Superman Returns: The Fanboy's Dilemma

The following illustrations were done to accompany a five-piece column I wrote for mtv.com in 2006 in anticipation of the release of SUPERMAN RETURNS. In case you weren't paying attention, I am a giant Superman nerd, and the pieces dealt with the anxiety and anticipation surrounding Bryan Singer's resurrection of the Man of Steel for the cinema. My full thoughts on the matter can be found elsewhere, but suffice it to say I was... somewhat underwhelmed. Didn't hate it. But didn't love it.

Anyway, the first piece was an introductory piece about why Superman matters.

The second illo was about trying to avoid spoilers by consuming too much merch and information.

The third dealt with deciding when to see the movie and with whom. Sadly, the predicted tears in this drawing didn't come to pass.

The fourth piece dealt with picking and choosing what tie-in merchandise to buy.

The last piece illustrated the invulnerability of the character in regards adaptations good or bad; Superman is an icon that's different things to different people, and can certainly survive crappy adaptations. The drawing shows interpretations of Superman from the Kirk Alyn serials of the 1940s, the Fleischer cartoons of that same decade, the George Reeves 1950s TV show, the Filmation cartoons of the 1960s, Christopher Reeve from the 1970s-80s, the Bruce Timm animated Supes of the 90s, Tom Welling as Clark Kent from SMALLVILLE, Brandon Routh from SUPERMAN RETURNS and an amalgamation of comic book Superman.