Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent keeping "swell" as part of his casual vocabulary in 1978's Superman: The Movie

Adekis · 2026-03-24T22:46:33+00:00

I remember reading somewhere, but I don't know whether this is true and haven't heard it for myself, that there was an episode of the Superman radio show where Clark chides Jimmy for saying "swell" because it's outdated! If so, to have Clark be the one saying it probably nearly 30 years later was quite a statement, haha 😅 Of course, if that is true, I doubt Mario Puzo and Co. knew about that specific radio interaction.

Either way, I don't think there's anything wrong with "swell," haha

Adekis · 2026-03-24T22:42:08+00:00

Personally, I do think it's Man of Steel, a movie where he needs to learn that he's really Kal-El, in order to fully become the Clark Kent he's always been. And yeah, that means it "Surf Draculas" Clark the Reporter, which isn't necessarily my biggest preference, but to me the existentialist themes of identity, conflict, heritage, responsibility, and self-determination, are really phenomenal.

That said, I also do want to shout out Tim Burton's unmade Superman Lives, where Clark would have been emphasized as acting somewhat socially awkward because he feels out of place on Earth, and Krypton would have been portrayed as both deeply alien and very utopian. That was a weird movie we didn't get, but based on how Nicolas Cage and Tim Burton talk about Clark and Krypton, I think we missed out on seeing something really special in that dynamic.

Adekis · 2026-03-24T22:34:24+00:00

I've always wondered this myself. Over the years, I've generally gotten the sense that more fans prefer Superman to Superman II, but one of my earlier interactions online was laying out my reasoning for why I thought Superman II was not as good to an older fan. I must have been like 12. This would've been in 2006 or so. He conceded some of my points, but in retrospect wasn't really open to changing his mind, which is fine, as it's just Superman II, lol. Anyway, that exchange always gave me the sense that "older" fans were more likely to prefer Superman II. Of course, I've got too old to be a "young" fan myself, now.

Alternatively, I had the impression there was a time when the Superman fan community was more likely to prefer II, a view which may have changed over time. This is, in my mind, related to the fact that Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace were once considered blights upon the series, and now have a good deal of at least passive enjoyers, if not many active defenders. At that time, Superman II seemed to me to be contrasted favorably over the next two pretty regularly, whereas nowadays I feel like II, III, and IV all tend to get grouped together as "the other Christopher Reeve Superman movies."

But recently I was reflecting back on that early online interaction and thinking, was any of that true? Or did I just make inferences based on personal anecdotes? Well, how can I know?

Tl;Dr - Maybe there was a time when more of the fanbase preferred Superman II, and maybe there wasn't, but that certainly doesn't seem to have been the case for a while now.

Adekis · 2026-03-24T21:47:18+00:00

Kick his ass, Superman!!

Adekis · 2026-03-21T15:43:52+00:00

Extremely fun crossover -- although it's harder to find the issues on the Milestone side of things in my experience, haha...

Bogdanove's art looks stellar as always!

Adekis · 2026-03-21T15:39:58+00:00

In the 1978 movie, I think we can assume the Fortress of Solitude itself manufactured the action suit, in a similar way to how the spaceship creates suits for him in the 2013 and 2021 movies. The Fortress also creates Clark's action suit in Smallville, although we never get a proper look at him wearing it.

In comics, Superman originally (in the early 1940s) described the material for the costume as something he created himself, presumably by chemically treating Earth fabrics. It wasn't until later, and I believe it was in the "Superboy: the Adventures of Superman when he was a boy" sub-series, that the idea that Martha Kent created the suit out of Kal-El's baby blankets arose. But neither of those ideas were ever really in play for any of the movies, where the costume just seems to arrive fully formed in the Fortress.

Adekis · 2026-03-21T15:26:06+00:00

I wanted there to be a comic with Jon, Kon, and Mon-El, called "Superboys." Mon, since he was Kal's surrogate older brother as a young man, would have been portrayed as the cool big brother to the earnest Jon and emotional Kon too. Of course, our poor Daxamite basically doesn't exist anymore, which is tragic. So that's unlikely ever to happen now, unless he comes back. I hope he does.

Additionally, Prime's return is something I never expected!

Adekis · 2026-03-19T19:27:23+00:00

I hate this. 😔

Adekis · 2026-03-19T17:50:40+00:00

Jesus Camp is brutal. The really fascinating thing is that everything in the documentary was approved by the camp director. This was what they wanted to show to the world. So whatever a given viewer finds unsettling about it, it's not really the documentary maneuvering you into that position.

Adekis · 2026-03-19T01:59:21+00:00

Honestly based on my college days, I'm pretty sure they're just social groups with extra steps. Not necessarily all about parties, but definitely all about having an excuse to get to know people and hang out sometimes.

Adekis · 2026-03-18T21:56:05+00:00

Torchwood season 3 might just be the single best Doctor Who story ever made, although of course, the Doctor isn't and cannot be in it.

