Tag: Superman

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 69: FEBRAURY 1991

Episode 69: February 1991

Welcome to the sixty-ninth episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

It’s another long one this week folks but that has everything to do with the fact that a really important issue of Action Comics came out this month along with the other Superman books published with a February 1991 cover date. Mike and Jeff are joined for this special episode by their good friend, Scott Gardner. Turns out Scott is a big fan of this era of Superman and helps the boys discuss Superman #52 (the return of Terra-Man), Adventures of Superman #475 (Superman goes to Happyland) and the aforementioned Action Comics #662 (Clark tells Lois something REALLY important).

In the interest of full disclosure the guys talk about the  Action Comics issue for about an hour, but the last page of that comic changed everything; not only for Lois and Clark but for this era of Superman as well so they felt that the discussion was warranted. After that there is some Superboy talk involving both the live action series and Adventures of Superboy #12 in addition to the normal Elsewhere in the DCU and Elsewhere, Elsewhere.

Jeff and Mike would like to thank Scott for coming on to the show and invite him to come back any time.

And now the scans of the week highlighting some of the more interesting images from the comics discussed in this week’s episode!

This is the page that the guys talked about so much during their discussion of Superman #52.  The shadowing here is really cool.

We apologize for the quality of this image but we worked with what we had.  The paper DC used for their comics in the late eighties and early nineties was very thin and doesn’t age well.  The ad is still awesome though.

As stated during the episode we’re fairly sure this is the first appearance of the flamey eyes Superman as drawn by Dan Jurgens.  In a day and age where red-eyed, angry Superman has become common place it is easy to forget how novel this visual was back in 1990/91.

Jimmy puts the Signal Watch back on.  We’re still kind of curious why he needs a safe deposit box.

Mike just really likes this panel.

Here is the big reveal.  A little stiff but epic nonetheless.

And Jeffrey was right; Elroy is really interested in what is going on.

Finally here are two of the more interesting ads from this month.  The ads haven’t been all that good lately but these two are choice.

And that is all for this week!  Remember to check out Scott Gardner’s various podcasts over at the Two True Freaks Network.  Mike co-hosts Tales of the JSA and Back to the Bins with him so give those shows a listen.

Next Week: A really patriotic cover and the start to Time and Time Again!

YOUTUBE TUESDAY FOR 09/28/2010

Welcome back to YouTube Tuesday here at the Fortress!  I don’t remember if I have posted this video before but if I did I think it bears re-posting.  Here is…How Superman Should Have Ended!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yavK0mnE3wI

Man I love that video.  This time out I noticed something really interesting, at least to me.  The music you hear that sounds sort of like the Superman theme?  Well I first heard that during Graphic Audio’s adaptation of Infinite Crisis.  Actually it was an adaptation of the novelization by Greg Cox, but still.  If you aren’t familiar with Graphic Audio they are a production company that create full cast audio dramas with music and sound effects that adapt novels of various genres and for the last few years they’ve been adapting a whole slew of original DC novels as well as the novelizations of the big events.  When I first heard their take on Infinite Crisis I was very impressed that the person doing the score created a Superman theme that built nicely and while it wasn’t the best of Superman themes it certainly wasn’t bad.  So it is cool to hear it here.

That’s all for today folks.  Come back tomorrow for Read This Too!

What is Read This Too!?

You’ll find out tomorrow.

More to follow…

SUPERMAN ON BATMAN: BRAVE AND THE BOLD

So I was checking out the Superman Homepage the other day (as I am wont to do) and caught this piece regarding Superman making not one but two appearances on Batman: Brave and the Bold.  I will admit that my initial reaction was, “Awesome,” followed very closely by, “Well it’s about damn time,” followed immediately by, “Are they going to f*** this up?”

Batman: Brave and the Bold is an odd duck of an animated series for me.  There are episodes that I absolutely love and then there are episodes I absolutely hate and it is fifty/fifty on what my reaction to a given episode will be.  Sometimes it’s really fun and sometimes I actually feel a little silly watching it.  I mean I am glad the show exists because I do believe it is a fantastic way to introduce a new and possibly younger audience to the broader DCU much like the various incarnations of the Super Friends did for me when I was a lad, but…I don’t know.  It’s weird.

