Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Fantastic Four Movie - Live Action Comic Book Heroes By Lisa Burkes
The Fantastic Four became a popular super hero team after the release of
their comic books via Marvel Comics in late 1960. Comic book lovers lost no time
taking a liking to the four main characters, who gained super powers after being
exposed to cosmic rays during a mission to outer space for the sake of science.
Characters that would later be brought to life through live action in these
movies.
Who is the Fantastic Four and why are they fantastic? Here's the who and why:
Reed Richards also known as Mister. Fantastic, who can stretch and reshape his body in inhuman ways
Susan Storm Richards also known as Invisible Woman, who is able to use light to make herself as well as others and objects around her invisible
Johnny Storm also known as The Human Torch, who can both control and project fire from his body. Additionally he is able to fly.
Ben Grimm also known as The Thing, who is transformed and has orange rock-like skin and super human strength.
In the film adaptations (The original movie and its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) the characters were portrayed by actors Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Micheal Chiklis and actress Jessica Alba.
The Fantastic Four movies were certainly long awaited by comic book fans that enjoy seeing their favorite stories come to life on the big screen.
Like most comic books, the Fantastic Four's success led to much media interest, bringing about animated television series, video games, action figures and other merchandise. Yet, the super foursome wouldn't hit the theaters until 2005; despite the fact that Constantin Film purchased character rights to make a film in the mid-1980's, and even released a low budget version of the Fantastic Four movies in the early 1990's, which would never receive an official release.
20th Century Fox Film Corporation would later pick up the rights to the film and attempt to give it the big budget adaptation comic book fans felt the characters and their story deserved. However, fans of the classic comic books and comic book based movie lovers, as well as critics gave mixed reviews to the first film and again to its sequel. The films were merely called decent in their best reviews. Still, there is talk of another film joining the Fantastic Four movies franchise. A reboot that may feature a whole new cast and give the fearsome foursome a facelift!
Who is the Fantastic Four and why are they fantastic? Here's the who and why:
Reed Richards also known as Mister. Fantastic, who can stretch and reshape his body in inhuman ways
Susan Storm Richards also known as Invisible Woman, who is able to use light to make herself as well as others and objects around her invisible
Johnny Storm also known as The Human Torch, who can both control and project fire from his body. Additionally he is able to fly.
Ben Grimm also known as The Thing, who is transformed and has orange rock-like skin and super human strength.
In the film adaptations (The original movie and its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) the characters were portrayed by actors Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Micheal Chiklis and actress Jessica Alba.
The Fantastic Four movies were certainly long awaited by comic book fans that enjoy seeing their favorite stories come to life on the big screen.
Like most comic books, the Fantastic Four's success led to much media interest, bringing about animated television series, video games, action figures and other merchandise. Yet, the super foursome wouldn't hit the theaters until 2005; despite the fact that Constantin Film purchased character rights to make a film in the mid-1980's, and even released a low budget version of the Fantastic Four movies in the early 1990's, which would never receive an official release.
20th Century Fox Film Corporation would later pick up the rights to the film and attempt to give it the big budget adaptation comic book fans felt the characters and their story deserved. However, fans of the classic comic books and comic book based movie lovers, as well as critics gave mixed reviews to the first film and again to its sequel. The films were merely called decent in their best reviews. Still, there is talk of another film joining the Fantastic Four movies franchise. A reboot that may feature a whole new cast and give the fearsome foursome a facelift!
Do you love watching a Fantastic Four Movie? Discover more
comic book movies and share your opinions on them at Lunch.com, the top rated Consumer
Reviews site.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Burkes
Comic Book Superheroes Evolve Into Anti-Heroes By Diane Butler
Thrilling adventurers, comic book superheroes closely reflect their times.
Among the earliest comic books, Superman is the ultimate superhero. The product
of a riveting and exotic back story of alien beginnings, Superman repeatedly
saves humanity with his super powers. Following Superman's lead, other comic
book superheroes similarly undertook gripping adventures: Spider-man, Iron Man,
Wolverine, Green Lantern, each with a trademark superhero idiosyncrasy.
Originating as a response to the helplessness felt by many during the dark days
of the Great Depression, superheroes made people feel good about their chances
of survival and about the future.
Aliens and mutants can be expected to have superhuman powers, but the appearance of
Batman, for instance, just before World War II, changed the story. Batman, you see, has no superhuman powers. His razor-sharp intellect and extraordinary problem-solving abilities coupled with his mastery of the martial arts make Batman a phenomenal human being. At the same time, Batman broods; he suffers. His is a type of romantic misery descended from
Baudelaire.
Captain America and Wonder Woman, on the other hand, are also wartime creations. Both are equipped with super powers and a clear moral compass, befitting of representative of the greatest country in the world. As such, they set out to mop up Europe, disposing of evil Nazis, and wind up, like America itself, setting a model for the vanquished enemies after the war.
As times got better and affluence took hold, the character of comic book heroes changed. The Hulk, for instance, first appearing in 1961, became a raging beast because of a radiation accident in the lab. Coming at the height of fears of nuclear holocaust, the Hulk's regression to bestiality represents the lurking foreboding that our own scientific advances were about to do us in. Beneath our civilized exterior lies a raging beast within every one of us, easily slipping aside the veneer of civility.
