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So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #120: Super(ish)girl!

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #120: Super(ish)girl!

Posted on by Marc Alan Fishman

This past weekend, I was able to take the wifey out and about to catch a flick at the cinemaplexatorium. We chose to check out Supergirl. Having absolutely adored James Gunn’s Superman, I personally walked in with expectations of a fun romp with a good dose of heart. I knew the film itself was heavily inspired by “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” by Tom King and Bilquis Evely, but alas, I’ve never read it. My knowledge of Kara Zor-El honestly was best pulled from the DC Animated Universe — which I know means not much in context. So, I’d like to say I sat down and plunked on my 3D glasses with as open a mind as you could get before the requisite ten minutes of commercials and ten minutes of trailers I’ve likely already seen on YouTube. 

I’m going to go ahead now and make clear: this will be as SPOILER-FREE a review as I can make… so long as you saw the end of Superman, and the trailer to this movie.

Supergirl effectively picks up where we left off at the end of her cousin’s flick. She’s picked up Krypto, and has headed off for a week(ish) of red-sun-dampening debauchery in celebration of her 23rd birthday. Hilarity, life lessons, and action sequences ensue. 

It’s time for a compliment sandwich, kiddos. Hope you’re hungry.

Overall? Supergirl is a fun romp. Milly Alcock is infinitely watchable as Kara Zor-El. Be it a drunken stupor, heroic posturing, or whatever comes between, Alcock’s cock-sure take on the character is purposefully diametrically opposed to ole’ cousin Kal. Because of this, we get a hefty dose of whatever the polar opposite of dork is for all 90-some minutes of the flick. Same as Superman, all other casting choices that the house that Gunn built are all scene-chewingly glorious choices. From Matthias Schoenaerts’ evil(ist) big bad Krem to, yes, Jason Mamoa’s Lobo… everyone plays their parts perfectly — no matter the heavy makeup, prosthetics, or both. Equally impressive is the downright dreary landscapes and sets of the movie, keeping in mind how bright and shiny Superman happened to be. If Gunn gave us a truly gleaming Metropolis first, this movie certainly makes bold choices to show us every grimy cesspool the galaxy has to offer on Kara’s sobriety-free solstice. If I can double back to Lobo though? Credit where it’s due. This was a part Mamoa clearly was born to play — so much so that even a line in, any fleeting memory of his Arthur Curry is fragged like a bastich, I tells ya. While Lobo never appeared in the original source material… it’s practically a given in James Gunn’s DCU (thus far), the Easter eggs and fan-service are always abound.  Continue reading “So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #120: Super(ish)girl!” →

Brainiac On Banjo: The Rodney Dangerfield of Super-Heroes!

Brainiac On Banjo: The Rodney Dangerfield of Super-Heroes!

Posted on by Mike Gold

I tip-toe down the street, smile at everyone I meet. But suddenly a scream smashes through my dream. Fee fie foe fum, I smell the blood of an asylum. – “How Sweet To Be An Idiot,” written by Neil Innes

I think there are few, if any, major heroic fantasy characters that have received less respect over the past eight decades than Aquaman. Well, this ain’t gonna win me any friends, but to me that makes perfect sense.

This is not to say that the fish man didn’t have a lot of great stories. With artists like Ramona Fradon, Nick Cardy, and Jim Aparo, some swell writers, and an uninterrupted run (more or less) of 82 years, there’s a reason he’s still in the water. But let’s face it: Aquaman was created as just another bland rip-off of the Sub-Mariner, and at that one of many. In fact, Subby’s creator Bill Everett also created two other water-bound heroes, Hydroman and The Fin, as well as a third with the Sub-Mariner spin-off Namora.

Aquaman was no Sub-Mariner. For one thing, he was a nice guy. For another, he talked to fish and ordered them to do his bidding. His enemies were largely lame, and his costume looked like he escaped from an undersea disco.

For all these efforts, DC’s fishy super-friend has been severely and continuously mocked. Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim created a series of really funny bumpers featuring the guy, and any number of folks have had their photos taken while engaging in deep mockery. Aquaman has been the butt of much teevee humor ever since the Boomers started getting work in the writers’ rooms. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: The Rodney Dangerfield of Super-Heroes!” →