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Looking for Christopher Nolan’s Superman…

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Darren

Superman is a tough character to get right. In any format. I remarked earlier in the week that there are very few truly classic stories featuring the character. While I’m more than a little delighted that Christopher Nolan has been handed the reigns to the franchise, I’m also a little bit nervous. Is there a way to make Superman a viable commercial franchise for the twenty-dirst century? I’d argue there is, if we look in the right place. Here’s my opinion: Look! Up in the skies! I think that the place to look to take the character back to his roots is the sort of wonderful ‘out there’ science fiction of the fifties. Batman does noir, so let Superman do hokey sci-fi.

"You will always be a child of two worlds..." Wait, sorry, wrong monologue...

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Superman: Red Son

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Darren

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman! Superman: Strange visitor from another world! Who can change the course of might rivers, bend steel in his bare hands and who, as the champion of the common worker, fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, socialism and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact.

…

Let out enemies beware: the is only one super-power now.

– Russian propaganda broadcast

I’ve remarked before, and many others have remarked as well, that Superman is a very tough character to write for, particularly after seventy years of publication. This is a fact reflected by the difficulty even comic book aficionados have in picking the iconic Superman stories – the essential collections, as it were. Undoubtedly Alan Moore’s work on the character would be collected (handily in Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?), as would Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman. I’m fairly sure that this collection would also make the shortlist. As far as interesting and insightful takes on the character go, Mark Millar has what might be termed a “doozie” here: what if Superman had landed in Russia? What if instead of fighting for “truth, justice and the American Way”, he fought for Mother Russia? It’s certainly an intriguing idea, and Mark Millar’s execution is near-flawless as well.

Well, of course the balloon is red...

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Batman 3 and Superman Reboot Confirmed…

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Darren

Wow. It looks like getting Nolan to sign on for Batman 3 wasn’t the hard part. It was getting him to sign on to be the brains behind the new Superman reboot. Yes, there’s a new Superman reboot coming. Guess DC is finally doing something with the Man of Steel. Looks like it’s no longer just fanboy hopes riding on Christopher Nolan – it’s the future of DC comics on film.

Forget Clark Kent, Christopher Nolan is the real Superman...

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Is Spock Superman?

Posted on December 5, 2009 by Darren

While watching Star Trek with my family over the weekend, I noticed something. Something small, probably insignificant. But you know how things are. They grab you and they stick in the back of you mind like a piece of thread, slowly unravelling over time until all of a sudden you have some sort of epiphany. My epiphany is this: what if Spock – as imagined by JJ Abrams – is Superman? Yes, the four-colour comic book character. Or – at the very least – a stand-in for him? It might not be as crazy as you think…

Okay, it’s probably as crazy as you think. But hopefully not crazier.

The world's favourite aliens...

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Grant Morrison’s Run on Justice League of America: The Deluxe Edition, Vol. 1-2 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Darren

“Never underestimate the sentimentality of a Scotsman, Clark.”

– Batman knows how much Morrison likes comics

‘Tis the season for ever-so-slightly oversized hardback editions, what with DC reissuing the entire run of Starman and this re-release of the relaunch of the original superteam. The fact that they can put creator extraordinaire Grant Morrison’s name on the cover surely isn’t a problem either. Nor is the fact that the book (under his stewardship) was one of the best selling comic books of the nineties. So, what aren’t I getting here? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a perfectly adequate book (that isn’t necessarily as smart as it thinks it is), but it’s not gold. It moves at the speed of the Flash and seems intent to throw ideas at the reader at headache-inducing speed. It’s solid, reliable and it manages to recreate the zany madness that defined the group, but it never seems to completely transcend it. And it just keeps trying.

Rocking your world...

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The Batman/Superman Dilemma

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Darren

It began simply enough. “You like Batman better than Superman,” my girlfriend asserted over dinner a few weeks ago. I couldn’t dipute the claim, but mounted a fairly swift defense of the character as “misunderstood”. That prompted an incredulous response which suggested that I “like Batman better because he’s darker”. That’s an interesting assertion. I don’t believe it’s true – certainly not in my case at any rate. I think the public’s perception of Batman as a more enduring, more fascinating and all round ‘cooler’ pop culture icon that the Man of Steel stems from a whole host of factors, that can’t be succinctly summed up with an observation that one is dark and gritty and the other is light and fluffy. So, why are we fonder of the Caped Crusader that the big blue boy scout?

batsupe

Notice how Superman is trying to look half as badass as Batman...

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Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

Posted on August 2, 2009 by Darren

Released in a Deluxe Edition hardback format to compliment Neil Gaiman’s farewell to the Caped Crusader, this collection of Alan Moore Superman stories is a pretty cool purchase, and one significantly better than the Batman equivalent it is published alongside. A fond goodbye to the Silver Age of Superman (and comics as a whole), it reads fantastically well in retrospect as a goodbye in many ways to the innocence of the earlier superhero four-colour tales. The fact that it’s accompanied by arguably an even better Superman story is just icing on the cake.

"I can't stand to fly..."

"I can't stand to fly..."

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Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 1, 2009 by Darren

I guess… I guess I always knew that this was how it was going to end. That we didn’t have him forever. That one day someone would say, ‘Hey, Jim. Whatever happened to the Caped Crusader?’ I’d tell them. ‘Pretty much what you’d expect. He’s dead.’

I just didn’t think it would be today.

– Commissioner James Gordon

I actually quite enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, even if I wasn’t overly in love with it. The prospect of doing a final, definitive Batman story – one not anchored in a particular event, but designed to encapsulate the history of the Dark Knight – must be daunting. Even Alan Moore’s sensational Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? served as a fond farewell to one particular iteration of the Man of Steel. Gaiman’s “last ever” Batman story is a tad more ambitious, bidding goodbye to alliterations of the character. I’m not entirely convinced that it succeeds, although it makes a more than valiant effort.

Clowning around!

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Inside the Superman Judgment – Does Anybody Get This Character?

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Darren

I’m a nerd, but also a legal nerd, so it was quite unlikely that the lawsuit over the rights to Superman would pass completely without me making some sort of comment on it. The outcome isn’t really what’s most striking, though – at least from looking at coverage of the case. Off the back of the arguments made, it’s kinda disturbing how the forces behind Superman view the overgrown boy scout.

Superman uses his X-Ray vision to read between the lines of the judgment...

Superman uses his X-Ray vision to read between the lines of the judgment...

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How to make a super Superman Movie

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Darren

I’m surprised at the lack of word from Hollywood about another Superman film. Sure, there were mumblings after The Dark Knight of a similar venture to be named The Man of Steel, but despite Kevin Smith’s championing of JJ Abrams to take the mantle or the rumours about a Wachowski Brothers trilogy, it seems that next-to-nothing is happening. I’ll admit I’m not the biggest fan of the Superman character – largely because there is no really character and attempts to add it have simply tried to inject angst where it doesn’t belong. Still, he has the potential to make fantastic movies, as a large part of the character is simply spectacle. I thought I’d just jot down my own advice for anyone out there looking to make a Superman movie.

Don't have Superman stare deeply into middle distance. The dude has X-Ray vision and can see the wings on a fly several miles away.

Don't have Superman stare deeply into middle distance. The dude has X-Ray vision and can see the wings on a fly several miles away.

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