Superman: Secret Origin Discussion *Spoilers*

Planet-man said:
I don't want to judge it without actually reading it, but this is exactly what I was thinking, for the same reasons and everything.

The whole thing being hyped as a "definitive" Superman origin when it includes Superboy and LoSH seems silly to me.
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I think those two things can be just as relevant and "definitive" as any other part of Superman's origin. I bet Johns does too.
 
ProjectX2 said:
I think those two things can be just as relevant and "definitive" as any other part of Superman's origin. I bet Johns does too.
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Why? They're not integral parts of any era of Superman other than the Silver Age comics, a few Filmation cartoons and one laughable TV show from the late eighties.

In every single other incarnation of Superman, he doesn't become Superman until adulthood. It's clearly just Johns writing the Superman he grew up on (but then, I suppose Byrne did that as well, by incorporating all of the elements from the 1950s TV show).
 
Gothamite said:
Why? They're not integral parts of any era of Superman other than the Silver Age comics, a few Filmation cartoons and one laughable TV show from the late eighties.
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More reason to do it then. Make them work.

I agree that he should become Superman in adulthood rather than running around as Superboy in Smallville but I don't see what's wrong with him having adventures with the Legion of Super-Heroes when they visit him and show him his potential.
 
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Gothamite said:
Why? They're not integral parts of any era of Superman other than the Silver Age comics, a few Filmation cartoons and one laughable TV show from the late eighties.

In every single other incarnation of Superman, he doesn't become Superman until adulthood. It's clearly just Johns writing the Superman he grew up on (but then, I suppose Byrne did that as well, by incorporating all of the elements from the 1950s TV show).
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ProjectX2 said:
More reason to do it then. Make them work.
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That's what Geoff Johns does.
 
Gothamite said:
Why? They're not integral parts of any era of Superman other than the Silver Age comics, a few Filmation cartoons and one laughable TV show from the late eighties.

In every single other incarnation of Superman, he doesn't become Superman until adulthood. It's clearly just Johns writing the Superman he grew up on (but then, I suppose Byrne did that as well, by incorporating all of the elements from the 1950s TV show).
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Superboy flying around Smallville and keeping Lana Lang entertained is goofy and out of place in modern comics.

Young Clark Kent being helped by a group of teens to find a place where he not only belongs but accels, thus becoming comfortable in the power he has without endangering the people of his home (as we saw in issue 1) seems to me like ti would be a vital part of Superman Lore. He can't do what he needs to do in 20th century earth, not and have existing DC continuty stand. After all, he didn't wake up one morning in his early 20s and have these powers.

I'm not for Superboy, but I'm deffinatly for The Legion of Superheroes. It give Clark a place to belong, and thats what every teenager needs. Him more than most.
 
Johns' writing is certainly capable, I just find it hard to care about a Superman origin. It's been done so many times before, and the guy's background is just so plain vanilla. And there are other characters who deserve this kind of treatment so much more. The space between the death of Bruce Wayne's parents and Year One is still basically a black hole. And Wonder Woman, who has such a bizarre origin, is long overdue for this kind of thing.

But like said, it's capable, if just a little boring. In regards to Superboy/The Legion, I feel like I can accept one or the other, but the both together is just a little too cheese for my tastes. I like the idea of young Clark stepping into the future and seeing the kind of impact he'll have on the world for generations, but I don't really want to see him swooping around solving crimes with them in a big red cape.

And Gary Frank.... I normally really dig Gary Frank, but the whole Christopher Reeves head on a kid's body thing is just disconcerting.
 
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I just think that in order for Superman to have enough dramatic impact, it has to be a story about how he 'creates' the idea of a super-hero (like Bruce in Batman Begins). If a bunch of heroes visit him in his past and tell him exactly what happens in his future and that it's fine to be this way and here's how you do it, etc, etc, etc, it's basically Clark just saying "Well, that's fine then, I'll just do what they do and see how I get on." It wrecks it.

Secret Origin might end up being a fun comic story, but it'll never be the definitive origin. Birthright's first issue outweighs it by leaps and bounds.
 
Gothamite said:
I just think that in order for Superman to have enough dramatic impact, it has to be a story about how he 'creates' the idea of a super-hero (like Bruce in Batman Begins). If a bunch of heroes visit him in his past and tell him exactly what happens in his future and that it's fine to be this way and here's how you do it, etc, etc, etc, it's basically Clark just saying "Well, that's fine then, I'll just do what they do and see how I get on." It wrecks it.
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I agree, I like how it was handled in Superman TAS, where legion superheroes travel back to protect clark in a terminator rip off, then his mind is wiped. Him going to the future and haveing adventures does ruin any iconic imagery of him first flying as Superman or the learning curve process which is essential to all up and coming super hero stories.
 
Gothamite said:
I just think that in order for Superman to have enough dramatic impact, it has to be a story about how he 'creates' the idea of a super-hero (like Bruce in Batman Begins). If a bunch of heroes visit him in his past and tell him exactly what happens in his future and that it's fine to be this way and here's how you do it, etc, etc, etc, it's basically Clark just saying "Well, that's fine then, I'll just do what they do and see how I get on." It wrecks it.

Secret Origin might end up being a fun comic story, but it'll never be the definitive origin. Birthright's first issue outweighs it by leaps and bounds.
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But they don't tell him exactly what happens of how he does ANYTHING. And they can't. By the 30/31st century the stories about the modern heroes aren't any more concrete than what we know about Alexander the Great. We've got the broad strokes but no specifics. They tell him he'll be a great inspiration, but they can't say anything like make sure you duck against Luthor on the 12th of september because they don't know either.
 
Friday said:
But they don't tell him exactly what happens of how he does ANYTHING. And they can't. By the 30/31st century the stories about the modern heroes aren't any more concrete than what we know about Alexander the Great. We've got the broad strokes but no specifics. They tell him he'll be a great inspiration, but they can't say anything like make sure you duck against Luthor on the 12th of september because they don't know either.
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They tell him that he wears a cape and becomes a 'super-hero' and saves people. That's enough.
 
General Zod and the Earth/New Krypton War, the death of Lex Luthor, the Super-Sun... big things are coming in the Superman comics.

I saw this story described perfectly on another site - "it's not just the origin of Superman, but also the origin of his entire mythos."

Geoff Johns makes me love things I don't want to love.
 
ProjectX2 said:
G
I saw this story described perfectly on another site - "it's not just the origin of Superman, but also the origin of his entire mythos."
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That's what Johns does. He delves into the mythos behind the character and pulls awesome stories out. That's what Superman Secret Origins is about. The mythos of Superman is all about being the greatest, most awe-inspiring hero, yet being alone. That's why the Legion fits into this telling of his origin, b/c it addresses his lonliness and his destiny to be the greatest.

Although, I have to admit after reading the first two issues i was sort of underwhelmed.
 
I definitely didn't think #2 was up to the quality of #1... I definitely wanted Johns to really nail the Legion in Clark's past rather than just get it over with.

The stuff with Luthor is great, though.
 
Dr.Strangefate said:
I definitely didn't think #2 was up to the quality of #1... I definitely wanted Johns to really nail the Legion in Clark's past rather than just get it over with.

The stuff with Luthor is great, though.
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I felt the same way, also I didn't like Saturn Girl's butter face.
 
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