Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?: Part 1 of 2

[lordultimus]

Comments

[locuatico]

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.

[mastermahan]

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.

[locuatico]

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.

[mastermahan]

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.

[locuatico]

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.

[teresa_rollins]

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.