Why I don't read superhero comics anymore

I was looking at this article tonight:

Remender Prepares "Venom" for "Circle of Four", by Dave Richards, December 6th, 2011

and took a closer look at the image promoting it:

Every one of these characters is derivative of a pre-existing and still existing character, and to top it off, these are less pleasant versions. Marvel is now like 1955 DC which had a Superman, Supergirl, Batman, Batdog, Batwoman, Batgirl, Superhorse (Comet), Supercat (Streaky), etc, etc, except they might be murderers or psychopaths.

In this picture is Red Hulk - one of five current Hulks, I think (if you count Hulk's son Skaar) - two male and two female. Given that I thought it was the GREEN gamma radiation that gave the Hulk, She-Hulk, Leader, Abomination etc their powers, I have no idea what Red means.

Venom, was derived from Spider-Man, albeit around two looong decades ago. Spider-Man got a symbiotic black suit that had the same powers he had, and could look like any type of clothes he wanted. It turned evil of course. Venom's the one with the guns, because you know, a suit that can mimic Spider-Man's powers isn't enough. Recently every other person on Manhattan supposedly had Spider-Man's powers. Uh-huh -- they're that special. And another Spider-Man clone is about to be running around as the second Scarlet Spider.

X-23 is the third Wolverine derivative, although her own comic just got cancelled.

And Ghost Rider is a woman now? Who knows, but there's two predecessors there as well, and Johnny Blaze the first one of them is still floating around the Marvel universe. Perhaps like the new female Red Skull (the first one's daughter), someone finds something sexy about a faceless skull-headed woman? If so, I don't want to think about that any more.

DC's not any better either. Harking back to the 1950s, in Grant Morrison's Batman Inc. each country has a Batman, there's no longer just a Green Lantern Corps, but also a Red, Black, Indigo, Orange and Pink set, a multitude of Firestorms, and who knows how many relatives that Superman "the last son of Krypton" has floating around now... Unmentioned so far are Marvel's multiple versions of the Avengers (four teams I think) and the X-Men (also four maybe?).

I'm hearing The Who's New Song as a comic book soundtrack much too often these days.


This post from yesterday touches on another aspect of derivative superhero stories. I track these articles for my Comics Research Bibliography.

Glen Weldon on race in superhero comics

Ol' Blue-Eyes Is Back: Race And The Return Of The Retro Superhero
by Glen Weldon
May 13, 2010

Chick, superhero webshow

Using the Web to adjust the color on TV
Minorities find a warm reception through online channels
By DeNeen L. Brown
Washington Post Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Best of Simon & Kirby (Titan Books) received for review

Today's mail brought The Best of Simon & Kirby (Titan Books) for review and I hope to have something up here soon.

They also sent me some Terminator movie books, and we may have a guest reviewer since these aren't comic-book based. Purist, I know, but one must draw the line at some point especially since I've got a lot of comics material that I've told people that I'd be reviewing (apologies if you're still waiting - I haven't forgotten).

Zadzooks, superheroes and Watchmen at Washington Times

On superheroes is "EDGE: Saving the world ain't what it used to be," Peter Suderman, Washington Times Friday, March 6, 2009.

Zadzooks is still on toys - "Zadzooks: More from toy fair; Legions of action figures on parade," Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times Thursday, March 5, 2009.

But his blog has a piece by someone who doesn't know anything about Watchmen or comics - "Remembering Watchmen," By Heidi Haynes, Washington Times Zadzooks Blog March 04 2009.

And finally, here's the paper's review - "MOVIES: 'Watchmen' leap into action," Sonny Bunch, Washington Times Thursday, March 5, 2009.

Post on the Unbearable Whiteness of Superbeings

See "What Color Is Your Superhero?" By Adam Serwer, Washington Post Sunday, March 8, 2009; B05. I'm afraid I'm not convinced, although if the demographics are changing I'm sure it's from movies about superheroes and not comic books.

OT: Hembeck. Fred Hembeck

I was out tonight with some other comics-loving people and Fred Hembeck came up. Fred is one of the funniest people to ever 'do' superheroes (along with Don Rosa), but the other guys didn't know he was doing a column now at the LA Times Hero Complex blog. So here's links to the first three:

Fred Hembeck's Hero Complex: Captain America (Part 1)
Feb 1 2009

Fred Hembeck's Hero Complex: Captain America (Part 2)
Feb 8 2009

Fred Hembeck's Hero Complex: The Hulk (Part 1)
Feb 18 2009

Seek out his new collection now for more Silver Age greatness.

