It's not just Newsweek that feels publishing is not what it used to be...
As of Superman issue 13 (which hits stores tomorrow), Clark Kent, quits the The Daily Planet, the Metropolis newspaper that has been his employer since the 1940's. Shouldn't he have received his pension already? Yes, we could talk about reading a text message about Lois Lane and her new boyfriend, or a "new Kryptonian threat" named H'el (for the silly-titled upcoming storline "H'el On Earth" - zoinks that's clever!)
In what is supposed to be a Jerry Maguire-esque moment, and prompted by his boss and the owner of the newspaper getting on his case, Superman quits in front of the whole staff. Writer Scott Lobdell says, "This is really what happens when a 27-year-old guy is behind a desk and he has to take instruction from a larger conglomerate with concerns that aren't really his own. Superman is arguably the most powerful person on the planet, but how long can he sit at his desk with someone breathing down his neck and treating him like the least important person in the world?" So when did comic books become less about capes and tights, and turn into TPS reports?
"Clark's situation is one most any working stiff can relate to, when they've had enough and don't want to take it anymore. And the superhero, who became a journalist in the first place because he wanted to speak out on things he couldn't as Superman, has been in this awkward position of everything he's writing is certainly a shading to keep his identity secret," Lobdell added. "Rather than Clark be this clownish suit that Superman puts on, we're going to really see Clark come into his own in the next few years as far as being a guy who takes to the Internet and to the airwaves and starts speaking an unvarnished truth - he is more likely to start the next Huffington Post or the next Drudge Report than he is to go find someone else to get assignments or draw a paycheck from." Holy shit, that is ridiculous!
After a long love affair with comics, I found myself less interested in them - though I still have a soft spot for some of those costumed characters. And even though DC Comics tend to be shitty in comparison to Marvel (my heroes of choice), this is lame no matter who the publisher is. I read the issue in question, and it is retarded. There's no need for Clark Kent to be concerned about his cover identity, or paying rent in a place with buddy Jimmy Olsen when the first few pages of the story have him in a secret facility near the center of the earth bench pressing 5.972 sextillion metric tons (the approximate weight of the planet)...for five days straight. Really. On those opening panels alone, the rest of the story and premise for Superman to even be Clark Kent is senseless. But hey, at least he's hip enough to see how outdated publishing is - even if unnecessarily updating the character is anything but hip.
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