I said “Kryptonian elements” because I think I’m funny.

§ April 17th, 2013 § Filed under pal casie, pal plugging, sir-links-a-lot, superman § 6 Comments


Another swell drawing by pal Casie, who is, perhaps, speculating on the next revamp of the Batman movie franchise featuring those two lovable scamps. (To see other pics by Casie featured on this site, just click the newly-created “pal casie” tag! Or follow her on the Twitters to see ’em as she draws ’em!)

In other news:

  • There’s a new trailer for Man of Steel out, and it certainly looks promising, but we’ll see. It’s apparently sparked some debate about revisiting Superman’s origin yet again, but 1) from the trailers it looks like Supes’ origin, both the Smallville and Kryptonian elements, will be thematically important to the film as a whole and not just something to plow through to get to the action, and 2) it’s the first film in a potential franchise, not just for Superman but seemingly for DC heroes as a whole, so a little world-building from scratch is likely needed. Oh, and 3) it probably doesn’t hurt to remind folks who aren’t immersed in the mythology what the Superman story is all about.

    I seem to recall arguing before on this site, years ago, that you really didn’t need to retell Superman’s origin since everyone pretty much knew it, and getting plenty of arguments in the comments section against that position. Clearly it depends on the kind of story you’re trying to tell, in what context, and in the case of Man of Steel, where it’s the (hopeful) start of a new series, and it’s been a while since the last film (itself an odd cousin of the Christopher Reeve cycle of films), and the origin appears to be important to the overall plot, retelling that origin seems necessary. So, okay, I may have been wrong about the origin thing, in that post way back when. I’m allowed to be wrong about once or twice a decade.

    I also just joked on Twitter that they should go the super-decompressed route in retelling Superman’s origin, and devote the entire first movie to a science drama about Jor-El investigating Krypton-quakes, which just goes to show there’s no debate to which I can’t contribute nothing of any real use.

  • Pal Dorian is back to reviewin’ Doctor Who, as is pal Dave, and they’re both smart guys with intelligent things to say about a show I’m watching, and if you’re watching that show too, maybe check them out.
  • Hey, you guys remember Ken Lowery, right? The guy I allowed to help me with writing Write More Good by, you know, fetching me coffee and stuff? Well, that boy’s got himself one of those fancypants Kickstarters to help him and his pal Robert Wilson IV fund a new one-shot comic. I contributed to the cause, and maybe some of you can help my pal out, too.
  • Speaking of helping, I was more than happy to assist pal Andrew with his latest installment of Nobody’s Favorites, even if all I did was shove a comic into an envelope and let the gentle hands of the post office bear it aloft to Woburn.
  • Bully, the Little Stuffed Bull Who Has Been Rebooted into a Stuffed Little Bull, gives those “WTF Certified” covers from DC Comics the ol’ what-for and shows everyone what “WTF” really means.
  • And lastly, on a more serious note…my best wishes to the people of Boston.

6 Responses to “I said “Kryptonian elements” because I think I’m funny.”

  • J.W.Rollins says:

    I hear what you’re saying. But I think it’d be nice to have a super hero movie that just starts with a super heroic conflict and doesn’t feel the need to start over with the origin story. Everybody, on some level, knows what they are getting into, right?

  • swamp mark says:

    Casie just keeps getting better and better!
    I don’t tweet but I do read your sidebar thingie.You pissed her off or something,didn’t you?

  • Casie says:

    You’re the best, Mike!

  • C. Elam says:

    Pal Casie is The Best, so much so that I even bought her credit at Ralph’s!

  • Boosterrific says:

    I’m of the opinion that when you tell any Super Hero story, be it movies, television, comics, whatever, you don’t HAVE to tell the origin unless the story you are setting out to tell is an origin story.

    What difference does it make what first motivated a guy to put on long underwear and fight crime, so long as you understand why he’s doing it?

    How can Superman fly? Oh, he’s from another planet, you say? Ok, then. Let’s not spend another 2 hours on how he was raised unless that’s the story you want to tell. Movies intended for a general audience should not be TED talks on the science that justifies heat vision.

    And if the movie is really for a GENERAL audience, retelling the Origin of Superman is indubitably unnecessary. I think it should be obvious to all that there are diminishing returns in trying to sell the public same story over and over and over — which is currently my biggest complaint about the New 52. Wonder Woman/Superman romance? Dead Robin? Carrie Kelly? There’s really nothing NEW here.

  • Snark Shark says:

    they may need to tell the supes origin story again, but I don’t need to SEE it. YOUR PLANET EXPLODED: WE GET IT!!!