The Limitations of Superheroes

Earlier this week I wrote a post over at Comic Fodder about my disappointment lately regarding the editorial direction at DC Comics (its an ongoing theme. So sue me. Wait. Scratch that idea.).

The next day I received an e-mail from a gentleman questioning why I would stick with comics. He expressed how he had given them up several years ago, and as our conversation continued, I learned he'd experienced terrible family tragedy. And so, maybe, the promise of masked and caped do-gooders righting wrongs and saving the world rings a little hollow.

At the same time, I saw a post from Leaguer Lauren over at her site discussing that most complex of superheroes, Wonder Woman, in light of the animated movie coming to home video this spring. Lauren describes the Wonder Woman she'd like to see on the screen and it sounds very appealing. She also pulls a quote that describes the ongoing issues of gender equality in comics (I kind of flinched at the broad strokes, but it doesn't mean the quote wasn't a little accurate).

Where Superman cannot step from the screen or comic page to save the day in our real lives and personal tragedies, just as much, Wonder Woman may not be enough to carry the weight of expectation put upon a figure who was, in fact, intended to carry a philosophy and ideal of a world in which women were seen as equals. She must be proud of her body, but she must cover it. She must be strong, but serene. She must be able to fight, but peace-loving. I can think of few male archetypes who have that burden placed on them.

The truth is, these very contradictions have gone from being a problem with writing Wonder Woman comics to become the essence of the character. By necessity, she's become an Amazonian, battle-axe-wielding warrior on a mission to "man's world" to preach the values of peaceful co-existence. And, occasionally, she has to go stab a Gorgon or something.

There's also an insinuation in the LA Times piece that poo-poo's the second-class status of the straight-to-video distribution of the Wonder Woman project, ignoring the current home video animation strategies of DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and others (bottom line, Wonder Woman actually made it to video faster than I would have expected from the DCU line of characters). The title does not sell terrifically well on newstands, and DC's prior animated efforts have surrounded tried-and-true material.

But as I've debated for years with friends who are not neck-deep in this thing of superhero comics, these fictional characters wind up fighting "public perception" rather than the actual content of the material in which they appear. Naysayers seem to have never actually lifted a comic or read a single story (at least from the last 20 years of relevant publication). They cringe at straight-to-video releases and, with no context but what success means in Hollywood terms, fail to see what bringing ANY comic property to video as a feature length film might mean. And bring their own definitions of everything from feminism to what it means to save the day to these figures.

It's an odd thing, because the trio of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are American cultural icons. They do, in fact, command a certain power in the popular imagination far beyond their intended purpose as pulp characters. They've expanded beyond their contemporaries of Zorro, Doc Savage, The Shadow, etc... The gentleman I'd spoken with was not the first I'd read about to funnel his tragedy into superheroes. That's sort of the unspoken message of the documentary "Confessions of a Superhero", and I've seen articles on others.

Poor, long-suffering Wonder Woman has had her image co-opted as a feminine ideal by Ms. Magazine and Gloria Steinem, and has had her name co-opted to describe the ideal of the modern woman (particularly, and somewhat oddly, mothers) who feels that they must be busy or appear entirely too busy, but always keeping things in check. Meanwhile, her costume has become a sexy Halloween staple, and the none-too-threatening outfit of her first appearances has become increasingly less modest over the years (though DC has recently made moves on that).

And, of course, being fictional, its kind of hard for superheroes to speak for themselves. Especially when their only mode of speaking up is in a medium 90% of people believe is irrelevant and/ or not as important as "public perception".

My interests lie in those superheroes, so I hear about the tragedies that fall into the very real lives of people who may wind up channeling their own stories through the prism of the comic page. I do not hear the stories of people who were Simpsons nuts, or naval history enthusiasts, or who maybe knew every pro football statistic that was worth knowing. I don't know if that same emotional attachment forms during a tragedy, or if they roll their eyes at the co-option and debate over the "image" of figures in their area of interest, as if the code-breaking of single images were all there was.

What I do know is that there is a strange place in fandom of any sort where an invisible line exists, and you do well to enjoy your comics, but know that to take them too seriously, to put Faith (with a capital F) in the heroes within and the storybook crimes they fight is not a replacement for the world outside the page.

Superman can't stop your loved ones from illness, or stop the everyday stories that make the news.

Wonder Woman can't be the voice of whatever it means to be a woman in 2008/ 2009.

But I do think, if we can agree that they are cultural icons, that there's something there we can see behind the the promise of the characters. Superman's use of his abilities for others, Batman's unbending resolve, Wonder Woman's mission of peace AND strength...

It's just a thought.

Kickin' it up a notch on Smallville

Looks like Doomsday, the living plot device, has made his way to Smallville.

Curiously, it appears that this may be the first (and only) on model representation of a DC villain on the show.



With control of the show wrestled away from the show's originators this season, they're actually making in-roads back to some semblance of the comics and Superman. I'm not saying the show is great, because... Tess Mercer is a ridiculous character, almost nothing ever makes sense on the show, and just get to the Superman part already...

But its something.

Comic Stuff You Can Ignore (Dad. Who Admits he Doesn't Read the Comic Stuff)

I've mostly been doing my comic blogging over at Comic Fodder, but things have been so up in the air of late, I haven't had much time to comic blog of late.

But if you haven't picked up your comics yet this week, I'd suggest the following:

Superman 681: Kandor (the bottled Kryptonian city) has expanded in the Arctic. Which means there are 100,000 Supermans running around Earth.

I confess that I actually emitted a profanity aloud when I hit the last page.

Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns: I don't think you'd have to have been following GL comics to get what's happening here, but Johns just took the whole DCU up a notch in a single comic with this issue.

This isn't an issue for kids. It's kinda gross. But it's also interesting. And the first Red Lantern (yeah, RED Lantern) to reveal himself has an introduction that will go down in history as one of my favorites.

Marvel:

Check it out.

Marvel has created a "Character Cloud". It's interesting information and data management. I've seen a bit of this sort of 3-dimensional storage of data lately, and, frankly, I feel a bit behind the times for not knowing more about how this works and how I can get onboard. It doesn't hurt that I can process the information a bit more easily as I know a lot about this data and I can sort of more easily see how it fits.

I'll be curious to see more in the future how this is employed, but, anyway... it's kinda fun.

Anyone whose been working in this sort of space, I'd like to hear more about the theory.

What to give to the Superman Geek on your list

Some charities are, perhaps, more worthy than others. I know this.

But... (deep breath)

The town of Metropolis, Illinois (home to the annual Superman Festival) is erecting a statue of Honorary First Lady of Metropolis, Noel Neill. Noel Neill, I should not have to tell you, has a lengthy history with the Superman franchise.

She played Lois Lane in both the Kirk Alyn serials AND the George Reeves starring "Adventures of Superman". In "Superman the Movie", she plays Lois's mother in a quick cameo during the Smallville sequence. She also appears in "Superman Returns" as Gertrude Vanderworth (in that opening deathbed sequence).

She's a roving ambassador for Superman and "The Adventures of Superman", partakes annually in the Superman Festival, and appears all over the country signing autographs for Superman nuts. She's in her 80's and still going strong, by all accounts.

It appears that one can pony up $75 for a brick with their name on it that will be at the base of the statue. The cost of the commemorative brick will fund the statue project.

See more here.

Leaguers will know I have a special fondness for "The Adventures of Superman" and Ms. Neill. So, while maybe this isn't feeding starving villages, I'm glad to see Ms. Neill and Lois get their due as part of America's entertainment and storytelling legacy.

Also, the statue looks as iconical (is that a word?) as I think you're going to get for both Lois Lane and Noel Neill.

tip of the hat to Superman Homepage for the story

update, B&B, Changeling, Watchmen

Rudy Ray Moore RIP

This is pretty much for Shoemaker, but...

Yeah, dude. Dolemite is dead. Sorry about that.

Long live the Dolemite.


Update

Hey, Leaguers. Not much to report. With the new job in hand, I've been taking it easy of late. Ran by Austin Books yesterday and picked up a mess of stuff (I recommend picking up the latest Superman books, including the New Krypton Special.

It's official. The Superman books are the best they've been in recent memory.

I' m getting to know people at work, and while the Austin branch of my team is small, at least I really like everyone. If it were a small team full of jerks... well... It'd be bad news.

I'm digging my office space (it's quiet, so ADD boy here can focus!). It's just a weird shade of green.

The weekend will be good. I'm going to the UT/ OSU game, and then hitting "Hops Fest II: The Hoppening" at Shoemaker's on Saturday. Sunday will be more of the bringing crap downstairs stuff we've come to know and love. I also need to take a look at my Supersuit for proper Halloween candy distribution.

I do find it odd that, aside from 1999, I don't know if I've ever been involved in anyone else's Halloween activities. Somehow that's the one holiday where my pals seem to wind up hanging out with friends where I don't fit on their Buddy Venn Diagram.

No worries. We like handing out the candy. Speaking of... I need to get:

a) candy
b) apples
c) caramel

Batman: Brave and the Bold

Here's the show's website (with audio... so turn down speakers if at work). The show premiers in November, I think. I saw images from ComicCon, and, yeah... Jamie, I'm buying the Blue Beetle toy they're going to make.

Here's Beetle fighting space pirate Kanjar-Ro.


Changeling

That new Clint Eastwood movie with Angelina Jolie? It seems to have been written by J. Michael Straczynski. JMS is probably most famous for 90's era sci-fi show "Babylon 5" (which hasn't really done much on DVD or re-runs). JMS is also now a pretty popular comic writer, and had what I thought to be a good run on Spider-Man.

Anyway, good for JMS. Glad he's got movie work going on as well as the comics.


Watchmen Stuff

I recommend Television Without Pity's new feature "Trailers without Pity". Their Watchmen discussion is your perfect breakdown of what both fanboy and non-nerd alike may wish to know about the upcoming movie.



What Omar and Pedro either missed or oversimplified was their comparison of the Watchmen characters to DC characters (Dr. Manhattan to Superman). The fanboy in me must point out: this is wrong.

Moore had initially intended to use characters owned by Charlton comics, which DC had purchased in the 1980's. However, DC decided to fold those characters into the DCU rather than let Moore do his thing, so Moore just changed who was who. But if you know those characters, it kinda makes more sense than Dr. Manhattan equals Superman.

Night Owl = Blue Beetle (including the generational aspect)
Dr. Manhattan = Captain Atom
Rorschach = The Question (which, in turn, informed how the JLU Question was portrayed)
Comedian - Peacemaker (now in Blue Beetle at DC)
Ozymandias = Thunderbolt
Silk Spectre = Most likely "Phantom Lady"

May I get my nerd-card stamped and get my free sandwich? Thanks.


Also, Zach Snyder cut together another Watchmen trailer, which is pretty much the first trailer all over again.

Austin Books, Terminator, Job, Werewolves, Superman and Batman

Special Thanks to Brad @ Austin Books

Service, Leaguers.

It's not something you expect in this day and age of dead-end call centers and box-store "it's against our policy" wage-slave assistant managers (screw you, Target).

