Frantic as a cardiograph scratching out the lines, Day 120: Superman/Wonder Woman: Whom Gods Destroy #4

• by Greg Burgas
• in Scratching Out the Lines

There’s nothing more fun than killing the president!

It’s been 15 years since I read this comic (since I bought it, in fact), so I honestly have no clue what’s going on in it. It’s an Elseworlds comic, I know that, and Claremont, who ditched Marvel for a time in the mid-1990s to work for DC (did Sovereign Seven really last 36 issues?), teamed up with Dusty Abell on this four-issue series (whatever happened to Dusty Abell?). So we get this first page, where Claremont uses the tried-and-true method of having a newscaster explain what the heck is going on. Manoli Wetherell is reporting, which is somewhat hilarious. Wetherell exists in the real world (she works for NPR), plus, Claremont used her in the Uncanny X-Men back in the day, so perhaps this DC Elseworlds takes place in Marvel-616. Wetherell tells us that the president is dead, which is the big shocker of the page. Then, to hammer the point home, she tells us that the president and first lady are Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris, and Air Force One has crashed. The use of a newscaster is always clever, and Claremont sets up the scenario quite nicely. Even if you’re a new reader and miss the Easter egg, at least you get that this is a fairly traumatic event.

The caption boxes (good old Tom Orzechowski letters this) are placed well along the smoke trail that Abell draws (Drew Geraci inked this, by the way) leading to the plane, which is a nice way to lead our eyes down to the wreckage. That helps us take in the entire scene of the plane sticking out of the Capitol building, which is a horrific scene but which is oddly humorous – why didn’t the plane break up? Abell does a good job with the splash, as the destruction is in the background and the firefighters are in the foreground, placing the men who are trying to save lives in the forefront. It’s a nice way to show the destruction but not overwhelm the human factor. Gloria Vasquez, who colors the book, does a nice job with the shadows thrown by the fire (I suppose that could be Geraci or Abell, too, but let’s give credit to Vasquez). The marble of the Capitol is quite keen, too – it’s not quite white, and that helps highlight both the time of day and the eerie light of the flames. The sky is nicely lit by the flames, too, as it bleeds from pink to purple as we get higher.

This is a pretty dynamic page for an image of the aftermath of a place crash (dang, that’s a lot of prepositional phrases). It’s nice-looking and it’s intriguing enough to make you turn the page, so Claremont and Abell do their job. Well, I think they do!

Next: Okay, I’ll do a page from Uncanny X-Men. Don’t twist my arm! Remember – there’s already some Uncanny X-Men in the archives!

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From: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/04/29/frantic-as-a-cardiograph-scratching-out-the-lines-day-120-supermanwonder-woman-whom-gods-destroy-4/

YORKTOWN, Ind. — In the world of comic books, Mark Waid is unquestionably a star.

Now, the Alabama native, who has written at least 1,200 of them, is also a Yorktown resident.

“The beauty of the job is, I’d do this for free,” he said recently, seated behind a desk on which a caped Superman model stepped into thin air, while a bag of smoked almonds waited to supply energy to see him through another marathon writing session.

Friendly, 50 and bespectacled, Waid has loved comic books his whole life, discovering them at age 4 or 5, his imagination piqued by television shows like Batman.

“I was caught up in it right from there,” Waid said. “I never stopped reading comics.”

Having “played around” with them as a kid, he had a Superman script published in 1985 and then joined the staff of DC Comics as an editor.

“It was a boot camp for the writer in me,” he said, noting it taught him every aspect of the comic-book business. “Other than putting the staples in the things, that’s all that’s left for me to do.”

The centers of the comic-book world are New York City and Los Angeles, the latter being where Waid worked the last 10 years.

So, what brought him to Yorktown last June?

His girlfriend, Christy Branch, whom he met at a Chicago fan convention, is working on a doctorate at Ball State University. Living with a commuting relationship at first, they opted instead to buy a house here, a not-uncommon relocation where, thanks to computers, an artist like Waid can live anywhere he pleases.

These days, he freelances for DC and Marvel comics, the biggest names in the business. After knocking around a story idea, he will produce a script in a week, and in the past has even been known to do some of his own artwork.

Comics he has written for include The Hulk, The Incredibles, X-Men, The Flash, the critically acclaimed Kingdom Come series and, though it seems slightly out of place in that company, Archie.

“I have written a wider range of well-known comic characters than anybody alive,” he said, simply.

