I’ve been into comics lately both the traditional North American and the Japanese manga. Every few months I get in my Manga mood and I have deep routed urges to read art.
Again many people will point and snicker at me when I am in seen in public with a manga or comic book. There is a certain geek sigma with reading these (some sorry souls may not even consider it reading). To be honest, I find odd to ostracize anyone who is so largely into popular culture. Let’s be realistic here, who on the planet has not heard of Superman, Batman and Spider-Man? Superman along with Mickey Mouse and Elvis are among the most recognized figures in the world. There must be a lot of geeks (and Elvis fans) in the world. And if we look even deeper at Superman we will see how a character created in 1932 by American writer Jerry Seigel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster went on to span over three generations and almost 75 years in popular culture.
The first adaptation of Superman was as a daily newspaper comic strip, launching on January 16, 1939. The strip ran until May 1966, and significantly, Siegel and Shuster used the first strips to establish Superman's backstory, adding details such as the planet Krypton and Superman's father, Jor-El, concepts not yet established in the comic books. Following on from the success of this was the first radio series, The Adventures of Superman, which premiered on February 12, 1940 and featured the voice of Bud Collyer as Superman. The series ran until March, 1951. Collyer was also cast as the voice of Superman in the Fleischer Studios animated cartoons, distributed via movie theatres. Seventeen shorts were produced between 1941 and 1943. By 1948 Superman was back in the movie theatres, this time in a filmed serial, Superman, with Kirk Alyn becoming the first actor to portray Superman on screen. A second serial, Atom Man vs. Superman, followed in 1950.
In 1951 a television series was commissioned, starring George Reeves, with the pilot episode of the series gaining a theatrical release as Superman and the Mole Men. The series ran for a 104 episodes, from 1952–1958. The next adaptation of Superman occurred in 1966, when Superman was adapted for the stage in the Broadway musical It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman. The play wasn't successful, closing after 128 performances, although a cast album recording was released. However, in 1975 the play was remade for television. Superman was again animated, this time for television, in the series "The New Adventures of Superman". 68 shorts were made and broadcast between 1966 and 1969. Bud Collyer again provided the voice for Superman. Then from 1973 until 1984 ABC broadcast the "Super Friends" series, this time animated by Hanna-Barbera.
Superman returned to movie theatres in 1978, with director Richard Donner's Superman starring Christopher Reeve. The film spawned three sequels, Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983) and Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987). In 1988 Superman returned to television in the Ruby Spears animated series Superman, and also in Superboy, a live action series which ran from 1988 until 1992.In 1993 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman premiered on television, starring Dean Cain as Superman and Teri Hatcher (who’s still super hot, by the way) as Lois Lane. The series ran until 1997. Superman: The Animated Series was produced by Warner Bros. and ran from 1996 until 2000 on The WB Television Network In 2001 the Smallville television series launched, focussing on the adventures of Clark Kent as a teenager before he dons the mantle of Superman. In 2006 Bryan Singer directed Superman Returns, starring Brandon Routh as Superman.
I won’t list all the music references to Superman, but some of the most popular ones have been: Kryptonite by Three Doors Down and Superman (It's Not Easy) by Five for Fighting and a few others from Barbara Streisand, Eminem, R.E.M and The Kinks.
And here’s my personal favorite thing about Superman: Jerry Seinfeld, a noted Superman fan, filled his series Seinfeld with references to the character, and in 1997 asked for Superman to co-star with him in a commercial for American Express. The commercial aired during the 1998 NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl, Superman animated in the style of artist Curt Swan, again at the request of Seinfeld.
All this being noted, can we really say that comics are only for geeks? By the looks of it, the world is full of geeks like me or Spider-Man 3 would not have made $884 459 679 (US) at the box office.
To those of you who have been called a geek, be proud, we out number the rest of them. To those of you closet comic fans, come on out—we love you. And to those of you who have always wanted to make your own comic, do it! The world always needs more heroes and its never too late for you do something you love… my good friend Luc is a brilliant example of that, he will soon be the next great Batman writer.
And finally to those of you who have no interest in comics: Why did you read this far anyway?
