Post by Paul (ral) on Jan 21, 2013 17:25:58 GMT -5
Some of you might be aware that on my site a few of the guys have compiled extensive articles about the comic influences (and coincidences) on the Batman movies.
One of the staff on the site, called Silver Nemesis, has done the same thing for Superman: The Movie.
Hope you enjoy!
From: www.batman-online.com/forum/index.php?topic=2197.msg31753
Silver Nemesis' profile
The makers of this film were definitely familiar with the source material. Academy Award winning writer Mario Puzo was hired to write the script and producer Pierre Spengler recalls him researching the comics in You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman (2006):
Comic book writer Elliot S. Maggin was amongst the people at DC who assisted Puzo, as he recounts in Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman (2006):
The film begins with a child reading an issue of Action Comics in June 1938. This was of course the date the very first issue of Action Comics was published, and within its pages appeared the very first Superman story.
We transition to a shot of the Daily Plant building with the familiar globe on its roof.
We then see the iconic 'S' logo, taken straight from the comics.
Superman's origins in this movie are largely based on the Bronze Age version depicted in 'The Origin of Superman!' (Amazing World of Superman, 1973), which was the most recent variation at the time of the film's production. As in the comic, the movie begins with the planet Krypton orbiting a red sun.
The scientist Jor-El is overseeing the trial of General Zod and his cohorts. I'll save an analysis of General Zod's comic book origins for a potential Superman II thread. Suffice it to say that his comic book counterpart tried to seize control of Krypton, was placed on trial and ultimately banished to the Phantom Zone for his crimes; as first depicted in 'The Phantom Superboy' (Adventure Comics #283, April 1961). A similar sequence of events is suggested in the film.
Following this scene, Jor-El tries to warn the ruling council of an impending calamity that threatens their planet. The following comparison is from the 1973 Amazing World of Superman comic.
The council are sceptical of Jor-El's theory and refuse to heed his warning.
But shortly thereafter, Jor-El's doom laden prophecy is validated. The ordered society of Krypton begins to crumble as the planet faces annihilation.
With no means of saving themselves, Jor-El and his wife Lara place their infant son Kal-El into a rocket ship and send him away from the doomed planet.
The spaceship leaves Krypton and travels to Earth.
Jonathan and Martha Kent are driving along in their truck when they see the rocket crash land in a field in the heart of Kansas.
A child emerges from within and quickly displays his superhuman abilities by lifting a heavy object. This example is from 'The Origin of Superboy' (More Fun Comics #101, January 1945).
As he matures, Clark feels frustrated over his inability to participate in sporting events. He can't play for the local high school football team because his powers would give him an unfair advantage and put the other kids at risk of injury. Because of this, Clark has to sit on the sidelines and watch the other kids play. This panel is taken from 'The Story of Superman's Life!' (Superman #146, July 1961).
We also get a brief glimpse of Lana Lang during this scene. Lana first appeared in 'The Girl in Superboy's Life!' (Superboy #10, October 1950). As in the comics, the movie version is a redheaded teen who seems to be one of Clark's only friends back in Smallville.
After leaving the football field, Clark works out some of his frustrations by racing a train. Clark has outrun trains in far too many stories to list. The following examples are from Action Comics #1 and Amazing World of Superman (1973).
As in the comics, we see that Clark has been raised on the Kent farm by Jonathan and Martha.
Clark loses both his parents in the comic. In the movie only Jonathan dies. But in both stories he swears to remember the values his parents taught him.
Clark's line in the movie about not being able to save his father is taken almost verbatim from the comic.
Clark journeys north and constructs the Fortress of Solitude. Superman has had a number of similar hideouts in the comics dating back to the Golden Age. The traditional Arctic 'Fortress of Solitude' first appeared in 'The Super-Key to Fort Superman' (Action Comics #241, June 1958). It is situated near the North Pole in both the comics and the film.
