IT'S SUPERMAN! A novel by Tom De Haven. Anyone? Anyone?
Have any of you heard of the novel IT'S SUPERMAN! by Tom De Haven?
I *was* gonna ask "have any of you read the novel IT'S SUPERMAN! by Tom De Haven?" as I've just finished it and am itching to discuss the book, but I don't know how many people know it even exists. It's not even published by DC Comics, having come and gone in 2005 with little press or fanfare, and is apparently now out of print. Yet when Moriarty on Ain't It Cool News hailed it as the perfect basis for a Coen-brothers-directed SUPERMAN movie, that interested me enough to finally check it out.
Simply put, it's the origin of Superman set in the time and setting of his original publication: New York City, 1938. The book plays with the mythos in fascinating ways: there are tons of original characters, Martha Kent is the parent who dies, Lex Luthor is an Alderman with sights on both "Lucky" Luciano's criminal empire and the as-yet-untapped "giant killer robot" market (screw television!), Jimmy Olsen's been replaced by a good-hearted jerk framed by Lex for murder, Lois is pretty classically Lois, the style is very Fleischer-esque in places, and Superman... well, the emphasis is a lot more on the "man" than the "Super," let's put it this way.
I'm not quite sure how I feel about the book just yet, which is why I'm hoping to hash it out with you peeps. I'd actually be up for suggesting it for the Book Club, assuming 1.) anyone can find a copy (I got mine from the library) and 2.) the prospect of an actual book-book isn't a breach of our burgeoning Book Club protocol.
If this were the old scans_daily, I'd post the covers for legality. But since I can't, definitely check out this one, which I believe is for the paperback, and the hardbound cover by Chris Ware, which--I imagine--is the closest we'll ever come to seeing Ware draw a mainstream character. The scan doesn't do his justice, as it really has to be seen in person. But still, Chris Ware drawing Superman!
So, yeah. Anyone read it? Anyone thinking about reading it? If so, let me know. It's definitely worth checking out, if only for a unique look (and an unusual way of looking) at the greatest classical superhero of all time. Whether you even care about him or not.
I *was* gonna ask "have any of you read the novel IT'S SUPERMAN! by Tom De Haven?" as I've just finished it and am itching to discuss the book, but I don't know how many people know it even exists. It's not even published by DC Comics, having come and gone in 2005 with little press or fanfare, and is apparently now out of print. Yet when Moriarty on Ain't It Cool News hailed it as the perfect basis for a Coen-brothers-directed SUPERMAN movie, that interested me enough to finally check it out.
Simply put, it's the origin of Superman set in the time and setting of his original publication: New York City, 1938. The book plays with the mythos in fascinating ways: there are tons of original characters, Martha Kent is the parent who dies, Lex Luthor is an Alderman with sights on both "Lucky" Luciano's criminal empire and the as-yet-untapped "giant killer robot" market (screw television!), Jimmy Olsen's been replaced by a good-hearted jerk framed by Lex for murder, Lois is pretty classically Lois, the style is very Fleischer-esque in places, and Superman... well, the emphasis is a lot more on the "man" than the "Super," let's put it this way.
I'm not quite sure how I feel about the book just yet, which is why I'm hoping to hash it out with you peeps. I'd actually be up for suggesting it for the Book Club, assuming 1.) anyone can find a copy (I got mine from the library) and 2.) the prospect of an actual book-book isn't a breach of our burgeoning Book Club protocol.
If this were the old scans_daily, I'd post the covers for legality. But since I can't, definitely check out this one, which I believe is for the paperback, and the hardbound cover by Chris Ware, which--I imagine--is the closest we'll ever come to seeing Ware draw a mainstream character. The scan doesn't do his justice, as it really has to be seen in person. But still, Chris Ware drawing Superman!
So, yeah. Anyone read it? Anyone thinking about reading it? If so, let me know. It's definitely worth checking out, if only for a unique look (and an unusual way of looking) at the greatest classical superhero of all time. Whether you even care about him or not.