Archive for May, 2011

Jock’s process art for the cover of DETECTIVE COMICS #881

We’ve had a lot of fun showing off behind-the-scenes material from artists Jock and Francesco Francavilla from their current classic-in-the-making run on Detective Comics with Scott Snyder. These guys have been so generous with sending over material – you can check out some of the process art we’ve posted already here, here, here, and here.
This [...]

The Industrial Revolution Continues

The crisis at Wayne Powers has escalated to new heights. Blight is back and will stop at nothing to get revenge on Terry McGinnis for turning him into a translucent, radioactive monster. And to top it off, Terry learns a deep secret about someone he thought he trusted. Crisis. Villains. Vengeance. Betrayal. Nobody said being [...]

May 30, 2011: Superflicks of the Week: May 30th – June 5th

‘Superflicks of the Week’ has returned and will once again feature all the Superman themed programming for the upcoming week on US television stations along with a brief description of each listing.
Whether it is episodes of ‘Smallville’, ‘Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman’ or a re-airing of such classics as ‘Superman: The Movie’ or ‘Superman and the Mole Men’, you’ll find them all listed here to help you plan your Super-viewing schedule for the week!
Click the above link to view this weeks Superflicks.

May 30, 2011: "Superman Doomsday – Funeral for a Friend" Fan Film Trailer

Superman fan “kashchei2003″ has posted the following trailer for part 2 of his “Superman Doomsday – Death of Superman” fan film.
“This next installment is my take on the Funeral for a Friend chapter of the Superman Doomsday story,” states kashchei2003. “In it I try to convey the feeling of loss and sadness felt by people close to Superman. Although it won’t be the typical action packed, chock full of explosions edit, there was a lot of HEAVY editing that went into it nonetheless. I tried to be consistent with the tone of the first installment by having the images and music tell the story without the need for too much dialogue.”
View the new trailer at the above link.

May 30, 2011: Metropolis, IL Prepares for Superman Celebration

One of Metropolis, IL’ biggest weeks of the year is drawing near and the Superman Super Site will be there! From Thursday, June 9, through Sunday, June 12 the town of fewer than 7000 people will become a real metropolis, or at least close to it, as thousands of visitors from around the country, and even around the world, visit for the 33rd annual Superman Celebration.
“It’s a chance for people of all ages to come together and just enjoy a weekend of fun,” explained Superman Celebration chairman, Karla Ogle. “You never know who you’ll meet… and you never know what you’ll see!”

May 30, 2011: Superman on TV – May 30 to June 5

Below are the Superman related TV shows and movies scheduled for the week ahead in both the USA and Australia. Anyone in the UK or other regions of the world who would like to contribute is more than welcome to add their listings in the comments section below.

A rerun of the “Young Justice” episode titled “Denial” airs in the U.S. on Friday, June 3 from 6.00pm on Cartoon Network.

A rerun of the “Smallville” episode titled “Shield” airs in the U.S. on Friday, June 3 at 8.00pm on The CW.

A rerun of the MAD episode which includes the parody titled “Smallville: Turn Off The Clark” will air in the U.S. Wednesday, June 1 at 5.00pm on Cartoon Network.

In the Chicago area, you can watch two episodes of the 1950s “Adventures of Superman” TV series (“The Human Bomb” and “Czar of the Underworld”) on Saturday, June 4 from 5.00pm on WCIU, The U.

The documentary titled “Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman” airs in the U.S. on Sunday, June 5 at 9.00am on the Bio channel (Cbl).

In Australia, you can watch the “Smallville” episode “Power” at 6.30pm on Sunday, June 5 and 1.00pm the next day on Fox 8 (108). While the Season 9 “Smallville” episode titled “Disciple” airs at 11.05pm on Sunday, June 5 on Eleven (11).

If there’s anything I’ve missed please don’t hesitate to let me know.

May 30, 2011: Superman Celebration Schedule of Events

Superman Returns’ star, Brandon Routh, headlines Metropolis Superman Celebration June 9-12

Other special guests:

Superman Returns’ Sam Huntington

Smallville’s Alaina Huffman

Superman IV’s Mark Pillows

Superboy’s Tracy Lewis

Numerous Comic Artists

One of Metropolis’ biggest weeks of the year is drawing near. From Thursday, June 9, through Sunday, June 12 the town of fewer than 7000 people will become a real metropolis, or at least close to it, as thousands of visitors from around the country, and even around the world, visit for the 33rd annual Superman Celebration.

