DC Rebirths The Man of Tomorrow From The Ashes of Their Past

90% of The New 52 was crap.  I have long and short boxes filled with half read series and cancelled storylines.  Before The New 52, DC wasn’t doing much better.  Needless to say, if DC books were flying off the shelf and / or getting rave reviews they would not have felt the need to restart their entire DC universe.  

Before we go on, let me lay my cards out on the table.  You don’t need to be Mike McDermott to read me like KGB in order to tell that I’m not a fan of Superman.  No sir, I don’t like it.  Creating a compelling Superman story is one of the hardest jobs in comic book writing, if not in all of storytelling.  Don’t confuse the idea of Superman with the need of a good Superman story.  You can’t have DC without Superman, which makes him an even more daunting character to write. Superman is one of the world’s most recognizable symbols.  Every kid, even me, at one time wished he (or she, let’s be politically correct without shoehorning Wonder Woman in as a token) had the unlimited powers and strength of Superman.

And there lies the problem.  Essentially Superman is unbeatable.  In reality, any earthly problem could be resolved in a laser blink of an eye, a puff of frozen breath, a flick of his wrist or at the speed of a bullet.  With no apparent weakness, even the best of writers would inevitably lean on the same tropes; some new and unusual way to use Kryptonite (which for an element only found on an exploded dead planet lightyears away, seems to run abundant on earth…), an other worldly galactic enemy or a lack of exposure to a yellow sun (global warming couldn’t come soon enough for Supes) as being the only way to defeat The Man of Steel.  

There’s been some good Superman stories over the past few decades but it’s been few and far between for the main character in DC’s stable and a character that usually has no less than two solo books per month and is in various other team books.  Geoff Johns had two great arcs.  Grant Morrison ripped off a good 12 issue All-Star run.  Scott Snyder’s Superman Unchained was surprising good.  I might be one of the few to enjoy J. Michael Straczynski’s Superman: Earth One graphic novels.  In fact, the best part of The Death of Superman, was the aftermath and chaos that ensued when four separate characters all claimed to be “Superman” and the stories that unfolded.

How do you break the unbreakable?  How do you defeat… literally… The SUPERMAN?

DC Rebirth found a way.  Take his universe away from him.

On my regular monthly trip to my favorite comic book store (shoutout to Jud and crew @ Blastoff), I went through my pull list, checked out the various new books and Indy section.  Since the end of The New 52, I’d vowed to switch all DC pulls to Trade Paperbacks or Hard Covers only.  I wasn’t going to get caught up on monthly issues of a crap product, especially if they were going to now be putting out bi-weekly issues.  In the immortal words Roger Murtaugh, “I’m getting too old for this shit.”  Soon the new “DC Rebirth” Trades started to roll out.  I had read a few reviews online (as you are doing now) and was surprised to see more positive takes than in past years for many of the DC series.  I asked Jud, “So, is Superman still a complete shit show?”  Jud and I have known each other for years and our relationship extends into a personal friendship at this point (reason #1 to frequent your local comic book store).  I know he’s much more of a Superman / DC fan than I am and he knows my feelings (or lack there of) in regards to Superman.  There’s no bullshit.  He’ll tell me if I’ll like something or not at this point.

Again, get up, get out and go to your local comic book store, run by comic book people.  

I was shocked at what his response was, “Buy it.”  Not only that, he referred me to Superman: Lois and Clark.  “Start with that and pick up Superman Vol. 1, trust me.”  I’ll never forget his tagline that really hooked me, “It’s OUR Superman.”  That got me interested.  Never did I think a Lois and Clark Trade would be good.  I thought is was some sort of retcon of the old TV series.  Dan Jurgens has been writing Superman forever so what possibly could he have to say?  But I trust Jud so I picked up both Trades, added it to the rest of my stack and went home.  

I build up my comics in runs and will read them in Trades or when I’ve collected full arcs of 6-12 issues.  I also like to flip between Marvel / DC / Indy books just so I don’t get board.  I couldn’t get Jud’s words out of my head.  Reluctantly and with no expectations I started to read Superman: Lois and Clark.  God damn, it was really good.  It took an old version of Superman and set him in a post-New 52 world where the young / hip Superman had just died.  Somehow this older version of Superman had been able to escape the collapse of his universe, bring Lois and their newborn child with them this new universe.  Not to spoil anything, but once the “new” Supes died, this wiser family oriented Clark Kent emerged from the shadows to take up the mantle of Superman, because the world always needs a Superman.  This time, he was a reluctant hero.  This Clark would much rather stay at home with his family but with great power comes great… sorry, wrong book but you know what I’m getting at.  

