SUPERMAN #702 - Grounded, Part Two

The “Gumping” continues….

I expected this issue to be schmaltzy and more of the same from the bloody awful #701, but I didn’t expect it to be this schmaltzy and awful.

Real quick – this storyline is pointless.  There, I said it!  It is only serving to feed the ego of its, frankly, overrated writer.

The art in the issue is terrific and Eddie Barrows deserves a better story for his work.

As for the “story,” well, it’s more of the boring same from #701.  More preaching from Superman; more interference in the lives of citizens; more odd, preachy dialogue and just inaccurate dialogue.

NOTE to writer J. Michael Straczynski – no one running ball says “I’m clear, man, I’m clear.”  They say, “I’m open.” 

I can’t really comment on any of the settings – the DCU’s Detroit, MI – in the story, since I don’t live there and I’ve never visited there.  I can say it doesn’t look like the Detroit I saw in 8 MILE or in Madonna documentaries or in PRIVATE PARTS.

Supes plays basketball with a bunch of kids and makes the scrub of the bunch look good. That is Superman.  That rang true to me and if the whole issue had been the basketball game, I would have been satisfied. 

But alas, we had more sap from the Man of Steel, as he lectures an alien race in hiding on Earth, the 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN, and preaches to them about immigration, with a forlorn look on his face, then has the aliens save a man dying from a nebulous coughing affliction, thus turning an abandoned factory into a research center where the aliens can use their advanced tech to heal the world.

The dialogue feels forced throughout the issue as if even the author knows it’s nonsense and the story overall feels pointless. 

Even the finale with Lois and Clark chatting felt forced as did the oh so convenient appearance by one Caped Crusader on the last page.

I wonder if Straczynski even knows that it’s Dick Grayson under the cape and cowl and NOT Bruce Wayne, because that makes a difference in the final page. 

Bruce Wayne would be trailing Clark and keeping an eye on him.  Dick Grayson would not.

I fail to see what the people who love this story (and will most likely love this issue) see in the story. 

In-story, it’s pointless.  Supes has not lost touch with the human race.

Outside of the story?  Again, I feel it’s only serving to feed Straczynski’s ego.

I think DCE needs to have Straczynski wrap this ill-conceived story soon, before it does real damage to the character and the book.