“It’s a chance for people of all ages to come together and just enjoy a weekend of fun,” explained Superman Celebration chairman, Karla Ogle. “You never know who you’ll meet…and you never know what you’ll see!”

The Celebration will include a Smallville tent where free children’s activities are held each day, the “Man of Steel” tent where super strength competitions will draw interest, and the “Metro” tent were live music will be performed daily. “And, our Artist’s Alley will welcome visitors as a place to learn about the creation of comic books,” Ogle explained.

Many popular events are returning to this year’s line-up including Celebrity autograph sessions, $1000 Costume Contest, Super Car Show, Supertrek Bike Ride, The George Awards and Auction, Superman Trivia, Color-A-Cape for kids, Super Dog Contest, and Supergirl and Superboy pageants, just to name a few.

Superman fans will have the chance to become an “Honorary Citizen of Metropolis” during the Celebration. Citizen certificates will be available for purchase at the Metropolis Chamber of Commerce during the Celebration and the mayor of Metropolis will conduct a “swearing in” ceremony at the Superman Statue.

The first inductee to the Metropolis Walk of Heroes will be announced at the Superman Statue on Friday evening. The Walk of Heroes will soon be constructed along the sidewalk between the Superman Statue and the Noel Neil statue.

As always, a big draw for Superman enthusiasts is the lineup of celebrities. Headlining this year’s festival is Brandon Routh, who portrayed Superman and Clark Kent in the 2006 film, Superman Returns. When director Bryan Singer came aboard the project he insisted an unknown actor be cast in the part, in the tradition of the casting of the best-known film Superman, Christopher Reeve.

Singer was impressed by Routh’s resemblance to the comic book icon and found the actor’s humble mid-western roots perfect for the role. Following Superman Returns, he has had several supporting roles in television and film. More recently, he portrays the eponymous protagonist of another comic book film, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night.

In addition to Routh, Metropolis’ most famous son will be sharing the spotlight with Sam Huntington, Alaina Huffman, Mark Pillows and Tracy Roberts.

Since 1996 Sam Huntington has appeared in thirteen feature films and seven television shows. Of these he is perhaps most recognized for his role as the Daily Planet cub reporter, Jimmy Olsen, in Superman Returns.

Sam was recently seen as “Eric” in Fanboys and just wrapped production on Dead Of Night where he stars opposite his Superman Returns co-star, Brandon Routh. Sam can been seen on the SyFy channel’s new critically acclaimed hit series Being Human where he plays werewolf/tortured soul “Josh”.

Canadian film and television actress Alaina Huffman portrays Dinah Lance/Black Canary on Smallville. She is also a regular cast member in the TV series Stargate Universe. Huffman has had roles in NCIS, Dawson’s Creek and CSI: NY.

Routh, Huntington and Huffman will all participate in a Q&A Session at the Metro Tent at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 11. They will also participate in autograph sessions throughout the day at Banterra Bank. More details about how to obtain a ticket is listed in the schedule below and on www.supermancelebration.net . (Tickets are free but are limited.)

Two of the special guests slated to appear at Artist Alley include Mark Pillow and Tracy Lewis.

Pillow’s sole movie role was as “Nuclear Man” in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. In the 1987 superhero film, the last of the Superman theatrical movies starring Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel, Superman battles Lex Luthor and his creation, a solar-powered evil clone of Superman called Nuclear Man. There will be a special screening of Superman IV at Artist Alley at 8:30 p.m. on Friday night.

Tracy Roberts Lewis portrayed “Darla”, one of Lex Luthor’s partners in crime on the television series, Superboy, starring Gerard Christopher. Fans of the show may agree that her most memorable episode was Darla Goes Ballistic. This episode will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Artist Alley. Roberts took a haitus from acting to raise her two daughters, but has recently revived her career.

Artists and writers who create superheroes and tell of their adventures are always one of the highlights of the Metropolis Superman Celebration. And this year, fans will have the opportunity to meet several of these talented individuals during the four-day event.

Members of the Mid-South Cartoonist Association will run the programming at the popular Artist Alley & Writers Way. Comic artists Martheus Antone Wade and Andrew Chandler will present a two-part “Breaking in the Business of Comics” seminar. Among other artists to be on hand for special events are Jamal Igle, Freddie Williams and Josh Elder.

