Frantic as a cardiograph scratching out the lines, Day 139: Superman: For All Seasons #3

• by Greg Burgas
• in Scratching Out the Lines
• 7 Comments

Every day this year, I will be examining the first pages of random comics. Today’s page is from Superman: For All Seasons #3, which was published by DC and is cover dated 1998. Enjoy!

Lex MAD!

Issue #3 of this DC “Prestige Format” comic (I always liked that they called these types of comics that – it made them feel so special!) is a fairly typical Jeph Loeb page, at least when he’s working with Tim Sale – very few panels per page, as Loeb probably realized early on in his collaborations with Sale that the artist was, you know, really good. He doesn’t always get out of Sale’s way, but he does it quite a bit, and this page shows that. All we learn from Loeb’s writing is that the issue is a “love story” between “a man and a city” – we assume he’s talking about Lex, and obviously, he’s talking about Metropolis. I mean, anyone living in the United States in the past 70 years has to know that, right? Oh well – even if we don’t, we find out on the next page. We also find out that the words on this page are Lex’s, as he’s narrating. Who knew, right?

Sale tells most of the story in the art. We find out his name from the first panel, as well as the fact that he’s being processed by the police. Even before we see Lex, Sale draws in the cuff link to show that Lex is clearly a man of means. It’s a bit weird that Loeb puts “This is a love story” and Sale draws the hand of the policeman clasping Lex’s, as the close-up view makes it far more intimate than it is – this is another advantage comics have over movies/television, as finger-printing moves too quickly in those media to allow for frozen images like this, which is juxtaposed uncomfortably with Loeb’s narration. Sale is quite good at facial expressions, and Lex’s look in the second panel is classic, as it appears he may have just eaten a particularly sour lemon. Everything in the face points toward the placard he’s holding, which is the central image of the drawing – this is a man who has just been arrested, after all. This time, we get even more of Lex’s social standing that Sale implied in Panel 1, as we see the undone bow tie and the vest. The out-of-place strand of hair is nice, too, as Lex is not the type of person to have anything out of place, and although he’s certainly not disheveled in this panel, what is out of place in the panel is enough to emphasize how much it rankles him. The jail cell in Panel 3 is a bit too big, but Sale uses it to emphasize how small Lex is in the corner of the panel, so far from the door and freedom. Sale angles the panel toward the right, too, moving us to the next page. Bjarne Hansen, who colored the page, links Lex to jail by using the same blue in his vest and in the bars of the cell. Lex looks right at home. It’s a nice touch.

I know this comic, unlike later Loeb works, has a pretty good reputation. Pages like this help. Loeb doesn’t do too much, and he lets Sale, who knows a thing or two about storytelling, do that. Loeb might go a bit too far with this occasionally, but he also knows that sometimes, it’s just fun to look at Sale’s beautiful artwork!

Next: Iron Man! Always a hit with the ladies! No one else in the archives is such a playa, but that shouldn’t stop you from checking them out!

7 Comments

Michael P

May 18, 2012 at 12:29 pm

After the teaser yesterday, I was almost sure this would be either a David Michelinie or a Grant Morrison comic.

Greg Burgas

May 18, 2012 at 12:31 pm

Michael: I think Loeb trumps Michelinie for T. And I know he likes some of Morrison’s comics, so the GoAC probably isn’t even that close to the former two gentlemen!

dnwilliams

May 18, 2012 at 2:56 pm

I need to re-read this. Badly.

Pete Woodhouse

May 18, 2012 at 3:06 pm

Michael/Greg: I was thinking Michelinie, forgot about Loeb!

T.

May 18, 2012 at 3:44 pm

I like a lot of Morrison, especially his justice league, x-men, marvel boy and we3. I just don’t think he’s as consistently great as people sometimes say and am willing to occasionally criticize him, which around these parts seems to register as utterly loathing him somehow. Like I’ll say something critical of say Animal Man, 20 ppl jump down my throat, some calling me names, I respond to those 20 people and then I end up looking like a rabid Morrison hater. But no, I don’t dislike him. He’s definitely one of the best DC has.

T.

May 18, 2012 at 4:00 pm

I made a resolution to not bash Loeb for 2012. This was the least offensive Loeb work I ever read.

Travis Pelkie

May 18, 2012 at 5:47 pm

T’s resolution explains a lot. There have been a few things that I thought he’d just nail Loeb on, but T’s taken the higher road.

What’s up with that?

C’mon, drink the Morrison koolaid, T! You’ll not wish to criticize the MASTER ever!!!

J/K, but damn I’m drooling waiting for Batman Incorporated’s return next week. His Action has been ironically dull.

Leave a Comment

From: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/05/18/frantic-as-a-cardiograph-scratching-out-the-lines-day-139-superman-for-all-seasons-3/

---

Welcome to the 135th episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN BEGINS!

