This is the place where I discuss all things Sacred and Profane. Stop by and check me out. Leave a comment (or not), as this is done for my own amusement. If you too are entertained, all the better, but that is not the motivation here. For I, am a...Writer with attitude! Comics, Sci Fi, movies, TV, Books, the Internet, Pop Culture, you name it. I talk about all of these things and more. These are the things that entertain me. I can only hope that some of them will entertain you as well.
So, we just came from watching the new James Gunn Superman
flick—which we thoroughly loved—and we wanted to talk a little bit about it.
This isn’t our review, we’ll be writing and posting about that later (We’ll
link back here to hook you up with that review as soon as it is written,
posted, and approved). But for now, what we want to do here is to talk a little
bit about how there are reports on social media about how Gunn turned Superman
“Woke” and they don’t like it.
To those people who feel this way, all I have to say (as
someone who has been reading comics since 1961, working in the field as a
journalist since 1981, and as a comicbook creator since 1986) You have no idea
what you are talking about here. And trust me, as I’m something of an expert in
this.
But first, allow me to go back a few years when the first
Wonder Woman film came out in 2017. Back then a pair of conservative talking
heads whined on-air about how disrespectful it was that the film changed her
uniform from red, white, and blue like Superman’s. This without clearly
realizing that her costume was never red, white, and blue, and neither was
Superman’s. Hers has always been red, gold, and blue, while
Superman’s was red, Yellow, and blue. Further, neither of them are
actually Americans, Wonder Woman is from the mythical island of Themyscira,
while Superman (Kal-El) was born on the planet Krypton and is (technically) on
Earth (and in the U.S.) illegally.
Next up, in 2022 other conservative TV talking heads
(probably from the same network) were griping that Marvel has gone woke by
creating a female Hulk, without realizing that She-Hulk first appeared some 43
years earlier in her own Marvel Comicbook. According to information at the
time, the character was created to protect the company’s trademark on the
green-skinned Hulk character’s name. In fact, there is a video clip of a
reporter interviewing Bill Bixby (who played David Banner on the TV show. That
clip is shown below.
My point with these first couple of paragraphs is that quite
often, the folks on (pretend) TV news shows very often don’t know, or even
understand, even the simplest of things (which can be looked up) on which they
are reporting, and if they can get simple (not important) things like those I
cited wrong, then how can we trust them getting actual important news correct.
Then there is the case of Dean Cain (who played Clark
Kent/Superman) in the CBS TV show Lois &
Clark,The New Adventures of Superman(1973–1977).
Sometimes, proving that even when they have some understanding of who the
character is because they actually played them on TV. Cain re-entered public
awareness recently with his negative assessment over Gunn’s film (without even
having seen the film). Cain claimed that the film is too woke because it
celebrates Superman as an immigrant (somehow forgetting that only is he an
illegal immigrant, but that there was an episode of Lois & Clark that dealt
with the same topic.
Another issue the conservative Cain mentioned about the film
is Gunn’s changing the long-standing mantra first associated with Superman m
the 1950s TV show, stands for “Truth, Justice, and the American way” to “Truth,
Justice, and a better tomorrow”. Well, two things here. First, under our
current administration, America isn’t as welcoming to immigrants as we were in
the ‘50s. Second (and more relevant to the character) those of us who actually read
comics already know that back in 2011 (Action Comics #900), Superman addressed the
full council of the UN and renounced his U.S. citizenship and declared himself
to be a citizen of the world. Thus, making the “…for a better tomorrow” a far more
reasonable pledge.
THIS JUST IN!
Shortly after posting this article, we learned that Dean Cain (who is Japanese American and whose father's entire family was interned in a camp in Idaho during WWII) has recently announced that he is joining ICE!
Having written all that, we have seen the new Superman film
and let us state that we fully enjoyed it and state that it is easily one of
the best stand-alone Superman films ever made (and the presence of Krypto
certainly helped in that regard). Further, the appearance of the Justice Gang
(especially Metamorpho, an old favorite of ours) added to the film’s fun. Plus, the addition of Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor was simply brilliant. Ultimately, we believe that a large part of the misunderstandings covered in this
article stem from the fact that many folks still believe that superhero films,
and the comics from which they are based, are still “junk” or “kiddy” fare, and
not legitimate literature or cinema. And frankly, as far as we’re concerned, that’s simply a crying shame.
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Oh, and just to let all’y’all
know that I know what I’m talking about, in 1961 I moved from reading
syndicated newspaper comic strips to reading comicbooks. Around 1978 I joined
comicbook fandom and began to contribute to an APA (Amateur Publishing Alliance).
In 1981 my first comicbook article was published in Amazing Heroes #5. In 1986
my first comicbook (Agent Unknown: Renegade Press) was published. I spent the
next 15-20 years working as a journalist in comics, writing for virtually all
of the magazines that covered the comicbook industry. Currently I still post about
comics both here and over at HubPages,
I also still write comics at Dark Fire Press, and
other indie publishers.
As you can see there are six toys in this set. So far I have five of them: The toys are a series of cardboard Villain stand-ups that you knock down with superhero projectiles.
Green Lantern/ Sinestro
Cyborg vs. Darkseid: Flash vs. Captain Cold: Aquaman vs. Black Manta:
and Wonder Woman vs. Cheetah
The only pair I’m missing at the moment is Superman vs. Lex Luthor, but I hope to score that soon.
This is not the first time that Sonic has partnered with DC Comics to bring the JLA to the Drive-In, It did so previously in February 24, 2012 with a set of JLA plushes.
Yep, you heard that right, we’re going to all be waiting on well, not so much Superman as his next film. To be sure, given the lackluster turnout for the last Superman film,you can hardly blame us for yawning. Still, if you had been hoping that Warner Bros. would make every effort to get a Superman movie into theaters before their 2012 deadline for the character rights, then, well then, you’re SOL because a new report indicates that Warner intends to keep the franchise on ice at least for the time being.
despite the perceived need to get a new Superman movie in production before 2011 in order to avoid paying penalty to the heirs of the character's creators, Warners are planning to stay quiet on the Superman front for the simple reason that they don't know what else to do:
Furthermore, Thompson has indicated that while it is a priority for the studio to find the right direction for the character and if director Bryan Singer is willing to do that, fine, but if he gets in the way, he may not stay with the project. Apparently, while there are no writers currently working on a Superman script.
Considering Warners have three of DC's most popular comic writers consulting for the studio on DC-related projects (including Grant Morrison, who wrote the critically-acclaimed, award winning All Star Superman), the idea that the studio can't come up with a direction for the character is kind of mind-boggling, and perhaps points to a reason why Marvel Studios needn't worry about the competition just yet.
Personally, if Warner wants to ever get their flagship character back up into the air, they really have to stop having him go up against Lex Luthor in yet another Real Estate scheme, and have him fight, well anybody else in the Man of Steel’s Rogue’s Gallery. Yeah, I know that thet whol romance angle with Lois worked on TV, but on the big screen audiences want just a tad more flash, sizzle, and well, flat-out action.
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