InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Is there something in my eye?"

3goodtimes (3goodtimes) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-11-08 16:35:00

Entry tags:

char: jonathan kent, char: jor-el, char: krypto the superdog, char: lara lor-van, char: martha kent, char: supergirl/kara zor-el, char: superman/clark kent, creator: fabian nicieza, creator: geoff johns, creator: kurt busiek, creator: renato guedes, title: action comics

Action Comics #850

Superman's origin story has been told so many times, but this is by far my favorite version. The art is absolutely gorgeous.

I love how Guedes draws baby Kal. He looks like a real infant--flushed with a slightly misshapen head. Little wisps of hair. Beautiful and strange at the same time, as babies often are. And the other worldly, bluish-green coloring of Krypton works so well.

Heartbreaking!

But then the lovely Kents found him, yay! And just look at the bright sunny Smallville. Once again, the coloring captures the atmosphere.

Clark's curious gaze is so sweet! Martha is tickled pink with her new alien baby. When you think about it, they're truly bizarre people, haha.

Clark showing his empathy and a certain lonliness early on (although I must say, in those clothes he reminds me of a young Bruce Wayne).

*sniffles*

(Post a new comment)

parsimonia
2009-11-08 11:29 pm UTC (link)

This is beautiful. And the fact that he is drawn like what a real baby looks like makes it seem all the more real and heartbraking. The story of l'il Superman being sent off in a space ship has been told so much, you kind of lose sight of the fact that this was parents having to send their tiny, vulnerable baby off into outer space with the hope that someone kind would take care of him. It was so risky, and he wasn't Superman at that point–he was just a baby.

(Reply to this)

	espanolbot 2009-11-08 11:40 pm UTC (link)
	Wooow! Kara's turned into her Loeb incarnation: Horrible Selfcentred Bitchiness! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	interrobamf 2009-11-09 12:24 am UTC (link)
	This was from before Sterling Gates fixed her up. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	04nbod 2009-11-13 11:02 pm UTC (link)
	you have to see the end. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	icon_uk 2009-11-08 11:44 pm UTC (link)
	The newborn Kal-El actually saying "ma-ma?" sort of breaks the mood. And are the Kent's aware than Clark is actually an alien? MoS had them "just" assume that he was a Russian space-shot which used a baby as a guinea-pig? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	3goodtimes 2009-11-08 11:47 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, I noticed that as well. But then I just pretended it was his alien brain being advanced or something. Ah y'know, I'm not sure! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	arbre_rieur 2009-11-08 11:54 pm UTC (link)
	He wasn't just born. The retracking is causing the feed to jump ahead in time. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	3goodtimes 2009-11-08 11:59 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, but he doesn't look to be at an age where he could say ma-ma. Although I suppose that varies. Does anyone know how old he was when he was sent to earth? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	sailorlibra 2009-11-09 12:12 am UTC (link)
	It's annoying that the art and writing of this are both better than that found in the actual Superman origin story coming out right now. Particularly since they're both written by Geoff Johns. I wonder if that's due to Busiek's influence? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	3goodtimes 2009-11-09 12:16 am UTC (link)
	Possibly. The art in this issue really enhances the writing, which is a bit off in places with Kara's characterization. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	(Anonymous) 2009-11-09 12:12 am UTC (link)
	That is an ugly baby. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	3goodtimes 2009-11-09 12:15 am UTC (link)
	Well, I disagree but I can see how you might feel that way. I'm more enamored with the fact that he's a realistic baby. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	nezchan 2009-11-09 12:35 am UTC (link)
	I'm a tiny bit thrown off by the fact that he's more realistic than the people around him. Although not nearly as much as the "ma ma" thing. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	queenrikki 2009-11-09 12:36 am UTC (link)
	I think the baby is quite realistic but I also think it's ugly since most babies are. But I do like that the baby and child versions of Clark have more than a passing resemblance to real life children. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	3goodtimes 2009-11-09 12:41 am UTC (link)
	Well, I'm the sort of person who's enamored with babies in general, so though I know that some babies are ugly, I can't see any that way. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	chipsnopotatoes 2009-11-09 12:53 am UTC (link)
	no it's not. that's how babies typically look like at birth. a little wizened and disoriented. while i don't normally read superman, i liked this a lot. (Reply to this) (Parent)

sherkahn
2009-11-09 12:46 am UTC (link)

This was ... nice, but I'm of the 1978 generation. I know the movie is not canon but I always found that scene one of the few instances where the movie beats the books.

