Superman Year One Review

Alright folks before we get into the pull bag

episode 359 I Am TF2 and Mike joining me is my

co -host. Mr. Joe Reed. Hello, sir. Hello We

are recording this preamble before episode 359,

which we've already recorded because since we

recorded that News has come out that on July

6th of 2019 beloved actor Eddie Jones has passed

away Eddie Jones was in theater and everywhere

else. Where most people might remember him is

as Jonathan Kent from Lois and Clark, The New

Adventures of Superman. That's where I know him

from. As soon as I saw his name pop up in this

very sad story, I'm like, oh no, huh, Kent, no,

come on. So this episode of The Pull Bag is dedicated

to... the memory of Eddie Jones and how awesome

he was as Jonathan Kent in Lois and Clark. Yeah,

that was one of my fondest memories from the

show or the scenes where Clark would need advice

and need the uplifting input from his parents

and he would call them on those giant 90s. Wireless

phones the two of them would be laying in bed

together counseling son from however many thousands

of miles away and so I remember him as that supportive

caring loving father and also cute and Doing

this weird technology thing so that they can

engage with their son who left the nest for the

big city So it's weird. I mean for a kid for

an actor that I don't know outside of that In

those little scenes, there is this very strong

kind of fatherly feel that he just threw out

there. So it is sad that he's gone. Yeah. So

I first saw this on the Superman homepage. That's

how I saw the news about his passing. I went

to just Google search the fact that he had passed

and brought up a People article. And it goes

on to say that Jones's death was first announced

by the Interact Theater Company. And they go

on to say... They told people on Monday, our

treasured longtime member, dear friend, and trusted

colleague, Eddie Jones, passed away today. IT

said in a statement posted to the website on

Saturday, July 6th, Eddie was a true pillar of

our community from its earliest days, an actor

of keen wit and sharp instinct. When Eddie was

on stage, you couldn't keep your eyes off him.

When he was off stage, his broad bright smile

would light up the room. The company's statement

continued. What I love is just going back and

seeing pictures of him and Kay Callan, who played

Clark's mom, played Martha Kent. People Magazine

has a really, really cool picture of the two

of them. I assume back in the Lois and Clark

days, it doesn't look like it's a recent photo

kind of thing. So there is that. It's really

nice to know that he Was still acting on stage

for a pair of very long time after that. Yeah

Yeah, very very cool and To kick off this episode

even though we're getting into the DC black labels

Superman year one number one here, so it's a

lot not necessarily darker but it is an adult

episode it's not this is not for kids uh... i

am gonna play before the show even starts because

we're doing this preamble i'm gonna play my favorite

clip i will have this audio until i eventually

hit the grave or until my computers no longer

function whichever computer i have after the

one i've had for the last ten years now It's

the scene in Lois and Clark when Clark is dreaming

and they do an homage to I love Lucy It's I love

Lois and Clark and Lois is Lucy Clark is is Desi

and It's just not Desi Ricky Ricky. Thank you

Hey, your real name is close enough. Yeah, so

basically Like I'm not even gonna set up this

clip. I'm just gonna let you play I'm just gonna

play it and I'll probably send it to Joe or Have

it played for him so you can hear it or I'll

send him the video this is by far one of if not

the funniest moments in the entire series of

Lois and Clark and Eddie doesn't do much. Eddie

and Ma and Pa Kent don't do much, but what they

do is still hilarious in this little clip. I

just absolutely love it, and I do love all the

talks, like you said, all the phone calls, all

the advice, both of them gave. I love the father

-son talks that he and Clark had, he and Dean

Cain had. Even Dean Cain obviously spoke out

about it, you know, spoke out about his passing.

So we will miss you Eddie Jones May you rest

in peace sir And now we're gonna get on with

the show here in the pool bag episode 359 which

I now realize I've said probably seven times

before we're actually talking about Superman

year one by Frank Miller and It's not it's for

me to John Romita jr. Yep, there we go. I gotta

get out of here folks. I'm going crazy So on

with the show Where's Lois? She was here just

a second ago. Probably scared witless, poor thing.

Don't worry. I'll have you out of that thing

in no time. Okay, let's see now. Do I disconnect

the black wire or the white one? Don't worry!

Lois, I thin you got some splaining to do. Tucky,

if we're going to be partners and we're going

to be married, I want to be part of the act.

Lois, there are thins I do. You can do. Me superman.

Me superwife. Us super in trouble. Could you

hold this argument till later and get us out

of here? I knew this was going to happen. You've

just jumped inside the pull bag. Join TFG1Mike

and the rest of the comic reading crew here at

the GCRN as they make their great escape into

comics. From DC, Marvel, IDW, Boom Studios, Xenoscope,

and more, we have everything you want to read

right here. Transformers comics? Yeah, we cover

that. He -Man? Yeah, sure. DC superheroes like

Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Batman Beyond?

Yep, we have those too. How about TMNT from IDW

and I Hate Furland from Image Comics? Yeah, we

have all that here. Plus, so much more. It's

all inside the pull bag here on the Geekcast

Radio Network. So without any further ado, it's

time to talk about the comics we are reading

right now here inside the pull bag. Hello and

welcome to The Pull Bag. This is episode 359.

