What's so Funny about Truth, Justice and the American Way

Oh my god. He's not human!

Silver naked person why?

Here is one of those iconic stories. In many ways this story defines what superman means to me, and is the version that I find the most heroic, appealing, and interesting. Why? A bit of backstory. At the time the story was written, comics had moved to the modern or dark age of comics. Many say this started in 1985 with stories such as Watchman and the Dark Knight Returns (Both of Which I will get to)playing a major role in bringing the medium to literary importance. Stories often became darker, with heroes willing to kill and torture, leading to many heroes becoming anti-heroes like, where they did terrible actions in the pursuit of good. One such comic the Authority, a group of heroes who were willing to kill. In such a dark time, why would Superman not kill the bad guys? Thus in Action Comics 775, appearing in 2001, this question was answered. This story said much about why Superman is such a good guy, as well as why he doesn't kill (anymore). The other reason it is an important story is that it also really helps define why so many people think of Superman as the quintessential superhero. He is willing to do what is required, sacrificing himself if necessary, but will not cross the lines and morals that have been instilled in him. While other heroes such as Batman are similar, it is the fact that Superman embodies what is positive about superheroes. He works during the day, doing public good, beating up bad guys that threaten the entire world. That is what Superman does and is regarded as a hero both in universe and outside of it because of that positive notion.

If Libya can make a giant techno ape, what can the U.S. do?

The story opens with Superman flying as fast as he can to Libya, where a new group of heroes called the elite have just stopped a giant ape thing, but in doing so have killed over 2000 soldiers. While lauded by many, such as Jack Ryder, Batman Character and in this comic all around sleaze bag, and President Lex Luthor (Long Story), Superman is pissed for their reckless fighting. When the Elite send a manifesto declaring themselves judge, jury, and executioner, and say they will go after bad guys like a 50 megaton bomb. Superman who is working with Steel, compares them to the Bubonic plague and asks Steel if the world has moved on, right before finding out that their is trouble in japan. Superman flies there at top speed, fighting The Samurai Roshi, who I have never heard of before. He is then taken out by some kind of brain affecting power from Coldcast before the Elite make their first appearance.

Drunk, Jerk, Psycho, and at bottom Bioweapon

And there they are. The Hat, chinese master of magic and drunk, Manchester Black, leader british stereotype, and jerk, Coldcast, who beats people up and enjoys it immensely, and Menagerie creepy alien looking woman. The kill the Samurai Roshi, the Elite grabs Superman and takes him to there spaceship, a floating sentient bacteria colony named Bunny. Superman compares them to the Nazi's in response to Black's arguments about ends justifying the means, and of course Black proves how much of jerks that the Elite are by saying that they jettisoned Bunny's heart, because she could feel emotion. Superman shows us his angry face, as well as his disgust with the fact that the Elite are killing people. While I understand why Superman is pissed, Black does have a point in that they are terrorists and armed rebels. Superman continues to be angry with the fact that they are killing people and calling themselves heroes, something that I agree with to some extent.

Black and White are bad. Except when the Elite chooses.

Superman continues to be pissed, with Black talking about his past, with a dead mother and a father who died in World War 2. This he says caused him to wake up, and now he believes that only heroes willing to kill are able to function in a world where bad guy's don't wear a cape or a mask. I would point out that Lex Luthor has not worn those ever, and is still  a villain who superman goes after. There is also the fact that Superman has gone after politicians and tyrants in the past who have gone too far. Ignoring that problem, Black and Superman continue to argue. Black graciously will allow superman to go after "evil scientists, bogeymen and gimps in tights." The Elite then teleport Superman to a used car and truck lot that has been using Superman's image.

I love this scene. It really shows how strong a relationship has with his family, as well as why Jonathan Kent is such a powerful influence on Clark being a hero. Pa Kent says that people will only be able to improve themselves by seeing positive examples. People are going to blame whatever they can instead of fixing the problem according to Jonathan. Clark says that the answer can't be turning into them, but is unable to tell his father that he can beat them in a fight. We then get a full page of various people saying that Superman has failed them, and that they need people who are willing to kill. Even a bunch of children talk about how killing is fun. Superman fights some aliens, which is confusing, but kind of cool, as he uses his super breath to freeze water above them, as apparently the aliens believe water to be a poison, coming from a desert planet. The Elite show up, Superman yells at them, and we learn that Menagerie or her real name Pam, was made using the aliens technology, a type of alien bioweapon. Black says the aliens will continue to do this, even if arrested. Hat is ordered to kill the aliens and government agents with them, and Superman punches the hat with a fantastic Schwok noise. Black is thrilled, and he threatens Superman.

