Superman Update

Much ado about Superman today.

An article appeared in Time's online version basically stating that Superman needs to be updated. They fail to mention how that could be successfully accomplished, and, instead, name the shotgun approach DC is currently taking. In other words, throw as many versions at the wall as possible and see what sticks.

Bad idea.

Either a property resonates or doesn't resonate, but making Superman all things to all people essentially makes him nothing but a corporate schill. And as a trademarked symbol, he's going to have to play that role. BUT... my problem with the article is that they spend a lot of time hashing out why Superman isn't cool (and a lot of their assumptions left me wondering), but never point out why he is cool. Or ever was cool. It's an unwinnable debate which has been tossed around since the mid-80's, and the article's author seems to be highly frazzled by having to write the article at all.

I kind of wonder what brought it on. It sounds as if the AOL/Time Warner/ DC Comics corporate uber-minds decided Superman needed some attention, but the editors didn't care what spin they got... as long as they got some sort of coverage.

As far as Superman's Team-Based exploits, Justice League's Series Finale will air May 29th. Set your TiVo now. The series will re-launch in the Fall under the name Justice League Unlimited and guest-star a bevy of DC heroes. (I like the "Unlimited" name. It's more accurate than JL America, which seems silly since J'onn J'onzz is Martian, Aquaman is King of Atlantis, Wonder Woman is Princess of Themyscira, etc... etc...).

And according to the Superman Homepage:

Seinfeld and Superman to Air on NBC
With Friends now history, NBC is looking to another Must-See legend to re-energize its Thursday night lineup. According to Variety, on May 20th - the final Thursday of May sweeps - the network will air The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman, a special based on Jerry Seinfeld's current American Express Web series.