This week Mike and Jeff begin (finally, some would say) their coverage of the last act in the DEATH AND RETURN OF SUPERMAN saga and they even brought a friend along. Joining the boys is Jon M. Wilson, host of GOLDEN AGE SUPERMAN and co-host of THE NEW 52 ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN and it is a good thing Jon’s here because there is not one but four Supermen running around Metropolis. Two of those Supermen are introduced this week, the first in ACTION COMICS #687. Has Kal-El of Krypton returned? It certainly seems that way but why does he wear a visor and, you know, kill people? Then, in SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #22 a true Man of Steel emerges, but what is the dark secret of Henry Johnson and who the heck is the White Rabbit? All of this plus MEANWHILE AT THE DAILY PLANET, the news segment that tells you what was going on in the world at the time these books were on the stands!

Mike and Jeff would like to thank Jon for coming out to play and are pretty psyched that he’ll be joining them again down the road.

Next time: Cyborg! Superboy! Another guest host!

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link. You can also download the episode directly.

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, leave comments here or email them at fromcrisistocrisis@gmail.com. All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome.

With the blockbuster “The Avengers” taking over theaters the past few weekends, interest in superheros has increased on the Internet, reviving a series of animated fan-made clips of The Hulk fighting Superman, which began in late 2010.

While the two superheros have faced each other three times in comics books (1981′s DC and Marvel Present #28: Superman and Spider-Man; 1996′s Marvel Comics vs DC #3; 2001′s Marvel Comics / DC, The Incredible Hulk vs. Superman), the Man of Steel has always come out on top.

Animator Michael Habjan took the challenge of re-creating his take on one of the most argued hypothetical fights in comic fans history.

He began the online series with the initial clip in December 2010, showing Hulk and Superman meeting face-to-face and squaring off … but no action actually taking place. The second clip finally surfaced in June 2011, showing the beginning of their fight. The most recent came in March 2012 …. and ends with a “To be continued.”

Apparently, from the videos’ descriptions, it’s an on-going project.

This is a continuation of the Intro scene I made six months ago. Hulk and Superman are in the desert and the fight begins. This is a work in progress and there is more battle scenes to come, this is just the first part. There will probably be two or three sequences to follow this, but I’m doing it in parts because it takes forever to get it done and I want share as it’s being completed. I’m open to suggestions and ideas from anyone, so let me know what you’d like to see in fight scenes to come. When all the scenes are done I plan to combine them together into one epic fight.

This is the second part to my ongoing animation project, a tribute project to Superman and The Incredible Hulk. As you’ll notice, the models and overall look has evolved and will continue to do so in future sequences. I’m already working on a new look for the Hulk on the next one. I got professional help this time in the music and sound design department, provided by the talented Francois Gratecap, which has made the whole project that much better. So my thanks to him.

The video is very impressive. We enjoyed it. Who will win the battle in the end? Tell us what you think?

Take Our Poll

From: http://www.ballerstatus.com/2012/05/17/hulk-vs-superman-dope-animated-fight-video/

Marvel, Warner Bros.

With the Marvel Studio’s The Avengers being a financial and critical success, could this prompt DC Comics to create a Justice League movie??
—Mrs. Abby C., via the inbox

You’d think that between Batman’s utility belt, Wonder Woman’s invisible jet and Superman’s icy breath of righteousness, the Justice League would be able to get something done on a big screen—especially given that The Avengers just hoovered up an obscene billion dollars in box office income.

MORE: The Avengers Has Made How Much?!

But no. For years, Warner Bros. has struggled to bring their own answers to Iron Man and Hulk to the big screen. Here’s why you won’t be seeing such an august lineup in 2013:

Various factors have conspired to kill a live-action JLA movie, and not just in the past 12 months. This is a boondoggle that, for years, had actual script writers working on it, real actors attached to it, a director signed on to it.

The most credible attempt to bring together the world’s greatest superheroes in live-action form started in 2007. Warner Bros. hired a couple of screenwriters to draw up a story, and the studio liked it. Mad Max director George Miller agreed to direct the project; things looked pretty sunny for comic book fans worldwide. There was even a nice, fat, reported budget of something like $220 million.

The following year, when shooting was supposed to start, Warner put the show on hold because, it said, it wanted to tinker with the script. Thing is, the writer’s strike was on, so no tinkering could occur, and the options for the cast lapsed.

What kind of cast, you ask? How about Adam Brody as the Flash, and rapper/actor Common as Green Lantern? How about—wait for it—Armie Hammer as Batman? Really. Yes. This, according to reports at the time, was going to happen.

But between then and now, Warner’s attitude toward a single JLA movie has, apparently, changed. The studio indicated it wanted to keep all of its heroes separate for a few years before reconsidering a conglomerate à la Avengers. By 2010, the news was official: The JLA project, as it was, had been canceled.

MORE: What’s up with Superman?

