New Super-man #7

The new guy is Mister I-Ching. He was Philip K. Dick's favorite.

I'm planning on doing a quick review after reading this issue instead of the usual rambling as-I-read commentary but sometimes I can't keep myself from hitting the keyboard. I just wanted to show this portrayal of Lex Luthor and add a comment.

Way too many writers would have went the obvious and easy route of Lex being able to speak Mandarin fluently. Because he's such a fucking genius. But this is way more believable and entertaining. Sure, he's smart enough to know he needs to know Mandarin for business purposes. But that doesn't mean he's going to be capable of fluency. Genius has limits and I love seeing geniuses treated as such.

Oh, and then this exchange in English between Superm-man and Lex is also charming and on point.

I respond the same way when people ask if I speak English.

I scanned that before I even read the next panel which begins with a Narration Box saying, "No idea what that guy just said." I don't think that bit was necessary but I'm sure some people might have missed that Kenan really couldn't speak English without the added clarification.

Although I wouldn't mind a little more clarification on this next bit!

Stuck in a rock?! I can't wait for Wonder-Woman's origin!

Bat-man and Wonder-Woman visit The Bat Academy to pick up Bat-man's little sister, Jiali (or soon to be the Robin of China. Or Ro-bin, I guess?). While there, they discover the place is being hit by a graffiti artist and I learn some new Chinese Internet slang!

I love this because it's a lot like my website name, Eee! Tess Ate Chai Tea. "Grass Mud Horse" is spelled similar to the Mandarin phrase "fuck your mother" (although they have different tones and use different symbols). And, according to the Wikipedia page, the place the Grass Mud Horse is from is similar in spelling to "your mother's fucking cunt." The really interesting part is why the Grass Mud Horse exists but since it isn't an immature use of words to make naughty words, it has no relevance to my blog. I mean, it's about censorship so maybe it has relevance to my blog?

Aside from this issue featuring Kenan doing Tai Chi, it also has a Battle for the Cowl! From what I've heard about the original Battle for the Cowl, I hope this one is more entertaining. It's between Bat-man of China, Baixi, and Wanna-Be-Bat-Man of China, Feng Douchenozzle. The battle is going poorly for Baixi because some goofy asshole is hacking into the hard-light constructs making up the arena. But Wonder-Woman goes down to deal with him.

Meanwhile, Kenan is getting his ass beat by I-Ching. It's a lesson in humility to prove to Kenan that he needs to train the Mister Miyagi way. That way is through hours and hours of frustration and hard work without ever being told why you're doing the hard work or putting up with the old man forcing you to do his chores. It's pretty effective.

What Did We Learn?
We probably learned something about pride or arrogance, I guess. It's hard to realize what a story teaches when you already know the lesson the story is trying to teach. And since I know everything there is to know, this story is pretty meaningless to me.

The Ranking!
No change! Still DC's best superhero comic though!