Hands-on workshops, discussion panels, and question and answer sessions will take place along with the annual Fan Film Competition, run by Tim Brown of Inked Monkey Productions. For specific Artist Alley guests and information, see the schedule of events at www.supermancelebration.net.

During the Metropolis Superman Celebration, visitors can sample food items at numerous cafes-on-wheels and browse sidewalk sales. The always-popular carnival brings all sorts of exciting rides, along with concessions, including corn dogs and cotton candy.

Right in the middle of all of the activities visitors will have the opportunity to pose with the world-famous 15-foot-tall bronze statue of Superman and the near life-size statue of Noel Neil as Lois Lane and tour the SuperMuseum, which holds the largest collection of Superman memorabilia in the world. There are other interesting super-hero related attractions located throughout the city including a giant rock of kryptonite.

Metropolis, Illinois is the only town with the same name as the fictional city made famous in comic books. It is located at the southern tip of Illinois where the Ohio River meets Paducah, Ky. A complete schedule of events for the Superman Celebration can be found at www.supermancelebration.net, or by calling the Chamber of Commerce at 800-949-5740. For information about Metropolis attractions and lodging, visit www.metropolistourism.com or call 877-424-5025.

Click “Read More” below to see the complete Superman Celebration Schedule of Events.

May 30, 2011: Golden Age Superman Podcast – Episode 20

Superman fan Jon Wilson has put together a Golden Age Superman podcast covering every appearance of the character from Action Comics #1 forward.

Golden Age Superman is back again to finish out not just the year, but the 1930s decade! AND to complete its celebration of the Ultra Humanite’s farewell to Superman’s comic stories with Action Comics #23. For this final installment, I have J David Weter of Superman Forever Radio with me, and we talk about Ultra trying out her new life as a woman and what Superman has to do to stop her. It’s probably the best Ultra-Humanite story we’ve had, just in time for the character to say good-bye. Then it’s off to the daily and Sunday newspaper strips where war hits Europe and Superman get attacked … by a BEAR??!!

Golden Age Superman is a proud member of the Superman Podcast Network. If you wish to send feedback, you may do so in the comments below or via email. You can also subscribe to the show through iTunes.

Visit the Golden Age Superman Podcast website or download this episode as an MP3 file.

May 28, 2011: Tom Welling and the Superman Suit

“Smallville” Executive Producers Kelly Souders and Brain Peterson spoke with HollywoodReporter.com in the aftermath of the series finale of the 10 season TV series, and got an insight into why we never really saw Tom Welling in the Superman costume.

“What we wanted to do all along was show hints at where he was going because that is a whole different story that is yet to be told,” Peterson told THR. “It felt like it gave just enough without starting to tell a whole different story that is left for all the other media.’

Peterson, who penned Part 2 of the finale with Souders, noted that the series has always been about Clark becoming the hero from the famed mythos and that the adventures of Superman were stories that have been — and will continue to be told — via other avenues, including Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Man of Steel, set for next year. “[Showing Tom in the full suit] to me is just not super relevant and not what we were trying to do,” he said.

“We were actually thrilled that everybody came together and was on board with the shots that we specifically picked,” he added.

“We all wanted it to be the end of Clark Kent’s journey because it’s a show about Clark Kent,” he said. “In the days when we saw him in a flannel shirt, the suit was the furthest thing from his mind.”

Read the complete report at HollywoodReporter.com.

May 28, 2011: Could Superman Be Split in Two?

With recent developments in the ongoing legal battle over the rights to Superman, Variety.com looks into the possibility that ownership of Superman could be split into two separate camps… DC Comics and the heirs of Siegel and Shuster.

The Siegel and Shuster estates could wind up owning some parts of the Superman story while DC Comics owns others. The estates could get Superman’s blue leotard, red cape and boots, plus an ability to leap tall buildings while DC retains villains like Lex Luthor plus Superman’s ability to fly.

The question is: Could each party proceed with a subsequent project without the other’s involvement?

In theory, come 2013 auds could see two parallel versions of the Man of Steel ramp up. In practice, that looks pretty unworkable.

Using a ruling from Neil Gaiman’s suit against Todd McFarlane over the rights to Spawn, Anthony Cheng from the Columbia Journal of the Law & the Arts posits that one way to settle the Superman dispute would be to “split the character in two – a 1938 Superman and a Modern Superman – and allow both sides to create new works based on their versions”.

However, it’s hoped that both sides of this battle can come to some kind of agreement to main one Man of Steel going forward.

Read the complete article at Variety.com.