There were touches of Robert Kirkman’s Invincible within the relationship and growth of his son Jon.  Superman Rebirth #7 is probably the best single “bottle” issue example of the family’s new universe dynamic.  Writer Peter J. Tomasi has always been an underrated favorite of mine.  His work with artists Patrick Gleason and Doug Mahnke have been some of my favorite works even when DC was at it’s darkest (Superman #7’s art was by Jorge Jimenez).  You can find some of their combined and solo works on Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps and Batman & Robin if you want some solid overlooked gems from past years.   What DC has done is stressed the “man” part of SuperMAN.  He’s older and wiser than his younger, now dead, counterpart was.  He may have lost a step or two but he’s still Superman.  His drive to have a good relationship with Lois and raise a decent son is more important than the “threat of the week” that befalls earth.  No longer treated as an invulnerable god, this Superman has died before and fears it could happen again.  This Superman has lost everything except his wife and child and will do anything to protect them.  He’s more vulnerable, inside and out, than he’s ever been.

In the second Trade of the latest Superman series, we get a great storyline between Superman and his son, and Batman and his son Damien.  This Batman still doesn’t totally trust the man that took over the mantle from his former friend.  What they do have in common is that they both want to raise the next generation of heroes the right way, and be the true fathers that neither of them had.  Not inconsequentially, Jon and Damien now have their own series, Super Sons.

Dan Jurgens is still turning out a solid story in Action Comics.  It is a more broad comic that shows Superman interacting with the rest of the world, including a maybe / maybe not to be trusted version of Lex Luthor?

I’m now a recovering Superman hater.  While I’ve found great joy in these latest offering of The Man of Steel, I found myself increasingly angry at DC comics.  I’ve spent tons of money and too many hours slogging through reading hundreds of horrible Superman titles.  For years Superman has been a mess.  The New 52 reboot was a disaster.  Not even Grant Morrison could lay the groundwork for a solid series in his initial run on Action Comics a few years back.  This more simplified Superman story and motivation has proven to be exactly what the character needed.  I’m still shocked and couldn’t recommend starting with Superman: Lois and Clark and continuing with the Rebirth Superman series more.  

Thanks,

WK

@wkbear on Twitter

BearCast : The Trial of Batman vs Superman

BEARcast - ShowCast 2016-04-04 Trial of BvS

The definitive “Trial of Batman vs Superman”.  Not a regular review or recap.  Rather we debate the merits of the movie.  The BearCast family chimes in with five different contributors we span the spectrum of opinions and takes.  This podcast is FULL OF SPOILERS.  The result is up to you, the audience.  Let us know what you think!! Enjoy.

Please check us out at www.worldofbear.com and on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/world-of-bear/id828777439?mt=2 and don't forget to Subscribe!  Also, don't forget to spread the word to friends, family and fans.

Thanks,
WK
@wkbear on Twitter or email the show at WorldOfBearBC@gmail.com to send in ideas and comments.

The Tomorrow People, start watching it NOW!

Wednesday night fun with The CW.  

Quickly becoming the best one-two punch on network television, The CW has two unlikely hits in Arrow and The Tomorrow People which are turning Wednesday nights into must see TV.  

Mostly known for schlocky teen melodrama, The CW (or just CW forsake of my typing prowess) is locking down the nerd / action contingent.  Arrow which was their first surprise hit from last season is back and now they’ve struck gold again with another surprise hit.  The Tomorrow People is an awesome new show that may soon surpass Arrow in nerd TV rankings.  

Arrow is back for its second season and is stronger than ever.  Led by Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen / Arrow), David Ramsey (Diggle), Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity Smoak) and the rest of its tremendous cast (click to see the shows IMDB page) Arrow hit the new season with a bullseye and is lobbing hot fire arrows at the competition each week.  What was once a fledgling drama that hoped to retain the CW’s past Smallville audience, Arrow has darted past the non-caped Superman teen series as best comic book show on TV, possibly ever.  

