My first exposure to superheroes other than in comic books was on television, and I’ll always remember George Reeves as Superman and, of course, Adam West as Batman. Oh, I was a young man when Christopher Reeve took up the red cape and blue tights of the Man of Steel, and while that franchise floundered after the first film despite John Williams’ wonderful theme, that initial effort wasn’t at all bad; it lived up to its tagline, “You will believe a man can fly.”
I did see the Henry Cavill efforts. I was distinctly underwhelmed. And here’s the thing: Superman isn’t really a hero, is he?
A hero is someone who faces enormous personal risk and carries on regardless. A hero may be worried or frightened, but they suck it up and carry on — they get the job done regardless of personal risk or loss. But Superman rarely faces any personal risk, does he? I remember one…
