Scans: Trinity 6

[jij]

This week at least has Tarot contemplating the Trinity, thus making her immediately more interesting to me.  :)  But the thing that really caught my attention was the conversation between Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in the medlab.  Ignore for a moment the fact that Diana takes her top off to have her shoulder looked at--her shoulder that was

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[jij]

I couldn't remember for sure if you'd read Astro City! *dances* I'm liking it so far! We've just finished the first TPB--the one with Samaritan on the cover--and have started the one with Jack in the Box on the cover. So we're not terribly far in! I have not actually seen the COnfessor yet, rar! I got the whole series because I was reading a book about superhero comics and they said "vampire Batman" and I was all "MUST HAVE NAO!"

I just say The Gentleman for the first time in tonight's reading! He has Captain Marvel's grin, lol! I like just about everyone so far, but I must confess the very first issue with the Samaritan gave me something of a breakdown. I was all, "OMG, that's what Clark's life would really be like! He could never have any time and it would be a living helllllll"...Dan had to talk me down. So I was really glad when he got his date with Winged Victory and they at least got to talk about the issue and maybe indicate it wasn't the best way of living. And...I really like Quarrel II although I haven't seen much of her, and Nightingale and Sunbird just because, well, you know. And I haven't actually seen Jack in the Box yet in any meaningful way, but when the hood catches that glimpse of his face...uh, he's so gorgeous. Uh. I am shallow. :)

*coughs* Have I babbled enough? Maybe! I'll let you know what I think of later issues! Have you read all of them?

[arch_schatten]

I read all the trades my brother had! I think I did read them all, but.. don't know...

That issue with Samaritan broke my heart! and also made me somewhat elated. My brother, he just got really depressed, lol, all 'Superman doesn't do enough, clearly!', and he loves Samaritan but he thinks he makes Kal look bad so he just mopes. I really liked Samaritan, but he's obviously not living a very happy life... his date with Winger Victory made me squeal X) Winged Victory rocks, too! I like the idea of having a super busy life helping people, but it still has to be a life so he (either Samaritan or Kal) can connect with people and remain grounded. Otherwise, is just... savior from the sky, remote and uncaring. They stop looking like people and start looking like something else, I think. No good. Some degree of desensitization should be expected, I guess -that's Batman for you!- but they have to be able to get you so you still care enough to risk yourself for them every day...

Vampire Batman! JEN! I will warn you vampire Batman made me crawl into a bed and cry and cry and cry. So. Approach with caution!!!! He's awesome! but. yes. Caution.

Jack in the Box is super awesome as well. Yum. I really liked his arc. I am saddened by not having these comics here anymore, I would love to look at them again so I could discuss them in more detail.. my memory is pretty crappy... I hope you like them, though! woot! let me know when you read The Confessor's! ;.;

[jij]

The Samaritan makes me so sad, Mina! He looks like Kal just enough, but he looks like he never ever smiles, the poor man. And I'm oddly fond of Asa's pretty white hair!

I know the basics of the Confessor's arc already, so I am emotionally braced! We're in the middle of a First Family story, and I just love how they echo the FF without being them, damn, the series is so amazing they way it does that...original superhero fanfic, whoo!

[arch_schatten]

I love Samaritan's secret identity, Asa's white hair is so pretty, and he looks.. you're right, like such a solemn and burdened man. I would never want that for Clark! I think I internalized that story to the point that I just can't stand preachy Clark because if Clark was to believe half of what he said he would have to be Samaritan, not Superman. I just reject preachy Superman on grounds of misscharacterization (sp?), even if it's common in canon.

I wish I had known the basics of Confessor's arc. It really got me, I had no idea, and I just yelled at my brother for not warning me and cried. He was a tortured bastard!

The First Family! I completely forgot about them! isn't it cool, though, the original superhero fanfic? They are all recognizable enough to make the books very appealing to existing comic fans and is a great way of seeing just how archetypal the characters have become. They have refined to the point where it's easy to refer to Jack in the Box and Confessor as the Batman-heroes. I thought Crackerjack was kind of Ollie-Plas, if that even makes sense, lol. Winged Victory and Cleopatra both seemed like Diana to me... but I read them a while ago, before I had a better handle on DC universe, so maybe my initial similes were too narrow...

[jij]

I love the way the characters are completely recognizable and yet entirely their own, it's just amazing. That has to take a lot of skill, to have Cleopatra and Winged Victory, who are both clearly Wonder Woman and yet completely not. Crackerjack I thought of as kind of Ollie-Booster! :) Silver Agent (whose story I still don't know and don't spoil me if you remember it!) is clearly Captain America, and there's MPH who's the Flash, and Quarrel seems almost like a mix of Ollie and Dinah, oddly enough. Oh, and the Hanged Man, who seems very Spectre-like! I really hope I get to know a lot more about all of them, it's very very awesome.