Arrow, which stands for Green Arrow who a poor-man’s Batman, was a surprisingly great show last season.  At first it stumbled along and risked cancellation but once it was green lit for a full season, it found its legs and by the finale the show had solid footing and understood what it did best.  Arrow hit all the beats of a CW show, with love triangles and family drama, but also gave ample nods to comic book fans.  While you’d wait entire seasons from Smallville to give you a Blue Beatle reference, Arrow would throw in DC universe easter eggs at a rapid pace.  Arrow was based on the outstanding Andy Diggle / Jock re-boot of the character from 2007 and includes insider comic book references in almost every episode.  Constantly last year, I would have gleeful chuckles from moments like when it was mentioned that so-and-so would be back from Central City in a ‘flash’ (see, because The Flash is from Central City) or Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) would joke that his sister’s nickname was Speedy (which in the comic book was his eventual sidekick’s nickname, a poor-man’s Robin).  The show not only proved that you could service the hardcore comic book fan but also tell good stories and have great action.  

The show that was paired up with Arrow last season was the long running Supernatural.  Out of all the remaining shows on CW, Supernatural was the closest in tone and demographics to Arrow but it never seemed to work.  

With little fan fare The Tomorrow People was promoted to be Arrow’s new companion on Wednesday night.  As someone who reads comics, visits comic book websites and basically tracks all there is when it comes to super-powered beings and their chronicles, I was vastly unaware of this new show.  Unlike ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” which dominated the fall preview landscape, no one was talking about The Tomorrow People.  Not even CW made a major push for this show.  They were smart by showing a few quick clips of good looking people making things move and giving off a Push movie vibe.  I’m a HUGE Push fan so what could it hurt to set the ‘ole DVR and see what this The Tomorrow People was all about?

Let me tell you, it’s about the most awesome show on TV.  If I were tasked to give it one word, fun, would be the adjective to describe Tomorrow People.  If Arrow is the poor-man’s Batman, TP is the poor-man’s X-men.  Essentially, The Tomorrow People is X-men except all the mutants have the same three superpowers (telekinesis, teleportation, telepathy).  The premise is the same, mutants get their powers as they reach maturity and ULTRA is an evil government / corporation complex that is tasked with killing or recruiting said mutants because they’re a threat to us regular humans.  There’s even a super computer, TIM, which is a poor-man’s Cerebro.

The show stars Robbie Amell (yes, Arrow’s Stephen Amell's real life little brother) as the “Neo” of this world (I know that’s a Matrix analogy but it’s the quickest comparison.  If you wanted to stay within the X-men world he’d be a very poor-man’s Wolverine and really not accurate, trust me on the Neo comparison.  Stop distracting me.), Luke Mitchell as the “Cyclops on the real X-men” and leader of the mutant underground and then the beautiful Peyton List as the “Jean Grey” of the group.  It’s the CW so of course there has to be a love triangle involving the three leads.  It’s unnecessary but I think that’s in the CW bylaws, “All shows shall have love triangles.”  The other two standout actors are Mark Pellegrino from Lost fame and Aaron Yoo from Disturbia and “Oh yeah, that Asian kid” fame.  They’re both personal favorites if not crowd favorites and do so much to make this a well rounded show.  If they’re your 7th and 8th hitters, you’ve got a World Series contending batting order.

TP is still in its infancy, just 7 episodes in, and we’re just now getting to know all the characters and learn their backgrounds and more importantly their secrets.  Since the first episode the special effects have been used efficiently and correctly.  This is a CW show and there’s no doubt that there are budgetary constrains (which is probably why all the mutants have the same three powers) but except for one shot in the first episode, where time is stopped and our heroes are allowed to escape certain capture, the character’s powers are used within the means of telling the story.  If you’re a hardcore sci-fi junky like myself, you’ll recognize the use of some of the effects but like the Matrix, it’s not always the most innovative or new SFX but how you use those effects.  We’ve seen teleporting characters before but TP uses it as a great tool that enhances fighting or chase sequences rather than making the chase or fighting sequences about the teleporting.  It’s all so seamless and a joy to watch.