Meanwhile, one of his comic book projects, the detective series Potter’s Field, has been optioned for television.

“There is exciting stuff happening,” he agreed. “If that takes off, great. If it doesn’t, I still have a great day job.”

His favorite character to write, though, is the classic of classics.

“I would love to say I work 9 to 5, but not a chance,” he said as Impulse, a gray cat named after a comic book character he created, silently padded along the carpet, weaving between his feet. “These days, it’s 9 until I fall asleep. … I don’t leave my desk.”

“Anything I ever do with Superman is always my favorite,” he said, pointing out the bright yellow door to his office, one modeled after the door on the Man of Steel’s Fortress of Solitude.

Whoever he is writing, it takes a little mental adjustment.

“You really have to work from the inside,” Waid explained. “You have to know why they do what they do. You have to put on the suit, so to speak.”

You have to put in the hours, too.

“I would love to say I work 9 to 5, but not a chance,” he said as Impulse, a gray cat named after a comic book character he created, silently padded along the carpet, weaving between his feet. “These days, it’s 9 until I fall asleep. … I don’t leave my desk.”

Adding to his work these days is the fact that Waid, who studied journalism and physics at Virginia Commonwealth University, is taking his beloved comic books into the digital age.

“It sounds kind of egotistical,” he said, forthrightly, “but I am kind of leading the charge. … There will always be print comics, but I’m making the transition to digital as well.”

Placing an iPad before a visitor, he barely touched the screen before it erupted in deep color, the action images of a superhero looking far sharper than they could with ink and paper.

As with any publication, one could download a veritable stack of comic books to the electronic device.

“I can take a bunch of them on a plane,” Waid said.

There is a whole generation of kids who didn’t grow up with comics who could be turned on to them digitally, which wouldn’t hurt future sales a bit.

“Apple sells more iPads in an hour than the totality of people who buy print comics these days,” Waid added.

Nevertheless, after nearly a half-century as a fan and 25 years in the business, he still likes comic books in whatever form they take.

How does he pass his Saturdays, the one day he takes off from work?

“I’m probably reading comics,” Waid said with a laugh. “There’s a part of me that will never grow up enough not to buy comics.”

___

Information from: The Star Press, http://www.thestarpress.com

From: http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/7744950ba2294a9ba54a6b0acc10d2a1/IN--Exchange-Superheroes-in-Yorktown/

In ‘Superman’ #7, the Man of Steel had his first ever encounter with Helspont, one of the Daemonite villains from the Wildstorm comics that was folded into the DCU at the start of the New 52. Helspot proved to be quite powerful and was making an attempt to control Superman… but can he do it?

As this issue opens, it appears as if Helspont has succeeded in controlling Superman and turning him into a monstrosity. Superman is fleeing from some sort of special forces group that is trying to take him down. However, small details appear that make it seem as if something isn’t right.

Warning: Spoilers!

The special ops team keep referring to Superman as “the Superman” or “it”. There are anti-Superman logos painted on some of the building walls. Either time has jumped forward quite a bit since last issue or something peculiar is going on. Then Clark wakes up at his desk. Oh! So it’s all been a dream? But Clark is writing a piece on Superman going rogue and Jimmy talks about some tragedy that has befallen Lois. Something still isn’t quite kosher.

Then Superman comes to back inside Helspont’s fortress. It seems as if the villain was attempting to gain control of  Superman’s mind using some sort of Daemonite “bug”. The bug caused Superman to see a possible future in which he was a menace instead of a hero.

Last issue, I was excited to see Helspont. Not having been a fan of Wildstorm, I thought the villain would provide some much-needed expansion of Superman’s villain roster. However, the whole mind-control thing this issue ended that hope. The way that the Daemonite bug tried to control Superman through visions was too akin to the classic story ‘For the Man Who Has Everything’ by Alan Moore. In that story, Mongul tried to control Superman using the Black Mercy plant but, instead of giving apocalyptic visions, it showed Superman his perfect world. So, the story this issue was different… but it was too similar for my tastes. I wanted the Helspont confrontation to be something so much more but it turns out that it’s just a new skin thrown over an old trope. (Heck! The Daemonite bug even resembled the Black Mercy with its tentacles!)

On the bright side, I loved the artwork from Dan Jurgens. I’ve been a fan of his Superman work since the 80s and, despite some lame stories, into the 90s. But Keith Giffen, as a seasoned writer, should have known better than to lift a plot almost directly from a story that any comic fan is already going to have read before.

Now I’m just looking forward to this Helspont bit to be over so we can wash our collective palate clean and get onto something new.

Verdict: Burn

SUPERMAN #8
Written by KEITH GIFFEN
Art by DAN JURGENS and JESUS MERINO
Cover by IVAN REIS, JOE PRADO, and ROD REIS

Related articles:

1. Comic Book Review: Superman #714
2. Comic Book Review: ‘Superman’ #4
3. Comic Book Review: ‘Superman’ #5
4. Comic Book Review: ‘Project Superman’ #1 – Flashpoint Tie-in
5. Comic Book Review: ‘Project Superman’ #2 – Flashpoint Tie-in

From: http://sciencefiction.com/2012/04/27/comic-book-review-superman-8/

Seth Green, Nathan Fillion as well as Alfred Molina will also lend their voice in the episode that features Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and more superhero characters.

“Robot Chicken” is set to deliver its take on DC Comics’ characters. The animated television series has a special taking place within the universe that features such famous superheroes as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Co-creator Seth Green will voice Batman, Robin and Aquaman. Also joining the cast ensemble are Neil Patrick Harris as Two-Face, Megan Fox as Lois Lane, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Alfred Molina as Lex Luthor, Paul Reubens as The Riddler, and Breckin Meyer as Superman.

“Having been raised on DC Comics and the Super Friends vs. Legion of Doom, it’s exciting to tell a whole Robot Chicken story within this awesome universe,” Green said. Meanwhile, DC Entertainment chief creative officer Geoff Johns said the experience of working with Green and co-creator Matthew Senreich “has always been nothing short of insanity over the years.”

“DC, Warner Bros. Animation and Adult Swim together – how could anyone resist?” Johns went on gushing, as Senreich added, “We’ve been working with Johns for over 15 years, so playing together on this special only made it more fun to work in the worlds we all love so dearly.”

Green will direct the 22-minute special, which is slated to premiere this fall on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. A first look at the superhero-themed edition has since made its way out via TV Guide in a form of a picture that features the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and The Flash.

© AceShowbiz.com

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From: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00050007.html

The Robot Chicken gang is entering the superhero world.

‘Robot Chicken’ Duo Launch Animation StudioNathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin’s Reunion on ‘Castle’ Recalls Great ‘Firefly’ Moments (Video)Neil Patrick Harris Talks Acting, Musical Theater and Receiving his Walk of Fame Star (QA)

Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich are teaming with DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation for a one-time special taking place within the universe that features the likes of Superman, Batman and Lois Lane.

Set to air in the fall on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, the voice cast includes Green as Batman, Robin and Aquaman; Paul Reubens as the Riddler; Neil Patrick Harris as Two-Face; Alfred Molina as Lex Luthor; Nathan Fillion as the Green Lantern; Megan Fox as Lois Lane; and Breckin Meyer as Superman. Additional voice cast includes Senreich, Abe Benrubi, Alex Borstein, Clare Grant, Tara Strong, Tom Root and Zeb Wells.

“Working with Seth and Matthew and the rest of the Robot Chicken crew has always been nothing short of insanity over the years,” DC Entertainment chief creative officer Geoff Johns said. “DC, Warner Bros. Animation and Adult Swim together — how could anyone resist?”

The Robot Chicken DC Comics Special becomes the latest effort for the Emmy-winning series to skewer another universe and follows the series’ popular Star Wars installments.

“Having been raised on DC Comics and the Super Friends vs. Legion of Doom, it’s exciting to tell a whole Robot Chicken story within this awesome universe,” Green said.

Added Senreich: “We’ve been working with Johns for over 15 years, so playing together on this special only made it more fun to work in the worlds we all love so dearly.”

Green will direct the 22-minute special, which was penned by co-head writers/co-executive producers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root along with Robot Chicken writers Green, Senreich, Wells, Mike Fasolo, Matthew Beans and DC Entertainment’s Johns, Franklin Bash‘s Meyer and MAD‘s Kevin Shinick, who also serves as the narrator, and with Ethan Marak, who co-produces. EPs include Green, Senreich, Johns, Sam Register, John Harvatine and Eric Towner.

The special comes shortly after Green and Senreich’s Stoopid Monkey and Buddy Systems united in December to form Stoopid Buddy Stoodios.

UTA brokered the deal.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit

From: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/robot-chicken-dc-comics-adult-swim-seth-green-nathan-fillion-neil-patrick-harris-316591

Indie comic artist stages ‘War of the Independents’

Dave Ryan is like a caped superman from the pages of his comics who bravely battles on in the face of insurmountable odds.

Ryan and his fellow independent and small-press comic book creators wage a constant battle in a marketplace dominated by DC and Marvel and their vast resources, their welloiled publicity machines, their cons iderable distribution systems and their tried- and-true heroes such as Batman and Spider-Man.

So, the Aberdeen artist/ writer spent the better part of five years enlisting a few hundred of his peers and their characters, and bringing them together in one comic book series.

While “War of the Independents” is a groundbreaking, six-issue epic uniting some 200 characters as widely divergent as the Crusader (a hero who’s faster than a lightning bolt, but can’t muster the courage to tell his girlfriend he’s more than an accountant), Shi (a femme fatale and descendent of ancient warriors) and Cerebus (a gun-toting aardvark), it’s also a lot more.

Dave Ryan As Ryan hints in the book’s very title, “War of the Independents” is a battle cry.

“Independent comics have a lot of imagination and creativity to offer,” said Ryan, who will be signing copies of “War of the Independents” and doing sketches May 5 at TheHobby Shop inAberdeen as part of the store’s Free Comic Book Day promotion. “Independent creators have the freedom to do or say whatever they want or draw whatever they want. You get the true expression from the creator or the artist.”

But bringing together Shadowflame, Atomika, Glitter Girl, Captain Canuck, Lady Nocturne, Mad Man, Cassie Hack, Johnny Raygun, Ms. Monster and dozens of others in one story took a superhuman effort. He contacted dozens of creators, some living in such far-flung locales as Taiwan, Turkey and Ireland. Others he approached at comic book conventions with waiver in hand and an appeal: There‘s strength in numbers.

“What appealed to me about Dave is the humanitarian way he’s gone about ‘War of the Independents,’ ” said Mercer County creator Mariano Nicieza, whose character, Phazer, plays a pivotal role in the storyline. “On one hand, it’s self-serving. He’s putting out a book using characters he doesn’t own. But on the other side, there are many, many, many characters and creators in the book that, if Dave had not had the wherewithal to make the books, they would have no way to get their work out there.

“He’s providing a service to hundreds of these creators, these talented guys in their basements or whatever, who had no real venue to get their characters out there.”

Getting permission to use Shaloman, Doc Creepy, Space Wraith and Drunken Monkey in “War of the Independents” was only half the battle. Ryan had to figure out how to incorporate so many characters into a coherent storyline. That’s when, ironically, he drew inspiration from the big publishers’ major events, such as Marvel’s “Civil War” and DC’s “Infinite Crisis.”

“What I decided to do was to break the issues up into themes,” said Ryan. “In Issue 2, we use all the African American characters. In Issue 3, it’s the supermen. Issue 4 is all the cartoon characters, such as Too Much Coffee Man, the Flaming Carrot, Zippy the Pinhead Clown.” Ryan says that the Archie crew and Felix the Cat will likely make an appearance in Issue 4 at a Public Enemy concert — yes, the legendary rap group has given Ryan their blessing to put them into “War of the Independents.” Then Issue 6 will feature the lower-powered heroes, before the whole thing ends in what Ryan calls a “brawlfest.”

There’s a classic good vs. evil theme running through the story. Maldestrak and other villains are trying to collect various artifacts that will unlock a portal and allow the insidious Razorjack through. Captain Action, El Valiente and the other heroes will risk everything to stop them.

While DC, a subsidiary of Time Warner, and Marvel, a subsidiary of Disney, have deep pockets, Ryan is a freelance artist who does commissioned work and gives art lessons to make ends meet. So he turned to the comic book community to help bankroll “War of the Independents.” He used Kickstarter.com, a platform where creators can offer perks such as original artwork or copies of the comic in return for pledges. The $5,000 he raised helped pay for the letterer to add the word balloons and a colorist to ply his pallet to the panels.

With the first two issues already published through his Red Anvil Comics label, Ryan said Issue 3 should be out by the end of May. There are plans to send some of the characters off on their own adventures in some spin-offs. Eventually the main story line will be collected into a graphic novel. There’s even a card set cataloguing some of the characters.

