This fall’s meme seems to be whining about how DC writes its characters.

If you aren’t enjoying what you are reading, then stop reading it. You’ll all be happier when you stop reading whatever it is that is making you all so damned cranky.

I hope she doesn’t move to Metropolis, and I doubt she will. Given how Clark can visit her anytime he likes anyhow, there’s nothing to be gained by the move, and a vibrant setting to be lost.

I just don’t see many writers spending their precious few 22 pages detailing the adventures of Ma Kent; widow.

Any gimmicky move to Metropolis turns it into ‘Everyone Loves Clark’ with his nagging mother living across the apartment hall.

The more I think about it the more I hope she finds a home in Supergirl.

And really, so what if Morrison did it better? By that logic, no one should be telling ANY Superman stories since Alan Moore so ably closed the book on him; no one’s done it better since.

I doubt that at this point there’s much overlap between the readerships of Morrison’s excellent take on Superman and the mediocre take currently on display in the main book. One of the many virtues of All-Star Superman is that it reminds the reader of mediocre Superman comics that it’s possible to make good ones.

Plus, having every superhero obsess over their parent(s) to such and extent that it’s one of their only defining character traits just reinforces the stereotype that the characters themselves are just adolescent proxies that allow underdeveloped kidults to remain chained to a childish perception of their own parents. Seriously, these characters think about mommy and daddy way too much. Think of something more interesting to do.

If that’s not enough reasons to vote thumbs-down, I honestly think DC has some sort of morbid death-fetish where they’re killing off characters because they can’t think of anything better to do with them and they just like doing it.

Plus, as everybody with a brainstem knows, Morrison did it better. Duh.

She’s gonna be marginalized now. I hope they find a place for her in Supergirl.

As for Pa, I’m curious why no one’s compared it to his golden age or Smallville deaths.

PS – even Pa has died and come back before… So; written in stone this is not.

But…

He might still be alive.

Or he might be a clone.

Or Superman might make a deal with the devil where he gets taken back to before he got married, still living in Smallville with Ma and Pa Kent.

Well, once WB reboots Superman for the movies (and hopefully does a good job of it) maybe the books will pull away from the over-the-top Donner love too. Bryan Singer’s already proven it doesn’t make for good Superman in the 21st century.

I don’t think it was “necessary” but I also don’t think it’s “unnecessary.”

I don’t mind it being “spoiled” since anyone reading it already knew it was coming. They’ve been foreshadowing this since Kurt Busiek was on Superman and before that Meltzer JLA and even the Countdown teaser kinda implied something. However, I wonder if anyone outside those already reading the titles would care. Haven’t most Superman fans already seen this in the Movie or in Smallville?

“this is the first time we’ve seen Clark’s father die as a direct result of [Superman] being there. A heart attack seems to be the standard way of killing the character, and it works because it’s something that Clark just cannot prevent. Here, though, said attack is suffered after Jonathan has exerted himself saving Martha from an explosive device launched by Brainiac as a final act of revenge. In other words – if the Kents hadn’t adopted Clark, Jonathan would still be alive.”

The death, to me, seems highly telegraphed, and really nothing more than trying to make the book more like the Richard Donner movie. Grant Morrison all ready did a great Pa Kent death scene in All Star, I don’t feel like one was really needed in Action.