. and Superman in general but, while the film’s $391.1 million gross meant that it was a financial success, the film was met with mixed reviews and even Bryan Singer later expressed regret with the direction and marketing of the film. Although it was followed by a videogame tie-in, this response sank plans for a sequel and Superman wouldn’t return to cinema screens for another seven years, though Routh did return to the role as an aged version of Superman in “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two” (Belsey, 2019).

The Review:
Superhero cinema was in an interesting place in the early 2000s; the X-Men (Singer; Ratner, 2000 to 2006) and Spider-Man (Raimi, 2002 to 2007) trilogies were proving to be big box office hits, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a mere pipedream at that point despite the growing influx of adaptations produced year after year. While Marvel adaptations were undoubtably popular and successful, and had proven that the genre could be critically and commercial successful, it was Batman Begins (Nolan, 2005) that arguably turned the most heads when it came to bringing prestige to the genre. Ignoring its camp, cartoony predecessor in favour of a dark, serious take on the character and bolstered by a reputable cast, Batman Begins took the source material seriously and so anticipation was quite high when Superman Returns was announced as the character had similarly stagnated since his last ridiculous onscreen appearance. In a move I found surprising considering I grew up with the Post-Crisis John Byrne version of the Man of Steel, who was (initially) quite different from his more ludicrous Golden and Silver Age counterpart, Superman Returns opted not to reboot the character like in Batman Begins, but to position itself as a continuation of Richard Donner’s films, one that ignored (or presumably ignored) all of the sequels after the first film save for some tenuous links to Superman II (Lester, 1980) and sought to bring Christopher Reeves’ iconic version of the Man of Steel into a post-9/11 world following a lengthy absence.

Superman returns from a five year absence to find the world has moved on without him.

This, for me, meant that the film started on rocky ground right from the off; as much as I enjoyed Donner’s original version of Superman, I never understood the decision to resurrect that character rather than reboot it from scratch. After all, it’s not as if Batman Begins was a prequel to Batman (Burton, 1989) so it just seemed like a shameless cash-in on the iconography and success of Donner’s influential first film. The film’s premise is that, after becoming the world’s foremost superpowered protector and opposing the mad schemes of Lex Luthor, Superman abandoned the world to its own devices when astronomers discovered Krypton’s remains many light-years away. Even in a repurposed Kryptonian spacecraft, the trip there and back takes Superman five years and, obviously, results only in Superman finding the shattered remains of his home world. So, right away there’s a lot of questions here: why did Superman feel compelled to go and see this when he knew from the words of his long-dead father, Jor-El (Marlon Brando), that Krypton was destroyed? What was he hoping to gain from this? There’s a sense that he wanted closure but…why? He seemed perfectly happy to accept that Krypton was dead and that the Earth was his true home, so suddenly taking off like that really doesn’t make any sense at all, especially considering Superman and Superman II made such a big deal about his attachments and importance to humanity. When Superman returns, the world has largely moved on without him; not only that, Lex Luthor has spent the intervening years showing elderly Gertrude Vanderworth (Noel Neill) “pleasures that [she’s] never felt” in order to con her out of her vast wealth and return himself to a position of power and prominence. Clark’s own elderly mother, Martha Kent (Eva Marie Saint) is still alive, however, and has been covering for his lengthy absence by sending regular letters and postcards to his Daily Planet colleagues while maintaining his old childhood farm home in Smallville and stockpiling newspapers and reports so he can catch up on what he missed.

Clark is stunned to find Lois has settled down with a family and feels a resentment towards Superman.

Superman’s absence had two very important side effects for both his personal life and the entire world; first was that intrepid reporter Lois Lane won a Pulitzer Prize for her article “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman” and has established a family of her own with fiancé Richard White (Marsden) and son Jason (Leabu) and the second is that Luthor was even able to get out of prison in the first place. Thanks to his disregard for due process and missing a vital court appearance, Superman was indirectly responsible for Luthor being remanded into Gertrude’s custody and released back into the civilised world, and his abandonment of his duties and responsibilities is only part of the reason why Lois acts so cold towards him. She learned to live without him, as did the rest of the world but, while everyone else applauds his long-awaited return, she is resentful of him because she feels he abandoned her as much as anything (or anyone) else. Richard is the pilot nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White (the masterful, and completely wasted Frank Langella) and his characterisation seems to boil down to him being a nice guy who’s supportive of his wife, loves his child, and is jealous of Superman and Lois’s obvious fascination with him. Otherwise, he’s just kind of there and only really comes into prominence when questioning Lois’s previous relationship with Superman and in the climax, when his convenient piloting skills help rescue Superman for his big finale, and I can’t help but feel like Marsden made a mistake abandoning his role as Scott Summers/Cyclops in the X-Men films for such an inconsequential role. As for Lois, she’s noticeably different from the Margot Kidder version in many ways, but no less daring and inquisitive; she continually puts herself right at the forefront of big stories, even if it means she’s placed in mortal danger, and has her world (and her heart) turned upside down when Superman returns. As ever, she barely even registers that Clark is back and is instead constantly distracted by Superman, to the point where she confronts him directly. Thankfully, the two don’t end up going for a long, awkward flight with a cheesy song this time around, and she warms towards him after learning of his reasons for leaving.