As the nation plunged into division and despair during the Vietnam War, comic book heroes became darker and morally ambiguous. Starting life as a model Marine, the Punisher, a weapons master with a keen deductive sense, becomes an accomplished torturer in his quest to conquer his enemies. As such, he well represents the era for he manifests no qualms when engaged in a mission. Victory at any cost is his byword.
Eventually, comic books heroes evolve into anti-heroes, culminating in the creation of Spawn in the 1990s. Betrayed by his own men, this top CIA assassin is murdered, then goes to Hell and makes a bargain with the devil to return to life as Spawn who is not really human and not really a devil either. Spawn suffers torments of remorse and guilt, but is remorseless in accomplishing his own ends, always aware that his ultimate fate is to return to his real home, Hell. Spawn is a true Anti-Hero with whom we sympathize, but from whom we must remain alienated.
Aliens and mutants can be expected to have superhuman powers, but the appearance of
Batman, for instance, just before World War II, changed the story. Batman, you see, has no superhuman powers. His razor-sharp intellect and extraordinary problem-solving abilities coupled with his mastery of the martial arts make Batman a phenomenal human being. At the same time, Batman broods; he suffers. His is a type of romantic misery descended from
Baudelaire.
Captain America and Wonder Woman, on the other hand, are also wartime creations. Both are equipped with super powers and a clear moral compass, befitting of representative of the greatest country in the world. As such, they set out to mop up Europe, disposing of evil Nazis, and wind up, like America itself, setting a model for the vanquished enemies after the war.
As times got better and affluence took hold, the character of comic book heroes changed. The Hulk, for instance, first appearing in 1961, became a raging beast because of a radiation accident in the lab. Coming at the height of fears of nuclear holocaust, the Hulk's regression to bestiality represents the lurking foreboding that our own scientific advances were about to do us in. Beneath our civilized exterior lies a raging beast within every one of us, easily slipping aside the veneer of civility.
As the nation plunged into division and despair during the Vietnam War, comic book heroes became darker and morally ambiguous. Starting life as a model Marine, the Punisher, a weapons master with a keen deductive sense, becomes an accomplished torturer in his quest to conquer his enemies. As such, he well represents the era for he manifests no qualms when engaged in a mission. Victory at any cost is his byword.
Eventually, comic books heroes evolve into anti-heroes, culminating in the creation of Spawn in the 1990s. Betrayed by his own men, this top CIA assassin is murdered, then goes to Hell and makes a bargain with the devil to return to life as Spawn who is not really human and not really a devil either. Spawn suffers torments of remorse and guilt, but is remorseless in accomplishing his own ends, always aware that his ultimate fate is to return to his real home, Hell. Spawn is a true Anti-Hero with whom we sympathize, but from whom we must remain alienated.
Growing up, Diane Butler always loved comic books.
Find out more about Comic Books and Spawn in particular.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Diane_Butler
Hollywood's Fascination with the Comic Book Superhero By Dave Gieber
Movie production companies and TV have been creating feature length movies, movie
serials and TV shows for years exploiting the public fascination with Superheroes. But as
special effect technology and costume designs became better and better, Hollywood
kicked it up a notch with feature-length high budget productions. Superman, the Movie
and the 3 sequels started in the 1970s and the '90s and beyond brought us Batman, The
Hulk, the X-Men and the now infamous Spider-Man, to name a few.
Why all this interest in producing Superhero movies? Big bucks!! The two Spider-Man
movies alone have netted about 800 million dollars apiece in worldwide ticket sales.
That's not chicken feed. This kind of income could not be generated without an avid
public interest in Superheroes. So if you feel you are alone in your voracious passion for
your own comic book collection, think again.
And now a new twist has been added. Directors, screenplay writers, and even actors are
writing for, of all things, comic books now. Big name Hollywood writers are helping to
sell more comics. For example, Joss Whedon, perhaps best known for creating Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, has written stories for Marvel in the series Astonishing X-Men. Back in
the 90s, who would have known that all these fan boys had been hiding in the Hollywood
woodworks waiting for comics to gain some cultural credibility?
If you haven't followed some of the comic news of the last several months, Stan "the
man" Lee has been fighting his personal battle with His life long employer, Marvel
Comics. Stan is probably one of the most well known character creators in the comic
book industry. He has characters like Batman, Spider-Man and the Hulk credited to his
creative imagination. Seems Stan had a contractual agreement with Marvel for 10% of
any revenue acquired by Marvel from movies and TV projects centered on Stan
characters. But apparently the high dollar superstructure of the corporate mind doesn't
want to part with all their income. Now this is nothing new, but Stan Lee managed to win
the first round for the little guy. The judge presiding over Stan's case agreed that Stan
should receive his share of the agreed on profits. Now maybe Stan will get his share and
maybe he won't. Sounds like Marvel will be appealing the decision. At any rate, if there
weren't big bucks involved in the production of comic book Superhero movies, this case
would not have been such an issue.
I believe the near future is going to bring many more of my favorite heroes to the silver
screen. I have already started my own DVD collection and as more heroes get transferred
from the screen to round disc, I will continue to increase the size of my collection. Do
you think a DVD superhero collection will be worth as much as a comic book collection
in the future? Probably not, but that won't stop me from building my collection anyway.
Dave Gieber, a former rocket engineer, has decided to take up residency on the Internet. He is the owner and editor of several websites, one of which was built around one of his childhood passions; http://www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com . You can visit here to keep up to date on the world of comic books and comic book collecting. Feel free to sign up for my comic book ezine at http://www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/comic-book-ezine.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Gieber
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