The Watchtower of Destruction: The Ferrett's Journal - The Empty Superhero Suit
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The Empty Superhero Suit
Almost all of the big names in comics have now had their own movies – X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman. The non-comics-readin’ man on the street only knows a handful of superheroes, and they’ve all had their movies made.
There is one notable exception: Wonder Woman. And therein lies the new problem with making comic movies – Wonder Woman has no actual stories.
See, when the average Spider-Man fan thinks of Spider-Man, there are a couple of iconic story arcs that immediately spring to mind: Letting that criminal go, and discovering that with great power comes great responsibility. The death of Gwen Stacey and the subsequent death of Norman Osborn. The first time he stopped being Spider-Man. The first time he had to push himself beyond his limits to save Aunt May (“The Final Chapter!”).
Those are all great moments in Spider-Man history, and anyone passingly familiar with Spider-Man will know about them. Likewise, Batman has R’as Al Ghul and his first meetup with the Joker and Batman: Year One, and the X-Men have Dark Phoenix and the time travel story (“In This Issue, Everyone Dies!”). And I’m not a big fan of Iron Man, never the most popular of superheroes, but even I know about his battle with alcoholism and the rise of War Machine.
Each of these heroes has certain essential story arcs that are unique to them. They’re the moments that put these characters on the map, or reinvigorated the characters after a long struggle of aimless, second-tier sales. They’re everything that works about them.
If you’re lucky, the origin story is one of those iconic moments that sells it for you. But that’s not necessary for a great superhero – after all, Daredevil’s origin story is pretty mundane (OH HAI I GOT HIT BY RADIOACTIVE WASTE BEFORE MY UNCLE BEN WHOOPS DAD DIED) and yet Frank Miller managed to salvage that by turning Daredevil into a crazy-ass superninja with a hot even-more-superninja ex-girlfriend.
But if you think about, “Wow, this storyline defines this character,” Wonder Woman doesn’t have one. She comes from Paradise Island, a pretty ill-defined place that’s either a colony of warriors, or a hippie love-fest, or an isolated out-of-touch Greek/Roman enclave, or whatever the writer needs it to be for that story line. Nobody’s really nailed it down so that it matters.
And she comes to, uh, America, to be pretty and fight shit. And get tied up.
I’m scouring my brain trying to think of a Wonder Woman story where I go, “Yeah, that’s when Wonder Woman was at her finest,” and there really isn’t one to pull out. There are pretty decent comic runs, with George Perez being at the top, but nothing where I go, “That’s who Wonder Woman is.”
In the end, Wonder Woman is famous for being an idea – the first kick-ass female heroine, a set of golden bracelets, an invisible plane – than anything she’s actually done. That’s troublesome. But you know who else is like that?
Superman.
Supes has a great origin story, but after that the tales on the ground are pretty thin. He’s Superman, for God’s sake, and he’s famous for being invulnerable and morally correct and a paragon of America. There’s no comic series that I can think of that I go, “Wow, that sums up Superman in a nutshell.”
But there is one story – and strangely enough, it comes from the movies. We all know the tale of Superman facing down General Zod because he loves humanity, fighting off three ex-Kryptonians with no goddamned powers. That’s the tale that sums up who Superman really is for many people…
…and the movies had to make that out of whole cloth. Superman has a whole wardrobe full of some of the greatest enemies in comics, including Braniac and Myxwhatever and Metallo, and yet to really test him the movie producers had to make up someone new.
Why? Because after the origin story, it’s all downhill for Superman. He’s simply a set of great ideas that you can riff on endlessly, making him awesome for creating seventy years of fun stories revolving around his superpowers… But as a personality, it’s hard to pin down who Superman is in a way that challenges him personally.
In other words, Superman fights a lot of battles where he goes, “Gosh, how will I defeat this villain?” But he fights very few battles where his own identity is in danger.
At his core, both Superman and Wonder Woman are sets of interesting powers tied together. They’re not actually people. That’s really good when you’re in the treadmill comics business, trying to tell a story a week – too much specificity gets you in trouble – but it’s hard when you’re trying to find the biggest, most emotional punch you can pack into two hours.