This is kicking off the month of July. In July?

Mm -hmm. Peas grow there. Peas grow there. It's

in July. Yes. You really in July? So as you can

tell, Joe Reed is here. I'm, of course, TFJone

Mike. And kicking off July is not what was supposed

to be kicking off July because our good buddy,

co -creator of GCR and Steve Megatron, he and

his family are out on an adventure to basically

move across the country. They're going from Michigan

to Colorado because Steve got a really excellent

job out there and all that good stuff. So they're

doing this whole life -changing thing right now.

We were originally going to do Mighty Morphin

Power Rangers Volume 6 from Boom Studios. We

will do that at a later date. However, since

the pullback started six and a half years ago

in 2013, we've never really covered one... The

big three major actually haven't covered the

other two we cover Batman a lot on this podcast

We don't really cover Wonder Woman and or Superman

at all until today Because Frank Miller and John

Romita jr. Along with a bunch of other people

Have launched Superman year one Now that year

one tag that got a little ridiculous a couple

years ago I can't remember when, but everybody

had a year one coming off of the Batman year

one, Frank Miller's Batman year one, which was

amazing. It was great. It was neat. A lot of

what we kind of recognized as standard Batman

canon came from that. And I'm sure some editor

at DC said, everybody needs a year one now. And

even Superman, I think, had a year one imprint,

little subtitle. And I don't think any of them

were very good. None of them were done with the

level of love that Frank Miller had for the topic.

thought it was just too weird but this year one

is thankfully a little different mostly because

it actually has Frank Beller in front of it exactly

yeah I remember that there was like Robin and

Batgirl year one there was another year you know

year one this year one that Catwoman year one

maybe I don't know if that Green Lantern year

one exactly you know that kind of thing and I

get it DC has to you know quote -unquote capitalize

on terminology so before we dive too deep into

this I don't know if you've seen the news or

anything else but DC is basically doing away

with its imprints there's no more vertigo there's

no more of this whatever imprints that they've

had over the years like they bought out vertigo

comics I believe at one point and I think as

of next year they're doing away with all that

they're gonna have three systems they're gonna

have DC Kids DC Comics and DC Black Label DC

Kids obviously is the comics for kids DC Comics

by itself is the main regular whatever DC Black

Label which this falls under is the more mature

more adult basically this is an M rated comic

supposedly is the way I'm looking at this. It's

for mature people only. I would have to actually

look up DC Black Label to see the actual definition

of it. I think what they're really going for

with this are standalone arcs where you don't

have to read the continuity. I don't know, but

I do think it's going to afford them the ability

to do the M -rated stuff like they did with the

Vertigo label. When something's questionable

and they want to do something crazy with a character

that won't fit into the canon, well yeah, you

come to Black Label to do it. So according to

this, Black Label is an imprint of DC Comics

consisting of original limited series and reprints

of books previously published under other imprints.

The imprint intends to present... traditional

DC universe characters for the mature audience

with standalone prestige format series. First

title of the imprint, Batman Damned, was shipped

in September of last year. Which I need to go

back and read, apparently, just to say, hey,

I've read that. Yeah, I have not read that yet.

Another one that is also under the black label

is Scott Snyder and Greg Kapilow's Final Batman

story Batman last night on earth, which I eventually

do want to read Which we will cover at some point

in in this podcast Batman white knight was I

think under black label It's not listed here,

but actually Batman curse of the white knight

is, which is the sequel series to that by Sean

Gordon Murphy is going to be coming from this,

Batman 3 Jokers by Jeff Johns and Jason Fabook.

And then another one that they just announced

that I'm really excited for is Harleen, which

is an, it's an alternate telling of Harley's

story. I saw that news article, I was so excited,

I'm like, ooh, that looks really cool. It would

have to be I'm uh, I'm so done with Harley Quinn

and the popularity of that character Batman animated

series Yes, anything that came after that. I'm

like come on. It's kind of oh It's like the the

pop toys of the comic world like Everybody thinks

I'm cool because I read Harley Quinn or know

who the character is in dress. No, no Too many

too many cosplayers You know the people who let

their one -and -a -half -year -old daughter dress

up as Harley Quinn like do you? Do you know what

that character is all about and why is she? No,

okay, you just let your daughter do that. Okay.

I am oh Poor people okay, so just because we're

talking about this now Give you and everyone

else. I'm on DC's website DC black label reimagines

Harley Quinn's origin in harleen from writer

and artist deffin says yick i'm probably pronouncing

his name wrong i'm sorry stephen uh... this september

d .c. black label debut intoxicating new limited

series harleen Written and illustrated by visionary

storyteller Stefan Szczek, who also worked on

Aquaman Underworld and Suicide Squad Sunstone.

This twisted love story follows the young Dr.

Harleen Quinzel in a quest to save all of Gotham

from the madness that lurks within the city.

The twisted path that will lead her into the

arms of the Joker, transforming her into the

notorious supervillain Harley Quinn. The three

issue series is set to debut in September. So...