Texas-based creator Richard Dominguez, who has lent his character El Gato Negro to the comic, said “War of the Independents” has become the nexus in a revolution that has bonded dozens of indie creators who can swap war stories about distribution fiascos and share publicity successes.

It’s been a dream come true for Ryan, who has been nominated for three Eagle awards — one of the most prestigious honors in the comics industry — for his work on “War of the Independents.”

“Dave has shown so much drive and energy in how he went out and recruited these creators,” Nicieza said. “It’s no small feat getting hundreds of creators under one roof. It’s historic. That part of it cannot be underplayed. It’s monumental just getting them to make it happen, and that’s not including producing the book and the marketing and getting it into stores.

“Just making it happen is huge.”

From: http://ind.gmnews.com/news/2012-04-26/Front_Page/Indie_comic_artist_stages_War_of_the_Independents.html

First seen in the pages of The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman‘s superhero book Invincible, the Guardians of the Globe are getting their own ongoing series with Guarding the Globe, starring the creative team of writer Phil Hester and artist Todd Nauck and a cast of more than a dozen heroes.

A story in Image Comics’ Free Comic Book Day special issue, which you can find in comic shops May 5, acts as a “trailer” for the new series, and it also acts as a “tidy little bridge” from the 2010 Guarding the Globe miniseries, according to Nauck.

Kirkman and Benito Cereno penned that adventure, which featured the villainous Set and his minions schooling the Guardians and laying waste to Paris. Hester says the heroes who lived through that return in the new series, which picks up the pieces from the epic battle.

The new Invincible, formerly known as Bulletproof and now standing in for the original Invincible, will be a part of the team. The invulnerable Brit, who Hester says is probably his favorite Kirkman character ever, is going to get plenty of panel time, too, as will female boxer Knockout, super-strong Monster Girl and Chinese gunslinger Best Tiger.

Nauck’s favorites include Yeti, “an abominable snowman that is technically more of an early teen in his people’s years,” and the French bulldog powerhouse Le Brusier who “loves the limelight,” the artist says.

The Guardians had started out as similar archetypes to DC Comics’ Justice League of America, but has gone far beyond that now, Hester says. Guarding the Globe will show that being a superhero can be a workaday existence, and will showcase lesser-seen characters.

Nauck finds that they can stand squarely on their own against any other superteam. “We don’t really have any strictly archetypal Superman or Wonder Woman type. I also feel that these characters are unique in their visuals.”

Hester finds the characters in Guarding have a similar freshness to Invincible. “There’s a slight sense of familiarity, at least enough to get you to the table, but also a sense of the new and unexpected that keep you coming back for more. It’s a great chance to both pay homage to superheroes and upend them a bit in way that isn’t cynical, but humanizing.”

There are so many characters, though, Hester quips that he wakes up at night with a start when he realizes he has left heroes out due to the sheer volume of the thing. But while things happening in Kirkman’s Invincible book may affect his, you don’t have to have be a devotee of the “Kirkmanverse” or be immersed in Guardians lore to enjoy it.

“Part of the challenge for me as a writer is to make the book accessible without slowing the story,” Hester explains. “That said, I don’t buy the idea that continuity scares readers away. I know when I was a kid, X-Men, The Legion of Super-Heroes, Fantastic Four and The Avengers were continuity labyrinths, but I didn’t care because the stories were good. Hell, the confusion was almost an added enticement.

“I wanted to be in on all the secrets. I wanted to get that inside information that was doled out each issue. It was interactive. That’s the key: make a good comic book and people will jump aboard the moving train and put the pieces together as we roll.”

Although he was a fan of sprawling team books as a youngster, Hester never thought he’d get a chance to tackle a proper superpowered group, other than a brief run on Gen 13.

It was a no-brainer when Kirkman approached him about jump-starting the Guardians, and Hester wants to follow his lead from Invincible to design a book that’s fast-paced but also has some emotional heft.

Nauck appreciates that the series will offer bad-guy problems and more real-world issues, too. “These heroes look to help communities worldwide and in people’s personal lives in times of trouble or disaster. I think that is a consistent aspect that sets this book apart from other comic series.”

The artist is no stranger to superheroes: Nauck is a veteran of DC Comics’ Young Justice, and also illustrated Spider-Man stories and issues full of other characters for Marvel Comics. Yet he, too, jumped at the chance to work with Kirkman and his Image imprint, Skybound.

“This superhero universe is filled with super-powered action, adventure and life drama really hitting a global scale,” Nauck says. “It’s a great roller-coaster ride and what I read comics for.”

