#and of course: superman. the public figure and hero that

[nat-20s]

Favorite thing about Clark Kent, or alternatively, favorite Superman comic?

Favorite thing about Clark Kent can really be summed up with this comic page:

Like I know the joke is that People like Superman because he's nice but like. That so is the appeal to me is that Clark Kent possesses an unwavering, unflinching kindness and care for everyone. He believes, fundamentally, in the ability for people to grow, and change, and be better, even we he thinks an individual currently sucks ass. In his ideal world, people like Lex Luthor aren't taken down. They aren't defeated, they aren't killed, they're striving to be more. To give up the constant struggle for wealth and power in favor for struggling to help. To use their status and their riches and change the system they so long benefited from into something that makes it so everyone can live.

And the thing is, Clark Kent does this from such a fundamentally human place. He has love and kindness and is proud of you, not from the perspective of a god, but from the perspective of a guy who listened to his parents on how to be good. AND he's flawed! He can be bitchy and frustrated and petty and angry just like anyone AND he still guided by a fundamental principle of kindness. Not because he's immune to bad actions, not because of his powers, not because he can sit on a throne above the little people, but because he loves us, he loves people, he loves his friends and his family and strangers on the street and his enemies, even if they don't love him back.

(Side tangent: this is why i can't stand a cynical, bitter, borderline villain Superman. OR a boring personalityless Superman. Both of them miss the point of his character, that his humanity and complexity and moments of weakness and goodness are not all separate, disparate characteristics, but in fact all one in the same. [double side tangent: i should get to fight zack snyder in a denny's parking lot.)

I also like that he's funney sometimes.

Favorite Superman Comics:

Hmm. Well I'm far from super well versed in Superman comics, I know him overall from other media better, BUT I can recommend:

Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid

Superman VS The Klan by Gene Luen Yang

Superman: For All Seasons by Jeph Loeb

and especially people that want to get more to the core of the character without being bogged down with a shit ton of lore

Superman: Red & Blue by various authors.

(I've also been enjoying the Superman/Batman series by Mark Waid. Dude knows what I want in a comic lol)

[artbyblastweave]

A few years ago, there was a thread on r/asksciencefiction where someone was fishing for a superhero story with an inverted Omni-Man dynamic, or a setting where Homelander's initial presentation is played straight- a setting where the Superman figure actually is the paragon of morality he's initially presented as, but no other superhero is- a situation where you've got one really competent true-blue hero standing head-and-shoulders in power above what's otherwise a complete nest of vipers.

Someone in the thread floated My Hero Academia; while I haven't read it, my understanding is that that's not really an accurate read of what's going on with Stain's neurosis about All-Might being the only "real hero," that the point of that arc is that Stain's got an insane and unreasonable standard and that taking an endorsement deal, while bad, isn't actually grounds for execution. My own contribution to the thread was Gail Simone's Welcome to Tranquility, where a major part of the backstory involved the faux Justice-League's Superman analogue having a little accident because he's the only one who thought they were morally obligated to go public with the secret life-extending macguffin that the rest of the team is using to enforce comic-book time on themselves and their loved ones; while only a couple members of the team are directly in on it, the rest are conveniently incurious. And Jupiter's Legacy gets tantalizingly close to this- The Utopian, a well-meaning stick-in-the-mud, ultimately gets blindsided and couped by his scheming brother who creates a superhero junta staffed by a Kingdom-Come-style glut of third-gen superheroes, who are framed as fundamentally self-interested because only came onto the scene after most of the situations you legitimately need a superhero to handle have been neutralized. (The rub, of course, is that the comic is also highly critical of the Utopian's intellectually incurious self-righteously 'apolitical' approach to superheroism- if for no other reason than that it left him in a position to get blindsided by a coup!) While Jupiter's Legacy gets the closest, all three of these are only loosely orbiting around the spirit of the original idea, and there's something really interesting there- particularly if the Superman figure isn't hopelessly naive in the same way as Utopian. Because first of all, if you're Metaman or Amazingman or whatever brand-name alias the writer goes with, and you really earnestly mean it, and you put together a team of all the other most powerful heroes on earth in order to pool your resources, and then with dawning horror you gradually begin to realize that everyone in the room besides yourself is a fascist or a con artist or abuser or any other variant of a kid with a magnifying glass eyeing that anthill called Earth- What the hell is your next move?

Do you just call the whole thing off? Can you trust that they'll actually go home if you call the whole thing off? I mean you've put the idea in their heads, are you sure that they aren't going to, like, start the Crime Syndicate in your absence? Do you stick around to try and enact containment, see if getting all of these people on a team makes them easier to keep on a leash? But that's functionally going to make you their enabler pretty quickly, right? Overlooking "should you kill them-" can you kill them? You're stronger than any individual one of them- are you stronger than all of them? The first time one of them really crosses a line in a way you can't ignore- will that be a one-on-one fight? Are they the kind of people capable of putting two-and-two together and pre-emptively ganging up on you if you push back too hard? Do you just start trying to get them killed, or keep them at each other's throats so they can't coordinate anything really nasty? Can you squeeze any positive moral utility out of them, or is that just a way to justify not doing the hard work of taking them down? There've been works where the conceit is to question the default assumption that Superman in specific would be a good person, and there've been works where the conceit is to question the default assumption that superheroes in general would be good people. Something to be done, I think, with questioning the default assumption that everyone Superman becomes professionally close to would be good, and to explore how he'd handle it if they weren't.

[dcdreamblog]

So what exactly was the timeline of events for the so called reign of the supermen? The confusion on the side of the news reporters makes events hard to sort through, and the 2019 documentary didn't actually make things clearer. And then all the conspiracy theories around the event make it harder to actually find information (putting aside Coast City or the theories that the current Superman is one of the impostors, I've seen people claim one of the impostor supermen replaced Clark Kent the Daily Planet reporter for some reason.)

Ok, that last one is just omnipresent especially if you're FROM Metropolis and know Clark Kent as a public figure of some note. He's like, THE guy for some reason getting wrapped up in conspiracy theories of this kind. If you see someone ranting about him being Superman they are either A. a conspiracy buff or B. REALLY butthurt because they shipped people in real life and the Reporter Barbie didn't kiss the He-Man doll.

The "Reign of the Supermen" is a loose term describing a period of about 5 months in Metropolis following Superman's battle and seeming death against the monster known as Doomsday. Superman's death was an intensely traumatic experience for the superhero community, the world at large and especially Metropolis in specific.

(The famous image of Superman's body laying in the center of Daily Planet plaza, his longtime friend Lois Lane wailing a lament over the fallen hero)

Superman's funeral was one of the most attended public events in Metropolis history and THE most viewed event in the history of the Galaxy Broadcasting Company where it aired live. However, within days of the hero being laid to rest, not one, but four new heroes came out and either attempted to fill Superman's shoes or claimed to be Superman himself reborn.

(The famous collage topping the Daily Planet spread where "Reign of the Supermen" was first coined. Left to right: The Man of Steel, The Man of Tomorrow, The Metropolis Kid and The Last Son of Krypton)

The Man of Steel: Appearing in Metropolis in connection to an uptick in gang activity using the highly advanced "Toastmaster" energy weapons, The Man of Steel never actually made a claim that he was Superman reborn. Simply claiming to be following the original's example although conspiracies abounded as they did about EVERYTHING during the period. Of course we known now that this hero, who currently goes by just "Steel" is in reality genius mechanical engineer John Henry Irons who was indeed inspired by Superman after Superman saved his life during a construction accident. Irons continues on as Steel to this day, where he is one of Superman's closest allies and a premiere defender of Washington DC.

The Man of Tomorrow: Appeared to rescue the then president from an assassination attempt, becoming the most publically prominent of the "Supermen" and one of the two claiming to be the true Superman reborn, having reconstructed his body using Kryptonian technology. Because of his action saving the president's life he was endorsed by the White House as the "true" Superman which gave him a lot of public leeway to do...something terrible...

In reality of course this "Cyborg Superman" was Hank Henshaw, a formerly deceased scientist who blamed Superman for the death of his fellow astronauts after an experimental space craft left the entire crew mutated and ultimately dead. His personality having taken control of some of the technology in Superman's Fortress of Solitude and seeking to use Superman's good name to ruin the hero posthumously. At this moment in time his inert body is in possession of STAR Labs where he is being studied as part of a sentence passed down by the Green Lantern Corps for what we are told are innumerable crimes against galactic life.

The Metropolis Kid: Seemingly a teenager who appeared out of nowhere, stopping the newly appeared villain Sidearm from robbing a public ATM. He never claimed to be related to the original Superman and was open with his origins to the public. He had been created by Cadmus Labratories for some unknown purpose, had broken out of their facilities and was now seeking to use his powers for good (and fame, and pretty girls). His heart was in the right place but he was 6 parts willpower to 1 part brains and 0 parts self control, earning rebukes from Steel AND Guardian after his poor forethought cost a helicopter pilot his life.

Since then however he has been a well known and publically beloved teen superhero, serving with distinction on Young Justice, the Teen Titans and more. He is still publically active and beloved as a hero. He and Steel probably require the least explanation. If you found this blog you know who they are.

The Last Son of Krypton: Was the most physically similar to Superman at first glance, however was instantly distrusted by the public due to his brutal and violent methods despite claiming to be the real Superman healed by Kryptonian science. His claim, however, was publically rejected when Lois Lane and the rest of the staff at the Daily Planet (those who would obviously know Superman best) publically denounced him. He was first on the scene during the Coast City tragedy and was blamed for the attack in its direct aftermath.

In reality the "Last Son" was The Eradicator, a piece of Kryptonian technology that had come under Superman's care and viewed itself as a "defender" of Kryptonian culture and heritage. He remained active on and off as a superhero for several years as well as a villainous presence when his programming was hijacked to various malicious ends. To my current knowledge the program is "dead" but god knows for how long. Coast City: (Please be advised the Coast City tragedy is still an open wound for many people. If you do not wish to go any further this is your chance to bow out. Respect and deference to the people of Coast City and their families will be expected and enforced on this blog)

On August 28th an alien craft appeared above Coast City, California. Both The Last Son of Krypton and The Man of Tomorrow respond to the ship as it releases a series of alien devices into the city's airspace. Approximately 80 minutes after they first entered the craft, the devices detonate in an explosion the likes of which dwarf even the most devastating of atomic discharges. 7 Million men, women and children lost their lives in an instant. It is, to this day the single deadliest event in human history. God willing nothing else will ever come close.

