A couple of big-brand video game comics series end this week, but I canāt stop shaking my head at the Superman series that feels like it should never have started.
You all know the origin of Superman, right? Krypton. Rocket. Smallville. Superpowers. Metropolis. Every too often, the powers at be at DC Comics decide that this origin needs re-telling and, better, an update. No, no, he didnāt grow up knowing Lex Luthor. Or, check that, he did. No his parents didnāt die. Or, wait, yes he was Superboy.
They keep tinkering, which would be well and good if not for two things:
1) Iām skeptical that people care enough about the origin to need to see it updated every few years.
2) Iām certain that those of us who grew up with a given origin and enjoyed the stories flowing from it get a little annoyed every time DC decides to essentially clarify how things āreallyā happened, implying that what we read was wrong in some way.
I can enjoy a quick re-cap of the origin, but 1986ās Man of Steel (the one I grew up with) gave way to 2003ās Superman Birthright which is now giving way to 2009/10ās Superman: Secret Origin
Iām an occasional Superman comics reader. I read all of the DC Superman comics published from 1986-1994 or so and then have been reading the new Superman series for the past two years. I understand that Superman comics generally donāt sell that well, not as well as Batman comics, Spider-Man comics or X-Men comics. And so I assume the origin gets retold as a way to hook readers, to maybe finally establish the proper starting point, retroactively, that will make the character more popular to read about.
I donāt get it, though. Superman: Secret Origin #5 is out in shops today, and I do not understand what readers or the characters gain from the series. Little has happened in Secret Origin that radically changes the characterās roots, probably by design, so as not to deviate from the classic origin. But enough has occurred to contradict those earlier origin stories. So much for the Man of Steelās antiseptic and socially isolated version of Krypton for example. Oh, and now he grew up knowing the Legion of Super-Heroes. They flip-flopped on that again.
Iām no fan of prequels, in comics, video games or any other medium and I donāt understand this or any other urge to start fresh again. Canāt they move forward without looking back?
Maybe the video game comics will provide more of a sense of progress. Thereās Mass Effect Redemption #4 (of 4). Summary from Dark Horse Comics:
Liara TāSoniās search for Commander Shepardās abductors comes to an end, but what other shocking discoveries will she make when she finds them? The comics debut of modern sci-fiās greatest epic holds surprises right up to the very end!
With far-reaching repercussions for the Mass Effect saga, this tale of friendship and loyalty in the darkest corners of the galaxy closes with an issue sure to thrill fans new and old!
And thereās a final issue of Super Street Fighter II Turbo #12, via Udon Entertainment:
The final chapter of the 12-issue Turbo maxi-series. All of UDONās Street Fighter stories from the past 7 years have been leading to this momentā¦RYU vs AKUMA! Will Ryu succumb to the Dark Hadou? Will Goukenās murder finally be avenged?
May we not be subjected to some ānecessaryā retelling of the Mass Effect and Street Fighter comics five or 20 years from now. I sure hope theyāre good enough the first time and not in need of updating.
And that is all about the comics shipping this week to comic stores in North America.
