H is for Heroism

[arbre_rieur]

Two pages of distilled heroism from JSA 38...





I love how he actually moves the other guy above him, so that his own body will take the brunt of the impact. And for a supervillain no less, not some innocent bystander.

title: justice society of america, publisher: dc comics, creator: bill willingham, creator: jesus merino

Comments

[lanternicity]

Doctor Gotham? Yay, another Willingham pet character.

[kamino_neko]

Too bad that's the only thing he got right about Clark's personality...the banter was totally not Supermannish.

[thandrak]

mmm. I don't know. What year is this supposed to be? If it's the 70s, actually, it's quite accurate. I'm guessing it is because of WGBS.

[kamino_neko]

It's current continuity (at least until the end of the arc, at which point, obviously, this timeline will cease to exist), in the very near future.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, he IS in much better shape than the other guy - it only makes sense for him to be on the bottom. If the other guy were on the bottom, he wouldn't cushion the fall nearly as well.

[wizardru]

In better shape? Dude's still ripped with a six-pack. He's only skinny in comparison to the Charles Atlas that is Superman.

Willingham doesn't really seem to have Superman's voice, here. But at least he's acting like Superman, so marks for that.

[psychopathicus_rex]

OK, bad choice of words. Let's put it this way - Superman has a much stronger BUILD than the other guy. He's broad-shouldered, broad-chested - just overall better built than the other guy, who may be in pretty good shape, but has a skinny, spidery build. If he landed on Supes, Supes could block his fall, if it was the other way around, Supes would probably break a couple of his limbs. (Anyway, this is the DCU - being ripped with a six-pack is practically the normal state of affairs.)

[kamino_neko]

Actually, at the height they were falling from, being hit by 200+ pounds would probably shatter every bone in the dude's body. As it was, Clark was almost killed by the fall (although from the medics' conversation on the next page, it does look like he stopped Behemoth from taking any major injuries).

[psychopathicus_rex]

OK, so I was being generous with the laws of physics. You're right, he probably WOULD get every bone in his body broken - but anyway, he didn't, so the point is moot.

[sianmink]

Totally. I think Perry White and Jimmy Olsen are both at least as ripped, rite?

[bluefall]

Why do you think Lucy Lane sticks around? Not for his personality, I can tell you that for free.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Maybe not Perry, but Jimmy has definitely played the action hero a few times, and when he has, he's usually proved pretty buff. My guess is that the presence of so many people with Olympic athlete bodies flying around in tight spandex everywhere has caused considerable guilt, envy and/or jealousy amongst the general populace of the DCU, and as a result, the gyms are always packed.

[icon_uk]

Pre-Crisis Jimmy was plausibly able to stand in for Robin a time or two (as well as his career as Flamebird in Kandor), he was certainly athletic, trained in martial arts and in overall superb shape.

They called Jimmy "Mr Action", for a reason... and no, probably not THAT reason, before you ask! :)

[psychopathicus_rex]

Indeed. It's kind of a shame that he was only ever Superman's 'pal' instead of graduating to a full-on sidekick. Sure, Supes doesn't really NEED a sidekick in the same way that Batman arguably does - he's much more well-adjusted, so he doesn't need a lighter counterbalance to keep him from going all nutty, and, of course, he's SUPER, so he doesn't really need assistance - but it would be cool to see the two of them charging into action together, Superman with his powers, Jimmy with nutty gizmos and random shape-changing action.

[shale]

It COULD have been for that reason, though. Dude had it goin' on.

[superboyprime]

Given Willingham's politics, I'd say it's much more likely that Superman moving that guy above him was added in by the artist.

[arbre_rieur]

Terrific's continued narration makes it clear that it was part of the script. "And ultimately it [the definition of superhero] means continuing to put others first, even those that just tried to kill you."