Like Arrow, TP does the action well but it’s the characters that make the show turn.  Amell’s “Neo” character could be the savior or the demise of the mutants.  He wants to find the truth about his long lost father’s death / disappearance and the only way is through working with his uncle, Pellegrino, who runs the evil ULTRA – bum-buh-baaaa.  See, it’s cheesy but it’s fun.  TP also makes the extra effort.  Mitchell’s leader character, Young, isn’t just a hard-nosed jerk “because that’s what leaders who have the hot girlfriend at the beginning of stories do,” there’s reason behind it.  He was originally taken and trained by ULTRA which he escaped.  One of his secrets is that unlike his fellow mutants, who can’t kill (don’t ask me how that exactly works), ULTRA experimented on him so badly that he does have the ability to kill.  You can understand his hatred of ULTRA and fear of them but the show also tells how ULTRA and Pellegrino’s Jedikiah character saved Young from an abusive and horrible childhood.  Jedikiah and Young still have a father / son bond, albeit very messed up bond (but who doesn’t).  I’m just scratching the surface of what we know and it only gets deeper AND we’re only in the first seven episodes.  It’s a great show.  

While Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD has Disney money behind it and is shepherded in by a multi-billion dollar franchise, I don’t know nor care about any of the characters on that show.  For all of the money and tie-ins that SHEILD could have, we’ve barely seen a superpower used?!  There’s more action and abilities used in one episode of TP than the entire run of SHIELD.  Both shows are still not even half a season in and I hope for both’s success but so far TP has lapped the ABC juggernaut.  I’m usually a “young savior get’s the girl” guy but I was so upset at the recent secret kiss between Amell and List’s characters that I continued to be upset hours after the show.  Mitchell’s Young is a bad-ass good leader and doesn’t deserve to loose his girl.  Not to some high school punk savior!  Just because he didn’t want the rest of the mutants to know he could kill?  See, I’m still worked up about it.

And did I mention the action?  Oh yeah, I did.  Well, it deserves to be said again, it’s fantastic.  Even the characters have fun with their powers.  Do you need to get across country, let’s just teleport.  Do we need some extra spending cash, let’s be pool sharks with our telekinesis.  Even when the group of mutants want a night out above ground and their leader is against it, he eventually turns around and shows up (of course, it helped that Ms. List was dressed to kill with her “assets” on full display).  It might get a little predictable here and there but it’s not formulaic, boring or monotonous like SHIELD or Dracula (which is a spectacular mess) or tiresome like Revolution has become.

As you can see, I could go on and on about my love and excitement for both shows, especially The Tomorrow People.  I can understand if you're intimidated by Arrow because of the deep DC references it makes but it does a fine job of creating two levels of viewing.  While I’m geek-ing out over the boat called Amazo, Dr. Ivo, the future of Roy Harper (and his obsession with red hoodies) and SPOILERS when will Deathstroke turn on Queen; just to name a few of the nods to the Green Arrow comic history.  My girlfriend, who knows nothing about comics, can watch and enjoy Arrow for what it is.  TP has even more appeal to general audiences because there isn’t source material that goes back 50 years.  I’m going along for the ride of TP just like the rest of the world and I’m loving it!

Spread the word.  These shows need our support.  They might not have the reach and traditional network machinery backing them as if they were on one of the major four networks but Arrow and The Tomorrow People deserve the same chance to succeed.  There’s not enough fun being had on TV.  Everyone is either trying to be the next Breaking Bad or push the violence bar like Hannibal or The Walking Dead (all of which I’m a fan of) but there’s a space and need for good fun television as well. 

Watch Arrow and please give The Tomorrow People a try, which you can start from the beginning by clicking here.

Enjoy...

Superman : Earth One

I love Superman : Earth One.

Now before you read it, forget everything you know about Superman and all the lore that goes with the character. If you can’t do that, don’t read the book. In fact, don’t read comics in general these days because there is a time and a place for memory and continuity.

Big Blue has never been one of my favorite characters to read. The problem for me is that if he’s unbeatable, there’s no real tension that can be sustained in a Superman series. This sentiment has been said before. I’m not the first one that’s seen the life and death of superman also be his Achilles heal.