The next seen is one that again shows another important relationship. Clark is in bed with his wife Lois, and they talk about what's going to happen. Lois confronts Clark, saying that he sought them out, and that he should have called in the New Gods or the Justice League of America. Lois is worried about Clark, but he says it is necessary to teach them a lesson. She thinks that he might lose the next day. Clark explains why why it is important to show people that they need to be human, not focused on anger and spite, and killing people for fun or to be justified because they are seen as the bad guys. They hold each other, as the last few panels zoom out, showing them as tiny figures. The fact that Superman is fighting someone more powerful than himself is not unusual, despite what many people think. At dawn he goes out after leaving a note for Lois, and Bunny and the Elite appear overhead. Superman says he wants to move the fight away from Metropolis, and so the Elite teleport them to Jupiter's moon Io, and they beam the fight to Earth. The Planet is covered with obelisks from a race that might have gone to destroy the earth, saying they killed an alien baby. Superman lectures them saying that he does not want bloodshed, and he wants the Elite to step down, but they proceed to wreck the Boy Scout. Manchester tosses him through a mountain begins monologuing about how the world want surgeons, Menagerie hits him with flying things, before clawing him. Then the Hat drops a mayan looking tablet that is huge on Superman, and then Manchester hits him with a stroke before Coldcast explodes him. Superman;s appears, before Menagerie is hit with a poision that freaks her alien symbiote out, before a massive hurricane hits the group sucking the air out of the Hat's lungs. Coldcast and Manchester freak out, just before Coldcast just vanishes as a red, blue, and yellow streak hits him. We then see this.

He looks like Stallone on really bad day.

Manchester tries to fight him, right before Superman hits him with his heat vision, severing his power from his brain, "like a scalpel". Manchester freaks out crying, as Superman says he did this to show people why hate and spite are bad. Superman then reveals the twist, that he knocked them out, and basically stunned Black's power. Black cries and yells at Superman saying that he will go after him. Superman responds in the last page before flying away, that he wouldn't have it any other way, saying that we need dreams to be good people. And that he won't stop fighting for dignity, honor and Justice. Ever.

I really like this comic, both from a story point of view, and an important to characterization point of view. The reason it's important is to show not only why Superman will not kill, but also why he is the good guy. You almost never see Superman accused of crimes, and most people would never believe that he was a criminal. Superman's resources and abilities would make him a god if he choose to use them in a more dynamic way. His attack on the hat could kill a city. Taking someone at mach seven would cause them to explode, something that would kill almost any superhero with no warning. This is so far beyond what other characters would be able to do if gone bad, that it is no wonder people are scared of him. In other stories, people are frightened of him without him doing terrible things. But ultimately Superman is a good guy. He is willing to die to prove that he isn't willing to kill.

This comic was made into an adaption recently, Superman vs. the Elite which I liked alot. I also really like this comic. I think it is essential reading for a modern day superman fan. While this isn't some epic crossover or origin story, it is one that defines what it means to be Superman, and why he is a superhero. My copy is from Superman: Greatest Stories Ever Told. It also can be found in Justice League Elite Volume 1. This is a vital story for any Superman fan, and one of my favorite ever comic book stories.

Action Comics number 1 and a bit more

Well, this is the comic book that brought superheroes into the limelight. It also created much of the basic framework for superheroes as we know them today. That doesn't mean it is not without some really rough issues.

It's a bird, it's a plane, It's ... oh wait he can't fly yet.

Click for full size image

The cover shows a panel from later in the comic, where Superman crushes the car of some criminals after shaking them out. This is pretty much the extent of his super strength in this issue. Superman is the creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Siegel wrote the original stories, turning them out quickly. The very first story they created was about the reign of the superman, a man with telepathic power who after drinking an experimental serum decided to take over the world. That was scrapped and instead they created a Superman who came from another world where the race of aliens Superman comes from gets power from having evolved to a higher state. Ignoring the fact that evolution doesn't work that way, they never inform us what planet baby Superman came from, who raised him, and he has very little of the classic powers that we think about when we think about Superman. Instead he can lift a steel bar, run fast, and jump 1/8th of a mile. I think it is kinda weird that they give a specific number for that but not how much he can lift or run. 

After saving an innocent women by breaking into the governor's house, beating up his butler, and ignoring due process of law by leaving a bound women on the lawn who apparently committed a crime and framed someone else who ended up in prison. The governor then discusses this "superman", and even though has his house broken into in the middle of the night says he is glad that Superman is on the side of the law. Clark Kent is relieved to hear he is not mentioned in the newspaper article. We then to cut to him at his job at the Daily Star office, meeting with his editor who tells him to find out about a rumored "superman". Kent is then given a phone tip about a beating, where he then breaks in finding the abuser, and then proceeds to well ... 