I find this interesting. So far, because, as

we've already stated, the DC Black Label is limited

series, they're all three issues. Like, everything,

other than Batman, White Knight, and Curse of

the White Knight, Three Jokers, Year One, Superman

Year One, I should say. uh... even batman last

night on earth i've seen it as saying they're

only going to be three issues which i think is

kind of cool as long as the creators can tell

the story that they want to tell within three

comic book issues now these i assume are supersize

issues seeing as how superman year one was eight

frigging dollars it's it's uh... this is this

is the both my favorite thing About this book

and my least favorite thing about the book is

that it is a completely different size from a

conventional comic It is it's just about a square

it is about a half inch taller than a regular

comic and Probably another inch and a half wide.

I don't have a ruler to see how big the comic

itself Is which is amazing. I think I think that

sets black label apart I think it gives writers

and artists, especially a different format to

play with you know with wider pages But at the

same time I need new bags I need new boards and

I need new ways to store these comics because

This won't even fit inside of a regular short

box. So Favorite thing because it stands out

and it looks different than other books. It makes

them feel more important least favorite because

I have no way to store this and I'm only I'm

only lucky that it actually came in bag in boarded

form so my comic store took care of that for

me. Sweet and once again for the last X number

of years we've been doing comic podcasts we mainly

do TMNT for those that don't know this is kind

of new for Joe and I talking about something

that's non TMNT related I've said to you for

years go Digital and honestly, you don't have

to go digital on everything but for you because

of what you just said Go digital on black label

because that way you don't have to worry about

being bagged and boarded and whatever I Will

never go I can I just I can't do it Backlit screen

Smell the printing paper God, stop huffing the

Superman comic, please. So yes, for $8, the comic

is 67 pages, so it's... So when they say three

issues, we're not just talking 62 pages. No,

this is huge. Yeah, this is like three single

issues. If they're all gonna be 67 pages, that's

essentially... four to five comics in one oversized

issue and I felt that like I didn't feel this

was going slow and we're gonna do it here in

a second folks I just didn't know what to expect

because really this is the first full -on because

White Knight was originally listed as a black

label then it wasn't listed as a black label

uh... it wasn't listed as a black label in print

in single -issue form but when the collected

edition came out it was listed as a black label

title for batman white knight so technically

this is my second uh... dive into dcs black label

imprint uh... and i wasn't sure what to expect

felt that the entire story went on a decent pace,

it didn't feel too slow, didn't feel too fast.

And when you hear a title, Superman Year One,

you automatically know kind of what story they're

going to tell. This is them reimagining. I read

this described somewhere as the definitive origin

of Superman and you all are going to like it.

And so between that and... the fact that Frank

Miller was coming back to do Superman, which

is a character that he's notoriously not treated

well in his previous stories, in John Romita

Jr., and then the year one imprint again, like,

man, this could have gone all ways, this could

have gone, you're assuring me that I'm not going

to like it, Mr. Lurb Rider in a preview somewhere,

but it was interesting. Yeah, it was very interesting.

Get the creative out of the way. Obviously, as

we've said, Frank Miller and John Romita Jr.

story and art. Danny Mickey is on colors. I love

Danny's stuff. He was on with Scott Snyder and

Greg Capolo on the new 52 stuff for Batman. Alex

Sinclair is the colorist as well. And then obviously,

Frank Miller with Alex Sinclair did a variant

cover for this. With everything that they've

been promoting with this they're like Like you

just said this is going to be the best year one

story. This is gonna be the best You know the

most definitive Superman origin story you've

ever read Well, I don't know what your history

is with Superman and I'll ask you in a minute.

My history is I started with Christopher Reeve

I went with eventually Dean Cain on Lois and

Clark in the 90s and then both Tim Daly and George

Newburn as the voices for Superman the Animated

Series and Justice League. So there's that. I

think just with everybody in our generation our

first exposure to Superman and it was the Christopher

Reeve movie and all of us we saw it when it was

You know on television replays, you know, we

didn't I think I'm I'm too young to have seen

it in the theater But then I mean my first real

real exposure was probably Well super friends

occasionally, but yeah more than that Lois and

Clark the Dean Kane and that version of the superhero

At that point, I think I'd started reading a

couple of the comics And for years, for me, Superman

has always been a character that I wanted to

like the books for, for whom I wanted to like

the books. I love putting my prepositions in

the right spot. Anyway, Superman gets a lot of

crap because he's like this perfect superhero.

He's a boy scout. He does everything right. He

makes the right decision. And writers have a

lot of hard time putting him into peril. The

TV show and Dean Cain stuff, they can get away

with it because just the limitations of the special.

He's he can't do all the things that he can do

in the comics So it's easier to put him into

danger and to tell a story that way but it's

real hard to keep him being an interesting character

for some of these writers and and I I know I'm

not a professional writer, but I think I don't

I think they're they've always tried to do him

wrong I remember reading around when I was trying

to say here's here's my big story with Superman

in the comics is every time There's a new story

arc I try to jump into it if it reboots I want

to get back into it I want to read like this

pure version of Superman the definitive version

I've read I think my favorite book so far has

been the Superman for all seasons Tim Sale and

Jeff Loeb they treat Superman like he's a human

being with alien powers and he's not sure where

he's gonna go with them and and I like that human

struggle in Superman because he is he was raised

by these farm But then I remember reading was

it it was when zero started I think or maybe

it was all -star Superman I can't remember one

of those two that I gave a shot to and he's running

around thinking Wow, I'm an alien is what I feel

actually loved Do I actually love Lois Lane?

