Man of Steel: The Comics Community Responds

We’ve already told you how Mark Waid and Chris Haley, two well-known Superman super-fans, responded to seeing a screening of Man of Steel. And there’s been exhaustive reporting on the critical response to the film, including our own response which was that we thought it was the best comic book movie ever made.But what’s the consensus in the comics community, now that the opening weekend is through and the dust has settled a bit?Well, as with critics and audiences, it seems as though no clear consensus has yet come into focus. Here are some thoughts on the film from a sampling of comics industry professionals…Ethan Van Sciver: “MAN OF STEEL!!!! I loved every moment of it! Cavill was a surprisingly great Superman. My favorite superhero.”Kevin Maguire: “Words may not be able to express how profoundly disappointed I was with Man Of Steel. I can’t tell you much I wanted to love it, how much I wanted to love ANY new Superman movie. Except for the second to last line in the movie, there was no wit to it. There was no charm, no warmth,elements which Iron Man and The Avengers had in spades.They rushed through his upbringing so that you have no real empathy with the character. As the big action climax is taking place, I couldn’t care less what happened to anyone. Compare that to the new Star Trek, which got you to care about what happened to the characters. The plot was ridiculous! (WHY did Zod want Lois on his ship? Was there ANY credible explanation for that?) It just depresses me further that they gave the sequel and,even more horrifying, a Justice League movie to Goyer. When I walked out of Green Lantern, I was perplexed and bummed, but with this one, I’m flat out angry.”Dan Jurgens: “Loved it. And you all know what I’m talking about. I was way more troubled by Superman being a deadbeat dad and sleazy voyeur in Superman Returns than anything in Man of Steel. For everyone asking about my thoughts on specific MOS stuff, I’ll get into that in a week or so, once everyone has a chance to see it. Don’t want to be a spoiler, but I liked the movie. A lot.”Ron Marz: Lots of thoughts about Man of Steel — not perfect, but highly entertaining, and Cavill is superb — but don’t wanna spoil anything. So Ima keep my mouth shut until everybody’s had a chance to take see Man of Steel. But definitely go see it.Erik Larsen: I liked it. I think a person can’t help but read stuff into it though. I can see why some walked away thinking it was bleak. I got a relentless sense of optimism out of it. I found it somewhat charming. Even after having life shit on him he was a good guy. I had quibbles but generally–I enjoyed it.Gail Simone: I really enjoyed it. Some of it was magnificent.In some ways, it’s a Superman movie for people who aren’t fans of Superman, and I do understand that. But some classic Superman elements are not included at all.HOWEVER, there’s a lot that rocks. I am not a Russell Crowe fan and his Jor El scenes are a completely joy to watch and experience. A lot of the heart and brains of the early scenes are just purely Jor El.Second, there’s a character on the bad guys side that I adore so much, they just did an amazing job. You will know who it is when you see the film. This person steals every scene they are in, even with very few lines. I want to write them IMMEDIATELY.There are things that miss the mark. But I enjoyed the hell out of it.And it has maybe the best soundtrack I have heard in years. I was in awe of the music.Gonna see it again. I was very much worried, but I think they have produced a unique, complete vision. It’s not the comics Superman. If you go there expecting that, you may be disappointed. But I found it a really entertaining vision with some stealthy emotional moments that hit hard, even after the movie is over.David Lapham: Still say overall, I was entertained more than I was with Avengers. One of my first thoughts was Krypton was drab and colorless. Second thought. It’s not my Krypton it’s Snyder’s so let it go. Second thought. Warrior/Scientist is not an occupation. Funniest part of the movie to me was after they introduced the lame Kevin Costner character and he’s mad at his son for not letting a bus full of kids die because he’s scared what people may think, by wife leans over and says “I should know son I built a baseball field in the corn once.”So dad dies and abandons his family all to save the dog?!? Dad clearly hated his family.And many, many more…