Though there have been rumors that Warner Bros. has been talking about a fresh stab at a JLA, no concrete announcements have emerged. I reached out to several contacts at Warner Bros. to ask whether anything has changed, but the studio was silent on the matter. (The president of DC Entertainment has said that the comic book house has no plans of developing an ensemble movie, either.)

All that said, there is hope: The Hollywood Reporter‘s Borys Kit seem to think that a JLA movie could happen, and sooner than you think.

“Don’t be surprised,” he wrote recently, “if Warners—and [Dark Knight director Christopher] Nolan—take on a Justice League movie soon.”

Is it too late to get Armie Hammer in a leotard?

PHOTOS: The Hottest Heroes Ever

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

From: http://www.eonline.com/news/ask_the_answer_bitch/avengers_made_1_billion_will_batman/316459

---

PreviewsWorld.com has released the list of comic books and other items on sale this week. Here are the Superman related items in that list…

Available This Week: May 16, 2012.

The following products are expected to ship to comic book specialty stores this week, with all comics also available for digital download. Note that this list is tentative and subject to change. Please check with your retailer for availability.

Click on the magnifying glass icon () next to a comic’s title to view a sneak peek at the pages within.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #9

SUPERGIRL #9

JUSTICE LEAGUE #4 (3rd Printing)

SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER VILLAINS VOL 02 HC

SINGLE: SUPERMAN #1 (Digital Release)

DC NATION MINI-MAG: YOUNG JUSTICE #1 (Digital Release)

SMALLVILLE: SEASON 11 – CHAPTER #4 (Digital Release) [May 18]

From: http://www.supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=11343

6 List: The Worst Comic Book Superhero Movies

Superheroes are ubiquitous with comic books. Since the medium took off, whole universes have been created around these incredible men and women. It’s only logical that the film industry would eventually follow suit and bring the four-color storyboards to the big screen.

Characters like Spider-Man, Batman and Superman have dominated the box office for years. Each new release is anticipated with the excitement of a toddler at Christmas. Many of them prove to be as great as anticipated. The ones that don’t live up to expectations are usually at least mediocre — not great films but good enough that comic book fans will still watch. Occasionally, though, a superhero film will come out that just hurts to sit through.

Words like “best” and “worst” are subjective. It’s impossible for everyone to agree on taste. This list is my opinion and has no reference point beyond my knowledge of the film and how I felt after watching it. Films I haven’t seen (Condorman and a handful of others) didn’t make the list because you can’t judge what you don’t know if you want to be taken seriously. That being said, here’s the six films I believe to be the absolute worst of the bunch.

6. Captain America (1979)
Reb Brown, Len Birman and Heather Menzies-Urich

One of the worst things that can happen to a fan is turning on a highly anticipated film, only to discover it has nothing to do with the source material. The 1979 Captain America television movie caused exactly that.

The Steve Rogers in this movie was never a polio-stricken child that wanted nothing more than to serve his country proudly. This Steve Rogers is a wannabe surfer/artist traveling the American coast in a van. His father was a famous scientist that discovered the super-soldier serum, called FLAG here because someone decided that familiarity was stupid, and now a group of bad guys want to get their hands on it.

If that weren’t enough, the film is just bad. There isn’t any supervillain, which is counter-intuitive for the genre. Throughout, the dialogue is absurd and the action is campy while trying to be serious. Many people cite Pyun’s 1990 Cap film as being the worst, but I have to disagree. How this pile of rubbish landed a sequel (which I still haven’t built the courage to watch) is anyone’s guess.

5. Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Topher Grace

After two wildly successful films starring everybody’s favorite webslinger, fans were given this big-budget mess. Obvious problems plagued the film, like too many villains, too many subplots, too many shots of crowds looking stupefied, and too much sad emo Peter Parker.

Sam Raimi originally envisioned a completely different film. Vulture was set to be a major villain with New Goblin included to wrap up the Osborne story. Thanks to the wonderfully wise producers, Venom was forced into the script and the rest is history.

The film was a commercial success and received a surprising number of good reviews, but it stopped the franchise cold. Besides being a chaotic mess, moviegoers were forced to sit through what might be the most ridiculous dance number ever filmed. For that reason alone, Spider-Man 3 is one of the worst superhero films ever made.

4. Generation X (1996)
Matt Frewer, Finola Hughes and Jeremy Ratchford

Growing up is rough. Everybody goes through it and almost everybody has a great deal of angst because of it. That’s one of the reasons Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters was such a hit with the comic book community. Who wouldn’t want to go to a school where being different was perfectly acceptable, nurtured even?

When Generation X was announced, the excitement was palpable. Live action mutants weren’t yet common, so the next best thing to seeing the X-Men onscreen was to see their younger wards. Also, I had a crush on Jubilee thanks to her run in the Wolverine comics.

What appeared was a cross between Max Headroom and Nightmare on Elm Street. The mutant teens are forced to fight a manic Matt Frewer in the “Dream World,” which was as awful as it sounds. The excitement of seeing the mutants in the flesh was replaced by horror at what was done to them.