"Lara: Have you finished?
Jor-El: Nearly. It's the only answer, Lara. If he remains here with us, he will die as surely as we will.
Lara: Why Earth, Jor-El? They're primitives, thousands of years behind us.
Jor-El: He will need that advantage to survive. Their atmosphere will sustain him.
Lara: He will defy their gravity.
Jor-El: He will look like one of them.
Lara: He won't be one of them.
Jor-El: No. His dense molecular structure will make him strong.
Lara: He will be odd. Different.
Jor-El: He will be fast. Virtually invulnerable.
Lara: Isolated. Alone.
Jor-El: He will not be alone. He will never be alone.

You will travel far, my little Kal-El. We will never leave you, even in the face of our deaths. The richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I have learned, everything I feel, all this and more, I bequeath to you, my son. You will carry me inside you all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father, the son. This is all I - all I can send you, Kal-El.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

khaosworks
2009-11-09 04:15 am UTC (link)

Elliot S! Maggin's "Last Son of Krypton" beats them all because it shows Lara's strength in those final moments. But then I'm biased. The whole chapter detailing the loss of Krypton - Hell, the whole book - should be read, but here's the last bits of the first chapter so as not to overly spam:

"Jor-El. What are you doing?" The scientist's young wife Lara stood in the doorway of the workshop wrapped in a housecoat. She carried Kal-El, their son, in her arms.

"We're going to have to leave before dawn. Go back to bed and let me finish this thing."

"Jor, I woke up when I heard the baby crying and I found myself alone. Now I find you in here, telling me we're going to leave our planet—our planet, for the love of all that's holy—before dawn. You want me to go back to bed?"

"You have the choice of sleeping or winding yourself into a frenzy. If you choose the latter, I suggest you do it somewhere else, because it will only hinder my work." Jor-El didn't look up from his tinkering.

"You've already worked yourself into a frenzy, Jor. And you've lost your perspective because of it." The infant in Lara's arms began to whimper.

"Go back to bed, woman." Jor-El snapped on a pair of goggles and picked up a liquid mortar burner to weld.

"You may have observed that women have not been at their husbands' command for several centuries now. And if you turn on that burner while I'm talking, you may also notice—"

He turned it on and Kal-El began to cry at the sudden noise.

Lara was about to turn off the geothermal generator from which the burner drew its power when a tremor shook the burner from Jor-El's hand. Before the burner hit the floor the generator was dead. The tremor had severed the generator's line to a power source below the surface of the planet.

"Damn!" Jor-El glanced toward the makeshift launching rig already set up in the open bay window of the workshop. "Look out there, Lara. The spire over the Science Council chambers is toppling."

"I hear crashes from all over. What is it, Jor?"

"You'll soon hear screams in the streets as well. Put the child down and help me set up that prototype craft on the launcher. I wouldn't have finished the big ship in time, anyway."

"But that little thing—it's only big enough for one person."

"Two, if they squeeze a bit. Give me." Jor-El gruffly took the howling infant from Lara and placed him on a workbench.

"What do you think you're going to do with this toy, Jor?" Lara helped him set the seven-foot prototype starcraft on the rig at the window.

"Send you and the child into space. Here, let me get that navigational unit off the big ship's nose."

"No, you're not."

Jor-El ignored her and went about fixing the little silver navigational mechanism to the tip of the child's craft, ready to separate and eventually fly several light-hours ahead of the main unit.

As he did that, Lara found two musty blankets in a closet. She wrapped the red and blue blankets around the infant, who was already struggling in a yellow sheet.

Jor-El finished a few final calculations and turned to his wife. "Get aboard, Lara."

"My place is with you. The ship will have a batter chance of escaping Krypton's gravity without my weight, anyway."

"Your place is wherever you can survive—and that isn't here."