Anyway, a while back I mentioned to Brad at Austin Books that I'd like a copy of the Middleman collection, as Jamie and I were both fans of the TV show. Brad knew it was sold out in the store, and double-checked to find that it was also out at the distributor. Alas. What's a comic geek to do?

I should mention, I looked elsewhere online afterward, and it was sold out. Everywhere.

Today I got an e-mail from Brad. I don't know how he did it, but he landed a copy for me and Jamie.

Once again, the hat is off to Austin Books.


Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

I'm still watching the Terminator TV show. It's still one of the better things on TV.

As per other shows like "Battlestar Galactica", mixing the episodic with the serial and an adult's perspective has led to a far more engaging, character driven show than, say, the original Knight Rider.

Shirley Manson (the singer from Garbage) is now on the show as a Terminator, and she's increasingly creepy. For someone without an extensive acting resume, she's impressing me.

In general, the whole show feels very well thought out. They haven't perfected the issues with time travel (which would drive JimD mad), and its occasionally a somewhat hopeless experience as, unlike T2, they're not trying to stop the future from happening, they've sort of accepted its an inevitability, so its much more about just surviving until they pass some certain point in the timeline when the Terminators won't be coming for John Connor.


The Job

A few people have asked what I'm doing for a living. I'm working for these guys as a program coordinator. It's not exactly too technical to explain, but I won't bore you with details.

It's a pretty cool project, and I feel lucky to have found something like this. Still getting my head around all the moving parts, and I have a LOT of people to meet and get to know across the great state of Texas, so the ramp-up is going to be interesting.

The Howling

Jason already mentioned we watched this movie over at his blog, but I also dug it. Sure, the FX are about what you'd expect for a 70's horror flick, but the story was surprisingly engaging and the movie well directed (story by John Sayles and directed by Joe Dante, so go figure).

It's always interesting to see a movie that you can point to as a start of a trend in genre, no matter how niche that genre might be, and even if modern creators aren't aware that's where the trend began. But... anyway...


Some Superman and Batman Stuff

Batsignal humor

A nice cartoon about why Superman is a bad fit for a Batman movie

Thanks to Randy for both.

With the Morrison/ Quitely All Star Superman wrapped, Grant Morrison does a multipart interview with Newsarama.

Here's part 1

I'm going to quote liberally here, so go to Newsarama and click on a bunch of ads so they don't sue me.

But, anyway, I see a lot of why my vision of Superman jives so well with Morrison's (and keep in mind, we both love Batman, too). There's also a bit of a spoiler, but... oh, well...

I immersed myself in Superman and I tried to find in all of these very diverse approaches the essential “Superman–ness” that powered the engine. I then extracted, purified and refined that essence and drained it into All Star’s tank, recreating characters as my own dream versions, without the baggage of strict continuity.

In the end, I saw Superman not as a superhero or even a science fiction character, but as a story of Everyman. We’re all Superman in our own adventures. We have our own Fortresses of Solitude we retreat to, with our own special collections of valued stuff, our own super–pets, our own “Bottle Cities” that we feel guilty for neglecting. We have our own peers and rivals and bizarre emotional or moral tangles to deal with.

I felt I’d really grasped the concept when I saw him as Everyman, or rather as the dreamself of Everyman. That “S” is the radiant emblem of divinity we reveal when we rip off our stuffy shirts, our social masks, our neuroses, our constructed selves, and become who we truly are.

Batman is obviously much cooler, but that’s because he’s a very energetic and adolescent fantasy character: a handsome billionaire playboy in black leather with a butler at this beck and call, better cars and gadgetry than James Bond, a horde of fetish femme fatales baying around his heels and no boss. That guy’s Superman day and night.

Superman grew up baling hay on a farm. He goes to work, for a boss, in an office. He pines after a hard–working gal. Only when he tears off his shirt does that heroic, ideal inner self come to life. That’s actually a much more adult fantasy than the one Batman’s peddling but it also makes Superman a little harder to sell. He’s much more of a working class superhero, which is why we ended the whole book with the image of a laboring Superman.

He’s Everyman operating on a sci–fi Paul Bunyan scale. His worries and emotional problems are the same as ours... except that when he falls out with his girlfriend, the world trembles.

Well, I have no choice now...

Well, pretty clearly Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain have both been after my vote all year long. But how did Mr. Obama seal it up today?

From this article:

Said Obama: "Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the planet Earth," a reference to Superman.

Really, it's like McCain hasn't even been trying to appeal to me as a geek. Where's invocation of The Force? His reference to his Spidey Sense? Oh, wait...

I believe McCain served on the USS Enterprise.

Well played, sir. Well played.

Superman on the Church Organ

Steven sent this:



From the YouTube page:

Organist Sean Jackson plays the theme from Superman on the organ at Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City.

There are some themes so well known, you just can't mess with them. Superman, Star Wars, Star Trek, Bond, Pink Panther... when you remake the movie, you better consider how you're going to fit the theme in.

Superman Returns re-used Williams' Superman score, as has Smallville to tremendous effect in the episodes featuring Christopher Reeve before his death. And while not everyone is a huge Superman nut... 30 years on and people still know that theme. And it warms the heart to see folks give it up for the organist and Williams' music.

Something for WB to consider.

I don't want to dismiss Mr. Jackson's work here. Wow! That's a lot of music to translate to the organ, and he did it with the right spirit.

I should mention: When Jamie, Steanso, Peabo, Randy and I met up with JimD in Beaumont for a screening of Superman at the Jefferson Theater, THEY had an organist who, I believe, also gave the Superman theme a whirl. We wound up talking to the guy for a while after the movie. Terrific gentleman.