3. Batman Robin (1997)
Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell

Anyone that needs a crash course in how to destroy a superhero franchise needs to study Joel Schumacher’s final Batman film. Slam-packed full of completely ridiculous characters, a futuristic Gotham with way too much shiny, and a Batman suit sporting nipples, Batman Robin made grown men weep.

This film is the perfect example of what happens when a movie franchise is used as nothing more than a money-making machine. Where Burton’s Batman movies were dark and moody, Schumacher was brought on board by the studio to turn that around. Batman Returns was considered too dark to sell toys (McDonald’s dropped them from their Happy Meals) and Warner Brothers wasn’t having any of that.

Sell toys they did. Merchandising was a home run. Unfortunately, that meant there were tens of thousands of children all over the country forcing a smile on Christmas because their mom bought them that stupid Mr. Freeze figure.

2. The Fantastic Four (1994)
Alex Hyde-White, Jay Underwood and Rebecca Staab

Roger Corman is amazing. King of the b-movies, he’s worked on a pile of Poe adaptations starring Vincent Price, Rock Roll High School with The Ramones, and modern Syfy classics like Dinoshark and Sharktopus. He’s mentored some of the greatest directors in the film industry and helped launch the careers of the actors we all revere.

He also made the 1994 film that most hardcore comic fans have heard about but almost none have seen. When I finally got my hands on a pirated VHS copy, I was ecstatic. Ninety minutes later I was dumbfounded, disheartened and ready to cry. As much as I love Roger Corman, I loathed this movie.

Made on a budget of less than $2 million, this film was never intended for audiences. The special effects were hokey, even for the time. The script, although fairly faithful to the comics, was slapped together. The Thing was played by a different actor than Ben Grimm, and seemed smaller than his human counterpart. The Mole Man, FF’s first foe, was turned into The Jeweler for unknown reasons and felt like more like a b-movie staple than a Marvel supervillain.

The studio made the movie for the sole purpose of keeping the film rights to the characters. In the process, they lied to the fans, the cast and the crew. They also produced one of the worst comic book movies ever and let it leak to the public.

1. Superman Returns (2006)
Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth

When Superman first appeared in comics, he wasn’t the incredibly powerful character he is today. He had incredible strength and speed, but the other powers would develop as his popularity grew. As his powers multiplied, so did his inherent desire to do what was right.

Superman is the paragon of virtue. Batman’s ideology is based on vengeance. Spider-Man, responsibility. Daredevil, justice. Superman, the simple desire to do what is right.

Superman Returns threw all that out the window. Had it been any other superhero, the films many, many faults (plot holes, a Christ metaphor, logical inconsistencies, a regurgitated plot) could have been somewhat overlooked. But this is Superman we’re talking about, so making the hero a deadbeat dad stalker that wants to break up a married couple is just wrong. The Superman Singer created in this joke of a film is almost despicable. This guy might save lives and wear an “S” on his chest, but he’s anything but virtuous.

The Man of Steel is one of the most recognizable fictional characters in the world. He’s an ideal. He does what is right, even if he wants to do something else. But not here, not in Singer’s version of Metropolis.

Additionally, Singer deciding to make this movie directly caused Fox to hire Bret Ratner as the director on another film that nearly made this list.

For all these reasons, and many more there isn’t room for here, Superman Returns is the worst comic book movie of all time. At least in this fan’s opinion.

---

Follow @JerichoMccune

Check out my fansite for more articles and news!

From: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/FourColorFilm/news/?a=59647

One rainy day at his family?s lake house, Jeremy McFarren discovered a long-ago discarded Superman comic his parents kept around in case the kids got bored or, as it so happened, it rained and they couldn?t go outside.

In that issue, the Man of Steel battled the impish Mr. Mxyzptlk, a creature who in one incarnation hailed from the Fifth Dimension and could not be banished back there until Superman said his name backward.

McFarren was 5 years old – and he was hooked.

?It hooked me forever,? the 37-year-old Carroll High School art teacher now says.

Today, McFarren writes and draws his own comics, and like many of the roughly 100 artists who attended Saturday?s third-annual Summit City Comic Con have, he was able to do this with a little help from the digital age.

When he was a collegian in the 1990s, McFarren said, no one thought highly of comics. Professors and teachers didn?t encourage any foray into comic book art and, unlike today, no classes were offered.

But in 2008, McFarren started a blog.

He started posting some of his drawings, and soon those morphed into the character ?RocketBoy,? which became his first self-published comic in 2010.

?Technology is an amazing thing,? he said. ?Anyone can get their ideas out there now, and you have access to so much amazing stuff.?

He unleashed his new comic, ?Lunchbox Doodles,? at Saturday?s Con at Grand Wayne Center.

