Monday miscellany.
WHOOOOOSH!
I’ve been thinking more about Superman Returns and my reaction to it. It may have seemed fairly ambiguous, but I thought I was pretty clear about liking the film. I wanted more super-action, more stuff like Superman rescuing the plane, less stuff like Supes pining for Lois…but I still enjoyed the film for what it was.
And the more I think about it, the more I’ve come to appreciate the film for the story it does present.
I described this movie as being “very adult” — like it’s a relationship movie, only with one of the people in the relationship occasionally donning tights and fighting crime. Without getting too much into spoilers, Superman’s character growth from dwelling too much on his past, to the eventual literal rejection of his own heritage in favor of the world and relationships he does have, is a good story for the character. If approached from that angle, rather than with the usual expectations of summer blockbusters/punch-’em ups, the experience for the moviegoer should be much more rewarding.
So don’t pay too much mind to my minor, minor nitpicks…it’s a good, solid film, that may be just a tad on the draggy side in parts, but overall very watchable and enjoyable. And, as I said, beautiful.
Kid Chris was at the store again on Saturday, and he mentioned to me then that if one were to look closely at the new Superman costume, you’d see that the texture of the costume is comprised of little itsy-bitsy “S” shields. (You can kinda see it in this trailer.)
I kind of like the idea, though not exactly what’s described there, of Superman wearing a fractal costume, where the closer you look, the more “S” shields you see. Neat.
Speaking of costumes, here’s hoping that, with the 3-D “S” on the chest in Supes Returns, Clark wears lots of loosely-fit shirts over his fightin’ togs.
A comment I made to Employee Nathan on Sunday: the only way that the eventual “return to life” of the X-Men’s Phoenix could be less of a surprise is if the character were called “The Returner.”
“The Returner returns in this issue!”
“Wow, who could ever have predicted such an unexpected event?”
OH DEAR SWEET GOD:
This is Star Comics #13 from 1938…I was paging through one of our store copies of the Photojournal Guides, trying to track down something for a customer, when I happened upon the above cover. It was only a little bitty image in the book, but thankfully Comics.org had a larger image.
That’s pure, unadulterated nightmare fuel, friends.