From: http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/story/2012-04-23/Guarding-the-Globe-comic-book-series/54491686/1

In 2004, the stakes for non-compliance rose. Failure to file meant potential fines and criminal charges. Americans abroad can be punished for non-compliance even if they owed no income tax — and IRS data show that indeed most of them don’t owe money to the U.S. government.

Income up to $95,100 isn’t taxed under a rule called the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. In 2009, the income cap was $91,400, and 88 per cent of all taxpayers claiming the foreign earned income exclusion owed nothing. Since 2008, the IRS has offered several voluntary-disclosure grace periods during which expatriates can file back taxes without facing criminal charges — but with the possibility of incurring penalties.

Marylouise Serrato, head of American Citizens Abroad, a non-profit organization based in Geneva, says that many members feel scared about reporting requirements they did not know existed. Their disenchantment, she says, is pushing some to renounce.

“Americans abroad are terrified. We’ve had people pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines. We’ve had people pay huge amounts of back taxes,� she says. “Up to this point, we never heard of anyone renouncing, or if they did, they didn’t talk about it,� says Serrato, who says her group does not advocate renunciation.

“Now,� she says, “we’re seeing a lot of people speak openly about it and come to us for information.�

Congress is taking note.

“While I fully support measures that reduce fraud and address offshore havens, the U.S. should not have policies that place undue burdens on legitimate Americans abroad,� says Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York, who chairs the Congressional Americans Abroad Caucus. Maloney says she has taken the matter to the Department of the Treasury, which oversees the IRS.

Lawyers report that banking is a big reason why people renounce.

“I hear about banking problems again and again and again,� says Phil Hodgen, a lawyer who has been helping Americans expatriate since 2008. The new reporting rules, he says, pose “a huge administrative burden. It’s made Americans too expensive to keep.�

Francisca N. Mordi, vice-president and senior tax counsel at the American Bankers Association, says she has received a number of calls from Americans in Europe complaining about banks closing their accounts. “They’re going to drop Americans like hot potatoes,� Mordi says. “The foreign banks are upset enough about the regulations that they’re saying they just won’t keep American customers, and it’s giving [Americans living abroad] a lot of sleepless nights.�

Taxpayer complaints sometimes make their way to Nina Olson, the U.S. taxpayer advocate for the IRS, who addressed some of the international tax issues in a December report.

“The complexity of international tax law, combined with the administrative burden placed on these taxpayers, creates an environment where taxpayers who are trying their best to comply simply cannot,� the report reads. “For some, this means paying more U.S. tax than is legally required, while others may be subject to steep civil and criminal penalties. For some U.S taxpayers abroad, the tax requirements are so confusing and the compliance burden so great that they give up their U.S. citizenship.�

From: http://www.vancouversun.com/rules+push+some+Americans+take+hike/6500529/story.html

Documentarian Morgan Spurlock is finding that to be true as he traverses the USA and shows audiences his latest film Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope (now in theaters and available on VOD), which follows different people at the huge pop-culture convention that invades San Diego every July.

“You start to realize that the more people who see this film, the more people who suddenly go, ‘Oh my God, I am a geek,’ ” Spurlock says, laughing. “There are geek epiphanies happening all across America.”

Comic-Con Episode IV— a riff on the more recent parlance used for George Lucas‘ original Star Wars film — features interviews with such geek luminaries as filmmaker Kevin Smith, The Avengers director Joss Whedon and comic-book celebrities Stan Lee, Joe Quesada, Grant Morrison and Frank Miller.

Yet there are regular folks, too, whose journeys Spurlock chronicles, including a pair of artists who are trying to break into comics, a game-inspired costumer hoping to win the convention’s infamous Masquerade, and an older comic-book store owner who has seen Comic-Con become a massive event for movies and TV from the once smallish meeting for comic lovers.

Spurlock had sent out a wide casting call for people to film at the 2010 Comic-Con and received around 2,000 submissions from across the globe. Spurlock and his team narrowed the field to the 10 he followed for the week they filmed. (The DVD will feature people who didn’t make the final cut, as well as interviews with nerd-friendly stars Felicia Day, Ron Perlman, Nathan Fillion and Zachary Quinto.)

The story he felt the closest to turned out to be that of James Darling and Se Young Kang, a couple who had met at the previous year’s gathering. Darling’s mission was to propose to his girlfriend at Comic-Con during Smith’s panel in the 6,500-seat Hall H auditorium, where Spurlock captured the moment with seven cameramen.

