Excellent and insightful piece of writing, Jog.
Agreed. Great book, great analysis, and I really wish there was more coming soon. Is anyone going to be capable of matching Quitely's work here?
Great review.
I too immediately thought of DC: One Million and Superman's making his home in the sun.
Does anyone know if Quietly's full page drawing of Superman in the sun is based on anything? It looks ... familiar ... but I can't place it.
And I'll have to go back and review DC: One Million to remind myself what ever happens to Lois Lane. Right now the ending is kind of bittersweet - you get this feeling that she will wait for him forever and they're NEVER going to get together. But of course they did in DC: One Million - just can't remember how.
Jog, I liked how you pointed out Superman's beat down of Luthor just as the villain appeared to be "growing" in humanity.
I didn't quite catch that upon the first read, but I like your take on Morrison's leaving us with some "gentle ambiguity". What might have happened had Luthor kept those powers? Would he have remained corrupted, or finally renounced greed and selfishness and pursued the path of light?
All in all this has been a fantastic trip with Morrison, although I do feel the sporadic releases of the issues (what's it been, about two and a half years since the #1 hit the stands?) hurt the pacing.
It won't when you get the inevitable hardcover, as I'm hoping to do off some Republican on the internet I made a bet with over Barack Obama's HOPE powers banishing his favoured crustacean. Ideally with a note on the back of a printout of that pic of Barry in front of the statue that simply says 'Sorry'; yeah, you know the pic, Smallville.
Anyway, I'm prone to claim anything's secretly about parenthood these days but certainly ASS - wasn't it really all about fertility and empowerment, osmotically passed by, ironically, ASSman's phallogocentric presence; a reclamation of confused male virtue with things like 'kindness' added? Little supermen like pollen. It ends with an artificial womb, which seems a particular fave of Morrison's. Don't tell me it wasn't now.
#12 seems oddly structured, viewed in isolation, yeah: I think the crux is dad, other-dad, telling Kal that sometimes being a man means you're going to have to do something even though you really don't want to do it, even though it will break your heart, because it has to be done. That is the final lesson, to complement Jonathan Kent's. There's some kinda natal symbolism there too with the exploding paradise garden - I find that panel really moving, actually.
Beautiful review, Jog. For me, the sporadic nature of this series has been one of its high points. The fact that this book was never a given at a specific time of the month made me slow down and pay attention to the damned thing. Plus, rereadings as I wait for the next one are never a bad thing. In this form where stories never really end, the sense of a complete statement being made about one of these timeless characters without the limits of "someone else coming along" is really special. This is Morrison's Superman and no one else will touch it.
"...where a statue stands in a park like in Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, although Morrison's story doesn't turn on any loss of powers from this world - just the opposite."
I saw the opening Jor-El/Kal-El dialogue as a gentle nod to "For the Man Who Has Everything," as well.
The full-page shot of Superman also strikes a chord with me -- Fritz Lang's Metropolis?
Very very nice, Jog... I need to re-read the whole series, now.
The image is central to Diego Rivera's Detroit frescos, and can be seen in a lot of socialist and syndicalist imagery. Which leads to another way to read the 'empowerment of a new humanity' theme Jog so excellently illuminates here...
Uzumeri's piece on All-Star Superman at funnybookbabylon.com is also thought provoking and worth reading.
Where did you get your ASS 12? Mine was one of the defective ones with the usual Grant Morrison passive-aggressive non-ending that didn't come close to matching the expectations built up over the run.
Just as the new Batman & The Outsiders announced that BATMAN RIP will follow suit.
Don't know about you, Philistine, but I got mine at my usual vendor. Not a hitch to it.
I'm sorry you're having issues with yours. Maybe you can get it fixed or traded in for a new copy?
I've loved this series and seeing Morrison tie up the threads so closely with his One Million work really made me smile. I think it's clear that at least in this spun off little corner of the universe the Superman "2" logo is clearly going to be Superman Secundus mentioned in JLA One Million (check out the combined softcover) and a perfect extension for the annuals.
Also, I am thoroughly digging the fact that Morrison seems - SEEMS - to have broken through the issue he suffered with in New X-men regarding his inability (not being allowed by editorial) to advance these foundation properties and tell NEW stories. Clearly he has moved Superman FORWARD.
I think it also bears mention that Morrison seems to have escaped the "great ending-weak ending" that arguably has plagued his mainstream superhero work from JLA to New X-Men. Editorial freedom or something more?
Perhaps the problem is on your end, Philistine. You should get checked out.
I think Quintum is both Luthor's mirror image and literally Luthor himself, having been reformed by Superman and traveled back in time to set things right. After all, what are Superman's last words to Luthor? "You could have saved the world *years ago* if you really wanted to." So he changed that X to an O, grabbed himself a pair of glasses (I hear they make a great disguise) and jumped back to start over without the baggage of his former life. Superman, who never stopped believing Luthor could be reformed, is never wrong, and always wins in the end.
That's an interesting idea I never would have thought of ever, Cole. I'm not sure if it would be better or worse if Morrison further delved in to that in any subsequent specials or other re-visitings of this little patch of land he's set up for himself.
