MAN OF STEEL - Grading & Discussion

He's referring to the size of the pictures.

 

and the complete lack of fair use?

 

There shouldn't be thread stretching pictures, especially that many.

 

I think that one two-page spread where Supes opens the kryptonite canister sums up the whole thing without needing all those other images.

 

I posted the pics with the size that I did so everyone could read the text.

I posted as many as i could so you the reader could get the full context of the situation. Then you could decide fairly if Superman was justified in killing those 3 K's. Zack Snyder has referred to Superman killing Zod in the comics in interviews and on the special features of MOS dvd. Posting only the last 2 pages where Zod exposits his plan to restore his powers and continue killing and where Superman executes them. Does not encompass everything that led Superman to the decision he made. Only posting those two images would be like "Superman killed in the comics, now get over it". I wanted to be as transparent as i could on the discussion of Superman killing.


Normally I would just state the comic issue and leave the individual to go read it themselves. However Superman #22 is not in print. It was only released as a single issue back in 1988. It has never been compiled into a rerelease volume. Many suspect because DC is ashamed of this issue. The 1986 comic "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" has Superman kill and is in print. Also the recent "Injustice" prequel comic that shows Superman killing the Joker by plunging his hand through his chest, is also in print. Both are available for sale at bookstores and amazon.

 

Injustice: Gods Among Us is a very different thing and should never ever be used as an example of how things are and should be in anything else.

 

Damn that was a long comic. Only glanced at it a bit.

I did just finish watching the movie again on iTunes.

Second viewing I found it a lot better than the first time. I think I was excepting a "Batman Begins" style movie with the involvement of Chris Nolan in it, and felt disappointed that the movie skimped on the dramatic content in favour of CGI heavy, camera dizzying effects.

I had given it a C my first viewing. Second viewing I'm going to upgrade to a B.

It desperately needed more time watching Clark as a nomad, and the Krypton stuff could have been cut short a bit.

The one thing I really hated was how Superman had to go destroy the other world engine while the first one is happily destroying Metropolis without anyone to stop it.

Again, like I said the last time, I think there's a great A movie in there with some better editing. I'm saddened to see there won't be a director's cut, as that is probably where the better dramatic "meat" of the story was left on the cutting room table.

 

He REALLY wanted to prove Superman is a killer!

 

Without the World Engine stopped in the southern hemisphere, Northern Command wasn't going to be able to do a blessed or damned thing about the Black Zero in Metropolis.

As for the pages from the Byrne/Ordway stories of the latter 1980's...more respect for the principles of fair use - or, in Canada, fair dealing - could have been shown here than there was whilst still getting the main points across.

 

I didn't read the comic pages. I said you could find comics with him killing, but they were the exception and I'd be surprised if they stayed in continuity (even though it was probably post COIE) for too long, or at the very least was probably not mentioned after that writer left. Even if it was still in continuity or mentioned, I can bet you he had a much better reason to kill whoever he killed in that comic than having the villain(s) slowly trying to laser blast people to death while superman held the villain in a position where he could easily move them but decides to kill them instead.

Stuff like Injustice doesn't count. Thats purposefully trying to be a different kind of Superman, when you're trying to portray the normal superman, he doesn't kill. He also doesn't mope, become a nomad, blindly follow his fathers and angst, but thats a different conversation.

 

You're right, you didn't read the comic pages.

 

I didn't post the comic scans to insult or mock people's opinions. Only to inform. Zack Snyder and certain Superman fans have been saying Superman has killed Zod in the comics, therefore it's ok for him to have killed Zod in MOS. However the only comic Superman killed Zod in was Superman #22 in 1988. A comic that was released only once and has never been reprinted or added to a compilation volume. There is a sense of impropriety in stating something is ok because it was in a book, and yet the book is not for sale so people can read and judge for themselves.

The whole Superman killing thing is rumored to be the author John Byrne's middle finger to DC for firing him. Byrne wrote and penciled a most if not all of the Superman comic Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths. They are collected in the reprinted volumes title "Man Of Steel" if you would like to read them. DC was alledgedly dissatisfied with Byrne's work. Coming off the Silver Age/ nearly infinitely powered Superman comics. Byrne strove to make his Superman as grounded as possible. What this resulted in is a Superman who fans claim, was BAD at being Superman. So DC fired him after 2 years on the comic. Superman #22 was his last Superman comic. Byrne's Man of Steel volumes 1-7 are available for sale, with volume 8 coming in January. No word if the controversial issue will be included.

The act of killing those 3 K's was referenced and used as the premise for the 1989 comic Superman Exile. It reintroduces Mongul and War World Post-COIE. Superman experiences nightmares from his actions in the parallel earth after Brainiac uses a mental attack on him. Superman Exile is in print and you can buy it. Also Man of Steel Vol 4 includes the first time Superman went to that parallel dimension. As well as what happened to that dimensions Superboy. Also the 2001 comic seires "Our World At War" sees the return of parallel universe Zod who was executed. His spirit possess a human and it gives him Superman-eske powers.

With the New 52, these stories are not apart of continuity anymore.

I only brought up Injustice as a way to mock DC for it's decisions. Superman has killed a total of 4x to my recollection. "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" by Alan Moore in 1986, Superman #22 by John Byrne in 1988, "The Death of Superman" by Dan Judgens and Brett Breeding in 1992, and most recently Injustice prequel comic. Only one of them is not in print and or for sale.

 

Byrne's Superman was awesome. Not sure where you get that "bad at being Superman" stuff.

 

Superman (1987-2006) #22 was added to Comixology and Nook Comics on May #15 of this year.

 

Rumor mill and from friends who have also read Byrne's series. As you can guess, I am a huge Superman fan. Byrne's series is what I grew up with.

SAYETH WHAT?!! HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS?
I'm pressing the buy now button as we speak. Thanks JD

 

Same here, all my friends loved Byrne's version. He was way more relate-able than the ole "planet mover".

 

Do you really think Superman's only motive for killing Zod was to stop him from killing that family?

I don't think so. The killing of Zod needs to be seen in the context of all the destruction and death Zod had done up to that point.

The family was just the last straw. Zod's behavior made it clear (and he even told Superman that this was a fight to the death) that the only way he would be stopped in his plans for the destruction of earth and the reestablishing of Krypton was to kill him.

 

Thats even worse. If it was a split second decision made in desperation, it would still be stupid but more understandable. If he thought it through on his own and decided to kill him, he's as bad as Zod. If he can justify one murder, then he can justify being The Punisher with super powers if he wants. If he's not trying to be better than the people he fights, then there is no reason not to kill everyone he stops. He's also no longer a hero, he's a murderous vigilante. Its not like he can be arrested, the MoS universe doesn't have a way to stop him, especially now that there is no one to recreate the kryptonian atmosphere. So, he's free to kill whoever he wants.

I really like John Byrne, but I've only read one issue of his superman run (it was from his Superman intro mini-series after COIE, the first appearance I think of his corporate Lex Luthor, the issue is in the Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told TPB from the 80s). If he wrote Superman killing someone just because he was fired, thats kind of a jerk thing to do. Regardless of the reasons he wrote that, its pretty lame. Byrne wrote a lot of great stuff (like Sensational She-Hulk and Alpha Flight), but like every writer he didn't always write great stuff.

 

Kinda the point about Superman. He is the purest, most powerful superhero of them all. He is the bright shining example everyone looks up to. Superman does not kill.