SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Manga
  • All Ages
  • Young Adult
  • Interviews
  • News

July 31, 2013 by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Review: Mad Super Spectacular: Superman, Man of Steel #1

July 31, 2013 by J. Caleb Mozzocco   Leave a Comment

Written and drawn by The Usual Gang of Idiots

DC Comics, $4.99

DC uses the occasion of a release of yet another Superman feature film, the franchise’s sixth, to gather-up and repackage a slew of their previous Superman movie parodies into this themed special that’s cover-to-cover Superman jokes, dating as far back as 1966 and as recently as last month.

The bulk of the book belongs to artist Mort Drucker, who drew the Mad movie parodies of the first first three Superman movies (Or, as the Man of Steel’s called in the first two parodies, Superduperman and, in the third, Stuporman), plus Smellville (a television parody only a single letter away from its source material), and the illustration for two-page feature entitled “What If Superman Were Raised By Jewish Parents?” (Well, his creators were Jewish; isn’t that close enough?)

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

As such, it makes for more a showcase of Drucker’s incredible artwork than it does for jokes at Superman’s expense, particularly Drucker’s superb caricature abilities, a gift perfectly deployed on movie parodies, where every character looks like the actor who plays them, and panels are jam-packed with “chicken fat” details that reward the lingering eye.

For the parody of 2006 Superman Returns—”Stuporman Reruns!”, narrated by “Spider-Sham,” because Mad wanted a hipper superhero to  entice readers—artist Tom Richmond handles the art duties, which are in full color.

So the only Superman movie missing here is 1987’s Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, perhaps left alone out of a sense of mercy…? After all, some movies are so bad that making fun of them just seems plain mean.

Reading or re-reading all of these film parodies today can make for a strange experience; the art doesn’t age a day and is essentially timeless, but much of the humor is closely tied to the creation of the films (some of the jokes I only got because author Larry Tye  discussed the making of the films in such detail in his s2012 book Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero) or the time in which they were created. I was taken aback by the number of gay jokes about wearing tights and capes contained herein, including one as recent as the Smallville parody.

There’s a joke about Arabs in the parody of the original, 1978 film  that sounds completely alien out of the  context of the day (Upon discovering the infant that would grow up to be Superduperman, Ma Kent says, “You can see he’s not one of us, and he’s got a strange look in his eyes! Like he’s ready to take over the WHOLE WORLD!,” to which Pa Kent replies, My God! It’s a midget ARAB!” I give up; what was that in reference to, and how is it not offensive?).

And some of the gags I had to look up to get (For example, in the parody of 1980’s Superman II, General “Klod” breaks into the White House and says, “YOU?! President?! To me, you look like an over-the-hill movie actor!!” The president responds with, “We had to make ONE part in this film historically accurate.” I had to look him up to see who played him; it was the late E.G. Marshall).

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

I wondered how the dated humor might read to younger readers today, but given that the bulk of the gags revolve around the plots of the movies rather than the incidental allusions to the politics or pop culture of the day (The “Stuporman Rerurns” parody confines its barbs exclusively to the plot, ignoring the creepy sub-text of Superman as a deadbeat dad and stalker trying to come between his ex-girlfriend and her fiancee, for example). And with DVDs keeping all of these movies accessible to younger audiences, I guess the plots of these movies can be just as fresh in the minds of readers whose first Superman was Dean Cain or Brandon Routh or Tom Welling as in the minds of those who saw Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder on the bit screen.

There are plenty of shorter, standalone Superman parodies that are truly timeless, revolving around his powers and habits of changing clothes in phone booths and so on, by the likes of all-time Mad greats like Sergio Aragones and Don Martin and more relative newcomiers, like Hermann Mejia (whose Superman has a bit of Kyle Baker’s to it) and Douglas Paszkiewicz.

This summer’s Superman movie gets some ribbing as well, but not the full movie parody treatment, and, from the looks of it and the timing of the issue’s early June release, these were likely produced far in advance of the release of the movie, and probably based on little more than the trailers. Aragones does the best of the two Man of Steel-specific features, “A Mad Look at Man of Steel,” featuring short, wordless sequences pulled from the movie’s trailer or background, and then there’s a three-page sequence in which dialogue bubbles are added to movie stills for humorous (or, in many cases, “humorous”) effect.

The Kevin Costner joke, of which Aragones also has a pretty great one, was pretty funny though.

As an almost-complete history of Mad‘s parody of Superman movies, it’s a decent read and perhaps something of an interesting historical document. While the humor of all the features seems directed at Mad‘s traditional audience of junior high kids, it’s sort of fascinating to compare the paper parodies of the first few Superman movies to those that have popped up on the Internet on the very heels of the latest Superman movie (here’s one of my favorites): In the age of the Internet,  long-form, ink-on-paper movie parodies seem quaint, even archaic.

Not unlike, now that I think of it, magazines, Mad or otherwise.

Filed under: Reviews, Young Adult

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
Don MartinHermann MejiaMad MagazineMort DruckerSergio AragonesSmallvilleSupermanTom Richmond

About J. Caleb Mozzocco

J. Caleb Mozzocco is a way-too-busy freelance writer who has written about comics for online and print venues for a rather long time now. He currently contributes to Comic Book Resources' Robot 6 blog and ComicsAlliance, and maintains his own daily-ish blog at EveryDayIsLikeWednesday.blogspot.com. He lives in northeast Ohio, where he works as a circulation clerk at a public library by day.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

February 2023

Insomniacs After School, vol. 1 | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

February 2023

Kiss Number 8 | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

January 2023

My Sister, the Cat, vol. 1 | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

January 2023

How to Win the War on Truth | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

January 2023

SHY, vol. 1 | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

BLUE FLOATS AWAY Turns Two!

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Faced with a Parenting Dilemma? Write a Book About It! Jacob Grant Comes By to Talk About NO FAIR

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Swim Team

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Post-It Note Reviews: Wish granters, brotherly mischief, a high-stakes scavenger hunt, and more!

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

10 Manga Titles for Teens Who Watch Anime

Eight Essential Isekai Manga for Beginners | Mondo Manga

8 Pitch-Perfect Manga for Music-Loving Teens | Mondo Manga

A Woman’s Place Is in a Graphic Novel: Outstanding Works for Young Readers Center Women in History

Top 10 Manga of 2020

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023