Is Superman A Good Writer?

(hmmm, I totally recommend img ggl for " 'clark kent' newspaper"--it's sfw, too)

My impression of Kent-as-writer has always been that he's good at getting news and has -- or at least has developed -- the kind of concise, to-the-point writing that emphasizes facts and content over style; he writes just enough to get the information across, but he's not the kind of journalist who'd move on to writing those lightweight human-interest-type nonfiction books, or a syndicated opinion column, or covering a beat where impressions are as important as verifiable facts. The hardest part of his job is probably figuring out how to prove and provide sources for things he knows as Superman -- he's like a Columbo viewer, starting out knowing who the murderer is and having to figure out how to prove it.

The novel he writes in Under a Yellow Sun kind of reinforces this -- it was a lame men's adventure type thing that was a thinly disguised account of his Superman escapades, if I remember right, not exactly evidence of any genuine talent.

What's up w/ that?
-- David R. (quoteidio...), March 4th, 2005.

It reminds me of the bit in Seinfeld where Jerry and George are arguing over whether Superman is funny or not. "If all his abilities are super as a result of the Earth's yellow sun, then it follows that he has super humor, right?" "Eh, I've never seen him be funny." Etc.

Superman:Alec Holland::Krypton boom:laboratory boom -- destroyed in fire, reborn in muck, enormous powers powered in part by the sun ==> Superman is the "Earth" Elemental of Krypton!

(I have always wanted to become Powerful Famous Author who could write this for DC.)

What about Superman and condoms? Kryptonite condoms and Niven?

BTW, if I'm inadvertently stealing this schtick from Rick Veitch, I apologize.

But for all we know Kryptonians don't even have sperm! Surely Luthor would have collected some by now, otherwise. Just because he doesn't want to reveal Superman's identity doesn't mean he doesn't want to raise a Superboy that doesn't need to be cloned. (And if he could prove that an Earth woman couldn't carry a Supermanspawn to term, he could use that to make Clark and Lois feel like shit.)

see also "you've manifested at least one new power" heh

Charles Kuralt or Clark Kent? Better yet Super-Studs Turkel!
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2010/06/23/dc-comics-presents-“superman-across-america”/

I dunno, this taking the pulse of America feels a little (as I've twittered) Glenn Beck-y red state pandering, but there's also some of that good old Bill Bixby 70s Hulk tv series (which, describing it to my 18-month old daughter, I realized is the Bizarro version of Highway to Heaven) potential.
But the premise seems to forget that as a newspaper reporter, Superman has access to America and Americans like few others.
Also, have never read any Straczynski, nor have I ever seen Babylon 5 (though I did watch Harry & the Hendersons twice), but based on the "essays" JMS has written about Superman on the DCU blog, this could get ugly.

favourite DCU blog comment so far: I really hope this doesn’t become an international thing. Are all you fans who live in other countries going to bitch and moan about this all year? or are you just going to go for the ride?

Studs Terkel could take JMS' version of Superman in a fair fight.

I liked JMS' Thor, but nothing else by him.

But could Studs Terkel lift the Mighty Mjolnir?

Yes. I have no doubt of this.

Have you seen/do you recommend the recent Pekar-led graphic adaptation of Working? I'm mostly of the opinion that I'm better off not compromising my enjoyment of the original, but frequently tempted.

Haven't seen it to make a recommendation. I bet I'd like it better than what JMS has in store for us, though.

It has still has to be better than the Nu-Krypton tripe that completely derailed the Supes books for a couple of years.

JMS has already taken Superman in the dark 'new reality' kind of way with the Squadron Supreme books he did, so that probably won't be on the table. I love Superman and I kind of liked his Thor run, even though the thing moved along at the speed of paint drying, so I am kind of conflicted. JMS seems to have big issues on the follow through. His Spider-man run at first was pretty good then turned to nightmare (most probably corp delivered). Supreme has a great start, but then he bailed. Haven't read it but The Twelve is unfinished. I dunno...not a good track record with follow through as a comic writer, but admittably I haven't read anything including that one project he did with Gary Frank. I figured there will be a bunch of scenes with Superman enjoying eating pie or drinking strong coffee but not "SUPER HERO ACTION M_FER 101".

I read his 'Rising Stars', which had a great, intriguing start, and then got slower and slower and with bigger gaps between issues and then had a really crappy, half-hearted ending. That and what I've heard of his other work has decided me on never reading anything else by him.

That's more or less what happened with Supreme Power, too. I don't know how much to blame him with his Amazing Spider-Man run, since there was clearly a lot of heavy editorial interference and forced crossover injection in the second half, though he probably deserves his share of blame for Sins Past and The Other. It's a bad risk to ever read an incomplete JMS series.

Hey, if you want to relaunch Superman for a new generation, maybe ripping off the first page of Batman: Year One on your first page isn't such a great idea.

Am I really the only who read this? Sheeee-it. I think I'm going to make a kickstarter page to raise bucks to hire Neal Adams to follow his Batman dodecalogue with a Superman version, because if you're going to do an off-book Superman, do an off-book Superman, YOU KNOW.

Funding will be contingent, though, on Neal Adams aping Superman: Earth One's climax of having Supes fight a Space Juggalo.

I can go for this idea - with any luck Supes will get a skateboard to go with his new hoodie.

Is Skate Man beating up union dockworkers?

Now there's an idea - a Supes reboot that'll be a screed against organized labor. "The American people can be sure that my cape is the only thing that's red about me."