The book consists of drawings he would slip into the lunchboxes of his kids – 8-year-old Olivia and 6-year-old Nigel – each morning before they went to school. They were extra treats for the kids, he said.

Throughout the year, he has posted the drawings online.

And it?s online where the comic book industry has begun to focus its attention, with a proliferation of new tablet apps such as Comixology becoming the way many people are reading the medium.

In fact, Zack Kruse, founder of Summit City Comic Con, said digital comics are the reason the industry is growing, even more so than the proliferation of the big-time Hollywood superhero movies like ?The Avengers? and ?The Dark Knight Rises.?

?It makes them so much more accessible,? said Kruse, who also writes his own comics and has a digital comics website at www.mysterysolvedcomic.com. ?You don?t have to go out and find a comic book shop.?

Like McFarren, Kruse also said it helps independent artists get their work out to the masses. They don?t have to get hired by Marvel or DC – the two biggies in the comic book world – to have their stuff seen.

Now, it just takes a server and a website.

But still, there?s something about holding an actual comic in one?s hands that will never go away, both McFarren and Kruse said.

There?s nothing like waking up in the morning and finding a box full of comics you created on your front doorstep. There?s something special in the feel of the paper you just can?t get with digital comics, McFarren said.

McFarren talked about this while taking a real pen and sketching out a rendition of the Avenger hero ?Hawkeye? on a real piece of paper, a drawing he was doing as a special request for a boy named Jacob who had come to the Con with his father.

?I?ll always think paper should be a part of it,? McFarren said of the industry. ?I can see it all going digital someday with the paper product a niche market, but I want it to be something that stays.?

jeffwiehe@jg.net

From: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120513/LOCAL/305139931

One rainy day at his family?s lake house, Jeremy McFarren discovered a long-ago discarded Superman comic his parents kept around in case the kids got bored or, as it so happened, it rained and they couldn?t go outside.

In that issue, the Man of Steel battled the impish Mr. Mxyzptlk, a creature who in one incarnation hailed from the Fifth Dimension and could not be banished back there until Superman said his name backward.

McFarren was 5 years old – and he was hooked.

?It hooked me forever,? the 37-year-old Carroll High School art teacher now says.

Today, McFarren writes and draws his own comics, and like many of the roughly 100 artists who attended Saturday?s third-annual Summit City Comic Con have, he was able to do this with a little help from the digital age.

When he was a collegian in the 1990s, McFarren said, no one thought highly of comics. Professors and teachers didn?t encourage any foray into comic book art and, unlike today, no classes were offered.

But in 2008, McFarren started a blog.

He started posting some of his drawings, and soon those morphed into the character ?RocketBoy,? which became his first self-published comic in 2010.

?Technology is an amazing thing,? he said. ?Anyone can get their ideas out there now, and you have access to so much amazing stuff.?

He unleashed his new comic, ?Lunchbox Doodles,? at Saturday?s Con at Grand Wayne Center.

The book consists of drawings he would slip into the lunchboxes of his kids – 8-year-old Olivia and 6-year-old Nigel – each morning before they went to school. They were extra treats for the kids, he said.

Throughout the year, he has posted the drawings online.

And it?s online where the comic book industry has begun to focus its attention, with a proliferation of new tablet apps such as Comixology becoming the way many people are reading the medium.

In fact, Zack Kruse, founder of Summit City Comic Con, said digital comics are the reason the industry is growing, even more so than the proliferation of the big-time Hollywood superhero movies like ?The Avengers? and ?The Dark Knight Rises.?

?It makes them so much more accessible,? said Kruse, who also writes his own comics and has a digital comics website at www.mysterysolvedcomic.com. ?You don?t have to go out and find a comic book shop.?

Like McFarren, Kruse also said it helps independent artists get their work out to the masses. They don?t have to get hired by Marvel or DC – the two biggies in the comic book world – to have their stuff seen.

Now, it just takes a server and a website.

But still, there?s something about holding an actual comic in one?s hands that will never go away, both McFarren and Kruse said.

There?s nothing like waking up in the morning and finding a box full of comics you created on your front doorstep. There?s something special in the feel of the paper you just can?t get with digital comics, McFarren said.

McFarren talked about this while taking a real pen and sketching out a rendition of the Avenger hero ?Hawkeye? on a real piece of paper, a drawing he was doing as a special request for a boy named Jacob who had come to the Con with his father.

?I?ll always think paper should be a part of it,? McFarren said of the industry. ?I can see it all going digital someday with the paper product a niche market, but I want it to be something that stays.?

jeffwiehe@jg.net

From: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120513/LOCAL/305139931

One is a bartender who aspires to become a professional illustrator. Another is a soldier with two kids who lives in a flyspeck town in North Dakota. There is an obsessive toy collector who is willing to stand in line for two days to get a shot at a hard-to-find action figure. One couple is on their honeymoon; another is about get engaged.

