2017 was some kind of golden age for TV superheroes.
Marvel released three new series on Netflix.Legionbrought 70s-style psychedelia to FX.
The genre earned its own meticulous satire, Amazons rebootedThe Tick.
Credit: Illustration by Max-O-Matic for EW
The problem was, I grew up reading these comic books.
Id seen it all before, the Reverse-Flash, the Crisis, Vandal Savage.
But you reach a point where you want to chase new highs.
So I dipped back into the DC/Marvel current just in time to catch the finale of ABCsInhumans.
But the moon kingdom flop shares intriguing DNA withThe Gifted, Foxs better-by-defaultX-Menriff.
That subtext is pretty much allThe Giftedhas going for it.
We were blind to so much, Caitlin tells her husband.
The family drama resonates.
When I was the Youth, the superpowered life seemed like a lonely road, with identities kept secret.
They could exchange occasional shop talk with other heroes during crossover team-ups.
But mostly, they talked tothemselves, and to us, the reader, via long-winded thought-balloon expositions.
I dont want to be a budget nag.
That scene blew away anything onThe Punisher.
Isnt that the fun part?
TakeLegends of Tomorrow, simultaneously the best- and worst-looking of the bunch.
Being a superhero used to be as solitary as reading a comic book.
On the CW, its a communal activity like tweeting through a TV show.
The community extends off screen.
(Kreisberg didnt respond to EWs request for comment.)
A more old-fashioned crossover plays out this week with Crisis on Earth-X, the umpteenth Crisis of our age.
Theres a frustrating dissonance.
On social media, the CW heroes are making history.
On TV, theyre remixing it.
You could say this is not a problem.
(I hear this newStar Warsis gonna be really dark, guys!)
Gothamused to feel like a particularly tone-deaf remix.
Foxs prequel started as a square take on the Dark Knight.
Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is still a force for bland order.
But the show gets riotous energy from Penguin, played by Robin Lord Taylor with Seussian grandeur.
The ratings are declining, true of most broadcast TV, but thats encouragedGothams most why-not instincts.
Limb-amputating death matches in a nightclub styled like a Bob FosseFury Road?
Holy high camp, Kid Batman!
