Maximortal & The Sordid History Of Superman

[@alancarnell2747]

Trueman's symbol makes me think of "trademark" as well. Methinks that was intentional.

[@richmcgee434]

"...a veiled critique of comic book history..." This thing is veiled the same way the Emperor's new clothes are too concealing.

[@troycruikshank1027]

You just seem to dig out all the greatest comics series that I would like but haven't yet discovered. Thanks for this.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

You are quite welcome. Thank you for watching!

[@bruhb7611]

Great video. Veitch’s entire career is full of gold, especially the Big One. Wonder if you will ever do the Sandman Mystery Theatre.

[@SuddenlyComics]

An underrated series - thanks for raising its profile

[@dirtybirdsf]

Wow Thanks for doing a video on Veitch and Maximortal. I hadn't heard of his work before and I'm shocked. It looks fantastic.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

You're welcome! Although, all thanks should go to Mr. Veitch for creating this work. I simply talked about it.

[@randalldowling1068]

I've had a certain demented fondness for Brat Pack since I first read it. Maximortal has been in my Amazon shopping card. I just couldn't get a clear picture of the premise. As usual, you bring enlightenment. Thanks Overlord!

[@docbaker3333]

I can definitely see why Veitch would bring the mistreatment of Siegal and Shooter considering that Veitch himself was slighted by the Comic Book industry mainly DC.

[@pan_peligroso]

I bought maximortal on eBay right after I watched the video on brat pack. This is an obscure gem. Prior to these books, I only knew of veitch’s work from reading Miracleman. Veitch was on a whole other level.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Excellent! I'm glad you found the material interesting.

[@FirstnameLastname-my7bz]

Also Siegel's belief in character was *REALLY* strong, he pitched it to various syndicates from 1934 to 1938 until success. Countless revisions and pages destroyed. And then Superman was made, and every other superhero literally as an "answer" or reflection on Superman. Even character like Iron Man wouldn't exist without Metalo and original Metallo.

[@adamderosa9142]

Thank you for this one. Veitch is in my top 5 creators & The Maximortal was the first of his solo stuff I ever read. Great, no-holds-barred comics.

[@carloscrecelius9597]

His limited series "The One" was one I really enjoyed back in the day. Veitch always seemed better when not constrained by editorial strictures.

[@FirstnameLastname-my7bz]

@@carloscrecelius9597 literally everyone is better off without restrictions

[@carloscrecelius9597]

@@FirstnameLastname-my7bz read Neal Adam's Batman Odyssey or frank Miller's Holy Terror

[@danielg.w5733]

always great to wake up to one of your videos. (still looking forward to an Elfquest episode)

[@cyclone927]

Your channel is so important! Please never stop.

[@donyaecoles982]

I just read Bratpack last night and came on YT to learn more about Maximortal and your video was right on time. Yay!

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Wow. Talk about good timing. :)

[@donyaecoles982]

@@StrangeBrainParts right?? So perfect! And your video was EXACTLY what I was looking to find out. You do great work, thank you for sharing it with everyone!

[@StrangeBrainParts]

@Donyae Coles : Thank you for watching! I'm glad I could provide something worthwhile or informative.

[@RarebitFiends]

In case you were not aware, Rick Veitch has gotten back to the King Hell Heroica cycle in the last few years, and has self-published the first two volumes of Boy Maximortal via Amazon CreateSpace.

[@estusshart6470]

Glad you made this video. This is by far one of my favorite superhero deconstructions.

[@DrLynch2009]

0:57 I wonder if David Lynch readed this book, becouse there is an origin story very similar in season 3 of Twin Peaks.

[@jacob_ian_decoursey_the_author]

This might be your best episode yet, and now I need to locate some Maximortal books.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Thank you, sir. Good luck in your search. All things considered, it might not be that difficult to locate.

[@hugonicolass]

What a great book, this one and The Brat Pack are a great combo. keep the great work sir.

[@AdahnFlorence]

Definitely my favorite video by you, don't know why I keep returning to this one in particular, it just interests me a lot, but there's something I feel has been on my mind recently as I thought about this video again. I'm thinking there's probably some parallels between The Maximortal and Miracleman based off my limited experience with the ladder, that and the fact he did do art for issues 9 and 10. I think the thing that made me think of these to paralleling eachother is that same idea you kept bringing up about how The Maximortal is a representation of Superman, and how it's such an idea far more powerful than involved in it's creation could ever have imagined it being, and that it was something they didn't know they needed until they had it. That former thought reminds me of Miracleman in the sense that his creators tried to destroy him and his family because they realized that in trying to create a weapon to compete against nuclear arms, they accidentally created deities, which is what that second thought reminds me of. "It's an idea we didn't know we needed until we had it," reminding me of something I commented before on the topic of quote from Voltaire: "If god didn't exist, it would be necessary to create him."

