Monthly Archives: February 2016
The Adventures of Superman – The Sound of One Hand Clapping (Review)
“You’re nothing. You’re a goofy idea that only a child would think is cool. I’ve only known you a few minutes and I can already see that the only certain thing about you is the uncertainties. You’re just another nobody in a silly costume, killing innocent people to hog an imaginary spotlight. There is no audience watching you, Joker. No one but you, and you’re clearly already bored. Any writer could write you, any actor play you, all they need to do is make up their own version and people will applaud. But no one will ever actually applaud YOU.”
…Man, Joker’s been punched in the face so many times by Batman that he’s probably got his permanent fist-mark in his cheek, but THAT must’ve left a mark! XD
This March sees the release of Batman vs. Superman. To celebrate, we’ll be looking at some iconic and modern Batman and Superman stories over the course of the month.
Max Landis has a relatively unique path to writing for Superman.
Landis is one of the most striking young writers to emerge from Hollywood in quite some time, making a strong impression through his collaboration with Josh Trank in the low-budget found-footage superhero film Chronicle. Landis has diversified somewhat since that original screenplay; a filmography that includes films like Mr. Right, American Ultra and Victor Frankenstein suggests that Landis’ interests lie more in unconventional pairings than in the superhero genre itself.
The Joker’s gags really bombed…
Nevertheless, Landis is a writer who does seem fascinated with the mechanics and underlying logic of superhero storytelling. A year before the release of Chronicle, Landis put together a short film…
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Happy Birthday, Man of Steel
Related Content from And There Came A Day
- Man of Steel – A Movie Review
- Man of Steel – Better Than I Remembered
- How Many Good Guys Are Left? – Batman V Superman Trailer Analysis
Today is February 29 – Leap Day. It is also the birthday of Superman. No, it’s not the anniversary of the day Action Comics #1 was first published, but the fictional birthday that DC Comics gave to the Man of Steel.
Why did they choose February 29? They did so to limit the amount of birthday cards Superman used to receive at the DC Comics office.
Great story!
Happy Birthday, Superman!
An Unconventional Superman Tale: Why Kurt Busiek’s 2004 Series Is Still One of the Best
So, basically, Superboy Prime, except he’s not an asshole and didn’t turn evil? Sounds awesome. ^_^
Image Credit: DC Comics
I first read Kurt Busiek’s and Stuart Immonen’s Superman: Secret Identity when it was released back in 2004 – yes, I am aware this dates me, but the longevity of my readership loyalty and immersion within the confines of this wonderful medium is, I promise, relevant (more on this in a bit). It was a pretty terrific year for the industry. Brian K. Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man was in its third year of publication and J. Michael Straczynski had just released his inaugural issue of Strange, which in my humble opinion is quite possibly one of the best – if not the best – Doctor Strange stories ever written. I had read the solicitation summation for Busiek’s upcoming miniseries in an issue of Comic Shop News a few months prior. It was an altogether alternate take on the Superman mythos, but with one small…
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Batgirl #49 Preview
Hoo boy, this could get very, VERY bad if even one little slip-up occurs. Anyway, here are the preview pages for Batgirl #49.
- To unravel the secret of Batgirl’s bizarre new nemesis, her friends must travel to strange and uncharted territory: the inside of Barbara Gordon’s spectacular mind!
http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/batgirl-49-dc-comics-2016
Happy Birthday, Superman! + Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Favourite Superman Stories
Hey guys, it’s February 29th! Guess who is celebrating their birthday today? 😀
… … … …Okay, let’s try THAT again…
I swear to God, YouTube!!!
There we go! 😀 And yeah, go figure that, in official DC canon, Superman is a leap year baby. Personally, I would prefer to celebrate his birthday as being the date when Action Comics #1 came out, but since there is an actual birth date given for him in the comics, here we are. And for a man who has had stories told about him for nearly 80 years, who has saved the world more times than I could dare count, and has been rebooted and given multiple continuities devoted to telling various tales about him, naturally, everybody’s gonna have their favourites. As such, here are five of my personal favourite stories, both from the comics, the various animated series he’s been involved in, and the movies he’s been a part of. So, I suppose we should start off with the most obvious one that anyone who reads my blog knows is gonna be on here, simply because I’ve gone on and on about it already, meaning I won’t have as much new to say about it here…
#1 – Superman Unchained
In looking back on this book, it’s all the more clear to me just how much potential the New 52 Superman has as a character that is ultimately squandered. He is probably among the more imperfect versions of Superman to be shown off in the mainstream, and yet is shown to nonetheless be an inspiring and heroic individual primarily due to one thing: He never, ever gives up. He keeps trying, no matter how bleak things get, even when his own life is on the line, and even if the entire world pleaded for his sake not to. And sometimes, that means failing and eating dirt. But what’s always been most important to him is to never stop trying. Like all past versions of Superman have done when they are at their best, he inspires others to be better through his actions and his kindness. In addition to all that, though, there’re also great cameos by Batman and Wonder Woman that actually make sense within the context of the story and aren’t just shoved in to make a buck, there’s plenty of Lois Lane being awesome, Lex Luthor remains the great and evil puppeteer, and even Jimmy Olsen gets some nice moments in here and there. There are some clichés of modern Superman stories involved, like the military being leery and untrusting of him, and the reveal of another alien who has appeared on Earth to contest him, but there’s just something about the context in which it’s presented here that works a lot better. If you want a good Superman read set in the New 52, this is probably the one for you.
