The following post contains spoilers about Superman Returns and “Up, Up, and Away!”, a recent story arc in DC’s Superman titles.

A quick spoiler-free review of Superman Returns: I really enjoyed it more than I’d thought I would, but I suspect that some comic-book purists will be up at arms about a few developments. (Personally, I was glad that they veered so sharply from the comic universe — it makes things very clear that this isn’t the main DC comics Superman, while keeping true to the basic core of the character.

Now, there are spoilers below the cut (and if you’re reading on an rss feed, I think there are spoilers immediately following, so you may want to stop reading now.

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First (and obviously most important) thing is that I think I’m done being excited about Superman. I don’t see how anyone could remember any other superhero after seeing the Spider-Man 3 trailer.

Second, Peter David writes about the mistreatment of science fiction fans in our society, and I think he’s got a good point. We could be much, much worse:

How is it 1500 people, mostly sober, spending a weekend enjoying a mutual interest at a hotel and talking about space exploration, how to avoid global warming, and whether the Hulk can beat Superman…how is that automatically inferior to 43,000, mostly drunkly drunk, spending a day enjoying a mutual interest at a stadium and talking about playoffs, how to avoid the line at the bathroom, and whether the 1953 Dodgers could beat the 1962 Yankees?

My sympathies and condolences to the family of Rob Smith, of Gut Rumbles. I always enjoyed reading his blog, even when I disagreed with him, and his voice will be missed.

[UPDATE: Steve has said a bit more than I did, and I agree completely.]

The Avengers were disassembled and then reassembled with a new team, including Spider-Man. He died, then came back with new powers. He got a new costume.

And now, there is, as my title above states, another big change in the life of everyone’s favorite wall-crawling superhero (well, technically, he’s my second favorite, but you get the idea). Spoilers below, so if you’ve not read Civil War #2, and not otherwise heard the big surprise ending, don’t click.

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Now, I’ve heard it all. Schools in England have banned throwing paper planes at other students:

Pupils have been banned from throwing paper planes to one another – in case they get injured.

Staff at a primary school have instead set up special targets in the playground for the children to aim at.

The edict follows claims by teachers that a few of the school’s pupils, aged between three and 11, had been ‘over-zealous’ in launching the missiles.

That’s not the best part. This is:

Staff at Broomley First School in Stocksfield, Northumberland, ordered children to stop playing tag because it was ‘too rough’. Many schools have banned conkers forcing pupils to wear goggles while playing – because they fear they could be used as ‘offensive weapons’.

And a Gloucestershire village had to remove swings because they faced the sun and there was concern users could be blinded.

A survey of 500 youngsters by The Children’s Society charity found the majority believe playgrounds are boring. Forty-five per cent said they had been stopped from playing with water and a third from climbing trees.

When I first read this, I had quite a bit to say about this, but the more I think about it, the more I think the whole thing just speaks for itself. Kevin has more, though, and he said it all better than I could’ve, anyway.

( The Smallest Minority )