Thursday, February 20, 2014

Superman's Unreadable, Unnecessary, Wasteful yet Indestructible Diary

So, have you seen the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer?  I'm not a follower of the series (to me the G of the G is still Martinex, Yondu, Charlie-27, etc.), but it looks like it could be a fun watch.  Anything with Rocket Raccoon in it gets at least a looksee from Yours Truly.

But whilst we wait and see how that turns out, let's take a look at the worst whoddunit ever from Action Comics #241:


I'm not exactly a fanatic about this sort of thing, but doesn't this seem like a rather ecologically unfriendly method of keeping one's memoirs?  I mean, doesn't Superman have a perfect memory just like he has a perfect everything else?  Why keep a diary?  And it's written in his native Kryptonian language, so it's not like it'll do anyone any good if he's killed.  This just seems like a lot of resources going to a self-indulgent super-stunt. 

But then again... it is Superman.

Okay, I take issue with this:


Of course, anyone can tell you that the blob of grey and blue wax on the floor in front of the wax statute of Batman is probably a clue as to who the intruder is.  Why on earth would Bats be that careless?  The only possible explanation that works for me is that Bats knows what a musclehead Superman is, so he left the most remedial clues possible lying around.

And we're reaching a changing of the guard at Pep Comics.  First, we get a little surreal:


As a metaphor, that actually works.  But check out the next issue:


Yup, Archie is dominating the cover by the 49th issue.  The Shield's inset on the previous cover is replaced by Archie's "suck it, Shield!" smile, with "Starring Archie Andrews!" screaming at us.  

As even the most casual comic reader knows, history will tell us this was a smart move because Archie has way outperformed anyone else that ever appeared in Pep Comics, and would keep the title going monthly for the next 40 years.  As history has proven, we nerds will always end up ruling whatever we set our sights upon.

See you tomorrow!

3 comments:

MarvelX42 said...

I saw the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer. I agree that I would like to see the original GOTG, but this looks like it may be good. I really hope that it is really good and I hope that it rivals or surpasses Avengers at the box office. If it does it will really open up the entire "cosmic" part of the Marvel cinematic universe. We might then get a Silver Surfer, Nova, Starjammers or even Quasar movie. Wouldn't it be cool as hell to see the Avengers involved in the Kree-Skrull war? Beta Ray Bill and on and on. I hope GOTG KILLS at the box office!

Adam Barnett said...

Well, if it's any indication, Beloved (who is not a comic nerd other than by marriage) saw the trailer and is really looking forward to seeing it.

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