Despite his personal drama, Clark continues his façade as a bungling reporter and saving lives as Superman.

Upon returning to Earth, Clark immediately jumps back into his old life; he returns to work at the Daily Planet and continues putting on the act of a good-natured, bungling reporter to contrast with the confidant and heroic Superman. Considering he was a relative unknown, and such a fresh-faced young actor at the time, Brandon Routh does a masterful job of not only resembling the late, great Christopher Reeves but adopting many of the same mannerisms he showcased as both Clark and Superman. He certainly looks the part, and fills out the suit well, and I buy that he’s a slight variation of this character, but there’s something a little off about him. It’s possibly because Routh was given the monumental task of being the first big-screen Superman in twenty years and also emulating Reeves’ performance; any actor has big shoes to fill when taking on Superman, but only Routh had to literally be Reeves’ version of the character. Consequently, comparisons between the two are not only inevitable but actively encouraged by the film’s presentation as a sequel to Donner’s film, which I feel unfairly reflects on Routh’s performance here. He gives it a good shot and certainly embodies many of the moral and physical ideals of the character, but he was lumbered not just was continuing Reeves’ performance but also a diabolical script that called for him to morosely stalk his former flame and cast him in an uncomfortable light as an unreliable, overly sombre, and disappointingly stoic Superman. Routh has few moments to showcase the character’s friendlier, more trusting characteristics and this is a shame as he had a wonderful smile and exudes charisma in these moments, but Superman is so weighed down with doubts and regrets and drama that it really sucks all the life and fun out of the character (and the film). Even Clark’s bungling nature can’t really salvage these moments, again mainly because his comic book counterpart had also evolved quite a great deal since the seventies. Instead, what we’re left with is a throwback to an outdated version of the character and a sullen version of the Man of Steel who’s so distracted by his personal issues that he doesn’t realise Luthor is a threat until it’s almost too late, which is odd considering that the film makes a big deal of showing that Superman is deeply affected by the planet’s cries for a saviour and yet he somehow doesn’t pick up on Luthor’s latest plot.

Luthor flips between cold, calculating menace to unhinged mania seemingly at random.

Luthor’s grand plan this time around is, essentially, similar to that of his predecessor; namely, the acquisition of profit from real estate. Quite why this continued to be a concern for the self-professed greatest criminal mind ever to walk to Earth is beyond me, but this Luthor is noticeably more bitter and twisted than Gene Hackman’s take on the character. Finally sporting his trademark bald head and wielding Gertrude’s vast wealth, Luthor sets himself up on her fancy yacht and surrounds himself with idiotic underlings simply because he was forced to make questionable allies to survive his time in prison. Thanks to the events of Superman II, Luthor directs his crew to the Fortress of Solitude and refamiliarises himself with Jor-El and Krypton’s technology; specifically, Luthor learns of the Kryptonian crystals’ ability to expand and create landmasses, which he plans to use to create a whole new continent in the Northern Atlantic Ocean that will supplant the mainland United States, killing millions of people in the process. Aided by Kitty Kowalski (Posey), who’s essentially exactly the same character as Eve Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine), Luthor is only too eager to avenge himself on the Man of Steel when he makes his dramatic return to the spotlight and has Kitty distract Superman so that he (as in Luthor) can reacquire the chunk of Kryptonite he used in the first film in order to make his new landmass fatal to his hated enemy. While Hackman gloriously ate up the scenery in the previous films, Spacey absolutely devours it here with a wild and manic performance that shifts from cold, calculating menace to unhinged hysteria at the flip of a coin. It’s uncomfortable to praise any Kevin Spacey performance these days but he really was a pretty fantastic Lex Luthor; while I would much rather see either the mad scientist or corrupt businessman version of the character, Luthor is an enigmatic and cold-hearted villain who relishes the opportunity to bring Superman to his knees and bring about the deaths of countless innocents simply to fuel his ego and lust for power.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Perhaps the most prominent thematic inclusion here is the question of whether or not the world even needs a Superman; the world has continued on without him, and even gotten used to his absence, and both Clark and even Lois question whether he even has a place there anymore. Although Lois’s career was boosted by her anti-Superman article, Superman returns to action, saving people and solving problems the world over, because all he can hear is a world crying out for a saviour. I’m really not sure why this is such a recurring theme in Superman movies; Zack Snyder wasted a huge chunk of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (ibid, 2016) asking similar questions and it really bothers me for some reason. I haven’t read every single Superman comic book or story ever made but I’ve rarely ever come across this plot point in the source material and, while it raises interesting questions regarding the need for a God-like superhero, I can’t help but feel like it drags the already dull plot down quite a bit. Furthermore, it personally doesn’t sit well with me that the film is so closely tied to Donner’s original film; Superman’s supposed to have been gone for five years, from approximately 1980, but everyone seems younger than they were before, and the only character who even remotely seems to evoke their counterpart is Superman. As much as I enjoy Donner’s iconography, tying them together was a big mistake in my book; Superman had changed so much in the comics by this point that this felt like a massive step back and seemed way too “safe” of an option. The film wisely reuses John Williams’ iconic score, but not often enough; it’s most prominently heard in the opening credits (which are a direct homage to the original film) and Superman’s handful of action scenes. Even dusting off unused footage of Marlon Brando doesn’t help matters as the film’s weirdly stuck in the past and yet also supposed to be set in the then-modern day, which results in a confused presentation as it’s unclear which version of Superman II Superman Returns is set after, and it even confusingly seems to suggest that it’s a only direct sequel to the first film!

