Infinite Crisis #3

[history79]

10 pages of 30

Comments

[bradygirl_12]

I kind of like this Superman convinced that his mission will make things better and no one is able to stop him. It emphasizes how lucky so many Earths are that Clark is who he is, because not even the combined might of the JLA and every other superhero on the planet could take him down when it came right down to it.

It's always Dick Grayson, isn't it? He's not corrupt! No matter what! ;)

If you made this an Elseworlds, Kal-L would probably win. He's almost serene, certainly sad, and able to call on wisdom and experience that Kal-El doesn't have. And he knows Bruce well. That scene with the ring is pretty sad. It does show how paranoid this Bruce really is and how it's underscoring what Kal-L is saying.

Does that mean Earth-2 was perfect? No, but it was a better place to live than the current Earth-1. There were no OMACs killing Amazons on Earth-2. It's pretty telling that the Trinity all found happiness with their True Loves on that vanished Earth. And you could talk and talk, but Kal-L would not be convinced otherwise. Unless you threw Dick Grayson into your argument. ;)

[starwolf_oakley]

Regarding Earth-2, Kal-L says "We made mistakes, but nothing like this." Kal-L says everyone on the current Earth-1 is miserable... and he's not far off. Superboy Prime is saying "We did everything right and we got hosed." And he's right as well. (Prime didn't go crazy until the next issue.)

A few parodies of INFINITE CRISIS had Dick Grayson mentioned as not corrupt... if you don't count him standing by and letting Tarantula kill Blockbuster.

[bradygirl_12]

There's so much sadness here as Kal-L and Superboy-Prime lose so much (and the latter his mind). The issues are complex. Kal-L doesn't understand about the ring and what it represents, but he's not completely wrong that it can also represent paranoia. Nothing is completely black-and-white, and Kal-L's tremendous loss can certainly make him simplify things. Yet there is truth in what he says (and Superboy-Prime).

Yes, Dick did not cover himself in glory with that incident. Of course, isn't that the same timeframe that saw him raped by Tarantula and DC glossing it over because it was a woman raping a man? Pretty reprehensible all around.

Actually, one Dick Grayson did go bad...

[7dialsmystery]

...the one from The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Of course, Bruce sort of tortured him to insanity first.

Re: Actually, one Dick Grayson did go bad...

[bradygirl_12]

Ah, yes, that Frank Miller travesty of a story. I kind of consider them parodies at this point. I mean, Miller couldn't REALLY have believed those characterizations, could he?

[freezer]

If you made this an Elseworlds, Kal-L would probably win. He's almost serene, certainly sad, and able to call on wisdom and experience that Kal-El doesn't have.

Which brings up the major problem I have with any and all "Superman goes rogue and kills everybody" stories. They tend to nerf, handwave or outright ignore the multiple DC heroes who have been shown to be explicitly physically on par with Clark (Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Orion) or can hurt him in other ways (the multiple energy wielders who can simulate Kryptonite or red solar radiation or simply has enough juice). It ALWAYS portrays Clark as either completely unstoppable once he stops holding back or shown him picking off the legit threats one by one and generally has racked up a double-digit kill count before the remaining heroes decide to organize.

Which also assumes that if Supes ever did go full Dark Side, his rogues gallery would sit back and let that happen.

I mean: It's not like such stories can't be done or done well. It's just most of them (that I can recall) fall back on this kind of "Supes is that OP" laziness.

[matrix_dragon]

I've always been amused by the scene with the ring. To me, it shows that Kal-L is deluding himself. Clark gave Bruce that ring, because he's well aware of how many mind control and body hijacking methods there are in the DCU. Despite their differences, he trusts Bruce with the ring, because if someone subverts Superman, he knows Batman will be there to make a stand. That ring is a symbol of the faith and trust Clark has in his friend.

[mrstatham]

It is part of the problem with Infinite Crisis, though - the (as always) misguided vision of the Silver Age that some of the current crop of writers have and needing to balance that against propping up the versions of the characters the writers currently use and love. Superman of Earth 2 isn't entirely wrong, but Johns is pretty much smashing the reader in the face with a complete lack of subtlety regarding the ring and why Superman of Earth 1 really gave it to Batman. The same as the rest of the event basically glorifies the mission of Superman of Earth 2, but then has him chumped by Alex Luthor and Superboy Prime, who are no better, if not worse, than the Earth 1 heroes Superman of Earth 2 is rallying against/doesn't believe in. Again, it's damaging these heroes - and they really were heroes in COIE - to prop up the favoured, current versions.

[amaniwolf]

Yep...this about sums it up.

[starwolf_oakley]

HA!

[glprime]

I think a better, less Captain Obvious line might've been, "J'onn!? J'onn can you hear me?" Y'know, cuz he's telepathic and all.

[icon_uk]

I could see Bruce citing four possible people as his moral touchstones in this specific situation; Alfred Pennyworth, Jim Gordon, Dick Grayson and perhaps Barbara Gordon*; his father figure, his sort of brother (standing for the Law, as he stands for Justice), his firstborn son, and the first person to take up a Bat-mantle after himself, but I do like that it's Dick he chooses, the person whose lifepath HE helped shape himself, which you can't say about the others.

* I exclude Superman from this particular situation for obvious reasons

[lencannon]

Remember how DC had a big event about how awful it would be to pull a Crisis and reintegrate all these old and new characters and mess with their history and personalities?

Haha, I don't, let's read some New 52 comics starring all our favorite old timers!