I don't know if these feelings are and he's like

this completely foreign creature to me and I'm

thinking, you know my Dean Cain experience and

and then the Jeff Loeb Tim sale for all seasons

experience this guy's Superman doesn't worry

about this. He's a father Armor he's a boy scout.

He's a football player on a little team And it

was just not fun to read and and the writers

always you know I Issued three of the last restart

or reboot that DC did he's fighting doomsday

again. I'm like wait It took him like 50 years

before he died now. He's good. They're gonna

kill him off in this week He's he's overburdened

a lot of the time, and it's just not pure. It's

not a pure experience in a lot of these books

Yeah, it really isn't. I won't stop until you're

just a greasy smear on my fist. Let's go. So

these writers are writing this alien Superman

and it's bonkers, but my favorite Superman is

the one who will stop a bank robbery and then

realize or see something in the bank robber,

pick him off the ground and go fly away and take

him out to lunch and talk to him about his problems.

And that's my Superman, the one who's gonna use

his words and figure things out on a very human

level. Realize, oh, this guy's trying to save

his family and take care of people like that.

You don't see that Superman all too often. Superman

for all seasons. There's also the part about

that too is he's a young Superman at that point

and the big tank Trunk get tanker truck gets

thrown at him and Lex Luthor caught a video of

it and find Superman's face and says He's scared.

He doesn't know if he's gonna survive that He

doesn't know how powerful he is yet. And of course,

he survived it because he's Superman But there's

a point where he didn't know and he's not sure

about where his powers are going to take him

up I like that Superman. Yeah. For me, as I said,

and as you said as well, you know, you kind of

start out, you know, I think I can safely say

we're both a little too young. Like I didn't

see Superman until maybe 85, 86. I really do

not remember, because I was born in the 80s,

so I'd wonder around when it came out. So, I

mean, for me, and this is just me, folks, Superman

3 and 4 were my jam back in the day, because

those are the ones that I grew up with, even

though everyone hates those movies. But it's

one of those things where, after I did see Superman,

and after i did see superman to uh... and i am

of the mind that uh... the lester cut is superior

to the donor cut the original theatrical cut

is better in my personal uh... opinion uh...

uh... but chris it was really or i could it christopher

reeve was superman hands down he was for the

longest time he always will be uh... And then,

as I said, you know, Dean Cain came along, they

did the TV thing with Lois and Clark, absolutely

loved that, thought that was great. Love every

bit of that. And then, as I said earlier about,

you know, the animated series, voices with Tim

Daley and George Newburn took over in Justice

League and that kind of thing. And even Justice

League pointed out, you know, between season

one and season two of Justice League, season

one, Superman basically got his ass handed to

him. Like you touch that guy and he flies 16

million miles away like, you know He he would

kid he kept getting hit and hit and hit and hit

and he just went down and they realized hey We

can make him a little bit more powerful. So Superman

year one Frank Miller John Romita jr It's It's

their version of the origin story It's you know

Krypton being like No writer, no artist can do

a Superman origin story I don't think without

doing the basic Genesis of what the origin story

is like they can do their version and they're

like you take a look at Superman the animated

series There was more in depth in that first

three part of the last son of Krypton uh... you

know of how they were and how they are and what's

happening in the fact that they tied the brainiac

was the one that was going to help destroy the

planet or whatever so that's their version of

it or whatever and this is miller and remitted

juniors version of it and it's pretty cool i

love the uh... the uh... the internal monologue

throughout this entire time really hard to figure

out who that monologue belongs to you I'm still

not exactly sure. I would have to say it's Clark.

I think so too. I mean, that's the only thing

I can think of. Maybe the beginning part of it

where it's like, you know... It is the end for

everything, for everyone. It is the death of

the planet Krypton. Maybe that part might have

been Jor -El, his father. If it is Clark, he's

saying they're wrapping him up. He's a present.

There are times where he refers to himself in

the third person. I think it's Clark at the end,

but it's a little weird. I don't want to claim...

And it is until I read further in into the you

know issues two and three yeah I got more comfortable

with it as it went on, but I remember in the

beginning going wait. This is weird and The references

are a little weird calling it a party and the

celebration and everybody's screaming well. No,

that's it. That's everybody dying narrator and

You know that, and they know that, but it's weirdly

artistic, that beginning, in a weird way. Yeah,

it's artistically cool, and it's artistically

really, really sad. Where I almost cried are

the two panels where they show nothing but darkness

and Kel -El's tears in his eyes, basically saying,

totally utterly alone, absolutely alone, and

then they give you what I love about this, and

I'm so glad. that Miller and Ramita did this,

where it says, watching mom and dad go away.

