Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2003 |
| length | about 100 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Steve Kroopnick |
| script | James Grant Goldin |
| production | James Grant Goldin |
| music | Nick Phoenix |
| camera | Matthew McNeil |
| cut | Dave Harrison |
| occupation | |
| |
Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked is an American documentary released in 2003 . The television film uses interviews to explain the history of the comics , their heroes and their relationship to American culture.
action
Peta Wilson , who came to US cinemas in July 2003 with the comic book adaptation The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen , speaks the introduction and the farewell.
During the Great Depression in the early 1930s, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster , two young Jewish Americans, tried unsuccessfully to sell their science fiction stories to newspapers. But a new medium emerged: comics. Initially, they only contained reused material from newspapers until unpublished narratives were first used in 1935. In June 1938, the first issue of the Action Comics series was published for 10 US cents . It later became a sought-after collector's item with enormous value. The first and greatest comic book superhero Superman was born. This cartoon character was created by Jerry Siegel, who wrote the text, and Joe Shuster, who contributed the illustrations. The comic publisher was Detective Comics, later renamed DC Comics , DC for short . The main readers were boys. Almost a million copies were sold every month. There was also a Superman radio show. The character's success caught the newspapers' attention, and they brought out a daily comic strip that could be read by 20 million people.
In 1939, issue # 27 of DC Comics featured another masked hero: Batman . He fought crime but had no super powers. He was born by comic artist Bob Kane . More and more characters and publishers emerged, one of which was Timely Comics, later called Marvel Comics . Superman has been changed from a rather evil character to a father figure. After the introduction of the young Robin , who was practically adopted and protected by Batman, the sales figures doubled.
Political issues were also taken up in the comics. So was Hitler already declared the enemy and from the comic book character Captain America fights before the Second World War began. Nazi Propaganda Minister Goebbels, on the other hand, called Superman a Jew . Captain America was created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon and served US propaganda. The first edition was sold out. In the spring of 1941, the comic hero led a naval war against an unnamed Asian power. Seven months later, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor . The comic book sales rose within one year, from 1942 to 1943, from 15 million to 25 million copies monthly. The US soldiers also enjoyed reading comics. One topic that was avoided was the Holocaust . Superman solved problems with physical strength. His female counterpart was the sexy Wonder Woman . In 1953, the monthly sales had climbed to nearly 100 million comics. The action superheroes lost their prominence, however, but Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman survived. Her competitors were funny animal characters, westerns and horror stories.
Siegel and Shuster lost a lawsuit against DC Comics in 1948, their inventor rights to the character of Superman were not recognized. They left the publishing house. Soon after, the comic book publishers themselves got into a serious crisis. The psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his popular book Seduction of the Innocent in 1954 , in which he denounced the alleged harmfulness of comics among young readers. In order to forestall state censorship, the comic publishers introduced the Comics Code , a voluntary self-control to prevent too much violence, sexuality, etc. As a result, more moral acts were written, e.g. B. Superman worked increasingly with government agencies. Batman and Wonder Woman were more dedicated to private life. Many writers and publishers gave up. Sales fell by more than half from 1954 to 1956. More and more American children and adolescents turned away from the comics and to the new medium of television .
The Justice League - series was created with several heroic figures. Marvel Comic released The Fantastic Four , a team of four superheroes who didn't want to be. In 1962, Hulk , the victim of an atomic bomb, and Spider-Man appeared , with particular emphasis on the visual design. DC Comics characters treated the reader in a paternal way. With Marvel Comics characters , the behavior often corresponded to the target group, which suggested identification with the comic book character, and for the first time they sold better than the traditional DCs. A rebellion of the youth was announced. The television series Batman came out in 1966 . A Batmania was sweeping the prevailing trend for some time to. The Batman comics doubled their sales and went over the counter nearly 900,000 times a month. After the television series ended, sales fell nearly sixty percent in 1969.
