Its Superman!

[Adonisus]

Superman never made any money/ saving the world from Solomon Grundy
And sometimes I despair/ the world will never see another man/ like him.
- Crash Test Dummies

Ya know, it may seem silly in hindsight, but believe it or not people really DID believe that DC was ready to kill Superman in the (in)famous "Death of Superman" story arc in the mid 90s. When he finally kicked the bucket in Superman #75, it was the only time in American comics history that people actually lined up outside of comic book stores in order to get ahold of the issue. Superman's death reminded everyone of just how important he had become not just to American pop culture, but to the American psyche. He was no longer just a strongman in tights, he had become a Christ figure who represented everything that was good and moral about humanity (even though he himself was not human). Even the story of Superman's creation is in and of itself a saga of epic proportions. Created by author Jerry Siegel and cartoonist Joe Schuster, he premiered in 1938 in Action Comics #1 (now the most valuable comic book issue in existence) and instantly won his way into the hearts of people the world over.

It is a credit to not only Superman himself, but also Siegel and Schuster that such a character could become the center of a critically-acclaimed literary novel......



The author of this book, Tom DeHaven, is a man well versed in the pop culture, particularly its comics culture of early 20th century America. A life long comic book fan, he has said publicly that the storytelling stylings of comic books was a huge influence on his writing style. He eventually became famous for writing a series of historical noir novels dubbed The Funny Papers trilogy, called so because of its thematic fascination with comic strips and cartooning. DeHaven was first contacted by DC Comics about writing a Superman novel in 1997. He was apprehensive, to say the least. He would later say:"Should I do a novel with a character that I don’t own? So I had to think about it, but I didn’t think about it very long, really. I just thought...this is too good to let go...they were giving me carte blanche." The resulting novel was published in 2005 to critical and commercial success.



First things first: Although this is a Superman novel and Kal-El is indeed the center of the plot, this novel is just as much about 1930s America as it is about Superman. DeHaven also brings things a little closer to reality by putting Clark Kent in New York instead of its fictional analogue Metropolis.

Much of the Superman-centric story takes place before Clark Kent takes on the Superman persona. Much like any other young man, Clark Kent is an awkward individual who is driven to do good, yet somehow can never quite figure out what he's supposed to do. Despite his origins and his extraordinary abilities, he is just as human as the people who've adopted him. He suffers from the same emotions, the same insecurity, and the same existential crisis about one's place in the universe. He also has a recurring dream about a dying planet and a scientist and his wife putting their son in a rocket. We know of his eventual future, yet we still can relate to Clark's angst.

The other two characters of the Superman mythos trinity, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, are also here. Lois is just as she has always been: a feisty and independent woman who will do anything to get the story. Lex Luthor is an alderman/mad scientist in charge of his own company, LUTHOR Corp (in this way combining both Golden Age and Modern Age versions of Luthor into one person). Lois's importance to Superman is heavily stressed in the novel: It is his love for her that reminds him of the goodness in humanity and why he wants to protect it.

But there's an original character in this book that acts as the link between the fiction of Superman's world and the reality of our world, one Willie Berg. Berg is a photographer and the ex-boyfriend of Lois Lane. Willie is also Clark Kent's best friend in the world, and the man that would eventually introduce him to Lois. Willie is also imporant in helping Clark create his alter-ego. In the context of the novel, Willie Berg is the personification of the reader: like us, he is witness to history being made and is incidental in the making of said history. He is the one who is in awe of Superman, yet also responsible for making him what he would eventually become.



Make no mistake, this is NOT a tie-in novel. This is a serious work of literature by a serious literary author whose love for the character and the medium that created him is without question. It tells not only of Superman himself, but of the time and place in which he appeared. Some have even gone so far as the equate the early chapters of the novel with The Grapes of Wrath.

I'm hard pressed to disagree with them.

[Rieza]

interesting *strokes chin fur*