Fanboy Myopia Throwdown

Copyright of the Superman material in Action Comics #1 has reverted to the heirs of one of Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel.

Naturally, fanboys at Blog@Newsarama want to congratulate the family on regaining some measure of profit from the creation of the superhero -- heck, the genre -- that has given them so much joy.

Oh, wait, this is Newsarama. They go apeshit: "Greedy families, how dare they? Superman is DC's! Superman is ours! Waah, waah, waah."

Get a grip. There'll be an exchange of money, and it'll be business as usual. This is a good thing for creators, and a good thing for Superman. It's not particularly good for Time Warner, but they won't be washing windshield on a corner anytime soon.

Rob

Great Moments in Fanboy Hyperbole

So I've been rereading the infamous issues of Justice League of America in which the traditional League disbanded and Aquaman set up a new, less powerful League in its place. His rationale was dedication: Too many original Leaguers were on other missions when they were needed by the JLA, so he only took on people who could devote themselves entirely to the group. (This echoes the authorial complaint the the JLA is tough to write because of all the coordination between the characters' solo books. "Dedicated" Leaguers = No Solo Books.) Because of the location of this group's initial headquarters, this group is known as the Justice League Detroit.

Anyway, I've discovered that the book, while flawed, isn't the stinkfest it's often remembered as. Unlike the by-the-book issues of JLA before it, it actually feels like it's trying something new. It's as concerned with characterization as it is action, even if the characterization isn't particularly deep. There's down-time; we get to see the Martian Manhunter learn to make chili. That has to count for something.

And as an added bonus, there is simply some great hyperbole in the letters columns, as old-school JLA fans fired off frothing complaints. My favorite comes from Michael Pickens of Utica, Ohio, writing to JLA editor Alan Gold in the lettercol of issue #239:

"Congratulations, Mr. Gold. By allowing this drastic turn-around, you've committed the most irresponsible error in judgment since Judas Iscariot."

Perhaps not unsurprisingly, a few issues later, someone says that Aquaman is "worse than Hitler." Think I'm kidding? Tell it to Mark Ryan of St. Louis, Missouri (issue #243).

Rob