From the very beginning of the show’s existence people have been clamoring (i.e. making numerous posts and comments online) for Superman to appear on the show.  It seems like a no-brainer.  People like seeing Superman and Batman together in just about every medium and for awhile there it seemed like Superman would never find his way on to B:BATB.  The interviews with the creative side of the show seemed to indicate that they really didn’t want Superman around but in all honesty that could have been me reading something into the comments that just wasn’t there.  In any case it seems that the time has come for Superman to guest star and I’m left feeling…

Well, in all honesty I don’t know how to feel.  One of my chief complaints of B:BATB is the fact that Batman is treated as THE GREATEST THING EVER in just about every episode.  It doesn’t matter who the bad guys or fellow heroes are or how powerful those heroes and villains might be Batman is always better, smarter and more awesome.  Frankly I blame Grant Morrison for this.  It was during his run on JLA that the idea that if Batman had five minutes and a Swiss Army knife he could take down any threat.  B:BATB takes this idea and kicks it up to the infinite power.  Yes, I know Batman is going to win.  It’s his show but there’s really no drama because Batman is always treated like THE GREATEST THING EVER.

So I’m a tad worried because I don’t want Superman to come on to the show and get treated like a subordinate.  Superman doesn’t have to take center stage but the two heroes should be treated like equals and with the way the show has been going I have my doubts that this is going to happen.  DC has not had a good track record of late of giving the Man of Steel his due and I am afraid this is going to translate into Superman’s appearance on Batman: Brave and the Bold.

Then again I could be wrong and Superman and Batman teaming up with each other and then with Wonder Woman could be thirty-one flavors of awesome.  Only time will tell.  For the moment I will leave final judgment until I see the actual episodes.

I’m just nervous is all.

More to follow…

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 67: DECEMBER 1990

Episode 67: December 1990

Welcome to the sixty-sixth episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

It’s another long one this week as the boys welcome back Jon Wilson to discuss one of the most important moments in the Post Crisis era which took place during the comics with the December 1990 cover date. In Superman #50, the final chapter of Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, Clark not only struggles to regain his powers but also ask Lois a very important question. In Adventures of Superman #473 the Man of Steel (now back to full power) teams up with Green Lantern Guy Gardner to track down Hal Jordan. Finally in Action Comics #660 Lex Luthor makes a fateful decision regarding his illness. After all of this the guys discuss the renamed Adventures of Superboy #11 in addition to the usual Elsewhere in the DCU and Elsewhere, Elsewhere segments.

By the by: you can hear Jon on both Amazing Spider-Man Classics and Teenage Wasteland: An Ultimate Spider-Man Podcast.

Next Week: Cover date 1991 begins with Superman meeting the mysterious Mr. Z again for the first time, Clark visiting an old friend from high school and Plastic Man and Woozy Winks coming to Metropolis for a bizarre team-up.

No additional scans this week.  Things have been crazy and Mike just didn’t have the time.  They will return soon, though.  Promise

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link .

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, at the Superman Homepage, leave comments here or at the Homepage or here or email them by clicking this link.  All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome.

Seriously, let us know what you think.

SAD NEWS FROM ACROSS THE POND

One of the great things about having a blog and a podcast is that people will send you things.  I’m not talking about physical things, though that has happened one or two times.  (Hi, Alan!)  No, I am talking about Superman related stuff that the sender thinks that I would like or in the case of the images I have for you today something that the sender thought that my co-host on From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast Jeffrey Taylor, and I would like.  The following scans come from one of our listeners named Shay who, from all appearances, hails from Ireland, which I think is cool because with a last name like Bailey I feel a certain kinship with those form Ireland.  Not in an annoying way.  It’s not like I would ever talk to anyone from Ireland and try to play it off that I know what it is like to live in that country.  I feel the kinship in a small way, like when you order the same thing as the guy next to you at McDonald’s.  “Oh, I see you also got two double cheeseburgers with no onions, a small fry and a medium drink.  That certainly means that…it means that…well, it means that both of us have zero regard for our own health because these things are horrible for you.”

Double cheeseburgers at McDonald’s are my Kryptonite; one day they very well may kill me.

In any case Shay is from Ireland (I am assuming) and sent Jeffrey and I some scans from a title called Superman Legends, which is…well, was a monthly comic that contained reprints of the more recent crop of Superman comics.  Here’s the cover.

I thought it was really cool that Shay sent this our way.  I had literally never thought about how DC Comics are reprinted in other countries.  I assumed that the issues were released similarly to how they are released over here and they may very well be but still this is interesting to see.  The problem is and the really depressing thing is that apparently the “Amazing News Inside!” is the fact that Superman Legends is for intents and purposes getting canceled and replaced with something else.