They are among the thousands — 125,000, to be precise — who flocked to the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, one of the largest nerd meccas in the world. They are also some of the people director Morgan Spurlock ( Super Size Me) and his crew followed with their cameras, using their stories as the narrative spine for an exploration of the annual gathering, which began as a humble hangout in 1970 for comic book collectors and has grown into a major pop culture event.

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope uses interviews with famous nerds — including Joss Whedon, Seth Rogen and Eli Roth — to mount an eloquent defense of geek pursuits and a community that obsesses over things outsiders dismiss as childish and silly. The movie treats its subjects with warmth and admiration, such as a young woman who is building elaborate costumes based on the videogame Mass Effect 2 to compete at the convention’s annual “Masquerade” contest. Spurlock doesn’t try to show that she’s just an ordinary person with an odd hobby: Instead, he celebrates her drive and passion for such a curious art, and when one of her creations malfunctions minutes before she’s scheduled to go onstage, the suspense is wrenching.

Contemporary culture is dotted with nerdy pursuits, from Game of Thrones to The Walking Dead to The Avengers: Geeks won the war, and Spurlock devotes part of his film to documenting the aftermath. Despite the surge in popularity superheroes have enjoyed in the past few years, the global shift away from paper and toward digital means old-school comic-book shops that once thrived on diehard collectors are struggling. One of the people showcased in the film is a representative from Mile High Comics, the largest vendor in the country, who travels to the convention hoping to sell a mint copy of the ultra-rare Red Raven #1 for a cool $500,000. When he gets nibbles from not one but two high-roller collectors, the seller is confronted with a dilemma: Part with his prized possession in order to pay the rent, or bring it back home and lock it away in the safe so he can sleep easy at night knowing the book is still his?

The movie is dotted with surprisingly moving moments. When the hopeful bartender (whose parents met at a Star Trek convention!) has his art criticized by a professional illustrator, your heart breaks for him. When a young man proposes to his girlfriend during a Kevin Smith QA panel, the movie strikes an indelibly sweet and romantic evocation of geek love. You don’t need to collect or even care about comic books to enjoy Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope: Most of the people who attend the event ignore them altogether. You only need to love, or have loved, something that seized and inspired your imagination — a book, a record, a poem or a TV show — and became a permanent part of your memories.

From: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/12/2792651/comic-con-episode-iv-a-fans-hope.html

I read Superman Earth One, it is the not the best or worst Superman Graphic Novel out there. I like Grant Morrison’s run on All-Star Superman, DC Relaunch of Action Comics, I like his Batman ones as well. I read that Superman Grounded, it was pretty good by the guy who wrote Superman Earth One.
I know not many were pleased of how Superman Earth One turned out to be, making Superman wear a hoodie, how the main villain looked like a space pirate who is a big fan of David Bowie. Or how the Superman suit looked, I didn’t love it nor hate it, atleast when he had the “S” on the back of his cape and you can see the “S” without having to squint for a second.

I would see atleast 4 films

1. “The Man of Tomorrow”, Zod serves as the main antagonist.
The usual Clark Kent tries to have a normal life but struggles with his “gifts” he has. When an unknown enemy (Zod), and his army from “The Phantom Zone” escape and cause havock throughout the Earth. With no one standing in their way, General Zod searches for “Kal-El” son of Jor-El who betrayed Zod back in Krypton. Clark Kent knowing sooner or later they will find him, he dons the iconic Suit and become “Superman” to save mankind from General Zod.

2. “Brainiac Attacks”, Brainiac is the main antagonist.
About 3 years after Movie 1, Superman is loved by all throughout Metropolis and all over the world. However Brainiac comes to Earth to gather the information he needs then destroying the Earth. Superman then discovers from a now prisoned General Zod that it was truly Brainiac who destroyed their home planet Krypton. Warning Superman that if he doesn’t stop Brainiac from gathering all of the information on the planet. Earth will suffer the same fate as Krypton did many years prior.
Knowing he cannot let that happen Superman must do whatever it takes to stop Brainiac from destroying the Earth.

3. “The Man of Steel”, Luthor, Metallo, Parasite are the antagonists.
6 months after Movie 2, John Corben, who is near death makes a deal with Lex Luthor, which Lex will give him a new “heart” but must work for him. With a Kryptonite heart, Corben plans to use his “heart” to kill The Man of Steel for failing to save his sister. A new villain named Parasite joins forces with “Metallo” to help kill the Man of Steel. However not knowing to both, they are pawns to Luthor’s ultimate goal, knowing he is outnumbered, Superman must call on upon a favor from an old friend, to help him defeat the 3 enemies, who is best known as “The Dark Knight”.