Thanks, Steven!

Four Super-Films For Super Cheap!

I was looking at something unrelated on Amazon and I stumbled across this.

You can order a 4-pack of the Chris Reeve Superman movies for $14.00. If you've got kids who haven't seen any Superman movies, or if you've just never bothered to add the Superman movies to your DVD library... this seems like a heck of a deal. (That's 492 minutes of Superman awesomeness... quite a bargain if you ask me.)

My guess is this is WB's way of clearing their warehouse full of Superman DVD's as Blu-Ray takes over, but why not let WB's overstocking be your super windfall?

Some other Stuff

Hurricane Ike

I actually DID do some prep in case we lose power. Obviously Austin isn't in mortal danger like Houston, but all it takes is a branch snapping and we could lose power for a while. Jason already told me if he lost power that he's "not even going to try. I'll be dead in fifteen minutes."

A worst case scenario, to be sure.

But losing power is a pretty real problem, so if I suddenly disappear from the internet, you know why.

I bought a Coleman lantern and some batteries. And ran to HEB to get some bread and peanut butter and odds and ends. The store was pretty crazy. All the JIF was gone. Even the "smooth" JIF, which only a crazy person would eat.

And the weather isn't supposed to hit until really late tomorrow or sometime Saturday.

I felt like I was overreacting, but if something DOES happen, and I didn't prepare, I'd feel like a heel. So the idea is to buy stuff to be prepared, but don't stock up like its the end of days.

KareBear is headed for Florida to be with my grandfather, who recently had surgery. The Admiral may or may not be headed to Austin. We'll see.

If he's here, I will have to find a way to entertain The Old Man. Which is going to be interesting in 60 mph winds and driving rain.

Jamie's Trip

Jamie has put up a post on her recent trip to Lawton. Her reunion seemed to go over very well. Which surprises me, because Jamie is a total jerk.

To see Jamie catch up with many people whom I don't know, go here.

Non-Political

Jason somehow managed to avoid politics (sort of) for three days on his blog. He (sort of) deserves a cookie, I think.

Little Problem at the Printers

There's a Frank Miller Batman comic out right now geared entirely toward adults (Parents, do NOT pick up "Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder" for the kiddos).

Though its for adults, they do have some words they won't print.

This Miller Batman book is supposed to be kind of funny for its overly grim'n'gritty take on Batman, and so they decided to letter some pretty awful language in, and then, at the printer, have them black over it. It's crooks and the newly minted Batgirl talking like sailors, although our Caped Crusaders' language gets a little salty now and again. But he didn't get the black bars, I don't think

Apparently the lettering black was darker than the black bars, but nobody caught it from the printer until the book reached retailers.

Click here (sensitive viewers may not want to click there).

Frank Miller, himself, found the whole thing pretty funny.

The comic community is even better than politicians at getting fake-outraged about certain things. This is turning into one of them.


Comix Sale

I forgot to mention this a while back, but Top Shelf Productions has a $3 sale going on. Sure, you pay S&H, but I managed to get some interesting stuff for the cost a floppy. That's a really, really good deal (plus, they throw in free stuff).

Here's the link.

Lynda Carter Fights a Gorilla



Building a Better League HQ

Thanks to the hidden entrance to the Batcave in the Adam West starring "Batman" TV show, I've always been a fan of hidden doors in houses.

There was some mention of panic rooms in another post today, and then Randy sent me this link on how to build a batcave entrance in your own home.

As a kid, I would literally lay awake at night trying to figure out how to build a secret door or install a fireman's pole into a house so I could make like Batman down to the garage. And at age 33, I've STILL never actually been down a fireman's pole.

The thing is, when you say "I'd like a batcave entrance in my house", people kind of think you're insane. I say to those people: you have no vision. Of course, I have a living room full of Superman memorabilia, and an office with even more of the same. And a very patient wife.

One day I honestly would very much like to turn the door to my office into a hidden door. I think that would rock. I don't think Jamie thinks it would rock, but, you know... And I have some ideas how to do it with reverse hinges.

I COULD add a batpole from my office that would drop me straight into the garage, but I think that... in sight of everything else I've already done to this house, its going to be hard enough to sell when they carry me out footfirst one day, anyway.

When we were moving from Phoenix back to Austin, I watched a lot of HGTV, which features an endless line of shows about people buying and/ or selling houses. And there are some truisms of selling a house. You really ARE supposed to de-personalize the house. But watching realtors on HGTV after more than twenty minutes makes you realize: these people have grown to disdain the fact that people actually live in their own homes while they're being sold.

I don't exactly blame them, as we all want our jobs to go as smoothly as possible. And, I know its a tough sell to many people if they walk into a house that's not done up in a way that they'd do it. And, yeah, a "hidden bookshelf door" revealing a two story brass pole into the garage... sort of seems to be the mark of insanity. And I did see one show where a realtor was horrified by some client's "batcave" room. but I just wanted to know more.

I'd done some similar customization to my office in Phoenix (royal blue paint, a Spider-Man border). And we just decided that maybe we'd be able to sell to a family with a young boy. The realtor told me not to even bother to repaint because it might actually be a selling point of sorts.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but a comic geek wound up buying the house, and I guess that room was going to be his office, too. So, you never know.

Now, if I can get Jamie to let me install those big crystals in the front yard to get that look I really want...

Comic Fodder Post

wherein I talk a bit about Superman. And why he is uncool.

Read the amazing article here.

Superman Animated and New Gods

Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, Jack Kirby's "New Gods" aren't some religious whatzit. It refers to Kirby's crazy-bizarre ideas regarding a celestial race of beings spawned from the wars of celestial beings who may or may not have been the same or precursors to mythological figures of Earth culture. It's hazy.

But what you also need to know is: The New Gods are awesome.


If I tried to explain this scene, I would never do it justice...

But this weekend, while watching an old episode of the animated Superman show from the 1990's, I was reminded of how Timm's crew recognized that the show was a great opportunity to bring in Kirby's Fourth World characters. After all, they'd first been introduced in "Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen" (no, really. I have the issue.), so a Superman cartoon was a great excuse for them to bring these characters to the small screen.

Here's the nickel tour of how The New Gods stuff works:



The traded babies? Orion and Scott "Mr. Miracle" Free. Just FYI.

Keep in mind, this was just one of Kirby's ideas. The man is responsible for:
The Fantastic Four
Dr. Doom
The X-Men
Captain America
Thor

and I could keep going... But, suffice it to say, The Fourth World/ New Gods concepts were a later-era Kirby creation, dreamed up during a period when he was coming up with whole worlds between breakfast and lunch.

I posted the clip above because it's a pretty good summation of The New Gods, and I find Orion to be an underappreciated DC character. I have to thank WB animation for giving Orion his due.

Timm's team would carry Darkseid and Co. through as a major force in their DCU cartoons until the very final episode, providing for some of the best stories in what was a phenomenal set of series.

Anyway, if WB is looking for a mythology and villain for the relaunch of the Superman movies? And they want dark?

Superman Inspired Goodness?

It seems that JLA and Identity Crisis writer Brad Meltzer has started the ball rolling on a great, multi-pronged project.

He's involved with an organization called "Ordinary People Change the World", which invites people from all walks of life to engage in civic responsibility and help others.

Meltzer has started a group, or sub-group, called "The Siegel and Shuster Society" which is working to raise funds toward the preservation of the home Jerry Siegel lived in through his twenties, and where he was living when he developed the idea for Superman. Read more here.

I think its worth noting that Meltzer hasn't just focused on the preservation of the Siegel home, but has hitched the Siegel and Shuster Society to the greater effort of Ordinary People Change the World, encouraging folks to find other ways in which they can help their community.

Meltzer had teamed with a number of comic professionals to obtain items for bid whose proceeds will benefit the Siegel and Shuster Society, and begin restoration of the century-old home in Cleveland. The items are all, invariably, awesome. Which means I can't actually afford any of them, but you can also just donate, or purchase a shirt from the Society (which will also help out).

Keep in mind, they aren't trying to make a museum out of the house (yet). They're trying to get the house into better shape for the couple who actually lives in the house every day.

Figure out a way in which you can participate.

Superman Genesis not all "Gee-Whiz"?

I appreciate the folks who sent me the article on the Siegel family which ran today.

To summarize, its an article about how its recently come to light that Superman creator Jerry Siegel's father died during a robbery at his shop prior to the creation of Superman. Armchair psychology suggests that perhaps this event was the catalyst for the creation of The Man of Steel.


Here's a link to that article.

I have no idea what Siegel and Shuster were thinking during the years when they were working on their cartoon ideas (of which there are many which survive). Most of what I know about the actual origins of Superman and Siegel and Shuster comes from the Gerard Jones book "Men of Tomorrow", which I've referenced here once or twice.

It seems that novelist AND comic writer Brad Meltzer is releasing a novel in which the events of Siegel's father's death play a central role. And as Meltzer tends to sell a heck of a lot of novels, USA today and others are picking up on the theme in his latest novel "The Book of Lies" (due next month).

I do think that making the equation of "untimely death of father + desire to see justice = birth of Superman" is a pretty gross oversimplification. But its also exactly the sort of story that the general populace would rather hear than the long held (and oft derided opinion) that Siegel and Shuster were high school losers who needed some form of escapism from their nerd-status, and so fantasized about an alter ego which would make the ladies swoon.

It's been the latter interpretation that's made the rounds in columns and lists of "dumbest superheroes" (Googling "Superman lame" brings up 1.3 million sites) that has dogged Superman in the post Dark Knight Returns era. The character was seen as a weak man's fantasy stand-in, and that somehow made character, creators and fans of the character seem dopey. How this applies to Superman, but not to any other character... I have no idea, but that's been the general consensus.


Superman deals with yet another citizen who let their tags expire

The somewhat abstract armageddon of Superman's origin hasn't held up as well as the gripping visceral and personal tragedy of Batman's origins, and for twenty years it's been fairly regularly that Superman takes a pounding for his lack of murder in his origin (always an odd one, to me. Especially with billions of dead Kryptonians, etc...). So it'll be interesting to see how or if the true tragedy of the character's creator and champion will carry any weight going forward.

Writers with a psych class or two under their belt may not be so quick to dismiss the character as a nerdy kid's fantasy for landing girls, but will now read into the character all sorts of new stuff with the information at hand. (insert tiny, unenthusiastic "hooray..." here)

All of that has always been a gross oversimplification of Superman's origin. He was the product of two kids (young men by the time Superman was finally published in its more-or-less current form) who did what most people do when creating something new: they begged, borrowed and stole from other popular science-fiction and fantasy of the day of which they'd been fans for years. Doc Savage, Amazing Stories Magazine, strong men such as Charles Atlas, and everything in between.

They were fanboys before the term was coined, trying to break into a medium that was not an atypical aspiration at the time, just as young people now all want to major in film.

What's forgotten is that Siegel also produced characters like The Spectre, who make Batman's exploits look like child's play. And, by the way, Dr. Occult, whom I once saw cited as "the first costumed hero". Siegel was also responsible for humor strips, and worked a lot of comedy into Superman from the first issue. And, he preceeded Superman with the recently revived tough-guy, Slam Bradley (derivative of Dick Tracy, etc...).

