Lego of Me

Lego of Me

Is that Batman?

No, It's not. Everyday last week in the summer camp I would make a couple new mosaic.  And every time, one kid would ask me "Is that Batman?" Do you know who Batman is, kid? Do you?

Three Panel Origin

Three Panel Origin

Best before May 27, 2015

Today, in 3PO history, I have taken a concept that was abandoned by a great figure in Comic History and brought new life to it.  That Creator was Bob Kane (I did a creator article about him) and that concept was his original design for Bat-Man.  So here, maintaining the complexity and emotional punch of Bruce Wayne's origin, I give you Bennett Wilson's origin. He is Ornithopter Man!

LEGO of Me!

LEGO of Me!

Built from love, but mostly LEGO

 
I have made it no secret that I believe the greatest and most fun rendition of Batman hit with Adam West and the Batman TV series of the 60s. So, with that love there, I have rendered the Batmobile from that show in LEGO.  What was originally a modified Ford concept car is now a pint-sized hot-rod. 

After it was all finished, I was amazed at how long it was.  Good luck getting a parallel parking spot Batman. There were a lot of fun angles to create and use in this one. 

A long end made even longer with a blast of fire! I was a little concerned it was a little too long for a LEGO vehicle. But next to another Batmobile...

That length is about par for the course.

So is mine cooler than the other one? Mine, Naturally. 
Building this beauty brought up fond memories, of my days on a Soap-Box Derby racing team by the name of "The Adam West Experience."  Ah, memories.

I Got You Covered

I Got You Covered

Glad to have it, but wish it meant something.

Here's a few covers that I had whipped up for a contest with Comic Book Resources' blog, The Line it is Drawn.  I only wish it got me somewhere.

Here is an homage to Fantastic Four #51 with Hellboy.

And here is a meeting of the Screen Superheroes.

Movie Matinee: Superfilms

Movie Matinee

Superfilms!

I was asked for my thoughts on the new Superman movie Man of Steel.  I could have just done that, but after watching the first three Christopher Reeve movies with a few friends recently, I feel the need to talk about the new movie in reference to the old.  The reason for that: I feel much of the criticism of the new film is due to referring to what has gone before.

 Superman Returns (2006)

The 90's were, for Superman film fans, the lost years of the man of steel (Though we did have a few great TV shows during that time).  There were scripts upon scripts proposed during that period: A fifth Christopher Reeve entry featuring the death and return of the character, Several attempts to reboot the franchise including a whacked out of its gourd treatment by Tim Burton and producer Jon Peters that involved the death of a flightless, capeless, Superman and a Giant spider (which I happen to be making an animated rendition of currently).
In the 21st century, there were talks by JJ Abrams of a Superman movie where he goes to the afterlife to learn a few lessons from his pop, and even a Superman/Batman crossover film that only really happened in the I am Legend universe.

With Superman Returns, they decided to take things back to what made the first two movies great, and make a sequel... to a 24 year old movie.

Well that could've gone better.
There were a lot of things I sort of liked about this movie when it came out.  I liked Brandon Routh as Clark Kent (not so much as cold and creepy supreman) and I liked Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, mostly because even though he's still inexplicably land obsessed, is much more insane and threatening in this movie.  Supporting cast is pretty strong, but, yet again, we have kind of a lame Lois Lane.  We also have Super-kid (who kills a guy by smashing him with a piano) and, once again, a plot that keeps the hero and villain apart for far to long in the movie.

I'm also pretty sure that this costume killed Superman's underpants in movies for years to come.
The effects in this movie are Superb and the Super feats are pretty cool too, but then again, superman lifting things is just kind of OK.  There's also a few bizarre things that I don't quite get, like why lex Luthor would want land to be transformed into that ugly infertile black stone.  I mean, sure, everybody needs land, but I think that everyone would crowd all the pretty parts of the world to avoid staying in that hell. 
In general, I think the movie was held back by its need/desire to replicate what had come before it.  Director Bryan Singer never got the chance to create a new cinematic vision of Superman and instead just tied himself to his affection for the original two movies, which, as I have said, twice, had plenty of problems and weren't that great.

I think if they tried to break with tradition, it would have provided a more interesting, and ultimately more successful film.  I guess not even John William's Score and a Christopher Reeve look-alike could make it work.  At least he didn't kill anyone in this one!

Nevermind.

Creators: Bob Kane

Creators

A growing list of influential artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, and creatives.

Bob Kane

I've already covered the creators of Superman, the original superhero, now I'll show my respect for part of the Dynamic Duo that created that weird creature of the night... Batman!  Kane was another Jewish kid with bold ideas and a pen in his hand.  He was high school friends with Will Eisner, and spent much of his earlier career freelancing his skills as an artist (kinda like me).  After Superman bounced onto the scene, Bob along with so many others rushed to create their own costumed superheroes.  Bob's idea came from 3 specific sources:

Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro (from "The Mark of Zorro")

Da Vinci's Ornithopter design

and "The Bat Whispers" from 1930, which gave Kane this...

and this...

and whatever the HELL that is.

So, when Kane put it all together he got...

...this.

Needless to say, we're all glad that his writer pal Bill Finger gave him a few suggestions to improve the look of it.  So by May of 1939, kids would get to look on the stand and see something from their nightmares swinging off the page.

