Chuck Austen's Lana and Lois

[xdoop]

[Banned]

Comments

[stubbleupdate]

Was Austen the one who wrote Prius, the Kandor policeman?

[xdoop]

Preus appeared in his run, but he didn't create him.

[icon_uk]

I only got about halfway down this before the urge to do physical violence to a computer screen (in lieu of a hack writer) made it too painful and I had to stop.

I'm not even that big a fan of Superman, but I wouldn't wish THIS on the Punisher, Cable and AzBat.

[silverzeo]

Have you read how the whole Gog thing is resolved?

[bolava]

i love how conner adds in the plug for himself

[neuhallidae]

A tiny part of me is glad that it's not just Marvel characters whom Austen shat on. The rest of me just wants to punch him for inflicting this crap on any characters period.

[brandiweed.livejournal.com]

There's just something kinda irritating about Austen's writing, isn't there?

On a completely different note: "Click" seems like an odd choice of sound effect for a cell phone hanging up.

[box_in_the_box]

There's just something kinda irritating about Austen's writing, isn't there?

Austen should not be allowed to write about women.

Or men. Or relationships. Or heroism. Or sex. Or human beings.

I'm struggling to find a way of putting this that won't qualify as bashing a creator personally, but I don't want to see the world the way that Chuck Austen does.

[stig]

And that was the last issue of Austen's run before he was fired.

And HOW.

[404glitch]

Wasn't the arc with Magog/Gog (I can't remember which) after this? Austen pulled his "people don't like me, so I'm using a pseudonym" trick on it.

[freezer]

Other than Diana's "Cram it, Junior" moment, this sucked ass.

[filthysize]

Huh. Never read Austen's run before, but this is pretty good.

Well, aside from that "who's panties is this, Clark?!" silliness.

[box_in_the_box]

I don't care for stories in which every single character is stupid and repellent.

[galateus]

I think this was more fun when the Silver Age did it and everyone was insane.

[lynxara]

Almost everything about Superman was more fun then. (Frequently stupid, but fun!)

[sistermagpie]

Is Lana always this annoying?

[espanolbot]

Depends. Sometimes she's worse.

[thanekos]

Jack Ryder and Vic Sage need to have a Jerk Newsman fight.

[scottyquick]

I like how everything here is just completely, totally, one hundred percent wrong except for Conner.

[tsunamiwombat]

KICK THEIR ASSES MA KENT! PUT THOSE BITCHES IN THEIR PLACE!

[3goodtimes]

There are things I really like about this storyline, but the characterization of Lois is just plain bizarre and stupid. She only loves him for Superman? She doesn't come home when her husband is hurt? Pfft. And Kon being weirdly serious and adult-like with Diana weirded me out.

However... injured Supes is sexy as all hell.

[auggie18]

"And Kon being weirdly serious and adult-like with Diana weirded me out."


That whole scene read weird to me. Yes, Diana. Tell Kon that men can love women without being in love with them. It's not like he's had strong relationships with Secret, Arrowette, Empress, Roxy, that girl with the glasses from Cadmus, and few others or anything.


Oh course, Kon seeming like he didn't understand it in the first place might be the real problem there.

[intertobamf]

Excuse me while I pay attention to the art and not the words.

[lynxara]

Yeah, these pages are really well-drawn. I wonder what Reis is up to these days?

[kamino_neko]

I know I read at least part of this run.

All I remember, though is 'whose panties'...my reaction to which...well, see Yotsuba.

That was just completely wrong for all three characters involved.

[lynxara]

The panties thing is a fumble of majestically stupid proportions. I was actually pretty okay with this until we got to that howler, and then suddenly Ma Kent's brain fell out and she invited Lana to dinner...

[liara_shadowsong]

I'm not liking how Lana was written here. Or most of the plot ensuing from the portrayal of Lana. I am, however, liking how Conner was written. Like, a lot. Did you see his Bat-logo tee on the last page? I bet Tim gave it to him. *nods sagely*

[megami18.livejournal.com]

Yes! Tee hee! That was the best part!