[@nerdfatha]

Fantastic video, as usual! It's been a while since I've Read Maximortal. The series has so many layers to it and you even pointed out a few I had missed. Each page seems to be dripping with both wonder and pure anger. At some point I have to get hard copies of the KH heroica.

[@radiak55]

Great to know of these series. I don't know if it would ever be finished but of the current parts, they make a complete story. I think the best form of superhero deconstruction is when it's a critique of the publishing side and how fans play into that role of exploitation

[@petehill7280]

4:08 That's a distinct possibility. Pulp fiction magazines and early comics were replete with superhero-like characters before Superman came along. A superman-like character could easily have come into existence even if Superman as we know him never did, as a world without Superman would not be a world without the characters that inspired Superman (Hugo Danner from the novel Gladiator, and the pulp hero Doc Savage).

[@castironchaos]

The suggestion of Superman being a concept waiting to be discovered by someone, somewhere, has been seen in other historic milestones. It was also applied to the development of machine-powered flight, as a "flying machine" was successfully tested in at least two other areas of the world before the Wright brothers became famous with their aeroplane at Kitty Hawk. Several of the aspects of this story have been seen in Alan Moore comics, and Rick Veitch had worked closely with Alan Moore on several works (before Moore turned his back on Veitch and refused to speak to him), including the time travel aspect of the superman going back in time and giving birth to himself. The "collective consciousness" is one of Moore's more famous (or infamous) ideas, his notion of the "Ideaverse." I'm not criticizing Moore here nor am I suggesting these ideas were somehow stolen from him; and as you're an avid fan of Moore's works, you're probably well aware of this yourself. I don't suppose the Maximortal series included a dig at Shazam-Captain Marvel, perhaps with a second Maximortal being born when a bolt of lightning strikes a sewage filtering plant?

[@billstorie5161]

Good points you make there and Moore's vision of Eternalism kind of plays into this as expressed in Jerusalem but I wasn't aware that Moore and Veitch had a falling out - do you know what happened?

[@castironchaos]

@@billstorie5161 See the video on this same channel about Alan Moore's 1963 series.

[@pauljohnson271]

Great work. Keep it up!

[@jakepalermo9181]

I didn't realize that Veitch had his own Hypersigil: Brat Pack, Maximortal, and the Super Specials.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

It's a sigil still being processed! There's Boy Maximortal in production and two more books forthcoming.

[@Heyzeus101]

Great video! Any thoughts on doing an episode on Chaos Comics or the crazy Bad Girl comics craze?

[@StrangeBrainParts]

As I always say, all topics related to comics are a possibility. Do I have an immediate plans? No. But that doesn't mean I won't cover the topics in the future.

[@oralphillips2564]

Fantastic video. 🧶

[@lillycrecelius985]

Wow, this is a very disturbing series. You never cease to amaze me with your insights. I'd love to hear your take on The One. I'm not sure, but I think it's also by Veitch, published by Marvel's Epic line , unless I'm mistaken (which, considering how long ago it was, is very possible ). Great video, can't wait for the next one.

[@skeleboi8507]

Now we wait for this and brat pack to get their own show

[@aurahoneydew9607]

Since the [black] Superman reboot announcement everyone has been flexing knowledge on obscure or alternatives supermen and going on with icon, supreme, but...well...well played! you one up'd everyone and educated on the details both upfront and background.

[@JosephCantu-qq1yr]

The evils of the comic book the industry of the evils of every industry just to different degrees of harm. But if you read the original Superman one where he's the villain the story that is told in that book definitely shows that Schuster and Spiegel well aware of evil of the corporate system surrounding them. They were not naive, they were hopeful, but more than anything they were desperate. It was the time of poverty that none of us today can imagine

[@Secret7Lover]

Nice vid

[@rolandkatsuragi]

9:02 An interpretation that seems to become increasingly more like a fact.

[@WalterLiddy]

Interesting stuff.

[@adinocc2042]

Didn't Veitch do a series for Marvel's late imprint Epic, called "The One" , back in the mid-ish 80s? In it there was, imao, an insane an insanely funny back up comic strip called "Pun Fuzzles" (fun puzzles?) that my friend and I couldn't get enough of. We could never figure what was supposed to be going on in it, tho. Still, very funny!

