Major Fan

You know you are a major fan, or geek, if you prefer, when you can look over an MSN infographic about Superman and find at least two errors on it.

5 Superman Projects To Check Out

75 years ago this week, Action Comics #1 hit the newsstands, introducing America and the world to Superman.  Since that day, the Man of Steel has become one of the most recognizable comic character in the world, if not the most.  And with the latest Superman movie set to premiere this summer, it seemed only fitting for me to look back at some of the great Superman projects over the years.

Think of it as a primer.

1. The Adventures of Superman – A classic of television shows.  I remember watching these in syndication as a child, never knowing the dark history that surrounded George Reeves.  The series did not go in for the major villains, but it was still fun watching the Man of Steel break up criminal rings throughout Metropolis.  The series is available on DVD.
2. Superman cartoons – Heading way back to the era of the matinees, Max Fleischer created a number of Superman shorts that ran in theaters.  Unlike the television show, Superman’s foes were more in line with the comics, facing mad scientists and robot monsters.  These shorts are available on DVD and Youtube.com
3. Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero by Larry Tye – This book covers the history of the Man of Steel, from his humble origins in the minds of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster to the legal turmoil that has plagued Superman in recent years.  Tye’s book covers everything about the Man of Steel, including the radio shows, the Fleischer cartoons, the television show, and even the movies.  Tye does not pull punches in this book as he reveals the behind the scenes drama that has accompanied the Last Son of Krypton over the years.
4. Superman: The Movie – Directed by Richard Donner and starring a stellar cast, this was the epic tour de force for the Man of Steel, covering his origins right up to his clash with Lex Luthor.
5. The Man of Steel – In 1986, DC Comics had just created a major restructuring of their comics universe with Crisis on Infinite Earths.  In its wake, DC started to relaunch their flagship characters, updating them for the modern times.  Written by John Byrne, The Man of Steel retold Superman’s origin for the 1980s, but did so much more.  Gone were much of what had been created in the Silver Age of comics, making Superman truly the Last Son of Krypton.  Even Superman’s long standing cast of supporting characters were revamped, from a modernizing of Lois Lane, to the transformation of Lex Luthor from criminal mastermind to unscrupulous (and untouchable) businessman.  Much of what Byrne created in this series stood until later writers began to return many of the classic elements of Superman.  But, this mini-series still remains a great read.

Related articles

• Cleveland Declares ‘Superman Day’ To Celebrate The Man Of Steel’s 75th Anniversary (comicsalliance.com)
• Happy birthday, Superman! A look back at 75 powerful years (herocomplex.latimes.com)
• Cleveland mayor declares April 18 ‘Superman Day’ (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
• Superman At 75: Dan Jurgens Reflects On The Man of Steel (comicbookresources.com)
• Superman Turns 75! His Top 5 Screen Appearances (nerdist.com)
• It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a super-septuagenarian! (today.com)
• Happy 75th Birthday Superman And Lois Lane! (splashpage.mtv.com)
• Superman Turns 75! Here’s 7 Things You Didn’t Know About The Man Of Steel (radaronline.com)

5 Great DC Animated DVDs

It seems interesting that for a company that has not been able to stick a landing in the theaters (the Batman movies excluded),  DC Comics’ animated DVDs are head and shoulders above the competition (namely, Marvel).  Given the choice, I would much rather watch any of the DC titles that have come out on DVD than the few Marvel titles, most of which have just been pretty bad.

For those who are looking for a good watch, and are not sidled with the conception that animation is only for children, I have a few suggestions for you.

Quote of the Day – January 30, 2013

Glenn Quagmire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Giggidy-giggidy-giggidy-giggidy!

Glen Quagmire (voiced by Seth McFarlane)

Family Guy

Quote of the Day – March 2, 2012

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks, Freddy Foreshadowing.

Archer (played by H. Jon Benjamin)

Archer

Quote of the Day – February 29, 2012

Something I Just Read (Photo credit: Karl Gunnarsson)

They called you exotic. Which is just people talk for awesome. Which you are.

Sterling Archer (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin)

Archer

Quote of the Day – January 7, 2012

Image via Wikipedia

Only you would regard love as a weakness.

Goliath (voiced by Keith David)

Gargoyles

The Best Celebrity Voiceover in an Animated Movie

Mark Hamill at the Main Event

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Mark Hamill was the perfect voice for the Joker in the Batman animated series. He managed to capture the maniacal psychotic so well that they have returned to Hamill over and over whenever they have needed a voice artist for the clown prince of crime.

Quote of the Day

Image via Wikipedia

I’m over it. What about you two?

Batman – from “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse”

10 DC Heroes Who Should Get Their Own Animated Release

1) Swamp Thing – Specificly The Anatomy Lesson story written by Alan Moore.

2) Metamorpho – He’s been seen in guest shots, but nothing that is completely his own.

3) Starman – Jack Knight returns in a retelling of his origin as Starman.

4) Blackhawks – Set in either the WW2 or post WW2 era.

5) Dial H For Hero – Would like to see the concept of a variable hero animated.

6) The Creeper – Jack Ryder’s crazed alter ego would make an excellent dark piece like the Spectre short.

7) Camelot 3000 – Not a DC Universe title per se, but a series that would make an excelent animated feature

8) Blue Devil – Would be interesting to see the origin story of Blue Devil (before the mystical stuff really took over).

9) DC Detectives – Bringing together a trio of DC’s classic detectives, Roy Raymond, Jason Bard and Mysto, combining their investigative skills to solve “the crime of the century.”

10) G.I. Robot – Set in WW2 Pacific, This gritty version would bring the Weird War Tales character to life.