The world is stunned. It takes 7 hours for the true severity of the attack to be understood as all communications infrastructure from one of California's largest cities vanishes in an instant. The Man of Tomorrow limps back to civilization and blames the Last Son of Krypton for the disaster. Green Lantern, Steel, Superboy and Supergirl converge on the site. In the following days the entire population of San Georgio county is listed as a casualty of the strike, not a single survivor is discovered within the county's borders.

It is eventually revealed that the "Man of Tomorrow" is responsible, having allied himself with the alien tyrant Mongul attempting to transform the Earth into a "Warworld", a feared class of galactic weapon. It is through these events that the true Superman returns, regaining his powers. Through the combined efforts of Superman, Supergirl, Green Lantern, Superboy, Steel and the Eradicator a similar attack on Metropolis' 11 million people is barely averted.

I was...not alive when Coast City was destroyed. I only grew up in its aftermath. Where the idea of alien tyrants and conquerors, something we had known about for years suddenly came home for us as a society, as a species. 7 million souls wiped from existence, atomized, by one weapon. By one alien with the right trigger to pull. A vibrant west coast metropolis reduced to a blasted crater. 7 million holes left in families around the world.

There were no drills, no duck and cover PSAs, everyone knew that if something of its like showed up again there would be no time and no place to hide. Mongul was officially remanded to Earth's custody by the Green Lantern Corps, citing a "do as thou wilt" clause allowing planets to punish those guilty of genocide outside of galactic trial and treaty. Calls for his execution are stymied for 2 years. He eventually dies in custody due to an opaque supervillain conflict.

Eventually, under the Horne administration, Coast City is officially refounded. It is to this day known as "The City Without Fear" and every year on the anniversary green lanterns are hung in the windows of the city's homes and businesses. Its population is now 2 million strong.

I know that all sounds like derailing from "The Reign of the Supermen" but drill right down to it and that's the legacy. We attached so much trust to Superman, his iconography, his name. We were so grief stricken by his loss that we pinned all our hope on the first man to wear his face and lie to us: and 7 million people paid the price.

Superman has said that his take away from the event is thus: "I learned how dangerous it is...wha...what could happen if I let this world believe it couldn't live without me. Now I have better plans for when I'm gone. I made things clear this time, to the people who need to know."

[smokeybrandreviews]

Flyby

That new Superman trailer dropped and I have opinions. Honestly, I find it very interesting. I’m not a massive fan of Superman, though, he is my chick’s favorite Cape. Personally, I find a great many interpretations of Clark to be insufferable. Dude has a solid rogues gallery, though. Arguably third or fourth best in all of comics but that doesn’t really help sell me on Superman as a character. How do you write a character as overpowered as that, in a way that makes sense and is reasonably acceptable to the general public? I mean, if you know comics, then you know Golden Age Supes is a dick. Absolutely the worst kind of asshole you know but that was a different time. Clark has been mellowed out considerably, and depowered to some extent, since Crisis. That went a very long way to making Superman palatable to someone like me who gravitates toward Marvel because of how real the humanity feels in those books. I identified with Peter Parker because I, too, am a nerd. I love math and the type of ‘tism I have lends itself to me hyperfocusing and falling down the rabbit hole of sh*t that piques my interest. It’s why I have a borderline obsessive breadth of knowledge about Godzilla, Transformers, Marvel Comics, Final Fantasy, Fate, and Persona. I f*cked around and played Baldur’s Gate 3 and now I am an expert on most things Faerun. I was never into Superman comics like that but I, for sure, spiraled when the animated series came out. For me, the DCAU version of Clark is the quintessential take. I like that Superman a lot. He feels real. He feels believable. He’s not some forced Christ figure with a penchant for brooding (what the f*ck, Snyder?), but a legitimate foil to Conroy’s Batman. For me, that’s how you write Superman. Or you use him to explore the existential nature of humanity, through an aloof, godlike, being removed from such mortal toil. Like All-Star Superman. What you don’t do is dress Batman up in the Super Blues and try to tell me it’s the Man of Steel. Seriously, what the f*ck Snyder? With that established, I was curious how Gunn was going to frame the character because that’s no easy task. From what I’ve seen so far, Gunn has been able to deliver something unique.

The usual neckbeards and bigots have been fanning the flames of the culture war because, apparently, there’s internet backlash to Supes in this film? Now, this was before the context of said outrage. According to the trailer, Clark stopped a war by being, you know, f*cking Superman. Obviously, in a real world full of actual fascists, nationalists, and supremacists, it is not an outlandish to think that someone like Superman going out on a limb to stop a conflict like that, would cause outrage. On both sides, actually. I mean, look what Trump is doing to those who protest against the Israeli genocide against the Gazans. That sh*t is reality, my dude. Hell, he’s pulling from real life, actually lived experience. That fostered outrage is what got him booted out of the MCU, over some tweets he made a decade ago. Of course that was going to factor into this script. How could it not? That’s the reality of our world. I imagine most cats who take issue with this take, don’t want any semblance of realism in a Capeflick but will turn around and say with a straight face that Batman should be grounded and measured. I actually agree with that but these are two, very different characters with very different abilities and, most importantly, very different vibes. That part Gunn looks to have nailed. There is color, levity, and heart presented in this newest trailer. It feels more like Donner than Snyder. It’s close to Timm, but not quite there. Yet. I can see myself buying into Gun Supes because of that loyalty to our real world, even though this thing takes place in a city called Metropolis. That’s how Marvel sells its heroes, by setting them against a backdrop of our world. That’s how you sell Superman. That juxtaposition, that relationship, is what you explore with the character. That’s how you sell him to the masses like this. Executive mandates be damned. Seriously, how bloated is this movie going to be?

You how many goddamn cameos do we need? I understand that this is the first film in a planned cinematic universe, and Gunn seems to be taking his time building it up, but goddamn! You have The Engineer from the Authority, Metamorpho, a whole ass Kaiju, and some weird “new” character called the Hammer of something which is probably just Ultraman. Dude should have been Apollo but whatever. We’re getting into the weeds on that one. I mean, Dunn even got the Terrifics in this thing. I imagine they’re a stand-in for the JLA, or something similar, because they definitely feel like one of those teams. Mr. Terrific, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl sure feels like a pseudo-Just Society of America to me. Still, it’s nice to see both Isabela Merced and Edi Gathegi getting a proper shot to make a dent in a Capefilm after “Marvel” just dogged them both. Edi’s Darwin in First Class was dope but the way he was taken out made no sense and the less said about f*cking Madame Web, the better. The fact that the Terrifics are even a thing in this movie is kind of amazing to me. Talk about digging in toyboy. Hell, even goddamn Krypto has a part to play in this thing. I am looking forward to ALL of that but, let’s be real, it’s a whole lot. I mean, this thing is just packed and it feels like too much. Bloated, is the word, and there are rumbling Zazzy feels the same way. WBD has already called for more cuts to the thing and a ton of reshoots but, as far as the leaks are saying, Gunn is holding his ground. Which he should. Dude has delivered time and time again. You’d be an idiot if you don’t trust him.

I trust in James Gunn. His track record is nigh unassailable. His ability to make obscure content from the world of comics and turn it into gold, has been proven time and time again. You’re lying to me if you say you were a fan of Guardians of the Galaxy before Gunn gave you arguably the best franchise in the MCU. No one in the general public knew anything about Rocket Raccoon and Groot. No one knew that Yondu was actually a founding member of the OG team, which is why he feels some kind of way about it in the second film. I knew that because I read comics. Annihilation is one of the greatest crossovers ever written and it’s that GoT team we see on film. The very best parts of the Infinity Saga were written or supervised by Gunn. We saw that innate understanding with The Suicide Squad. It carried over to Peacemaker and then Creature Commandos. Again, I was aware of them but who the f*ck thinks that Creature Commandos will be palatable to a wider audience? Gunn did and he found a way to make that happen. I’m not going to sit here and tell you I agree with certain decisions made with Supes (The nu52 suit? Really?) but I know enough not to bet against mans. He has delivered time and time again. He respects the fans because he is a fan. Dude is one of us, given the ability to tell our stories, and there’s suspicion? Really? Come the f*ck on, dude. Superman is going to be, at the very least, good. I, personally, think it has to do too much, too soon, but I trust Gunn to navigate that mire of expectation and corporate pressure just fine. I mean, he gave us three, solid as f*ck, GoT films and redeemed the DCEU, kind of, with The Suicide Squad. Let the man cook. He’s whipping up something special.

[struggling-author]

Imagine a spy x family au of clark Kent (Superman) as yor forger and Bruce Wayne as Loid

lmao that actually works surprisingly well!

I am tempted to make this for WonderBat but I will resist

So Bruce is still Batman in this universe, but the villain he is currently after is Ra‘s al Ghul, who never shows his face in public except for at the private school his grandson attends.

Since he is also still Bruce Wayne, getting in won‘t be a problem but well… he needs a kid for that, and unfortunately he is fresh out.

Luckily, on the day Ra‘s trail leads him to the school, he runs into reporter Clark Kent who is writing a piece on Eden College. As they talk, Clark mentions how his son Jon dreamt of getting into the school, but unfortunately he couldn’t afford it, so immediately a plan forms in Bruce‘s head. He and Clark will pretend to be married so he can use his Wayne money and influence to get Jon in. Clark of course refuses because he can’t ask that of someone he just met - though in that very moment his super senses pick up on something, Bruce has been followed (he’s not as careful in this Universe I guess, bear with me I need this for the story lol) and a sniper is about to shoot him. Clark reacts on instinct throwing himself at Bruce, pushing him out of the way, then takes his hand to run into an alleyway. Some shots hit Clark but he is unaffected and Bruce pretends not to notice. The sniper catches up to them from the roof above, so Clark knowing nothing else to do takes a pebble and throws it with just the right speed to knock him out without killing him (assume this is possible, Idk). His excuse is:

„I used to be pebble throwing champion at the eagle scouts, I have a badge to prove it“ (he actually does lol)

Bruce is not an idiot and doesn’t buy it, but he seizes the opportunity to say that now after Clark saved him he is in his debt, so he will help his son get into the school. Clark still tries to interject, but Bruce stops him by pulling a clip from his pocket (usually used for grappling lol) and grabbing his hands.

„I swear to you, for saving my life, I will do everything in my power to get your son into Eden College, and until my debt is paid, I will be your husband and this ring shall represent my promise.“ as he puts the clip on the finger of a very flustered Clark.

