pdnoosh

Name: C Heeren

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pdnoosh's Recent Comments
June 13, 2012 10:48 am He's a really fun character. Mashing up a few elements from across his career -- the snark, the Hollywood satire, the DCU-hopping, the sinister occult vibe -- could make a nice "Entourage/Extras meets Hellblazer" type series for the Dark end of the New 52 pool.
April 10, 2012 8:44 pm His rogues gallery is tough-- because of his power level, he DESPERATELY needs more cosmic level threats like Braniac. But, those cosmic level threats are hard to nail, it seems.
April 10, 2012 8:39 pm Oh damn, I think I accidentally deleted a sentence in the middle of that second paragraph that would have made it make so much more sense. So imagine a really smart point about feeling alone in the big city between the long sentence with all the "doings" and the sentence about knowing what Clark felt like in that scene. That's TOTALLY what I meant to put there ;-) Sorry!
April 10, 2012 8:35 pm Great article, great conversation . . . Two moments have resonated with me in the current Action run strongly enough that I'm willing to forgive a clumsy issue or plot misstrep here or there. The first was during the Superman-backlash sequence, where Clark is crying and holding the photo of the Kents -- NAILED it for me. Here is this kid -- an alien in so many senses of the word beyond the literal and obvious -- who's doing his damndest to do right by his parents' legacy, doing good in a world where good is in danferously short supply, and doing everything he was raised and born to do, being absolutely torn apart for doing the right thing. As a transplant from a small midwestern town who moved to Chicago not knowing a soul here in my early twenties, I knew exactly what that felt like. But more broadly than that specific personal connection, I think everyone goes through a trial where either they feel absolutely alone, unloved, and unable to find someone to reach out to for support. Or, whether it's in relationships, career, politics, etc., we all go through something where doing what what we believe in and know to be spiritually and ethically right makes us a pariah. Doing the right thing is often lethal to one's popularity, taking the high road is necessary but sometimes too taxing. But if we fight, if we believe in that light at the end of the tunnel, we carry on. and in someway, become heroes in the stories of our own lives. For me, Morrison and Morales put all of that in that one panel. And not only did that create a way for me to identify so personally with this take on the character, I think it gave us a glimpse into how to make Superman REALLY work for the 21st Century. He's a good man with an unimaginable burden and sense of responsibility-- but even with the powers and resources available to him, he will never fully be connected to other people or the world around him. He is twice orphaned, and no one can EVER even grasp what he's been through, is capable of, and feels responsible for. But he still fights, he still tries. Because it's the right thing to do. Considering the state of politics, technology, the economy and social change, THAT'S the story of what it's like to live in America, 2012. If Morrison or some other smark writer could take Superman and use him as a metaphor in the same way that Joss Whedon used Buffy as a metaphor for growing up, Superman would be back on top in popularity. Play on Superman's alienation and position apart from society to talk about how technology and urban sprawl can make actual human contact impossible. Use that sense of burden and fthe endless barrage of impossible tasks to talk about the impossible tasks we all face these days -- making it in a sputtering economy. establishing a decent living, etc. Just as in our personal lives we have tons of technology, education,and media at our grasp, it still seems like it's not enough -- and writing a Superman whose powers aren't always enough can offer a mirror to that facet of modern life. And key to making this shine here is giving the character immense hope, the optimism that despite tough times now, things are bound to get better. The other winning character moment for me was Superman's determination and declaration to save both Kandor and Metropolis, despite Braniac's ultimatum to save only one. Potentially, an unwise move that could rhave resulted in the destruction of both cities. And it's that lack of experience and naivite that makes Morrison's young Superman appealing to me as well. A couple posters mentioned Clark's cockiness, but I wonder if that's a front the chracter uses to hide that he's really scared to death and can't quite believe that all of this is really happening. There's a ton of potential with Supergirl right now too. Just as Morrison's characterization of Superman is selling it for me, Kara's development has been done impeccably. Again, speaking of Buffy, there's a lot of space to talk about growing up and tranisitioning to adulthood that they could do here. It's too bad the pacing is so glacial, because despite nailing Kara's voice, it's not firing on all cyllinders. But, they've endeared me enough to the character that I'm coming back.