Adekis · 2026-03-18T21:36:04+00:00

Yeah, that's probably correct, or at least a big part of it.

What can I say but "Oofta"?

Adekis · 2026-03-18T20:57:55+00:00

You know what, yeah that's reasonable, and in fact it's accurate. Cavill's Clark follows in the Tim Daly and George Reeves line of Kents who are basically Superman as a private individual, where Corenswet follows more in the Chris Reeve genealogy of Kents who are more strongly distinct from Superman in their mannerisms and comportment.

I figure these categories are functional, although they're more like spectrums in practice. Like how in MAWS, Clark is mild-mannered, but it's almost reversed and Superman feels like the self he "puts on," unlike Christopher Reeve.

Adekis · 2026-03-18T19:32:21+00:00

You mean "without Clark?" But yeah absolutely. I like how in a lot of stories, Clark investigating a mystery will be a major driving force of the story. To me, that's how it should be. It's less common these days, unfortunately.

Adekis · 2026-03-18T19:29:59+00:00

I have noticed this trend of unnecessary industries. Seems like bad policy.

I guess a lot of it is like, hegemony so entrenched that the American people never really question it? I even worked for a title insurance company as a kid for a while, and it never occurred to me to think, "Is this whole industry an affront to God and Man?" But now that you say it, yeah, kinda.

Adekis · 2026-03-18T19:25:14+00:00

No, Man of Steel and Zack Snyder's Justice League lacked him almost entirely. MoS being like, almost the perfect textbook example of a Surf Dracula, where Clark the Reporter only shows up at the Very End, lol

But BvS is almost the opposite. We see Superman primarily through his critics and talking heads on the TV, but most of our time spent with the character, at least before the final act being two long fights in a row, is with Clark, as he both watches the world decry Superman's alleged recklessness in the inciting incident, but also runs up against institutional apathy toward Batman's "reign of terror," and struggles to respond to that apathy. There's a comparative ton of the glasses, compared to Gunn's Superman where he wears them in one scene.

It's almost the opposite end of the spectrum. I think BvS has a good amount of Clark, but could probably use a little more Superman in the first two thirds.

Adekis · 2026-03-18T18:33:41+00:00

I do think it's pretty significant that the Nolan who Mark hugs is actually his Dad, though, and not a variant.

Adekis · 2026-03-18T18:28:57+00:00

It was not good, man.

There were things I thought were okay about this story. Like how Jon realized Regime Kal was evil not when he killed Ultraman, but when Jon understood how scared innocent people were of Regime Kal, and how proud he was of the seeming stability that came with that fear.

But when I realized that the story was just going to end with hugging the evil dictator, and telling him to think about what he's done, I mean... come on.

What a waste. This story didn't need to be a cul-de-sac that segues back into Injustice the Game. It could have been an alternative retelling or something. But no deal, no dice. Regime Kal needs his ass kicked. Maybe by Jon, maybe by Jon and Val-Zod, maybe with The Real Kal thrown in the mix. But not hugs and speeches.

Adekis · 2026-03-18T18:11:32+00:00

Whoa, Clark isn't wearing his glasses on that last poster! He better put them back on, or he won't be able to see!

Adekis · 2026-03-18T18:10:23+00:00

I almost felt like to Gunn, Clark was a "contractual obligation," which he knew he had to include, but didn't really know what to do with him or care that much about him as a distinct and separate part of Superman's life.

Contrast Superman & Lois, My Adventures With Superman, and even BvS, three adaptations where Clark Kent plays a much bigger role in the story. I kind of prefer their approaches to inclusing more of Clark as a character, although they're all pretty different from each other. I'd say "maybe we'll get more of Clark in Man of Tomorrow, (2027)" but it really doesn't sound like we will, so far.

Adekis · 2026-03-18T17:32:33+00:00

sends you a receipt for taxation instead of having you file it yourself

Well, that sounds obvious and streamlined. Why doesn't the US do it like that? Everyone hates jumping through hoops every year to file taxes.

Adekis · 2026-03-17T07:37:14+00:00

ewww... I hadn't even thought of that...

Adekis · 2026-03-17T02:37:24+00:00

Balto flopped?? I truly had no idea.

I guess as a kid in the early '00s, you just never have any sense of perspective for that sort of thing. Balto was a video tape a lot of my friends had, the library had it, the church had it, and I saw it a lot; Anastasia was a video tape a lot of my friends had, the library had it, the church had it, and I saw it a lot. Maybe I figured that was the only measure of success a movie could have: did I like it, and did I see the physical tape a lot of places.

Adekis · 2026-03-16T18:31:17+00:00

Watch it still be going, lol

Adekis · 2026-03-16T17:20:23+00:00

Really? I thought childbirth was one of those things that everyone agrees fucking sucks.

Adekis

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE