Superman #32 Superman and Deathstroke

[superfangirl1]

Later, we learn that Amanda Waller hired Slade.

Comments

[an_idol_mind]

I wish Superman had melted Deathstroke's gun with his heat vision while he was monologuing.

[locuatico]

To be fair, the gun is right next to Lois. one mistake and he lights his wife's hair into fire.

[q99]

That's why rather than melt the gun, he should just quietly weld the trigger in place.

I mean, he *does* have that level of precision.

[locuatico]

Yes, but the matter would be, is it enough to risk lois' life? Is it worth trying if there is even a small chance she would get hurt?

[q99]

Yep. This is Lois Lane. She leaps into danger *all the time*. She has been held hostage by many villains. The risk of Superman acting is barely a blip.

[silicondream]

Um, pretty sure Supes can take you out in the millisecond before the bullet hits her skull, Slade. He's flown halfway around the world to intercept a speeding bullet before.

But then, this is a Superman who just stands there and lets Deathstroke toss a grenade past him into civilian traffic, so apparently his head really isn't in the game right now.

[nyadnar17]

I hate to admit it but I agree. This story "should" work but Superman has been completely unbound by the laws of physics so long it just doesn't.

I personally like my Superman as having to worry about things like his super speed causing sonic booms and explosive decompression....but Superman is rarely written like that these days.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Of all the things to not do away with in the reboot, his power level of infinity + x couldn't be one of them...

[zylly]

Yeah, I'm in agreement. The moment Deathstroke's finger starts to pull the trigger, he's suddenly struggling to breathe on the surface of the moon while Clark looks on.

[silicondream]

I mean, I'm all for speedsters forgetting their speed when it makes for a better story. 95% of Flash scenes wouldn't work otherwise. But when a famous professional killer has a gun to Lois Lane's head while he taunts Superman about it, I expect Clark to remember his 38 different superpowers and Solve The Problem.

[matrix_dragon]

Seriously, if you want to try and convince us Deathstroke is in any way competent or intelligent, don't have his entire plan be 'try to convince Superman to stop putting up with my shit.'

[q99]

Ice his hand with free breath. Weld the trigger in place. Superspeed.


Also, since it's clear Slade *wants* something, leave the battlefield temporarily so he doesn't know where Supes is. He's going to at *least* yell for Superman to come back before doing something, giving additional time to act.

Etc..

[adriantullberg]

"... holding her dead body in you-UUHHHFFF!"

"Jon, why did it take you so long?"

"... sorry Dad. Damien texted about a new gaming console."

"First off, appropriate terminology. You said 'texted' instead of 'gloated'. Second, when your Mom is tied up, that takes priority. Never mind. You'll learn next time."

"Next time?"

"See that look in her eyes? That's the 'I don't care if you're right just shut up!' expression. Right there ..."

[icon_uk]

So that's presumably Amanda Waller that hired Slade? It seems like her sort of mind-game.

[burkeonthesly]

Amanda "I'm convinced the heroes are dangerous, so I'm going to poke that bear with the biggest, thorniest stick I can find" Waller.

[icon_uk]

That's the one; Amanda "I am going to hire the most reliable meta-mercenary on the planet and use him as a plausibly deniable agent provocateur so if it all blows up (literally or metaphorically) none of the shrapnel will hit me" Waller

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

I dunno about that.

If Superman snaps, I don't really think there's anywhere on the planet that's out of the potential blast radius

[icon_uk]

Amanda Waller's fanfic looks surprisingly like the scripts for the "Injustice" comic series! :)

[reveen]

Alright, I'm confused HOW did Deathstroke tank Superman's Normal Consecutive Punches? I mean, I know they have that power coil bullshit after the fact, but they also directly undermine that epxlanation right away so what the hell?

[tianyulong]

He has a special gravity suit, which can repel Superman's punches in the short term. This was established in a earlier issue.

[bruinsfan]

Color me skeptical, as Superman has easily made mincemeat of Apokolips-level personal combat gear before. Unless Amanda Waller is sub-contracting Oan engineers, I'd be very dubious about a technological protective suit holding up against him for any length of time.

I also seem to remember Clark snatching bullets out of the air too fast to be seen even when his powers were ebbing five days into the Final Night event. The only way Deathstroke could kill Lois or anyone else in his presence would be an ambush with something like a sniper rifle from a distance. (Even then you couldn't be sure that he wouldn't happen to turn your way, see a glint off the barrel or scope, and act in time...)

By all rights, Wilson should have been holding a gun to Lois' head in one panel and a banana in the next.

[silicondream]

I give most gravity tech a slight pass against Superman, since high gravity is sometimes mentioned as one of his weaknesses. (Albeit very, very inconsistently.) Still, yeah, a Superman feeling any degree of urgency* should have a dozen different ways of taking that field down. Dr. Ikon isn't Brainiac.

*I still can't get over the fact that Superman lets Deathstroke bounce a grenade past him and literally blow up an occupied car. Then he strolls up to the bleeding, groaning civilian driver and says "Don't worry, I got you." What the hell?