Woo, the early 20th century, when everything was awesome!

[seriousfic]

Look, guys, Superman started off as a vaguely socialist vigilante (socialist means "arresting people who are breaking the law," right?) and Wonder Woman started off as a walking bondage fetish. Who cares if those are traits that have been phased out through decades of storytelling and experimentation, to become a character that is "popular" or "recognizable"? Every character should be like they are the very first time they're presented. That's why everyone hates shows where characters grow and change. Mention "character development" to any writer, you'll be lucky to get out of there without a split lip. Why do you think people watch Glee?

So, Batman should clearly kill criminals, with guns, and not have a Robin, since that's the way he started out. And James Bond should hate women, gays, and minorities, since that's the way he started out.

Comments

[fengi.livejournal.com]

I get what you are saying, but I think Morrison is presenting this vaguely socialist vigilante as an immature, more alien Superman down to the unfinished costume. I think he's intentionally flawed, a tad creepy with smoking eyes and too rash with his strength (he breaks an abusive husband's hips and ribs). It's not as overt as it could be, but that may be DC's restraint and Morrison's rushed writing.

What Superman extracts with his approach ends up being bad intel, part of Luthor's trap, which calls such methods into question - it would have worked better except Morrison kind of botched the chain of events (it seems like a scene is missing or out of order). When Luthor calls Superman an invasive species, it's both a critique of anti-immigrant rhetoric (SandS called Superman an immigrant) yet Supes' extra-judicial and -terrestrial behavior plays into that.

I do think it's a rush job for all the themes Morrison was trying to convey, and Rags Morales art is ill suited to convey subtext as he seems incapable of drawing faces consistently from panel to panel. But as a reflection of brash youthful populism - both positive and negative - Action #1 ends up being a nostalgia trip with a touch of inadvertent timeliness.