Superman #40

[lordultimus]

Gene Luen Yang: There has always been this tension with Superman. He fights for the truth, but then he has this big secret so he never really tells the entire truth about himself. Even beyond that, as a profession, he chose to be a reporter, and the whole point of the job is to be deeply committed to the truth. That tension, that dynamic, is something that we really wanted to play up in this arc. Lois, of course, plays into that. She's one of the best reporters in the world, and she's deeply committed to the truth. How that plays out with her relationship with Superman, I think, is interesting. I think it will bring up a lot of different tensions and a lot of different issues. That's what we're hoping for, anyway.


Source:http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/yang-romita-jr-discuss-the-truth-behind-supermans-big-change


Superman has been experimenting with his Super Flare power all over the world, also constantly sacrificing his powers for 24 hour periods. Batman picks him up after one of these and takes him to the League's satellite.



They test it in a Danger Room-style facility. He ends up using the Solar Flare on the Watchtower.



Needless to say, Superman has to shower after this. He also talks about how intrigued he is about this ability.



(Haven't Diana and Clark had sex yet? Why is Aquaman shielding her eyes?)

Anyway, they go hang out in their civvies at a bar.



He then proceeds to get drunk on half a beer.



Just barely repowered, Clark hears about an incident downtown. Criminals armed with high tech weapons are shooting up the town. Superman has to pull himself together and jump (since flying takes a while to come back) across town.



The crooks use lasers to bring a building down on Supes, allowing them to escape. Metropolis citizens capture the battle on their cell phones.



And with all those pictures of Superman over social media, Lois can't help but notice that Clark is sporting bandages in the same places.

Comments

[ozaline]

Aquaman's just being a prude... Diana wouldn't have moved his hand if she didn't know Clark would be okay with her seeing him.

[tugrul]

I just found that playful and humerous. ^_^

[ozaline]

It can also be read that way, yep.

[nyadnar17]

I did as well.

[reveen]

"Drink some more of this stuff"

It's called beer, Clark. How the hell did you spend your teenage years in the ass-end of Kansas and never drank any of it?

[thezmage]

Well, if your body has stamina so advanced that you can't get drunk, it's just disgusting tasting water.

[reveen]

Wait, does Superman have Wolverine style enhanced stamina? Is there precedence for that? Because this comic suggests that being able to tank nukes doesn't stop him from being the worlds biggest lightweight.

[nate_abril96]

To be fair, he did just lose his powers, so that's why the alcohol is affetcting him differently.

[icon_uk]

Superman is automatically immune to biological poisons, and that's what alcohol is.

In his human mode he has no tolerance for alcohol because even if he's drunk alcohol as a Kryptonian, it's never impacted on his biology.

[alschroeder3]

Superman, with his full powers, definitely can NOT get drunk. He once, while posing as an English butler, whipped up a batch of drinks that got everyone else in the party drunk almost immediately--but he had to drink it first, to prove there was "nothing funny" about the drink---and suffered no ill effects.

[beyondthefringe]

Ma and Pa probably discouraged him. Wouldn't want a drunk super-powered teenager after all. He'd be tipping entire herds of cattle with his super-breath...

[zapbiffpow]

That should be their next event: All-Star Drunk Superman. Or Superman: Secret Toreback Origins.

[nate_abril96]

The Death and Return of Drunk Superman! Superman: Drink, Drink, and Away!

[zapbiffpow]

Superman: For the Man Who Has Everything in the Room is Spinning

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow is a Weekend, Keep Em Comin' Barkeep

[icon_uk]

More like

"Glug! Glug! and FALL DOWN!"

[superfangirl1]

Coming next summer: Crisis of a infinity shot glasses.

[locuatico]

because, you see, he is not actually human, so he does not understand human concepts like "beer"...

[deh_tommy]

"Haven't Diana and Clark had sex yet?"
Why would they? I would imagine that Clark was raised with chastity in mind. Aquaman probably covered Diana's eyes in a playful manner.

Thank you for the scans, for this was quite fun.

[locuatico]

PLus, Diana is from Amazon Island. aside from her mother and friends raping and murdering men to have childrens, the idea of having sex with men is not something Diana has in mind...

[lordultimus]

Your very welcome!

As to Clark and Diana... I'd like to direct you to this cover:



I really doubt DC would have published this if they didn't think the relationship got serious.

[maelstron]

Romita jR pretty much ignoring the relationship. And superman/wonder woman never showed to be intimate.
a alternate cover just to sell for wank fanboys doesn't mean a thing

[jlbarnett]

There is no tnesion in having a secret yourself, when it doesn't harm anyone and outing other people's dangerous secrets

[laughing_tree]

There is when you're a journalist and lying to the public to preserve that secret. There is when you use that secret to hide that you're reporting about yourself, which is what every Clark Kent article involving Superman is, because that's hiding a conflict of interest.

[locuatico]

I would want to see who would try to make a case like that against superman.

[maelstron]

No, it isnt a conflict of interest, If the journalist is ethical it isn't

[jlbarnett]

exactly. When he interviews himself he doesn't make incredible claims about what he had to do to get the interview and he gives his legitimate answers to legitimate questions. He doesn't embellish or anything.

[laughing_tree]

It's not just about whether he's abusing the position; it's about putting himself in that position in the first place. Let's say a real-life journalist wrote an article on some up-and-coming young company... that he partially owns. And, here's the important part: he actively *hides* the fact of his ownership.

Even if that journalist was not abusing his position, even if everything he reported was truthful and not embellished, most people would still find it morally sketchy to the extreme and rightfully so.

[jlbarnett]

I think I'd only find that sketchy if he was the first guy to talk about the company and overplayed it's value.

[aperturedreams]

Noticed you put a quote from Gene Yang up there, note that this is not written by him and that his first issue is 41

[lordultimus]

Yes, but the ending directly leads into the FCBD issue written by him. This was just a filler issue with some admittedly cute moments.

Though I do question how far this goes as Superman seems not to recall that he started out with Golden Age levels of power in the New 52.

[burkeonthesly]

"Okay, so I've got this new power that makes me cause a big, inconvenient explosion, after which I'm depowered for a day and will feel really guilty about all the stuff that happens while I'm out of commission. So... never using that again, nope."

[q99]

Using it a little, when the situation calls for it, and just to test that he can, sounds reasonable.

Using it regularly just to spend time depowered seems irresponsible!

[burkeonthesly]

I'll grant, the testing is a necessity, and I could see it being an occasional desperation move when nothing else has worked... but we're seeing just in his waking-from-a-hangover pages, he feels hugely responsible for the stuff he missed while he wasn't invulnerable (or conscious). So, this power is a choice between not using it, or using it and spending twenty-four hours cultivating a Spider-Man complex about all the people he could have saved if he hadn't burned off his powers. Better to not use it, if at all possible.

[q99]

Yea. In this circumstances, it's been tested. He's now feeling like crap. Why is he still doing it...?

[superfangirl1]

I really enjoy the justice league hanging out as friends and being laid back.

[doodleboy]

I actually do like Clark just using the newfound power just so he can enjoy being a normal human being with normal human sensation. Seems like a neat exploration.

Gene Luen Yang is such an odd choice of writer for this book, could be interesting.