I guess most people are going to focus on the fact that the Superman of Earth 23 is black and that’s what I said when I first saw the cover, too. After that, it’s all about how he’s really Obama since Supes’ secret identity is President of his United States. And I got off on that stuff when I read this issue too, but what really made me go “what the hell why did DC let him do that” was Lois’ origin story for the evil Superman from her planet. It’s a not-even thinly veiled critique of DC’s own handling of the ownership and exploitation of Superman as an intellectual property created by Siegel & Shuster. It’s a harsh blast at the company and what they’ve turned the character into: a soulless corporate icon used to sell anything that anyone will pay to have his image slapped onto. Clark, Lois, and Jimmy create Superman in their world, take it to a big company to help them develop and disseminate their vision of strength and good, and have their idea stolen and corrupted to the point that it hunts them down to kill them. DC is never named in the story, of course, and Morrison’s allegory is easily applied to Marvel as well. This part of this issue feels especially cheeky to me in light of the criticism from “the internet” and some creators about DC going ahead with publishing plans for Before Watchman without Alan Moore’s blessing. This is the kind of meta-tale I’ve been expecting from Morrison all along. Even though this issue isn’t really about creator’s rights, I got a kick out of one of comics’ best writers commenting on the state of his industry in one of its flagship titles.
Btw, If my idea of Morrison’s IP critique is used on the POTW podcast during the main section, I’d appreciate a shout-out. Or you could just use my review at the end, but I’m guessing y’all will talk about this comic in the front. Thanks! 🙂