Final Crisis - a quick review

My buddy Robert Montgomery and I have been buying comics in DC since 1989 when we started working together and fell back into the hobby hard. Here's his thoughts on Final Crisis (which I have not read):

OK. I bought all 7 issues of Final Crisis and all I get at the end is a big HUH? Typical Morrison surrealism. Judy's right when he says DC should have gotten Geoff Johns to write it. What I think happened is: the Multiverse was re-established thanks to Superman; also, the New Gods are back. Is Darkseid? Dunno. Is the Martian Manhunter? I'd bet he is. Looks like we now will get a series of stories explaining how things have changed. Eh. It looks as if Morrison brought in a bit of stuff from the cross-overs. I know he brought in characters from the Superman cross-over (which must have been terribly confusing to those readers who didn't pick up that story and who were wondering where the vampire came from). All-in-all -- what a mess.

OT: Superheroes Around the World Survey

To help further humanities research, I note that on the comix-scholars list there was... (the following is quoting Dr. Reinhard) discussion a couple weeks ago about the influence of American superheroes in different countries -- and to investigate how much anime/manga characters are seen as superheroes -- I created this survey in my spare time: http://www.survey-xact.dk/LinkCollector?key=WG5EYZ7P96C5

The goal of the survey is for people from around the world to tell us what they think a superhero is and what superheroes mean to them.

I would love your help in both filling out the questionnaire as well as distributing it far and wide to get as many different people from a range of different countries to take it. Please feel free to post the link anywhere you like, and refer any questions to me at my professional email address of carrie@ruc.dk

CarrieLynn D. Reinhard, PhD
Virtual Worlds Research
http://worlds.ruc.dk/
Roskilde University
Department of Communication, Business, and Information Technologies
Building 43.3
Kommunikationsvej 1
DK-4000 Roskilde

New study on superheroine breast-size issued by DC thinktank

See "Study: Comic Book Superheroines 'Improbably Busty'," CAP News January 28 2009.* The same site is reporting on a new, grittier Dark Archie movie.

*this is satire, but Sequential Tart used to run a great column entitled 'Bizarre Breasts' by colorist Laura Dupuy.

September 10: The Physics of Superheroes at National Academy of Sciences

The Physics of Superheroes

Fall 2008 Season
Wednesday, September 10, 7:00 pm

Ever wondered how strong you would have to be to “leap a tall building in a single bound?” Was it the fall or the webbing that killed Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man’s girlfriend in the classic Amazing Spider-Man #121? How does Kitty Pryde from the X-Men comics and movies use quantum mechanics to walk through walls? And who is really faster, Superman or the Flash? Join in the fun as we explore physics through comic book examples where the superheroes got their physics right!

James Kakalios, Ph.D., is a professor in the University of Minnesota’s School of Physics and Astronomy. His research interests include amorphous semiconductors, pattern formation in sandpiles and fluctuation phenomena in neuroscience. He has been reading comic books longer than he has been studying physics. He is the author of The Physics of Superheroes and he knows the chemical composition of Captain America’s shield.

Thanks to Jeff Reznick for the tip!

AO Scott is tired of comic book movies

And he'll tell you why in "How Many Superheroes Does It Take to Tire a Genre?" By A. O. SCOTT, New York Times July 24, 2008.

Fantom Comics employee on Hispanic superheroes

Fantom Comics had a link to this story about their manager on their website - "A growing demographic: Hispanic superheroes," by Hallie D. Martin, Northwestern University's Medill Reports July 22, 2008.

Washington writer on superheroes for NPR.org

See "Holy Bookworms! Superheroes Take To The Page," by Glen Weldon, NPR.org, July 3, 2008 for a look at fiction and non-fiction prose about superheroes.

Michael Chabon, formerly of Columbia, MD, on superhero costumes

Secret Skin: An essay in unitard theory, by Michael Chabon, The New Yorker, March 10, 2008. He talks about growing up in Columbia toward the end of the essay.

Robin Givhan on superhero-inspired fashions

The Post's fashion correspondent Robin Givhan blogs about superhero-inspired fashions today at "Super Heroes and Super Surprises." The International Herald Tribune has a lot more pictures though.

Book on superhero films from area author

See "Tracking Heroes: John Flynn Offers An Up To The Second Compendium Of Comic Book Superheroes Moving From Page To Screen" by Daniel Krall, Baltimore City Paper (August 15, 2007)