I'm also not a fan of "Super Jesus". I prefer that while his origins gave him powers, it was his upbringing that made him a hero.

ETA: That's perfect, Tom.

That's one of my favorite single issues ever. It's amazing.

This is another great Superman scene (be sure to scroll down to the see the follow-up pages in the comments): [link]

Thanks.

I'm reading Birthright on recommendation right now.

Red Son is one of my favourites, but you can't come out of the gate with that.

Yeah, Birthright is great. Loved that one.

Besides All Star Superman, I recommend Up, Up, and Away! and Secret Identity, both by Kurt Busiek.

My favorite Superman stories tend to focus on the fact that Clark Kent is an alien who can never be a true part of humanity, yet he is devoted to protecting humanity. The world is afraid of him and wants to kill him, but he doesn't care: he still loves them because he believes they can bet better. It's his whole self-sacrificing Super Jesus thing he's got going on.

This totally resonates for me, though I never really thought of Supes as Super Jesus...like at all.

And yet, when I think about it, this very dynamic is what made The Last Temptation of Christ my favorite Jesus-centric film.

I should probably watch that, huh. I like Scorsese; I'll watch a movie about Christian Superman.

Be prepared P-C.

I am a firm believer that one of the reasons there was so much 'controversy' when it came out...were you even born then?...was because Scorsese knew that it is essentially boring in great huge chunks.

He screened it for 'religious leaders' specifically to kick up a fuss. Which worked. And I'm glad it did.

Lots of people got to see a fresh perspective on the Jesus story as one where the son of God was essentially a (hu)man with a really crappy job to do. He suffered the slings and arrows because he loved them so well, despite their behavior towards him and each other.

There are some particularly rich bits, (some unintentionally funny), sumptuous visuals and a cracking score by Peter Gabriel (which I listen to regularly) and a 'hey it's that guy' cast of thousands.

Pay special attention to the scene where Harry Dean Stanton...not even trying to dampen his southern accent...speaks to Lazarus. The resurrected one has the best line of the entire film. Words to live by...or not, as the case may be.

I have returned from watching Captain America: Winter Soldier, which entirely lived up to my (high) expectations and was mega fun. It pitted Captain America against Hydra once more, an organisation with global reach and inexhaustible resources, with the exception of a replacement mask for the Winter Soldier if he happens to misplace his.

I have other thoughts about the movie, but first I wanted to share with you the story of Ned Kelly. Ned Kelly was the last and best-known of Australia's bushrangers. The son of an Irish convict, his family had a long history of run-ins with the law, and the Kelly gang became well-known for bank robberies in the area. His last stand was at the town of Glenrowan in 1880, where they had planned to derail a train of policemen coming to help hunt and capture them. The police were forewarned and instead it turned into a shootout. Ned Kelly was dressed in armour, capable of stopping bullets, as shown here: [link] Nonetheless, the police brought him down, by firing at his unprotected legs. The 19th century Victorian constabulary - smarter tacticians than modern-day Hydra's elite hit squads.

I thought the same thing while watching the movie, billytea.