All of those panels through where he's learning

through, I love like, oh, I love these spaceship

panels. Like all of it. The art is so nice. Cause

you basically like where the one where it says

sleep dad's music, you see him. through the reflection

but it's almost like he hasn't he has fully formed

but his eyes are closed and his face is kind

of in shadow and then his face comes out of shadow

a little bit you just see the emotion on his

face and just i've never seen the journey from

krypton to earth like this and i absolutely love

it i think it was super super cool um the only

thing with this book that I'm I can't just get

my head around is Ma and Pa can't have a super

Eastern Kentucky kind of accents when they talk

in certain ways like I don't think Kansas has

Eastern Kentucky accents like come on Ma we're

okay Paul Like, I don't think that's John, that's

not my John and Martha, but I do love - Yeah,

my John and Martha are the two of them laying

in bed on conference call with Dean Kate. Yeah,

exactly. Exactly. Gotta love Kay Callan and Eddie

Jones. Yeah, no, absolutely. It's just a little

weird. However, I like the interpretation of

them. I like how different Martha and John's

values are from each other, where she kind of

wants to protect him and John's like, you know,

no, let him let him run loose a little bit. Let

him, you know, do whatever. The rest of this

issue is basically him growing up. We see that

and we see various things. And this is where

I know. that all of the internal monologuing

is Clark's thoughts because, you know, they breathe

so hard, everything is so hard for them, you

know, that kind of thing. Very, very cool. We

haven't seen I at least I haven't seen a lot

of stuff with with baby Clark and seeing the

pages of him like Bouncing and half -flight kind

of thing with them in the background. I thought

that was really really cool Yeah, that's that's

that's a thing that is different from origin

to origin Like some of them he doesn't get his

powers until puberty and a little after puberty

He's still discovering them, but but man that

would be terrifying at this point. Yeah, this

is baby who can pick your tractor up, or can

set the curtains on fire when he doesn't like

the food he's being given. And it's, I think

that's, I mean, Brightburn is out in theaters

now -ish, I think, I don't know. But with Brightburn,

you know, you have Superman, if he turned into

a jerk. I haven't seen the movie yet, but that's

what the previews look like to me. And at the,

you know, what I kind of hold into my head is,

these two people, these two human beings took

this super -powered baby who could murder everybody

on earth if they wanted, if he wanted to, and

they raised him right. They taught him to use

his mind, because these aren't two people that

could have ever hoped to discipline this baby

by spanking or by grounding him. They had to

teach him with words, and I think that's a very

hard way to parent, speaking as a parent. But

that is how Clark ended up being the Clark Kent

that I love is because he's using his brain and

his kindness and his morality that he learned

from Ma and Pa Kent. and as we see him sleeping

and dreaming and he dreams that he flies into

the cornfield and everything else and how the

heck am I gonna get home and all that we also

see his other like his hearing powers come into

play like hearing the crickets outside and and

the frogs and the owls and the whatever basically

you know you know it's enough to rattle your

teeth the quiet country life they say And then

as we go through he you know is growing up. He's

no longer a baby He's teenager ish at this point.

You know catching the the ball with his paw and

you know pulling up the the upending the the

hay the hay baler to get the baseball and Yeah,

here's here's a line. I like where Clark's careful

as he's catching the baseball. It's like Catching

a soap bubble Clark's always careful. He's got

to always be careful. He tosses the ball real

soft and Yes, he tosses the ball and it's just

this lack of days Like a little toss, but it

hits Pacans glove clap and you hear the straw.

