I haven’t read a comic book since I was in the Army so many years ago. For some reason comic books were the reading of choice for all of us young men (I was in the army so long ago that women in every aspect of the service were the thing of dreams). I do believe it was harmless entertainment and we used to pass the comic books around the barracks. By the time I was able to read them, they were pretty beat up. We also didn’t sit around discussing the history and backstory of the heroes and I don’t think any of us would have headed to a convention in San Diego (Comic Con) to celebrate these fictional characters. Can you imagine a group of young soldiers, worried about being shipped off to Viet Nam, discussing fan fiction about Superman, Batman, Spider-man and Archie. Well I thought the social interactions of this privileged group of teenagers was interesting (and Betty and Veronica were kind of cute).
When I was young it was only comic books. Today it is a giant industry with their own major movie studios, tons of merchandising and so many alternate storylines, it can drive you to distraction. I thought Spider-man was a nice story line but now there are so many different Spider-men, it is hard to keep track of them. I think they call it the Spider Verse in which there are a multitude of Spider-men from different origins. If you go to the movies, you’ll need to take notes just to keep up.
Driving this massive success of comic book heroes in today’s media are all those people who live and die with their favorite hero or group of heroes (Justice League, Avengers, X-Men, etc.). I think it all started with Christopher Reeves as Superman. There were many attempts to bring America’s first real comic book superhero to the big screen but failed. Many of the attempts avoided being serious and were campy. This 1978 version of the story about the guy from Krypton was the first big buck effort, special effect ladened, star studded attempt and it was a huge success and spawned a bunch of sequels. It also led to a whole new entertainment industry based on our favorite comic book heroes. Tim Burton’s Batman followed and the flood gates were open. We now expect a new movie featuring our favorite heroes every year. These movies tend to be the biggest grossing box office draws each year. I need to take a break and see if I may have bought stock in any of these companies…nope, darn it. I could have been rich.
Each year we are waiting to see what happens to Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk or the 60th version of Batman (ok, an exaggeration). They can never seem to stop retelling the dark knight’s backstory. X-Men first told us about all kinds of amazing mutants. They then decided to tell us about these mutants when they were young (X-Men, First Class) and have even reached into the future to tell us more about their mutants (Logan). Superman gains muscle with each remake, with the help of clever costume designers. Spider-man has had three different reincarnations with three different actors. Batman has been rebooted several times and seems to get darker in each. One thing for sure, if you want to win an Oscar, take on the role of The Joker in the Batman franchise. There have been three celebrated turns at this iconic bad guy with Heath Ledger, Jared Leno and Joaquin Phoenix taking a shot at it, and two of them winning an Academy Award (Ledger and Phoenix). Cesar Romero must be rolling in his grave. For those who are not familiar with that name, he was the actor who played a very campy Joker on the 60s TV Show, Batman. For some, he was the very best Joker. When I say some, I mean me alone. When one considers that he played the Clown Prince of Crime, with all that makeup, while refusing to shave his famous mustache, is pretty impressive.
Superhero madness has now expanded to the small screen on the many channels and streaming services available. We have the Green Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Superman and Lois and more on the horizon. Wanda-Vision is the first try from Marvel Studios. If you asked me to explain the show and its plot, forget it. I find it entertaining since it takes me back to sitcoms of my childhood but I have no clue who and what are the lead characters. I thought these two were killed, a couple of times, in several of the Marvel Avenger movies. Who’s in charge of continuity for this studio?
Let’s talk about some of the powers of these iconic heroes. Spider-man was bitten by a radioactive spider and has the strength of a spider and flies around New York on string. The only thing he fears is a rolled up newspaper. Superman came from an alien planet with a red sun which resulted in his super powers and is in danger when around Kryptonite, which is a piece of the planet left from when it blew up. It didn’t kill him when he lived there, why now. DeadPool went through an experimental treatment that left him with super strength, the ability to heal fast and the most acerbic wit and foulest mouth since Howard Stern. The only power Batman has is the ability to spend lots of money. He has a bunch of fun toys that help him carry out the vengeance he seeks from the murder of his parents when he was a child. Don’t we all. He was able to create a superhero costume that protects him no matter how beat up he gets. Must be full of air bags. He’s not very strong compared to other superheroes, lacks speed, has no special talent but is good looking, kind of like Tom Brady.
Please explain one thing for me, how does Superman shave? If he is indestructible, how does he get his haircut and stay clean shaven? While you figure out an answer, I need to go put on my costume for Comic Con. I’m going to show off my own superpower. I will be called Weekend Man. My special power is that I can sit in my lounge chair, knocking down a cold one while watching the game but my wife will see me looking busy doing my chores. My special costume will be a pair of sweatpants and an old, stained t-shirt. Now what guy wouldn’t want to be that kind of superhero?
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