News He-Man anime series from Kevin Smith coming to Netflix

I think they just thought the secret identity had been milked for all it was worth and there was more fertile ground exploring the fall out from the revelation. Of course it works a bit better from a fan perspective if he's still around as well.

 

It's interesting that in the classic Superboy stories the young Clark Kent was depicted as your average teenager (perhaps a little more stiff than his peers), not the wimpy klutz of his adult counterpart. They even addressed this in Action Comics #400, an anniversary issue.

Now, it goes without saying that they wanted just to justify why the two versions of Clark Kent published at the same time differed so much from each other, but in-universe as an explanation it doesn't make much sense. No one (except Lara) in Smalville, a small town where everyone knows each other, ever suspected that Clark and Superboy were the same person. But now that he has moved to a megalopolis of millions of inhabitants, he is worried ???

Interestingly, this "Secret Identity" trope is practically dead nowadays. In the MCU movies no one really has a "secret identity" that he has to hide from friends and colleagues and even in the comics Superman has revealed to the whole world that he is Clark. It is evident that the authors are tired of inventing another excuse to make the protagonist disappear and make his heroic alter ego appear.

 

I think there are a number of reasons why it's fallen out of favor. One is that series fiction is more serialized now, so you can't just use the same plot formula over and over; you need an ongoing narrative with changes in the status quo. So secrets tend to come out over the course of the story, and it's better for characters to be in the loop so that their relationships can advance, while characters kept out of the loop of a big secret tend to have a more static role (like how Aunt May got to grow far more as a character after she found out Peter Parker was Spider-Man). Or maybe it's just that more fiction revolves around ensemble casts rather than a single lead, a limited supporting cast, and featured guest stars. Though I think those two things might be interconnected.

I think part of it, though, is also just that we live in more public, more connected times. We post what were once private thoughts as live tweets and status updates, we post photos of our meals and selfies of the bathroom mirror... the younger generations just take that kind of open connection for granted, so it's reflected in today's fiction. Plus there's a greater awareness of the toxic side of lying to loved ones. A lot of the things superheroes do to trick their friends and families are tantamount to the gaslighting behavior of abusers, so it just doesn't feel right anymore.

Or maybe part of it is just that modern technology renders secret identities less credible, as illustrated by this well-known cartoon.

 

Marvel Movies do not have recurring Supervillains.

Everyone dies or gets amnesia, or runs the fuck away to the other side of the world, or gets put in a super prison that no one gets out of.

Batman and Spider-Man in the comics, have 80 villains at any one time out of prison and thinking about killing them, so its a massive miracle that they attack one at a time.

 

It does bring to mind things like in Justice League Unlimited where Waller gets a hold of Batman's DNA, as she puts it, he was leaving it all over town. And in the comics there have been several times when it has been mentioned that the batfamily have taken steps to make sure that their fingerprints and other markers gets erased from law enforcement systems to make sure that their regular ids can't be connected to their superhero personas.

 

True in some respects, though on the other hand, a large number of us hide behind a fake name and "secret identity" to say what we want to others with less fear of repercussions. Not the same as why a superhero might do things, but the concept is more alive with us now than before the internet.

 

On Prime there is Invincible, a quite good show about a teenage superhero

On a couple of occasions there are scenes that seem to be directly taken from a Superman Silverage comic, where the protagonist (who is at that moment with his girlfriend when danger comes) has to pretend he feels sick or another excuse so he can change costume and became the titular superhero.

After a while (spoilers!!!) he finds all the deception stupid and a waste of time, but most of all, he feels bad about lying to the girl he loves. it's an interesting take: one must be a decent persone to use his/her powers to do good. But this hypothetical good person, how would s/he feel to lie all the time without really having a valid reason?

 

IMDB did their weekly refresh, MOTUR is now in 28th place in popularity.

Not that big of a drop at all.

 

Catra was apparently supposed to be the main villain before they decided to add the male Horde characters from the MOtU toyline.
https://www.he-man.org/forums/board...03-What-if-Catra-had-been-She-Ra-s-main-enemy

There's an audio book called "The Power of the Evil Horde" (which has dialogue from the Filmation voice actors) that seems to predate the She-Ra series, with Hordak being on Eternia.

 

I read a theory where Bruce Wayne is a delusional toffee unco, and his war on crime is an orchestrated and directed pantomime by Alfred and Gordon.

 

Crumbs there were three female villains. I didn't even remember Catra, so if she was that memorable I guess she would not have made a great arch villain.

 

It was memorable in the remake

 

I have to say this is an excellent selection

He-Man: 10 Original Series Episodes To Watch Before The Netflix Series

 

This picture is guaranteed to ruin your childhood:

Spoiler

 

A mutated Smurf™? A blue Yoda?

 

I'm sure I've already saw it somewhere. Source?

 

I seem to have a vague recollection that Orko's people (Trollans) had some kind of taboo about showing their faces in public. I think maybe there was some episode where Orko was very embarrassed about losing his hat or his scarf or something and was hiding his face. Is that right, or am I imagining it?

 

Stumbled on it somewhere, no source was cited, sorry.

 

There's a Trollan called Wokrapanwooki that doesn't cover his face.
https://he-man.fandom.com/wiki/Trouble's_Middle_Name
https://he-man.fandom.com/wiki/Wokrapanwooki