You may note that the most of good superhero movies crib relentlessly from the comics, because they had good source material to work with. They know what challenges bring out the most essential moments in a hero’s personality, because in forty years of writing those are the ones that have resonated.
But what you have with Superman and Wonder Woman is a good idea, and with those kinds of heroes you have to make your own. Which is what we’re going to see.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like Thor. But does he have any iconic character arcs? No. It’s a bunch of endless retreads of Loki gets everyone in trouble, and Asgard’s all worried again, and oh the snake is back and hey, the Wrecking Crew! There’s no single moment in Thor’s history where I go, “That’s who Thor is.”
Likewise, I also like Green Lantern, but let’s face it – aside from a brief flirtation with relevance in the 1970s when he went head-to-head with Green Arrow, Hal Jordan’s had a lot of adventures but no one single adventure that made him a superstar.
(Sadly, Hal does actually have one iconic moment…. But I refuse to acknowledge Dark Hal Goes Nuts. That didn’t happen.)
Tomorrow, I’ll take a look at several superheroes-who-wanna-be-movies and discuss their potential iconicness. And if they don’t have that iconic battle, it’s going to be hell to make the movie, because really, what’s all that cool about Wonder Woman’s personality?
(Feel free to suggest or discuss.)
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About 20 years ago there was a great Thor story arch involving rangarock (sp?) and the end of the world.
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/3835663/428700) | | From: | ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) revilo |
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| Date: | May 6th, 2008 03:06 pm (UTC) |
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captain america doesn't have a movie yet. and he's way cooler and more interesting than either wonder woman or superman.
The First Avenger: Captain America is apparently slated for 2011, at least according to Marvel Studios yesterday.
Marvel let out yesterday that, in addition to Iron Man 2 there will be a Thor movie in 2010. Also, treading further down the superhero path, there will be The First Avenger: Captain America, a confirmed Avengers film, and... an Antman movie.
And, really, I think the lack of iconic story line is a strength because it gives the movies free reign - they don't have to retell a story we all goddamn have heard a million times. I love Batman Begins because it puts a new twist on the origin, gives it some scope and depth, but it's like the only Batman story that may as well exist for most people.
I have many thoughts on Superman and why he is, essentially, boring.
But, because I'm still giddy from Iron Man, I will instead say that (I think it was William Hurt who said it) Marvel's struggle is that the primary movers and shakers in their world (aside from Hulk who is more shaker than mover anyway) aren't really well-known to the average person sitting at home in their kitchen eating their breakfast cereal. There is no shorthand that can used in films, you can't wink at the audience and expect them to know that, yeah, Rhodey puts that suit on. Iron Man builds those winks in anyway, but you don't have to get it to get the film.
And so I think that lack of iconic moments, story arcs, whatev for the Marvel heroes and for DC personalities like Wonder Woman is a good thing. We don't need more comic book movies that tell us stories we already know.
And, really, I think the lack of iconic story line is a strength because it gives the movies free reign - they don't have to retell a story we all goddamn have heard a million times.
It's also a weakness. Because there's no core to work with. If you get someone who Gets the hero, you get Iron Man. If not, you get The Punisher, or the first Fantastic Four movie.
And Hollywood, by and large, doesn't get superhero movies. We'll see if Marvel taking a more direct hand that can fix it.
Another way of looking at it is the villains. People going to a superhero movie want to see a fight. The want to see the hero challenged, and ultimately triumph. In order to do that, you need a good opponent. The "non-comics-readin' man on the street" has never heard of the death of Gwen Stacey, the Dark Phoenix arc, or any of the other iconic story arcs you cite because … well, they're non-comics-readers. However, when it comes to [the] Batman, everybody knows who the Joker is – even if the only version they've ever seen is Cesar Romero cackling at Adam West. They also know who the Penguin is, Catwoman, and so forth for the same reasons; which is why those were the enemies Michael Keaton's Batman faced. Those movies didn't recreate stories from the comic books, they just yanked the most well-known villains out of them. That's how people remember which movie is which: this is the one with the Joker, that's the one with Riddler and Two-Face, etc. Superman's villains aren't as well-known; everyone knew who Lex Luthor was, but apart from him they invented Zod, Richard Pryor's computer, and the dude from Superman IV of whom we will not speak. All of Spiderman's villains (save Venom) appeared on the cartoons we watched decades ago. The problem with a Wonder Woman movie, then, is … Whom does she fight? Who is Wonder Woman's arch-nemesis? If you've never read a comic book, but vaguely remember watching Lynda Carter wear the tights on CBS thirty(?) years ago, all you know about Wonder Woman is that she fought nazis – which makes things tough if you want to set the Wonder Woman movie in the present day. Nazis aren't really a challenge anymore; Jake and Elwood Blues in a used, surplus police car were more than a match for them.