The Vietnam War and the Watergate affair caused criticism and protests in American society. Vietnam was not a theme in comics. A more realistic Wonder Woman without superpowers was rejected by feminists and changed again after four years. The subject of drugs was not mentioned for the time being . But the government wanted to have it mentioned in a chilling way. As a result, Spider-Man remained without the stamp of the comics code for three months, which was subsequently relaxed. A few months later, it was awarded on a much more realistic story. But sales didn't go up, and DC Comics discontinued Green Lantern and Green Arrow two issues later . Superman survived and was made into a film in 1978 with Christopher Reeve in the lead and title role and Margot Kidder as Lois Lane. Siegel and Shuster eventually got a lifelong annual pension and were named in the credits as the creator of the character . DC Comics retained the rights to the character. The first two Superman films were very successful in theaters.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the X-Men comics in 1963 , which became popular in the late 1970s, most notably the character of Wolverine . During the Cold War , darker comic characters emerged, such as Daredevil . The second Robin in the Batman comic, who was relatively unpopular, was allegedly killed in an explosion after a phone vote by readers. Batman was made into a movie . In the late 1970s, a comic cost an average of 40 US cents. That was too much for some young readers, but not enough for the tobacconists. Old editions were also sold to fans as collectibles in specialty stores. The comics went from being a mass-produced item to a specialty product with higher prices and older readers. A successful new comic series in 1988 was The Sandman by Neil Gaiman used, the parts of figures of 1939 and the 1974th The 19th edition was the first comic to win a World Fantasy Award . The story was based on A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare . It was awarded for Best Short Story and not in a comic book category. As a result, the rules for awarding prizes were changed.
Over the next decade there was a sexual revolution in comics and movies. Homosexuality was first discussed in the 1990s. In the early 90s, the comics were financially successful. Authors could now have the rights to the characters they created and earn a lot from it. In 1992, Image Comics released the Spawn comic series and challenged the long-established publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics. The figure of an African American with superpowers sold 1.7 million copies with the first issue. A television series and the film Spawn followed . Graphic novel sounded more impressive than comic. They also took up political issues and dealt with stricter gun laws. Superman and Batman comics made on land mines in z. B. Bosnia attentively.
Old editions fetched high prices. People bought comics as an investment. Sales of the new comics were very good. Some issues went over the counter 6 million times even though there were only half a million readers. The high increase in value was only seen in the old issues because they were rare. When fans noticed, they stopped buying surplus magazines and there was an unprecedented slump in sales. After 1993, thousands of comic book stores closed. Many writers became unemployed. In 1996, Marvel Comics was facing bankruptcy. Monthly sales had fallen from 40 million to 7 million. The internet and electronic games were new competitors. Superman and Lois Lane got married. After September 11th, Spider-Man looked at Ground Zero . Sales proceeds were donated to the victims.
Nowadays, cartoonists are more respected than they used to be. The future is electronic comics on the Internet that can be turned over. Comics are a kind of escape and an art form. They deal with good and bad and with fundamental American beliefs .
Reviews
- Hal Erickson , All Movie Guide, praised the unprecedented access the filmmakers to data from DC and Marvel ( "The producers were given unprecedented access to the files of DC and Marvel" ).
- Dan Friedman, All Movie Guide, described the documentary as an excellent description , the insights were excellent , it was a tremendous journey into the past , a pleasure to watch and at times wistful ( “excellent chronicle” ... “insights are terrific” ... "A tremendous trip down memory lane" ... "a pleasure to watch" ... "wistful" ).
Background information
The documentary was first broadcast on June 23, 2003 on The History Channel . Shortly before, on June 17, 2003, the comic book adaptation Hulk had its premiere in US cinemas.
In 2005, English language DVDs were released without subtitles.
Web links
- Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Table of contents at www.411mania.com (English)
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- ↑ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide, movies2.nytimes.com ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Dan Friedman, All Movie Guide, www.starpulse.com
