Today is Superman Day as declared by DC Comics in honor of the cover date of Action Comics #1 falling in June despite actual release date being April 18th, 1938. We are slightly co-opting the date for Man of Steel (I say “slightly” because it was originally “Man of Steel Day” before being changed to “Superman Day”) because it’s close enough to the release of Man of Steel. As much as I like precision and accuracy, I also value grace and accommodation, which is why I point out DC initially acknowledging a cover date in addition to a release date. So however you term it or celebrate, Happy Man Of Steel Day!
Happy 5th Anniversary #ManOfSteel! 4 years of https://t.co/ZxoyrWkly1 : 74 hours audio (67 released), 17 YouTube videos, 176 (published) blog posts, etc. & with more to come… #ManOfSteelDay pic.twitter.com/aeVwZCo18z
— ManOfSteelAnswers (@mosanswers) June 12, 2018
My stuff is packed up for the move but here’s an old photo and an easy-to-open box. Happy #ManOfSteelDay! #ManOfSteel pic.twitter.com/1ZX5zbrKis
— ManOfSteelAnswers (@mosanswers) June 12, 2018
Anyways, too busy to ramble… let me just throw a few things that have come across my radar or research recently:
- Batman v. Superman: Politics Part 1 | Reel Analysis
- Factfulness by Hans Rosling | Bill Gates
- Newcomb’s Paradox | Wikipedia
- The Origins and History of Consciousness | Erich Neumann
- On Liberty | John Stuart Mill
- DC Comics: 80 Years of Superman | Talks at Google
- Superman: Peace On Earth | Alex Ross Commentary
- Intelligence Squared debate podcast
- “Rebooted” CGI short by Arun & Kral
- Should You Wear A Bike Helmet? | The Guardian
- “Bulletproof” by La Roux | Pomplamoose cover
- Lateral | Tom Scott
- Man of Steel: Anatomy of a Scene | NYT
- SnyderCut Timeline | John Garza
Long time no see! Been busy IRL but also slowly plugging away at a miniseries to drop “when its done” (I’ve got 60 & 61 done, 63 mostly there, and “stuck” on 62).
Good Timber
- by Douglas Malloch
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
Welcome to Man of Steel Answers! If this is your first time on the site, it mainly hosts the Man of Steel Answer Insight Commentary (MOSAIC) podcast which is an exhaustive look at 2013’s Man of Steel, the Superman mythos, and surrounding DC cinematic universe topics.
MOSAIC has commentary on Man of Steel‘s Act One in the following episodes:
- 12 Oil Rig Virtues – Heroism – All the work this scene does
- 13 Flashbacks – Theft- Maybe – Examining the flashbacks, Clark stealing, and Jonathan’s answer, “Maybe.”
- 15 You Are My Son – Understanding Jonathan – Jonathan reveals Clark’s origins
- 17 Trucker Tantrum – Action Tribute – Why Clark snaps and the tribute to Action Comics No. 1
- 19 Ellesmere – Tornado Topics – Blame – Clark travels to Ellesmere Island
- 23 Arctic Adventure – Lois – Perry – Lois Lane’s first appearance until Clark meets Jor-El
- 24 Jor-El’s Hologram – So Many Questions – Meeting Jor-El until flying
- 26 Symbol – Suit – Flight – Clark’s first flight
- 29 Sonic Boom – Search – Cemetery – Structure -First flight, Lois’s search, the cemetery scene, and structure until now
- 30 Tornado Part 1 – Past – Safe – Conversation in the station wagon and priming
- 31 Tornado Part 2 – Present – Judgment – Reasons for why the scene unfolded as it did in-story
- 32 Tornado Part 3 – Understanding Themes – Reasons for why the scene unfolded as it did creatively
Episodes on and after Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad:
- 42 Understanding Lex Luthor – Explaining Lex’s plan in the theatrical cut
- 43 A Beautiful Truth – You Are Not Alone – Superman’s character arc in BvS
- 44 Kryptonite Spear – The introduction of Kryptonite and the choice of a spear
- 45 Ultimate Edition – Reacting to the Ultimate Edition
- 46 Monument – Memorials, abstract art criticism, mourning, memory
- 47 Suicide Squad – Critical reception, audience, punk rock