The problem with that logic is that it's all backwards. People know about the Joker because of Cesar Romero, not because they were intrinsically familiar with Batman. Likewise, I'd bet dollars to donuts that Lex Luthor was about as well-known as Braniac or Metallo before the movie opened, because he hadn't been big in any of the stories beforehand - the movies made Lex Luthor into a star.
What appears on the screen makes the big jump. But that doesn't mean that the villains are themselves iconic, or Bane would be huge right now.
The issue is not colorful villains, because Superman and the Flash have a great rogue's gallery of villains, and they never got used. The issue is finding a challenge that questions who the character is. That's why Raiders of the Lost Ark works (Indy has to come to terms with the fact that really, there is a God and mystical stuff out there) and Last Crusade works (he has to come to terms with his father), but Temple falls flat (he fights a bunch of heart-rippers).
Batman's been fighting the Joker for years, but only a handful of stories are interesting enough to last. There's a reason for that.
There are two, really only two, Thor stories that register as iconic to me. They are the time he was turned into a Frog, and the time he was replaced by a Space Horse.
Good luck making a movie out of those.
I remember the Frog story! In fact... it's the only Thor story I've ever read. n.n;;
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I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like Thor. But does he have any iconic character arcs?
Umm Walt Simonson ? Thor #337 ? Beta Ray Bill ?
Actually Thor could be made into a kick ass movie. I see your point with Wonder Woman, but even with her I'm sure that she has a few cool stories that we just haven't read.
However I think you are off base with Super Man as well. He isn't my favorite but I know who he is as a character.
I think that you are looking for characters that have some sort of angst filled origin. Characters that undergo some sort of dramatic transformation.
Which does tend to make for great movies, but isn't the sole definition of having character.
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It's semi-iconic. But that works because you already know the character of Thor, and having him replaced by CGI is not your best bet at a movie.
And I'm not sure. I'm in comics. I talk to fans. If Wonder Woman had a great storyline that really summed her up, I'm sure I would have heard of it. There are a lot of stories that people enjoy, but THE Wonder Woman story? I'll go on record as saying that it doesn't exist.
Likewise, Superman has a lot of fun adventures. I've read a lot of them. But none of them left a mark on Supes, because in the end it was just Stuff That Happened, not anything really meaningful.
I agree with you about Wonder Woman not having iconic stories.
But I also recommend you pick up Greg Rucka's run on the comic. It's actually worth reading.
But if you think about, “Wow, this storyline defines this character,” Wonder Woman doesn’t have one.
Wonder Woman: The Hikieta by Greg Rucka + JG Jones.
There’s no comic series that I can think of that I go, “Wow, that sums up Superman in a nutshell.”
All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison + Frank Quitely. Grant Morrison > God. Go get you some.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like Thor. But does he have any iconic character arcs? No.
Walt Simonson's first arc with Beta Ray Bill; the "WorldEngine" arc by Warren Ellis; the current storyline by J. Michael Straczynski + Oliver Copiel.
Also ... and this is what I think will happen anyway ... you're forgetting that at least in Thor's case, there is also an Ultimate version of him, which I found infinitely more interesting than the Classic version. There, he's also a radical environmental crusader, and there's a question hanging over him over whether or not he really IS the Odinson, or some nutjob with a cause and a huge powerful hammer. That Avengers movie that's coming out may be The Avengers by name, but will probably be The Ultimates in content.
| From: | pi216 |
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| Date: | May 6th, 2008 04:02 pm (UTC) |
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All-Star Superman seconded.