The adult Superman is of course portrayed by Christopher Reeve. According to DC, the Superman in the comics is meant to be 6'3, 230lbs, with black hair and blue eyes. Reeve was 6'4 and trained extensively with British bodybuilder Dave Prowse to build his muscles up for the role. He went from 170lbs to 212lbs at the time filming commenced. He continued to bulk up throughout the shoot and his muscles were bigger still in the two subsequent films (he was probably closer to 220-225lbs when he made Superman III (1983)). His eyes were blue, and although he had brown hair, he dyed it black for the role. In short, Reeve was practically a perfect match for the comic book character. His chiselled features evoked the illustrations of artists like Curt Swan. And his costume was faithfully recreated from the comics.
After spending twelve years training in the Fortress, Clark heads to Metropolis where he lands a job as an investigative reporter at the Daily Planet. Here he adopts his bumbling persona and meets Lois Lane for the first time. Lois debuted in the comics in the very first Superman story ever published, 'Superman, Champion of the Oppressed' (Action Comics #1, June 1938).
Clark also meets Perry White and Jimmy Olson. The running gag where Perry reprimands Jimmy for calling him "Chief" is lifted from the comics.
Clark's mild manners are soon put to the test when he and Lois run afoul of a mugger. The character dynamics in this scene are very similar to those in a scene from Action Comics #1. In the comic, Lois is approached by an uncouth thug who demands she dance with him. Rather than leaping to her defence, Clark fearfully instructs Lois to comply with the man's wishes. It then falls on Lois to physically defend her honour, endangering both herself and Clark in the process.
It is shortly after this that we are introduced to the film's main villain, Lex Luthor. In contrast to the modern Luthor, the Golden Age version sported a full head of hair during his earliest appearances. The Hackman Luthor wears wigs throughout most of the film, but is ultimately revealed to be bald like his comic book counterpart.
At the time the movie was made, the Luthor in the comics was not as well developed a character as he is today. He was given an interesting back-story in 'How Luthor Met Superboy!' (Adventure Comics #271, April 1960) where it was revealed that he'd once been a benevolent scientist who'd developed a personal grudge against Superboy following an early encounter in Smallville. But most of the time, the Luthor in the comics had simply been depicted as a mad scientist out to prove his superior intellect through world domination. The Hackman Luthor in the film may appear silly to modern viewers, but he's actually a pretty accurate – albeit tongue-in-cheek – representation of what the character was like at the time.
Luthor's diabolical master plan in the movie involves destroying the west coast of the USA by triggering a massive earthquake along the San Andreas Fault. Luthor's first published story (though technically not his first chronological appearance) was 'Superman versus Luthor' (Superman #4, Spring 1940), in which his master plan also involved inducing earthquakes, this time with the aid of a stolen earthquake machine.
The first time Clark transforms into his Superman costume we see him perform the classic shirt rip seen many times in the comics. This example is from Superman #11 (July 1941).
This comparison shows Superman catching Lois back in 'Superman's Phony Manager' (Action Comics #6, November 1938); just one example of the countless times he has saved her life.
Here's a familiar scene from Action Comics #8 (January 1939).
Luthor draws Superman out in the movie by speaking to him on a frequency only he can hear. The first time Luthor used a similar auditory method to contact the Man of Steel was in 'The Invisible Luthor' (Superman #10, May 1941), which was also the first story in which Luthor appeared bald.
To access Luthor's hidden lair, Superman first has to drill through the street by spinning around at super speed. The first time he did this in the comics was back in Superman #11.
The extended special edition of the movie that was released in 2000 includes a sequence where Superman has to endure a series of traps set by Luthor. The first of these traps is sprung when sliding panels move aside to reveal machine gun nests. Some gangsters attempted a similar trap against the Man of Steel in Action Comics #2, (July 1938). Of course the bullets bounced harmlessly off his chest in both stories.
The Superman in the comics isn't above using intimidation to get important information out of a criminal.
Ultimately Luthor uses Kryptonite to sap the Man of the Steel's powers. Kryptonite first appeared in The Adventures of Superman radio series. It made its debut in the comics in 'Superman Returns to Krypton!' (Superman #61, November 1949).
