Source Material Shame: Drop the Superhero “Pros,” Read Superhero Prose

Jonfiction: Update 2026 03 06

Mar 06, 2026

You need better entertainment. What you don’t need is yet another online comic book nerd telling you why the latest live action superhero thing stinks. Sure, it’s true that, on average, the most recent IP-mined movie or show about a beloved costumed adventurer will most likely reek of a creatively bankrupt stench. It may not be all of them, but it’s most of them. Enough to make one question whether it is worth giving any new comic film a chance in the first place. The real question, though, is how much more can you take?

It is not my intention to steal joy, nor do I expect to change anyone’s mind. In fact, since there are so many other disgruntled nerds out there explaining to you why a streaming show or new film is utter garbage, I will try to be more concise with what I am attempting to do. Put bluntly, each wave of comic book-related content is terrible and it’s only getting worse. I know, I said I’m not out to rob you of something you may enjoy, but this is my opinion, which is shared by a legion of other angry fans. Admittedly, though, the gamble of viewing visual media is fairly low stakes - you don’t invest too much of your time if a few episodes of some masked vigilante series is awful. Reading a novel, however, takes, or at least, can take more time to determine if its story is “finishable” or gets yeeted to the dreaded DNF pile. Reading more books is what I’d advise to people who are sick of all the superhero hack-fests, but I understand commitment issues, especially since I admit to being a slow reader.

So, yes, my big, fresh, and original suggestion is to not only discover more superhero fiction, but also to simply stop watching the new repurposed regurgitation puked out by gigantic studios. To paraphrase a line from Jon Lovitz as Jay Sherman from The Critic, if it looks bad, don’t go see it. Don’t download the next installment of tentpole madness. Ignore ulterior motives, disregard messages, and shield yourself from overused tropes. Granted, it’d require a dystopian-level apocalypse that sends society into a savage oblivion for big business executives to finally lose enough money to learn a lesson. In order words, I don’t anticipate production companies to cease their incessant process of churning out sequels, reboots, reimaginings, remakes, spinoffs, and prequels. Still, it’s possible that if a significant portion of the population stops consuming studios’ reheated plastic products then that may actually dent the corporate superhero movie structure.

It’s a nice idea maybe; an indulgent fantasy showing how true fans won the lore war. The reality of our present timeline is that we as entertainment absorbers and representatives of numerous fandoms can’t wait or rely on destiny to take the wheel. “Ruined-Stupid Man 4: The Subversion of Expectations” will in all likelihood get made regardless of what we post online or how much we guard our wallets. This is where you take that time-consuming risk and revisit the written word, be it a graphic novel or traditional literature.

Before I go on, I will say that while comic book accuracy is appreciated, it isn’t entirely necessary. The Rule of Cool has won over droves of viewers before, after all. It’ll always be a little disappointing to not get the exact version of the funnybook I grew up reading to appear on screen, but if it’s good, then, I mean, what else is there to say? Subjectivity is immortal, fine, but we are largely forgiving if the right ingredients are cooked properly. Despite this fact, the ratio of “good” cape-movies compared to all the overpriced fecal matter that stains so many screens is, well… it’s not hopeful.

I liked the new Superman film at the time I watched it, which is ultimately all you can ask of a piece of entertainment. The James Gunn-directed motion picture was not, however, a culturally shifting experience. Even though I was amused by Superman, I didn’t love it. I’d rather they get on with the inevitable regime change. Then again, what are the chances the next phase of retelling the same stories won’t also be an exhausting endurance test? All the more reason to either seek out indie creators or merely reread the mainstream classics.

The most glaring affliction the majority of these big budget comic book-y projects suffer from is source material shame. A seemingly infinite amount of live action and even some animated features are created by industry people who may possess a genuine affection for the original publications of their favorite characters, but in the end, it fails to matter. What translates into the final product is a warped version of what actually happened. It’s far more likely that showrunners and writers are all too gleeful to toss familiarity into the waste bin. Heck, sometimes it’s mandated to do so. A lot of these shepherds entrusted with your fave hero are actively trying to either get you to not watch the adaption or straight up replace you with a made up audience. Quick, where and how I can give these people more money even faster?!