-MJ
Again many people will point and snicker at me when I am in seen in public with a manga or comic book. There is a certain geek sigma with reading these (some sorry souls may not even consider it reading). To be honest, I find odd to ostracize anyone who is so largely into popular culture. Let’s be realistic here, who on the planet has not heard of Superman, Batman and Spider-Man? Superman along with Mickey Mouse and Elvis are among the most recognized figures in the world. There must be a lot of geeks (and Elvis fans) in the world. And if we look even deeper at Superman we will see how a character created in 1932 by American writer Jerry Seigel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster went on to span over three generations and almost 75 years in popular culture.
The first adaptation of Superman was as a daily newspaper comic strip, launching on January 16, 1939. The strip ran until May 1966, and significantly, Siegel and Shuster used the first strips to establish Superman's backstory, adding details such as the planet Krypton and Superman's father, Jor-El, concepts not yet established in the comic books. Following on from the success of this was the first radio series, The Adventures of Superman, which premiered on February 12, 1940 and featured the voice of Bud Collyer as Superman. The series ran until March, 1951. Collyer was also cast as the voice of Superman in the Fleischer Studios animated cartoons, distributed via movie theatres. Seventeen shorts were produced between 1941 and 1943. By 1948 Superman was back in the movie theatres, this time in a filmed serial, Superman, with Kirk Alyn becoming the first actor to portray Superman on screen. A second serial, Atom Man vs. Superman, followed in 1950.
In 1951 a television series was commissioned, starring George Reeves, with the pilot episode of the series gaining a theatrical release as Superman and the Mole Men. The series ran for a 104 episodes, from 1952–1958. The next adaptation of Superman occurred in 1966, when Superman was adapted for the stage in the Broadway musical It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman. The play wasn't successful, closing after 128 performances, although a cast album recording was released. However, in 1975 the play was remade for television. Superman was again animated, this time for television, in the series "The New Adventures of Superman". 68 shorts were made and broadcast between 1966 and 1969. Bud Collyer again provided the voice for Superman. Then from 1973 until 1984 ABC broadcast the "Super Friends" series, this time animated by Hanna-Barbera.
Superman returned to movie theatres in 1978, with director Richard Donner's Superman starring Christopher Reeve. The film spawned three sequels, Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983) and Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987). In 1988 Superman returned to television in the Ruby Spears animated series Superman, and also in Superboy, a live action series which ran from 1988 until 1992.In 1993 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman premiered on television, starring Dean Cain as Superman and Teri Hatcher (who’s still super hot, by the way) as Lois Lane. The series ran until 1997. Superman: The Animated Series was produced by Warner Bros. and ran from 1996 until 2000 on The WB Television Network In 2001 the Smallville television series launched, focussing on the adventures of Clark Kent as a teenager before he dons the mantle of Superman. In 2006 Bryan Singer directed Superman Returns, starring Brandon Routh as Superman.
I won’t list all the music references to Superman, but some of the most popular ones have been: Kryptonite by Three Doors Down and Superman (It's Not Easy) by Five for Fighting and a few others from Barbara Streisand, Eminem, R.E.M and The Kinks.
And here’s my personal favorite thing about Superman: Jerry Seinfeld, a noted Superman fan, filled his series Seinfeld with references to the character, and in 1997 asked for Superman to co-star with him in a commercial for American Express. The commercial aired during the 1998 NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl, Superman animated in the style of artist Curt Swan, again at the request of Seinfeld.
All this being noted, can we really say that comics are only for geeks? By the looks of it, the world is full of geeks like me or Spider-Man 3 would not have made $884 459 679 (US) at the box office.
To those of you who have been called a geek, be proud, we out number the rest of them. To those of you closet comic fans, come on out—we love you. And to those of you who have always wanted to make your own comic, do it! The world always needs more heroes and its never too late for you do something you love… my good friend Luc is a brilliant example of that, he will soon be the next great Batman writer.
And finally to those of you who have no interest in comics: Why did you read this far anyway?
-MJ
1 comment:
Glad to have gotten a mention on your blog my bro!
I'm not sure where my current story's going but...it's one hell of a ride!
All the best for a smooth completion of Ashita!
PS just in case you were wondering, it's me, Luc! ;)
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