A couple of comments spring to mind about this announcement the first being that while I understand the need on the part of the people that package these reprints to make whatever changes to the titles they put out sound like it is the most awesome thing to ever happen in the history of planet Earth I still think it kind of sucks that they are essentially telling someone that bought a book called Superman Legends that they are tossing out the reason the person bought the comic in favor of other DC characters.  Basically I read this announcement as saying, “Hey, you may have been buying this book to follow the further adventures of Superman but apparently sales aren’t where they need to be so we’re going to toss Superman out of the book and replace it with some bankable names in the hopes that you’ll continue buying this comic.  I mean sure Geoff Johns was writing some of the stories in this book but hey, Green Lantern and the Flash are so much cooler than Superman and we got a Grant Morrison story.  You like that Grant Morrison don’t ya?  Sure you do.”

Keep in mind the previous comment has no basis in reality.  That’s just my gut reaction.

The second comment is that the decision to take Superman out of this book and rename it DC Universe Presents is one more example of how Superman is getting pushed out of the limelight as a preeminent hero in the DC Universe in favor of other characters like Green Lantern and Flash.  I have nothing against Green Lantern and the Flash.  I like those characters, but they aren’t proper replacements for Superman.  You could argue that Superman is in the JLA: Earth-2 reprint but taking Superman out of a book, replacing him with Green Lantern and the Flash along with a JLA story that features Superman is a lot like a guy getting dumped by his wife in favor of one of his co-workers but still getting to come over and hang out every once in a while.  It doesn’t seem right.  Why not have Superman stories featured in the book alongside the Green Lantern and the Flash stories?  Wouldn’t that be a better companion to Batman Legends than a couple of revamps of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen along with a ten year old graphic novel which, to me, wasn’t all that good to begin with.

So I am annoyed.  It also bugs me that Barry and Hal are the current darlings of the DCU and that Batman can get sold and resold and resold over and over again and is the big push as far as animated series and movies go but Superman can’t even get a freaking reprint across the Atlantic.  Sure Superman is finally getting a guest spot on Batman: Brave and the Bold (which I will be discussing later this week so stay tuned) but I don’t think that’s enough.  Superman is the first super-hero.  Sure I’m biased but it is hard to argue Superman’s historical significance.  I’m all for pushing the other characters but not at the Man of Steel’s expense.

Superman currently appears in one title.  Batman has like, what, fifty?  And there are like twenty of them these days.

Wow, that came out a little more angry than I thought it would.  Originally I wanted to talk about how cool these scans are and I end up getting on a soapbox.  Oh well, that’s how it happens sometimes.  And it’s my blog so I don’t feel too bad.  Another big thanks to Shay for sending this stuff my way.

Tomorrow: YouTube Tuesday featuring Supergirl in preparation for the Superman/Batman: Apocalypse DVD that is coming out next week!

More to follow…

YOUTUBE TUESDAY FOR 09/14/2010

Welcome to another installment of YouTube Tuesday here at the Fortress.  A few weeks ago over at the very awesome Firestorm Fan my good friend Shag (he of Once Upon a Geek fame) posted some videos from a Super Powers “See and Read” video.  I vaguely remember these things from when I was a kid, but basically it was a video version of something called a “See and Hear” record, which was like the old Power Records only bigger.  The concept was pretty simply; you’d pop the LP on the turn table and follow along in the book.  Somewhere along the way the powers that be decided to use the then new power of the VCR to take this form of multimedia entertainment to the next level and thus the “See and Read” was born.  They look kind of primitive by today’s standards but I am fairly sure that if I had one of these things when I was ten or eleven years old I would have worn the tape out.  So enjoy this trip down memory lane and I have to give a big ol’ thanks to Shag for giving me the go ahead to copy what he posted some time back.

And yes, I am aware of the very bad pun in the title of this thing.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL0rESVSfME&feature=player_embedded

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0oIU9nuK5Q&feature=player_embedded

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZd-vo58esM&feature=player_embedded

And that is it for today.  Come back tomorrow for the first part of my Dragon*Con 2010 swag.  Lots of Superman stuff in there but then again that was my intention.

More to follow…

SORRY ABOUT THAT

So I haven’t posted for the past few days.  I feel bad about that.  It certainly wasn’t my intention and for once I really can’t blame work.

…

Well, I could.  Work has been rather…intense lately, but the real reason I haven’t put up any Superman goodness is the fact that I reformatted my hard drive Sunday night and I have spent the last few days re-installing programs, getting over one technical glitch involving my FTP client (Thanks, Ryan!) and generally getting things up to snuff and now that is pretty much done.

So things should continue as normal from here on out.  I don’t know what the rest of the week will hold but I am attending Dragon*Con this weekend and hope to get a bunch of Superman related pictures.  Those will be posted here over the next week.