There're 'wow comics', which use kersplodey and big explosions/fists/everything (of which Liefield is the strange, distorted Avatar) to get your attention, and then there're things like All-Star.
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| Date: | May 6th, 2008 03:51 pm (UTC) |
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I must be an outlier, because I identify with Wonder Woman's personality in a couple of ways. First, because she rebelled against the controlling personality of her mother. Second, because she left her family to go out and make the world a better place. Third, because it didn't take a broken family or major personal tragedy to motivate her: she's just doing what's right because it's right.
But mostly, because she's not psycho. Batman is a superhero because he's mentally ill, PTSD from the death of his parents; Superman is an alien, literally. And so on.
Third, because it didn't take a broken family or major personal tragedy to motivate her: she's just doing what's right because it's right.
Which is annoyingly rare when you're talking about heroines. Maybe a little less so in comics--I'm not sure--but it's damn hard to find a fantasy novel whose female protagonist doesn't have rape, or an angsty childhood, or an angstily raped childhood as a motivation for doing stuff. BAH.
I disagree heartily about Superman. "For the Man Who Has Anything" is absolutely iconic for Superman -- both in terms of what he's lost and what he's willing to sacrifice for others. So much so, in fact, that they adapted it for JLU. You have to be relatively iconic to be adapted for a cartoon.
But more to the point, Superman more than most -- possibly any -- other superhero is iconic to the point that you no longer can see the stories that are seminal. Superman's story is laden with moments so seminal that they felt they had to purge them in the 80's -- you think of them, perhaps, as gimmicks but every one of them started with a story. The Bottle City of Kandor. Luthor loses his hair and swears neverending revenge on Superman. Superman meets Lois Lane. Superman marries Lois Lane. Bizarro -- his origin, his evolution, his square freaking planet. Kryptonite in a dozen colors. "Whatever Happened to the Man Of Steel." Krypto the Superdog. "Don't Call Me Chief." Jimmy Olson becomes a man-ape. Or a turtle-boy. Superman is a Dick. Lana Lang. Pete Ross. The Legion of Super Heroes (remember, they started as one-shot Superboy story). And so on and so forth.
The stories and elements that make up Superman are so prevalent to the last eighty years of comic books that we lose our ability to distinguish them.
On the other side, Wonder Woman's stories are, quite honestly, contradictory and forgettable. People remember Paradise Island and the Amazons, but no two people agree on them. Steve Trevor has been everything from a damsel in distress (his best use, IMO) to a playboy boyfriend to a father figure. Diana has been an excuse to tell myth stories, feminist stories, bondage stories, spy stories, goofy stories, slice of life stories and almost any other story you can think of, but none of them have been truly definitional for her. Hell, her Lasso changes abilities with the wind. (It's a command lasso! It's a Truth Lasso! It stretches! It's indestructible! It's broken easily! I was impressed at how often the Justice League cartoon managed to incorporate it into her fighting style given that for most of their run it didn't have any particular powers at all.)
The biggest problem facing writers today isn't that Superman lacks defining stories, it's that much of the time they don't bother to use them.
Perhaps that's because Wonder Woman wasn't really written to tell a story. Instead, WW was Charles Moulton's soap-box for a lot of ideas he had floating around in his head. He wanted to play with the idea of a society run by women, where one woman fell out of favor, in a way, because she fell in love with a man "shipwrecked" on their island. Steve Trevor after all *is* the motive force that gets WW off the island and into the save-the-world business.
To me, a WW movie could work *if* it was set in WW's original time period, World War II. That has much possibility for story lines, as well as (IMO at least) providing a showcase for delightful steampunky, retro '40s vintage, with a heaping helping of science fiction, of course.
There are no truly empty characters. All it takes to inflate one of these hollow superhero costumes is to fill it with a deliciously awesome story. All it takes is an awesome writer. And sure, maybe some costumes retain their shape better than others over time but really it's just a matter of good writers puffing out the suit time and time again with good stories. I guess my basic point is that a good writer or director can make any character compelling and awesome.
I wish I could think of some iconic events in either Wonder Woman or Superman's past but my mind is drawing a blank. I'm sure they're there, I just can't seem to think of any right now. All I've got are my favorite Wonder Woman stories, which include just about anything Rucka or Perez has done. Just finished re-reading Hiketeia. :)
Sorry, follow up, on the flip side of this, it's just as easy for a well-intentioned but ultimately incompetent writer or creative director to completely shatter a character. And really, that list is longer than the successes. Awesomeness is obviously much more difficult than mediocrity or just sheer awfulness.
Well, I'd say modern comics have given us some interesting points.
For instance, the Superman for All Seasons graphic novel, which works with the idea of how Superman integrates Clark Kent is interesting. In this way, the idea is "who is superman?", is he Kal-El, an Alien living among humans, or is he Clark Kent, a small-town boy with amazing powers from far away. That decision defines how he lives his life, and seeing him make that choice (possibly in the decision about whether or not to start a family) is interesting. It asks on whose side he is on.
I'd agree with Wonder Woman. My favorite tales are using involving her and her Mother. Similar to Supes, there is a question of who she is and where here priorities lie. I mean, she's a freaking goddess and yeah she's stopping bank robbers and potentially flirting with Batman. Her mother represents who she was supposed to be, and living up to or turning away from that creates interesting character development.
As for Green Lantern, i'd go away from Hal and deal more with the other GLers. Its true that Hal is in many ways a blank slate. He has daddy issues, he is hard for others to reach and he holds himself to an impossible ideal. But Kyle is trying to deal with the immensity of his job while trying to cling to his personality, Gardner is just a fun asshole with too much power, and John is a stick in the mud. As a group, I think the are interesting in their interplay. Any GL movie that I want to see involves the Corps, not just Hal.
Although Hal versus Sinestro would be good, but the GL Corps against the Sinestro Corps might make my brain explode.
She does have at least one iconic story: where she has to decide between going home and being Queen of the Amazons or staying in the world to fight evil abroad.
This is an awesome essay. So much so that I posted a link to it from The MovieBlog.com so that all my readers can see this perspective. Seriously good stuff man.
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/71013572/981598) | | From: | draxar |
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| Date: | May 6th, 2008 04:32 pm (UTC) |
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Ultimate Thor may be the style they go for, more than 616 Thor; the 'hippy', "Yes I'm the son of a god", anti-capitalist, who'll still work with the state when it really matters.
Interesting...
So Marvel is pimping the Avengers. Iron Man and Hulk are first (Robert Downey Jr. is apparently in the Hulk as Iron Man or Tony Stark). Then Capt. America, Thor, and ..... Ant-Man.
Who? I wasn't the comic geek I wish I was, but I know at least some about the biggies, and I recognize a lot of those storylines. Hell, if nothing else, I watched all the cartoons! But who the hell is Ant-Man? Why do we need a whole movie about a superhero who can (and I had to look it up) shrink himself really tiny and talk to ants?
Ok, Marvel wants to create an Avengers movie series, and they're doing the spin-offs first, apparently. I'll see the Hulk (even though the last one was unwatchable) and Thor (he's pretty cool). Iron Man was brilliant. But Ant-Man? Tell me his story arc...
Didn't Ant-Man frequent parallel universes by shrinking? Maybe they'll do something with that.
There's also three different characters and origins behind the single "Ant Man" name, and I heard the movie will incorporate all three.
*shrug* It IS a ridiculous super-hero to make a movie out of, but who knows, maybe it'll be interesting.
Apparently the idea of a WW movie has been booted around DC for years and years, which I'm sure is not news to anybody reading your friendslist, as I think Joss Whedon's name was attached to it at one point and there's nothing that people on the internets don't know about Joss Whedon.
In fact, I would guess that the biggest reason Wonder Woman hasn't made it to the big screen is that people keep signing onto the project and then dropping out because of conflicts and creative differences and whatnot. An ex-boyfriend of mine used to edit WW and now works on DC film adaptations in some capacity, and this is the impression I have about it, although we weren't in close touch for most of the time he was working on WW. I could ask him for more details (provided he's allowed to give them), but I think that probably ruins the fun interactive aspect of your post.
