Superior #2

[superboyprime]

Comments

[freezer]

And yet, one can only wonder how Milar is going to pull the rug out from under him...

[icon_uk]

The fact the friend who is narrating this is using the past tense does not bode well.

[superboyprime]

It's actually not his friend. The narrator's identity is still a mystery, but s/he refers to both boys in third person.

[budige_at_home]

I really like this side of Millar, thanks for the scan. I may go pick this up.

[naela]

I'm liking this so far, but I am wary with Millar.

[thehefner]

It's a trick.

Get an axe.

[twigcollins]

It's M. Night Shaymalan if the surprise twist always involved anal.

[lucky_gamble]

After reading some of Mr.Millar's other works by the advice of the s_d community, ive got one thing to say...

Would the childs parents like to sign up for the grieving widow funeral package? Once a day the deceased will have a specially selected widow cry by their tombstone. The parents may even have her wear funny outfits while mourning. The choice is theirs.

I seriously hope Millar doesn't screw this up.

[nezchan]

Still waiting for the first accidental death, probably by crushing. Issue 3 is my bet.

[sianmink]

[darkknightjrk]

You know, I can never find for the life of me the actual frame where Ackbar says that line. Sad.

I bring you low-res direct still grab...

[glprime]

Re: I bring you low-res direct still grab...

[nezchan]

"IT'S A...you know what? You know the drill. I'mo gonna get me a frappacino instead."

Re: I bring you low-res direct still grab...

[bittercupojoe]

"It's a frap!"

...

[glprime]

http://holycrapthatsfunny.com/tag/its-a-frap/

[nezchan]

That's his "It's good to be king" pose.

[sianmink]

Akbar is hopeful, but vigilant.

[althechi]

Something is gonna go horribly wrong eventually. I just wonder exactly what.

[jarodrussell]

*ring* *ring*

ALAN MOORE: Hello?

[mullon]

Two issues in and nothing horrible.
...
It will be that way for the entire series!

[pyrotwilight]

I think 7 issues is the general area where something can be said to be going well or have completely gone awful by.

[nezchan]

It's a sad commentary on what Millar has built for himself that it's basically impossible to enjoy this at face value. Knowing he's involved, there's a huge part of yourself that's got to hold back, waiting for that other shoe to drop. Most likely in a gory fashion.

[thatnickguy]

Whoa, hang on, hold on, hold the phone...

Where's the excessive swearing? The gore?

This actually reads like a GOOD comic.

Clearly, Millar's got a ghost writer for this one.

[thehefner]

Well, the comic does open and close with the child characters cursing, so there's that to remind you that this is still a Millar comic...

[thatnickguy]

Whew! Okay. False alarm. For a second, I thought we had a good, heart warming story going on here.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, I HOPE that this actually turns out to be good, 'cause what I've seen so far ain't bad. I WILL say that the line about 'the new CSI box-set' was a bad idea. It smacks of over-exposition, it's trying WAY too hard to be culturally relevant ('Look! A current TV show! Yessir, this was published in the MODERN DAY!'), and it's not something that anyone would actually say. If the family had recently acquired the box-set, the kid would already know about it, and the dad would be more likely to say something like '...and we can watch some CSI, huh?'
That being said, this doesn't look bad so far. I'm bracing myself for whiplash.

[destroyed]

Or maybe his Dad brought it home from work as a surprise? You guys try way too hard to be cynical about Millar. Granted, this likely *won't* end well, but don't get all Comic Book Guy and pick on the man for bits and pieces.

Using the name of CSI isn't "trying WAY too hard to be relevant." Maybe he just digs CSI. It also shows that the kid is into police drama, and as such likely somewhat moral/just.

Same with Hit Girl's hello Kitty backpack, and one of you being a tool about maybe one of the only times we're reminded she's still somewhat of a little lady at heart. Geez.

[psychopathicus_rex]

OK, so he brought it home as a surprise. So why isn't he going 'surprise!'? Either he's already showed it to the kid and the kid knows about it, or he hasn't and he doesn't. Either way, it doesn't work - you don't spring a surprise on someone that way, and you don't talk about something you already know is there that way. It's clumsy writing.
And yes, perhaps I am nitpicking a bit, but I can't help it - it's a detail that bugs me.

[destroyed]

People can be subtle, you know. My parents never shouted "SURPRISE!" like goofy douchebags. It's more surprising on casual mention because you get that double take effect.

Maybe I'm granting too much leeway because it reminded me of my folks, but it's not unheard of.