Ladies and Gentlemen the "Big Blue Boy Scout."

The abuser then pulls out a knife and attempts to stab him, which fails pretty miserably as the blade breaks, and then the abuser faints. Clark goes on a date with Lois Lane, where Clark is a passive worm and Lois leaves in frustration. Clark changes into his costume and finds out that the thugs who picked on him and and wanted to dance with Lois have run her taxi of the road, and then leaps over their car eventually chasing them down and smashing their car after shaking them out. Superman saves Lois for the first of many times. Lois then is told that she is imaging pink elephants when she talks to the as yet unnamed editor of the Daily Star.

Clark is given a new assignment the next day to look for information on a was in the fictional country of San Monte. Instead Clarke goes to Washington D.C. where through a random set of coincidences manages to find out that someone is involved with the war in D.C. So Superman continues his tendency of painful and frighting methods to get his way. He grabs the guy and precedes to jump between buildings with him. And then the comic ends.Yep, we end the very first issue with an annoying cliffhanger. 

Because I hated it, I said hey let's review Action Comic number 2. Here we have a bit of a story. Apparently the editor hated the cover so much, that he wouldn't allow them to feature Superman on the cover! The only stories they told were Superman stories, but to keep the comic's cover appeal open, they ran random action covers instead. Only when a new editor came in before Action Comic's 7th issue did they show Superman on the cover again.

Actiony Right?

So the dude from the previous issue who was scared out of his mind gives up information about Emil Norvell a munition magnet. Superman somehow knows exactly were the Norvell lives after standing atop the Washington monument. Superman finds the house and the dude he was carrying around calls Norvell to warn him. When our hero arrives he is shot with machine guns, which of course do not harm him at all. Superman beats them up and threatens Norvell saying if he doesn't do as Superman wants him to, "I swear I'll follow you to whatever hole you hide in, and tear our your cruel heart with my bear hands." Awesome. Superman doesn't kill now, but I had no idea that it was not always the case. Good to know. Norvell gets some thugs to beat him up, even after seeing machine guns didn't work. Superman throws himself into the ocean, and after Norvell's hired thugs attempt to double cross him, he beats them with the, "severest thrashing of their lives". Superman makes Norvell enlist in the military of San Monte goes with him into the war, then goes to take a picture of generals for the Daily Star, then finds out that Lois has been framed for espionage. Then he saves her, giving us the immortal line. "And still playing the role of the gallant rescuers."

Wow he actually seems like a nice guy.

Nevermind

After telling her to be quiet for no reason, Superman makes her vanish somehow, because he suddenly finds a group of torturers, who have a man tied up. They are not actually doing anything, so Superman sensibly grabs one of them, and proceeds to throw him. He goes hurtling, and should turn into a nice red chunky spot somewhere in the distance. Superman is willing to kill people, I had no idea that superman would do that but apparently I was under the impression he was a hero concerned with doing good things, rather than jumping to assumptions and chucking people at high velocities with screams. After magically making Lois reappear, he tells her to leave the country. A plane than attacks him, which he takes out by running into with his body. Norville says he will not make munitions again as long as he doesn't have to keep fighting. Superman than ends the war by bringing the commanders of both sides together, who apparently cannot remember why the war started. Superman gets them to make peace. The story ends with the Daily Star editor saying that maybe Superman retired because he hasn't been around, and Clark Kent says that he is sure that Superman will be seen again.

So Superman is a bit of a jerk who beats people up, ignores the rule of law, and kidnaps people to make them fight in war. This isn't really the same Superman that we see later on, and therefore it really is not a very good origin story set. We also don't get much of his actual origins. His birth parents aren't mentioned, the planet he is from isn't mentioned, we are not told who adopted him, and his powers are very different than they would years later. I found the plot a bit contrived and even random at times, and hated the fact that the very first issue ended on a total cliffhanger.

Next week I will review Man of Steel number 1, the reboot of the characters origin into the modern age. This is the story that most comic book fans know, as well as the one used in most modern media adaptions (Smallville was made based of the comic Superman for All Seasons, which I will review, as it developed a lot of the modern depictions of important secondary cast like Lois Lane.)

Images are scans from Action Comics number 1 and number 2. I got these from The Superman Chronicles Volume 1, part of a series that chronologically follows every appearance of the early Man of Steel.