[@FirstnameLastname-my7bz]

It's interesting that Kal in Jewish language means something that is lightweight in nature, Kal-El (name that was, btw, wasn't given to Superman by Siegel, it was Kal mostly, in some cases Kal-L but only because Jor-L and Jor-L was simply an anagram from his name JeROme (at That time) siegeL, Kal-El, Jor-El, Lara and in general powerless Kryptonians on Krypton was invention of Don Cameron who wrote first ever Superboy story for More Fun Comics 101, Superboy was Siegel's concept yes, but it was more like like about young Clark being immature and using his gifts to pull pranks and be rather mischevious kid, before maturing into a man and using them to punish or even kill evil doers, but Don Cameron and other writers turned it into "Superman but with babyface and in school years" ) if "we" translate it will mean Light-God. Cool? Yeah, I think so and very fitting to the Superman all and all. Though I think maybe Kal WAS meant by Siegel, because original Kryptonians (who originally were supposed to be Earth people in the far future, also they are named "race of supermen" making "Superman" something of a national name, even if on accident because it was never established if at the time of Action Comics 1 he Does or Does Not know about Krypton) were ALREADY super fast, strong (Jor-L jumped on their scrycraper balcony) and invincible (Lora , that was original real mother's name not Lara, and baby Kal survived building falling on them with no damage) AND Earth is said to have lower gravity so he really is VERY "light" and "godly" . What interesting is that Kal in Russian (both Siegel and Shuster were children of jewish immigrants from Russian Empire , from current Lithuania and Ukraine territories respectively, I bet Superman was also inspired by bogatyrs besides everything else) means "shit". I wonder if Veitch knew about this or El Guano and all this was simply "capeshit" reference. Maximortal it trully one of THE greatest things ever created. Even though I don't particularly love decontructions from people that DISlike conventional superheroes, but it is what it is.Then again I don't love gatekeeping from status-quo enjoyers either, especially when it is absolutely hypocritical in nature, when they forget or dare to ommit ORIGINAL tenants of particular character that they claim they "love" so much. Not on my watch anyways.

[@FirstnameLastname-my7bz]

Wallace was also made after Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson , founder of National Publications that is now known as DC Comics, who was also in military before that.

[@DrDoomPool]

Rick veitch is the man

[@dhdusjdhsl5785]

d a m n this looks like a master piece, holly shit i didnt know it.

[@ronanranger855]

Are they still making that brat pack movie?

[@greysky1252]

What?!

[@ronanranger855]

@@greysky1252 I saw this article saying that the brat pack comic adaptation had a director. However the article was written in 2010 and now it is 2021 so was wondering.

[@PeterPulatitski]

Recently, i heard a few comic creators mention Superman as being a rip off of jon Carter of Mars, and it really blew my mind. Looking at jon carter its easy to see the similarities, from his abilities to the reversal of origins. How this never ever gets mentioned is wild and the sheer reverence for siegel and schuster glosses over this. I'm sure someone will come in here and wax philosophical about the true origins of Superman and blah blah... but once my eyes were open to the similarities, it was hard to look away.

[@anthonyfrias5533]

I think comics have only just begun to recover from the comics code authority.

[@ShinoSarna]

I recently tried to read Chaykin's "Hey, Kids! Comics!" but I had to concede defeat - I recognized some characters as thinly veiled versions of real people, but I just don't know enough about comics to read it. Maybe you would be interested in giving it a try?

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Oh! Good suggestion. I will take a look at it and see if I can spot the analogs.

[@ottosixtysix8546]

It's been mentioned on other sites that the up coming collection of the first series will have additional material to better explain Howard's characters and who they represent.

[@komickid833]

Hey Max I’m back from reality, nope fuck gravity

[@michaelhegwood9977]

Again, much like with Brat Pak while I think the origin behind the comic is interesting, that doesn't make a story good let alone close to a good deconstruction. If you want an actually good satire or deconstruction of superheroes (Which is far and in-between) read Squadron Surpeme, Watchmen, My Hero, hell fucking Venture Bros does a much better job than Brat Pak at showing what would happen to a child sidekick.

[@paulakroy2635]

It’s not a deconstruction of Superman but rather his creation

[@FirstnameLastname-my7bz]

Also in real life they weren't really "pushed aside". They sued company over a deal they made, because some lawyer said to them it was a brilliant idea. As scammy and petty as DC/National could be and are, they were also the company that did all the marketing. Though, it goes without saying that literally nobody believed in Superman's success. There is a reason why Action Comics #2-5 have non-Superman covers. Still though, they made a deal and sold rights. Also ironically most Superman gatekeepers these days are in love with character's interpretation by someone else and stiffled through very tight 41-early 70s editorial censorship. They dislike the original Superman by Siegel and Shuster.

