SupermanHawaii.com

by Scott Shinsato

Hot on the heels of Marvel's X3 movie (see last month's review by Jason Tayros and Napua Ahina) comes one of the most anticipated movies in years... Superman Returns. Now, I could easily go on and do a review about the movie and add to the hundreds of reviews that are out there now (including one done in this month’s issue of the Orb) but I thought I'd go a different route. You see, after seeing both Superman Returns and X3 this year as well as the myriad of Superhero/comicbook movies that have entertained us the past few years, I began thinking about the age old comicbook geek fight of DC vs. Marvel. No, No, No... I am not going to argue which is better or stronger but rather what differences there are and why they appeal to different people on different levels.

On Marvel's side, the argument has always been that their characters are more real, more identifiable with the average Joe. Peter Parker has problems like you and me, the X-men having to deal with prejudices because they are different and the Hulk having to deal with his anger on a level that will not destroy everything. These characters help us to identify some of the problems we face everyday. Often times seeing how our heroes deal with the problems we face or relate to is an escape that we look for… perhaps need. At the end of the day we can enter their world and swing through the streets of New York with Spider-man and catch a few bad guys or go on an adventure with the Avengers to help us forget about our problems for the day. To an extent, we relate with them and our problems and in return, they are an external focus of how we deal with our lives and our problems.

DC’s approach seems different. They are today’s mythical heroes, modern legends in the vein of tales the Greeks and Romans once told. We don’t look to these characters to relate to our problems but perhaps to rescue us from them. They are an escape from the problematic world that surrounds us and give us a bit of faith and hope. Superman is an icon for truth, justice and the American way, a symbol for what we can strive to be. As dark as the character is, Batman fights the never ending battle because he hopes to one day end the crime that plagues his beloved city. Wonder Woman is a character that helps to empower females in a male dominated world. Their adventures give us hope at the end of the tunnel, someone to look up to and perhaps something to also strive for in our lives. At the end of the day when we look to escape this reality of ours, they welcome us into theirs and give us something to look up to.

In the end it’s all about what floats your boat. Both sides have wonderful characters that have endured for many years. In what is sure to be a debate with no end and no winners, we can hope that these two great companies continue to produce the adventures of heroes that are so beloved that we are lucky to have them make it to the big screen.

Take care gang, go see Superman Returns and we’ll see you next month with another issue of the Occasional Orb!

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