That all said:

I'm not sure Siegel created Superman out of tragedy. I'm not dismissing the idea, but I can't possibly know one way or another, and I'm not sure if its fair to believe that's the case just because it seems somewhat romantic and/ or works with our understand of psychology gleaned from seeing Dr. Phil.

I do know that Siegel never saw Superman as an avenging character from the first issue. Rather, Superman was there to stop harm from occurring, whereas Batman was the detective on the trail of clues, bringing murderers and thieves to justice after the mess was already made (but you'd have to ask Bill Finger and Bob Kane about all that).

Whatever anger might have been there was turned into a more hopeful wish fulfillment, possibly. That rather than asking someone like Batman to pick up the pieces afterward, the Man of Steel had been there to save the day.

And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Both kids and adults should know that heroes aren't just people who show up after the fact. Sometimes they're the guys who step in first to make sure the bad stuff either doesn't happen, or never gets too bad. Maybe Siegel's real life experience taught him that what people really want in the face of tragedy is for something to save the day. And that's something all superheroes do when they're at their best. And that's kind of the point...

Warner Bros. to Re-Jigger Superman Movies?

Apparently with Jamie in the hospital and whatnot, I missed a story that spread on friday.

And I have to give mad props to Randy. He sent me an article on this topic, and I poo-poo'd the whole thing, believing that this was yet another rumor come to the surface. But, Leaguers, this looks pretty solid, as far as these things go. So give it up for Randy, who often sends stuff my way, and I all too often shrug it off.

So, it appears WB is probably scrapping any "continuity" established by "Superman Returns" and moving forward with an all-new Superman movie next year.


Here's the Wall Street Journal article.

It'll help if you read the whole thing to get some context. It's short, and well be here when you get back.

Here are the paragraphs that have comic nerds all up in a lather:

Like the recent Batman sequel -- which has become the highest-grossing film of the year thus far -- Mr. Robinov wants his next pack of superhero movies to be bathed in the same brooding tone as "The Dark Knight." Creatively, he sees exploring the evil side to characters as the key to unlocking some of Warner Bros.' DC properties. "We're going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it," he says. That goes for the company's Superman franchise as well.

The studio is set to announce its plans for future DC movies in the next month. For now, though, it is focused on releasing four comic-book films in the next three years, including a third Batman film, a new film reintroducing Superman, and two movies focusing on other DC Comics characters. Movies featuring Green Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman are all in active development.

I think its necessary here to take a step back and point out a few things:

-the writing was on the wall for Singer's ousting pretty much after opening night when I noted the cinema I went to had reduced the number of screens from 2 to 1 for "Superman Returns"
-WB has been publicly soliciting Superman scripts for what seems like 2 or 3 months. And privately before that. That's not Hollywood speak for "Singer's our guy!"
-reporters seem to take misinterpreting comics and comic movie information as a point of pride. I'd be pretty suspicious of anything said at all in this article.
-for example, I sincerely doubt WB intends for Superman to become evil, but I imagine they have plans for darker bad guys for the Man of Steel (ie: Doomsday)
-Mr. Robinov's beliefs regarding what he thinks will work as it stands today could change with the wind tomorrow. This capriciousness is the hallmark of the studio exec.
-I think what Robinov might have meant, rather than suggesting DC's heroes will be eeee-vil, is that we've made that 1986 change in comic movies. The studios, like the comic companies, are shedding the idea that comics are kid's stuff. They now know how dark they can go and still sell toys.

Basically, I follow enough information regarding super heroes and movies, and film development in general (thanks, RTF degree! Seriously, we studied this @#$%.) that I know an article like this means almost next to nothing in the grand scheme of things. Everything could change tomorrow. As I often say, "don't believe a word of it until you read the reports that they're actually rolling film."

If every report I read in the run up to Superman Returns were true, there would be four different Superman movies, two of which would star Ashton Kutcher, floating around. You learn to take this with a grain of salt.

So long, Superman Returns

"Superman Returns" didn't take off with fans. Mostly because it wasn't an action movie (Superman punches nobody), and because of the introduction of the out-of-continuity love child of Lois and Superman.

Comic fans have been up in arms about the kid since the movie came out, declaring Superman a "deadbeat dad", which sounds great in a comment section, but is entirely inaccurate if you actually watch the movie. The movie is, after all, all about Superman's legacy from father to son, and moving on beyond the world you embraced to embrace the future ahead of you through your child (no, seriously).

I loved the way they displayed Superman's powers, and believed the movie was absolutely gorgeous and rich, the way a Superman movie should be. The whole thing looked and felt like a fairy tale, in a way movies have forgotten how to look since the 1980's. And Brandon Routh was as perfect a guy in the role as I could have hoped for.

But I also don't know where they could go with Jason Lane. Many folks online were of the "they should kill him off" camp, which... seriously? Kill a child (even a fictional child)? That's kind of messed up. Not to mention woefully uncreative.

Maybe it was just a good end-capper on the Reeves movies, which always deserved better than Superman 3 and (certainly) 4.

I'm comfortable with a re-boot of the movie franchise at this point. But only under the right circumstances. It's promising that they're interested in taking their cues from "Dark Knight", so at least we don't need to worry about McG casting Ashton Kutcher as Superman and having him enegage in extreme sports or some such...

But I'd also point out, the "common wisdom" that marvel did the right thing by re-booting "The Hulk"? Ang Lee's 2003 "Hulk" grossed $132 million domestic. Ed Norton's 2008 "Incredible Hulk" grossed $134 million domestic. Add in 5 years of inflation, and a "re-boot" doesn't necessarily mean anything as far as success.

