Superman, Daredevil and the Fan Boys

Oh, those Fan Boys.

The J Man and I went to see Man of Steel last weekend. We loved it.

As a superhero action movie, it was one of the best we’ve seen in a while. It had that galactic, end-of-the-world threat at its heart – ala The Avengers – with wildly entertaining CGI-based aerial fight scenes that were spectacular and reminded me of the Iron Man movies.

Better than Iron Man, actually.

And the fan boys hated it.

Despised it, to be more accurate.

Even Mark Waid, the current Daredevil writer and a former Superman writer who penned the Birthright limited series (which formed part of the Man of Steel story arc) trashed the movie.

“At its emotional climax, at the moment of Superman’s ultimate victory,” wrote Waid in his blog, “Man of Steel broke my heart. I mean, absolutely snapped it clean in half.”

Tell us how you really feel, Mark.

On the Comic Book Resources website the fan boys took a strip up one side of the film and down the other, taking issue with the needless carnage (with half of Manhattan reduced to rubble, it’s conceivable that many thousands of people died) , the lack of chemistry between Superman and Lois Lane, the corny plot twists, etcetera, etcetera.

A Whatculture blog even called the film The Stupidest Superman Movie Ever. And that’s saying a lot.

I get that the plot has more holes than SpongeBob SquarePants. I share the fan boys’ displeasure with the disaster porn, specifically Superman’s lack of desire to take the fight outside the city to save the lives of the humans he has sworn to protect.

I am less concerned with Superman taking a life, which has most of the fans in a tizzy. But that’s just me.

Maybe if this was a Marvel project I’d be more inclined to nitpick. But this is Superman, a character who can turn a lump of coal into a perfectly cut diamond, simply by squeezing really hard. This is a character that once saved Earth from certain disaster from an incoming asteroid by pushing the planet out of the way.

So I don’t expect much in the way of plot from a Superman movie. Ergo, I wasn’t really disappointed.

We paid extra to see the film in some sort of fancy 3D, with our butts enjoying extra plush seats, so Jake and I just expected to be thoroughly entertained.

And we were. It wasn’t The Avengers, but as an action movie, I give it four stars out of five.

***

Speaking of fan boys, I just finished reading the eight-issue Daredevil mini-series End of Days.

This was a series set about 10 years in the future and kicked off with the brutal  and very public death of  our main character at the hands of Bullseye, with the rest of the series told through the eyes of reporter Ben Urich as he tries to unravel the mysteries of Daredevil’s death.

There were two mysteries to be solved: who or what was Mapone, the word Daredevil said before he died (sending Bullseye spiraling into madness); and who was the mystery Daredevil seen offing bad guys throughout the series?

The series was written by DD veterans Brian Bendis and David Mack with gorgeous artwork by Bill Sienkiewicz and Klaus Janson, who can trace their Hornhead roots back to the Frank Miller days.

And when it was over, the fan boys wrote in to say they hated it.

Liars.

The first six issues were among the best comics I have ever read and the reader comments on the blogs and web sites reflected that. In the seventh issue the ‘mystery Daredevil’ was exposed and while it was a bit underwhelming, it was still a good read.

The final issue gave us the ‘Mapone’ reveal and it sent the fan boys back to the message boards. I wasn’t keen on the final issue either, but I will buy the hardcover collection when it goes on sale this week.

So will most of those fan boys (and girls), their whining notwithstanding.

Now bring us the movie.