As a comic book reader of the 1960s/1970s, imagine my surprise when I read this morning that "The Man of Steel" has been re-imagined (a wee bit). Actually, I have not exactly been keeping up with Superman, so there may have been a few changes over the years and I would not have known even if I tripped over Lex Luthor. I do remember the "Death of Superman"... that was 1992 or 1993. Years ago. (I remember a young apprentice, who was working at my company back then, coming to work the day of the 'death' issue's release: He showed me the book, and the other copy that he was keeping in a plastic bag for investment purposes. Of course, everyone was doing that.)
New Look Superman...
http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/25/superman-debuts-a-new-look/?hpt=Sbin
2 comments:
I'm tired of these "re-imaginings" of comic book characters which involve very little imagination. It takes real imagination to do something interesting and relevant with an established comic book character without changing what made it interesting in the first place. See All-Star Superman for a primer on how to do this well.
I'm sick of companies rewriting the origin stories to conform to what's cool now. No wonder comic sales are down, there are just too many variations and iterations of the classic characters to keep track of. I've always been a bit put off by Marvel's "Ultimate" universe, implying that these new versions of the characters are the ultimate versions, as if the characters created by Lee, Kirby, Ditko, and other pioneers are somehow substandard. And then there are the brand-extensions, the countless knock off characters. Superboy isn't Superman as a teenager anymore. What?!
Superman does not need a re-telling, he doesn't need to be turned into an angsty teen. What in the original version even suggests this?! What he needs are some good stories. And that goes for the film versions, too.
You are correct... on all counts.
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