So we're going to have to wait and see what shakes out.

My Advice to WB

Re-do the origin.

Your gut is telling you "hey, that Death of Superman thing sold like CRAZY in 1992! People love that stuff!" Yes, Superman dying is "dark". But...

Don't do it.

A) They've announced, like, four different takes on "Death of Superman", and released it as an animated movie at least once. Everyone knows he doesn't die (really), so its sort of anti-climatic. You aren't going to do the "Reign of the Supermen", which was sort of the point of Death of Superman... so don't do it.
B) Also, "Death of Superman" was supposed to have impact because Superman was established in the DCU for years before he croaked. If that's part of your "all new Superman", you're essentially putting a guy out there, and then he gets killed. Which, you know, doesn't look real good. Its a lot different from the guy who always wins finally losing, which was also the point.
C) "The Death of Superman" was a narrative mess, and isn't much fun to read as a collection. It involves the 1990's sprawling cast of super-characters, Lex's brain living in a 20-something Lex Luthor cloned body, an interdimensional protoplassmic Supergirl, a giant frog Lois uses for transportation, Green Lanterns, and at least one incident of grave robbing.
D) I think when even the mighty Bruce Timm tried to do it, the movie wasn't that great.

Use modern technology. Don't feel beholden to the Donner movies, and re-tell the origin so the kids have an all-new Superman for their generation.

Also:
1) Part of the magic of Superman is that he carves out who he is. There is no pre-destination, prophesies or "chosen ones" in Superman. That fundamentally goes against the grain of Superman as a character. He's about CHOICE to be heroic. Pre-destination stories are about people bumbling into greatness and resisting their heroic calling. Which is great, but its not Superman. Part of the magic was not that Jor-El specifically shot a rocket at Jonathan and Martha Kent, knowing exactly how they'd raise a child... It was that Jor-El has to take a leap of faith and hope for the best. And the luck of the draw that ordinary, salt-of-the-earth folks would be able to instill in Superman the right moral compass. Once you add to that, you're taking away from the story.
2) Krypton has to be gone. That's the point. No evil armies of Krypton.
3) I only want Lex if he has access to huge robots, a power suit, or a wide array of lasers. That said, gimme Lex.
4) You know who is really scary? Far scarier than thoughtless, inarticulate Doomsday? Brainiac.
5) You're going to want to give Superman his evil, opposite number with an evil Kryptonian. We've all seen Zod. Save it for a sequel or something.
6) Superman has a supporting cast. They've been well defined over 70 years. Use them.


2008 is the new 1986

I do think Robinov's comments give a glimpse of what's going on and point to a comment I made when I saw Dark Knight the first time. (oh, hell... I can't find when or where I said it. It might have been in conversation with Steven and Lauren).

But I believe the success of Dark Knight in 2008 is going to be seen in much the same way as "Dark Knight Returns" was seen in the mid-80's, as well as "Watchmen". Non-comic readers will not ever know the cultural shift in comics that occurred thanks, in part, to those two works. Like some classic albums (maybe "Revolver", I dunno...) nothing was ever really the same after that within comics as those albums fundamentally changed pop music. In fact, it was that transition of DKR and Watchmen that I think led directly to comics' shift from kid's entertainment to an older audience for tights-wearing vigilantes.

With DKR and Watchmen, superheroes were, to some extent, seen for the fascists Wertham had always accused them of being. The image that had begun to chip away in the 70's of heroes with hands on fists saving the day with a wink was stomped into the dirt. In many ways, I grew up in a comics world where I had to go back to try and even find the kinds of comics my parents and guidance counselor assumed I was reading (I did make the mistake of handing my dad "The Killing Joke" summer of '89). To some extent, Marvel's "Civil War" event could have gone a lot further toward exploring Wertham's assertions, but instead chose to be a story about how Iron Man is a jerk and Cap makes sentimental decisions.

As rich as I think the Spidey movies have been, and as impressed as I was with Iron Man, Dark Knight was a different kind of movie. And what studios need to realize, that the comic companies took entirely too long to realize (and it almost destroyed the industry in the process) is that Dark Knight is lightning in a bottle. With his proclamation, its as if (but not quite) Robinov were to declare he's going to slate two gangster pictures a year on the assumption that they'll be as good as "Godfather I & II".

The fallout of Watchmen wasn't that every comic became an introspection of the super-soul and the industry itself matured over night. It was that comic writers felt that they should create flawed, tortured characters who occasionally had sex. The comics were being produced by often lesser writers, who saw the sturm und drang of Dark Knight Returns, but missed what it was that made the series work, all while being entirely true to the Batman's roots.

By the mid-90's I wasn't really reading superhero comics because many of the titles had devolved into a glossy, messy warground in which superheroes, in order to be "darker, grittier, more extreme" were becoming increasingly more lethal and a lot more likely to pull the trigger.

And that's part of the problem with declaring that you're going to make your superheroes themselves "darker". At some point, you're missing the fundamental core of the characters that make them the good guys and separates them from the bad guys, and now you're just talking two guys in tights beating the holy hell out of each other (which is part of why I flinched any time I heard mention of the proposed "Superman vs. Batman" movie. What's the point?).

Maybe this is a natural curve that the movies will have to go through.

A note regarding what happened with super-hero comics...

It's dishonest to try to pretend that all comics move in one colossal shift, as if its a coordinated affair. There are always lots of missteps. But a movement in any direction tends to leave a lot of splinters around that tenaciously hang on. Characters and concepts I have no use for (ex: Marvel's Cable) survive and prosper.