- 48 Amanda Waller – What was she thinking
- 49 Breath – Science and history of Superman’s breath powers
- 50 Endgame – Sports, Lex’s Doomsday endgame, losing
- 51 First Contact – Aliens, War of the Worlds, Wizard of Oz, second chances
- 52 Fantasy – Magic, myth, faith, fantasy, Middle Earth, Narnia
Certain pre-BvS episodes are focused on answering questions revolving around a central theme:
- 1 – Kryptonian Tech – The technology left behind and its potential impact
- 3 – Powers – Super Hearing and X-Ray Vision – Part 1 of 3 on Powers
- 4 – Powers – Heat Vision – Super Strength – Invulnerability – Part 2 of 3 on Powers
- 5 – Powers – Speed – Flight – Telekinesis – Part 3 of 3 on Powers
- 6 – Weaknesses – Atmosphere Explanation – Environment – Equipment – Part 1 of 2 on Weaknesses
- 7 – Weaknesses Part 2- Observed – Speculated – Interests – Part 2 of 2 on Weaknesses
- 8 – Zack Loves Superman – Answering Superman Fan Fears for BvS – BvS will honor Superman
- 9 – Secret Identity – Addressing issues with the secret identity in MOS and going forwards
- 10 – Jor-El’s Plan – Explaining the logic of Jor-El’s plan
- 11 – Lois Lane – Answering questions related to Lois Lane
- 16 – The Amazon and the Atlantean – Wonder Woman and Aquaman history; how magic affects Superman
- 18 – Color – Context – Grades of Gray – Lex Luthor – Why was MOS color graded the way that it was?
- 21 – Never Ending Anyway – Superman’s endurance through trials and tribulations
- 25 – DCCU Speculation – Creators – Business – A look at the creators and business behind the films
- 26 – Symbol – Suit – Flight – History of the S-Shield, the costume, and bringing flight to film
- 33 – Fighting Ability – Culture – Character – Kryptonian martial training, culture, and why Zod lost
- 41 – Batman and Superman – The history of Batman through the lens of Superman
Finally, several episodes are dedicated to reacting to news or answering mailbag questions:
- 5b – DC Cinematic Universe Roadmap
- 10 – Suicide Squad – Flash vs. Arrow
- 14 – Epic Mailbag
- 20 – Batman v. Superman Teaser Trailer
- 22 – Mailbag – Suicide Squad Cast Photo
- 27 – Batman v. Superman Comic-Con Trailer
- 28 – Suicide Squad Comic-Con Trailer
- 34 – Thanksgiving – Mailbag
- 35 – Batman v. Superman Trailer 2
- 36 – Batman v. Superman TV Spots
- 37 – Dawn of the Justice League
- 38 – The World of Batman v. Superman
- 39 – Batman v. Superman Final Trailer
Index of selected videos:
- Man of Steel Myths: Superman Saves No One – While it’s easy to criticize those not saved lets count those who were
- Man of Steel Myths: The Scout Ship Was Destroyed – Long before BvS made this clear, pointing out its persistence and potential
- Man of Steel Myths: Superman Killed Viable Kryptonians – Was there viable life within the Scout Ship? What did Superman mean by “Krypton had its chance?”
- Man of Steel Myths: Metropolis Was Annihilated – How much and how badly was Metropolis actually damaged?
- Man of Steel Myths: Clark Should Have Used Super Speed – Rhetorical questions illustrating Clark’s lack of invisible, harmless super speed up to the tornado scene
- Man of Steel Myths: Zod Should Have Terraformed Mars – Reasons to suggest why Earth was the inevitable candidate
- Man of Steel Myths: 6 Mini Myths – 1. Jenny Olsen, 2. Superman Never Tried To Move The Fight, 3. Fight Never Left Metropolis, 4. Hostage Family Died, 5. Cover Zod’s Eyes, 6. Smile
- Man of Steel’s Action Comics No. 1 Tribute – Potential reference to Action Comics No. 1
- Man of Steel Myths: Lois Shouldn’t Have Fallen / The Singularity Was A Black Hole – Why does Lois fall while debris goes up? What does the singularity do?
- How to Pronounce Gal Gadot – As spoken by her and other Israelis.
- Man of Steel Myths: Zod Fight Criticisms – Why dodge the oil tanker? Why did Zod dominate? How much collateral damage?
And Happy Superman/Man of Steel Day to you too!
Thanks!