And so it happens that Clark and Jon move into Wayne Manor and Bruce gets Jon into Eden, where Jon meets Damian and they become immediate rivals.

Shenanigans ensue as Bruce tries to get Jon closer to Damian without being too obvious, while also trying to figure out wtf is up with his new husband and adopted son because they are clearly not human and very bad at hiding it. He gets struck by Loid Forger loveblindness though, so he never makes the connection to Superman (who he knows exists but has probably never met) and over time he starts caring less and less about it because he has always wanted a family and it feels so good after being alone all his life and he doesn’t wanna ruin it it’s just for the mission anyway and Clark is clearly too good a person to be a threat so it doesn’t matter. Or maybe he figures it out immediately and spends the rest of the story pretending to ignore the blatantly obvious ways in which Clark reveals himself and nodding at all his ridiculous excuses. (I might prefer this one tbh 😆)

There‘ll probably also be an arc where Bruce learns Damian is actually his biological son and has an emotional crisis.

Clark spends all his time badly hiding his identity, all the while never realizing his partner is actually Batman, despite him sneaking out every night and coming back with bruises (he knows that from his powers but he thinks it’s not his business what Bruce does in his private time, so he tries not to think about it)

So both still go on their superhero missions and if you want they can meet as heroes too and then you basically get Miraculous Ladybug lol

Maybe they also adopt Krypto for Jon.

Oh and I‘m imagining Lois died at some point when Jon was still very young, so him and Bruce really bond over that and Bruce remembers the reason for his mission, so that no child would ever have to lose their parents again (which gets complicated as he still fully plans to leave them once he has captured Ra‘s)

Franky is Alfred btw so Jon still gets a cool Uncle.

Maybe there is also a subplot where Clark spends his whole time fending off enemies trying to attack his completely normal civilian husband (how weird of them, right?) because the sniper managed to escape and leaked his identity. Luckily most his villains don’t believe such a ridiculous conspiracy theory (I mean spoiled billionaire Bruce Wayne as Batman? how laughable!) so only some local gangs come after him.

That’s all I got for now, feel free to add on lol and thanks for the ask.

[zalrb]

So I know you don’t think the cast of The Boys gel and I’m inclined to agree. What do you think of the actual acting and characters? Are Homelander and Butcher compelling characters, or are they poorly written?

I’ve been struggling with the Homelander question myself because I think he’s a very fun character. I love seeing him become more and more unraveled, but I’m not sure what to make of him because the show itself has that question of responsibility: how much is Homelander responsible for considering his upbringing and how he’s been manipulated by Vought his entire life, but also how can he not be held responsible for his crimes when he’s literally the most powerful man on Earth? Like you said, it’s very muddled and I’m not sure what to make of it.

Butcher is a bit easier for me because I think he made a good anti-hero at first, but again with the muddling because he hates supes for what they did to him, but now he’s willing to become one? I get that the point of Butcher is that he has no principles and the ends justify the means for him, but I’d like to see more consistency than “I want Homelander dead” from him.

It's always difficult for me to explain my feelings about The Boys because I find that its balance is off, sometimes the satire is so, painfully "yes, ok we get it" overt and sometimes it hits and sometimes I'm like, so what are you saying with this? and sometimes I'm like ... so you're missing your own supposed point

And Homelander as a character is all three things, which is why I end up making posts like

because it all gets muddled and the fan reactions get unhinged and I think it's because the writers want to have their cake and eat it too.

Like, outside of the show, Kripke is always like, how are people not understanding the character?

He says that Homelander was always a stand-in for Trump but it gets more obvious in season 3

The evil-Superman-style character Homelander is becoming more and more of a direct Trump analogue this season. What was your thinking there? He’s always been a Trump analogue for me. I’ll admit to being a little more bald this season than I have in past seasons. But the world is getting more coarse and less elegant. The urgency of our team’s writing reflects that. We’re angrier and more scared as the years go on, so that is just being reflected in our writing. But part of it is where Homelander’s story naturally goes. He has this really combustible mix of complete weakness and insecurity, and just horrible power and ambition, and it’s just such a deadly combo. Of course he would feel victimized that people are angry that he dated a Nazi. All he ever wants is to be the most powerful person he can be, even though he’s completely inadequate in his abilities to handle it. So it’s white-male victimization and unchecked ambition. And those issues just happened to reflect the guy who, it’s just still surreal to say it, was fucking president of the United States. And it’s a bigger issue than just Trump. The more awful public figures act, the more fans they seem to be getting. That’s a phenomenon that we wanted to explore, that Homelander is realizing that he can actually show them who he really is and they’ll love him for it. 

and that's there. Like, Homelander is written obviously as a villain, Homelander is written obviously as a narcissist who will do anything to protect his image, it's there from Day One but I think the writing is infatuated with the character. Like, even more so than with Butcher, who Kripke calls the hero of the show. I think the writing is fascinated by Homelander's psychology

I love it. There’s a smaller moment with Homelander where he’s having this conversation with himself in the mirror. And it gives new insight into his psyche. What do you hope viewers take away from that scene?

You know, our take on Homelander is even though he’s a sociopath, he’s also a human being who has reactions and feelings. To me, the biggest sin that Homelander commits is that he hates that he has feelings and he hates that he’s a human being. You know, if he embraced that part of him more, he might be a happier person who isn’t going to destroy the planet. I think in the original version of it, the figure in the mirror was just this kind of cruel browbeating character telling Homelander what a loser he was.

And, Antony [Starr] called me and said, “What if it’s his childhood friend? And what if they have this connection because he was alone for so long that he ended up creating this relationship with an image of himself? And that’s what got him through these situations?” And I was like, that’s awesome. Because one, it’s sad, but it’s also really scary. [This is] a guy with multiple personality disorder. And that part of him is saying, “Cut out the part of you that’s human.” I don’t want people to sympathize with Homelander but I do want them to understand him a little more. I look at that scene, and I get a little scared by it, too.

and I'm like ... I don't know, it seems like the writing wants me to sympathize with him and that's why you and I are having this conversation because the execution of this isn't striking the right balance so when the right-wing fans freaked out in season 3 and there was that reddit shitstorm, it's like yeah, Homelander (and Blue Hawk) is clearly a villain, literally just look at what he does. Yeah, you were being wilfully obtuse if you didn't see that the show was always a political satire. But I think they picked up on the glee and fascination the writing has with Homelander and that's why they expected a redemption arc.

And when it comes to the basic concept of a superhero who is actually sociopathic and terrorizes the people he publicly makes a show out of saving, I can understand being fascinated by that because it's an interesting concept and that aspect of it. This,

We are a superhero show, but we deconstruct and break down and shine a light on the complete fucking absurdities of a superhero show and poke a lot of fun at what it is to be a superhero, and how stupid that world is, and how horrible they’d be as people.

they do well and clearly but when you make that concept inherently political and tie that up in an exploration of fascism and nationalism and capitalism and racism and you're not ... doing anything with it, then what's the point of his character. He's a Trump stand-in, OK ... and ... what? Like ... what?

Like with Succession, they're all toxic, broken, horrible, sinfully wealthy white people and the show is upfront in sympathizing with them, in doing what it can to find their humanity, in exploring abusive parental dynamics but it's also making clear commentary and I can see the commentary and I can trace the commentary and the fandom can argue about what exactly they're saying but they're clearly saying something.

Kripke says they're making commentary but it feels like a half-finished thought at best. You're noticing how the more politicians behave badly in public, the more their base loves them so you're showing that with Homelander and ... what? He talks about exploring the cycles of toxic masculinity because Soldier Boy is his father and the two of them have done the same things in their romantic relationships

"The fact that they are both genuinely stunned that the women in their lives hate them tells you everything you need to know about how blinded they are by their own egos," said the producer. "So no, love does not redeem you when you're a horrible person who is completely blind to other people's emotions."

but Homelander didn't even know he had a father until this season, for his entire life he just thought he was made in a tube, so the generational cycles angle isn't really working for me, and again what are you saying with this, what is the point?

Like, when they're poking fun at the left with how out-of-touch they can be and how they commodify movements and identities, the intent is clear, I don't get that with Homelander.

And I think an issue for me with this as well is that a very vocal portion of the fandom is doing the very thing with the characters that the writers are apparently satirizing or criticizing so, like, Stormfront for instance, there is clear irony in a lot of her scenes and this is when they're making overt commentary. Like, she is a literal nazi but she made a quip about how the female superheroes should have uniforms with pockets so she's an internet sensation, I get that, and that played out with the fandom and the character, which is why I made a post like

and that happens continuously with Homelander. And maybe an argument could be made that that isn't the writers' fault considering how in season 3 specifically, Homelander fans realized that they're the punchline which means that they're doing something right but I think because they want to keep writing Homelander, keep wanting to see what he'll do next, keep coming up with disturbing, weird shit for him to do, and there's an infatuation with that, they're not executing what they say they're executing as well as they could and that's a failing to me.

With Butcher, his entire personality seems to be summed up with

there is no greater good, there is no altruism, there is no honour, there is no loyalty, there's just

and that's all you really need to know.

In terms of the acting, I think Anthony Starr does a good job in showing how unhinged Homelander is. Karl Urban is a bit cartoonish for me.

[galacticrambler]

Superman: Brainiac Attacks had Lex Luthor trying to be a good guy | movie review

#Superman: Brainiac Attacks was an action-filled romp #DCComics

When I was younger, I used to watch as many of the DC Comics animated shows and movies as I could. At some point, I fell off and stopped watching them. It wasn’t really an intentional “I’m not watching these anymore.”, but I just didn’t keep up anymore. I decided to change that.

The first one that I checked out was Superman: Brainiac Attacks. It was released in June 2006 as a tie-in with the Brandon Routh led Superman Returns on the big screen. The two aren’t related in any way besides being about Superman though.

Brainiac Attacks kicks off with Lex Luthor trying to figure out how to make the public like him. He’s launching a satellite into space called Lex 9000, but Brainiac attacks and takes over the satellite shooting Superman with it. Lex is conflicted. He was hoping to use that satellite to shoot down asteroids, but he also sees how well it does at fighting Superman. So, of course, he takes Brainiac’s “brain” and tries to use it to fight Superman. Then, he builds a suit to try to fight Brainiac and be a “hero” again.

The “B Story” that made this movie work, however, was Clark wanting to tell Lois that he is Superman. While it didn’t come to fruition in this story, we know that he eventually does tell her. Superman stories work, because you care about Clark Kent and Lois Lane. While some of these animated movies struggle in this department, Having time with Clark and not just Superman is what makes him work as a character.

