Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Thoughts on Man of Steel

Some thoughts on Man of Steel:

-Don't know if it was just my theater or not, but the movie was loud. I like to feel the explosions, but not feel like I've been through one myself.

-"Shaky cam" usually doesn't bother me too much in movies, but it was very annoying in the first quarter or so of this one. It did seem better later though.

-Love the soundtrack.

-Henry Cavill is the most ripped Superman ever.

-The movie goes all-out on the action. Easily the best job I've seen done in communicating just how powerful Superman is supposed to be.

-This movie will definitely draw a lot of comparisons to Batman Begins. That's probably fair, the tone and overall approach are similar.

-I found the movie surprisingly emotional. Not sure exactly what it was, but it definitely hit me at times.

-It hits some themes/ideas that should be familiar to comic fans, but not necessarily the public at large. I'll be curious to see how people react.

-I liked it quite a bit. As far as DC films, I'd probably place it ahead of Batman Begins but definitely behind the sequels.

Man of Steel

Fate of Your Planet

Man of Steel

Superman's Dead

On the way home from work I was listening to my MP3s and heard "Superman's Dead." When I got home I happened to run across a mention that the 20th anniversary of "The Death of Superman" took place this month. November 18th to be exact, in Superman #75.

 If you remember, this was a really big deal at the time. Not so much for comics, because everyone who paid attention knew Superman would return, but for the media and people who knew little or nothing about comics because they actually thought Superman was really dead.

Since I mentioned it, here's the song. It doesn't actually have anything to do with the Man of Steel.

Man of Steel

From ComingSoon.net via Big Hollywood:

?

This is for those of you who never read comics. DC Comics, the publishers of Superman, Batman, etc is undergoing a major revamp in September. One part of this is updating the costumes of many heroes, including Superman. Now if the word "iconic" has any meaning I think Superman would fit it, but DC thinks this will help sales. Here are some pics:

VS.

I don't expect anyone reading this is going to go out a buy a new book because of this, but is it positive at all? Does eliminating the red shorts make you more likely to be interested? Does it just seem silly?

Comic Cover of the Week: Superman #702

Comic Cover of the Week: Action Comics #891

Coming to Detroit

Next month Superman is coming to Detroit. Not literally, though for all I know there may be someone walking around Detroit in a Superman costume in August. The comics have Superman currently walking across America and he's making a stop in Motown. Which I guess is safe if you're the Man of Steel, it's just a little dicey for the rest of us.


Any thoughts as to what he should encounter? A former mayor on the way to prison? The post-apocalyptic scene that makes up much of Detroit? Maybe he could give a pep talk to the Lions?

Not Superman

The Washington Post has an article today entitled "Don't expect Obama to be Superman." It's not much more than a list of excuses for Obama not living up to his rhetoric, but I found it especially amusing in this case. Why? Maybe the author hasn't seen this picture?



Or this one?


If you let yourself be sold as a superhero, don't complain that people expect too much of you.

Comic Cover of the Week: Superman/Batman Annual #4

Nolan is Super

Christopher Nolan is going to be the producer on a new Superman movie. The script isn't written yet, so it will be 2012 at the earliest before this hits theaters.

I'm a fan of Nolan and "The Dark Knight" is my favorite movie, but I have mixed feelings about this. I hope it doesn't get in the way of a Batman sequel, which is apparently being worked on and is mentioned in the article. With the last one making a billion dollars it's unlikely to be pushed back, but I'm slightly concerned. Also, Nolan's films don't strike me as being an obvious match for telling a story about Superman. I'm sure it will be a great story, but I wonder if it will feel like a Superman movie. Though I don't really like the other Superman movies, so that may not matter much.

$1 Million

That's how much a "Very Fine" copy of "Action Comics #1" sold for this week. The comic originally cost ten cents. "Action Comics #1" features the first appearance of Superman and is considered to be the first superhero comic book in history. According to Wikipedia, there's less than ten "Very Good" (readable, not ripped apart) or better copies known to exist, so it is basically the "holy grail" of comic collecting, the single most famous comic book in existence. Or, if you're a baseball card collector, it's the equivalent of a Honus Wagner card, except that the general public might understand the appeal. Well, to the extent that anyone can understand why a person would pay $1 million for and old pamphlet printed on low quality paper. In case you're wondering, the next 885 issues aren't worth quite so much. All of that was mostly an excuse to post a picture of the cover.