If you take away about 99% of what you know about Superman and just start reading this book, I think you’ll find it refreshing. Straczynski tells a great beginning. This is obviously DC greatest statement to Marvel’s Ultimate line. I’ll say the same things to haters of what’s done in the Ultimate line… THIS IS DIFFERENT. I get that it’s hard to separate your brain from the years and years of comics that you’ve consumed but you have to give these stories a chance and give the writers the benefit of the doubt.

If you’d have titled this book Man with Super powers, sold the story in regular story form and gave it no hype; I’m sure it wouldn’t have sold as many books. Likewise I bet there would have been a ground swell about this story and a strong fan base would have been gathering each issue. I think to The Authority. We all knew who Batman and Superman where supposed to be but you take it for granted because it’s called something different and it helps that in Authority they’re gay lovers and it’s made very clear. As a sidebar, check out the first few trades of Authority; they’re great stories with great emerging writing and drawing heavyweights-to-be.

The point is that Earth One is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. A different take on the Superman story. As good as Geoff Johns’ recent run on Superman, his take on Superman Origins and then the combined efforts on New Krypton where recently; they didn’t or can’t give a complete reboot of the superman story. At the end of the day, they’re still beholden to the 70 year legacy of Action Comics and the various Superman books. With Earth one, we have the chance and are given, a new version of Superman is unleashed.

I’ve heard of the complaints. They all seem aesthetic and not about the actual story. The book isn’t some “emo” version of Supes’. It feels like what a kid that’s been tucked away for years might actually feel like when he’s force to leave home for the first time and find his place in the year 2010. Finally it seems that a writer is allowed to show that it’s totally ridiculous for Clark Kent to be at a thriving newspaper. Straczynski gets him in the suit, gets him at the Bugle and gets Lois Lane and all the other characters in and surrounding him. But the tone of this Man of Steel is vastly different. Unsure and in the dark about so much.

I’m not saying this is a masterpiece. There are tiny things that I’d gripe about. Being at the Daily Bugle in the first place is kinda stupid and if they made it a different media type or different job all together, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings. I will say that if he was going to be at a newspaper, the change in all the characters definitely makes it believable. Characters like Perry White are given the 21st century voice that they’ve been needing. Lois and Jimmy are updated. Metropolis has been redone. I don't want to say updated because it's not the beacon of civilization that it currently is in other books. (I've always believed that Metropolis was in fact Chicago, while Gotham is clearly New York.) Even Krypton seems to be given a slightly different back story.

There’s too much that is left unsaid to give a fair thumbs up or down on many of these changes. We’re left with many mysteries such as what our villain says as his end comes. Nothing is mentioned about Lex Luthor, which is also great. We don’t need to crowbar Lex into every story.

It's also not fully clear on why Superman has to go out and make it on his own and "find his way". I understand that's what the Kents wanted for him to do but he's Superman, he could have done anything. If he wanted to be a hermit, no one was going to stop him. The only thing I could think is that you have to keep along the lines somewhere that this is Superman. If you totally rip the S from his chest you're no longer writing a Superman book. There's just certain things you have to go with.

I am slightly worried that Straczynski has a trail of stories that start off great or even beyond great but as we know the end is nearing, they start to loose steam. The first book or so of Rising Stars is some of the best story telling around. But I felt that the end was not equal to the outstanding beginning. Maybe that’s the trouble with writing such a great opening piece, that everything after it has to be as great. There is something said about setting the bar too high. But I don’t feel he did this on book one of Earth One. Like I said, it’s good / bordering on great. But not the most amazing tale ever. There’s room to grow and fail. If the next few books came out and where crap, I’d still think this was a great shot and brave step for DC, who at times is too afraid to let their “big three” be seen in any other light than truth justice and what’s been going on for the past 70 years.

I’ll give this one 4 out of 5 stars. This is a good beginning and a must read for any other fans that want a new variation of the Superman story without loosing who superman is. I think it’s also a good stepping stone for the future and has the possibility of possibility. That’s to say, there’s room to change and directions to go with this Superman that where previously locked away.

Why was Krypton at war? Why was it so bad if Kal-El escaped? Who was the traitor who gave Krypton's enemy the means to destroy it? What didn't Superman learn before the villain's death?