SupermanHawaii.com

by Scott Shinsato

With the success of this summer's "Batman Begins" and next year's highly anticipated "Superman Returns"… with the new look logo and with the current direction in which the marketing team seems to be going, it’s a good time to be a fan!

It seems that, if nothing else, DC’s parent company AOL Time Warner, has finally figured out what they have. They have taken the Dark Knight and made him the Dark Knight again on the big screen. The hype going into "Batman Begins" was positive compared to the negative press that "Batman and Robin" had received before the movie had even opened eight years ago. New Batman merchandise is out and takes advantage of the fact that 1) if you liked this summer's movie or 2) are a fan of the comic or even 3) if you are a fan of the new "The Batman" animated series, they have something to market to you. Not just to market, mind you, but market something that is just plain cool and collectable.

The hype for "Superman" is equally high as expectations for next summer's movie is being dissected on every aspect from the way the suit looks to whether or not Kevin Spacey will wear a bald cap or shave his head (in case you don’t know yet, he will be doing the latter). After his success on the first two X-men films, comicbook fans are expecting a lot from Bryan Singer. Will relative newcomer Brandon Routh be able to fill the boots left by the late Christopher Reeve? How will the movie compare to its predecessors? And, most importantly, will Bryan Singer have enough magic to again “make us believe a man can fly”?! With the movie will surely come the marketing push and the loads of “S”-related merchandise that will fill the stores in the months to come.

WB also has other plans for DC’s heroes, starting with Joss Whedon’s treatment of the Amazon Princess (Wonder Woman) currently in development. DC and Warner Brothers seem to be on the right track as they seem to have a plan to release their heroes to the big screen as Marvel has done recently. This bodes well for fans of DC as long as they don’t pull another CINO on us (Catwoman in name only). Treat the property with respect, treat the property well and everyone is happy.

With a slew of new merchandise and movies on the horizon and the introduction of their new company logo, DC seems to be heading in the right direction. Hey, welcome all to the new Superman Hawaii homepage and the first issue of the Occasional Orb… It’s a good time to be a fan!

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