The first time Superman and Luthor came face-to-face in the comics, the latter chained the Man of Steel to a wall and tortured him using a green laser that sapped his energy (this was before Kryptonite had been introduced). In the movie he chains a piece of Kryptonite around Superman's neck. In both cases, Luthor brags about mind over muscle while he gloats over his weakened adversary.
The climatic sequence of events in the movie seems to have been inspired by one of the earliest Superman stories ever printed: 'Superman and the Dam' (Action Comics #5, October 1938). In both the comic and the movie, a large dam ruptures and Superman races to minimise the ensuing damage.
At one point a train is about to crash on account of the damaged railway lines. Superman races ahead and uses his super strength to hold up the track long enough for the train to pass safely overhead.
Superman hurries to the top of a cliff and pushes some boulders down into the valley, thereby blocking it and preventing the coursing waters from destroying a small town close to the dam.
While everyone else flees the danger zone, Lois Lane drives solo through the desert in search of a story. Before long she finds herself in the direct path of the chaos.
In the movie her car is dragged down into a fissure in the ground. In the comic it is immersed in water from the dam. In both stories, Lois is in dire danger.
Superman arrives on the scene and spots her car.
In the comic Superman saves Lois in time. In the movie he is not quick enough.
What then follows is the controversial scene where Superman turns back time to save Lois. The closest thing from the comics I can equate this with is the Pre-Crisis Superman's ability to fly faster than light in order to travel backwards in time. The following example is from 'The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!' (Superman #157, November 1962).
So perhaps Superman didn't literally turn the Earth back in time, but rather flew backwards in time himself to intercept the second missile before it reached its target. Regardless, all is now well in the world: Lois is saved, the disaster is averted, and Lex Luthor is safely behind bars. And the groundwork of the "will they, won't they" Lois/Clark/Superman love triangle is neatly established.
So ends one of the greatest comic book/superhero movies ever made.
One of the staff on the site, called Silver Nemesis, has done the same thing for Superman: The Movie.
Hope you enjoy!
From: www.batman-online.com/forum/index.php?topic=2197.msg31753
Silver Nemesis' profile
Superman: The Movie (1978) and the Comics
The makers of this film were definitely familiar with the source material. Academy Award winning writer Mario Puzo was hired to write the script and producer Pierre Spengler recalls him researching the comics in You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman (2006):
"[Puzo] spent a few days at DC comics with the editors there, and looked at their archives and immediately picked a few things that he felt would be very cinematic."
Comic book writer Elliot S. Maggin was amongst the people at DC who assisted Puzo, as he recounts in Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman (2006):
"I come to the office one day and there's Mario Puzo in the library looking through old Superman stories. So they introduced me to him. And Cary Bates, another writer, and I spent two days sitting, smoking Havana cigars with Mario in the conference room and talking about who Superman was."
The film begins with a child reading an issue of Action Comics in June 1938. This was of course the date the very first issue of Action Comics was published, and within its pages appeared the very first Superman story.
We transition to a shot of the Daily Plant building with the familiar globe on its roof.
We then see the iconic 'S' logo, taken straight from the comics.
Superman's origins in this movie are largely based on the Bronze Age version depicted in 'The Origin of Superman!' (Amazing World of Superman, 1973), which was the most recent variation at the time of the film's production. As in the comic, the movie begins with the planet Krypton orbiting a red sun.
The scientist Jor-El is overseeing the trial of General Zod and his cohorts. I'll save an analysis of General Zod's comic book origins for a potential Superman II thread. Suffice it to say that his comic book counterpart tried to seize control of Krypton, was placed on trial and ultimately banished to the Phantom Zone for his crimes; as first depicted in 'The Phantom Superboy' (Adventure Comics #283, April 1961). A similar sequence of events is suggested in the film.
Following this scene, Jor-El tries to warn the ruling council of an impending calamity that threatens their planet. The following comparison is from the 1973 Amazing World of Superman comic.