On second reading, which is the reading Morrison historically seems most interested in, the book almost seems like All-Star Luthor. The evidence, while circumstantial, is pretty much overwhelming:
1) In #1, Quintum says to Superman, "I'm trying to escape a doomed world, too--it's called the PAST." Futurism or a confession of biography?
2) In #10, when Superman offers Leo his DNA, Quintum says "I could be the devil himself for all you know."
3) As above, Superman's final challenge to Luthor in #12--and Quintum's comment that Luthor seemed moved by the memorial, and to diminish (as a personality?) in Superman's absence.
4) "Quintum" is "fifth" in Latin--not only is #5 the Luthor issue, but the Milton poem "In Quintum Novembris" characterizes Satan as a restless, envious, destroyer and willing fraud--which describes Luthor pretty much exactly.
5) Morrison has the future reach back into the past in order to redeem both (a metaphor for the psychology of aging comic readers?) in nearly all of his superhero books--Animal Man, Invisibles, JLA's "Rock of Ages", DC 1 Milion, the "Here Comes Tomorrow" arc of New X-Men--I'd be shocked not to see a variation in All-Star Superman.
6) If my idea is true, the time loops are so elegant--Quintum knows he has to get Superman to the sun so his former self can poison him, giving Superman the power to save everyone in #12; and Superman, who must know who Quintum really is, giving him his DNA anyway because the team-up in #6 with his "descendants" proves that Quintum must have done the right thing.
This is the tidiest Morrison plot ever.
Ha, that's pretty impressive, Cole... huh...
What I like about the theory is that it's there if you want it to be, but obviously most people--even most critics (aside from a few, including David Uzumeri at Funnybook Babylon)--have gotten a lot out of the book without even noticing this possible, and possibly central under-plot. (And after New X-Men's obscured villain Sublime, I've grown to expect secret under-plots in Morrison comics that are only revealed after the entire structure is visible.)
I say Lex/Leo is central because Luthor as Quintum represents a) the instigator of the whole plot from almost the first page to last; b) is the only character to experience real positive growth and c) stands in perfectly for all of humanity transformed by Superman's shining (pun intended, I'm sure) example.
Sure, yeah... I mean, setting aside the plot mechanics, the 'twist' aspect, Quintum does function as Luthor's replacement/betterment in the larger metaphor... I think that's very clear, and I think it's something that comes through nicely without even getting into an underplot. It's something a reader can appreciate on even the most straight-shot, point-to-point read... I really like the texture this take brings to the plotting, though...
One aspect of Quintum's character that stuck with me is how is efforts are never totally successful while Superman is around... one of the reasons I wondered if he was Luthor was because Superman gets into dangerous situations so often when he's around... I guess under this take it's more of a prolonged penance for Luthor-as-Quintum, perfectly willing to trust in Superman's aid, secure in his own faults, and finally ready for the humanity-for-humans world at the end/beginning... again, I think most of this is present even if Luthor literally isn't Quintum, if only in that the two characters are mirrored, but that extra level is something...
Oh, 'penance'... more Catholic stuff from the Catholic school boy... glory to Superman in the highest...
Great point about Quintum's plans always going a bit awry around Superman--just like with his female sidekicks, it seems you can't take all of the Luthor out of Quintum.
Another thing I just realized was staring me in the face: Quintum = Quantum, as in quantum uncertainty (the crux of #3). Maybe Lex is Leo, maybe he isn't; the box with the answer inside is still sealed at the end of the final issue...
It also can't be an accident that on pg. 2 Kal says he's going to call "Doctor Lex-Or"!
Wow, Douglas, that's even better. The longer this thread goes on, the more I love this comic.
Speaking of stray names, what about Luthor naming his monkey in the Superman suit "Leopold"?
"Also, I am thoroughly digging the fact that Morrison seems - SEEMS - to have broken through the issue he suffered with in New X-men regarding his inability (not being allowed by editorial) to advance these foundation properties and tell NEW stories. Clearly he has moved Superman FORWARD."
Is there evidence that Morrison re-used old stories (Sentinels, Magneto trying to reverse the magnetic poles, showing an alternate future) because of editorial mandate? I thought he was just putting his own spin on the X-Men mythos.
And most of the All-Star Superman stories are re-used from classic plots as well. The main difference is that while New X-Men announced Morrison's style in a booming voice, his presence in ASS was very quiet. He was arranging these stories in a deliberate, Morrisonian way, but he didn't want it to be as obvious as it was in New X-Men.
Count me as one of those readers who was desperately hoping Leo Quintum didn't do a heel turn before the end of the series--it just came across as too telegraphed, too cliched. (That line about the devil himself was not encouraging in this regard.) And having him turn out to be Luthor would, I thought, be an even worse mistake, depriving the larger Superman story of one of the few new characters Morrison contributed to it in All Star.
