First Henry Cavill Superman Image

British actor Henry Cavill (The Tudors, Immortals) is Superman in Zack Snyder’s (300,Sucker Punch) 2013 Superman reboot. Laurence Fishburne was officially cast as his boss at The Daily Planet, Perry White. Yes, White is..white, but I can see Fishburne in the role.

The suit is obviously textured, for easier special affects use I’d assume, and there’s no sign of the famous spit curl or red undies. The cape looks huge too, but overall, I like it. It’s darker, like the original comics costume, and the smashed safe wall seem to allude to a powerful fight for the Man of Steel. Finally!

The noticeable thing is that by the time this gets to the screen, the new comics costume, as designed by Jim Lee, will have already been out for 2 years, but I guess this film costume is what most people associate with the Man of Steel, plus the more armoured new comics version would probably look rather odd in action.

August 4, 2011
Categories: Movies, New To Comics?, News . Tags: , , , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Three Short Stories

It’s been ages since I’ve done any creative writing, But when I was at Uni a few years ago, I was quite productive. I though I might as well start uploading them, so here’s 3 of my short stories (in a rare serious tone) as part of a Creative Writing sampler.

“His World”

His was a dark world. Devoid of all the good things that gentlemen and educated women often discussed.

No friends. Nor family meetings. Only whatever social contact was necessary to achieve the task.

Few could live this way. Few have.

A predator amongst men. Anything with breath; a potential target. As long as they breathed evil. He would have no part in erasing good. It was a rarity in his experience. Something to be valued, protected. A smile to a stranger. A tip for an earnest waiter. These were valid attempts. He went further. He fought the encroaching evil. RO 12:9 “Cling to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” The book of Romans. Chapter 12. Verse 9. His only distinguishable feature. A seemingly insignificant tattoo on his right palm. His gun hand. His motivation, his mantra. To be etched on his tombstone , if he were allowed one. No matter. Recognition was a weakness. It was necessary neither in death nor life. Invisibility was perhaps his greatest ally.

“The Rebel”

He made his mark alone on the wall he’d spied on for quite some time. How many people passed this wall? How many minds ready for rebellion? It surprised him that no-one had exploited this brick canvas before. Or, maybe someone had. The cops quelled any anti-United Earth sentiment with brutal efficiency. He wanted to take the chance. That’s why he came here. These streets offered some cover at nightfall, but the feeling of the city remained the same during waking hours. It wasn’t what it used to be. It was far worse, and not because of the constant patrols and intrusive surveillance. Big Brother was semi-welcome here. The people were desperate for peace. But now that they had it, they questioned its price. Not publicly of course. The facade could never be questioned. One doubtful, fearful voice could quite possibly ensnare others. Then where would it end? Everyone knew the city could easily revert to what it once was. An ugly place. A mass of hate and danger. Humanity was at a loss here.

“Emily Ross”

Emily Ross is 9 years old. She had a party planned. All her friends from school and netball were going to be there. At least her 8th birthday was fun.

Here, the nurses were nice. Her Mum bought her dinner each night. Spaghetti. Her Mum always made the best spaghetti.

Strangely, she did miss school. Not the homework, but Miss Fanelli, her Italian teacher. And playing at lunch-time.

She could sit up and watch netball on TV though.

Whenever she had visitors from school, she put her wig back on. It was itchy, but she felt weird without out. Emily Ross likes netball, and spaghetti, and Italian.

Emily Ross was 9 years old.

 

August 4, 2011
Categories: My Serious Stories . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Behind the Scenes of Animal Man

Animal Man is one of the 52 new series DC is releasing in September, as part of their massive relaunch. Grant Morrison made the character his own when he wrote the series from 1988 to 1990 and now Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf’s excellent The Essex County Trilogy) is having a go at the adventures of Buddy Baker.

Here’s his original proposal as seen on DC’s blog, The Source.

ANIMAL MAN monthly series, September 2011
Talent:
Jeff Lemire, writer
TBD, artist

The high concept: Family man or superman? With the power to absorb the traits of any animal Buddy Baker has made a career as a part-time superhero. But when his young daughter begins to develop incredibly dangerous powers of her own, the Bakers will have to give up their quiet suburban life and go on the run across America.

The Cast:

BUDDY BAKER: Animal Man. Father, husband and part-time superhero.
ELLEN BAKER: Buddy’s supportive wife. Her strength keeps the family together.
CLIFF BAKER: 12-year old son, rebellious and jealous of his sister.
MAXINE BAKER: 8-year old daughter. Possibly the next avatar of The Red and the most dangerous living creature on Earth.
THE TOTEMS: CONFIDENTIAL
THE HUNTERS: CONFIDENTIAL
SOCKS: Avatar of The Red from the 1950’s.

Overview:

Buddy Baker’s superhero career is a part-time concern at best. And aside from flirting with an acting career in arthouse indie films, Buddy seems to be doing little to pull in a steady income, putting undo stress on his already tumultuous marriage. To make matters worse, Buddy and Ellen’s young daughter, 8-year old Maxine, is exhibiting incredible and dangerous powers, powers she’s too young to understand or control.

Outline:

For our purposes we’ll skim over all of his involvement in 52 and Countdown. That stuff happened, but let’s move on and get back to Buddy as a suburban family man, rather than cosmic globetrotter.

Basically we start with Buddy’s best days as a superhero behind him. But, Buddy has found a bit of a second life. His past exploits, his politics and his involvement in various animal rights groups have made him something of a hipster icon. The young, left wing college crowd has latched onto the image of Animal Man as if he were something of an indie/alt icon of the 90’s. Unfortunately, that really isn’t helping to pay the bills.

As our series opens Buddy is actually reading an interview he did in a “Believer-type” magazine at the kitchen table as Ellen makes diner (the first page of the first issue is actually an excerpt from this interview, complete with the little illustrated headshot of Buddy, which catches readers up on Buddy’s recent past and his lessening involvement in super heroics, and his re-emergence within youth culture). There is clearly stress in their marriage. Buddy is doing little to help make ends meet and Ellen’s career as an illustrator is drying up.

We establish their quiet suburban life and routine and reintroduce readers to their three kids: Cliff, is now fourteen, anti-social and rebellious. Maxine is an introverted and shy ten-year old, and four-year old Josie is clearly the apple of Buddy’s eye.

As our story begins, Maxine begins to develop powers of her own. Buddy tries his best to help Maxine, but instead he accidentally sets into motion an ancient evil that will send The Baker family on the run across the dark and dangerous underbelly of modern America and right into the hands of [CLASSIFIED]. And there may be only one being who can save them…Alec Holland.

You can find the script from pages 9-12 of Animal Man #1 right here. You can also see pencilled pages from artist Travel Foreman and inked pages of the same.

August 4, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, New To Comics? . Tags: , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment