Comments on: A Year of Cool Comic Book Moments – Day 107

By: Henry

Henry — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:56:02 +0000

I love this issue so much, I’d say the only thing that’s missing is the very last page.

By: Superman « Subtle Pandemonium

Superman « Subtle Pandemonium — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:14:00 +0000

[...] as I do. That said, he also wrote one of the best personifications of Superman ever in his comic Hitman, which really sums up everything I believe about Supes quite well. Yes, Superman is [...]

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:51:32 +0000

I wish I could figure out why British writers are so determined to define what it means to be American…

He’s Irish, and he lives in New York.

But maybe they can just see it clearer from a distance.

By: Callum

Callum — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:10:25 +0000

Excellent speech. Thanks for making me aware of it’s existence!

By: Jeff Ryan

Jeff Ryan — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:20:14 +0000

And this is Monaghan’s speech, not Ennis’s. Tommy’s a career soldier: first officially, then as a merc, then as an assassin. He sees EVERYTHING through the glasses of killing, not just America. I mean, he has superpwoers and he’s using them to do the exact same job he always did. But he does have a sense of honor: he didn’t read Supes’ mind and sell his identity.

But any comic that makes people debate what it means to be an American I think is doing something right. Even if it doesn’t have all the right answers, it’s asking a decent question.

By: Aqualad

Aqualad — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:48:29 +0000

Rob Schmidt- Does it change your interpretation of this issue knowing that Ennis is Irish, and not an American?

By: Aqualad

Aqualad — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:44:15 +0000

He’s not a supervillain, Hackett. He’s a low-level Gotham thug who specializes in killing super-people. Superman had no idea who Hitman was, nor was there any reason he should. This was followed up on in JLA/Hitman.

By: David Hackett

David Hackett — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:40:08 +0000

Sympathetic ear or not, Superman doesn’t bother to bring in a known killer like Hitman? I don’t get it.

By: Newbs

Newbs — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:03:01 +0000

This was all around very good stuff, but I also take issue with Supes’ summary of American ideals. It’s all war, war, war. Most are moments Americans are proud of (with the exception of Custer), but it’s saddens me that people think of America’s major contributions to the world as all happening through conflict. It’s a much more common perception than just this comic. I had a history professor who seemed incapable of discussing American history as anything other than a series of wars. What about Chuck Berry, Mark Twain, Norman Rockwell, Jimmy Stewart, etc.? It seems to me these kinds of things would be more valued by the very anti-killing Superman than all those horrible moments (horrible for the people who were there, at least, even if they did accomplish lasting good).

But I digress. Cool moment.

By: Rob Schmidt

Rob Schmidt — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 08:08:43 +0000

If by “integration” you mean integration into the white Christian culture that white Christians consider the norm, I agree. I thought that was my point, not yours.

By: Rob Schmidt

Rob Schmidt — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 07:58:29 +0000

You didn’t address my point that Superman basically defended America’s policy of Manifest Destiny, Apodaca. Why not?

Here’s how Hitman could’ve responded to Superman. And how an Indian or another minority might’ve responded:

“The shot heard round the world, the Alamo, Custer’s Last Stand, a few Marines raising the Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima…America, the greatest country on God’s earth…and Superman.” What the hell is that? Culture? History? A bunch of stuff your folks said you hadda believe in all your life? Does that make it REAL?

Get the point?

By: Kirayoshi

Kirayoshi — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 05:33:45 +0000

As long as we’re talking cool Hitman moments, you should mention his cameo in JLA #5(I think), from the Grant Morrison era, where Tommy Monaghan tried out(unsuccessfully) for JLA membership, and then said that he just applied for membership so he could scope out Wonder Woman with his x-ray vision.

By: Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy!

Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 05:26:20 +0000

JLA/Hitman has a follow-up conversation between Tommy and Superman that makes it clear that, for Tommy at least, this was totally sincere conversation. If it’s a bit of a joke on Superman that Tommy peps him up and gets on with his murder, it’s also meant to indicate how damn far from decent Tommy is at bottom.

That’s one of the virtues of Hitman: likeable as Tommy was as odious as were his targets, the book frequently stepped back to remind readers that Tommy was quite self-deceptive and a bit worse than merely fallible. Hell, that was pretty much the whole point of the SAS storyline.

By: Colby

Colby — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 03:36:04 +0000

You know, looking at Ennis’ usual hatred and ridicule of the superhero genre (this is the man who writes THE BOYS, for God’s sake!) this exchange seems kind of unlike him. Has he just soured as he’s grown older?

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:39:08 +0000

The movie called Hitman was an adaptation of the video game, not the comic.

The same artist on this issue, John McCrea, did draw the entire series.

By: Go Fish

Go Fish — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:58:45 +0000

I don’t think he was lying to Superman or buttering him up. In fact, killing that guy is perfectly consistent with his speech. He’s doing his part to make America great, just like Superman is. It just happens to be that he does it by killing the scumbags instead of rescuing their victims.

I never read Hitman and know nothing about it apart from these couple Cool Moments and that there was a movie adaptation but man, was the art always this bad?

By: Aqualad

Aqualad — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:13:00 +0000

Read the issue, ya old fart

By: Vincent Paul Bartilucci

Vincent Paul Bartilucci — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:42:18 +0000

The “twist” is that Superman is a buffoon who doesn’t realize what Tommy is on the roof to do? I don’t even like Superman and I think that’s insulting to the character.

Man, I’m old if this is what passes for ‘cool.’

By: Random Stranger

Random Stranger — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 21:35:49 +0000

I wish I could figure out why British writers are so determined to define what it means to be American…

By: Apodaca

Apodaca — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:17:43 +0000

No, it’s a message of integration. It’s saying “Stop trying to drag your whole lineage into every interaction with a person and just relate individually. “