WORLD OF ADAMANTIUM CLAWS, and SILLY RED SHEETS

The world today has witnessed the golden and silver ages of superhero history where campy dialogue and pastel colors donned the utility belts of superheroes. As a result, the "KAPOWS!s" and the "SPLAT!s" of lore are now replaced with neat looking special effects and futuristic costumes to glamorize our favorite heroes; and the anti-hero is the new appeal to audiences. So where is superhero culture in the world today?
Superhero movies have become an eye opener and have become a respectable genre in itself. Movie franchises such as X-men, Spiderman, Blade and even Zorro have cracked Hollywood and local box offices showing that superheroes have come a long way since the "Holy Cow" expressions from the 60s. In the past years, there have almost always been new superheroe movies premiering every quarter, and now they are seen as serious money makers rather than last resorts.
Besides the big screen, superheroes have occupied the boob tube through series showing familiar and new heroes to the audience. Heroes on TV battle little conniving villains each day at a time making the adventures more micro in nature. Smallville portrays young Clark Kent who needed to cope with the trials of peer pressure, love, and resentment of his powers. Stan Lee now even has his own Who wants to be a Superhero? reality show where people get to live out their superhero fantasies.
Superheroes exist globally, with each country adopting their own super savior. Japan is the home of a number of famous superhero franchises that have even reached the Philippines, such as Ultraman, Super Sentai and their adaptation Power Rangers, Sailormoon, The Powerpuff Girls in anime rendition and other heroes. In India, an adaptation of Spiderman was published where he has a costume with an Indian touch, got his powers from an ancient god, and Uncle Ben was named Uncle Bhim. Locally, superheroes have been dominating the television ratings since the introduction of Darna, Kristala, Captain Barbell, and Panday, and film festivals are abound with superhero themed entries such as Lastikman, and Gagamboy.
Besides television and movies, superhero culture can be seen in other things such as toy and comic collections, where even a rare 20 page comic can sell for hundreds of dollars; and toy collections keep track of new releases and hard to find bargains to add to their exhibits. Superheroes appear in advertisements, merchandise, video games and almost any place anyone can put a super seal on. The culture of superheroes has such a following spanning from song titles to t-shirt designs to perhaps even cults, and one could wonder what it is that turns ordinary human being to graphic novel geniuses. Greg Garett in his book Holy Superheroes! tells us that Superheroes are well loved because they, unlike the Greek gods and legendary monsters of fame which we refuse to accept, have become the primary mythology of our society. And even though we don't accept myth, a part of us keeps reaching out to fill the gap that reason has left behind.