Brainiac Attacks isn’t the best of the DC animated movies, but they tried to give me more about Clark as a person. I will always appreciate that.

[op-sys-chaos]

Tim responded to Jason’s taunt by giving him the middle finger and trying to kick his ass.

Tim and Jason had a few more confrontations after that, and Jason started getting suspicious why Tim was quiet.

When Jason found out, it was because he came to family dinner. Upon seeing Tim use sign to speak, he asked “Hold on, why are you using sign? I’ve heard you speak before.”

Bruce explains that Jason made Tim mute. Jason’s eyes widen and he immediately apologizes. He wanted to hurt Tim but not permanently, though saying that as an apology does not make anyone feel better.

Jason immediately takes sign classes. He doesn’t tell anyone he’s doing this, he just does it. He makes all of his goons learn sign too (because “it’s useful to communicate silently!” and totally not because he wants his brother to be able to be understood, nope, not at all).

Jason, once he’s fluent in sign, gives Tim a full apology in sign language. And I mean an actually good apology, not one that feels half assed or empty. He genuinely is sorry and he feels bad for hurting Tim at all, much less that badly. He should’ve kept Tim out of it and he knows that now.

Any time Tim’s trying to talk to someone and they don’t understand sign, Jason steps up to translate without being asked. Then he ends the conversation by telling the person to learn sign and handing them a small business card looking thing with resources to learn sign. Yes, he carries these around at all times.

He insists that the rest of Bats get fluent. They’re about 90% fluent on their own but they’re busy people and can’t dedicate enough time to it. Jason sits them down and makes them finish learning it. Then he starts insisting that they all get cameras like Tim’s and use that for comms so that they can communicate silently when needed. Because being able to communicate when you need to be stealthy is an asset (and also it makes Tim feel less alone if they’re all doing it).

Jason ends up teaching ASL to street kids in the alley so that they can communicate with each other and outsiders who don’t know sign won’t understand. It also means that they can talk to Tim if he needs to ask them questions for a case. (Previously he’d been using the same hand-to-speech software for interrogations.)

The city has begun noticing that one of their heroes is mute. They brag to other cities that “not only are our heroes so cool that they can handle things without powers, but they also don’t even have to be able-bodied!” A lot of Gothamites start learning sign too, so that they can communicate with their hero. Within two years, it becomes a common method of communication in Gotham (which Jason has had a large part in pushing, since he and his goons have started offering to teach people and he’s still handing out the online learning resource cards to people in Gotham). Jason also starts a small YouTube channel called “ASL with RH” and he teaches Gothamites name signs so that everyone’s using the same ones. All of the rogues, well-known figures like Commissioner Gordon, other heroes like Superman, and even celebrities like Bruce Wayne all get public name signs that Gothamites who learned sign all know.

Sign becomes a common way to distinguish outsiders and Gothamites. 75% of people in the city know sign and they will use it to talk about commonly known secrets. (Such as “Gordon totally knows who the bats are.” Y’know, shit that’s practically common knowledge in Gotham but outsiders are clueless about.)

Within five years, the whole city knows sign. Tim Drake, who was out of the public eye for a while when the injury happened and later reappeared using sign, doesn’t even have to tell people he’s mute. Gothamites just assume he prefers sign now. (The WE board knows he’s mute and were among the first people to learn sign. WE paid for a professional training course for the entire company to learn sign rather than just recommending them to like YouTube videos or whatever. Everyone in the company learns basic phrases they might need to talk to Tim, and the board learns all of the business language words in sign too, and they can optionally become fluent which they all choose to do because otherwise they have to wait for Tim to type his thoughts out into text to speech and that’s annoying to wait for.) Some Gothamites think Tim is now mute, especially conspiracy theorists who think the Waynes are the bats. Others think he’s just trying to push people to learn sign to support deaf and mute people because the Waynes do love doing charity.

Idk, I just think Gotham would absolutely love and support their mute vigilante

The Titans tower attack and everything plays out the same except Jason hits his throat just slightly differently causing Tim to lose use of his vocal chords and go fully mute

Luckily, sign language was already slowly being learned in the manor due to Cass struggling to speak some days, so he already knew basic phrases

the major issue with his newfound mutism is using the comms

the comms are entirely functioning by voice, and without one, youre kinda screwed

Tim attempts to go out with no comms a couple times which makes Bruce very mad so he has to come up with another solution, he ends up installing a camera and chip into his domino so that the camera can pick up his hands and the chip can interpret them and read rhem out to the comms

one day while tim is out as Robin, he ends up confronting the red hood

tim is obviously silent, but instead of Jason noticing this, he chooses to almost tease Tim about it, not knowing the extent of the damage he caused, “what? too scared to even say anything to me now?”

its not until Jason starts to rejoin the family that he learns what happened to Tim that night

[smokeybrand]

Flyby

That new Superman trailer dropped and I have opinions. Honestly, I find it very interesting. I’m not a massive fan of Superman, though, he is my chick’s favorite Cape. Personally, I find a great many interpretations of Clark to be insufferable. Dude has a solid rogues gallery, though. Arguably third or fourth best in all of comics but that doesn’t really help sell me on Superman as a character. How do you write a character as overpowered as that, in a way that makes sense and is reasonably acceptable to the general public? I mean, if you know comics, then you know Golden Age Supes is a dick. Absolutely the worst kind of asshole you know but that was a different time. Clark has been mellowed out considerably, and depowered to some extent, since Crisis. That went a very long way to making Superman palatable to someone like me who gravitates toward Marvel because of how real the humanity feels in those books. I identified with Peter Parker because I, too, am a nerd. I love math and the type of ‘tism I have lends itself to me hyperfocusing and falling down the rabbit hole of sh*t that piques my interest. It’s why I have a borderline obsessive breadth of knowledge about Godzilla, Transformers, Marvel Comics, Final Fantasy, Fate, and Persona. I f*cked around and played Baldur’s Gate 3 and now I am an expert on most things Faerun. I was never into Superman comics like that but I, for sure, spiraled when the animated series came out. For me, the DCAU version of Clark is the quintessential take. I like that Superman a lot. He feels real. He feels believable. He’s not some forced Christ figure with a penchant for brooding (what the f*ck, Snyder?), but a legitimate foil to Conroy’s Batman. For me, that’s how you write Superman. Or you use him to explore the existential nature of humanity, through an aloof, godlike, being removed from such mortal toil. Like All-Star Superman. What you don’t do is dress Batman up in the Super Blues and try to tell me it’s the Man of Steel. Seriously, what the f*ck Snyder? With that established, I was curious how Gunn was going to frame the character because that’s no easy task. From what I’ve seen so far, Gunn has been able to deliver something unique.

The usual neckbeards and bigots have been fanning the flames of the culture war because, apparently, there’s internet backlash to Supes in this film? Now, this was before the context of said outrage. According to the trailer, Clark stopped a war by being, you know, f*cking Superman. Obviously, in a real world full of actual fascists, nationalists, and supremacists, it is not an outlandish to think that someone like Superman going out on a limb to stop a conflict like that, would cause outrage. On both sides, actually. I mean, look what Trump is doing to those who protest against the Israeli genocide against the Gazans. That sh*t is reality, my dude. Hell, he’s pulling from real life, actually lived experience. That fostered outrage is what got him booted out of the MCU, over some tweets he made a decade ago. Of course that was going to factor into this script. How could it not? That’s the reality of our world. I imagine most cats who take issue with this take, don’t want any semblance of realism in a Capeflick but will turn around and say with a straight face that Batman should be grounded and measured. I actually agree with that but these are two, very different characters with very different abilities and, most importantly, very different vibes. That part Gunn looks to have nailed. There is color, levity, and heart presented in this newest trailer. It feels more like Donner than Snyder. It’s close to Timm, but not quite there. Yet. I can see myself buying into Gun Supes because of that loyalty to our real world, even though this thing takes place in a city called Metropolis. That’s how Marvel sells its heroes, by setting them against a backdrop of our world. That’s how you sell Superman. That juxtaposition, that relationship, is what you explore with the character. That’s how you sell him to the masses like this. Executive mandates be damned. Seriously, how bloated is this movie going to be?

You how many goddamn cameos do we need? I understand that this is the first film in a planned cinematic universe, and Gunn seems to be taking his time building it up, but goddamn! You have The Engineer from the Authority, Metamorpho, a whole ass Kaiju, and some weird “new” character called the Hammer of something which is probably just Ultraman. Dude should have been Apollo but whatever. We’re getting into the weeds on that one. I mean, Dunn even got the Terrifics in this thing. I imagine they’re a stand-in for the JLA, or something similar, because they definitely feel like one of those teams. Mr. Terrific, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl sure feels like a pseudo-Just Society of America to me. Still, it’s nice to see both Isabela Merced and Edi Gathegi getting a proper shot to make a dent in a Capefilm after “Marvel” just dogged them both. Edi’s Darwin in First Class was dope but the way he was taken out made no sense and the less said about f*cking Madame Web, the better. The fact that the Terrifics are even a thing in this movie is kind of amazing to me. Talk about digging in toyboy. Hell, even goddamn Krypto has a part to play in this thing. I am looking forward to ALL of that but, let’s be real, it’s a whole lot. I mean, this thing is just packed and it feels like too much. Bloated, is the word, and there are rumbling Zazzy feels the same way. WBD has already called for more cuts to the thing and a ton of reshoots but, as far as the leaks are saying, Gunn is holding his ground. Which he should. Dude has delivered time and time again. You’d be an idiot if you don’t trust him.

I trust in James Gunn. His track record is nigh unassailable. His ability to make obscure content from the world of comics and turn it into gold, has been proven time and time again. You’re lying to me if you say you were a fan of Guardians of the Galaxy before Gunn gave you arguably the best franchise in the MCU. No one in the general public knew anything about Rocket Raccoon and Groot. No one knew that Yondu was actually a founding member of the OG team, which is why he feels some kind of way about it in the second film. I knew that because I read comics. Annihilation is one of the greatest crossovers ever written and it’s that GoT team we see on film. The very best parts of the Infinity Saga were written or supervised by Gunn. We saw that innate understanding with The Suicide Squad. It carried over to Peacemaker and then Creature Commandos. Again, I was aware of them but who the f*ck thinks that Creature Commandos will be palatable to a wider audience? Gunn did and he found a way to make that happen. I’m not going to sit here and tell you I agree with certain decisions made with Supes (The nu52 suit? Really?) but I know enough not to bet against mans. He has delivered time and time again. He respects the fans because he is a fan. Dude is one of us, given the ability to tell our stories, and there’s suspicion? Really? Come the f*ck on, dude. Superman is going to be, at the very least, good. I, personally, think it has to do too much, too soon, but I trust Gunn to navigate that mire of expectation and corporate pressure just fine. I mean, he gave us three, solid as f*ck, GoT films and redeemed the DCEU, kind of, with The Suicide Squad. Let the man cook. He’s whipping up something special.

[thenixkat]

again its ok for the Justice League to stop dictatorships on other planets or third world countries but not to stop any other countries doing wrong again Dr. Soos fixed Booster's shredded suit b4. The robo suit that Ted made is of lesser quality that Dr. Soos' work and was unnecessary

unless folks just wanted to change Booster's hero costume

so people do tours of the Justice League headquarters given they're public government back figures and people want to know more about them. But like… superheroes get attacked all the time why bring kids to the Justice League head quarters? Fire is clearly bitter about shit, which having emotions about things is fine but if she can't be professional around these kids she shouldnt be part of the tour

and Booster is casually sexist about her having feelings and expressing them in the wrong time and place where these impressionable kids can hear him

and Bea calls him out on his fucking sexism which she should, but Booster brushes it off and changes the subject

and then he apologizes but like that's annoying that he brushed her off in the first place

also again, Booster could have just gone back to Dr. Soos to get his costume fixed a lot better than Ted managed in this series. Like, Booster didnt mention something having happened to the man in this series so I have to assume the writer forgot Dr. Soos exists even tho it was the same writer from Booster's solo also good on Ted for not going with trying to recreate the accident that gave Bea her powers b/c that would be too fucking dangerous and might not even work. Nice to see the ooc version of Ted in this series has at least one ethic

meanwhile there's political strife and family drama happening with Ice in her homeland and interesting that her evil brother dresses like a slut

man said the only things his armor needs to protect in their ice kingdom is his groin and kneecaps also he's a dick

there being sexism in Tora's culture would explain her kind of slutshaming of Bea on a frequent basis

and Guy just constantly sexually harasses his female coworkers constantly regardless of whether or not he's still trying to be a couple with Ice/thinks of her as his girl

i dont think Booster actually tested out this new suit b4 deciding to take it into the field. He's been shown to be impatient about getting back into heroing

also these fishpeople space cops seem very professional. Too bad for them they look a lot less human than the alien criminals (at lest one of which is a rapist) they're chasing and we all know how superheroes just jump into shit without listening to people and assault the least human looking fuckers there

it bothers me that this is one of those situations that Superman tried to force Booster to understand with people claiming to be the victims actually being the bad guys.

eh like, more that shit with Superman and Booster annoys me than there being situations where fuckers just lie to superheroes at the very least yall should probably talk to someone who knows both intergalactic law and about the aliens yer dealing with

of course the Usono government coming in willing to use force to get the Justice League to turn folks over to be extradited doesnt help. Mostly just cause how fucking fight happy superheroes are instead of talking shit through. Just go along with folks and ask for proof of the space cops' claims

again yall could just go to the UN with folks, and ask for proof instead of getting yer feelings in a twist and fighting the soldiers of one of teh countries providing yer funding

superheroes really just like settling things with violence huh

wow Booster its almost like you should have tested that armor thoroughly before going out into the field with it where yer life would be in danger

Guy also sexually harasses female enemies constantly

just why cant we fire Guy? He's unprofessional, an asshole, and active danger to his teammates and the public

Captain Atom, not being interested in fighting for fightings sake, decides to call it quits and let his higher ups talk to the people in charge of the League

for people who live in an ice kingdom yall like exposed skin. I'm gonna have to assume being ice gods with ice powers the cold doesnt bother them.

you never know with DC, they just had Wonder Woman and Maxima in Alaska with no protective gear and I cant be certain that they'd be unaffected by the cold so Ice's brother killed their dad to stop him from appointing Ice as his heir

Booster just hasn't been able to move since his new costume got shorted out and that is a major safety concern

Booster just gets left there on the table

and the editor didnt catch the errors on Wonder Woman's speech bubble

i dont even know which president that is. But the League is being ordered to turn over the alien criminals

the government probably should rethink having the sanctioned Justice League full of people who are just fucking vigilantes with not really any loyalty to the governing bodies or the law

yall could just be making soldiers into metas and having them in the sanctioned superhero league if you want someone who'd actually follow orders and be less likely to cause international incidents as this bunch of loose canons Wonder Woman, where's yer proof that those two alien criminals are telling the truth? They respond to most things with violence and attempted lethal force thus far and were vague about what they're wanted for. They could have been lying or downplaying shit

and man I hate that thing with Superman going "you can't just be helping people" being in my mind while reading this cause Superman was on some conservative bs in a poorly written story and very blatantly just didn't like Booster Gold

why did you approach their ship while openly carrying very big guns

and are surprised that teh space cops fired a warming shot?

the warning shot accidentally was too close to one of the military guys approaching. But the superheroes are just raring to fight without talking to fuckers

not the space cops going 'this isnt worth their time, the earthers can deal with these fuckers'

huh, Fire's doing research on alien law

also damn this man couldn't even wait for the space cops to leave b4 trying to rape Fire

and also going after one of the ladies in the group currently sheltering you from teh cops, like at least leave to find a victim

at least they;ve got proof now that these guys are criminals

Bea is not helpless without her powers. Apparently she used to be a member of the Brazilian equivalent of the CIA

the man's partner knocks Bea out unfortunately after she started asking questions. Thankfully for her his partner stops him from assaulting her while she's out cause they have more pressing business

also apparently the fish people space cops are a lot more responsible than Earth cops, apparently they wouldnt just rough up civilians to get to the criminals they're after so Ice's people can be effected by the cold if its cold enough. Why the fuck are yall dresssing so sluttily in snow then?

Wonder Woman just hand the fucker over good lords

so folks are actually having a meeting and talking

Wonder Woman admits to part of teh reason she refused to hand the prisoners over was just her being speciesist towards the fish aliens for their looks. Also WW that's not how the law works, last I remember in teh USA if a criminal from another country who did their crimes in a different country tried to hide in teh USA the USA would turn the fuckers over to the country they did the crimes in for the law there to handle them?

Guy apparently flips his shit about people telling him to keep calm and let the rest of them talk shit through and kills one of the criminals and flies off.

[artbyblastweave]

Re: WW84 and Maxwell Lord

What didn't you like about how that movie did the character, and what do you view as the essential parts of the character?

So, I've gotta lead with the caveat that my understanding of Lord's character arc in the comics is informed by a very scattershot sampling of comics from across his publication history, acquired piecemeal via thrift stores and inheritance. I'm not the world's foremost Maxwell Lord Understander.

With that out of the way, my understanding of the shape of his character arc is that he was a originally well-meaning but morally-flexible Trump pastiche who was bank-rolling the Justice League during a nadir in their perceived legitimacy, before an eventual pivot to antagonist status after a retcon that he had become disillusioned with superhumanity during his stint with the League and had been maneuvering to purge them for some time. Or something. Eventually he escalated in the threat he posed until Wonder Woman wound up snapping his neck on live television because he'd established irrevocable mind control over Superman through years of subtle psychic conditioning. Or something. My understanding is that how well this pivot and the attendant retcons were executed is up for debate.

But, regardless of your judgement of how it was actually executed, the idea of the League falling in with a snake in the grass during a lean season and not noticing the threat he poses until it's too late- or that threat not even coming to exist without the snake's inside access to, and experience with, the League- is a really rich one, pulling the angels down to earth and forcing them to interface with questions of Money and Marketing and how that can backfire on you and your lofty ideals. The idea of the funny 80s tycoon gradually swelling in threat in the background over the course of out-of-universe years until he's in a position to fuck the entire planet is an idea that has some resonance for. Reasons. The fallout of an A-list superheroine having to put him down on live television because he's working Superman like a muppet could be really interesting. Basically you can point to any iteration of Lord, describe to me his role in the universe at any given point in his publication history, and it would sound cooler to me, more embedded in the world and the worldbuilding, than the WW1984 version, where he was an 80s Fantasy-Comedy Protagonist who Needs to Learn An Important Lesson About The Value Of Family, haphazardly stapled to a superhero plot. And it was, I don't know, fine. No better or worse than the movie it was embedded in (not very good). But there wasn't a lot of room to take that implementation of the character anywhere. You can't retool him as a Machiavellian manipulator executing heroes gangland style once he's Learned About Family. He did his thing, he's done.

Anyway, the upcoming version seems, at a glance, like it's synergizing a lot of the ideas I like about the character in a way that aligns with Gunn's worldbuilding sensibilities. This is a guy who's rich but not Lex Luthor rich. This is a guy who's throwing his weight around to get in a say in the superhero game but his sponsored team is a bunch of second-stringers, he doesn't have Vought-levels of corporate monopoly over the space. This guy is an aspirant player in an established field, a guy who could break in a bunch of interesting directions from the opening status quo (or just die in his first appearance like a chump, who knows.) This is a kind of public figure who would plausibly exist- if superheroes were quotidian enough that they're back to being just another kind of job, how many real life overly online businessmen do we know that'd jump to scoop a handful up as corporate mascots?

[kizzer55555]

(let’s see. I like this re-blog, and this re-blog, and that re-blog. So I’m just gonna mush them all together in one post ok? Contains re-blogs from @fantasticstoryteller, @raventao, and @sayatumbles)

The truly ironic thing here is that Danny would, just by virtue of Not GAFing, stop almost 80% of Lex’s evil plans. See, most of those plans depend on the fact that they’re not on paper anywhere--there is no trail to tie them to Luthor.

And Danny is getting paid to do one thing, and one thing only: make sure Luthor follows his officially penned schedule. Clandestine meetings are a thing of the past. And any meeting that Danny’s in on? Yeah, he’s cutting right through the double talk and circular “You know what I mean.”

Lex attempting to plan an attack with other members of the Light: Children are so precious, aren’t they?

Another Light member: They are. Shame if something were to happen to them.

Danny: Are you suggesting or in any way shape or form attempting to suggest that Mr. Luthor should hurt children? I need to know.

Both members are horrified. Because, yes, that is exactly what’s happening, and the important thing is there is supposed to be plausible deniability. Ignoring this consternation, Danny continues.

Danny: Because I for one cannot condone any implied message that Mr. Luthor--who is already having PR issues, by the way--should hurt children. Do you have any idea what that would do to stocks if it got out? I thought not. Now, Mr. Luthor has to go; he has a more important appointment to get to.