The council are sceptical of Jor-El's theory and refuse to heed his warning.
But shortly thereafter, Jor-El's doom laden prophecy is validated. The ordered society of Krypton begins to crumble as the planet faces annihilation.
With no means of saving themselves, Jor-El and his wife Lara place their infant son Kal-El into a rocket ship and send him away from the doomed planet.
The spaceship leaves Krypton and travels to Earth.
Jonathan and Martha Kent are driving along in their truck when they see the rocket crash land in a field in the heart of Kansas.
A child emerges from within and quickly displays his superhuman abilities by lifting a heavy object. This example is from 'The Origin of Superboy' (More Fun Comics #101, January 1945).
As he matures, Clark feels frustrated over his inability to participate in sporting events. He can't play for the local high school football team because his powers would give him an unfair advantage and put the other kids at risk of injury. Because of this, Clark has to sit on the sidelines and watch the other kids play. This panel is taken from 'The Story of Superman's Life!' (Superman #146, July 1961).
We also get a brief glimpse of Lana Lang during this scene. Lana first appeared in 'The Girl in Superboy's Life!' (Superboy #10, October 1950). As in the comics, the movie version is a redheaded teen who seems to be one of Clark's only friends back in Smallville.
After leaving the football field, Clark works out some of his frustrations by racing a train. Clark has outrun trains in far too many stories to list. The following examples are from Action Comics #1 and Amazing World of Superman (1973).
As in the comics, we see that Clark has been raised on the Kent farm by Jonathan and Martha.
Clark loses both his parents in the comic. In the movie only Jonathan dies. But in both stories he swears to remember the values his parents taught him.
Clark's line in the movie about not being able to save his father is taken almost verbatim from the comic.
Clark journeys north and constructs the Fortress of Solitude. Superman has had a number of similar hideouts in the comics dating back to the Golden Age. The traditional Arctic 'Fortress of Solitude' first appeared in 'The Super-Key to Fort Superman' (Action Comics #241, June 1958). It is situated near the North Pole in both the comics and the film.
The adult Superman is of course portrayed by Christopher Reeve. According to DC, the Superman in the comics is meant to be 6'3, 230lbs, with black hair and blue eyes. Reeve was 6'4 and trained extensively with British bodybuilder Dave Prowse to build his muscles up for the role. He went from 170lbs to 212lbs at the time filming commenced. He continued to bulk up throughout the shoot and his muscles were bigger still in the two subsequent films (he was probably closer to 220-225lbs when he made Superman III (1983)). His eyes were blue, and although he had brown hair, he dyed it black for the role. In short, Reeve was practically a perfect match for the comic book character. His chiselled features evoked the illustrations of artists like Curt Swan. And his costume was faithfully recreated from the comics.
After spending twelve years training in the Fortress, Clark heads to Metropolis where he lands a job as an investigative reporter at the Daily Planet. Here he adopts his bumbling persona and meets Lois Lane for the first time. Lois debuted in the comics in the very first Superman story ever published, 'Superman, Champion of the Oppressed' (Action Comics #1, June 1938).
Clark also meets Perry White and Jimmy Olson. The running gag where Perry reprimands Jimmy for calling him "Chief" is lifted from the comics.
Clark's mild manners are soon put to the test when he and Lois run afoul of a mugger. The character dynamics in this scene are very similar to those in a scene from Action Comics #1. In the comic, Lois is approached by an uncouth thug who demands she dance with him. Rather than leaping to her defence, Clark fearfully instructs Lois to comply with the man's wishes. It then falls on Lois to physically defend her honour, endangering both herself and Clark in the process.
It is shortly after this that we are introduced to the film's main villain, Lex Luthor. In contrast to the modern Luthor, the Golden Age version sported a full head of hair during his earliest appearances. The Hackman Luthor wears wigs throughout most of the film, but is ultimately revealed to be bald like his comic book counterpart.
