Friday 9 May 2008

Literary...sort of (well ok, not really)

The summer blockbuster season is upon us, and last week I started what will hopefully a cinema extravaganza of superheroes, more superheroes, and even more superheroes.

Yes, put a guy in a cape and I'm a happy camper. So...Iron Man. Ok, doesn't have a cape, but he can fly, which is almost as good. Everything Robert Downey Jr. does is cool, and this is no exception. Throw-away oneliners, the perfect mix of arrogance and charm, and the flying scenes were INTENSE! While I'm a through and through DC fan, this one from Marvel was great. The only thing missing was a REALLY BIG aerial battle with Iron Man and dozens of fighter jets, instead of just two.

Sticking with the comic adaptation (or graphic novel if you want to pretend to be grown-up about it) I also saw Persepolis, about a young girl growing up in Iran during the revolution. The animation was simple and beautiful, and the main character was both poignant and hysterical. It ended way too suddenly.

6 comments:

Jon M said...

I loved Iron Man from start to finish. I collected the comics right back to Tales of Suspense in 1963, I was a big fan! (Marvel through and through though:-) )

Anonymous said...

how can you be a DC fan? I'm with Jon on the Marvel front!

however I was addicted to the DC comics Sargeant Rock by Joe Kubert, Weird War Tales,Tarzan (also by Joe Kubert) and Tales from the Crypt.

Hmm. I guess I did read a lot of DC too.

SarwatC said...

To Marvel fans,
You have my pity. I went through that 'oh, the X-Men are SO COOL' phase back when I was young and immature, but will always return home to DC. And of course 2000AD (which pretty much defined my reading matrial in the 1980s and early 90's).
Superman and Batman. They remain the ICONS all others are measured against, and found lacking. Even Stan Lee admitted Superman was the greatest.
On order of importance:
Batman, even more so now Christian Bale plays the Dark Knight. It's more than a man crush...
Superman. Face it, when the music starts playing, it brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?
Judge Dredd- shame about the film.
Devlin Waugh- If you haven't read his debut, Swimming in Blood, you really can't call yourself a comic fan. Imagine the love child of Arnie and Terry Thomas, with Oscar Wilde as the nanny. Fighting vampires. Lots of vampires. There is no way to summarize the peverse genius of this character.
Wolverine- OK, how can you not include him? But not the crappy 'bone'claw bit'. Really, what was the point?
The Shadow-In the 1980's there was a brief update, starting with Howard Chaykin mini series. It went WAY BARMY when the Shadow's head became attached to a robot body (if memory serves) but the early issues with Bill Sinck-thingamejig were AWESOME. There was a 1970's series with Mike Kaluta which is also worth digging up.
Conan- can I include him? What the hell, it's my list. The original Howard books (especially the Frazetta covers) as still great. The guy knew how to write action. Beyond the Black River remains one of my favourite stories when Conan is just...hardcore in extreme. Also the Conan the Barbarian movie. I snuck in aged 13(?) to see it on the big screen. It's made a lasting impression...

Jon M said...

Yeah. okay you have to love Superman and Batman if only for historical reasons! Conan, love the RE Howard books, little less keen on LSprague De Camp and Lin Carter stuff but necessary evil I guess. Frazetta covers, check :)I did have all those John Byrne XMen (sold them for a fortune, relatively speaking) but lost heart when Jean Gray 'died.' Also lost heart when Gwen Stacey died in Spidey. gerry Conway has a lot to answer for (and that's without Howard the Duck!). My fave is always Iron man though...I was a big fan of Ghost Rider too, didn't even bother with the film.

SarwatC said...

Was never a Spiderman fan, don't know why, I just find Peter Parker annoying. Of the Marvel series, it was Miller's stint on Daredevil that really got me going (it had wall to wall ninjas and you just can't go wrong with that). But of course that was just his groundwork for the Dark Knight and the rest is history.

Jon M said...

Hehehehe! That was me not the Joker! Loved Frank Miller Daredevils, liked the Sin City film too. I met Adam West as Batman in the
60s when I was a nipper and could've gone in the batmobile but I was too afraid!
Oh, okay then, I've always liked Batman!