But Cole lays out a very elegant theory that achieves considerably more depth than a simple villain reveal. I'm not sure the comic ever gives us any cues as to how Luthor manages to travel back in time, conceal his identity, and fool Superman (or does he?). Morrison is usually, though not always, very good about planting all the evidence ahead of time, and enough parts of this theory require leaps of faith that I can't entirely separate the real connections from the reader-invented ones. After all, we could probably build a pretty interesting theory around the fact that Quintum and Jimmy Olsen both wear each other's clothes at various points in the series, right?
That said, here's another possible cue.
Morrison, Quitely, and Jamie Grant always associate Luthor with the secondary colors, purple, green, and orange (note his prison jumpsuit, or the smoke that swirls behind him in issue #12). Superman's colors, of course, are the primaries: red, blue, yellow.
Quintum's overcoat (which already creates a similar profile to the overcoat Luthor wears in #12) is a rainbow, integrating Luthor's and Superman's color schemes. Even if Quintum isn't literally Luthor transformed, he is a combination of the best (and maybe one or two of the worst) traits of Luthor and Superman.
As Jog says, I'm not sure it entirely matters whether we read Quintum as literally Luthor reformed or just metaphorically a better version of him who's learned from Superman's example (except insofar as it shows Superman succeeding in the one labor that has eluded him).
But I do like the thought of Luthor concealing his identity with little more than a hair transplant and a pair of glasses. Wonder where he got that idea?
Another interesting thing about the Quintum / "Five" thing - what other Superman villain had a heroic descendant with "Five" in his name? That may not be intentional, but it's a nice coincidence at least.
RE: The New X-Men editorial issue. I had (TM outsider looking in comment) "seen somewhere" that was the case.
If you read the annual for X-Men in 2001 I think it's clear that Xorn was indeed a new character. Scans of his memory, star for a brain, etc. Now, while Morrison may have come up with his own idea later on regarding Magneto's return it smacks of someone saying, "Grant, you can't kill Magneto. He's a sacred cow." So Morrison goes, "Oh, yeah?"
He then obliterates his most interesting new character creation - trots out the obvious tropes about these grandiose schemes never truly coming to endgame - and then kills Mags in the full on Fanboy gusher with Wolverine cutting his head off.(Full page splash nonetheless if I do recall.)
It just said to me - "Fine, here's your Magneto story, choke on it." Looking at that arc in New X-Men it almost plays out in isolation vs. the greater Nova, Sublime, plot points (excluding the inclusion of a Cuckoo and Kick)
However, it all might have been worth it - in retrospect - just to get the inner monologue with Magneto about how Xorn was made "too well" and that he is Magneto's "inner star." Truly a moving examination of a character in a few brief sentences if ever there was one.
Full circle, I think that's what's cool about this Luthor turn in ASS. Clark is practically screaming at Luthor to "Think sense!" in the prison issue #5 I believe. He's begging him to acknowledge that inner light and I think we are too. How else to explain our desire for Luthor to SOMEHOW be Quintum? To somehow acknowledge that "inner star."
It's these themes of redemption, understanding of one's place, and character development that bring me to Morrison's work time and time again. Uh, Quitely doesn't hurt either. 
Who's got two thumbs and finally read All-Star Superman #12? That's right. This guy.
Glad I waited, though, particularly as Jog's review and Cole's theory made it much more enjoyable (I read them immediately, after.)
The only thing I have to add is that, by merging him with the sun at the end, Morrison has literally made him "All-Star" Superman, hasn't he?
Isn't Lex-Or a reference to Lexor, the planet that Luthor had during the Silver and Bronze Age?
Smitty, I think Xorn was always planned to be a disguise for Magneto. Morrison never explained all the details (Paul O'Brien developed an elaborate theory around the fact that Emma reads the false memories from the key, not from Xorn himself, but this is never addressed in the comic), but you can see how far in advance the twist was plotted just from the fact that, in the entire run, Xorn the great healer never heals anybody, except Charles Xavier--whom he repairs with nano-sentinels, something easily within reach of Magneto's loosely defined powers. All the stuff about a star in his brain was just so much BS, although there was one line about Xorn being able to read electromagnetic radiation that, only in retrospect, was a howlingly obvious clue. (Sort of like a certain character in The Usual Suspects being able to recognize Turkish...)
I think the chafing against Marvel editorial was more a matter of Morrison recognizing that no matter what he did in his run, the next writers would just revert to the normal X-Men rut, which in fact they did before the door could even hit him on the ass (though I'm surprised they've kept the Scott/Emma relationship going). He doesn't have that problem on All Star, but then, All Star is an out-of-continuity project that can't continue without him; he doesn't have to worry about the next writer.
Although his treatment of Superman does seem to have some effect outside All Star. I haven't been reading Geoff Johns's Superman books, but I notice his Daily Planet supporting cast is identical to Morrison's--complete with Lombard!
Okay, I raced past this in my own review, but I think that rainbow coat is key to understanding Quintum's role. He's the prism that refracts Superman (a beacon, the sun, etc.) into the whole of humanity. And not just the good parts - he discovered Black Kryptonite, after all. Six billion points of light! That might be another piece of evidence for Cole's theory, since you could say Quintum encompasses the entire spectrum...
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