Modern incarnations of Star Trek want to resemble just about anything other than the franchise’s predecessors. I’m in an odd, er, space with Trek because frankly, I think the Final Frontier was fractured beyond repair as soon as Voyager hit the airwaves. Star Wars doesn’t want to be Star Wars anymore. Doctor Who would like nothing more than to alter the timeline and make it so only new-new Who exists. The point is, if you are a geeky fan of yesteryear, the current Powers That Be want nothing to do with you. There’s the TV-ready version of Nerdery that became publicly accepted and inserted into major network shows and in pop culture in general. Then there’s the real, authentic, not ready for prime time dweebs and dorks who to this day are shunned. Old franchises have baggage and pesky things like canon are annoying. The stigma of being a genuine nerdy fan lives on. There’s trying to broaden the material to reach new audiences, and then there’s what is really going on: replacement, rejection, and rewriting history.

Like Arrow before it, Lanterns is the latest pivot from what we think we know. Dropping “Green” from the title indicates that the producers think it sounds dumb and they want to be super-serious. The trailer displayed all the stale elements you’d expect from a project such as this: purposeful dismissal of characters’ histories across a variety of canonical and even alternate versions. The main guy being the washed up jerk. The sassy female sheriff in the middle of nowhere. The perfect new guy sent to replace the more famous dude we already know. All while doing its darndest to not match any well-established aesthetics.

Whatever version of Power Ring-bearer Hal Jordan is presented here, whether or not he magically generates a costume or hangs his uniform in a closet - and cast aside whatever logic is used to explain why a famously green guy’s outfit is brown - his costume is simply an ugly design. In the teaser for the forthcoming HBO Max series geared toward adults (meaning it is full of weirdly-placed F-bombs), sector protector Hal’s dust-collecting duds are indeed faded and the color of, well, let’s just rename the show Lan-turds. Again, it doesn’t matter if he manifests it like in most versions, or if it is like in the older comics where it’s a physical piece of clothing he puts on. Whatever the case, the design smells like how it looks. It is a typical, lame live action suit that looks rubbery and full of busy, unneeded details. Rivets, sequins, lining, tubing, scales, textured material - every movie or TV super costume is pretty much the same. A lack of green energy surrounding Jordan as he flies in the preview is irksome but Nathan Fillion didn’t really have that jade aura in the Superman movie either. Both look ridiculous but at least Guy Gardner was in on the joke.

The Snyderverse served rancid feces, and the Gunnverse can’t go away quick enough. Even Nolan’s Bat-visions are best left to dwell in memory if you ask me. Even if the colors aren’t muted and highlights subdued, these live action adaptations want to distance themselves from the amazing but, yes, also sometimes very goofy stories you adored in your youth or even still love now. These comic book and cartoon characters are inherently silly. If we’re being honest, there are loads of flat-out bad comics. Comic books aren’t gospel but most are at least readable. They are not realistic, and trying to make them more grounded only dilutes the idea.

Comic fans usually get catered to in some ways, though. The aforementioned Arrow began as a dark, meant to be taken seriously action drama. Spoiler: by the end of the entire Arrowverse, main character archer Oliver Queen became a ghostly entity known as the Spectre after having fought superpowered freaks and aliens that originated in obscure comic stories. Smallville started as a fun high school drama with only hints at Superman’s lore to gradually incorporating alternate dimensions, clones, robots, other aliens, and pretty much the whole dang Justice League. Will Blandterns eventually join in and ditch the tired deconstruction routine? Maybe. But why should you bother sticking it out when there is already a multiverse of uncompromising fiction waiting for you?

Here is a sampling of excellent superhero sci-fi action and adventure books:

Obviously, I want to promote my own superhero prose, but there are countless worlds of original creations and/or dynamite novelizations of classic stories. I wouldn’t recommend completely unplugging - I know I’m not cutting the cord anytime soon. All I’m saying is be highly selective of what you choose as your next heroic saga because chances are, it’s not coming to a theater near you.

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