[@JoeMangaka]

I love Siegel and Shuster superman, there's something beautiful about how simple and street level those strips were

[@FirstnameLastname-my7bz]

​@@JoeMangaka only if "simple" means in the same vain as *Michail* T. KALashnikov's quote : "Everything genius is simple, everything difficult is unnecessary" in the way how smart phone are much more simple to use than keyboard phone because it is more difficult and advanced on this INSIDE. Original Superman is someone who will not think twice to kill a bad guy or to mock his demise (Action Comics #13 and #23 for example) but at the same time he would never ever touch bratty misguided kids who try to beat and rob him (Superman destroys slums story) even though he would teach a lesson if a grown up did that to him. He is someone who is VERY prone to anger (Action Comics #12) and he also isn't always in the right and there are stories that EXPLICITLY say that (Superman #25 an 47) not just upon viewer's subjective opinion. He has Clark Kent with glasses/Superman separation because since 1934 (in which he came not from Another planet but from Earth in the faaar future) when Superman was First time attached with "Clark Kent" (in fact this year, June 12, which is also Russia day and officially a Superman day after Man of Steel film release, is actually objectively a 90 years of Clark Kent, before 1934 he was just "The Superman" and even before that he was evil telepath Bill Dunn version which inspired later re-adding of x-ray and super-hearing and other mental powers like language understanding in Superman #14 underwater world story (which also inspired Lori Lamaris and Silver Age Aquaman, because original Aquaman never had interaction with Alive people of the underwater world) or telepathic brainwashing like Superman #45 white aliens story ) name through his 1933-1938 creative evolutions, he was about to be taught by his foster father Sam Kent to hide his powers or else people will fear him which Siegel thought was important enough to do a retcon in Superman #1 where he (re-)added Kents with foster father telling the boy that and Only that. And it is true ,especially BEFORE that retcon ie all Action Comics #1-9 issues and After where "even" Lois fears him as Superman at the first time (which then became metahumor moment in Superman #8 giants story, also bear in mind that K-Metal from planet Krypton was supposed to be Superman #8 too) and cops (Superman #2) and local military (Action Comics #8) shoot at him and despite that Superman Never even touches them. He wasn't against using guns (Action Comics #23) but also would rather if He could destroy All the weapons of the world (he just wasn't strong like that, yet, just compare Superman #6 to #17 super speed evolution of his alone). He literally HAS to hide How he actually Is from the people and despite ALL that he DOESN"T become resentful on the society and in a way of "doormat" Clark Kent even offers badguys a chance to end conflict with words sometimes (and sometimes even "Clark Kent" breaks his "spineless" act like in Superman #8). Siegel created character as just super tough by Action Comics #1 and then kept "upgrading" him and add more and more powers. He made one of THE most believable action heroes Ever, where you DON'T scratch your head on How a guy can survive this or that situation, he transcended normal action stories boundaries. He also was one of THE first people to play with meta narrative in Superman #19 and #20 and #25. He truly created and predicted Everything past 1938. And that's just Superman only, but he also created Dr. Occult, The Spectre, Slam Bradley, The Starling for Eclipse Comics (compare Starling from Eclipse #2 with Superman #45 also look up what "Kal" means in Russian since Jerry Siegel's father *Mikel* came from Russia, also what it means in Hebrew and how come it aligns with word Krypton and the lower gravity of Earth and bear in mind he only was named Kal in 1939 a year AFTER DC Comics Inc finally realized Superman's commercial potential just notice Action Comics 1-9 interesting cover dynamic). Check K-Metal from plent Krypton, Superman #17 Luthor story and Worlds Finest Comics #6. And then Superman #170. If he didn't create retcons and remakes and reboots and ripoffs, he definitely perfected them in a manner that was only copied past 1938 by Everyone else, whether it is "superhero" or Star Wars, Robocop, Alien, AlienS, Scarface remake, The Fly remake, The Thing remake, Rebel Moon ,etc Also honorable mention Joe Shuster Nights of Horror and Curt Swan art for Man of Steel Woman of Kleenex 1994, what is POSSIBLE. Both were collaborators of Siegel. Also notice how Curt Swan art style WHEN he worked With Siegel in 1960s looks similar to Mart Baily's art style from Slam Bradley and the Spy, and now compare Joe Shuster's art style on Superman, Slam Bradley and The Spy. How it predicted through art "translation" between. Also notice WHO is killed in Action Comics/Superman #1, notice Action Comics 309, notice pattern of Superman #6 to Action Comics #309, notice difference between Frank Miller 300 logo and Zack Snyder 300 film logo. Who is mentioned in the middle and end of BvS. Also notice what kind of badguy Superman foils for THE first time on the pages of officially released comic and compare it to overall context , especially at That time. 1938.

[@Janzer_]

maximortal vs meximortal

[@tompuce84]

[@brianpj5860]

El Guano....... HAAAAAAH!!!!

[@danielg.w5733]

first

[@FirstnameLastname-my7bz]

11:21 I will rоb a bank and personally give you $14.880.228 if you bring me ANY Superman (I will give a $18.000 tip for each purely Shuster drawn one) or Batman comics with *This* "standard" stiff panel arrangement throuough AT LEAST 4 pages in a row. Go on, don't miss your chance to become really rich . Side note : if as a "proof" you will bring any comics where they fill in text in a painted frame to make it square I am rоbbing you.