Superman Returns is full of heavy themes but paints Superman in an uncomfortable light.

Of course, the film is also rife with themes of responsibility and parenthood. Superman is, sadly, framed very poorly here; not only did he abandon his adopted home world on a whim, he never considered the legal fallout of Luthor’s arrest and thus was absent for a critical moment in his adjudication. Even worse is the fact that Superman is characterised almost like an obsessed stalker; he uses his super hearing to eavesdrop on Lois’s conversations both at work and in the office, his super vision to watch her at home as she makes a poor effort of hiding her emotions at Superman’s return, and he generally comes across as being unable to let go of the past. Lois hides her desire for Superman behind a mask of contempt and self-reliance; she defies Perry’s order to cover Superman in favour of the blackout caused by Luthor’s experiments but continually circles back to her feelings of abandonment by her long-time crush. Even distracting herself with her sickly child doesn’t help as she’s clearly as besotted with the Man of Steel as ever, just weighed down with her responsibilities as a mother and her career. Clark is stunned to find that Lois has settled down and had a child, and unethically uses his powers to gain insight into her emotional state, which is as uncomfortable as it sounds. Still burdened by Jor-El’s decree that he be a beacon of hope for all of humanity rather than devote himself to any one person, Superman is nonetheless overjoyed to find that Jason is his son. Unfortunately, this revelation is painfully telegraphed despite the boy’s asthma and fragility, and just serves to make Superman look even worse since the implication is that he had a one night stand with Lois and then took off and left her to raise his illegitimate child alone, forcing her to turn to another man in the process. I’m not massively against the idea of Superman being a father; it’s now been the status quo in DC Comics for some time and the film takes the time to have Superman recontextualise Jor-El’s words about the son becoming the father in a heartfelt moment but, sadly, there really isn’t all that much time spent exploring what being a father means to Superman, which could have been much more interesting than watching him spy on his ex from afar.

The suit is as divisive as the lack of action as Superman is left struggling to find his way in the world.

One area where the film excels, and surprisingly still holds up, are the special effects; the Fortress of Solitude is particularly striking here and scenes of Superman flying and showcasing his physical strength are slick and presented as a visual spectacle, which is only fitting. I’m a little torn on the suit, though; overall, it looks good, appearing to be a modern take on the classic outfit, but the colour palette is very subdued and dark. The symbol is way too small; the cape fits weird and is too thick and leathery and lacks the symbol on the back (a common occurrence in modern Superman films), and it somehow looks plainer than Reeves’. And yet, Routh fills it out wonderfully with his toned physique and the film definitely aims to make every shot of him a piece of art, even including a marvellous homage to the iconic cover of Action Comics #1. As awesome as Superman’s calm confrontation with a maniacal gunman is, the plane rescue is the film’s big, memorable action piece; as others have said, it’s great how Superman has to deal with the physics of the crisis, slowing and guiding the plane to a safe landing, but sadly the film doesn’t ever even try to top this. Superman barely uses any of his additional powers; he only uses his heat vision and super breath once, and he doesn’t even throw a punch! I get that Donner’s Superman wasn’t exactly an action-packed spectacle, but times have changed since then; Superman Returns came out after The Matrix Revolutions (Wachowski Brothers, 2003), which gave a tantalising glimpse into what a new Superman might be like with its epic final fight scene that pitted two superpowered characters against each other in the skies. Sadly, Superman Returns opts not to include a superpowered foe for Superman or any kind of physical danger; instead, it’s firmly focused on exploring the drama of his return, the interpersonal conflict of his character, and his struggles to find his place in a world that has moved on from him, none of which is particularly interesting or even fitting for the character.

