Last week (see “Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Let Bendis Be Bendis”) I wrote about the release of Action Comics #1000. But if DC was expecting a deluge of mainstream press about either it or Superman’s 80th Anniversary, they were disappointed. Most of the usual suspect websites (Huffington Post, Slate, etc.) gave it no notice, though The Conversation had “Superman at 80 -- here’s the secret to his long life” and on The New York Times there was “Superman Turns 80. The Red Trunks Still Fit.” When I did find other stories about the anniversary online, they were mostly on sites for newspapers with names like the Colorado Springs Gazette and Red Deer Advocate.
Action Comics #1000 flew under the pop culture radar of most sites other than the usual suspect comic news ones. Oh, Forbes mentioned it and Bendis in its piece “The Best And Worst Of Superman On Film And TV” but as its headline would suggest, the focus was primarily on Superman’s on-screen appearances. NPR did run a piece called “Man of Steel, Belted: ‘Action Comics #1000 And The Return Of A Super-Accessory” where the focus was on the return of a certain item to Superman's uniform. Not the red trunks, though he was happy to see those back too. No, he meant the classic yellow belt.
The only actual review of the comic I found online outside of our little corner of the internet was on a site called star2 in a piece called “Action Comics’ #1000 pays tribute to 80 years of Superman.” I have to agree with the reviewer, who felt the weakest story in the issue was the one I had been looking forward to reading the most, “The Truth,” by Brian Michael Bendis and Jim Lee. I also agree that Bendis brought up the return of the red trunks in a way that seemed forced. Or as he wrote:
“Yes, we know that Superman’s new costume has the red trunks again, Bendis, you didn’t need to have two unnamed characters having a completely pointless conversation about why he wears his underwear on the outside.”
Likewise last week I wrote about that week’s then-upcoming episode of The Big Bang Theory, “The Comet Polarization” and how it would feature a Special Guest Appearance by writer Neil Gaiman. What I didn’t know was it would also contain a reference to Action Comics #1000. For those who didn’t see it, have no interest in ever seeing it, yet still want to know what happened in it, you can check out a piece on The Bleeding Cool “How Neil Gaiman Stopped Sheldon Buying Actions Comics #1000 on The Big Bang Theory”.
The piece doesn’t recap what I think was the interesting part of the episode’s plot. That being after Gaiman tweets about the store, it becomes so busy, for the first time in its history it hires an Assistant Manager, Denise. She's a normal-seeming young woman who's friendly and professional, so naturally her presence freaks Sheldon out. Thankfully not because she's a "girl," but because she's new and he abhors change. But after some insulting gatekeeping she establishes her comic fan bona fides and quickly becomes a store fixture.
Oh, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one more thing about this episode. When asked if he preferred the store when it “was empty and sad,” Sheldon replies, “Yes, it was perfect. Like a funeral home that sold Pokemon cards.” I believe the kids would call that a “sick burn.”
Being an American sitcom, there's no telling whether (or more likely when) the store will revert back to its default setting of being an unprofitable Ugly Boy Store. But at least the episode demonstrates how the popular image of a comic shop has changed over the years. I place into evidence the TBBT episode “The Hofstadter Isotope,” from 2009, where Penny visits the comic shop for the first time after saying "What a cute little store." The (naturally all male) customers creepily stare at her. Leonard tries to comfort her by saying, "Don't worry, they're more scared of you than you are of them." Penny replies, "Unlikely."
*Though she holds the title of Assistant Manager, it should be noted that up until now the store has had a staff of one, Stuart, the store’s owner. So this makes Denise effectively in charge of only herself.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