Probably my favourite modern reinterpretation of Superman’s origins. Granted, it could’ve been stretched out to a four or five parter so that the stuff involving Clark as Superman could’ve been expanded on more, but hey, he’s technically still getting started in the next few episodes anyway, so it works fine for what it is. It even addresses my biggest gripe involving Superman’s origins, which, if you’ve read my blog for a while now, you already know: HOW THE FUCK DID NOBODY ELSE ON KRYPTON KNOW THE END WAS COMING AND DIDN’T HAVE A MEANS OF GETTING OFF THE PLANET?!?! Here, though, the explanation given actually makes a lot of sense. Making Lois more of a rival to Clark kinda works well, too, and lets us see her really working her ass off and taking some serious risks, to where it’s obvious and forgivable that she needs saving so much. Any of us would under those circumstances, it just happens to be her. Granted, I don’t quite get why her skirt is so short that, when Superman carries her around, everyone beneath her is getting a shot of her underwear, but whatever. Point is, it’s a great first outing for the hero and look at his origins for a new generation.
#3 – The Mad Scientist
The more I think about it, the more I realize how this is pretty much the archetype of the classic Superman story: Mad scientist creates a device that’ll severely fuck up the world, Lois gets into trouble trying to do her job, Superman has to get involved, and through his quick thinking and incredible powers, he saves the day. And honestly, even after nearly 75 years, it still holds up really well. Yeah, there’s some stuff involving his origins that are talked about that I don’t agree with, like the idea of him being naturally super without the need for the sun, or the fact that he was raised in an orphanage, but, all things considered, not the worst version of his origins I’ve ever seen, either. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. It’s in public domain right now, so there’s very little in the way of stopping you from doing so.
What DO you get for the man who has everything? Well, if you wanna stay on his good side, probably not what Mongul got him. This story’s actually been retold and reimagined from its original comic form at least a couple of times. The ones I’m thinking of are in the fantastic Justice League Unlimited series, and as an episode of Supergirl, entitled For The Girl Who Has Everything. Admittedly, I lean more towards the JLU version, but that could simply be because it’s the first one I saw. However, all three tend to show that the most painful and heartbreaking thing you can do to a person is to make them live out their perfect scenario and then force them to abandon it for the greater good. Also, the comic has probably one of Jason Todd’s best moments EVER. It’s emotional, it’s action packed, it’s For The Man Who Has Everything.
#5 – All-Star Superman
Oftentimes considered by many to be one of the all-time greatest stories of the Man of Tomorrow. Once again, the animated version is the one I first saw, but having read the comics since then, I can tell you there are things about it that they change from the original that I both like and dislike. In terms of the like category, I think I prefer the ending of the movie, where we see Luthor, in what could be his final days, finally understanding Superman and what he stood for, what he himself could’ve been all along if it’d really mattered to him, and while he doesn’t necessarily redeem himself, he does make a gesture that perhaps will let his life have some positive meaning. In terms of the dislike, though, the pacing is a bit off, but that’s kinda obvious, due to trying to crunch down a 12 issue comic mini-series into a 76 minute movie. However, while there are of course some things that had to be cut, the one thing that I wish to God could’ve been kept in wasn’t. I don’t why, if maybe there was concern about showing this for whatever reason, but it is quite possibly the greatest scene involving Superman that you will ever see in your life. Here’s the context: Superman is dying. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, he is going to die. As such, in his last days, he is spending his time doing as much as he can for the world as possible, saving more lives and accomplishing greater wonders than he ever has before. And right as he’s in the middle of all that, his super hearing intercepts a call made by a single child…and this is what happens.
THAT is Superman. THAT is the Man of Tomorrow. How great is this scene, you might still ask yourself? Mark Waid called it the most moving scene in a Superman book ever, and he has read EVERY SINGLE COMIC ABOUT SUPERMAN. As I once shared on my blog, POW once awarded it as the greatest moment in comic book history. As TV Tropes put it, “If you took all eighty years of the character’s history and distilled it into a single pure moment containing all his best qualities, that one page would be it. He inspires strength, wisdom, kindness, freedom, value and hope in just a few words. And he saves a life.” And in terms of how it impacted the people who read it…well, let’s let this person tell you.
