How come Mark Millar is so good at writing Superman?

Seriously for a guy who tends to like shock tactics and "edgy" writing, he just gets Superman!

He has written plenty of Superman material, from the fan-favorite Red Son, to the Superman TAS inspired Superman Adventures, to even Superman: For the Animals which is an easy to go wrong premise.

He has managed to capture the spirit of Superman and probably give us the greatest iteration of Luthor in Red Son.

So does he genually like Superman? Or just all British writers know how to write Superman :P

It's kind of the same situation as with Garth Ennis.

British? He's Scottish

Does British mean English people? I thought it was a term referring to anyone from "Great Britain".

Except Hitman, where else did he wrote Superman?

He sold his sold his soul to the devil to learn how to write Superman.

Soul well spent :P

@squalleon: He actually has a great affinity for the DC universe in general specifically the League.

Talent

As far as I'm concerned, nowhere else.

He's a fan.

I can write a great superman story too.

I just hope DC can get him to do a run on the canon comics one of these years.

Marvel has been taking all the good writers and putting them under contract :/

@2cool4fun: And still churning out crap.

@squalleon: Sorta related but the material and style used in 2000ad usually work well with Superman, which is why British writers can usually write him well.

Also Superman is one of the most iconic characters, so it likely they'd work with him at one stage and the American comic industry usually only handpicks the best of British to come over which is why their quality would seem higher on average.

This was probably too detailed an answer for what was more than likely an off hand joke, but I've already written it and am not wasting it.

IDK, never head of that. @jonny_anonymous What say you?

My goal is to one day writer a Superman animated series.

Most talented well-known writers are leaving the big two fast these days. Since Creator-owned pays better if you are known and it is more enjoyable. Hickman for example is leaving Marvel after SW. And he will focus on creator-owned.

Even Morrison left DC. Who was their golden boy for more than a decade :P

...And true.

British is a strange term in that it can either be applied to people from the United Kingdom (Scotland, England, Wales, N.Ireland) or to anybody from the British Isles which includes the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and the Channel Islands. However a lot of these people associate "British" with being from the UK and so don't like being called it, similar to how Mexicans and Canadians are technically American since they are from the American continent but since everybody associates "American" with the US they don't claim it. The best thing to do is if someone identifies as British then they are and if they don't then they are not.

@jonny_anonymous said:

British is a strange term in that it can either be applied to people from the United Kingdom (Scotland, England, Wales, N.Ireland) or to anybody from the British Isles which includes the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and the Channel Islands. However a lot of these people associate "British" with being from the UK and so don't like being called it, similar to how Mexicans and Canadians are technically American since they are from the American continent but since everybody associates "American" with the US they don't claim it. The best thing to do is if someone identifies as British then they are and if they don't then they are not.

Interesante

He is a fan and knows what works for the character and what doesn't.

BB

It is a remarkable dichotomy that a writer known for gratituous violence, extremism and inappropriateness in his stories is capable of writing so many strong Superman stories. I'd agree with what Maccy says in that DC only select the best British writers to write Superman. But they did pick James Robinson as the Superman writer at one point so maybe us Brits aren't infallible Superman writers after all. Nonetheless, it's clear Millar has a strong sense of what works and what doesn't work for Superman's personality, character and actions. Maybe that's based on his good taste of previous Superman writers such as Maggins and Moore, maybe it's because he somehow knows what makes Superman tick, I'm not too sure. Regardless of the answer, the end results of Millar's work are truly fruitful for fans who like a classic Superman with the right touch of relevant modernity to him.

Is he in some dispute with DC or does he focuses on his movies. It would be nice to hope he could return for a Superman story.

I still think his Luthor is the best I have ever read. His one page story from Superman Adventures 41, was hilarious with Luthor solving all Lexcorps problems in seconds and when Mercy answers "So what are you gonna do now?", he replies with "What we do every day, we will try to beat Superman". Its a hilarious nod to Brain from animaniacs and a clear showcase of Luthor's intelligence and obsession.

He's currently focusing on his own creator-owned projects and movies.

BB

Yeah. Thought so. After all he sell rights after rights lately :P

lol

He's my hero

It seems the term wasn't wrong. But it isn't usually being used for Scottish people.

Scots sometimes get annoyed when people assume that British=English ironically.

See I only fight for equality of race :P

@squalleon: I read that when I was younger in some annual my parents bought me for Christmas, it's only when I was older that I appreciate Millar's subtle hints and understanding in a simple one page story. Reminds me of this panel from Superman Adventures where Lex realises the futility of his vendetta yet still perseveres in it nonetheless.

@lvenger said:

@squalleon: I read that when I was younger in some annual my parents bought me for Christmas, it's only when I was older that I appreciate Millar's subtle hints and understanding in a simple one page story. Reminds me of this panel from Superman Adventures where Lex realises the futility of his vendetta yet still perseveres in it nonetheless.

My God. I promise I had it in my mind to post this here :P

Yeah, its very emotional for an animated series Tie-In. Definitely the best Superman we got out of DCAU.

@squalleon: Sorry I beat you to it, the panel's a little too easy to find on the Internet :P

In many ways, it's certainly superior to Bruce Timm and Paul Dini's depiction of Superman in that series. I hear Millar didn't even see the Superman cartoon initially and just wrote about the kind of Superman stories he wanted to write. I guess that's why the series worked so well.

IIRC he's stated that Superman is one of his favorite superheroes and that's why he wrote Superior. It was a homage to the character. It's also a really good read if you haven't checked it out yet.

Really? How come?

It definitely is better than the JL portrayal. And while I don't see any major difference than the TAS portrayal, the stories are definitely more enjoyable. Very nice, Silver Age-esque stories with a nice characterization and quite more mature than you would expect a TAS tie-in to be.

Plus his Mr.Mxyzptlk is my favorite version of the character, it is the reason Mr.M became one of my fave, together with Rucka's and Morrison's. I wonder why we didn't see Mr.M in All Star :P

@squalleon: Just type in Mark Millar Lex Luthor and this is one of the first results.

Agreed, those stories definitely dealt with more serious and adult concepts you wouldn't expect from an animated comic tie in. I doubt the kids who may have bought those comics realised that.

Who knows, but at least we got Morrison's hugely innovative interpretation of Mr M and the 5th Dimension in his Action Comics run. That was genius of Morrison to take a zany and imaginative depiction of the 5th Dimension, that helped set the context of what Morrison was aiming for in his Action Comics run.

Oh! I thought there was an article or something :P

Giving a great origin like that made Mr.M a complete character. I really loved that we finally got an origin deeper than "I saw you from the 5th dimension and thought of annoying you".