June 10, 2001

9:21 PM

A travesty.It was ok when they screwed up Batman, and when Spawn came out I wasn't expecting much. But know they've turned Superman, the original super hero, into a whiny Dawson Creek-ish brat. Why does my childhood hero belong to AOL? Why?
posted by owillis (22 comments total)

I'm still bitter about this Tick shite on fox.
posted by dong_resin at 9:47 PM on June 10, 2001

I read somewhere that a script for Superman was written by comic book aficianado Kevin Smith, but was rejected by the powers that be...that would've been something. Anybody have new info on that project?
posted by youthbc1 at 9:58 PM on June 10, 2001

I've read Smith's script. It was pretty good. It was a condensed version of the death of Superman, with Brainiac and the Eradicator. Similar to the animated series, actually. Well, at least Supes is still Superman in the JLA cartoon.
posted by Ezrael at 10:03 PM on June 10, 2001

Well WB did get Batman right, actually it was Kids WB. The Paul Dini/Bruce Timm version of Batman in the Batman: The Animated Series was relatively close to the original feel of Batman. After which they made New Adventures of Batman & Robin and Batman/Superman. In Batman/Superman, Superman was redefined too. Then came Batman Beyond which is a possible Batman future (yeah I know in the comics Batman already has a kid, and Barbara Gordon has become the Oracle.) which gained popularity among audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

But as far as live action goes, who knows how this will turn out. It appears to be aimed at the teens.
posted by riffola at 10:06 PM on June 10, 2001

Hey, wow, it's The Powers of Matthew Star, only with Superman!
posted by kindall at 10:09 PM on June 10, 2001

The animation guys seem to be the only ones to ever get this right, don't they remember the syndicated crapfest that was Superboy? Even Lois & Clark started out okay, then turned into crap.

(yes, this Superman stuff is important to me)
posted by owillis at 10:16 PM on June 10, 2001

Its not really Superman, so much as Superboy, which has always been kind of stupid to begin with.
Lana Lang?
posted by Doug at 11:22 PM on June 10, 2001

At the very very least, it helps that the kid looks a bit like a young Christopher Reeve. I don't think anyone else can ever play Superman the way he did.

(This is from someone who, back in the 80's, after seeing Superman I and II, was running around the house with a cape and fake glasses for years. Hey, I was just four years old.)
posted by brownpau at 11:30 PM on June 10, 2001

I have/had: Fake cape, fake "S", fake glasses, dog named for Superman (CK). I've lived the Kryptonian life, my friend. And yes, nobody else is Superman than Christopher Reeve (maybe George Reeves).

Superman/boy has a long history of women with the initials "LL", which seems to tie into a girl Joe Siegel (co-creator of Superman) was in love with but never went out with.

Past/present loves:
Lois Lane
Lori Lemaris
Lana Lang

on top of that you've got:
Lex Luthor
Lena Luthor (Lex's daughter)
posted by owillis at 11:55 PM on June 10, 2001

I notice he's "popular but awkward" in the series. Reading between the lines of that suggests that they've failed to understand the Clark Kent/Superman relationship.

"Now this Peter Parker guy. I don't think the kids will go for the whole Science Geek thing. We think it should be Pete Parker, school football star and all-round good guy, is goofing around in the science labs when he's bitten by this spider, see..."

Pfft.
posted by Grangousier at 12:17 AM on June 11, 2001

Has The Tick live action show premiered on Fox yet? Personally, I thought the animated series was fuckin hilarious. Don't judge the live shpw until you;ve actually see it. 99% chance it will be a bomb but maybe it will be funny.

When does the Smallville show premier? I didn't see the premier date listed but maybe I missed it.
posted by suprfli at 12:38 AM on June 11, 2001

Sorry to divert (hijack?) this thread, but this is tangentially related: I noticed the new WB lineup in the sidebar of the link, and was wondering if anyone had any information on the Buffy/Angel split between UPN and the WB; will there still be crossovers? (BTVS and Angel, by the way, are two shows that, at their best, have had storylines and plot pacing that were very much like those of comic books).

