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khaosworks ([info]khaosworks) wrote in [info]scans_daily,
@ 2009-11-05 13:59:00

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Entry tags:char: superman/clark kent, creator: aluir amancio, creator: mark millar, creator: terry austin, publisher: dc comics, theme: dcau, title: superman adventures

"...He's Superman!" (DCAU)


The following pages are from my favorite issue of Superman Adventures, namely #36, chronicling a very busy, but what must be typical, night for Kal-El. I'm not very fond of Mark Millar's writing overall, but when it comes to Supes, he's one of the few people who can get him right... especially the DCAU version.

This story encapsulates what I loved about Superman as a child, and now as an adult. That he does these things because he can, and that he can save us all - Jesus Christ and Santa Claus all in one. And it never made him boring for me. It was exciting and thrilling to see him do the super-feats, to wonder how he was going to get out of fixes more than when or if he was. Superman, written right, should always be an inspiration and a reminder of what a hero should be.

The issue starts with a shot of Clark changing into Superman in an alley, but elsewhere in the city, a boy is talking out loud, wondering if Superman can hear him...



"...Superman's got more important things to do with his time than look for little lost dogs."

Well, that's true for now, as Superman flies over the city, listening in on conversations with his super-hearing (not at all creepy, honest!) until he hears a cry for help. Turns out a bunch of crooks armed with freeze guns are robbing the bank. He makes short work of them but not before one of them causes an accident with an ambulance taking a woman in labor to the hospital.



When Superman gets the woman safely to her destination, a doctor calls Superman over. There's a transplant patient waiting on the operating table, but the donor heart has been delayed in Chicago because the plane it's on has been hijacked. So off he goes again...



"No one's going to die. I promise." ...and off to his next rescue of the kids in a flooding mineshaft.



Unfortunately, as fast as Kal is, he can't keep all his promises. He has to stop a gang fight and arrives at another scene to find the police cleaning up a jumper. He berates himself for not getting there sooner, but there's another wrinkle. Turns out, according to the suicide note, the jumper committed suicide because he murdered someone and pinned the blame on his brother - who is scheduled for execution in one minute.





Faster than a speeding bullet nothing.

Still, the night's not done, as there's a space station in trouble from a freak meteor storm, one of which is a size of a building. Not that it in any way deters Superman...



And as dawn comes and the morning news recaps Superman's feats of the previous night, we return to the boy at the start of the story, who wakes up to find a surprise in his bed.



But surely, it's a coincidence. Surely Superman had more important things to do than to find a lost dog. Surely he didn't have the time.

But the boy knows it's not. And so do we. Because he's Superman.


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[info]jelly_ace
2009-11-05 07:59 am UTC (link)
Meanwhile, a muffled "Idiot!" and the clap of a palm against a forehead is echoing in the Batcave.

Supes, you just tainted the poor man's evidence. Didn't you learn anything from Bats?

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]interrobamf
2009-11-05 10:21 am UTC (link)
I don't think you'd be able to find a judge that's willing to put Superman on trial.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]jelly_ace
2009-11-05 10:27 am UTC (link)
Yeah, well, for someone who supposedly loves the United States and all that it stands for, he is showing utter disregard for its justice system.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]psychop_rex
2009-11-05 10:36 am UTC (link)
I don't know about that - he's got a signed confession to a crime that an innocent man is about to be killed for. It's a pretty standard 'STOP THE EXECUTION!' moment - the only difference is that Superman can bust through walls. He's working within the legal system - he's just ignoring the legal niceties that, under the circumstances, would take up too much time and get an innocent man killed.
Anyway, the whole 'American Way' thing aside, I don't think he's ever shown any particular favoritism towards America. He LIVES in America, sure, but he regularly responds to emergencies worldwide. During the 'Death of Superman' storyline, people all over the globe were shown weeping at the news and reminiscing about how he'd saved them or their loved ones from harm.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]jelly_ace
2009-11-05 01:28 pm UTC (link)
I think those who ignore "legal niceties" end up being in a whole lot of trouble. Law is all about niceties, and that's why it can be easily used to one's advantage. But then, Superman only had one minute, so I guess it is permissible. But that doesn't diminish the wrongness of it all. He should've been reprimanded or something.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]zordboy
2009-11-05 01:47 pm UTC (link)
"But that doesn't diminish the wrongness of it all. He should've been reprimanded or something."

For saving the life of a man that said system was about to murder? Since he didn't actually do the crime he's being executed for?

Yeah. Kal gets a free pass on this one.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]jelly_ace
2009-11-05 02:18 pm UTC (link)
A sense of wrongness, for me anyway. Because even if he did save a life, wouldn't his intervention have many ramifications for the way the legal system and superheroes interact, that may actually hinder their superheroing? Assuming, of course, that all lawmakers don't see the superheroes in a good light.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]janegray
2009-11-05 08:55 pm UTC (link)
No, because for this incident to become an issue, the lawmakers would have to admit that their incompetence was about to cost an innocent man his life, and that if the real criminal hadn't spontaneously decided to confess and jump he would have got away with murder scott free. And they'd have to take full responsibility for it.

That's just not going to happen. Especially because, if those lawmakers don't see superheroes in a good light to begin with, they won't want to give the people more reasons to favour superheroes over lawmakers (can't you just see Average Joe going all "so those stupid lawyers fucked up and Supes had to clean the mess? Go figure!").

(Reply to this) (Parent)


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