SUPERMAN SHORT-SHRIFTED

My best friend and fellow comics fan, John G. Pierce of Columbus, Ohio, is a long time fan of the Justice Society of America.   In an e-mail message entitled “Geoff Johns Gets It Right,” he wrote a very positive review of the last Smallville episode, the long awaited two-hour “event” featuring the JSA.   (If anybody’s interested, I’ll post his review.) 

I had a big problem with this episode, however, the same basic problem I’ve had with Smallville for a long time, to wit, no Superman–or at least a vastly scaled down, all but unrecognizable version.   After nine years, he’s still unable to fly.  Instead, he rushed around in a red jacket and blue jeans, since exchanged for a bizarre, black ensemble suggestive of The Matrix and a spaghetti western.  

Well.  I stood it while other heroes and villains popped up around him with their own powers and costumes relatively intact.   I’ve stood it for a long time.  But this latest episode, which, I must admit, will surely appeal to fans of the JSA, galled me for the same reason it would appeal to them.  I’m talking about how Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and Stripesy (young protege of the late Star Spangled Kid), to say nothing of the rest of their gang, got to be themselves, costumed properly, powered appropriately, even flying up in the sky, while Super… whatever or whoever he is, got to stand around in his long, black Johnny Cash coat and watch!  

Those of you who’ve followed comics for a long time, know that, after DC cleaned house in the big event of 1986, the Crisis On Infinite Earths.  Herein, the basic mythology of the DC realm–considered by some to be too cluttered and unwieldy–was changed.  Whereas Superman had been the first of his kind, the forerunner of all super-types, he now became, well, almost an afterthought.   In the new continuity, the JSA now precedes Superman in history.  To me, that’s sort of on the order of saying George Washington, the father of our country, commander of our revolutionary forces, first president of the U.S., first showed up in the 1800s.  

But I began by talking about an e-mail message from my friend, didn’t I?  Here’s a portion of our exchange.  John Pierce says,

But really, DC short-shrifted Superman when they threw all the parallel worlds into one
after Crisis.  Previously, as you’ll recall, Superman was the first hero to appear (at least
in anything approaching modern times) on every Earth on which he existed.   By combining
the various worlds into one, that meant that a Superman-less JSA had operated decades
before Superman made his appearance.  And that made no sense.  They did their #1
character pretty dirty, I thought.

But — if you accept that in other “realities,”  Superman is a latecomer to the super-hero
scene, well, then, this episode fits quite well into that scenario.   So, yes, that aspect
bothers me.  But it is what it is, and given what it is, I felt that this was a good episode.
But it helps to have my long history with the JSA to appreciate it more, I think.

Much as I love and respect my friend, I’m a Superman man, not a JSA (or JLA) man.  I’m bone tired of seeing everybody else in proper costume, even flying, except Superman.  This episode just poured on the irony in that regard.  As a matter of fact, the more I think about it the more annoyed I become. 

So, before I forget what’s written at the top of my blog, “Where preacher and pop culture meet,” before I say something I’ll regret, let’s just press “Publish” and go on to something else, shall we?