Birthdays & Up, up and away...
Hey everyone, thanks for the birthday wishes. The day actually didn’t turn out too bad even though most of it was spent at work. I ate way too much chocolate cake and Chinese food, kicked ass at 30 Seconds and in terms of pressie loot I received a Wacom tablet from Paul (I conceptualised my next Girlz ‘N’ Games on Tuesday, so it’s being put to use very soon), a jewellery box, the Family Guy PS2 game, some clothes and gift vouchers.
Anyway, I’m sure this will bug Batfan Dante but I’ve been something of a Superman mood lately;). More specifically, I’ve been brooding over the question of Superman’s upbringing and how it’s impacted on his goodie-two-shoes character. There are seeds growing in my mind about how I’d reinterpret the character, but I was curious to see if and how other people have handled the task. Turns out there are a few ‘official’ reinterpretations out there.
When online shopping for my sister’s bday present last week I ordered a copy of Kingdom Come (another one of those must-read graphic novels, apparently) and another work by Kingdom’s celebrated comic writer Mark Waid. This one is entitled Superman: Birthright.
Amazon.com’s write-up is as follows:
Superman's origins have been imagined and reimagined over the years. Here is a new take on the character's roots. Superman: Birthright retells the early chapters of Superman's story, from escape as an infant from the doomed planet Krypton to arrival as reporter Clark Kent at the Daily Planet and his first public exploits. Writer Waid puts his own spin on the legend, rethinking nearly every aspect of the venerable character while remaining respectful of his established history.
Waid wisely integrates ideas from the popular TV series Smallville but doesn't slavishly follow its innovations; for instance, a young Lex Luthor befriends Clark in high school, but unlike in the series, his sinister nature is clear even then. Waid similarly tweaks the rest of the well-known cast, from Lois Lane and Clark's other Planet colleagues to Ma and Pa Kent. Ironically, though he updates the character, Waid evokes Superman's pre-World War II incarnation, whom his Depression-reared creators kept engaged in righting society's ills.
Leinil Francis Yu's stylized artwork is expressively dynamic to the point of caricature, but this larger-than-life visual approach befits the retelling of a myth.
You can online browse Superman: Birthright here.
And although I haven’t bought it (it’s written in present tense, which I despise), I also came across the following, which has been receiving quite a bit of praise, and was first alerted to my attention over at Aint It Cool News:
It's Superman!: A Novel by Tom De Haven
A focus on Clark Kent's high school years only makes comparison to the popular WB show Smallville all the more inevitable—and intentional. De Haven, whose Derby Dugan trilogy beautifully reimagined 20th-century American history through a pleasant sheen of media-tized irony, presents the man of steel as a sullen Depression-era teen, a bad WII-era reporter and as ambivalent about his super powers throughout, all with a kind of knowing that reflects a deep immersion in pulp.
De Haven drives his coming-of-age tale toward Superman's first showdown with Lex Luthor and his robot "Lexbots" in the middle of (the real!) New York City—prompted, of course, by the need to save Lois Lane. He gets knocked off his feet by the Lexbots and temporarily dazed. He doesn't want to continue, doesn't think he can win. Suddenly, in an echo of recent Batman and Spiderman film adaptations, a disembodied voice rings out: "Now get off that silly chair and go do something. Doesn't matter what. Just do something, Clark." (It's his mother.)
If that's not over-the-top enough, plenty of short chapters begin with lines like "Despite Lex Luthor's savvy and sensitive draft report on the Harlem race riot...." De Haven gives readers X-ray vision for determining when his tongue is in his cheek here; using it is great fun.
You can read extracts from the novel online here.
Anyway, I’m sure this will bug Batfan Dante but I’ve been something of a Superman mood lately;). More specifically, I’ve been brooding over the question of Superman’s upbringing and how it’s impacted on his goodie-two-shoes character. There are seeds growing in my mind about how I’d reinterpret the character, but I was curious to see if and how other people have handled the task. Turns out there are a few ‘official’ reinterpretations out there.
When online shopping for my sister’s bday present last week I ordered a copy of Kingdom Come (another one of those must-read graphic novels, apparently) and another work by Kingdom’s celebrated comic writer Mark Waid. This one is entitled Superman: Birthright.
Amazon.com’s write-up is as follows:
Superman's origins have been imagined and reimagined over the years. Here is a new take on the character's roots. Superman: Birthright retells the early chapters of Superman's story, from escape as an infant from the doomed planet Krypton to arrival as reporter Clark Kent at the Daily Planet and his first public exploits. Writer Waid puts his own spin on the legend, rethinking nearly every aspect of the venerable character while remaining respectful of his established history.
Waid wisely integrates ideas from the popular TV series Smallville but doesn't slavishly follow its innovations; for instance, a young Lex Luthor befriends Clark in high school, but unlike in the series, his sinister nature is clear even then. Waid similarly tweaks the rest of the well-known cast, from Lois Lane and Clark's other Planet colleagues to Ma and Pa Kent. Ironically, though he updates the character, Waid evokes Superman's pre-World War II incarnation, whom his Depression-reared creators kept engaged in righting society's ills.
Leinil Francis Yu's stylized artwork is expressively dynamic to the point of caricature, but this larger-than-life visual approach befits the retelling of a myth.
You can online browse Superman: Birthright here.
And although I haven’t bought it (it’s written in present tense, which I despise), I also came across the following, which has been receiving quite a bit of praise, and was first alerted to my attention over at Aint It Cool News:
It's Superman!: A Novel by Tom De Haven
A focus on Clark Kent's high school years only makes comparison to the popular WB show Smallville all the more inevitable—and intentional. De Haven, whose Derby Dugan trilogy beautifully reimagined 20th-century American history through a pleasant sheen of media-tized irony, presents the man of steel as a sullen Depression-era teen, a bad WII-era reporter and as ambivalent about his super powers throughout, all with a kind of knowing that reflects a deep immersion in pulp.
De Haven drives his coming-of-age tale toward Superman's first showdown with Lex Luthor and his robot "Lexbots" in the middle of (the real!) New York City—prompted, of course, by the need to save Lois Lane. He gets knocked off his feet by the Lexbots and temporarily dazed. He doesn't want to continue, doesn't think he can win. Suddenly, in an echo of recent Batman and Spiderman film adaptations, a disembodied voice rings out: "Now get off that silly chair and go do something. Doesn't matter what. Just do something, Clark." (It's his mother.)
If that's not over-the-top enough, plenty of short chapters begin with lines like "Despite Lex Luthor's savvy and sensitive draft report on the Harlem race riot...." De Haven gives readers X-ray vision for determining when his tongue is in his cheek here; using it is great fun.
You can read extracts from the novel online here.
Comments
And Mark, thanks for the heads up on Red Son. I did some research on it yesterday and it sounds pretty awesome. I think I'll have to get my grubby paws on it in the future;)