Apparently Morrison has forgotten that Superman cried, a lot, as Kara died in his arms in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. And not just on the cover, either.
And even if Superman hadn't cried in that work...the hell kind of criticism is that, anyway? Does Morrison think Superman's too "macho" to cry? I doubt it. Does he think Supe's too stoical for tears? I doubt that too.
Frankly, considering how saintly the character has generally been (apart from the "early Golden Age hardass vigilante" and "Silver Age superdick" periods), and how much of a burden he takes on every day, I'd think it far less appropriate if he never cried.
Plenty of examples of him crying in the earlier Silver Age comics, too, and not just the Red Kryptonite ones.
I generally find Morrison to be mellower than Moore, except when one of the two is talking about the other. The weird Oedipus complex Morrison carries around there is not his best look.
Well. If I were to be fair, I could see him meaning it more in Superman being a fundamentally hopeful character shouldn't "cry" in his last moments. There shouldn't be sadness, but hope.
To use Morrison's own work, All-star shows how Morrison thinks Superman's last moments should be. He doesn't cry, he welcomes death, and does so at the same time he saves the world.
I don't read this as Superman crying for himself, but for Kara. He's figured out what's coming, but it's seeing his beloved younger cousin for the last time, knowing what's going to happen to her, that really gets to him.
And even if he was? A Superman who doesn't want to die but faces the end anyway is more hopeful than one who never felt sadness.
You are missing the point. If superman is supposed to be on the high-end of the idealistic scale, then such a scene is not coherent with that.
Yes, it is hopeful still, but Superman stories, as I think Morrison is describing them, are about acomplishing the impossible and having a happy ending. Bad things can happen, but tragedies can be stopped.
So if the issue is that a tragedy couldn't be prevented, then isn't the problem Kara's death in Crisis? Superman crying here is a just a reaction.
If there's a loss of hope in this story, it's later, when Superman loses friends, his dog, and is forced to take a life. I don't see that in this scene, though.
well, I could see two reasons why Morrison may not openly criticized that scene. Either he doesn't necessarily consider it a "superman" story as much as a "DC Comics" story, or it's just that he doesn't openly criticize Mark Wolfman nearly as much as he does Moore.
On top of that, Morrison probably dislikes this story BECAUSE Superman loses his friends, his dog and is forced to take a life. That "superman doesn't cry" is just a way of saying that such elements shouldn't be part of the "last" superman story, because, to Morrison, the ideal "final" superman story should be on the highly idealistic side of things, one which still ends with Superman saving everyone.
I can't imagine the pain I would feel at my core if a younger (then adult) sibling had just died and suddenly appeared on my doorstep as a child. The emotions would be a tidal wave. The fact that he didn't cry until later shows his strength.
"Apparently Morrison has forgotten that Superman cried..."
I think he's being prescriptive, not descriptive. From ALL-STAR, we can see that he has no interest in making Superman an exact replication of the pre-Crisis version.
You're probably right. And yeah, All-Star does pay tribute to "classic" Superman (mainly, but not limited to, the Silver Age), but Morrison manages to make the character his own.
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scans_daily2018-10-18 06:22 pm
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And even if Superman hadn't cried in that work...the hell kind of criticism is that, anyway? Does Morrison think Superman's too "macho" to cry? I doubt it. Does he think Supe's too stoical for tears? I doubt that too.
Frankly, considering how saintly the character has generally been (apart from the "early Golden Age hardass vigilante" and "Silver Age superdick" periods), and how much of a burden he takes on every day, I'd think it far less appropriate if he never cried.
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I generally find Morrison to be mellower than Moore, except when one of the two is talking about the other. The weird Oedipus complex Morrison carries around there is not his best look.
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To use Morrison's own work, All-star shows how Morrison thinks Superman's last moments should be. He doesn't cry, he welcomes death, and does so at the same time he saves the world.
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And even if he was? A Superman who doesn't want to die but faces the end anyway is more hopeful than one who never felt sadness.
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Yes, it is hopeful still, but Superman stories, as I think Morrison is describing them, are about acomplishing the impossible and having a happy ending. Bad things can happen, but tragedies can be stopped.
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If there's a loss of hope in this story, it's later, when Superman loses friends, his dog, and is forced to take a life. I don't see that in this scene, though.
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On top of that, Morrison probably dislikes this story BECAUSE Superman loses his friends, his dog and is forced to take a life.
That "superman doesn't cry" is just a way of saying that such elements shouldn't be part of the "last" superman story, because, to Morrison, the ideal "final" superman story should be on the highly idealistic side of things, one which still ends with Superman saving everyone.
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I think he's being prescriptive, not descriptive. From ALL-STAR, we can see that he has no interest in making Superman an exact replication of the pre-Crisis version.
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