Word: batmanic
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Alongside Superman these days is a revitalized phalanx of old superfolk -- Batman, Spider- Man, Wonder Wom- an -- and a host of newer, more ambivalent heroes, such as Viet Nam Soldier Ed Marks and the sultry Elektra, a machine- gun-toting assassin. The proliferation of new wonderfigures is impressive: some 250 different comic-book titles, largely in the heroic vein, will be sold in the U.S. this year, up from about 190 in 1985. With a combined circulation of roughly 150 million, the comics are more popular than at any other time since the early '50s. That in turn means heftier...
...companies like Marvel and DC Comics, the revival represents a sales victory of, well, super proportions. Ever since the late '50s, comics have fought a losing battle with television for the hearts and imaginations of youngsters. Some comic characters, such as Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin, crossed over to the tube, at least for a time, but when the industry hit bottom in the early '70s, it seemed that comic books might become an extinct form...
...trying to appeal to today's skeptical readers, publishers have made their superheroes fallible and thus more believable. Spider-Man cannot handle money or pay his rent. In a four-part DC Comics series called The Dark Knight Returns, priced at $2.95 an issue, a semiretired Batman drinks too much and is unsure about his crime-fighting abilities. DC promotes the Dark Knight as a "thought-provoking action story...
Holy fat men, Batman: The Crusaders ran rampant Saturday, gaining 228 yards on 46 carries. Part of the reason for this success can surely be found on the scales...
...architectural postmodernism, was not joking in Learning From Las Vegas (1972), his analysis-cum-celebration of neon, billboards and America's plebeian pop architecture. Soon the creators of kitsch were sophisticated enough to make fun of themselves even as they were creating new kitsch. The producers of TV's Batman (1966-68) played up the primary-color silliness for camp effect. "Charlie's Angels was great camp," says the show's co-producer, Aaron Spelling, "and the audience accepted it as such." Today, after a generation of taken-for-granted irony, it is often hard to know what is smirky...