Wonder Woman kills Maxwell Lord. That was a defining moment for her, and it shows what sets her apart from Batman and Superman. She is a warrior. She does what is necessary at that moment. Was there another way to stop Superman, who was then under the absolute mental control of Maxwell Lord? No. So she killed him, broke his neck. Batman wouldn't have done it, Superman (if he was capable) wouldn't have done it. They're both notoriously no-kill heroes. Diana did it and then took responsibility for it. That impressed me.
Otherwise I agree that Wonder Woman's history is burdened down with horribly silly and contradictory stories and backstories and rewrites. Wonder Woman has seldom had a writer who was worthy of her character. If I were able to break into the world of comics and somehow work my way up the ladder at this late date in life, I'd be more than happy to write The Awesomest Wonder Woman Story Of All Time. DC wouldn't let me do it, though.
Yes, I was going to comment something like this. Batman plans the hell out of everything and works around a problem if he can't solve it. Superman broods over whether or not he has the right to solve this problem for the world. Wonder Woman just gets the job done.
Wonder Woman (the comic) was great about five years ago or so when she actually embraced her mantel as ambassador and had an office and a staff, and then she wrote a best-selling book that had such plot potential for the series but was forgotten in less than a year. And then she killed Maxwell Lord and took a year off and came back as a secret agent searching for...herself. *shakes head* DC doesn't know when it has a good writer and a good story. They just keep messing things up.
This may be why Supergirl: The Movie sucked. She's pretty light on classic stories as well. Like, really light. None spring to mind.
I'm trying to think of what a really good Wonder Woman story would be, and coming up mostly blank. Maybe something involving Ares trying to start World War Three? I know he's gone down that road a few times, and he seems to be the most movie-friendly of her rogue's gallery. God vs Amazon, man vs woman, war vs 'beat shit up for peace', that sort of thing. Other'n that, I gots nothin'. Dr Psycho? Cheetah? Egg Fu? Wonder Woman doesn't exactly come equipped with a whole lot of memorable enemies, not like -some- characters we can name.
I'm holding out for Marvel to do a Hawkeye movie, preferably based off of his miniseries, where he met Mockingbird, they fought Oddball and the Death Throws, and then clashed against Crossfire. Think of it. Ex-carny turned world's greatest archer, hooks up with hot blonde martial artist, fights evil juggling hit men, before taking the battle to their psychotic mind-controlling ex-CIA operative turned weapons dealer!
I'd watch it. Totally. Because it would be both awesome, and goofy, and in the right hands, fun.
Ant-Man. Um. *scratches head* Er. Crap. You got me there. Honey, I Shrunk The Superhero?
All of the best movie stories are the ones in which the superhero has a proper opposite number to face off against. Batman vs Joker. Superman vs Lex Luthor (or evil Kryptonians). Iron Man vs ... y'know.
If you do a Green Lantern movie, only one villain truly deserves that first shot at the crown: Sinestro. No other applicants need apply, be they the Shark, Hector Hammond, Goldface...
Just my random thoughts.
First thing that comes to my mind about an iconic Supergirl story is when she was the Earth Angel of Fire or something like that, written by Peter David. But that's way complicated and wouldn't make a good movie.
You know what I'd like to see? The Batman/Superman arc where Supergirl comes to Earth. There you have Batman and Superman fighting over how Kara should be taught, and Wonder Woman stepping in and just taking her, and then there's the climax with Darkseid and Supergirl struggling over claiming her true identity. Hmm. Come to think of it, that wouldn't work as a movie either.
I never really read any Thor or Wonder Woman when I was growing up, but that was mostly because I wasn't allowed to buy comics, so I mooched off of my older brothers, and they didn't read those titles.
Concerning Superman, however, as someone who hasn't really read his comics (again, my brothers, they mostly stuck to Marvel), I would say the Death of Superman arc was pretty damn iconic to me, if only because it's the one I heard about and actually read. Still, there are a lot of other really dramatic Superman stories that have been told in the last eighty years, that's just one that happened in my lifetime.
