Welcome to the 20th annual Wriphe.com Superman Month! What a nice, round, mature number.

This time last year, DC Comics was celebrating the impending release of their latest Superman movie with the "Summer of Superman" publishing initiative. One year later, Superman is literally nowhere to be seen in the DC Universe. Earlier this year, the Man of Steel won a tournament to the death and then disappeared from existence. His comic books are still being published with various children in his stead in a storyline that DC is calling "Reign of the Superboys." DC tells us it is selling very well, but the Superman fans I know don't seem very enthusiastic. I don't blame them. Who wants to pay $5 for a comic that doesn't feature their titular hero?

"Who wants to pay $5 for a comic?" I hear you asking. You make a good point. But this month is about Superman, not the economics of nostalgia.

I also hear some of you you asking, "Who cares about Superman?" I do, for one, and not just for nostalgic reasons. Superman might be a morally inflexible overgrown boy scout in bright pajamas, but at my advancing age, I increasingly enjoy the company of strong characters who still believe that Truth, Justice, and the American Way aren't all mutually incompatible.

Superman: The Man of Steel #80, June 1998

Yeah, he can be a bit preachy. Nobody's perfect.

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Today, Friends Ken and James dragged me to a movie theater to watch

78/2510. Superman (2025)

It's the first time I've seen Superman in a theater since Superman Returns (which I really, strongly dislike). And I have to say... it's okay.

To explain why my rating is more-or-less "meh," may I remind you that a few years ago, there was a then-new movie adaptation of the book Emma (which I really, strongly love). But the reviewers for that movie kept harping on how accurate to the Jane Austen source material it was, which, in hindsight, only proved that they themselves weren't particularly familiar with the source material. Maybe they read the Cliff's Notes version.

This Superman is kind of like that.

Sure, it's got a lot of silly comic-booky elements, but it really is a typically James Gunn script that isn't particularly interested in being accurate to any characterizations, stories, or even costumes that have ever appeared in the pages of any DC Comics. (Particularly Krypto. I just couldn't get past Krypto being a shaggy, simple-minded dog. In the comics, he is neither, and, as much as I love dogs, this movie never gives me a reason to forget that. And don't even get me started on the character assassination of Supergirl in service to what must have been a Superboy and the Ravers fanboy in-joke.)

All the reviews for the movie, both good and bad, praise both Lois Lane and Krypto. I certainly agree about Rachel Brosnahan, who was as underused as Lois always is, but I find it surprising that more aren't singling out Mister Terrific being terrific (in a modern take of a blaxploitation superhero). There are several moments where it actually feels like his movie and I am there for it.

But I recognize that all of the things I have to complain about are more a feature than a bug of these sorts of blockbuster movies, especially in the superhero genre. Gunn's muddled plot moves real fast and hopes you wont notice that nothing really lines up, a fact that Gunn himself lampoons with a final post-credit scene. If that sort of tongue-in-cheek metafictional humor floats your boat, this is definitely for you.

Even though Superman often seems superfluous in his own movie, it still is the best live-action Superman film in 40 years. Take that however you will.

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I like to think I know a lot about comics, and this sure seems like something I should have been aware of before now.

"Superman Jr." (drawn by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and inked by Dick Giordano) is from the 1982 DC Comics Style Guide, where it is accompanied by the following description:

SUPER JRS. give licencees the opportunity to use pint-sized versions of DC's most popular heroes, including Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin, and Flash! All have been transformed into the most loveable and huggable mini-heroes you've ever seen!

I mean, yeah, like everyone else, I knew there were Lil' (Justice) Leaguers who have occupied their own corner of the DC Multiverse — Earth-42, 'natch — since 2008. For some reason I assumed that the Lil' Leaguers had been inspired mainly by the popularity of the late-1980s X-Babies comics, an adorably alternate-reality version of the best-selling X-Men from DC's chief competition, Marvel Comics. As it turns out, those 2008 characters were more likely descended from the only Super Jrs. comic appearance: The Best of DC Special #58 digest-sized comic in December 1984.

The really weird part is that 1984 story had actually been created seven years earlier for a format nearly twice the size! According to October 2014 issue of Back Issue magazine — which also includes a list of all known Super Jrs. licensed products — the Super Jrs. were originally developed (by Tom DeFalco, Vince Squeglia, and Kerry Grandenetti) to be used in a DC treasury-sized comic book in 1977 as the first in a whole series of Super Jrs. comics. But the treasury edition line was canceled, and DC instead decided to shop the Super Jrs. characters around for a cartoon series that never materialized, finally printing the comic in '84 to give the digest series a "new" Christmas story.

