Link To Miracle Monday

Miracle Monday

The Last Son Of Krypton

This novel involves Albert Einstein in Superman's origin story but otherwise reflects the comics continuity of the late 70's:

the Kents were elderly when they found Kal-El;
they retired from farming to run a shop and died when Clark was a teenager;
he was Superbaby and Superboy before Superman;
Lana's mother edited the Smallville newspaper;
Jules and Arlene Luthor, their teenage son, Lex, and their infant daughter, Lena, moved into a house on Merrillees Lane, Smallville, in the week when Superboy revealed himself;
Galaxy Communications has bought the Daily Planet which now operates from the sixth floor of the Galaxy building;
Morgan Edge, president of Galaxy Communications, has made Clark Kent a TV news reader and editor;
Steve Lombard is a sports broadcaster;
Lex Luthor regularly alternates between prison and a penthouse hideout;
Clark simulates incompetence;
Superman has FTL interstellar capacity;
the galaxy is full of both humanoids and alien ET's;
Superman can press coal into diamond;
Krypton's sun is Antares;
it is not called "Rao";
the Guardians of the Universe have deprived one of their number of immortality.

The Three Story-Telling Media

Hearing and sight are our main senses for learning and communicating. Metaphorically, we hear the word and see the light. Literally, we hear spoken words and see written words and pictures although, in Braille, written words are felt. Extra speakers and actions transformed heard narrative into seen and heard drama although radio drama is merely heard. Although one picture can sometimes tell a story, a sequence of pictures can tell a longer story. Therefore, extra pictures transformed representational art into sequential art. The three story-telling media are:

narrative - sung/chanted/spoken or written/printed;
drama - stage, street, screen, radio/audio;
sequential art - mainly comic strips.

A story is narrated, enacted or depicted;
characters are described, performed or drawn;
a novel tells readers what to imagine;
a film script tells actors what to say and do and instructs cameramen;
a comic script tells a penciller what to draw, a letterer what to write and a colorist how to color - the pencilled page shows the inker what to ink.

The complete synthesis might be a screened comic strip in which some panels can be animated with sound. The audience would see static and moving pictures and read and hear words, thus fully engaging both senses.

Batman-Superman SPOILERS

What's not to like?

There is good continuity from The Man Of Steel.

Supes sees Bats as a vigilante and Bats, like Luthor, sees Supes as an alien threat.

We see what it would be like to be in Metropolis during a superhero fight - like being in New York on 9/11. Buildings collapse. Something fast flies past.

Luthor:

starts rich with hair but winds up bald in prison;
researchs methumans;
creates Doomsday from his and Zod's DNA;
gets Superman's attention by pushing Lois off a building;
knows of an approaching interstellar threat - who?

Zod makes a difference even when dead.

These are only first impressions.