"Remember what we named our son, Jor? Kal-El meant 'star child' in ancient Kryptonese."

"An accident of language. Get on."

"No. I am a Kryptonian woman, and Krypton is dead. Give the child a chance."

Jor-El wasn't surprised, only disappointed. He pulled a prepared recording disc from a shelf and slipped it into a slot on the navigational unit.

"My dear God," Jor-El whispered as the rocket carrying its tiny burden lifted off amid the crashing of metal and rock. "May the starwinds guide your course, Kal-El."

And the vacuum of space muffled the star child's wailing as a giant world ripped itself apart.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	sistermagpie 2009-11-09 12:54 am UTC (link)
	Little Farmer Boy Clark gets me every time. Yes, she is like you, Clark! (Reply to this)

	cmdr_zoom 2009-11-09 02:50 am UTC (link)
	"Even Brainac 5 was moved by that." "I was not." Some things are timeless, like Brainy-denial. (Also him going insane from time to time...) (Reply to this)

	lieut_kettch 2009-11-09 02:58 am UTC (link)
	Oh, Threeboot Brainy, how we miss you. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	cleome45 2009-11-09 03:48 am UTC (link)
	Uh, who's this "we"? :/ (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lieut_kettch 2009-11-09 04:22 am UTC (link)
	Me and the seven other voices in my head... (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	04nbod 2009-11-13 11:03 pm UTC (link)
	eight, jeez you always forget about me. I'm not totally about the kill impulse you know! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	kd_the_movie 2009-11-09 05:54 am UTC (link)
	I liked 3boot Brainy too. A little too Vril Dox for my taste but I enjoyed him and he had a sweet character design. I always read his dialogue as a more smarmy Athrun Zala. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	blake_reitz 2009-11-09 03:11 am UTC (link)
	This is maybe the second best retelling of the origin story, especially with the oh-so-pretty art. Re: Baby Kal-El's "ma-ma?", I post a link to this Dinosaur comics: http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1581 (Reply to this) (Thread)

	3goodtimes 2009-11-09 03:13 am UTC (link)
	What would you consider the best retelling? I'd like to track it down if I haven't read/seen it already. Hahaha! Love it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	blake_reitz 2009-11-09 04:00 am UTC (link)
	(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	uadlika 2009-11-09 05:02 am UTC (link)
	where is this from? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kd_the_movie 2009-11-09 05:54 am UTC (link)
	All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	statham1986 2009-11-09 02:10 pm UTC (link)
	This! I loved that Morrison and Quitely seemed aware of the fact that EVERYONE and THEIR DOG knows Superman's origin and were bold enough to sum it up in just four panels. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arilou_skiff 2009-11-09 04:28 pm UTC (link)
	Reminds me of that "Got Bit, Uncle Died, Fights Crime" recap page. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	cmdr_zoom 2009-11-10 07:10 am UTC (link)
	Motto. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	mysteryfan 2009-11-09 03:11 am UTC (link)
	Oh, wow. This is fantastic. (Reply to this)

	thandrak 2009-11-09 03:23 am UTC (link)
	Note that baby Kal-El still has the spit-curl. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	3goodtimes 2009-11-09 03:27 am UTC (link)
	I know, I love that! So cute. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	bariman1987 2009-11-09 06:07 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, that spit-curl is one of the strongest genes Clark has. I alwaya thought that was why Kon cut his hair so short when he switched to the shirt and jeans costume, so he'd look a little more different from Clark. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ladymirth 2009-11-09 09:45 am UTC (link)
	I miss Kon's spit-curl. sniffs (Reply to this) (Parent)

	scottyquick 2009-11-09 04:42 am UTC (link)
	Beautiful <3. This was back when Guedes did his own coloring, right? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	3goodtimes 2009-11-09 05:38 am UTC (link)
	I believe so, yes. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	persoconchii 2009-11-10 03:10 am UTC (link)
	very nice! (Reply to this)

	pepperspray101 2009-11-11 09:29 am UTC (link)
	I dunno if its the coloring, but some of those eyes are a little soulless...O_o;; That said, everything else is just WOW. Awesome artwork. Why can't we have more nice things like this? T_T (Reply to this)