Superman I & II: not all that

[Klaus]

That was one heck of a comic, WizarDru. I also loves the way Batman convinces the city mayor to not go after Swamp Thing and his human girlfriend, Abby.

Mayor: "We must keep this Abby locked up, she knocks boots with a plant!"

Batman: "You know what? You're right! And we should also go after all non-humans who are knocking boots with humans! There's Green Lantern. And Starfire, from the Titans. I believe her people evolved from cats. And there's that one... name keeps slipping my mind... you know, the one from METROPOLIS."

Mayor: "er..." [starts sweating convulsively]

 

[Morrus]

Intellectually, I recognise the many flaws in the the first two Superman movies. I can see that they haven't aged well, stylistically or in terms of special effects. There are things mentioned in this thread which bug me, too.

But I still love them. They're great, feelgood films. I enjoy them every time I watch them (which is about once every few years, admittedly). I don't view them as a definitive Superman in any way - just a fun take on him.

Superman 3 and 4, though... now they were truly bad movies.

Here's hoping Superman Returns is good. I already have doubts about certain elements of the movie, but I still have high hopes.

 

[WizarDru]

And there's that one... name keeps slipping my mind... you know, the one from METROPOLIS."

As much as love some of the stuff Frank Miller did in Dark Knight Returns, I still think it was Moore who pulled the whole of comics forward. His work on Swamp Thing was nothing short of brilliance (I always loved the description of the Flash as a man who moved so fast that he lived in a world of statues). His 'last superman story' which was done just before Moore's reboot is another example of working in the framework that was just stunning.

Filby, I agree. That was something I really didn't like (and still find disappointing) is how Luthor is more of a buffon than a threat....but he looks like a genius next to Otis. Oy vey.

Moore's story where Mongul puts him in an kryptonian fantasy (which was made into an animated JLU episode) was another great one. Superman can be every bit as interesting as Batman, IMHO. Remember when Supes went crazy after killing the three rogue Kryptonians? One of my favorite throwaway bits is when Supes stops some penny-ante robbers, and the store owners give him some baklava in gratitude, which he then eats while flying away. (I think that was a Karl Kesel bit).

 

[Klaus]

Yeah, or how when he first apears in Metropolis as Superman, in Man of Steel, some armed robbers are stealing jewelry, and he promptly melts the guns with his heat vision, proceeds to knock out the two male robbers (and catch 'em before the hit the floor). The the female robber goes "You wouldn't hit a woman, would you?". So Supes, the gentleman that he is, knocks her out with a flick of his finger.

How gentle.

 

[jester47]

I have always thought that Gotham was NY, it made sense and NY actually goes by that name.
I was not aware that all the principle cities from D.C. were in New Jersey.
I supposed that Metropolis was Chicago because of the fact that
1) it is close to farm land. Superman grew up as a farm boy
2) Yet it has all the culture and business and technology much like Chicago.
3) Its in the american heartland and seems more "Model american city" than NY which seems to have its own identity apart from the US. So Chicago backs up that Truth, Justice and the American Way thing.

I would definatly say that Smallville's Metropolis is based on Chicago.

 

[KenM]

I liked Gene Hackman as Lex, the first two movies were good, IMO. You have to love the old school comic book fight in Superman 2 where they pic up buses, street lamps, ect..

 

[Klaus]

I have always thought that Gotham was NY, it made sense and NY actually goes by that name.
I was not aware that all the principle cities from D.C. were in New Jersey.
I supposed that Metropolis was Chicago because of the fact that
1) it is close to farm land. Superman grew up as a farm boy
2) Yet it has all the culture and business and technology much like Chicago.
3) Its in the american heartland and seems more "Model american city" than NY which seems to have its own identity apart from the US. So Chicago backs up that Truth, Justice and the American Way thing.

I would definatly say that Smallville's Metropolis is based on Chicago.

Only the recent Smallville series had Metropolis anywhere near farmland. In the comics, Metropolis is the most advanced city in the world, and as far from Smallville as possible. That's the only way people who knew Clark at age 17 wouldn't recognize him as Superman debuting at age 28 (or, in the comics, 39).

 

[WizarDru]

In the comics, Metropolis is the most advanced city in the world, and as far from Smallville as possible. That's the only way people who knew Clark at age 17 wouldn't recognize him as Superman debuting at age 28 (or, in the comics, 39).

Especially when you consider that Metropolis, inconsistently represented as it has been, is always represented as being near a large body of water.

What I find most ironic about DC's current placement of Metropolis is that it's in the least populated area of one of the smallest states in the US. Historically, Smallville was always considered to be a long, long way away from Metropolis; Clark was always the farmboy come to the big city. Of course, when Superman was first invented, getting reliable phone service was a challenge in some remote areas. Now we're more concerned with getting broadband.

A great moment in the Lois and Clark tv series (before it went south) was when Lois and Clark are in Smallville and visiting his parents, and Lois wants to send a fax back to the Daily Planet, and asks where the nearest place she could go for one is...and Clark's mother points her to her home office and says "Just use mine, dear."

 

[Kesh]

My impression was always that Metropolis and Gotham were mirror-image versions of New York City, taken to the extreme.

Both are on the East Coast, both are major cities with major waterports, and treated like centers of commerce and culture. Metropolis gets all the shiny, high-tech side of NYC, while Gotham gets all the older, historical buildings. Metropolis tends to deal with big corporate crime and major world-ending stuff, while Gotham deals more with street level thugs and threats to the city itself.

 

[KenM]

I read someplace awhile ago that someone from DC comics said Metopolis was suposted to represent Chicagio and Gotham New York city. (sorry for spelling)