Lex: What appointment?

Danny: You’re volunteering at the children’s hospital today, to prevent any backlash should any part of this attempted conversation be made public.

Danny, absolutely not giving a fuck about The Light: what are they going to do? Kill me? Been there, done that. Now, about your new PR campaign.

Lex hired Danny with the intention to manipulate him into selling his patents. Instead he got himself a secretary who won't put up with his shit and will boss him around if necessary. Lex got scolded to hell and back when Danny learned about Kon (probably right after he was made).

If neither Lex or Superman is willing to treat their kid right, Danny's just gonna have to do it himself. Dani will be ecstatic to have a new clone brother. Kon is still reeling over having a new, third dad- one that loves him unconditionally and treats him like his own person instead of just a clone. And for some reason his new dad can help him with his developing powers? He's not a super, though? Oh well, Kon's still pretty happy where he's at.

(Now for my own addition)

Danny doesn't use his powers. Not because he’s actively trying to hide them but because he doesn’t need them. He’s fought gods, ancients, beings more powerful than these heroes could possibly imagine. These guys? He can take care of them with just his parents inventions. With his own improvements of course. So I’m just kinda imagining mad scientist Danny who will be found in a lab whenever he isn’t forcing Luthor to be in a meeting (some employees wonder if Danny ever sleeps. And he doesn’t. Because he doesn’t actually need to anymore. When Luthor first hired Danny, he tried to buy the patents but was turned down. So he figured if Danny wouldn’t give them legally, he could just take them by force. Wouldn’t be the worst thing he’s done. The only problem is, for some reason mind reading doesn’t work (he tried hiring people), the guy is immune to drugs (since Luthor tried various forms of truth serum). And when he hired Danny, it was as an assistant. Not an inventor. He couldn’t even con the man into making a new contract with him. So when he gives Danny a lab to work on his personal projects as a ‘gift’ for his hard work, it’s with the full intention of spying on him. Only…for some reason, all the cameras and bugging devices Luthor put in the lab are filled with static and disrupted. He’s tried to send Danny an assistant to find how the inventions are built, but each person has no idea what’s going on and can’t keep up. What they can keep up with doesn’t make sense and they can’t even try to explain it. Luthor himself even tried to walk in and watch but Danny just sat there, drinking coffee while staring at him because he ‘wasn’t in an inventing mood that day.’ And the most frustrating thing? Danny made many inventions. He made a way to get clean water by taking in the moisture in the air. He made some type of completely clean green energy source. He made a small device that when attached to something, can make it weightless which had increased debris rescue attempts and worker efficiently when moving large objects. And has somehow made the new phones have infinite WiFi signals even from space. They literally tested it by giving the next astronaut a phone and while on the moon, that person was watching YouTube videos with perfect internet.

His company was reproducing revolutionary technology and Luthor had no idea how they were being made.

It was mind boggling. It didn’t make sense. Even when he ripped apart and dissected the inventions to find out how they worked, nothing added up. And when he tried putting them back together they never worked right. He couldn’t even try and use them to capture Superman. All of the inventions were unable to be twisted to do harm. It was infuriating.

Danny just goes on and on making more and more inventions. He becomes famous in the company for being able to fix anything and everything and becomes the go-to guy. Yet he is always focused on making sure Luthor makes his meetings. And that’s when his real inventions come out. Because Danny does have weapons. Luthor has seen them. (Or at least, he thought he saw the guy weld a kryptonite blade against Superman? Sure it wasn’t green but how else could it cut the man of steel?)

Then Danny finds out about Kon and practically takes him under his wing. If Luthor is too busy for the boy, Danny schedules time with him and teaches him all kinds of things like how to read and write and even takes him out to the movies and to try different foods and desserts. Kon learns he likes the ice cream stand down by the corner and also enjoys spicy food. Danny does not like spicy food but is willing to sit down and eat it for the boy. Kon appreciates that Danny was so willing to do something he didn’t like just because it made Kon happy. Kon really likes Luthor’s new assistant. He’s nice, spends time with him, and actually treats him like a person. He even gave tips on controlling his powers!

Danny for all intents an purposes, seems like a normal guy, until someone attempts to mess with one of Luthor’s scheduled meetings. That’s when the mad scientist comes out. Just imagine, there’s a super hard battle against Darkseid where Luthor attempted to make a deal but was double crossed and now he and the heroes have to put their differences aside to fight. Only suddenly, Danny shows up with a ballpoint pen and notepad telling them that he has to take Luthor for his 7:30 pm appointment. Darkseid looks down at the puny human and says that Luthor was not going anywhere. Danny locks eyes with him, pulls out the ballpoint pen, clicks the end, and like Percy Jackson it turns into a Fenton blaster about the size of his forearm. Danny takes aim and shoots off Darkseid’s arm, then before anyone can do anything, Danny rushes over, grabs his keychain necklace which switches into a long glowing green chain and shoots it out the improved Jack-o-nine tails which wraps the overlord up while binding his mouth so he can’t speak. Then Danny walks over to the downed giant and points the still smoking blaster under his chin and says that Mr. Luthor was coming with him.

And Darkseid whimpers.

Danny looks so bored as he goes over to Luthor and says he needs to come with him for his appointment. Luthor decides not to argue.

Dr. Fenton, Lex Luthor's Evil Assistant

Danny was looking for work on the East Coast, and because he's not fucking crazy, he centered his search on Not Gotham. Excluding that, most of the good job opportunities were in Metropolis under the nose of Superman. Danny wasn't mad that he had to be in Superman's city, in fact he was quite happy he didn't have to take charge when his residence was threatened, he just didn't like the fact that he was living under the perview of a government super.

So when he heard back from his application as a personal assistant at Lexcorp, the company headed by the one man Superman hated more than evil, he took it with glee.

~~

When Lex Luthor saw the name Fenton cross his desk he had to stop and do a double take.

The Fenton patents were revolutionary, the technology they represented was game changing, but the rights to it was held in a deathgrip by their son, who, after their deaths, had refused any offers and redacted most information on the subject. To have Dr. Fenton in his building under his employ would be the perfect opportunity to get his hands on the patents that could change the world as they knew it.

~~

Superman landing dramatically on Luthor's balcony: Lex, this is-

Danny, rolling by in an swivel chair: do you have an appointment?

Superman: this isn't a business meeting, I'm here to-

Danny: sorry Mr. Luthor doesn't take walk-ins.

~~

Luthor: Dr. Fenton, have you given any thought to selling the rights to your parents' patents? That kind of technology could change the world.

Danny: I know. I don't think you know.

Luthor, eyes dilating like a cat seeing a bird: How are you so certain?

Danny: NDA's.

~~

Red Robin sneaking into the LexCorp building at midnight: ...

Danny, raking in that sweet overtime:...

Danny: Do you have a warrant?

Red Robin: ... Yes?

Danny, shrugging and walking away: okay.

~~

Luthor, in a video call with The Light: That door was Locked

Danny, with a printed schedule: and this hour was reserved for a different meeting.

Creepy Blank White Screen: has there been an interruption?

Danny: yes, this meeting has gone past it's allowed time.

Creepy Blank White Screen: Mere schedules are of no consequ-

Danny, exiting the Zoom call: blah blah blah

[redheadjustin]

Can I request a Dc X kid Kryptonian reader? Specifically Conner or the other supes. Maybe readers parents survived the destruction of the planet, or the reader is from a different universe or timeline.

Maybe the reader is stronger than your average Kryptonian, so he's born with white hair instead. And he can't control his powers well. Maybe he gets attached to Conner? It's up to you. -🐊

Conner hated Different dimensions. Most heroes do. They make things more complicated and that was about the LAST thing heroes wanted. Especially when it resulted in you being here. Don’t get Conner wrong, he was happy to have you. Though officially he was your older brother, you had a father son relationship with the clone of Superman. He was sweet to you and never needed to raise his voice, not that it was needed given your super hearing, but you were probably the most well behaved kid but that was due to the dimension you came from.

You came from a dimension where there were three survivors of Krypton. Superman AKA Clark Kent, Supergirl AKA Kara Danvers and your father, Omega AKA Y/F/N Kent. Yes, your father was the older brother To Superman. Key word, Was. You see, Your home dimension was an offshoot of the one the Justice lords occupied. But, your father was also killed beside Wally West AKA The Flash. With The Flash and Omega dead the public became restless. The public wanted Luthor Impeached and removed from office. The Public mourned for the loss of two amazing heroes. The public watched as the execution was aired on live television. They watched as Omega Held The Flash in his arms as a kryptonite bullet was shot through his heart. The public’s reaction wasn’t that different from the hero community’s. But for the Justice League? They were out for blood. They lost two of their founding members. They lost both their older brother figure and Younger brother.

But, the one whose life was most impacted was you. You were four at the time but you still remember everything. You remember your Uncle Clark telling you about your dad. You remember crying into the S sheleid. You remember smiling when he told you Luthor was dead. You thought that's how the world should be. That the Justice Lords needed to be in control.

Then you found old YouTube clips of your dad as Omega. And you noticed that your Uncle Clark wasn’t like he was now. That he smiled and the world seemed more free. Then, the Justice Lords found a dimension like yours but with three key differences. Their world’s Flash and Omega were still alive. As was their Luthor.

You were about 6 when the Justice Lords went to Take over the Justice League’s world. You were left in the Batcave when you accidentally set a portal to the Justice Leauge’s Superman’s fortress of solitude. You were a six year old boy so off course you went through not knowing that your Uncle Clark was getting his ass handed to him.

You were in awe of this world’s fortress of solitude. It was the same as the one you grew up around. But this one feels lighter and purer. It had all the same trophies and such but this felt like it was all done in the RIGHT way.

You were admiring the trophies and didn’t notice footsteps behind you. Conner was surprised to see a small child come out of a type of portal he hadn't seen before. He smiled with bittersweet happiness as you looked at the Omega memorial. Some things don’t change from universe to universe. This universe’s Omega was killed by doomsday. Not in a political execution. You looked up in awe at both the statue and the uniform. Justice Lord Superman couldn’t bear to look at your father’s uniform.

In this universe Omega didn’t have time to settle down thus you were never born in this universe. Conner moved up slightly behind you. It was only then did he see the red sun bracelet on your wrist. Your Uncle Clark had said “I don’t want you to have powers so I don’t lose you too.”  It made sense at first but now it felt like he was scared of you. Conner knew what red sun felt like and he absolutely hated the fact anyone would put a red sun bracelet on a six year old.

