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My pick of the week: All Star Superman #5. More genius Silver-Age craziness from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. Superman never really appears in costume during the story--instead it's Clark Kent who plays second fiddle to Lex Luthor. Luthor's in prison, awaiting his turn at the electric chair, and spends some quality time with Kent. Fans of the bumbling, stumbling Clark Kent persona in the Christopher Reeve Superman movies will love the scenes where Kent clumsily falls around Luthor's lab and whimpers when the Parasite goes on a rampage. Despite Luthor's genius, he can't see the resemblance between Superman and his alter ego:
I've always liked you, Kent. You're a humble, modest, uncoordinated human. You're everything He's not.
Even in the end, when Kent's glasses are removed, Luthor still doesn't see it. Throughout the issue, Kent looks more like a puffy, overweight post-adolescent than the Man of Steel. Due to Quitely's rendition, you wouldn't think they are the same person, either.
There's no mistaking the allegory in the final pages of the story: Luthor's sending Superman on a trip to hell. Is it just me, or does Luthor resemble Grant Morrison in a few panels? Nuff said.
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