Superman Who?

Superman: Reign of Doomsday: written by Paul Cornell; illustrated by Axel Jiminez, Pete Woods, Kenneth Rocafort, Jesus Merino, and others (2011): It wasn't until I found out that writer Paul Cornell has had a long professional relationship with the Doctor Who franchise that it all clicked: his Superman is a super-powered Doctor Who. Or perhaps vice versa.

In any case, Cornell's Superman refuses to kill, has hope that even his enemies can change, and tries to solve problems without violence. And he occasionally explains himself to both enemies and allies in somewhat lengthy speeches.

This is really Cornell's riff on the Bronze Age, pre-Crisis Superman of the late 1970's and early 1980's, a hero who was the smartest guy in the room but didn't rub it in anyone's face. Superman even holds out hope that Lex Luthor and even the creature that killed Superman in 1992, Doomsday, can learn to be better beings. It's a much more expansive vision of Superman than that seen in the rebooted Justice League or across much of DC's New 52. Of course, this collection, along with the Chris Roberson-penned conclusion to the Grounded arc, is the last adventure of the post-Crisis, pre-New 52 Superman. That we know of, anyway.

The art is solid throughout on the main story, despite the rotating cast of artists. Superman must first deal with a Luthor who's achieved infinite power and then clean up the mess left by Luthor -- namely, several clones of Doomsday, a bizarre inter-dimensional spaceship, a kidnapped Superman Family, and a world-killing object heading towards Earth at near-light velocities. All in a day's work.

Cornell's Superman is a pretty interesting fellow, but not in that vengeful, dark way that so many of the world's aging superhero-comic-book readers crave from the distorted versions of their favourite heroes of childhood. This Superman really would probably have a great adventure with one Doctor Who or another, though there'd have to be one episode or one issue that would basically play out as the science-fictional equivalent of My Dinner with Andre.

There are also some short stories penned by other writers and artists from the 700th issue of Action Comics. They're interesting in parts, but it's Cornell who really shines here, along with his collaborators. Recommended.

2009: The 25 Things That Entertained Me Most

TV and film:

J.J. Abrams and company for Star Trek, Fringe and Lost: No previous producer/director has had the trifecta that Abrams had in 2009. He rebooted a moribund franchise (Star Trek) with a big-grossing film that most critics loved. His new show (Fringe) quickly earned a cult following and critical love. And Lost barreled towards its final season with a time-twisting penultimate season that I thought was its best since Season 1. That's entertainment!

Torchwood: Children of Earth: The Doctor Who spin-off only appeared in 2009 as a five-part miniseries. But what a miniseries! While the bleakness of the show's view of politicians may put some people off (and win others over, of course), Torchwood nonetheless holds out hope for the better angels of humanity's nature as well. In this case, a shock ending really does shock in the horror of its necessity.

Doctor Who: The End of Time Parts 1 and 2: Some Who fans found the end of David Tennant's run as the Doctor a bit self-indulgent -- he gets the longest goodbye in Doctor Who history. Actually, it may be longer than the goodbyes of all previous Doctors combined. Nonetheless, this two-part movie wraps up a lot of threads from the previous five years, and finally fills in more of the reasons behind the Doctor's trauma over the Time Lord/Dalek Time War that occurred some time just before the series rebooted in 2005.

NBC's Thursday night comedy block: Or at least The Office, Parks and Recreation, and 30 Rock. It's somewhat fluky that the three best network comedies are all set at dysfunctional workplaces.

Elvis Costello's Spectacle with...: The interviews are usually fascinating and the musical sequences quite good. The greatest episode of the debut year of Costello's music interview show had to be the Police episode, which demonstrated, if nothing else, how much Sting dislikes Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland, and vice versa. Costello, who once upon a time mocked Sting for his "ridiculous [Jamaican] accent" on early Police songs, gets in some subtle shots.

Super Bowl XLIII: Not the best Super Bowl ever, but possibly the one with the most super-duper plays (Larry Fitzgerald's two 4th quarter TD catches that brought the Arizona Cardinals back from 13 down, Santonio Holmes' tightrope catch to win the game for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and James Harrison's epic 100-yard interception return for a TD to end the first half. Whew!)

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report: Losing George Bush as a rich source of laughs actually seems to have reinvigorated Stewart, Colbert, their writers, performers and most guests. The ongoing ridiculous acts and speech acts of politicians, pundits, Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and various celebrities provide enough fodder for a dozen satirical news shows.

Pushing Daisies Season 2: Brian Fuller's dandy, whimsical fantasy series lost all of its early traction in 2008's writer's strike and never reclaimed it. Still, a delightful romp.

Reaper Season 2: The funniest supernatural series since G vs. E seemed to be cancelled simply because the CW suddenly started trying to woo more of the Gossip Girl crowd. So sad.

Nurse Jackie Season 1: Edie Falco is terrific as a self-destructive, self-sacrificing, snarky and cynical nurse with a prescription drug addiction. Probably the densest half-hour on TV right now.

Up in the Air, directed by Jason Reitman, starring George Clooney and Vera Farmiga: A nearly pitch-perfect comedy for adults.

Watchmen, directed by Zac Snyder, starring Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley and a cast of dozens: Not nearly as great as the comic, but still the most thoughtful superhero movie ever made.

I Love You, Man starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segal: Goofiest buddy comedy of the year, with the added bonus of an extended Lou Ferrigno cameo and an odd subplot involving Canadian rock legends Rush.


Music:

Them Crooked Vultures, self-titled debut: An unholy synthesis of Led Zeppelin, mid-70's Bowie and a number of other 70's rock bands from Dave Grohl and friends.

Pearl Jam's Backspacer: They seem to have been around forever, but Pearl Jam has never rocked out quite so much as they do on this, their 300th album or so. "The Fixer" was fun, but so is the rest of the album.

The Beatles Remastered: Finally, and cheaper than the previous CD versions have been since they came out in the early 1990's.

CBC Radio 2: Pretty much the only broadcast radio station I listen to. The live material after 7 p.m. is probably the highlight of the programming day.


Print, comics, and web:

Slate: Yes, I use the Washington Post's web spin-off for a lot of my news and analysis. And you should too.

The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons. Hilarious and wonkily informative.

Unknown Soldier by Joshua Dysart, Alberto Ponticelli and others. The best war comic with a recurring protagonist ever created. I'm not even sure what I'd put second.

The Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross. Superlative metafantasy for ll you kids who've outgrown Harry Potter.

Cold, Hard Football Facts: The most incisive and occasionally sarcastic football analysis on the Web.

Batman and Robin by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely and Philip Tan: Bruce Wayne seems to be dead, so the first Robin -- Dick Grayson -- retires his Nightwing persona and takes up the mantle of the Batman. And because he's got some self-doubt, Batman becomes human again. It's too bad Bruce Wayne is slated to return later this year.

Irredeemable by Mark Waid and Peter Krause: Revisionist superhero horror. The Plutonian, Earth's greatest and most-beloved superhero, goes on a genocidal rampage. Why? And how can he be stopped?

Urban Gothic by Brian Keene: One of the bloodiest, most grotesque horror novels you're likely to ever read, Gothic reinvigorates the 'dumb teens menaced by bloodthirsty freaks' subgenre.

Under the Dome by Stephen King: Well, I liked it. Also, it's superheavy so you can use it as a doorstop or a weapon.