[jij]

Also, Mina...I am on Skype with my parents and they were looking at my bloggy thing and said "Who is this Kalelin?"

"Oh, she's my Canadian friend."

"And who is this Mina?"

"Oh, she's my...*snicker* Uh, my....Mexican friend." *giggles some more*

I just thought you might appreciate that, my Mexican friend!

[arch_schatten]

LMAO! I'm glad to be part of your diversity harem, my dear American friend!

Haha, take a picture like Colbert's and I'll photoshop myself in it X) Mexican friend FTW!

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The Confessor & Tarnished Angel.

You will love them. They will inspire you.

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Oh! And Jack-In-The-Box. His saga will also move you. Seriously. You'll be all 'OMG, BRUCE!'. You will.

Yes, I happen to love, LOVE, Astro City. So, so much.

And OMG, if you can get to the special issue about BEAUTIE.

Just, Kirk Busiek is my Joss.

[jij]

I waver on Busiek! The first thing of his I ever read was "Marvels," and that was so very bleak that I went off and cried for like a week. Now, I think in some ways it was a repudiation of that kind of bleakness, but it still took me a long time to recover. But I'd heard such good things about Astro City I just had to try it--so far (and I'm not very far) I'm really liking it. I've hardly even glimpsed the Confessor yet, which is tormenting me. I believe this TPB I'll see more of Jack-in-the-Box, and I'm happy to hear I'll probably like him, because I fell in love with him at first glimpse, lol. (He looked so sad!)

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I enjoyed Marvels. But I read it after I'd gotten my hands on Astro City and was looking for more Busiek.

Outside of the occasional fanfiction or rp at the time I read him, I felt as if I'd never really enjoyed Superman. I thought I'd only watched the animated series when I was growing up because it was paired with Batman, so it was the same universe to me.

Then I read Samaritan and then I read Superman: Secret Identity. And I realized where this lack of enjoyment almost dislike of Superman had come from.

I had liked the animated Superman. And I'd even enjoyed George Reeves. And then I remember I'd followed Super-Boy (even got the chance to interview the actor of the tv series as part of a group journalism workshop) and I'd enjoyed Lois & Clark. My dislike for the character had come from more recent actual comics. They either kept playing up the messianic aspect, with lectures. Or they treated him as more alien than human. As this uberman and not as a person. Recent (the last 5-7 years) comics
had retroactively affected my feelings for the character.

Kurt's writing brought back my sense of wonder about him. It made me realize that your writings of Clark weren't spun from nothing. Not that I disliked your writing, I did. But I didn't know where you or others were getting the inspiration.

Which is what I think your problem with Marvels may have been. The point of the Marvel universe is grit and problems and humanity and the lens of Marvels is about one man's point of view on it all and how his feelings change and how they reflect the world around him. So I think Marvels is speaking to a certain level of jadedness and event fatigue and the wearing out of the humanity of the characters to the point where they have no wonder anymore - not even to the world they live in and you almost want to cry that people can see a man fly and not be even a little bit awed.

The Confessor and Tarnished Angel and the long arc of Jack-In-The-Box. I'm banking on those three stories to show you how much Kurt gets heroes/superheroes. And if you'd like I can send you the cbr of the issue of Beautie. Cause that's another one worth reading.

Do note I haven't read Dark Age yet and I'm told that arc of Astro City loses something and some people think it's the subject matter itself reflecting the chaos of the 70's along with the chaos in 70's comics. And some people think it's Busiek's not handling things right. I'll figure it out for myself when I get there.

[jij]

It's interesting how when you run into a storyline can affect your feel for it. I picked up Marvels very, very early, not even knowing Busiek at all--mostly for the art. Gwen's death and the aftermath devastated me. And yeah, I agree with your assessment that it's a fair take on how a person can reach the point of losing their wonder, with the only hope being left that maybe somewhere someone else can still have it.

I haven't read "Secret Identity" yet! I decided I liked Busiek for the "Up Up and Away" arc, which really encapsulated a lot of what I love about Superman--with him out there making a difference even as Clark, because that's what he does, with or without the uniform.

I have to admit, after reading more of the recent canon Superman comics, I get what you're saying about the writing. People feel they have to write him as so unswervingly moral that he's boring, and the only way to break out of that seems to be by lifting him into the inhuman just for a chance of pace. Loeb and Waid are the ones I credit with showing me a different version...and neither of them really in the pages of the canon issues (besides "Birthright.")

Samaritan almost made me cry. I love the way Busiek is able to change their stories so totally and yet somehow keep what's important--the lost home, the lonely destiny and responsibility are all there, and yet totally different from Kal's story.

I would really love the cbr of the Beautie issue! I haven't seen much of her yet but I've been oddly taken with her--in part because the artist captures her non-verbal stiffness so delightfully. :)