« Home | Joe Kubert dead at 85 » | Satire and parody are not a defense for attacking ... » | Matt Fraction is writing the Fantastic Four » | Is Ben Affleck really qualified to direct a Justic... » | Joss Whedon will direct a sequel to the Avengers m... » | What If #30, Oct 1991: early leftism from Ron Marz » | The lack of supporting casts is what hurts the Big... » | A more likely reason why DC and Marvel won't reall... » | WSJ's Andrew Klavan impressed with Dark Knight Ris... » | Gary Friedrich has appealed the previous court rul... » 

Wednesday, August 15, 2012 

Larry Tye's new Superman history book

History News Network reviewed Larry Tye's "Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero". It sounds like a pretty interesting book, but this part at the end bugs me:
Tye is also somewhat dismissive of the challenge to Superman from the Marvel Comic superheroes such as Spiderman and The Hulk as well as Superman’s DC Comics comrade Batman. To support his case for Superman’s continuing relevancy, Tye points to the extraordinary sales of the 1993 “Death of Superman” comic issue. However, Superman was soon resurrected, and the death story proved to be somewhat of a gimmick. Tye is correct in his conclusion that Superman is alive and well in the twenty-first century, but he has competitors. The world seems to still crave superheroes, but there also appears to be an increasing popular awareness that there is a dark side and human cost to the superhero role.
But that's exactly the problem! If we can't keep from concerning ourselves about matters like darkness and embrace a story for escapism, then what good are we doing ourselves when we seek entertainment? Without brightness and optimism, there's nothing to counterbalance all the darkness that's overtaken much of comicdom in the past 2 decades.

And using the Death of Superman from 1993 to make the case for the Man of Steel's popularity is not a good idea, mainly because that took place at the time of the speculator boom that ruined the market, and still is. A gimmick it was alright, merely for boosting short-term sales. High-Flying History may have some value, but if the author is going to use sales stunts to make a point about relevancy, he's hardly helping the Man of Steel's popularity.

Labels: , , ,

About me

  • I'm Avi Green
  • From Jerusalem, Israel
  • I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best.
My profile

Archives

Links

  • avigreen2002@yahoo.com
  • Fansites I Created

  • Hawkfan
  • The Greatest Thing on Earth!
  • The Outer Observatory
  • Earth's Mightiest Heroines
  • The Co-Stars Primer
  • Realtime Website Traffic

    Comic book websites (open menu)

    Comic book weblogs (open menu)

    Writers and Artists (open menu)

    Video commentators (open menu)

    Miscellanous links (open menu)

  • W3 Counter stats
  • Bio Link page
  • blog directory Bloggeries Blog Directory View My Stats Blog Directory & Search engine eXTReMe Tracker Locations of visitors to this page  
    Flag Counter Free Hit Counters
    Free Web Counter

    This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

    make money online blogger templates

Older Posts Newer Posts

The Four Color Media Monitor is powered by Blogspot and Gecko & Fly.
No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.
Join the Google Adsense program and learn how to make money online.