But yes, I agree with what you're saying. As someone with more than a passing knowledge of comics but without having read a lot of them (most of what I know about the Green Lantern Corps came from Death of Superman and the Justice League cartoon), I don't know most of those heros very well at all. I know they exist, naturally, because they're at least important enough to be mentioned in other comics from time to time, but they're practically non-entities to me.
I'm with a group that does audio shows in the style of old-time radio dramas, and many of our shows are on DC characters. Kinda like fanfiction, only with some pretty damn good writing, acting, and directing by a big group of people.
This is an issue we struggle with a lot. The writer of the Wonder Woman show had to search through Wondie's entire rogue's gallery to find compelling villains for her to face. She ended up going with people like Circe, Dr. Psycho, and Ares, and it's worked out great. Wondie doesn't end up tied up every episode, she doesn't have to get bailed out by guys, and she really does kick a fair amount of ass. So, it's possible with Wonder Woman's material. It's just not easy.
Supergirl is my job ... and lemme tell you, the current comic series is not helping any. I'm trying to balance her essential questions of "Who am I? Do I have to follow in my cousin's footsteps? Will I ever measure up in other peoples' eyes? Does it matter?" with the need to NOT make the show into Sweet Valley High. I've thrown out a lot of the Supergirl stuff from the last few decades and gone back to the simple concept that the comic series was supposed to be returning to. The hard part is trying to come up with decent villainry that's not just cribbed from Superman. I've made a fair amount of stuff up, and given her an unusual sidekick.
The key to making a good superhero story is to really deeply understand the character, I think. People who think Superman's biggest weakness is Kryptonite don't really get it. Kryptonite is a Macguffin. His biggest weaknesses are in his personality, engrained so deep they'll never change. His moral compass is so unwaveringly straight that he gets nearly paralyzed when faced with a choice that has no "good" answer. He forms deep, caring attachments to people that are easy to control. He has a secret identity to protect. And he's incredibly predictable in most situations. In some ways this makes him easier to defeat than, say, Batman, who's limited by his technology but is unpredictable, avoids getting close to people, and is willing to make sacrifices.
Is there a place where I might hear or download those audio dramas? They sound very interesting! I was raised on audio books (we took a lot of road trips) and have since gained a taste for good audio dramas as well, so I am always looking for more (podcasts tend to be hit or miss in this regard).
Oddly the one that comes to mind as an iconic Superman story is the alternate-universe "Red Son" (our young Kryptonian lands not in America but in the Soviet Union and is raised accordingly).
But maybe that's just because I haven't read many such stories in the last few years and that one is the one that I recall.
I enjoyed Red Son immensely. I think it is a good example of why I find Superman fascinating: he is a man with absolutely endless power, but he chooses NOT to use it. Why does he do this (that he had a wonderful Midwest America Christian upbringing doesn't really resolve this for me)? Well, Red Son puts this mechanic on its head in some ways, but it is still about how a superbeing chooses to apply his power to ordinary people. I love Kingdom Come for much the same reason (and I've thought many times and quite recently that I'd love to see a movie of THAT book).
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/34157267/5598058) | | | Superman Theories/Storylines W/ Wonder Woman | (Link) |
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In my mind, screw Lois Lane, Superman should be with Wonder Woman-face it, they’d have cute (and powerful) kids, and she is strong enough to take his, ahem, bodily functions and the strength that accompanies them. They are essentially the same-different origins, but very alike. They could have them tease with the concept of world domination (brought on by Sun Spots-it would have to be sun related due to Superman’s “strength from yellow sun” theory). Oh Sun Spots! They could have so much fun with the concept of a split personality due to sun spots! If it can screw up the flow of electricity, imagine what it can do to someone who gets their powers from it! Global Warming! Superman is nothing without the yellow sun, what happens when that isn’t shining properly! Aghast! And Wonder Woman, who is not affected by the sun could aid him through these troubling times.
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/75480430/7151305) | | | Re: Superman Theories/Storylines W/ Wonder Woman | (Link) |
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Have you ever taken a look at Supreme Power ?
In those, Marvel actually did what DC was to afraid to do with the JLA. |
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