Questing For Peace

Okay. Superman.

In a way, he's the ultimate personification of the American Dream. He's the definitive alien immigrant. And I love him.

It's a long seated love, mainly rooted in the Christopher Reeve movies rather than the comics, because growing up as a kid in the north of England, the only place that I went to regularly that sold comics was the chemists in the Galleries at Washington. It wasn't until I was fifteen that I started frequenting Forbidden Planet, and even then, the whole history of comic books seemed to be far too complicated to just dive right in. It's a hobby that requires a lot of time, effort and most importantly, money. I briefly tried to get into the whole comic book nerd scene, but I was spending about fifty quid a month just to try and keep up with the core DC titles (those relating to Batman and Superman) and even then I felt like I was missing out of a whole load of stuff. So mostly my comic book love comes from graphic novels, where you can be sure you're getting the whole story and there's no worry that you're going to go to the comic shop and find out they've sold out of Part 5 of a six part story. It's not a bad way of going about things. You still get the quality stories (Watchmen, The Death Of Superman, A Death In The Family) without all the stress. So I'm laying my cards on the table here because whereas I would call myself a fan, I'm not hardcore.

So let us tal about why Superman is the greatest hero alive.

When I was a kid, I preferred Batman. Seriously. I mean, Superman was all well and good, but he was invulnerable, whereas Batman was dangerous and real and he could be hurt. And Tim Burton's Batman is a great movie.

So what happened? Well, when I was a kid, I thought that the best Star Wars movie was Return Of The Jedi. Now, I think it's The Empire Strikes Back. But by that rationale, my favourite Star Trek movie (The Wrath Of Khan in case you didn't know) would have changed as well, and it hasn't, and Blade Runner has been my faourite film since I was fourteen (the same age I was when I as espousing the opinion that Jedi was the best Star Wars film). I think a lot of it does have to do with growing up though. What you think is cool when you're a kid is not necessarily what you think is cool when you're grown up, and vice versa. If you'd told my eight year old self that in twenty years he'd not only own several Elton John albums but also actually enjoy listening to them and advocate him to his friends he'd have laughed in your face and then probably run off to listen to Kylie Minogue (again, some things never change, Kylie still rocks) or that he'd still love Mary Poppins and ET and Choose Your Own Adventure books and he wouldn't believe you. So, opinions about some things change and some things stay the same.

Somewhere in between Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (a tiny screening room at the Sunderland Empire, one of only two times my mother took me to the cinema, summer 1987) and Superman Returns (Gateshead UCI, probably by myself aged 25, summer 2006) Superman became my hero. Batman Begins (and like it or not, Batman's legacy was far more ruined by Batman and Robin than Superman's ever was by The Quest For Peace) had come out the previous year and was loved by me but in that nineteen year gap I had read The Death Of Superman (and watched and enjoyed four years of Lois and Clark and also a whole bunch of Smallville, which remains one of the most peculiarly paced of modern TV shows).

The Death Of Superman, originally published in 1993, at about the same period of time that Batman was getting his back broken, leading to one of the biggest shake ups in DC comics history (well, post Crisis on Infinite Earths history), is one of my favourite graphic novels of all time and certainly my favourite graphic novel with a hero like Superman at its core (the others, like Watchmen are limited series, as opposed to part of a serial comic). It was that book which allowed me to finally understand just what Superman is all about.

Not to cheapen Batman, but he does what he does because he feels he has to. He's driven to fight injustice by the murder of his parents. He is, in a sense, a psychopath himself, because he has these deep rooted psychological drives. Superman does what he does because he can. What he does, no one else can so he feels he has a duty. He has an obligation to serve and protect.

This duty is at the core of The Death Of Superman. It features the villain Doomsday, a raging, animalistic creature of mysterious origins. In the first issue he appears out of nowhere and immediately goes about trashing the place. The Justice League try and stop him and get collectively trounced. The entire Justice League. Some of them are hurt, badly. So Supes comes in and, after a long fight, manages to defeat Doomsday, but only at the cost of his own life. He gives so much to protect Metropolis (and Lois in partcular) that he dies. He sacrifices himself to save the city. And he does this without a second thought. . He doesn't even think about anything else. He only thinks to try and stop Doomsday, by any means necessary.

There's a moment in Superman Returns which perfectly captures this sense. It's near the start of the film and the bi action set piece with the plane. It's hurtling towards Earth, promising certain death for all those aboard (which, incidentallhy includes Lois). He grabs hold of a wing, but it comes loose, sending Supes reeling. As soons as he gets his equilibrium back, he's flying back down towards the plane as fast as he can. Naturally, this involves flying in a straight line. Unfortunately, that path is slightly occupied by the wing that's come loose. No matter, Supes just steels himself and flies straight through it.

It's a completely throaway moment, and if you want to be a pedant about it, we know he's Superman, a rogue airplane wing isn't going to bother him. But it's a moment in which you know that Bryan Singer knows and care about Superman. There's a lot wrong with Superman Returns (a lopsided dramatic structure, Kate Bosworth's complete lack of charisma, the whole Son of Superman subplot - which might become problematic if the Richard Donner cut of Superman 2, which has Supes erase his love affair with Lois by turning time back, a la the first movie as opposed to the original version with its 'magic kiss' becomes the default version, which isn't as unlikely as it sounds, given that the HD release contains only the Donner cut, with the theatrical release relegated to the bog standard DVD - and Frank Langella's phoned in performance as Perry White) but its heart is in the right place. If Singer stays on board, and can get over his relentless hero worship of the original Donner film, the franchise is in safe hands. They've already made moves in the right direction, promising a more villain led plot and the recasting of Katie Holmes' soporific Rachel from Batman Begins with the sublime Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Dark Knight is an indicator that they (that is, DC and Warners) are not afraid to admit to their mistakes and get rid of cast members that didn't gel.

Peace out.