Superman musters the strength to stop Luthor’s plot, recovers from death, and returns to duty.

All of this distracts Superman’s focus for the majority of the film, as does solving problems both big and small all over the world. Despite being knocked sideways by Superman’s return, Lois continues to follow her hunch on the blackout, which leads her directly to Lex Luthor and at ground zero for his latest maniacal scheme. Reunited, and with a showdown with his old foe impending, Luthor descends into complete lunacy because of his unwavering arrogance at being able to outthink the Man of Steel. Not only has Luthor kept a shard of Kryptonite for himself, he’s infused his alien landmass with the substance, thus rendering Superman weakened for this inevitable confrontation. In a surprisingly harrowing scene, Luthor’s henchman brutalise Superman and Luthor vindictively stabs him, critically injuring the Man of Steel and requiring Lois and Richard’s aid to pull him from danger. However, despite his injuries, Superman bathes in the healing energies of the sun to muster the strength to lift the entire Kryptonian landmass from the ocean and fling it into space. Quite how he was able to do this is also beyond me; even after being boosted by the yellow sunlight, he’s still handling what amounts to pure Kryptonite, the very substance which just moments earlier had left him helpless to fend off Luthor’s attack. To be fair, the effort is draining for Superman; here, Singer abandons all subtlety and absolutely wallops audiences over the head with the Christ allegory as Superman not only literally falls to Earth in a crucifix pose but also dies to save us and rises some time later. I get that the “Death of Superman” (Jurgens, et al, 1992 to 1993) was a monumental story for the character but, again, I really don’t get this obsession with “killing” off the character, which was a recurring suggestion in the many unproduced drafts before this film and, again, resurfaced in Batman v Superman, where it was equally rushed and unwarranted. Here, Superman just gets better after a few days in hospital, finally takes the moral high ground and leaves Lois and her family the hell alone while promising that Jason will continue his legacy and the legacy of Krypton, and does his trademark lap of the planet before vanishing from cinema screens for another seven years.

The Summary:
Even now, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s hard to regard Superman Returns as anything other than a massive disappointment and missed opportunity. Warner Bros. had the perfect opportunity to reboot the character, or otherwise reintroduce him, to a fresh new audience eager to jump on the next big-budget superhero film but instead pandered to an aged and dated version of the character simply to cash-in on nostalgia for Christopher Reeves’ influential portrayal and to piggyback off the success of Richard Donner’s original film. Admittedly, a lot of my dislike for this film comes from my desire to move away from such outdated representations of the Man of Steel and to do something new and more akin to his Post-Crisis characterisation, and my general dislike for much of the themes and presentation of those original films. Batman got a clean slate a few years prior so it’s astounding to me that Superman didn’t get the same treatment; even more mind-boggling is the suggestion that Brandon Routh and Christian Bale would’ve crossed paths in a potential crossover movie, which would’ve just been insane to imagine as you’d be effectively pitting the same Superman who reversed time against the most grounded and realistic Batman we’d seen at that point in time. Ultimately, it’s a real shame as there’s a lot to like in Superman Returns; the film is shot beautifully, challenges Superman in interesting ways, and features some great performances. Routh was placed in an unenviable position and delivered a pretty decent performance as the Man of Steel, but I think maybe it was a little too much too soon for him; he definitely commanded the role much better when he returned to it years later, though, so I like to think he might’ve been even more impressive if Superman Returns had gotten a sequel. Sadly, though, there’s just not enough here to really sustain things; Superman’s characterisation is uncomfortably off and the film just drags all the way through. Lex Luthor showcases some maniacal cruelty when he finally gets to put a beating on Superman, but this disturbing scene really belongs in a better film and Superman Returns ends up being a big missed opportunity to have the world’s greatest superhero return to the big screen in a meaningful way in favour of simply cashing in on the nostalgia for a film that was incredibly influential, yes, but an outdated representation of the character by this point.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Are you a fan of Superman Returns? What did you think to Brandon Routh’s portrayal of the character and his efforts to evoke Christopher Reeve? Were you also disappointed that the film was a continuation of Donner’s effort or did you enjoy the links to the classic Superman films? What did you think to Lex Luthor’s plot and the focus on interpersonal drama rather than action? What is your favourite Superman story, character, or piece of media? How are you celebrating Superman Day today? Whatever your thoughts on Superman Returns, feel free to share them below and be sure to check out my other Superman content.