Welcome to the sixth episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.
Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.
This week your hosts, Jeffrey Taylor and Michael Bailey, examine the books that came out with the cover date of April 1987, which included Superman #4, Adventures of Superman #427 and Action Comics #587. This episode runs about an hour and a half not only because of the commentary about Superman #4 and Adventures #427 but also because for the first time Mike and Jeff dip into the “mailbag” of sorts. If you like hearing the e-mails and general feedback let the boys know either way because it will add some time to the episodes. Also if you would like them to have a name for this feature (such as Kryptograms or Metropolis Mailbag or Re: Action) comment below and they’ll take it under consideration. Other than that there’s the first appearance of Bloodsport, Superman’s war on terrorism and a time spanning adventure with the Demon.
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Seriously, let us know what you think.
More to follow…
As always, I’ve been waiting for this week’s episode with anticipation — things are really picking up, both in the comics and with the podcast. I’ve shared the links with several friends, and even those who aren’t diehard Super-fans have enjoyed what you’ve done thus far. Thanks again for your time and effort in putting everything together.
Some random thoughts:
1. The image of baby Kal-El talking to his parents calls to mind the Qur’an’s depiction of an infant Jesus talking to Mary (to deny his divinity — I don’t have a copy of the Qur’an in front of me, but I believe it is in Sura 3?) I wonder if the writers and artists were aware of this Qur’anic passage, since they are playing with the idea that (within the hallucination) Kal-El was meant to be, not a messiah, but a conqueror.
2. When “Smallville,” at the end of the second season, had Clark believing that Jor-El had sent him to Earth not to serve humanity but to rule it, I found that a really intriguing “twist” on the traditional Superman mythos — not having read Byrne’s work, I had no idea it had been done before! Has it ever been developed, or even established as truth? I know my DK “Visual Guide to Superman” makes some reference to it, but then doesn’t elaborate on it. I think it would make a really cool new backstory for Superman, if his parents actually *had* sent him to Earth to be a conqueror. It would add a further level of internal conflict to the character.
3. Never apologize for a Huey Lewis reference! 🙂
4. Is it really sexist simply to acknowledge an attractive woman? Have we really gone that far into PC? You didn’t slobber over her or anything (at least not on your podcast)! I agree about the praise for Joan Alexander — and I had not heard of her death, so I am sorry to hear of it.
5. “I am curious/black” — Ugh. What a story. I know it was well-intentioned, but well-intentioned racism is still racism.
Keep up the good work, guys! 🙂