Flashback Friday: Grilfrenzy! Superman: Lois Lane #1

DC used to love to do what was called a Fifth Week Event.  There are a slew of these collections of special and themed comics out in the Universe that were produced when a month had five weeks.  The Girlfrenzy! event is no big surprise, focused on female characters.  Some were newbies that were being introduced or fleshed out more as a character, some were like the lead in this book, old stalwarts of the DC Universe.  This is a great solo tale of Lois Lane.

One of the great things about this story is that Lois sees her love Superman in the very start of the book, but he leaves and the adventure is all hers.  It is good to see this intrepid reporter excel at the craft she practices.  It has been easy over the many years of stories with Lois and Superman in them to see her as the "damsel in distress" all to often.  Here we are reminded that the character could anchor her own title.

In the Arctic Wilds we have Lois awaiting a source that never appears.  This has her striking out on her own with the local sheriff and a woman that takes an interest in the polar bears that are missing.  Seems some kids are missing as well.  It turns into a freakish corporate experiment when Lois infiltrates and discovers the secrets of a research station on the ice.  This is a good story and there is a surprise guest that I will not name.  I will hint that it is a secondary DC character.  Lois still controls the spotlight throughout the tale.

This is a must for any Lois Lane fan.  It also is a good comic that you could give to a young female reader to enjoy.  It has a strong female lead and the testosterone fueled art is left off the radar in this one.  A good back issue find if you come across it sometime.

BDS

Flashback Fridays: Action Comics #665

Here is an oddity for you this Flashback Friday.  I bought a four pack of comics at a store called Five Below and had some great mixture of books in there when buying for really only one that I knew I wanted.  This book will probably go into the sale box, but it did give a great story of Lois Lane and her strengths as a character.  It also has a great back-up photo album and remembrances by Ma and Pa Kent.

This must have occurred as the romance that would lead up to the wedding was happening.  We have Clark and Lois supposedly on a date to meet the Kents as a way for Clark to realize Lois might be in trouble.  Seems Lois has gotten a break on a story about stolen military equipment and she makes a decision to jump on a moving truck to follow the story.  It means she never shows for the date.  While we see Lois as the cool reporter it highlights some things that are cool about Clark and his alter-ego Superman.

Clark is able as Supes to read a scribble indention about a person Lois was meeting.  As Clark he interrogates the guy and soon learns what the story is about.  We watch Superman use his powers in interesting ways to find Lois.  He is using heat vision to see the after effects of heat residue.  We watch as he is a CSI unit unto himself.  Of course Lois is eventually out-gunned and out-numbered in the hidden base she has been lead to at the end of the truck ride.  Needless to say that Superman shows up and kicks butt, although Lois stealthily takes the bad guy's gun away when Superman provides a diversion.

This is a cool little story.  The back-up pages are sweet and look at Clark's life through scrapbook pictures.  The talk of the pictures they could not have was endearing as they were shown.  

BDS

MAN OF STEEL (SPOILER ALERT) Comments

SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT There, you should be duly warned.  I want to speak openly about what I liked about this movie and to do that I have to say things about the movie.  So if you have not seen it and you read this and I spoil it for you, THEN why on earth did you read it after I warned you?  Now on to my delayed comments about MAN OF STEEL.  Had a bit of kidney stone issues and felt ooky so I did not get my Saturday comments posted as I wanted.

The first thing I liked was Amy Adams as Lois Lane.  She really made the character her own.  I liked the cute Lois that was still a no-nonsense daredevil reporter.  She held her own in this film with some strong male actors that she had to basically faced down as Lois.  The fact that she tracks down Clark as the mysterious man from her adventure in an alien ship was a great way to refresh this well known story.  It gave her not only smarts, but when the aliens attack and the FBI is wanting to know who the mystery guy is she shows her character by not revealing the info.  Her other big moment comes at the end when Superman kills Zod.  To see Superman kill was a powerful thing, but the aftermath where he is screaming because he has taken a life was perfection.  That perfection was capped off by having Lois appear and cradle the vulnerable man we all know she has come to love.  That was one of the best moments.

I also liked the small flashbacks used in a way to tell the origin without losing the action of the current time.  Each one gave Clark a depth of spirit that endured through Henry Cavill's portrayal.  He looked like the most recent incarnation of Clark Kent (Tom Welling in Smallville) without seeming like a clone.  I loved the way he carried humor in the most simple of ways.  That understated humor allowed for the movie to remain dramatic.  His not being Clark Kent the reporter until the end was just a great way to setup the franchise I am hoping for.  He was a great casting choice.

Letting the action build was a big plus.  It was a problem in SUPERMAN RETURNS.  Here we get the action in two separate ending sequences that both are high powered.  A battle against a Terra-forming device and then the battle royal with Zod.  All this after small action build ups.  It really was a cool movie to just enjoy for the action alone.

My one gripe is with the media who want to always make Superman out to be Messianic in nature.  I never have understood the need they have to try and make every film have the character be Jesus.  Clark shows the fact that he is not by breaking from the chant of Jor-El and going to his Pastor in Smallville to seek advice on what to do when Zod has asked he be delivered or dire consequences will ensue.  I know that there was a big play up on how he was the hope for Krypton, but that does not translate to the sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth.  It is more a showing of how a person can be called upon to follow the teachings of Jesus.

This film made me love seeing Superman on the big screen.  Even in that terrible looking suit.  I loved it.

BDS