[seriousfic]

CBR: But more seriously, some people think you're a misogynist, you hate women, you're obsessed with sex…

Austen: Aren't we all obsessed with sex? And misogynist? Who says that? Some guy trying to pick up on a feminist? "Hey, baby. Wanna go out with me? I can use the word misogynist in a sentence." [laughs]

Doesn't it HURT when he shoots himself in the foot like that?

[lynxara]

I am facepalming so hard that I am damaging my skull right now.

[ladymirth]

Nope, this doesn't get any better the second time around.

To be fair, I like the Clark/Lois panels where he says he doesn't care why she loves him. The rest, however, makes me want to hurl.

Women cat-fighting over men is unattractive in the extreme.

[jaybee3]

I think I want to be Chuck Austen when I grow up. Just imagine being paid by both of the Big 2 comic book companies to destroy iconic characters, turn super-heroes into tools (Superman & virtually every Marvel hero he touched), turn every single female character into a love/sex-starved maniac (both Lana and the Wasp in Avengers, and a bunch of female X-Men) or a plain old harpy (Lois), not to mention creating plots that make no sense, offend the sensibilities of people and could not possibly have any basis in reality where he obviously can't be bother to do the homework (the plot to make Nightcrawler Pope in a storyline depending on communion wafers leading to the Rapture - even though Catholics don't believe int the Rapture at all). It must be great to be able to make a living like that even though everyone knows your stuff stinks. I wish I knew his secret.

But seriously, this (and not Superman Blue) was to me the nadir of the recent Dork Age of Superman. If you read some of the interviews with Austen when he first got on the book he outright calls Lois a "gold-digger" (of super-heroes I guess) and said Lana loved Clark more than Lois ever could. He despised Lois, made no bones about it - and the Superman editors gave him the book anyway (did he actually pitch this story to them?). WTF? Reis has improved 100-fold since then but his art here is very pretty all the same. Too bad it's wasted.

[jaybee3]

I should add I realize Austen isn't doing anything (with good reason) for Marvel or DC these days but just the idea itself that he kept getting work despite everything to the point where editor Eddie Berganza actually thought the ideas for the issues above were GOOD for Superman is mind-boggling.

[jelly_ace]

It's a frikkin soap opera! The talking about relationships with other people, the undermined wife, the conniving woman who always has her baby with her just to show she's a lonely single mom and you need to sympathize with her, the panties, the poor husband...

On another note, preschool Clark is so cute.
And teenager Clark is hot. Heh.

[ghosty732]

Conner with a bat-symbol tee shirt.

I'm surprised that this community hasn't come up with 50 ways in which he attained that shirt!!

[liara_shadowsong]

To be fair, I already suggested that Tim gave it to him. That's one. Only 49 to go. : P

[glitterandlube]

I love you, Conner.

And your batman shirt.

[bariman]

Conner's bat shirt is awesome. I so want one, and not just because it's getting cold where I live and a nice long-sleeve shirt would be great.

Conner's really the best thing in this. Though I didn't immediately recognize him when he's talking to Diana, I kept thinging "Why is Karate Kid there?" until she called him Superboy. Which is a little formal, but at least she's not in "throw him across San Francisco Bay" mode. (That's my personal never-live-it-down moment with Diana. So many jokes to be made.)

I would have liked to see Conner to take care of Clark instead of Lana, and not just because there's a sad lack of Conner and Clark hanging out doing anything together in comics. Plus, you can make tactile telekinesis jokes about Conner undressing Clark.

[queenanthai]

You know, I get that this is basically Lana Lang Character Assassination. I do. This is way the hell not Lana.

But you know...I empathized with her. Was in very nearly that exact situation for eight years.

Kinda sad.

[lynxara]

I wonder if it's just a case of an authentic characterization getting matched to a canon figure where people wouldn't accept it given her backstory.

(Well, that and recent Superman fans just not being all that interested in the Clark/Lana pairing.)

[toasty_fresh]

Would Lana just put the god damn child down? Let the poor thing move around on its own, for chrissakes! It's obviously not an infant, and is probably going crazy not being able to walk, or at least crawl . . .

As for the rest-- god, I couldn't even pay attention.

[liara_shadowsong]

I love your icon.