“You have no second take — you have no chance to do it again,” Spurlock says. “You’re in those moments and you’re like, ‘Please just let this be good.’ And then you get back to edit it and you’re getting chills just like you did the first time you were there shooting it.”

Spurlock, who was tempted to film Comic-Con properly after going in 2009 to find Simpsons super-fans for the cartoon’s 20th anniversary special, brought the largest group he’s ever used on a film for A Fan’s Hope: 150 people and 15 full camera crews.

And unlike his previous films such as Super Size Me and The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Spurlock stayed completely off camera and made the people he followed the true stars. “As much as I’m a fan, I didn’t want it to be about me as a fan going to make a movie.”

Spurlock’s own “geek epiphany” happened as a 6-year-old, when he would watch The Electric Company and its live-action Spider-Man. Lee did the voice-overs, Spurlock says, which caused him to start reading Marvel comic books such as The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers, Uncanny X-Men and Thor.

As a fanboy himself, Spurlock went into A Fan’s Hope with an air of respect for geek culture and refrained from depicting the convention as a freak show of people dressed up as superheroes and Japanese manga characters.

“The film does a great job of humanizing these people,” he says. “The film is incredibly funny, and you may be laughing at certain scenes but you’re never really laughing at somebody. It’s never ridicule, and for me that’s what makes the film really work.

From: http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/story/2012-04-21/Morgan-Spurlock-Comic-Con-documentary/54443074/1

All it takes is a quick scan of Marvel Comics’ massive roster of fantastical characters to realize the importance of Stan Lee to the comic book world.

Most great comic creators have one or two signature creations to their name, as in Siegel and Shuster’s Superman or Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. Lee, on the other hand, co-created an entire universe, the writer and former Marvel editor-in-chief is linked to more than 500 characters. These include the iconic likes of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Avengers and X-Men, who have made the transition to blockbuster movies.

But the impact he made on pop culture extends far beyond the comic book world.

We see this in the documentary With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story — screening Sunday at the Globe Cinema as part of the Calgary Underground Film Festival — as such movers and shakers of modern pop culture as Bryan Singer, Kevin Smith, Seth Rogen, Jon Favreau, James Franco, Frank Miller and Nicolas Cage sing the praises of the man they all view as a seminal influence.

Lee’s impact is further felt in the work of such prominent directors as Joss Whedon and Sam Raimi (who have been involved with Marvel movies) as well as the likes of J.J. Abrams (see the comic book vibe of TV’s Lost or a movie like Super and James Cameron (The Terminator and Avatar could easily have been storyboarded in the pages of a Marvel Comic).

Then there’s the popular sitcom Big Bang Theory, its lovable nerds frequently hailing Lee as a god among men.

All of this is entirely fitting according to Will Hess, co-director of With Great Power.

“If you think of all the great 20th-century creators, Jim Henson, George Lucas, Walt Disney — Stan Lee goes hand in hand with them,� Hess says.

Co-director Nikki Frakes agrees. “I’m a big traveller and I have to say, in the 40 countries I’ve been to, I’ve never been to a country where I don’t see Stan’s influences,� she says. “Be it someone wearing a Spider-Man T-shirt or Spider-Man painted on a wall, or some form of merchandising, his influence is felt everywhere around the globe.�

Lee, who emerged as the first comic-book creator of celebrity status, was also instrumental in the birth of today’s comic convention culture, epitomized by massive crossover events like the San Diego Comic Con and the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, wherein comic book artists and writers are received as stars by thousands of fans.

(Lee will be appearing at all three days of the Calgary Comic Entertainment Expo, running next Friday through Sunday.)

Lee, a dynamic figure in his own right who naturally attracted the media spotlight, instigated this phenomenon across the industry by giving prominent credits to the talent behind each issue. As well, in his editor’s page he treated his collaborators at Marvel as fun, quirky personalities who the fans could relate to.

“He made readers feel like they were part of this family, this club,� says Frakes.

Terry Dougas, who also co-directed With Great Power says that fans regard Lee as a figure of inspiration. “He’s the American dream,� Dougas says. “He’s a super-simple man who works hard and loves it and he achieved so much. . . . He’s become a global pop culture force.�

From: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Stan+powers+have+stretched+well+beyond+comics/6494836/story.html