[psychopathicus_rex]

I'm not saying they SHOULD be going "SURPRISE!" - I agree, that would be stupid - it's just that one of the cardinal dictates of good fiction is 'show, don't tell', and this applies here just as it would in real life. If the father wants to surprise his kid, something along the lines of 'hey, look what I picked up', followed by showing him the item in question, would be much more effective then just saying 'hey, why don't we blah blah blah' while the kid is feeling down and unresponsive. This is all presupposing it IS a surprise; if it isn't, then it's the equivalent of going 'hey, it's dinnertime, time for dinner, which we shall eat at the dinner table on plates while we sit on chairs.' The kid KNOWS all that; he doesn't have to have it told to him. It's too much exposition in fictional terms, and it doesn't ring true in real-life terms.

[jarodrussell]

I kind of want to read this, but...I also kind of agree with the Akbars. If it doesn't end with the kid back in the chair or dead, put me down for a trade.

[protogarrett]

You know what? Most people who are differently abled don't feel this way.

[destroyed]

He's not writing about most people. He's writing about one boy, his character, who happens to be upset about his circumstances in the story's opening.

Would you rather he lumped together differently abled folks as "most of you?" Because THAT would be truly ableist.

[mcity]

I always get kind of leery when this sort of thing comes up. You get one differently abled character who would like to walk, and people start complaining that the work is implying that the differently abled are inferior. It's not treated as a simple character trait, but as symptomatic of the prejudice inherent in the system. Like there's a list of characteristics d.a. characters "should" and "shouldn't" have.

[quatoria]

No, but I sure as hell know I'd give just about anything in the world to be able to walk without drugs or a cane again, just for a little while. So that little speech hits pretty close to where I live.

[proteus_lives]

Interesting but like others, I'm wary.

[fifthie]

If this does not, in the remaining five issues, take a turn for the terrible, vicious, nihilistic, idiotic, racist, sexist, or "my face while fucking you up the ass"-ish, I will strongly consdier buying it.

[fifthie]

Left out misanthropic and douchey!

[blackruzsa]

Aw D:
DAMN IT, ALREADY WE'RE PLANNING THE FUNERAL, but I'm loving the comic still.

[espanolbot]

Hm. I wonder if this ends up with his friend getting turned into a supervillain for no reason.

Though I am getting sudden flashbacks of the Superman/Captain Marvel comic from a couple of years back, where Sivanna borrows a man who is an expert in finding out superheroes' secret identities from Lex (arguing the question, why hasn't he been seen since?) to find out who Captain Marvel REALLY is.

If you know what I'm talking about, I won't say what happens, but if you don't I won't spoil it and will try to post it up at some point.

[icon_uk]

Given that Lex's most notable secret identity tracker proved to him that Superman was Clark Kent and Lex's reaction was "Don't be an idiot, Superman couldn't possibly have a secret identity, he could never pretend to be just like us", I'm not sure that being employed by Lex in the role is that much of a claim to fame.

[darkblade]

I'm just going to sit over here and hope this is Red Son Millar and will stay that way. He has to have some good in him right...

[thatnickguy]

You mean the one where Superman becomes the villain and Lex Luthor saves the day?

[darkblade]

I fail to see a problem with that set up in an alternate universe.

[thatnickguy]

No problem at all. Just that people keep saying it's a great Superman story when it's more of a Lex Luthor story.

[darkblade]

The identity of the main character is irrelevant. My point was that it is a legitamently good story as opposed to almost everything else by Millar.

[thatnickguy]

Not arguing at all. I liked Ultimates 1 & 2 and even his Ultimate X-Men run.

I think when he's free to be more "adult" is where problems arise.

[bluefall]

I really like Yu. I don't know entirely why, exactly - you've got your weird facial expressions, your somewhat stiff and undynamic poses, your inability to tell WTF is going on when the action gets too heated, and okay the presence of some actual legit facial variety (even sometimes between women!) is great but that tendency toward superheroic hyperthyroidism is still there, all things that usually turn me off. But I still just love Yu's work. I could stare at those pages all day, they're nifty.

[halloweenjack]

Well, maybe Millar has avoided dog-kicking so far (not so terribly surprising in a series involving a Superman expy, given his long-standing affection for the character), but the other question you have to ask whenever you're evaluating something of Millar's is, who is he stealing from this time? That bit where the character can feel his legs again? Done better in Avatar. Plus, you know, the whole concept is basically Captain Marvel, Jr.