4. “Superman Apokalips”- Darkseid is the antagonist of Movie 4.
Now in a relationship with Lois Lane, Clark decides if he should reveal his identity to Lois that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person. However fate has different plans as Darkseid plans an Invasion on Earth, which Darkseid plans Earth to be his new Apokalips.
With the army of Apokalips on Earth, Orion the son of Darkseid comes to aid with Man of Steel with his army from New Genesis to battle Darkseid for the fate of Earth. Batman knowing Earth and the people all over the world live’s are the balance comes to aid The Man of Steel.

I’ll start with the main characters, minor characters, then Villains.

I have 2 choices for Superman.

Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman/Kal-El.

Reason- He is going to be Superman in the new film, well I originally wanted a younger to play Superman in Earth One but thought since Cavill is playing Superman in the Reboot, I thought he should do it. Well since he is 28, I thought to cast a younger actor for the first film then Cavill taking over as Superman. I still have to say Cavill is the best choice for the Man of Steel in the big screen and I know he is going to do a great job as Superman.

or

Richard Madden as Clark Kent/Superman/Kal-El.

Reason- I am trying to be original, despite casting him as Luke Skywalker in my Star Wars Fancast. The guy is good actor, only saw him on Game of Thrones, which he does a good job on. If his hair was black, he would be a good pick for Superman in a Superman Earth One film and he is 25 making him a good choice.
If this happened, Madden will play Superman once then Cavill will take over after the first film.

Olivia Wilde or Anna Kendrick as Lois Lane.

Reason for Olivia Wilde- She is a fan favorite for the role of Lois Lane, I believe she can pull off this role. She is a year younger then Henry Cavill and is 3 years older then Richard Madden. Atleast it isn’t like Amy Adams and Henry Cavill’s age gap 9 YEARS. If Olivia was cast in a Superman Film, let it be a Superman Earth One. She was good on House, Cowboys and Aliens, decent on TRON Legacy.
Reason for Anna Kendrick- Someone before said she is a good choice for Lois Lane in a Superman film, she was great on that Up in the Air. If I got the title wrong just correct me later on. Anyways she is 2 years younger then Cavill and is a year older then Richard Madden. I liked her on Up in the Air and Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

Jennifer Conolley and Eric Bana as Lara and Jor-El

Reasons Bana- Eric Bana is a great actor, he was good on, The Other Boleyn Girl, Black Hawk Down, Star Trek Reboot and Hanna. I knew right away he is a good choice for Jor-El, he is 43. He can pull off Jor-El without a doubt.
Reason for Conolley- She too is a good actress, despite being on a bad Hulk film she was a good choice for the role she was cast. Only saw her in a couple films such as Blood Diamond, Dark City, Requim for a Dream. She looks like Lara from the comics (well not much) but she is a good choice for Lara.
Other choices in groups.
- Jim Caviezal and Dogmara (last name too hard to pronounce, too lazy to look it up in the moment).
-Michael Fassbender and Rose Byrne.
-Sean Bean and Lena Hedley.
-James McAvoy and Emily Blunt.
-Jonathon Rye Meyers and Natalie Dormer
-Neil Patrick Harris and Colbie Smulders. Ok that one is a joke.

Sean Bean and Michelle Fairley as Jonathon and Martha Kent.

Reason Sean Bean- I like Sean Bean, he is a good actor, as Boromir, Ned Stark, 006. Sean Bean can do an epic job of any role he given well he’ll have to like the script. He mentioned before he is a fan of Superman, he might too old for Jor-El but not too old for Jonathon Kent and he can do a great as if given a chance.
Reason for Michelle Fairely- So far only saw her on Game of Thrones as Catelyn Stark. I didn’t the character in the books but after Book 3, I sort of started to like her, her performance is great on the show. My cousin’s ex girlfriends brother was an extra on GoT, he told me that Michelle is one of the nicest people out of filming. Which made me think she can pull off Martha Kent, if Sean Bean and Michelle Fairley were chosen as the Kents they’ll do a great job.
Other choices- Ed Harris and Meryl Streep, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane.

Caleb Landry Jones- Jimmy Olsen

Reason- When I saw him on X-Men First Class I thought it was rather Ron Weasley’s stunt double or Jimmy Olsen who grew a perm. Either way I knew I got Jimmy Olsen how he acts on First Class reminds me of Jimmy on the clutsy parts mostly. If given a chance he can play a awesome Jimmy Olsen.

Peter Dinklage as Perry White

Reason- He is Tyrion Lannister the only guy who can B***H SLAP Joffrey and get away with it. If you seen ELF, he can pull off Perry White, desipte being a cameo. Besides (I am NOT trying to be rude) if they made a Superman Earth One film and NO ONE knew who they cast as Perry White. Then during the movie, Clark enters Perry’s office, Perry is shown looking out the window on his chair, Perry White turns around and he is a dwarf (sorry again for sounding rude).
My Point is Peter Dinklage would be an awesome and funny Perry White.
(note after Dinklage, their are NO more GoT actors in this fancast).

If you guys don’t like that cast, it was a just a tease, sorry. However if you don’t like my actual pick then IDK. Comment another choice.

Laurance Fishburne- Perry White

Fishburne is perfect for this role without a doubt so I am keeping him as Perry White. Another reason is he is a very good actor he was great on CSI, The Matrix, Predators. Perry White is Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kents boss on Daily Planet. His catchphrase is “Great Ceasar’s ghost”.

Emma Stone as Lana Lang.

Reason- Before she was cast as Gwen Stacey in Amazing Spider-Man, she was a perfect choice for Lana Lang or Mary Jane Watson. She is a good actress, I liked her on Zombieland, Superbad, she suprised me on The Help, which by way is a good movie. I can easily see Emma Stone as Lana Lang. Besides she is 4 years younger then Cavill and she is a year younger then Richard Madden.

Dominic Purcell as Orion

Reason- The guy is another fan favorite for the role Orion son of Darkseid and adopted son of Highfather. Dom was a bad Dracula but he could redeem his comic book movie status playing Orion. He is a good actor, watch Prison Break he is good on there.

Sam Witwer as Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Reason- The guy is the best choice to take over as Batman once Bale leaves after The Dark Knight Rises. The guy was great as Starkiller on Star Wars Force Unleashed 1-2, Aidan on Being Human, Battlestar Galacitca and did an AWESOME job as Darth Maul on Star Wars the Clone Wars Season 5 Finale. He is 33 and is 4 years older then Cavill and is 6 years older then Madden. My point is he can pull off Bruce Wayne and Batman.

Villains for Superman Earth One.

Ray Stevenson as General Zod

Reason- Ray Stevenson is perfect for General Zod, but I believe Michael Shannon will do great as Zod, as long HE says “KNEEL BEFORE ZOD”. Ray was awesome on ROME, Punisher Warzone and was funny on THOR. I believe he can pull off a great Zod and he is the same age as Bana.
Other choices- Viggo Mortenson, Nikolaj Coster-Waldeu

Eva Green as Faora.

Reason- Eva is a great choice for Faora, WATCH her on Casino Royale, CAMELOT and that creepy incest/threeway love film. I know that other chick would do a good job as Faora but wouldn’t mind seeing how Eva Green would turn out as Faora. I know, I cast Eva Green in my KOTOR Fancast, DAO Fancast but she is good actress. I seen Dark Shadows last night, pretty good movie I say. She was pretty good on the movie and funny but wasn’t paying full attention as I was staring 8 inches south of her. If you don’t get the joke, I’ll comment below.

Ralph Fiennes as Brainiac

Reason- I like the actor, he was an awsome Voldermort on Harry Potter Movie Series, Hades on Clash of the Titans. He has the voice to sound like Brainiac and he will motion capture the character. Brainiac is not really a villain but would be in Earth One’s Sequel.

Stephen Dorff as Lex Luthor

Reason- Stephen is a good actor, he was good on Power of One, BLADE, Backbeat, Somewhere. I forget who originally put Stephen Dorff as Luthor is a good choice and thanks to who thought of him as Luthor.
Luthor will have a cameo on Movie 1, becomes a priimary antagonist on Movie II, becomes the main Antagonist of Movie 3.

Brian Austion Green as John Corben/Metallo

Reason- I thought he was a good choice for Metallo after seeing him on SMALLVILLE. Despite how the character was treated, I would like the character to be darker then he was on SMALLVILLE. I am sure if given another chance he will do a great job as Metallo.
Metallo is the main villain in Movie 3, well one of the 3 villains.

Tony Todd as the voice of Parasite.

Reason- A few others put him as Parasite, I for one like this option he has the voice to pull it off. He was creepy on Candyman films, good on the Crow, he did a good job as the voice of “The Fallen” on Transformers 2, luckily they didn’t Leonard Nimoy to voice The Fallen like they originally supposeto. Tony Todd can do an awesome job as the voice of Parasite.
Parasite is one of the 3 villains in Movie 3.

Kathy Bates as Granny Goodness

Reason- WATCH HER on Misery, after watching that movie you will know why I cast Kathy Bates as Granny Goodness.

Andre Braugher as the voice of Darkseid.

Reason- I for one is getting SICK of people picking Michael Ironside over and over again. To be honest I am getting sick of him voicing Darkseid, I for one liked Andre Braugher’s job as Darkseid. He did a great job voicing him on SUPERMAN/BATMAN: APOCALYPSE. He DESERVES a second chance to voice Darkseid, he was great on the role.
Also Glen Jacobs best known as “Kane” in WWE will motion capture Darkseid.
Darkseid is the main antagonist of Movie 4.

THAT’S ALL FOLKS !!!

I hope you guys liked my fancast, comment below.

Next week, I’ll start my fancast for a Justice League film which I have 4-5 film arc. Then posting an hour long, 15 episodes of a possible HBO Dragon Age Origins tv series, yeah I wrote 15 episodes.

From: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/PlanetStarkiller21/news/?a=59550