Oh, yeah, it's a strong catch It's a good. It's

a good throw He says he's got to be careful so

it doesn't crash through the glove or punch into

dad's chest That that's a neat way to kind of

think about Clark's world too because he's Yeah,

dude can pick up a hay baler And and I remember

there was an episode of the animated series and

I think oh gosh, it's it's a Dark side I think

I can't remember and Clark's walking toward him

is you know what I live in a world of cardboard

I have to be careful doing everything. It's real

nice to fight. I got Don't have to hold back

on then he starts punching him, but yeah Yeah

that was uh... i think it was justice league

twilight you know what dark side like you said

i feel like i live in a world of cardboard but

you can take it can't you big man well let's

get that that whole lot yeah it'll be in here

somewhere cuz damn i love that but that's that's

from justice league i have so i think that's

from is it divided we it's either no it's not

it's uh destroyer it's the very last episode

i've got a different problem i feel like i live

in a world made of cardboard always taking constant

care not to break something to break someone

never allowing myself to lose control even for

a moment someone could die You can take it can't

you big man what we have here is a rare opportunity

for me to cut loose and show you just how powerful

I really am Yeah, it's the very last episode

of the series a random line out of that showed

you can tell me where it came from I thought

it was justice or the Superman because I know

that's my own but i mean there's been several

times in superman that that kind of thing has

happened but uh... like there's there there's

one line in it where you're just a greasy smear

on my fist kind of thing so there's plenty of

lines that i can always call back to and then

as the book goes on you know we're we're dealing

with clark in in school and high school and all

that The way that Miller and Romita tackle the

bullying issue, I absolutely love it. Like I

love that Clark is helping this quote unquote

other weirdo with a space helmet thing. I think

that was super cool. And I love how they tackle

the issue of bullying without having to make

it having to make most of the book all about

that. And again, you have like three different

sections of this story of the 67 page book that

are happening you have the Krypton part you have

the early part of his life you have the high

school years and then the what's for actually

you know and then the later years that will get

to you know like you certainly get him meeting

Lana and and all that and going through that

and basically at the same time going through

his dealing with his friends the bullies and

all that I just love the way that they're they're

telling this story I Wish there were page numbers

so I could refer to it with you, but there's

he's uh So I'm reading I was reading this book

the first time in the car and yeah, I'm reading

Clark leaving Krypton and I'm reading my pocket

finding him and I'm seeing baby with powers and

and I'm being real quiet reading it and and Jenny

asks Hey, so is any good and I'm reading this

part of I'm like, I'm not sure yet It's kind

of all I say because I'm not a big fan of baby

Clark having powers thematically speaking, but

you know, okay I'm not I'm not sure yet, but

when they started getting to the bullying thing

this was where I Started to get turned around

with the book and started to appreciate it because

it is this is my Superman This is this is Clark

learning that he can't Open and beat everybody

up because it's gonna draw attention. It's it's

not the right answer It's not how you solve those

problems and even when he he tries to help out

his Friends, he realizes that the helping that

he's doing is not helping. It's making things

worse Which I mean, I think anybody who's been

bullied in school can relate to that But yes,

there are some things that you you make the right

decision you do the right thing but it makes

it worse and And you know Clark's got to figure

out how to use his brain in to really solve that

problem. And I think we see Clark here learning

how to handle problems as Superman in the future,

because punching it out and beating everybody

up isn't going to solve every problem. and you

know we again we have this thing that that Jonathan

taught him about not getting angry and we get

to a point in the book where he has the scene

in the school where he's basically dodging the

bullies and you know basically putting on defensive

moves he's not really like he sticks his arm

out a little bit but and the kid goes though

it goes flying but he's like don't get angry

don't don't do this even though he grabs the

kid's wrist You know, we see that he doesn't

get angry and I find it so funny. The big bad

bully in this, Billy Bob Markham, your exploits

are very well known around these offices. Some

days you seem incorrigible. Ten days suspension.

And Billy Bob's mother is like, oh, the chores

you're going to be doing. And Mr. Kent, a new

recruit to the ranks of the... Like I would I've

never seen that word before in my life until

I'm not even gonna try I'm practicing a little

martial arts and another student isn't that special

ten days of boys room sanitation duty for you

Mr. Kung Fu with Otis so Clark gets bathroom

duty and Billy Bob gets you know ten days suspension

You know could be worse the whole father -son

bit You know, where Jonathan's like... Where...

What is it? Is it Jonathan or is it Clark? Clark

is thinking to himself, Doc Savage doesn't walk

away. You know, your mom's a fine woman as you'll

ever meet. But nobody's always right about everything,

Clark. See, you gotta... You do gotta take the

high road, and maybe you'll get yourself taken

advantage of a little bit. Now and then. But

you're nobody's doormat, Clark Kent. you know

he's not teaching him like he's not like Biff

Tannen where Biff would teach his kids to you

know low down dirty shame people kind of thing

or scheme people or whatever you know and Jonathan

goes on to say no you're something This old world's

never seen before and you're gonna change it

just by being there. So change it for the better

You know, that's a that's a lesson even though

it's just in in in voice That is a lesson that

that his father is teaching him and that sticks

with him And then we get the shot and I sitting

on the siloed There's there's a there's a in

that conversation kind of reading between the

lines He's telling Clark that look your mom doesn't

have the right answer and in the way he doesn't

offer The solution he's sort of saying He doesn't

have the right answer, but Clark you've got to

figure it out it's your job to figure it out

you you need to know how to do you learn how

to take the high road and you need to learn how

to be The doormat every once in a while so that

you can own What you need to do to be in charge

of to save the world to do the good things But

I appreciate the way that he said that, that

John Kent said that, that they wrote that conversation,

giving Clark that, the freedom to need to think

through all of the situations. Yep. So we see

the gang getting bolder as they're tagging on

the bus, you know, weirdos suck, and we see Clark

going through the motions and basically... letting

his buddies get beat up and and everything and

not doing anything and trying to figure out a

way uh to help them and this is where Lana enters

and Lana is basically I don't know because I

don't know what the other two issues the other

two releases are going to say I don't know how

much further like by the end of this issue Lana

and Clark are pretty much done And I guess in

here somewhere I would have put spoilers because

this just came out even though this episode won't

release until July Like we we Get the introduction

of Lana we get Clark and Lana, but she's a reporter.

She's a photographer kind of thing You know he

takes her home to Ma and Pa he does the whole

you know rock in the window kind of thing and

You know they're gonna go out and and You know

get the bullies and whatever of course it's not

him That actually does it it's her getting trapped

getting entrapped by the bullies, and then he

shows up after Because they know she has photos

of them and whatever and for a minute there.

