Comments on: Farewell to an Old Friend

By: Chris B.

Chris B. — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 03:47:06 +0000

I get it…Grant penned it, but DC ordained it.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:40:56 +0000

Sort of, yes. The official death occurred in Final Crisis #1, written by Grant Morrison — but it was merely part of a bigger story. In Final Crisis: Requiem, we see the whole event, the aftermath, the reactions from the rest of the heroes, and the funeral. The Requiem issue was written by Peter J. Tomasi. To be fair to Morrison, it seems that DC is handling its main books much like a TV show does, where he is but one of a team of writers that plot the entire direction of all the books. Although he might script certain issues, there’s a team of writers working out the major plot points ahead of time for most of DCs main books, especially the “Crisis” line.

If thats not confusing enough, I don’t think I can help you

By: Chris B.

Chris B. — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:05:29 +0000

Hey Mike, was Morrison the guy that killed him?

By: brodie

brodie — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:41:34 +0000

wow, the folks at dc did not do j’onn justice. the image of him that always came though the cartoons was less than he really was.
maybe we will get a re-imagined martian manhunter that follows the more noble qualities of this story in the future.

the tolkien quote is right on.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:14:23 +0000

Thanks, Chris, I really enjoyed writing this, for those reasons. Yeah, I think the Christ parallel is very strong in J’onn’s story, just as it is in Superman’s. No matter what your beliefs are, I think the Christ figure is a powerful idea in our culture, one that strikes us to the core — the ideas of sacrifice, grace, and love in spite of rejection are common themes in a lot of superhero lore, not to mention a lot of science fiction and fantasy classics. Something about the Christ imagery resonates with our souls, inspires us, and moves us to greatness, no matter what faith you have (or don’t have). Tolkien described it by saying that some ideas are so true, such a deep part of the human condition, that they weave their way into almost all kinds of art and culture in one way or another.

Thats my two cents anyway.

By: Chris B.

Chris B. — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:13:31 +0000

Wow…some of the things you say about him remind me of….dare I say it…Jesus Christ. Not all of the characteristics, of course (anger and distrust), but many of the others certainly brought him to mind. Nice eulogy, Mike.