Speaking of Dragon*Con, I am on a panel this year.  If you are planning to attend that wonderful and awesome four day sci-fi/fantasy/anime/comic book convention the panel I am on (Thanks, Van!) is called Comics as SF Literature.  It will be in the Fairlie room on the Conference Center Level in the Hyatt at 4:00 PM on Saturday.  If you are going the map will be in your pocket guide.    For some reason I am not listed in the program but I am on the panel, so if you feel like swinging by to hear me yak that would be most appreciated.

So that is it for today.  Come back tomorrow for the next episode of From Crisis to Crisis.

More to follow…

ACQUISITIONS FOR 08/27/2010: SILVER AGE EDITION PART 3

As promised, here are the last of the cover scans from the comics I bought last week.  I can honestly say that while I did not save the best for last it certainly turned out that way.

Another classic cover and oddly enough one I yanked from the Grand Comics Database to kick off this new era of the Fortress.  Aside from some wrinkles and a bit of spine distress this issue is in pretty good shape, so as I have been writing over and over again this week I was pretty psyched to find it in the longbox of awesome for the paltry sum of three dollars.

Now that I own this book I have issues 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 of Superman (vol. 1).  Yes I count Adventures of Superman in the numbering of the first volume simply because DC chose to return to that numbering after Infinite Crisis.  That’s kind of cool, at least to me.  Maybe I’ll track down and spend the money on Superman (vol. 1) #100 just have it.

Continue reading ACQUISITIONS FOR 08/27/2010: SILVER AGE EDITION PART 3

ACQUISITIONS FOR 08/23/2010: SILVER AGE EDITION PART 1

A little late today, but this post still got in under the wire.

Last week I was shopping with my wife and we stopped by Dave’s Comics in Fayetteville where I wasn’t really planning to buy anything and of course I found something to buy.  This is the way things work out for me.  If I want something it’s not there.  If I am not looking for anything in particular the comic fairies will sprinkle their magic dust over the store and SHAZAM I find something cool.

And I indeed found something cool.

Actually I found cool 14 pieces of cool and over the course of this week I will be posting the covers because I am really excited that I found these books.

The fact that I got all of these books for $3 a piece makes it all the better.

And here we go with Part One!

I am going backwards numbering wise, so here is the first one and the last one.

These books break down into two categories; covers I have seen again and again re-reading Superman: From The ’30s to the ’70s and covers that just looked awesome.  This one is from the second category because that cover looks awesome.

Come on!  It’s Clark Kent shooting Lex Luthor with a machine gun and Lex is wearing a Superman costume!  This one is begging to be purchased and read!  I’ll get back to you when I get around to reading it.

Am I the only one weirded out by the fact that Superman is probably naked in that tube?

This cover was in the interesting category.  It’s creepy but I have to admit it begs to be bought.

This one is kind of a surprise to me.  The thing about the cover galleries in Superman: From the ’30s to the ’70s is that they were kind of small, so I never noticed the issue numbers.  Until I bought this comic last week I was absolutely convinced that this story took place after Superman (vol. 1) #233, the kick off to the Kryptonite Nevermore storyline.  Turns out I was wrong.

Oh well.  Live and learn.  I still love that I have this issue.

This is a classic cover.  It’s kind of beat up but for three bucks it was a great buy.  I am very fond of imaginary stories and even though most of them end on a weak note I still dig them, so I am looking forward to getting this book as well.

And that’s it for today.  Come back tomorrow for YouTube Tuesday and then come back on Wednesday for more cover scans of the awesome books I have recently purchased.

More to follow…

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 63: THE DAN JURGENS INTERVIEW

Episode 63: The Dan Jurgens Interview

Welcome to the sixty-third episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

This week Mike and Jeff have something special for you. Instead of covering the World’s Finest mini-series like they’ve been promising for a few weeks now the boys decided to release the interview they conducted a few weeks ago with the one, the only, DAN JURGENS!

Jeff and Mike “sat down” with him for a little over an hour and had a fun and informative conversation. Topics include how Dan got sucked into the world of comics, the behind the scenes origin for Booster Gold, the early days of Dan working on Superman, destructible cape vs. indestructible cape, Lois vs. Lana,  Day of the Krypton Man, Lobo, Soul Search, Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite and the shocking truth behind why all of the cab rides in Metropolis were $6.50.

Mike and Jeff would like to thank Dan for being very generous with his time. They hope to have him back soon.

Next Week: Batman and Superman team up in the World’s Finest mini-series. For reals this time. No seriously. They aren’t putting it or The Sinbad Contract off at all. They promise.

Dan Jurgens has his own website which you can find by following this link.

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link .

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, at the Superman Homepage, leave comments here or at the Homepage or here or email them by clicking this link.  All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome.

Seriously, let us know what you think.