“Yeah, Uncle Y/F/N was a cool hero. He was super kind to everyone.” You jumped at the voice. You turned to the voice and thought maybe Uncle Clark had a kid hidden. But as the two of you began to talk You quickly began to realize this wasn’t your universe. The two of you were unaware the Justice Lords had invaded this universe. And when Connor contacted the Justice League this world’s Superman Came to meet you and you told him your story. Justice League's Superman didn’t want to send you back but he couldn't support you in this world. So, Connor took you in.

Connor used Titans Tower a lot during your childhood as it had a lot of rooms and was hardly okcupid. Connor loves to carry you around. You were hardly on your feet. He also loves to hug you and also teaches you how to fly. You are just a bit faster than Connor but you think that Connor just lets you win. He’s alway there for a tuck in at night. No matter what. Darkside couldn’t stop him from tucking you in.

Overall you were very happy to be Connor’s son and couldn't wish for anyone better. You missed your Daddy but Connor kept your mind off it and took care of any problem you might have. And You were his Superkid and you couldn’t be happier.

[harlivycentral]

Harley & Ivy in Heroes in Crisis: Summary & Excerpts

A continuation of my series of collecting summaries and excerpts of all the relevant comics leading up to the new solo run of Poison Ivy.

"Heroes in Crisis" is told very non-linerally, but I'll sort of cut to the chase with this one. It's a fairly widely disparaged arc, and you can search "Heroes in Crisis" on r/Comicbooks or r/DCComics if you want to see a million people breaking down why everyone hates it so much. I'm just here to summarize the parts of the story that are relevant to Harley & Ivy's continued plot!

CW for brief discussions of (time-travel aided...) suicide (which is averted/not shown)

Okay, fine, a TINY bit of editorializing from me. I overall don't like the characterization of Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy in this arc--at one point Harley says she "doesn't believe in trauma," which is... ??? (She is a [formerly] licensed therapist with an abusive ex-boyfriend. LMAO.) But we're NOT here to dwell on that, we're here to summarize the plot points that are relevant for following arcs!

In short, "The Sanctuary" is a super-secret facility that the Justice League created so that heroes could get "therapy." I say "therapy" in quotes because the "therapist" is a robot that they programmed to a) do talk therapy with the heroes b) each hero is kept separate from the others but has a special room that can manifest anything/person/scenario holographically (think The Danger Room from X-Men). Most of the heroes use this to spend time re-living their trauma. We DON'T have time to get into how poorly written this series is.

As we saw in my previous posts summarizing "Everybody Loves Ivy," Ivy was sent to The Sanctuary. In flashbacks, we see that Harley (agains the rules of the sanctuary) showed up to visit Ivy. We see her interrupting Ivy's "therapy" and hanging out in Ivy's room.

However, by the time the series starts, everyone who was at the Sanctuary (except Harley & Booster Gold) was killed. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are investigating. Harley has reverted to her most murderous clown self, and we see her trying to kill Booster Gold while speaking in nursery rhymes.

We learn that Harley Quinn & Booster Gold are the primary suspects for the murders, but both of them think the other did it. It's revealed that Harley is acting so murderous and unwell because Ivy died.

We also eventually learn that it's actually Wally West (The Flash) who killed everyone. It was an accident; re-living his trauma caused a buildup of energy, which set off emergency alarms, and everyone in the Sanctuary who heeded the alarm and exited the sanctuary found The Flash outside, only to be killed when he couldn't contain the energy and released it in a burst that killed them all. We see that Harley was hanging out with Ivy in her personalized holographic room, but didn't go with her when the alarm went off, hence her still being alive.

We get a scene where Harley mourns Ivy:

We do get one scene that I really love. Harley is still trying to murder Booster Gold out of revenge, and she's being chased down by the Justice League. But then Batgirl appears, comforts Harley, and they decide to team up. Eventually, they realize Booster Gold isn't the killer either, start working with him, and realize that the Flash framed both of them to buy himself some time to make things right. They realize that, after five days on the run, he's going to go back in time, kill his past self, and plant the body at the crime scene to make it look like he wasn't the killer.

Louis Lane publicizes the existence of The Sanctuary, and during a voiceover from the Justice League addressing the public about it, we see the Flash discover the rose Harley dropped in the water while mourning Ivy. Over the course of a few issues, he plants it, and Ivy regrows.

He then apologizes to Ivy, and we realize it's his future self talking to her, about to kill his past self.

BUT Harley, Batgirl, and Booster Gold have figured out what's happening and appear in time to stop the Flash from killing himself. Harley sees that Ivy is still alive and they reunite.

That's pretty much the end of their storyline. The Justice League shows up, Harley and Booster Gold are implied to have their names cleared while the heroes both comfort Flash but also cart him away to atone for his crimes (again, we don't have time to get into the mess that is this comic).

We see them walk off together, and that's the end of that arc for them! Next up: Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy (2019-2020)

Click here for my master list of posts excerpting Harley & Ivy's cameos in various Batman comics leading up to the current Poison Ivy run

[im-not-buying-it-ether]

Okay but this is so fun

1) Bruce is so on Dudley's ass about not actually being his uncle if it's classic Dudley or making sure he is present if it's New Beginnings Dudley. Say it is Classic Dudley, everyone there is worried just a smidgen that this dude has a track record of fraud and his most recent one is posing as "Uncle Marvel" who has made up powers and his own suit?? Son, son please blink twice if this is some obsessed fan situation. Billy, son, blink twice.

It is mortifying seeing his co-workers grill his uncle but come one guys! He may be a fraud but he's lovable! He's a jolly old man that we (The Marvel Trio) adopted as an Uncle figure and you can't stop them! They are very very iffy on accepting Dudley as a sound guardian figure considering his current business kinda hinges on the fact the Marvels are in operation as heroes but like... they have no other choice because this kid is a tragic orphan so the dude he declared his uncle is all they have.

[the rest below]

2) Tawny in classic fashion is, once more, a conundrum. Because, yeah, he's an adult but he is an adult tiger. Billy definitely has a whole speciesism rant ready to fire off on anyone, Tawny has a slew of Tignorian words to say to anyone with a rude word about it (Diana does understand it bc of her powers and has to repress a lot of laughter at the Tiger-Man's colorful language)

Tawny is a good caretaker, cooks good meals, hounds Billy about his schoolwork (If he is in school), and has stable employment and many marketable skills if anything ever went south. And of course he isn't a danger! He only tried to eat Billy one time and that was when he had been mistreated in a zoo and the criminal of the week doused Billy in something that smelled yummy, but that was an extreme circumstance!

3) The Wizard is... so funny on many levels.

Like yeah, drag the literal ghost to the Watchtower and explain that fiasco. He sees Captain Marvel as a son and would literally argue with other gods like The Highfather to move heaven and earth for him, anyone who says his darling baby boy isn't perfect gets a plague upon their house. He is always there with his son in spirit, and if he is ever needed he is one lit braiser away from being summoned.

Jebidiah of Canaan? Good lord...

He loved the kid, don't get him wrong, but he also kinda dangled the family reunion on a string to get Billy to stay as the Champion. He also took those powers away really quick when he started goofing off a tiny bit, Billy then almost got stuck in a house fire. He gets better! It's just... not a good start and he is more Billy's boss he's on okay terms with in that run.

There is no help in asking about any other kids, to which the League learns his first two are Lady Blaze and Satanus, literal demons and villains Superman has tangled with before. The backstory about abandoning them to hell with their mom right after being born helps even less.

4) The Bromfields are... the most normal about this. Sure, Nick apparently had some blight on his record, but he is a great guy and they both prioritized taking care of Mary as their own instead of letting Ebenezer raise her and evidentially throw her to the curb. They are for Billy being a hero! But... uh, can we please be kept in the loop? We'd actually like to know what you are sending our kids to do and what psychopaths they are dealing with outside Fawcett?

Mary and Billy are making those decapitating "No no! Don't!" motions but, alas, half the League have been parents or guardians to children and give the Bromfields their own communicators and some numbers to call if they ever worry about anything.

Billy and Mary are very upset to have Super-Curfews

5) Similar vein to Bromfields, they impose the Super-Curfew.

It is just unfortunate that they have a whooping 6 super kids to impose that on. Due both to the family size and the general Philly-ness of where they live, the League does a minor house check. Suddenly there's some Wayne Enterprise public good initiatives and whatnot being funneled into the area and a lot of aid to foster families in the area, Freddy calls it the Bat-Tax of letting the JL know there were so many orphans in need.

There is also a Bat-Mergency fund card found in the kitchens junk-drawer one day with a note for "Any extra needs for growing Superheroes. Will cover any necessary hospital bills too. Stay safe and healthy. Bruce is not mad to find out Eugene got hold of the card first and bought a new PC, he is only mad to see it break through the Bat-Computers fire walls and make very juvenile edits to their files. The card is used responsibly after that talking to and addition of a chat room with Oracle bc the kid has guts and talent.

6) Billy slaps on his dads old clothes and is immediately met with a scathing "Billy." from a tired Leaguer wishing he took this seriously and promptly turns around in the doorway to get some other guardian

Fic idea where the justice league aren’t hypocrites about child heroes but still ask for Billy’s guardian’s permission to allow him on the justice league.

Depending on the era this can go one of many ways:

Billy recruits Dudley to cover for him and now Dud has to lie about being the Uncle of this totally-not-homeless teenager. He starts genuinely drooling over Dinah and Diana.

Mr. Tawny comes to charm the League. Everyone’s skeptical. Especially Oliver.

The Wizard. Whether it’s the Wizard’s ghost or the Wizard himself who stayed at Billy’s apartment for a bit doesn’t matter either would be hilarious.

The Bromfields roll up and Billy now has to explain that yes he’s technically loaded now and also he has a sister who fucking died?

The Vasquezs. All the kids are running wild, Rosa is fangirling, and Victor is now interviewing the League about their safety policies and looking after Billy.

I mean I suppose there’s others like Mr Morris but I’m gonna end this list with the classic: Captain Marvel pretends to be his own dad again only this time with people who actually know him.

[linkspooky]

The Greatest Rivalry in Comic Books

As a part of an ongoing series exploring possible inspirations from western comic books found in My Hero Academia, I'm going to be comparing the rivalry between Lex Luthor and Superman, to the rivalry between All Might and Endeavor.