… … …I’d put down my fedora for this, but let’s be honest, I don’t really wear it much anymore. It’s gotten kinda old. Regardless, this is where we get into real talk, so just bear with me. A lot of people ask me from time to time how I can care so much about superheroes, when they’re just fictional characters drawn on paper. And, even I’ve asked myself on occasion why it feels like all I know how to write about are superheroes, or people and characters that are heroic in their own ways. This is the reason why: Through their stories, superheroes inspire people. They inspire us to be better, to be stronger, to be truer to ourselves, and to be kind and noble. I think that’s also why I watch Atop The Fourth Wall and find myself in the same corner as Lewis Lovhaug when he talks about comics. He once said that “Superheroes are basically the equivalent of modern-day knights-errant, they go out and help people and fight injustices. But a lot of the best superhero comics are the ones not actually about superheroes hitting supervillains or each other, anything like that. It’s the ones that show that superheroes are about kindness and decency and something far more noble than the adolescent power fantasies that people often critique them as”. I tend to agree. Sure, it’s always great to see superheroes give evil people their comeuppance, and of course I still love a good superhero brawl as much as anyone, but THIS is what they should always be about. They are kind, they are compassionate, and in their fictional tales, they show us what we can be in real life.
…Oh yeah, and one other problem one can have with the animated version of All-Star Superman is that he apparently kills Solaris. I don’t know enough about Solaris to know if he really qualifies as a living creature, so if he does, then yeah, that’s a strike against the movie. Really, the only reason I’m okay with it in Superman Unbound is because, by then, Brainiac was more…well…Um, Obi-Wan, you wanna help me out here?
Thank you. lol
And those are my favourite Superman stories. Got one that wasn’t on here? Leave it in the comments section, and don’t worry, I’ll likely be sharing more of my favourite stories and moments in a couple of years when The Man of Tomorrow hits 80 years old. And hey, be sure to leave any words you’d like to share with Superman on his birthday on your own, as well. Ja né!
http://www.dccomics.com/characters/superman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman
Death Battle Season 3 Trailer
Next time on Death Battle!
*jaw drops* … … … …Yeah, definitely doing a live reaction of that one. 😀 In the meantime, lemme know, are you #TeamBayo or #TeamDante, and we’ll see who wins this Wednesday. Ja né!
Pokemon Red, Blue, & Yellow Available For Nintendo 3DS
It’s the 20th anniversary of Pokemon today and to celebrate the original games are now out for download on the Nintendo 3DS eShop! Pokemon Red, Pokemon Blue, and Pokemon Yellow each cost $9.9…
Source: Pokemon Red, Blue, & Yellow Available For Nintendo 3DS
Pokémon Sun And Pokémon Moon Confirmed!
…Yup, it’s official.
…Okay, I have so many questions, so I’m just gonna get ’em out in a bulleted list. XD
- Does this mean we’re NOT getting a Pokémon Z Version, or just not yet?
- If not, what does that mean for Zygarde’s alternate forms?
- Is this even the anticipated Generation VII, or direct sequels to X and Y? Or BOTH?
- Will they be exclusive to the New 3DS?…God, I hope not. o.O
- Why does the little artwork we see in the trailer seem focused on vehicles? Are we getting a greater emphasis on vehicles in these games? ‘Cuz while they’ve been around since the beginning, they haven’t really been exploited to their fullest potential in-game. Pokémon are still the primary method of getting around within a region, whether it’s riding on Rhyhorn or Mamoswine back across harsh terrain, using Pokémon that can swim or otherwise traverse rivers and lakes to get across water, or flying with Pokémon to fast-travel from place to place. Oh, and just saying, that firetruck with Blastoise riding in the back was ADORABLE. lol
- If this IS Generation VII, how many new Pokémon are we getting? Are they going to be scaled back like in X & Y, or will we be getting a new region populated almost entirely of new Pokémon like in Black and White?
- Are we gonna see Ash-Greninja in the games, or is it anime exclusive in order to give Ash something akin to a Mega Evolution without actually giving him a Mega Evolution?
- What’s the meaning behind Sun and Moon? Are there new Legendaries that are related to the sun and the moon? Are the version exclusives going to be Pokémon found in the same places at different times of the day? Are Solrock and Lunatone getting Mega Evolutions?
- What other new Mega Evolutions and forms will there be for older Pokémon this time around?
- We’ve learned that Pokémon from the re-released Red, Blue, and Yellow will be transferable to Sun and Moon via Pokémon Bank, and there’s a big emphasis on everything “coming together” for this one. Is there some kind of emphasis on that in the story? Are we maybe going to see old characters return? Are we getting further elaboration on old stories and mythologies? Is this perhaps the CONCLUSION of the main Pokémon games, at least up to this point?
- Will Ash EVER turn 11 and/or win an actual regional tournament???
Anyway, lemme know what you think of these questions, what you think the answers will be, and if there are any other questions you have, and we’ll see what develops between now and the end of the year. Ja né!
The New ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Movie Wants To Be A Fantasy Version Of ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’
The new ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ movie will have lots of jokes in it, which will hopefully turn out better this time.
Source: The New ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Movie Wants To Be A Fantasy Version Of ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’
Nintendo Of America Registered Domain Name Pokemon-Sunmoon Today
We all got fairly excited earlier when we found out that the next Pokemon game is expected to be Pokemon Sun and Moon. The news came about when two European trademark filings were found. Now weR…
Source: Nintendo Of America Registered Domain Name Pokemon-Sunmoon Today
Jyger's Rant 