In 1992 DC comics decided to do a bold thing and shake up the comic book world in a big way. They decided to alter the course of one of their most beloved and flagship characters. They decided to kill the Man of Steel. Superman.
Over the course of seven comic book issues and five separate titles Superman (with the help of the Justice League of America) would do battle against an unstoppable force of evil which would soon be called Doomsday. This storyline made all types of headlines and broke all kinds of sales records and the graphic novel The Death of Superman reprinted it all in one volume for fans of the iconic character. The graphic novel would become one of the biggest selling graphic novels of all-time with over 14 reprints currently in release.
It took me almost twenty years before I bothered to pick up the story despite how famous the story is. I’m not a big fan of Superman and, in fact, I was actually glad when DC announced they were going to kill him off (but I always knew it would be short lived). He was never a character that interested me like Batman or Green Arrow or the Green Lantern Corps (a far superior group to the abysmal Justice League). The only reason I picked up the graphic novel now is because I was finally curious about what the fuss was about).
Although written and drawn by a multitude of artists, the storyline does read fairly well as one cohesive story. Although the creature known as Doomsday is a formidable foe, he lacks background and purpose that would truly make him a Superman villain in the way that The Joker is to Batman. The creature is a force of pure unstoppable evil and destruction which works throughout the seven issues of the story because he is revealed slowly in pieces as the story progresses (he starts out completely covered in costume in the first two issues of the story). If he had been fully revealed in the first issue the story wouldn’t have had the impact that it did,
The story’s worst aspect is that the whole story is seven issues of one of the longest fights in comic book history which in my opinion makes it feel as though they stretched out the story only so they could make more money by selling more issues. I believe the story could have been stronger if the entire story could have been limited to maybe four issues within the same comic title (although I am very aware that the “crossover” is used to boost sales among several titles at the same time).
Since we all know that Superman is no longer dead, the events depicted in this story didn’t have as profound affect on the title in the long run (although its events did make for many subsequent changes over all the Superman titles of the time). The story strived to be as profound as Batman’s Year One or A Death In The Family or even The Long Halloween but it suffers from the simple fact that there is no subtext to this story. It is simply a bare-bones, knock-down fist fight that goes on for seven issues that was marketed extremely well.
CITY GARDEN - "The Old Woman & The Park"
On the set of the short film "A Gift"
Showing posts with label heroes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heroes. Show all posts
Friday, February 5, 2010
Friday, October 10, 2008
Graphic Novel Review: HEROES Volume 1
This first volume of the Wildstorm/DC/NBC produced graphic novel based off the hit television series collects the first 34 “issues” of the on-line comic book in one gorgeous looking book. Whether purchasing the hardcover or paperback edition no true fan of the hit NBC television show should go without this collection of stories that help not only flesh out the main characters of the show but also many of the secondary characters as well.
Originally designed to co-inside with the weekly broadcast of episodes many of the stories contained within mirror many of the episodes in the show. Some of them work well such as issue #2, which focuses of Hiro, and issue #4, which focuses of Claire. Others don’t work quite as well, such as issue #7 (with Officer Parkman – the only issue that focuses on him) or issue #12 (with Peter Petrelli). Where the book really works is the multi-part stories spread throughout the book, the best being the ones featuring Hana Gitelman, who in the series played a small role but here in the comic book medium takes center stage. In the television series her character and back story is left mostly unexplored but in this first volume of the graphic novel series you get a huge look into how she became the woman that she is and what drives her to do the things that she does that leads to the last third of the events depicted in the actual television show itself. The book is worth getting on that note alone.
All the characters of the series both major and minor get at least one issue dedicated to them and with a plethora of writing and artistic talent on staff the book never gets boring or repetitive making for one very fast read. One of the highlights are the mock-covers of each issue which adds to the enjoyment and the presentation of the graphic novel.
This graphic novel is a hit and I hope they put as much care into volume two as they did into this one.
Originally designed to co-inside with the weekly broadcast of episodes many of the stories contained within mirror many of the episodes in the show. Some of them work well such as issue #2, which focuses of Hiro, and issue #4, which focuses of Claire. Others don’t work quite as well, such as issue #7 (with Officer Parkman – the only issue that focuses on him) or issue #12 (with Peter Petrelli). Where the book really works is the multi-part stories spread throughout the book, the best being the ones featuring Hana Gitelman, who in the series played a small role but here in the comic book medium takes center stage. In the television series her character and back story is left mostly unexplored but in this first volume of the graphic novel series you get a huge look into how she became the woman that she is and what drives her to do the things that she does that leads to the last third of the events depicted in the actual television show itself. The book is worth getting on that note alone.
All the characters of the series both major and minor get at least one issue dedicated to them and with a plethora of writing and artistic talent on staff the book never gets boring or repetitive making for one very fast read. One of the highlights are the mock-covers of each issue which adds to the enjoyment and the presentation of the graphic novel.
This graphic novel is a hit and I hope they put as much care into volume two as they did into this one.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
HANCOCK on the IMAX
For a film that’s meant to be bigger then life the new Will Smith film HANCOCK does not translate over as well to the IMAX format. Don’t get me wrong, the film HANCOCK is the best comic book genre film of the summer easily surpassing the timid IRON MAN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK and several others simply because it tried to do something different then all the other superhero films made thus far (in the wake of the superhero film boom).
There’s a joke that my friends have told me a hundred times while growing up in reference to the fact that why doesn’t Superman just throw Lex Luther into space to ultimately be rid of his arch nemesis. Back when Superman was the most popular franchise of films Luther kept coming back and Superman kept putting him back into jail leaving many people to believe that there really is no originality in the superhero genre film anymore. They are all pretty basic and predictable (thus my lack of appreciation of either of this years Marvel film adaptations). Seeing Superman throw Luther into outer space thus killing him is completely unpredictable and would rid Superman from his otherwise bland villain and allow the filmmakers to explore other aspects of the character (although I love the film SUPERMAN RETURNS it’s anything but original). A little more of this “unpredictability” is needed in the new crop of superhero films or they will all become timid exercises of studios just wanting to make a quick buck with great SFX-expensive films.
Bringing focus back to HANCOCK, this film is anything but predictable as there are many plot turns in the film that are unexpected and the film is genuinely funny from beginning to end. The humor is derived from character rather then bad jokes (i.e. IRON MAN). There is great drama between all the main characters but not too much to be a distraction (i.e. either version of HULK films) and the action is top notch. A lot of this goes to the excellent script by Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan, who worked on “The X-Files” and “The Lone Gunmen” television series (which is probably why the script is so strong in both action, drama, and humor). Lets not forget the actors, either, as Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman have great chemistry on film which is brought to glorious life by director Peter Berg (THE RUNDOWN, THE KINGDOM), a director great at mixing and balancing both action and humor.
The only thing that disappointed me is that the film really wasn’t as dynamic on the IMAX format screen as many of the other films I’d already seen. Having viewed such films as SPIDER-MAN 3, SPEED RACER, and U2 3D on the IMAX (which were all an astounding theatre going experience), HANCOCK was just…well, HANCOCK. It’s the first film I’ve viewed on this format that wasn’t truly a great experience which is okay since the quality of the film more then made up for this mishap. Unlike viewing U2 3D (which costs a whopping $16.00 on the IMAX), HANCOCK was much cheaper (at only $12.00 which is only a $2.00 difference from the regular screens) so I didn’t feel like I was cheated too much. I do recommend this film as one of the highlights of the summer but just don’t bother watching it on the IMAX unless, of course, you’ve just never seen a film on the format before.
There’s a joke that my friends have told me a hundred times while growing up in reference to the fact that why doesn’t Superman just throw Lex Luther into space to ultimately be rid of his arch nemesis. Back when Superman was the most popular franchise of films Luther kept coming back and Superman kept putting him back into jail leaving many people to believe that there really is no originality in the superhero genre film anymore. They are all pretty basic and predictable (thus my lack of appreciation of either of this years Marvel film adaptations). Seeing Superman throw Luther into outer space thus killing him is completely unpredictable and would rid Superman from his otherwise bland villain and allow the filmmakers to explore other aspects of the character (although I love the film SUPERMAN RETURNS it’s anything but original). A little more of this “unpredictability” is needed in the new crop of superhero films or they will all become timid exercises of studios just wanting to make a quick buck with great SFX-expensive films.
Bringing focus back to HANCOCK, this film is anything but predictable as there are many plot turns in the film that are unexpected and the film is genuinely funny from beginning to end. The humor is derived from character rather then bad jokes (i.e. IRON MAN). There is great drama between all the main characters but not too much to be a distraction (i.e. either version of HULK films) and the action is top notch. A lot of this goes to the excellent script by Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan, who worked on “The X-Files” and “The Lone Gunmen” television series (which is probably why the script is so strong in both action, drama, and humor). Lets not forget the actors, either, as Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman have great chemistry on film which is brought to glorious life by director Peter Berg (THE RUNDOWN, THE KINGDOM), a director great at mixing and balancing both action and humor.
The only thing that disappointed me is that the film really wasn’t as dynamic on the IMAX format screen as many of the other films I’d already seen. Having viewed such films as SPIDER-MAN 3, SPEED RACER, and U2 3D on the IMAX (which were all an astounding theatre going experience), HANCOCK was just…well, HANCOCK. It’s the first film I’ve viewed on this format that wasn’t truly a great experience which is okay since the quality of the film more then made up for this mishap. Unlike viewing U2 3D (which costs a whopping $16.00 on the IMAX), HANCOCK was much cheaper (at only $12.00 which is only a $2.00 difference from the regular screens) so I didn’t feel like I was cheated too much. I do recommend this film as one of the highlights of the summer but just don’t bother watching it on the IMAX unless, of course, you’ve just never seen a film on the format before.
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