One of my friends got back from a vacation some days back and, knowing of my interest in graphic novels, told me of a book that one of her friends back home had gifted her. "It's called It's a Bird", she said. I hadn't heard of it, but I asked to see it. She brought it to me the following day.
When I looked at the cover, I hesitated. There was an illustration of people with red 's' emblems on them. I was slightly taken aback. The title fell into context - this was a Superman comic.
Like just about everybody I know, I've read several Superman comics over the years. Yet, if I were asked what Superman meant to me, I'd be hard put to come up with a satisfactory answer - especially to myself. In the early years, he was just busy beating up the baddies. Then he started seeing (and eventually marrying) Lois Lane and the comics drifted into exploring what a personal relationship to him might be like. I especially hated this particular phase since, to me, it was no different from the various soaps on TV. I guess my thoughts on the character were something along the lines of "I'm growing up; why doesn't he?".
And I stopped reading Superman comics altogether. Nothing the man did interested me; there was simply no connect. If it were a romance, I guess I'd say we were stagnant and decided to part ways. That should give you a clue about the mindset with which I set about reading It's a bird.
It's a Bird is not like any Superman comic I've ever read. It's not concerned with what Lex Luthor is up to, or how many baddies Superman is beating up, or what Lois Lane is doing. It's written from My point of view as a person who has read Superman, and stopped.
Written by Steven T. Seagle and illustrated by Teddy Kristiansen, the story is a biography of Steve (not the writer). Steve is a comic book writer who's been asked to write the next Superman comic. And does he jump at the chance? No. He wants nothing to do with it. He hates Superman - and I don't just mean the comic. Steve dislikes the very concept of a Superman. As you can imagine, Steve's editor is very surprised by his refusal to write Superman, and tells him that he won't accept "Because I don't like him" as an answer, giving Steve a few days to think it over.
Everywhere Steve goes, he encounters people who love Superman and is surprised by Steve's dislike. The story progresses in 3 parallel flows. One consists of intermittent flashbacks to Steve's childhood which holds a dark and shameful family secret and is the story of one day he spent at a hospital when his grandma passed away. A second one follows the present, where Steve meets various people, goes home to meet his mother, fights with his girlfriend, looks up college classmates, speaks to a mechanic, colleagues in the industry and other events in his daily life.
The third flow, peppered across the story, are Steve's thoughts on Superman. His introspection on the man and his analysis from a purely characterization point of view. While Seagle has expertly weaved the three threads together, this third is my favorite. The analysis done is largely common sense. It's what you and I already know, but have possibly never consciously pulled together. Steve's politics also come out very clearly, especially when he breaks down the concepts of power, justice and alienation, and how the world continues to work on a "might is right" philosophy. Even more interesting is his breakdown of how the Superman creators were Jews themselves and why possibly they thought of a Superman character as important in the world, and reflects on the choice of costume colors.
If you still need another reason to read this book, then consider that Kristiansen won an Eisner for his art in the book. Although done in dull colors, the artwork reflects the mood of the story perfectly. Everywhere Steve goes, he finds some sort of support for Superman, usually in the form of someone wearing an 'S' t-shirt to a point where even the reader starts to empathize with Steve's irritation with the subject. Yet its completely called for and adds and extra star to the already strong storyline.
Do let me know if any of you have read this one and what you thought of it.