Before we even begin there's an obvious difference between the two rivalries you can point out. Lex Luthor is Superman's arch enemy, he's a villain. In that sense wouldn't the relationship between All for One and All Might be a better comparison as they're mortal enemies. However, I am going to make an argument that Endeavor's character is partially inspired or at least comparable to lex, because for both of them their entire character motivation revolves around their envy of the superman.

1. Übermensch

If you are a My Hero Academia fan reading this post and have never touched a superman comic in your life, then I reccomend reading 2006's All Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly. For many people this is THE superman comic, if you want to read a comic that represents everything superman is about without having to bother with the tangled mess of Comic Book Continuity, and it is only twelve chapters and a self contained story. I will also be using panels from that series in this post.

The connection between All Might and Superman is obvious, they are both all American heroes dressed up in the colors of the American flag, who represent the strongest single hero in their worlds.

Endeavor and Lex is where it gets a little more complicated, because one is a hero, and the other is one of the most famous comic book villains of all time. They can't be the same, right? However, they essentially have the same motivation.

What is Lex Luthor's motivation? Of course this being comic books there are several versions of the character floating around, in some versions he has a tragic backstory, in others he was a former friend of Clark Kent, but if you were to boil down Lex Luthor's motivation to its simplest form.

Lex Luthor just wants to kill superman. Why? The reasons vary, but Lex builds super-suits, giant killer robots, death traps all with the same goal of killing superman. Enji essentially shares the same desire, everything he does is all about surpassing All Might.

They have completely opposite means of course, but Enji is also an individual who uses everything, his considerable wealth, his powers, even his own family for the goal of surpassing All Might.

Why though? Why is the idea of surpassing Superman or All Might so important for Lex and Endeavor especially. If you look at Lex and Endeavor they already have everything they could possibly want.

Endeavor is an incredibly rich, succesful, and influential figure. He has the most solved cases of any hero in existence, the respect of an entire hero agency working under him, he is famous and basically considered the peak of the society he is in.

Lex is the most brilliant mind of his generation, he doesn't even need superpowers because he essentially can build robot suits that give him the same abilities as superman, he is rich, in almost every version of his character despite being a supervillain he's one with incredibly good publicity who is still incredibly popular in the public eyes. He even runs for president once and wins. Endeavor even has an entire family of four children, which sets him apart from All Might who has no family to speak of and does everything alone.

They have everything they want yet that's not enough, they want, and want, and want, and want, and want. For both of them all of these accomplishments mean basically nothing, because they are not superman.

When they are faced with their rivals, they are both reduced to nothing more than ordinary human beings.

"You see, Superman. I own metropolis. My techonology built it, my will keeps it going, and over two thirds of its people work for me whether they know it or not. Even you have to admit it's a model of efficiency. And yet, I've often thought, why limit myself to just one city. A being with your abilities could be very useful to me, on a shall we say global scale?" Lex Luthor, Superman the Animated Series.

Why does this matter though? There's a deeper explanation if we want to take a moment to turn to the philosophy of Nietzsche. Now, the popular idea that Superman himself is named after Nietzsche's concept of the "Ubermensch" isn't exactly clear. Siegel and Shuster never said they created Superman with Nietzsche's ideology in mind, and also at the time "Superman" was really common slang to describe men of great ability, athletes and politicians. However, later works with Superman have acknowledged there's a few similarities between the character and Nietzsche's ideas.

"He's strong, he flies, he's a nieztschian fantasy ideal all wrapped up in a red cape. He's Superman." Lois Lane, Superman the Animated Series.

Nieztscehe's ideal of the Overman is a concept he introduces in his 1883 book, Thus Spoke Zarathusra. A lot of people have misinterpreted this idea to mean Nietzsche believed that some human beings were born inherently superior, but it has absolutely nothing to do with that.

NIetzsche's philosophy comes in response to otherworldliness, the idea that morals are dictated to us by some source outside of this world, and they are inherent truths. At the time this was christianity, god creates morals, and they are right and true because they come from god. Nietzsche doesn't argue that morals don't exist or don't matter, just that they don't come from god, and are rather invented by human beings for human beings. That doesn't mean there are no rules or that you don't have to follow the rules, but that we make our own rules.

It's like money, money is technically created by human beings, if you're in the middle of a desert then having a briefcase with fifty thousand dollars won't help you, but at the same time people use money. At the same time because money is a completely human creation, you could argue that society could evolve past the need for money and create some other system of rules for exchanging goods and services, Marxists certainly believe that.

"Zarathustra, however, beheld the people and was amazed. Then he spoke thus:

Despite being credited as the creator of nihilism, Nietzsche's philosophy actually preaches against nihilism. He doesn't argue there are no morals, or that people should just do whatever they want, but in Zasrathura he presents the Ubermesch as the creator of new values within the moral vacuum of nihilism.

"Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman - a rope over an abyss. A dangerous across, a dangerous on-the-way, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous shuddering and stopping.

"What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end: what can be loved in man is that he is an overture and a going under.

"I love those who do not know how to live, except by going under, for they are those who cross over.

"I love the great despisers because they are the great reverers and arrows of longing for the other shore.

"I love those who do not first seek behind the stars for a reason to go under and be a sacrifice, but who sacrifice themselves for the earth, that the earth may some day become the overman's.

"I love him who lives to know, and who wants to know so that the overman may live some day. And thus he wants to go under.

"I love him who works and invents to build a house for the overman and to prepare earth, animal, and plant for him: for thus he wants to go under.

"I love him who loves his virtue, for virtue is the will to go under and an arrow of longing.

"I love him who does not hold back one drop of spirit for himself, but wants to be entirely the spirit of his virtue: thus he strides over the bridge as spirit.

From Book 1, Zarathusra's Prologue, 4.

The overman isn't the biggest, or the strongest, or the inherently superior being (in fact literally all of Nietzsche's values argue that there's nothing inherent in this world) just a person who strives towards their own ideal.

"However, perhaps what is more important than Nietzsche's image of the overman is what the concept serves to represent. In slightly broader terms, Nietzsche sets up the Overman to function as a sort of idealized version of one's self - an image of a perfect and powerful being which has overcome all their fears and deficientcies, which one can and should set goals to strive towards. Of course, as an ideal, it cannot ever truly be reached but that is the point." Becoming Who You Really Are - The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche [x]

Okay, so that's enough philosophy nerd shit for now. Nietzsche's philosophy of the overman is someone who creates and pursues their own values, so looking at Superman and All Might vs Lex Luthor and Endeavor from this angle we ask: What are their ideals?

One of the biggest misinterpretation of Clark Kent's character is that rather than seeing him as a person, people see him as a set of powers. However, it's not Superman is the real one, and Clark Kent is the fake one, Superman is Clark Kent. Clark Kent is just a boy from Smallville Kansas, raised by two loving parents with good values who wants to help people. If Clark Kent didn't have powers, he would still want to help people because that's what he does (there's a famous storyline where he loses his powers for a year and still goes on doing the same thing to the best of his ability), he's not defined by the powers he was born with, but rather what he does.

All Star Superman is essentially a comic where Clark learns that he is dying. The reason he falls for Luthor's death trap in the first place, is because he flew straight into danger to help people who would have died otherwise. It's the perfect trap because Superman puts saving people above all else, he's not going to selfishly leave them to their deaths to preserve their own life.

One of the most famous panels in the comic is where Clark is in his last days and literally dying from radiation poisoning, and he still stops to notice something as small as hearing a therapist panic because their patient is putting themselves in danger, and he drops everything to go talk them down off a ledge.

Superman's not about the powers, but rather how they are used. In fact when Lex Luthor looks at superman all he sees is the powers. Once again, Lex is basically as strong as superman with his natural genius and intellect. The fact that he's not gifted or special is entirely Lex's own perceptive, he's just being petty because on top of all the other natural gifts he was born with, he can't fly and shoot lasers out of his eyes.

In fact if there's anyone who believes in inherent superiority it's Lex, not Clark. Luthor's logic is essentially: He was just born with all this power, I was the one who worked to get where I am. Yet, Lex also believes all of his natural abilities make him entitled to something more.

He believes he is inherently great, and yet his actions are not that of a great man.

There's also the aspect where Lex Luthor represents everything that american society tells you is the ideal, he's rich and succesful, he's at the top of his field, he's like what both american society and capitalism consider to be a great man, and yet he's beaten by a guy from Kansas.

This relates again to the rivalry between All Might and Endeavor. All Might is a hero who builds himself around an ideal, sacrificing himself for the sake of a more peaceful society. He has a selfless goal that is greater to him, and All Might as a hero similiar to superman works himself to death saving as many people as possible.

On the other hand, Endeavor has no great selfless goal. He doesn't even have an ideology. Much like Lex, all he has is his own sense of entitlement. He worked so hard so therefore he deserves to be number one.

Endeavor isn't different from All Might because he's not as good at punching people however, it's his deeds that make him different. Just like Lex for all he goes on and on about his hard work being what got him there, Endeavor also believes in ideas of inherent superiority and eugenics. He abandoned one child because he has a genetic flaw, and then trained his youngest forcefully because he believed having been born with the perfect quirk is what will make him qualified to surpass All Might.

If you want another comparison between the two, they also both used their biological offspring to try to surpass their respective supermans. Endeavor fathered children to try to create a child with a more powerful quirk than his. Lex Luthor made Kon-El a clone of himself and Superman achieved by mixing his human DNA with Clark's Kryptonian DNA.

If anything All Might is actually the one who was born powerless, because he was quirkless and he accepted a powerful quirk and trained his body for the sake of saving others, whereas everything Endeavor has done is only for himself. He, just like Lex has many things he could have done, he could have been a father, he could have saved people, but everything he does is just to prove the superiority he thinks he's entitled too.

If anything, the reason why Lex and Endeavor are so jealous has nothing to do with being physically weaker, and because their lives are so empty in comparison. They do everything for themselves so in essence they have no one. There's a small scene in All Star Superman, where he travels to the Bizarro world where everything is the opposite and meets Zibarro, an intelligent and educated version of Bizarro Superman who makes his own poetry, and then at the end of the comic he spends time thinking how amazing that is Zibarro could create poetry and even preserves it. That act of creation is the thing that Clark is most impressed with, and really when he's talking about the life he lived, it's really the other people he found amazing not himself.

So there you have it. My argument that All Might and Endeavor's relationship is not superman and batman, or even Vegeta and Goku, but rather they have the most in common with Superman and Lex Luthor as two people blessed with great abilities, one who uses their abilities in service of other people, and the other who uses their powers only in service of themselves.