Talking Meme: 5 Character Moments (Superman Edition!)

[mithen]

me_ya_ri asked me to name five favorite moments for a character! To no one's surprise, I've gone with Clark Kent. *grin* These actually serve as a good introduction to which trade paperbacks and stories are my favorites with Superman as well...



1. Please don't let me look ridiculous.



From Mark Waid's fantastic "Birthright," showing Clark's first appearance as Superman. I love this scene because it's such a vulnerable, human thing to feel at such a moment. You're about to fly in wearing red and blue tights, wouldn't you worry people would just...laugh at you? My image of Clark is always that he's very aware that at a certain level he's always teetering on the edge of ludicrous, and can only pull it off if he puts his heart into it (there are moments like this for Bruce as well in canon, and I love every one of them).

2. If you knew how you are loved...



From Garth Ennis, Hitman/JLA crossover. Garth Ennis HATES costumed superheroes as a genre, and his 1990s run on Hitman had a lot of sardonic, snarky comments about how stupid the idea is.

Except Superman. He loves Superman. Hitman #34 is basically a love letter to Superman, one of the best explanations of Superman as an immigration parable. It's gorgeous, and he builds on it in this issue, where all of the Justice League are basically morons (so it's not a fun read in general if you like the genre) but the protagonist is deeply in awe of Superman. I love moments where Superman looks down on our beautiful blue dot from space, and Ennis's phrasing here is lyrical.

3. Comfort and Joy

"Superman is really TOO innocent... (Superman's Xmas in Comfort and Joy)" (Watch on YouTube)

A beautiful JLU episode--everything about it is great, but the subplot where Clark invites J'onn to his house for Christmas is particularly sweet. I love the idea that Clark would be this kind of Christmas nut, stubbornly refusing to give up his childhood belief in Santa Claus. (Hilariously, the Youtube comments bog down immediately in whether DC could have a real Santa or maybe Clark is an idiot...come on, people, you've never known someone who half-jokingly insists Santa is real?)

4. You're stronger than you think you are.



You won't get far in meta about Superman without hitting this gorgeous page from Morrison's All Star Superman. The strength in Superman as a concept, according to Morrison, is not that he saves us, but that he believes that we can save ourselves. Part of what's flawless about All Star Superman is that Superman spends nearly all of the title defeating villains not by punching them, but through his wits, his kindness, and his inspiration.

(As a side note, the reboot Batman/Superman title posited last month that Regan became a singer and inspirational figure...and then got murdered by a new super-villain trying to make Superman sad. Thanks, reboot).

5. All I needed to know



The climax of Jeph Loeb's "Superman for all Seasons," in which Clark saves his parents from a flood and then goes back for the family dog. The narrator is Lana Lane, clinching the theme of the title that the key to understanding the superpowered alien Kal-El lies in understanding that he is above all Clark Kent--kind, brave, humble, and good.

And that's really the overarching theme of these five moments: that the heart of Superman is Clark Kent's very human, shy, well-meaning, loving heart.

Comments

[me_ya_ri]

Whee! Five moments were a great choice because all of these are lovely and yes, these are exactly why I love Clark. Such a wonderful person and his strength isn't the powers, it's his heart. :D

Thanks so much for sharing, sweetie! *happy dance*

[mithen]

I was actually a bit surprised how easy this was! I had a few honorable mentions, but on the whole I knew right away what I'd go with. :) I may have spent some time thinking about this character...

[mekare]

Oh thank you for these scans. I think I knew a couple from older posts of you, but some I didn't know, so... yay Clark!

Btw, I just realized that I asked for my bit of the talking meme on a day where I very probably won't be able to check your post *headdesk*. I have an introductory day at my new school (yay) and will be travelling on a train with bad internet access...I may be replying on the 22nd, so sorry in advance!

[mithen]

No problems with slowish replies at all! I have been so late to the party with so many people that I have no grounds for frustration (which reminds me that I missed a piece of your art completely, didn't I? And somewhere in my pile of yet-unanswered responses you mention it again and I WILL get there, I swear!)

[mekare]

No worries, we are all of us time-crunched or whatever the expression is. :-)

[prince0froses]

I'm glad you got asked this because I was about to hit you up for some Superman recs other than All Star and All Seasons, which thanks to you I've already read.

(As a side note, the reboot Batman/Superman title posited last month that Regan became a singer and inspirational figure...and then got murdered by a new super-villain trying to make Superman sad. Thanks, reboot).

...I am speechless with rage.

[mithen]

I'm glad you got asked this because I was about to hit you up for some Superman recs other than All Star and All Seasons, which thanks to you I've already read.

Birthright is really good! I can recommend that whole-heartedly.

And yes, we're just going to absolutely pretend that didn't happen with Regan. Of all the nerve.