Thursday, November 9, 2023

Prince Street News: Superheroes Are Dumb.

The new BACK ISSUE (#148) is a "DC Super Stars of Space" issue, for which my strip (again) has nothing to do with the theme! "Superheroes Are Dumb" sounds like a trolling title, and maybe it is a little bit, but I hope my thesis comes across... One of the things that I bemoan about modern superhero comic books is how goddamn seriously most of them treat the genre. Not to say that there's not room for mature storytelling in a superhero milieu, but not everything works in a realistic context. For example, I cannot deal with silly characters like Plastic Man shoehorned into something like the Justice League. Similarly, I think the SHAZAM! family works better in its own unique context (or, on its own world in the multiverse) than as a part of the larger whole. 

Having said that, in terms of film and TV adaptations, I've likewise grown tired of the snarky sensibilities of Taika Waititi and James Gunn, who are constantly elbowing the audience and saying, "Hah? Hah? See how silly this stuff is? I'm taking the piss out of it!" It's a conundrum. Fingers crossed Mr. Gunn pulls it back a bit as the Feige of the DCU. We shall see.