Now we get art imitating art imitating art --- the sculpts of the guys-in-
homemade-costumes Ross paints these days look even more like
guys in homemade costumes. And, seriously, is that what we want our
superheroes to look like? Do we really want them to be ordinary?

I once read an interview with Ross where he stated that he likes to make the figures more mature so that they are older than he is to capture the same sense of wonder he had as a child.  I remember thinking at the time that that could only be done for a short period of time before all we'd see is old men in costumes.

Those actually look good, I'd put those on a shelf easy.

slightly bigger picture, my initial enthusiasm is waning