Swamp Thing #20 - A really good Superman comic. I’m not very familiar with Charles Soule, but he can write a great Superman. Not a lot of people do.
I hate how Geoff Johns does Superheroes, it’s so fucking tacky.
first of all, “not interfere” that is fucking bullshit.
Every time you reach out to help someone, that is interfering. Not interfering means doing nothing, not helping, not flying in aid, not helping people reconstruct, not helping to cause negotiations and talk.
This is shitty writing and a shitty comic.
Then the final line as the coup de grace of stupid bullshit of trying to make superheroes edgy, just fuck.
I hate this whole thing.
I don’t really like the way Bruce is mourning, but in a way it makes sense. His son died in a world where death doesn’t always take. I imagine that so many other people feel this way in comic book worlds.
Because Hawkeye can come back to life, why can’t the person I love? Superman died and came back, why doesn’t anyone else?
And the big question.. will Damian return?
I think it’s likely, but not any time soon.
Look at how edgy we are!
Drone strikes and acceptable losses!
So modern and insightful.
Except there is nothing.
Just using buzzwords and headlines to drape the story in.
STOP IT INJUSTICE.
This is the dumbest comic.
Joker tricks Superman into punching a pregnant Lois into space and then nukes Metropolis.
Why?
BECAUUUUSEEEEEE.
And that leads to this panel.
It’s like reading a shitty fanfic.
This is one of the most FUCK YEAH moments in a comic book.
Comics and Kayfabe
I was talking with a friend about comics last night, they have gone full on cynical at this point in their life, finally realizing that Spider-man will always return to a core sort of continuity and that Superman won’t ever stay dead.
And then asks how I stay excited and enjoy the books, but the answer is simple. Everyone involved in comics is acting a bit, like wrestling fans, where everyone knows it’s an act but we all act like maybe Peter Parker is dead and gone, because it makes the comic book more fun. We wonder how Superman can save the day when we read he will die twice.
That is the real trick of imagination as a comic book reader, not that we can imagine the worlds of the comics, but that we can pick up the narrative cues and feel the proper mood the creators are intending for the current issues in light of the cynicism and history of a book.
So we fake it.
It doesn’t mean we don’t like the book, or are actually ignoring the reality and history of things. It’s a 1 person act that happens quietly and in our own heads.
Superman is amazing fuck anyone who says otherwise. He doesn’t just care about fighting monsters or supervillains he is there for everyone. His humanity and compassion ultimately defines him more than his godlike powers.
This is always one of my favorite pages in comics.
I love how earlier in the issue a theapist who misses a train because of bad guys mentions her outloud, not to Superman, but saying it.. and Superman checks.. because he cares about everyone, deeply.
That is the worst fucking pun.
“you forced my hand.. to CHOKE YOU!”
When Bruce told Dick to go buy himself new clothes, the Boy Wonder planned only to buy some Superman shoes to anger Bat a little, but after entering a superhero clothing shop, he had gone with the flow. Then, he Zeta’d to Mt. Justice and ran around the cave screaming “I’m Robin, the Boy Justice!” Well, until Bruce showed up and according to Rob, he wasn’t feeling the aster.
Boy Justice, by Hanna Bryda.
