Superman Over the Years

This post covers two items I just got for Christmas.  The first, Superman: Welcome to Metropolis by David Lewman (who doesn’t even get his name on the cover) was released in 2025 as the only tie-in book to the tentpole movie for DC Studios. It’s a “Junior Novel” which the publisher says is for ages 6-9.  As such, only a geek like me would want it to see what it says.  Turns out it’s a fun bit of backstory (not canon to the film universe) about Clark Kent coming to the big city for his reporter job.  It’s absolutely appropriate for your kids or grandkids! The only quibble I had with the book is that, even at this age they are no longer “superheroes” but “metahumans”, even those like Green Lantern who just has a cool ring.

As I lamented when I read & posted about the Wonder Woman ’84 ‘junior novel’ it’s a shame that there is no perceived market for more adult tellings of superhero/metahuman stories.

That brings me to the collection of the Max Fleischer Studio collection of theatrical shorts.  This collection is from 2023 and represents a new remastering of the 17 cartoons.  It is an amazing transfer in both sight and sound.  I owned a previous edition on DVD which is now obsolete, as this gift from my son means this is the go-to edition to watch.

These cartoons are of their time so you get “Japoteurs” produced in the middle of World War II.  This is Superman before all of the elements of his origin story and universe are all there, as it was only four years after his first story in the comics!

I wish they had embedded a “skip” function for the introductions as they are basically all the same–and his theme music is reused a lot.

This cartoons are held up as some of the finest cartoon art ever done.  Even if you’re not a huge Superman fan it’s worth watching a few of them. You can find them on YouTube but they won’t look or sound as good.

 

Starship Troopers 25th Anniversary Edition [4K] (2022)

I’ve owned almost every edition of Starship Troopers that’s been released since 1997.  I just got the 25th Anniversary Steelbook case edition as I only recently bought a 4K television.

Apparently the scan to 4K was done from the original print in 2017 for the 20th Anniversary and this new anniversary edition has a latest kind of Dolby soundtrack.  All I know is: it looks absolutely gorgeous.  The sound was good enough that it unfortunately bothered the dog and I had to keep lowering it.

I admit I have not rewatched this film in many years.  It’s a ‘third-rail’ for fans of Robert A. Heinlein and it deviates from Heinlein’s plot and world-building in several significant ways.  I think that it’s a very good “B-movie” as long as you forget about Heinlein’s source material while watching.  The CGI/special effects are better than I remembered.

There’s always much talk about director Paul Verhoeven’s intent with the film, but there are really two views within the film.  The first is  the close telling of the characters. Watching this is the closest you get to Heinlein’s source, even though there are many deviations.  The second view is the one that I think many people misread.  The FedNet broadcasts/Menu choices are a filtered/propaganda view that reads like a fascist society trying to control its population.  Sadly, by not having the Powered Armor of the MI, Verhoeven doomed the movie to overwhelmingly be about a bunch of amazingly stupid military tactics that don’t make any sense and I think that weights the propaganda side more than it should.

It’s OK to enjoy this amazing-looking edition. Just go and read Heinlein’s book, too.

 

Live at the Roxy Theatre (25th Anniversary) by Brian Wilson (2025)

This is one of the few recent releases that I have played on vinyl LP, streaming, and most recently as a Christmas-present CD.

I was lucky enough to have won the 3 LP version last month from a chat with Endless Summer Quarterly magazine and Oglio Records!  Besides the LPJT with winnings I also won a 2000-era autographed promo picture of Brian, which is so precious in the year that Brian passed.  I haven’t bought a vinyl album in a long time–the best part is that the art and liner notes are just amazing to look at in the larger form factor!  The 2 CD set has the same notes, but they are definitely harder to read.  Streaming, of course, gives you NO notes.

The other thing to remark upon is the number of tracks. One of the reasons I wanted the CD set is that it has the most number of tracks. Vinyl, of course, can’t fit as many minutes of audio on six sides as you can in 2 CDs. I think a savvy decision was made to limit the songs on the streaming album, which makes sense for the record company.

I wanted the extra songs–they are from other non-Roxy live performances  and for a “Brianista,” must haves.

If you’re a casual fan of the Beach Boys, listen to this set and marvel at how Brian could perform so well after all he had lived through.  I was blessed to see him live several times and this set is a good reminder about what those early tours were like.