As for this new Smallville, I see that the WB isn't exactly bucking its own trend, often maligned in the press, of catering almost exclusively to the youth demographic. ;-)

By the way, didn't Lois and Clark at one point achieve some critical and commercial success, or am I thinking of another show?
posted by topolino at 2:13 AM on June 11, 2001

It could always be worse. At least it's not a live-action version of Superfriends.
posted by darukaru at 3:01 AM on June 11, 2001

Anyone who is complaining about the quality of Superman: you're too late, Superman IV was already released. ;)
posted by solistrato at 6:56 AM on June 11, 2001

A short comment on the clip: Ya know, I could easily recognized most of the people I knew as teenagers, even now that they are adults. So why wouldn't Lex as adult recognize "Clark" (as Superman) when they are adults? "an interesting story" is not a sufficient excuse for rewriting history.
posted by bison at 10:02 AM on June 11, 2001

Topolino: Joss Whedon (creator of the Buffy/Angel series) has said that the shows being on two different networks doesn't cause a lot of problems because the two shows are growing apart anyway.
posted by prolific at 10:17 AM on June 11, 2001

In conjunction with what bison said, how the hell does Lex living in Smallville work anyway? He's supposed to already be established and have a financial empire by the time Supes hits Metropolis, right? Story dynamic... won't... hold... under this... pressure.

And I've also got to agree with one of your original points, owillis, in that the Spawn movie was crap. I still get the giggles thinking of the bit where he somersaults over a railing, firing two sub-machine guns furiously into the air, only to stop shooting when he's actually pointing the guns in the direction of the baddies. From what little I saw of it, the animated series was much better.
posted by MUD at 11:17 AM on June 11, 2001

as long as his name isnt reeves.
posted by clavdivs at 1:29 PM on June 11, 2001

MUD: definitely. In the current continuity, Lex and Superman aren't supposed to even meet until Clark becomes a reporter at the Daily Planet (by this time Lex has already dated, and broken up with Lois). BUT, in the pre-Crisis continuity Superboy/Clark and Lex grew up together in Smallville, with his baldness caused by an accident which he blamed on Superboy. This was used to explain his lifelong hatred of Superman. Of course this was all wiped out Post-crisis.

(can you feel the essence of geek flowing from your monitor?)
posted by owillis at 2:48 PM on June 11, 2001

Cheers, owillis. That adds another little nugget to my casually gleaned store of Superman facts. I'd always pondered the significance of the hirsute/bald versions of Lex that popped up in various TPBs I've browsed through. Mind you they also seemed to involve cloning and a random son so maybe the whole picture is rather more complex than I'd like to know.

Hang on, what am I saying? A series of comics with a complex backstory? Surely this cannot be allowed to happen. The core demographic of snotty 6-9 year olds could never handle it. And as for me - a mere mortal blessed with superhuman powers of sarcasm? My weak mammalian brain must surely implode when confronted with this convoluted storyline.
posted by MUD at 5:19 PM on June 11, 2001

Stop teasing me. I cannot not answer your statement. :)

Lex Luthor faked his death, as he was dying from Kryptonite poisoning (radiation from a ring he wore to keep Supes at bay). He returned as "Alexander Luthor", Lex's long lost Australian son. He acted like a goody-goody, all the while building a new body for Lex to make his evil, triumphant return. Most recently Lex beat Bush and Gore and is currently the president, much to Superman's chagrin. Really.

I can't stop.
posted by owillis at 5:37 PM on June 11, 2001

Honestly, I could keep this up all night. It's the sort of thing that I absorb like a sponge - the original Human Torch had a kid sidekick, you say? The kid's name was Toro? Well, jimminy jillickers!

But maybe something slightly more taxing than general plot overviews might be preferable?

Ah, sod it. I'm off to read something other thatn MeFi. I know I put the original saga of the Silver Surfer down somewhere...
posted by MUD at 6:16 PM on June 11, 2001