with the light of a thousand suns we will burn
So despite potato-face Clark, I really liked A Superman for All Seasons. The story was simple but in the best way - it was quintessentially Superman in a way that really worked for me. Superman is not my favorite, but I do have a lot of feelings about him and only think he's boring in the hands of writers who don't understand why he's so interesting (this argument can also be made for Captain America, another superhero dismissed as boring because of his attempts to be a good person). So this was a really good read that made me tear up towards the end, and I recommend it if you happen to be someone who likes Superman but hasn't read it already. Aside from not liking how Clark was drawn, the art is really pretty and evocative. There's something really almost...archetypical about it. It looks like a story that's mostly set in Smallville should look, to me.
All-Star Superman, otoh, didn't really work for me. I know it, too, was sold to me as "quintessential Superman" and while I think in terms of stories, it was? Like, everything that happens in it is something you've seen if you've ever read or seen anything with Superman in it? But I feel like it didn't really do a great job of making Superman - and Clark - into a real person. I also really hate that Lois doesn't know Clark is Superman (see my post last night about how much I hate that trope) - that, and the inclusion of way too much Bizarro - made this a less than fulfilling read for me. Otoh, Jimmy Olsen got to be badass, which I approve of.
I still liked Superman: Up Up and Away best, of the actual Superman titles I've read. And, of course, Superman/Batman, which comes pre-slashed for your pleasure, as the writers clearly ship it as much as anyone who has ever seen them interact does.
Was there a World's Finest title in the reboot? I have to admit, DC really just cut my interest in their current comics off at the knees with that business (everything about the reboot, I mean, though I will eventually catch up with Batfamily shenanigans), so I didn't pay particularly close attention.
*
July 2012 Writing Roundup
Our Carnival Life (at AO3)
Avengers (2012); Steve/Bucky; pg; 1,880 words
Bucky is the best gift he's ever gotten, every time.
So you better lay your money down (at AO3)
Avengers (2012); Tony/Pepper, ensemble; g; 3,490 words
"Your robot plays tennis?" "No. That's the problem."
The Second Rise (at AO3)
Avengers (2012); Steve/Bucky (Steve/Peggy); au; pg; 6,065 words
The one where Tony buys Steve a bakery after Bucky goes MIA, and three years later, Bucky comes back.
Commencement (at AO3)
The Dark Knight Rises; John Blake, Lucius Fox, Tam Fox; pg; spoilers; 1,195 words
He's not the Batman, not yet. But he's learning.
I'd hoped to have "Welcome to Wherever You Are" done - especially since it was a year ago yesterday that I watched Captain America and said TELL ME MORE ABOUT STEVE AND BUCKY AND STEVE/BUCKY - but it is in need of some serious editing, so maybe in August? I plan to work on it while I'm on vacation, anyway.
*
And the music:
Top 5 Songs - July 2012
5. Homewrecked - Empires
Don't be afraid of anything
You're never going back again
4. Augustine - Vienna Teng
Don't say every chance is lost
Please don't say anything at all
3. Melt Your Heart - Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
And what's good for your soul
Will be bad on your nerves if you reverse it
2. No Light No Light - Florence + the Machine
Would you leave me,
If I told you what I've done?
And would you need me,
If I told you what I've become?
I need it to be 2014 already so I can have the Steve/Bucky Winter Soldier vid to this song.
1. Shake It Out - Florence + the Machine
And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
And this needs to be a Natasha vid ASAP. I am just saying.
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/488453.html.
people have commented there.
All-Star Superman, otoh, didn't really work for me. I know it, too, was sold to me as "quintessential Superman" and while I think in terms of stories, it was? Like, everything that happens in it is something you've seen if you've ever read or seen anything with Superman in it? But I feel like it didn't really do a great job of making Superman - and Clark - into a real person. I also really hate that Lois doesn't know Clark is Superman (see my post last night about how much I hate that trope) - that, and the inclusion of way too much Bizarro - made this a less than fulfilling read for me. Otoh, Jimmy Olsen got to be badass, which I approve of.
I still liked Superman: Up Up and Away best, of the actual Superman titles I've read. And, of course, Superman/Batman, which comes pre-slashed for your pleasure, as the writers clearly ship it as much as anyone who has ever seen them interact does.
Was there a World's Finest title in the reboot? I have to admit, DC really just cut my interest in their current comics off at the knees with that business (everything about the reboot, I mean, though I will eventually catch up with Batfamily shenanigans), so I didn't pay particularly close attention.
*
July 2012 Writing Roundup
Our Carnival Life (at AO3)
Avengers (2012); Steve/Bucky; pg; 1,880 words
Bucky is the best gift he's ever gotten, every time.
So you better lay your money down (at AO3)
Avengers (2012); Tony/Pepper, ensemble; g; 3,490 words
"Your robot plays tennis?" "No. That's the problem."
The Second Rise (at AO3)
Avengers (2012); Steve/Bucky (Steve/Peggy); au; pg; 6,065 words
The one where Tony buys Steve a bakery after Bucky goes MIA, and three years later, Bucky comes back.
Commencement (at AO3)
The Dark Knight Rises; John Blake, Lucius Fox, Tam Fox; pg; spoilers; 1,195 words
He's not the Batman, not yet. But he's learning.
I'd hoped to have "Welcome to Wherever You Are" done - especially since it was a year ago yesterday that I watched Captain America and said TELL ME MORE ABOUT STEVE AND BUCKY AND STEVE/BUCKY - but it is in need of some serious editing, so maybe in August? I plan to work on it while I'm on vacation, anyway.
*
And the music:
Top 5 Songs - July 2012
5. Homewrecked - Empires
Don't be afraid of anything
You're never going back again
4. Augustine - Vienna Teng
Don't say every chance is lost
Please don't say anything at all
3. Melt Your Heart - Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
And what's good for your soul
Will be bad on your nerves if you reverse it
2. No Light No Light - Florence + the Machine
Would you leave me,
If I told you what I've done?
And would you need me,
If I told you what I've become?
I need it to be 2014 already so I can have the Steve/Bucky Winter Soldier vid to this song.
1. Shake It Out - Florence + the Machine
And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
And this needs to be a Natasha vid ASAP. I am just saying.
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/488453.html.
people have commented there.