What? I just find plugging The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast to be a good tension breaker. You prefer fisticuffs under the Queensberry rules, you gaggle of ruffians?

If we are agreeing to the idea that the Red Sun of Krypton makes Superman less “super,” and that the Yellow Sun makes all Kryptonians MORE “super” because of how brightly it glows, then it’s true that the white and blue suns would make them even MORE strong. (In fact, I just reviewed a Super Friends story where Aquaman, Zan, and Gleek all get super-powers becuase they are stranded under a Blue Sun.) Blue flames burn stronger and more consistently than yellow flames, which is why blue flames (via natural gas) are used in science labs all over the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification

The whole thing was supposed to be playful and in the cold light of text it might not be seen that way. My bad.

With the exception of the INFINITE CRISIS part I disagree with this statement on just about every level. Superman and Batman are different characters and how you handle their dynasty and dramatic developments must be treated and judged differently as well. It’s kind of weird too because the two characters were kind of the inverse of each other. The Earth-2 Batman had relatively few appearances while his daughter was not only a member of the JSA but also had a lengthy back up feature in WONDER WOMAN. The Earth-2 Superman had a lengthy feature first as a back up and then as an ongoing feature in SUPERMAN FAMILY while his cousin was a member of the JSA but only had a three issue stint in SHOWCASE to show for her solo efforts. So as far as a dynasty they are pretty well matched and in terms of dramatic events…Superman’s not going to have the tragic events piled on to more tragic events because that’s not his bag. Having a life with Lois…having some push back from his cousin…that works for Superman.

And as far as the whole “go Shusteresque or go home” thing…well, that’s just silly. Just because everyone didn’t pull a Bogdanove doesn’t make it a grating image. Between Perez and the Boring/Ordway team I think that character looked dynamic, exciting and just plain awesome.

You write that you have reevaluated the Byrne Superman revamp and found it wanting. What haven’t you found wanting in your reevaluations? That seems to be your thing.

P. I used to confuse Super-Chief and Apache Chief, but I read up on them, and now I don’t do that anymore. Red Wolf remains the coolest Native American super-hero who wears an animal’s skull on his own head.

Q. I like Supergirl’s origin and it’s very nifty seeing Jim Mooney draw the least Jim Mooney costume and have that work. Solid logo, too. I want to go back and read The Maid of Might’s Pre-Crisis adventures, but every time I’ve tried, I find them very ungood, so it’s no wonder Dick Giordano dropped the blade on her neck. It’s possible Mooney “came back” to DC because he was considering whether or not to retire from comics in the early ’80s, and infamous E.I.C. Jim Shooter passive-aggressively left him a note that succinctly stated “Retire.”

R. I never appreciated Earth-2 Superman, who lacked the dynasty and dramatic developments found amidst the Batman Family of that world, plus Infinite Crisis. Even the Boring/Ordway team grates, because go Shusteresque or go home when it comes to the Golden Age Man of Steel. (Was Jon Bogdanove in the industry yet? Only just, at Marvel.) Earth-1 is the “real” Superman, in that he had all the core lore during his watch, and the concept of Superman never recovered from the loss of so many hallmarks of generations of fans. Even though I wondered why there was so much stock art in the entry, and noted the JLGL praise and even the serious digital “clean up,” dummy me was still taken in by Xum until I got home and opened my copy of XXII. I was quite taken by John Byrne’s relaunch when it was coming out, but I’ve since reevaluated its impact and overall quality, finding it wanting in the extreme. The combination of Curt Swan and Byne doesn’t work, either. I agree with Shag about Super-free JLAs.

S. Don’t find the Bissette/Totleben Swamp Thing entry as appealing as you guys. While I respect the changes made to the character, my interest has always rested with the early Wein/Wrightson material. The later version looks messy and the surprint seems like a sketchbook hash.

T. Luke Cage and Black a Lightning books had an unparalleled ability to generate awful lame-o villains with ugly costumes and names that are just dumb variations on kewl stuff like knives and poisons. Still, this was the golden period of Trevor VonEeden art, so he could even make Syonide seem viable.

Chris