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Mild Mannered Reviews - Regular Superman Comics

Adventures of Superman #607

Scheduled to arrive in stores: August 14, 2002

Cover date: October 2002

Writer: Jay Faerber
Penciller: Brandon Badeaux
Inker: Mark Morales

"Alienation"

Reviewed by: Neal Bailey (baileyn@cc.wwu.edu)

Superman fights a largish group of exoskeleton baddies choking him until Argent, a member of the Teen Titans, interrupts and attempts to save Superman. Superman waves her off, revealing that it is merely an SCU training exercise.

Superman offers to take Argent off on patrol, and Argent is thrilled. They discuss how being an alien makes you feel different, and makes you feel like you aren't worth much. While they talk, Superman descends to the city and saves a woman from an electrical emergency, using his super-hearing to stay in on the conversation.

Argent expresses fear that her powers might still change. Superman whisks off to save a downed chopper while argent repairs a bridge just in time to save the train.

Superman tells her that with adulthood comes a cadence with being different. Argent takes that to mean that he thinks she's immature. This leads to an awkward moment of disagreement, where Argent thinks that because he's so optimistic, he might be naive. She tries to backpedal, saying he can't be naive, because he's old.

Then, off in the distance, they see a fire, and rush to save anyone in the burning building.

Argent pulls a man in a cloak from the building while Superman contains the blaze. Argent takes the cloak off and reveals a horribly scarred man. She spots the people responsible for the blaze and takes after them, taunting them for how they look, because that's why they tried to kill the man in the cloak. She then drops their punishment on them... they will work with people in burn wards as volunteers until they are okay with things that are different, because everybody is not like everyone else, and the goons need to come to definite terms with this.

Later, Superman and Argent reflect on the experience. Superman tells Argent that she's got her head in the right place, and that all she needs to do is examine herself to make things right with her differences.

Story - 2: Argent is a bit of an odd person for a guest star, and I admit readily that I know little to nothing about her as a character, or as a part of the Titans. I don't read the Titans, and never have. Perhaps that makes me jaded. Still, having read this comic, I know a little bit about how one ought to treat people who are different, which is just like everyone else, but this is an oft repeated and definitely not new message in comics. To come at a familiar message with a new perspective, as Loeb did with Mohammad X, is a nice way to reiterate that differences still divide us, though we have the personal power to bring them to a close. Here, it seems like we have a standard style, and it's not bad writing, the dialogue is interesting and learning a little (though not much) about Argent is nice, but I want to see Lex swinging a Machiavellian pendulum at Superman's head, not guest shots with done to death morals, especially with the "Lex KNOWS" bomb dropped on our heads, what, most of a year ago? There's also issues with resolution. Neither Superman nor Argent are judge, jury, and executioner, so her "sentence" seems awkward, and not really conducive to change. These guys don't need to be forced to confront horrific things to make them seem commonplace... this leads to cynicism. They need it explained just WHY they shouldn't be horrified by difference.

Guest writers are nice, though I don't know how writing twelve Superman issues a year would make anyone want to take a vacation (and I'll put my money where my mouth is, DC. Sign me up, and I'll write two year's worth a year. Serious.). I just want something continuous, something character developing. People like to say Superman's character never develops, and I'd honestly disagree, when we have events like Our Worlds At War, Emperor Joker, and the like. But then we have weeks, months, sometimes years of filler one-shot stories, and when you see them every week, stories like this, while not all that horrible on their own merit, start festering in the fan boy head. So perhaps I'm being harsh, but I'm just tired of seeing the same old thing again and again and again and again and again and again and...

Art - 3: The art was okay, but nothing really stuck out. Superman looked like he was always grimacing on a cream puff, and the inking makes the boldness really stick out, almost too much. I also think that the colorist made Superman too dark. I was flipping through old Superman comics, and if you use a few examples, it looks like Superman will go from baby blue to a black costume in about ten more years. Still, it was adequate in conveying the story, and had some nice dynamic panels. I like the opening, and splash pages don't really usually impress me.

Cover Art - 1: Look! Superman and Argent are going to be fighting a large, tentacle headed alien this issue! And aren't they just SCARED TO DEATH of this thing? They look absolutely HORRIFIED to see this thing tearing through mirrors in a scene that never occurred in the book to get them. And why do they fear and hate and want to battle this creature? Oh, horrid irony of ironies, because it's horribly disfigured and DIFFERENT! AND, AND, AND There is no background, so to speak of, save yellow wash. AND THERE, THAT HORRIBLE LOGO! GAG ME WITH A SUPER SPOON! ACK! Goodnight. SupermanS? What does that mean, SupermanS? Why is the S at the end? What does it mean? Is it something cryptic? Kryptonian perhaps? No. It's a duck. Silly.