(I find the Super Jrs. an interesting contrast to DC's Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew, also a kid-friendly take on DC's Justice League of America characters — the Zoo Crew began as "Just'a Lotta Animals" — created in the early 1980s as a cartoon pitch only to become a comic series in 1982 yet doesn't appear in that Style Guide. Did the Zoo Crew perhaps have a different licensing agreement?)

Anyway, that 1982 Style Guide entry up there is for a character created in 1977, licensable for a television cartoon that never happened, and who wouldn't see print until 1984. In hindsight, I've certainly seen the cover of that Style Guide before, and I must have confused the Super Jrs. with the likes of Superbaby (first appearing in 1948) or any of the many Superboys or even the several Sons of Superman (some more imaginary than others). But no, it turns out Super Jrs. are their own thing.

Aren't comic books great?

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Celebrate Christmas in June with Superboy!

What I heard: solve poverty by giving poor people money. That Superboy, he's a thinker.

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The annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois kicks off today. If you can make it, the opening ceremonies will be at 5PM, with an outdoor screening of 1978's Superman movie to follow at 9PM. Other events this weekend include appearances by Lois & Clark's Lex Luthor and Superboy's Lana Lang, the "Fortress of Jellotude" eating contest, and the Superman v. Batman tug of war. And of course the Superman Museum will be open from 7AM to 9PM every day.

If that doesn't sound like a great way to pass a weekend, I don't know what is. (At least until football season returns.)

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Tired of throwing away blue jeans when the seat ripped, I finally decided to learn to use a sewing machine. Unfortunately, my pants were so bad, they killed our machine. Rather than go without, Mom spent an ungodly amount of money on a new electronic machine that's smarter than our television. With my pants now fixed, it's time to turn my attention to my 20-year-old leather jacket.

My jacket is a copy of the costume worn by Superboy in the classic "Death of Superman" comic book storyline from 1992. That includes the mourning armband on the left sleeve. The armband I've been using for decades is the actual armband bundled in the polybagged edition of Superman #75. As you can see, it's in bad shape. (I have a hunch these things weren't really meant to be worn for 20 years.)

Rather than track down and unbag another copy of a-20th century comic book — I refuse to admit how many times I've already done this — I decided to make my own from superior materials and a 21st-century sewing machine. I got lucky that Jo-Ann's had Superman pajama fabric on sale. I was planning on having to cut my own "S" shield.

The finished product turned out pretty good, considering that the first time I'd ever used a sewing machine was two weeks ago. Now I'm ready for a bigger project: repairing the jacket pockets. I look forward to being able to carry pocket change again.

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Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere. That also means that it is the day that Superman is the strongest.

My mother was unaware of this fact when I relayed it. That Superman is powered by the Sun was not part of the Superman mythos when she watched The Adventures of Superman as a child. It wouldn't be until 1960 that Superman's less plausible powers were ascribed to the "ultra solar rays" of a yellow star.

Superman #146 (1961)

Superman's body acts as an organic solar battery; the more sunlight he is exposed to, the more powerful he is. Therefore, the Summer Solstice marks his peak performance period. Assuming, of course, that Superman doesn't decide to fly into space and charge himself with direct solar radiation unimpeded by the Earth's atmosphere.

I expect that Superman's foes are more familiar with Superman's power cycle than my mother, so I wouldn't recommend visiting Metropolis in late December when Superman's powers are at their lowest. Superman always wins, but his villains' victims aren't always so lucky.

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Information and souvenir booths open at noon today for the 2012 Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois. (The phone booth won't be open until the "Phone Booth Photo-Op" at 3PM on Friday and Saturday.) This is the 34th year of the celebration, and the 40th anniversary of the DC Comics' anointing the town as the "Hometown of Superman." Forty years sounds like a good excuse to party!

While two former television Superboys (John Rockwell and Gerard Christopher) will be making appearances at this year's celebration, at least one of television's Supermen will be otherwise engaged. Tonight, Dean Cain makes his appearance on the debut of Fox network's The Choice, a "game show" where hot chicks try to entice minor celebrities to date them using their voice alone. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Who thinks this will make entertaining television? The day a girl can't sweet talk a guy into taking her to dinner is the end of the world. Why doesn't Fox just call the show The Cock Tease? You can watch it if you want to; I'll be reading comic books.

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Last night in bed, Victoria decided to get my attention by poking me in the left eye. It worked.

Boy, howdy, that was (and remains) painful! I'm sure there's a lesson in this somewhere, but I just can't see it right now. Tonight I'll be sleeping in safety glasses.

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Even Superboy hates Daylight Savings Time.

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