 

For 10 cents back in 1939 you could buy the first issue of Batman.  Kane and Finger went on to establish the look, feel, and prowess of their new detective, and quickly found that their character struck a chord with its readership.

Though fairly crude, his artwork became a standard of comic work, and like all artists got better with time.

I love Bob's Joker.  There's no silliness here, he's just downright scary.

and he'll kill you!

Robin was apparently supposed to be the Watson to Batman's Sherlock.  but why didn't he wear pants?

Besides, Batman works better alone.

To make a long story short (too late) Bob the humble artist left a pretty enormous impact on the world with his funnybook idea.  That's my plan too.

 Long live the Bat-Man!

Creators: Tim Burton

Creators

A growing list of influential artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, and creatives.

Tim Burton

Whether you like him lately or not, at some point you loved something that this guy had a hand in.  Some think that he has "jumped the shark" or has become a parody of himself, but in spite of either I can't help but admire Tim Burton for being an artist that's true to himself... or at least, a version of himself.  

But hell, I wouldn't have chosen to talk about Tim Burton as an artist/filmmaker that I admire if I just wanted to gripe about him.  To be honest, there's a lot more to like about Tim Burton and his work than to dislike (as far as I'm concerned.

I'll start with the fact that he was a Disney animator back in the 80s, with apparently some uncredited work on that horrible Black Cauldron movie and not much else.

He was let go for wasting too much time animating his own pet project called "Frankenweenie."

Soon after he directed a version of Aladdin that involved Robert Carradine from Revenge of the Nerds, Leonard Nimoy, and James Earl Jones.  Never thought all of them would be together for a project?  You can definitely see the budding style that Burton will come to be known for.  Plus, freaking Darth Vader as the Genie... Awesome.

Next on this list is a childhood favorite of mine, Pee Wee's Big Adventure.  If you've never seen this, or haven't seen it since you were a kid, you're due for a rewatch. You have only yourself to blame if you hate it.  I still will occasionally tell people "Large Marge sent me."

BEETLEJUICE!  I have to say, I wish Keaton was still making movies with Burton, because I think he would liven them up...

...like this.

Burton's Batman movies are my favorite live action versions of the character.  I love Nolan's trilogy, but the Gothic Gotham and graphic designs of Burton's two films feel like batman.  It also helps that Keaton is my favorite Bruce Wayne/ Batman.  He plays it weird and detached like Batman aught to be.

I think Returns is my favorite of the two.

Can't talk about Tim Burton without talking about his stop motion.  I attribute any stop motion film done today as resulting from the creation of this movie.  It made stop motion a viable storytelling medium rather than an outmoded special effect tool.

There are many more Burton creations I could laud (Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Mars Attacks, Sleepy Hollow) but I think I'll just skip to the one I like most.

Big Fish is a spectacular film.  In some ways it doesn't feel like a Tim Burton movie, and I think that is why it has such a transcendent feeling about it.  He didn't get caught up in his "Schtick" and worked hard to tell a story well.  There were a few Burton-y moments, but the overall palette of this movie is much more colorful than most of his other work. Instead of getting only the gloomy and subdued parts of life, we see life in its full spectrum: From gloom and mystery to triumph and wonder.  In big fish, we see the artist in Tim get out of his comfort zone and express something that reaches out beyond his usual audience and strikes a chord with the world beyond Edward Gorey's neighborhood.

So long.

I'm Only Funny on Paper

I'm only Funny on Paper

A Comic.

Plus, the Bat-Washer/dryer is on the fritz.

Creators: Tim Sale

Creators

A growing list of inspirational artists, writers, poets, filmmakers and creatives.

TIM SALE

This week, I thought I would come back to comic art, and spotlight a fantastic artist, Tim Sale.  There are alot of comic artists in the field today, and many o them have a style they consider their own, despite it appearing exactly like a hundred others (you won't be seeing any of them celebrated here.)  Tim Sale is not one of those artists.  His stylization bears a hefty "TIM SALE DID THIS" stamp that comes with it.

Tim's work certainly has a retro flavor to it, but he is doing more than replicating or making a homage to the past.  His painterly brushwork and fine lines fill out his almost caricature-like figures.  He exaggerates faces, muscles, and proportions until he finds the essence of a character: the proper mixture of important elements that  not only make a given character distinctive but give them personality and presence.

Just look at that.  The grin, the green hair, and those sinister eyes on a pallid face make for his unmistakable joker.

And this charmer with hamburger replacing half of his face is a nasty two face.

One of his most notable works is Batman: The Long Halloween, which is one of his many great collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb (who will get his own article someday.) Much of the comic deals with Harvey Dent and his journey to villainy, thus it made great inspiration for the creators of "The Dark Knight." 

Another great work of art is their collaboration Superman For All Seasons, which I have been told is exactly like the movie "Man for all Seasons," just about superman instead.

He and Jeph have also done work for Marvel, creating the three great books Hulk: Grey, Daredevil: Yellow, and Spiderman: Blue. The last of the three is my favorite, as it is a memoir of the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy.

In this one, he channels both Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr.

I need to draw my women prettier.

Fun fact, Tim Sale was responsible for all of the paintings that were made in TV series Heroes.  That's the first season.  You know, the good one.

See you soon...?