I loved Man of Steel.

Know what I love more though? The fact that it’s inspiring debate among geeks. I get the issues that people have with this movie, and I’m just glad that we have a Superman movie that has enough going on to actually get people talking. My hope is that the issues people are having with it won’t be issues when the inevitable sequel gets here, and that Man of Steel can serve as a springboard for a robust Superman (and DC Comics) Cinematic Universe.

If you haven’t seen Man of Steel yet, don’t read this. I don’t think I can talk about the movie without giving anything away.

The Movie

I’m a huge Superman fan. In fact, Man of Steel made me remember just how big of a Superman fan I’ve been my whole life. I was pretty much obsessed with the Big Blue Boy Scout up until I was about fifteen years old. Then I got busy and paid less attention to DC superheros (Spider-Man and X-Men were just hitting the theaters) and it wasn’t until Superman Returns that I started thinking about the character more again. I liked that movie, but just as a nostalgic homage to the classic movies, and I totally understood everyone’s complaints about it. It was not an action-packed Superman film.

Fast forward a few years and the world is superhero movie crazy. We’ve had a great Batman movie trilogy and we’ve seen Marvel craft an incredible interconnected Marvel Universe on screen. It’s time to bring Superman back. When I heard Christopher Nolan was going to be involved I was excited, but then I was less excited when Zack Snyder was announced as the director. I wasn’t a fan, but I am now.

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From Tommy: Introducing ‘When You Hear This Sound‘ – a new podcast by Rob Lammle that I’m really excited about. It’s all about the retro Read-Along Records that often featured characters and stories from pop culture. Here’s the official podcast description:

When You Hear This Sound will take you back to a pre-VHS era of home entertainment as your host Rob Lammle digs into his personal collection of read along record books and stories on vinyl. With thrilling adventures adapted from blockbuster movies, hit TV shows, hilarious cartoons, and iconic comic book superheroes, the show will be retro fun for everyone.

Let’s get going with the first episode!

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…well, you know who it is. Just in time for the new movie, Man of Steel, the first official episode of When You Hear This sound is going to drop the needle on 1982’s The Man From Krypton, a retelling of Superman’s origin story from Peter Pan Records.

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I was digging through stuff at my Grandpa’s house last weekend to see if there was anything I found sentimental and wanted to keep (he didn’t die, he’s just moving to a retirement home), and among the old photos, fishing paraphernalia, and random mothball-scented things, I found a 1993 Sears Catalog. I spotted it from a mile away and almost knocked my sister over who was looking through our Grandmother’s Christmas decorations trying to get to it.

Unfortunately it wasn’t a Christmas catalog. If it was, I would have snatched the whole thing and spent hours (days?) scanning the entire toy section. Alas, this was just a regular-type catalog which meant no toys. However, I remembered that even these boring catalogs still usually had video game sections and I quickly flipped past the pages of clothes, exercise equipment, and antique-looking computers to find them. I wasn’t disappointed.
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