I'm glad they didn't I know this is DC black

label I'm very happy they didn't for a minute

there. I thought they were gonna rape her. They

were going to, but Clark got there in time. Thankfully

that he did. Like, that would have been a little

much, I think. Like, I get it. It's DC Black

Label. I get it. It's mature, but... I don't

know if making Lana Lang a rape victim, a rape

survivor, and then having Clark leave after that,

I don't know if that would be a good story point,

or a good angle to take the story in. So, obviously,

you know, Clark gets there, he beats them all

up, and then they fly away. He doesn't have to

be seen. Right. Yeah. he basically pulls the

people's tmnt on them it narration in here that

they there it illustrated as as going flying

i imagine he's running by and kind of bull tackling

them and and they're going flying but uh... uh...

you know he gives them a uh... still well friendly

show of the general underhand push that's all

uh... they're going he's gonna land on something

soft he didn't break anything and then he lands

on Top of him. So that's a pretty soft mattress

not too bony So in just like just like pot asked

for nobody lost his temper. Nobody's got Hurt

not too awfully badly. They hadn't and so he's

still conscious of what he's doing Yeah, and

that's a good thing So this is where he reveals

to Lana that he can fly and that he has powers

And he basically takes her back to her house

and basically leaves her on the roof While she

does actually get back into her bedroom window,

but The one image shows them on the on the roof

together and The said the strange thing is all

as I can think of in this scene with him flying

off with her is like You know 20 something years

ago Do you trust me? That's all I can think of

is that they're a Latin and Jasmine. That's all

I can think of. I was thinking the same thing.

So we get finals week. We get Clark and Lana,

you know, in their kind of nerd love thing. And

again, we see... Her marvel at his powers like

he's doing the speed reading thing and he's reading

everything. He's reading your reading advanced

calculus physics level two God that's this one

superpower. I wish I had in school. I just read

all the books She even asks him good like flash

Clark retains it. Yep Yeah, she even asks him

how much of that do you all keep in your head?

Mr. Speed reader a fair amount enough to say

so so yeah and you know they have you know their

first kiss their second kiss and all of that

and he's on basically cloud nine and he jumps

and flies and and all that and and everything

else and I love the I love the two old couple

To the the the the two old people the old couple

dang if that wasn't the Kent boy flying by just

now You got wacky tobacco in that pipe of yours

Then we see Clark on the football field and again

Don't go too far, but still you know use your

stuff and use your What power you can without

obviously like you don't want to hurt anybody

in the football game, but you know that Well

that last panel there, you know, they're they're

cheering they're cheering but then he starts

just Tearing down the field with four guys trying

to hold him down and I can't that last panel

He's like, wait a minute that boy and it just

like stone -faced like dang it you don't have

to talk to him And then we get to the point where

the rest of the book changes. We get to the point

where Pa and Clark are on the farm doing the

cow thing, doing the hay baling thing. And he

pretty much tells him it's time for me to go

soon. I went to town early this morning and I

signed up. I enlisted in the Navy. Now has that

happened in any other origin? I do not know.

I know that they've said he's gone to college.

Yep. I know that he's traveled the world. That

he's traveled the world, that he eventually,

you know, did the journalism thing, and they're

probably gonna get to that maybe, but I believe

because this is Superman year one, they're mainly

focusing on everything except adult Superman.

This is supposed to be young Superman. This is

supposed to be teen, you know, baby, child. teenager,

young adult. I don't think, unless the entire

Three Issue series ends with him arriving at

the Daily Planet, I don't think we're ever going

to see Daily Planet, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane. I

don't think we're seeing any of that in this.

So this is a completely different thing here.

Generally his path has been, obviously, high

school, college. journalism go around the world

and then end up in metropolis and all of that

so I like that they're doing this and you know

we get the the goodbyes and the you know all

of that and we get you know goodbye for him and

Lana and And that's kind of bittersweet. And

what I love about that, though, is he basically

flies out her window. Like, I love that Lana

is outside of his parents, basically the only

person that knows about him, about his powers,

about this, about that. You know, we get the

final goodbye with the parents and, you know,

getting on the bus. We get the bus ride and we

do get Martha giving him quote -unquote the cape

Which will eventually become the cape which that

is very very cool And I do love their final lines.

He's happy eager to leave. There's no Holding

an eagle down Martha no point in even trying

like they know he's gonna go off to do great

things And it also focuses on, you know, him

using his x -ray. That's the thing. How they've

displayed the powers in this has been amazing.

Like the hearing with the nighttime stuff, the

vision here with, you know, being able to see

Lana from, you know, where the bus is driving,

which is completely not anywhere near her house.

Absolutely love that. We go back to his memory

of Krypton and what little memory he has of it.

Again and again, Krypton dies. Heads up, troops,

we're pulling in. Now this, for me, I've lived

in Illinois for almost two and a half years now.

I actually went to a festival slash free concert.

at Naval Station in Great Lakes, Illinois. So

the fact, or Illinois, the fact that they put

this naval base in here, the fact that they took

him like from Kansas to Illinois, I friggin'

love this. And it looks, how they, how Ramita

draws it and the backgrounds and everything else,

it looks just like it looks in real life. So

this isn't just a fictional place. Naval Station

in Great Lakes, Illinois. It is a real place

and I've been in it and damn does that not look

amazing I Just googled an image and yes, it is

indeed. Yeah very much so You know, so he sees

an f -35 fighter coming in hard sucker then it's

not slicker than it's not how cool is that and

Yeah, you know. Great Krypton is scattered cosmic

dust. Sweet Smallville is a child's fairy tale.