DC's limited series "Kingdom Come" was like a wake-up call to the DCU. Slowly but surely, much of the DCU gave up on "extreme" in favor of "iconic". "Kingdom Come" seemed to boil the heroes down to their essence and ask aloud what Superman, Batman and the rest of the JLA were doing about the state of the industry. And they answered loudly.

According to Valerie at Occasional Superheroine, who once worked as an Assistant Editor at DC, Didio was still learning the lessons of the 90's, and moved in exactly the wrong direction for a spell, when she attended a retreat sometime around 2003, I'd guess. (I like Val's blog, but I think she overestimates the change this particular retreat had on DC, as they were in the post "Kingdom Come" shift away from ridiculous 90's characters like the Dr. Fate spin-off, Fate.)

I don't know how that would work with comic movies, or if any of this would come to pass. But I do know that there's some history here, and movie audiences and movie creators probably aren't all that different from those of comics.

That's a Whole Lot of Kryptonians

click on image to have your mind blown

I know some folks don't like the work of Alex Ross. Those people amaze me (in a disappointed way).

Me, I'm an Alex Ross nut. Especially when he's painting The Man of Steel and Co.

There's an upcoming story crossing over the Super-Titles in the coming months entitled: New Krypton. Supposedly there's several thousand Kryptonians coming to Earth. At least that's what the DC promo materials have said.

There are so many question marks, I can't help but be interested. Plus, note the various eras of Superman publishing represented in the various Kryptonian outfits. And I think that silver one way, way up in the sky represents the Krypton of the Donner-directed Superman movie. (Also, note Silver Age Nightwing and Flamebird, heroes of Kandor, coming at you).

And, who is that center frame? That's my boy, Krypto, yo!

Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes

I was planning to really hit you guys over the head with a review of the Trade Paperback release of Geoff Johns' recent run on Action Comics.

But I just read BeaucoupKevin's review, and its spot on. Comic readers should be reading BeaucoupKevin, anyway.

I may review this myself, anyway. But, here's a first shot.

The Peabo/ Onion/ Al Gore/ Jor-El/ Superman connection

Last fall, Peabo sent me an e-mail regarding his theory on an Al Gore/ Superman/ Jor-El connection. You can go here for Peabo's thoughts.

Well, Mr. Harms made my morning by sending me this article from The Onion. And, later, Jim D sent it as well.

I think The Onion owes Peabo a dollar.

Apple goes Super Awesome

iTunes has partnered with Waner Bros./ DC Comics to put a whole mess of cartoons, live-action, etc... online. If you don't already have all of these great shows in another format (say, DVD), then this is a great opportunity.

I'm especially excited to see they've made "The Adventures of Superman" available, starring George Reeves and Phyllis Coates (Noel Neill would join the cast in Season 2, reprising the role she played with Kirk Alyn in the movie serials).

Also, look for:

Batman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series
Batman Beyond
Aquaman
Super Friends
and the original Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons

Episodes are priced at a very reasonable $1.99, or about $1 less than a comic book.

Go to iTunes and look for DC Classic Animation.

a TTSNB special: If I had a million dollars!

I may be jobless, but if I had me a million dollars, I know what I'd buy.

First, I'd get this, this and this. Then this. And then, improbably, this.

But after that...


Is an original Barris Batmobile too much to wish for? If so, I will take this.






The great thing about this $100 lawn ornament (2 feet tall) is that when Jamie would complain about it, I could tell her she was crazy for believing in Bigfoot Lawn Ornaments. I could pat her hand and tell her that maybe she'd seen a bear lawn ornament or something.

I found this in the SkyMall catalog while flying to Costa Rica, and its been on my mind ever since. But to dwell on the items of the SkyMall catalog is to invite madness.


"Suffering from head-weight exhaustion? Seeking better neck health? Noted Phrenologist Professor Poppycock's amazing new Spine-o-Extractor has already led to rejuvenation for others. Why not you? Only Professor Poppycock's Spine-o-Extractor provides the proper amount of lifting power necessary for the correct separation of vertebrae of the human backbone, which allows the nerve clusters to oxygenate. Enjoy better neck and head health! Professor Poppycock's Amazing Spine-o-Extractor is to the skull-support area what Cod liver Oil is for the humors of the human food-tract!"
Yes, I found this in SkyMall, too. $55 before S&H.


This really isn't that expensive if you have a job, but I don't. When it come to Trek, I'm Trek Classic all the way. And while I think phasers and communicators are cool, Tricorders are simply awesome. Buy me a tricorder here. And, yes, i would walk around with it in the background on all of your away missions.


This things is, like, 7 feet high. And costs $2500. Here's a link, if you want to buy it for me. I think it would look awesome in the corner where Jamie keeps the piano.


I have a Wii. Jason has an Xbox. There is no GTAIV for Wii.
I want to rob people and take their cars and go on shady missions around Liberty City.
But I, otherwise, really am happy with the Wii. But if I had a million dollars...



Mattel does a tip of the hat to Hitchock and Hedren. It's kind of weird, but... you know, if you're going to have really random crap in your millionaire mansion, why not this? Buy here.

Also, this Wonder Woman Barbie. No, seriously. I want a Barbie for the first time in my life.



While the arm in the photo in no way resembles The League's own guns, why not the Hammer of Thor?

You don't actually need to be worthy to lift this hammer, but you're going to need about $450, plus S&H.


Yes, truly I would impress all in an interview when they would ask for one of my strengths, and I would hold Mjolnir aloft and call the thunder down upon their brow.


While, of course, wearing my official Thor helmet.