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Superman: For Tomorrow Vol.1 HC
This was the second of the two graphic novels I picked up at the library (see previous post for the other one). I will confess that I really has to force myself to do this - I generally find the Big Blue Boy Scout the least interesting of all the really major characters in comics. But, that said, I approached this with an open mind.
I am really glad I did that because I got one of the first stories that has ever interested me in Superman as a person. The story opens with two characters being eaten from the inside out, a priest (Father Daniel) with cancer and Superman with doubt. And that is very much the theme here - how do we carry around with us the knowledge of the consequences of our actions? How do we NOT let ourselves be paralyzed by the fear that the next thing we do could take a person's life? In the case case, Superman's actions cost the lives of 300 000 people.
This causes him to wonder why he does what he does and, indeed, if he even has the right to do what he does despite feeling an enormous obligation to do just that. For Father Daniel, he may have cancer but what is really eating him out is his doubt about his faith and, just like Superman, if he even has the right to do what he does.
The story, at the surface level, is of Superman intervening to find out why his beloved Lois is one of the Vanished. He loses it essentially and makes a number of errors that result in a second Vanishing. Did he act foolishly, blinded by his loss of Lois, or would this have happened any way, regardless of what he did (or didn't do)? Perhaps the bigger question is that although this looks potentially like a misguided selfish action, is his altruism so deep that he covers it up by "pretending" to be selfish? I won't talk too much about the specifics of the story because they are quite routine (for me, at least) - Superman goes fast, defeats incredible foes, carries out feats of amazing strength and prowess and blah, blah, blah. They're the very things that usually turn me off Superman because those things usually occur without the rich personal context we get here.
No, it was all about that very personal side for me and a damn good story at that. I hope Vol. 2 is as good but most of the reviews seem to absolutely savage it so I am not so sure.
I am really glad I did that because I got one of the first stories that has ever interested me in Superman as a person. The story opens with two characters being eaten from the inside out, a priest (Father Daniel) with cancer and Superman with doubt. And that is very much the theme here - how do we carry around with us the knowledge of the consequences of our actions? How do we NOT let ourselves be paralyzed by the fear that the next thing we do could take a person's life? In the case case, Superman's actions cost the lives of 300 000 people.
This causes him to wonder why he does what he does and, indeed, if he even has the right to do what he does despite feeling an enormous obligation to do just that. For Father Daniel, he may have cancer but what is really eating him out is his doubt about his faith and, just like Superman, if he even has the right to do what he does.
The story, at the surface level, is of Superman intervening to find out why his beloved Lois is one of the Vanished. He loses it essentially and makes a number of errors that result in a second Vanishing. Did he act foolishly, blinded by his loss of Lois, or would this have happened any way, regardless of what he did (or didn't do)? Perhaps the bigger question is that although this looks potentially like a misguided selfish action, is his altruism so deep that he covers it up by "pretending" to be selfish? I won't talk too much about the specifics of the story because they are quite routine (for me, at least) - Superman goes fast, defeats incredible foes, carries out feats of amazing strength and prowess and blah, blah, blah. They're the very things that usually turn me off Superman because those things usually occur without the rich personal context we get here.
No, it was all about that very personal side for me and a damn good story at that. I hope Vol. 2 is as good but most of the reviews seem to absolutely savage it so I am not so sure.