A new day dawns in a brave new world. A new challenges

await a new adventure. And Clark Kent is ready.

And that's where we end part one. Man, this was

cool. This was really fun. Yep. It's the first

time that I've enjoyed a new book from Superman.

Yeah in ever Everything that I mean, what is

it? For all seasons and there was one other that

is it'll eventually come into my head But like

those are the only two supermen that I've liked

and this was amazing with that too. I think it's

gonna Shape up real good. And so I what I got

to the you know, my my wife asks me Hey, how

you thinking? What do you think of this? I don't

know yet and then I got to the bully stuff and

as he was dealing with the bullies I Spoke up

a second time. That was it. No, no, it's good

This would be this will be a book that I try

to get her to read just to say Hey, you you're

a geek now. That means you need to read comics,

too Yeah, absolutely I can't wait to read the

other two issues if they're only gonna be three

if these series are only gonna be three issues

This is gonna be awesome for this show and for

us and for everything because I really I'm like

Okay, when's the next one coming out because

yeah, I'm ready at this point. I absolutely love

this I think Miller and Romita do an amazing

job Writing the story drawing the story the colorists

do an amazing jet like putting color It's very

hard to put color to it. It isn't hard. It's

difficult but putting color to the way Krypton

blows up You have to be very careful with that

because it is again. It's such a sacred thing.

It's such a sacred Character kind of thing. Yeah,

man I'm so glad we waited six and a half years

to cover Superman. Cause... Like I said, it's

the best thing that's come out in six years for

Superman, I think. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure the

new 52 stuff is cool. I'm sure the rebirth stuff

is cool. I have not read either one. I don't

know, like... I read both. Superman has never

really been... He's always been TV and movie

for me and the movies leave something to be desired.

Let me tell you but at least the TV stuff has

been Fairly decent what you know like we've been

saying all episode long. We both love Lois and

Clark And all that I would recommend this to

die -hard Superman fans. I would recommend this

to fans that want to try to get into superman

yep because this is such a limited series it's

not like you have to spend eighty years trying

to keep up you can pick this first issue up and

read it and enjoy it and not have to worry about

anything yep and which is that's not how i felt

with new 52 or rebirth i picked those books up

and felt like i was coming in in the middle of

the story and in Three issues. They were dumping

characters. I as a Superman fan They were dumping

characters in but I had never heard of or never

saw before And I got and you know what? No, I

can't there's 30 years of backstory that counts

and I can't catch up with all that so no, but

this is a great place to read Superman Superman

Confidential was the other one. It was another

Jeff Loeb Tim Sale series. And that was the other

good Superman story. It's because they kept it

small. They don't throw giant intergalactic alien

at him in the first two issues of the story.

Go check this out, folks. Please do. If you've

read any Frank Miller or if you've read any John

Romita Jr., or if you've read their stuff before,

you're gonna like this. It's just - You know

what? I gotta say, it's utterly different from

- Yeah. I mean, Frank Miller notoriously doesn't

like Superman the way he treated him in Dark

Knight Returns. He's the obnoxious Reagan -looking

guy, and then - John Romita Jr., I mean, I know

his art mostly from reading Kick Ass and Daredevil.

I think he did a Daredevil run, and I'm not a

big fan of his art, but the writing is respectful

and pays tribute to the character. The art is

softened, and I don't know how much Frank Miller's

actually drawing. I don't see a lot of his art

there. I see mostly Romita, but... But what maybe

if they're working together on these things They're

softening each other and I mean it's that's the

best book It could have been with this team who

I was not I was not optimistic about this book

and I'm very thorough Surprised and pleased I

will actually have a video in the post Was scrolling

through my subscriptions on YouTube and I found

DC Daily episode where Romita is talking about

you know starting this up and doing this so I

will put that in the in the show notes for everybody

to see Can't wait to do more can't wait to do

the other two issues Coming up on the pull bag

in July next time around we've got episode 360

which is going to be the IDW 2020 books which

is celebrating 20 years of IDW publishing. We've

got Ryan on the Star Trek. Basically these are

like five one -shots of various properties that

IDW does. we got ryan the uneven flow murkley

on the star trek one, the hologram girls and

i will be doing jim, other people and i will

be doing ghostbusters, my little pony, and then

joe will be with us for the tmnt book. so that's

coming up in episode 360, 361 joe and i will

be back doing batman tmnt 2 which is the second

arc in the batman tmnt dc idw crossover. Then

another Joe and I a week we're gonna get to kingdom

of rats before you know five years go by Because

we got to catch up because they're it or they

at 98 now we're almost to a hundred yes, so Yep.

And then after that, Autobotly August starts

this year with more spotlight episodes for the

IDW spotlight issues that they had done a few

years ago. So that's what's coming up here inside

the pull bag. Where can the people find you online,

sir? I'm an old fart and can be found on Facebook.

Best way to get me is to facebook .com slash

geek stuff garage sale. Message that page and

it comes directly to my mailbox. Sweet. You've

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