At the time the movie was made, the Luthor in the comics was not as well developed a character as he is today. He was given an interesting back-story in 'How Luthor Met Superboy!' (Adventure Comics #271, April 1960) where it was revealed that he'd once been a benevolent scientist who'd developed a personal grudge against Superboy following an early encounter in Smallville. But most of the time, the Luthor in the comics had simply been depicted as a mad scientist out to prove his superior intellect through world domination. The Hackman Luthor in the film may appear silly to modern viewers, but he's actually a pretty accurate – albeit tongue-in-cheek – representation of what the character was like at the time.
Luthor's diabolical master plan in the movie involves destroying the west coast of the USA by triggering a massive earthquake along the San Andreas Fault. Luthor's first published story (though technically not his first chronological appearance) was 'Superman versus Luthor' (Superman #4, Spring 1940), in which his master plan also involved inducing earthquakes, this time with the aid of a stolen earthquake machine.
The first time Clark transforms into his Superman costume we see him perform the classic shirt rip seen many times in the comics. This example is from Superman #11 (July 1941).
This comparison shows Superman catching Lois back in 'Superman's Phony Manager' (Action Comics #6, November 1938); just one example of the countless times he has saved her life.
Here's a familiar scene from Action Comics #8 (January 1939).
Luthor draws Superman out in the movie by speaking to him on a frequency only he can hear. The first time Luthor used a similar auditory method to contact the Man of Steel was in 'The Invisible Luthor' (Superman #10, May 1941), which was also the first story in which Luthor appeared bald.
To access Luthor's hidden lair, Superman first has to drill through the street by spinning around at super speed. The first time he did this in the comics was back in Superman #11.
The extended special edition of the movie that was released in 2000 includes a sequence where Superman has to endure a series of traps set by Luthor. The first of these traps is sprung when sliding panels move aside to reveal machine gun nests. Some gangsters attempted a similar trap against the Man of Steel in Action Comics #2, (July 1938). Of course the bullets bounced harmlessly off his chest in both stories.
The Superman in the comics isn't above using intimidation to get important information out of a criminal.
Ultimately Luthor uses Kryptonite to sap the Man of the Steel's powers. Kryptonite first appeared in The Adventures of Superman radio series. It made its debut in the comics in 'Superman Returns to Krypton!' (Superman #61, November 1949).
The first time Superman and Luthor came face-to-face in the comics, the latter chained the Man of Steel to a wall and tortured him using a green laser that sapped his energy (this was before Kryptonite had been introduced). In the movie he chains a piece of Kryptonite around Superman's neck. In both cases, Luthor brags about mind over muscle while he gloats over his weakened adversary.
The climatic sequence of events in the movie seems to have been inspired by one of the earliest Superman stories ever printed: 'Superman and the Dam' (Action Comics #5, October 1938). In both the comic and the movie, a large dam ruptures and Superman races to minimise the ensuing damage.
At one point a train is about to crash on account of the damaged railway lines. Superman races ahead and uses his super strength to hold up the track long enough for the train to pass safely overhead.
Superman hurries to the top of a cliff and pushes some boulders down into the valley, thereby blocking it and preventing the coursing waters from destroying a small town close to the dam.
While everyone else flees the danger zone, Lois Lane drives solo through the desert in search of a story. Before long she finds herself in the direct path of the chaos.
In the movie her car is dragged down into a fissure in the ground. In the comic it is immersed in water from the dam. In both stories, Lois is in dire danger.
Superman arrives on the scene and spots her car.
In the comic Superman saves Lois in time. In the movie he is not quick enough.
What then follows is the controversial scene where Superman turns back time to save Lois. The closest thing from the comics I can equate this with is the Pre-Crisis Superman's ability to fly faster than light in order to travel backwards in time. The following example is from 'The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!' (Superman #157, November 1962).
So perhaps Superman didn't literally turn the Earth back in time, but rather flew backwards in time himself to intercept the second missile before it reached its target. Regardless, all is now well in the world: Lois is saved, the disaster is averted, and Lex Luthor is safely behind bars. And the groundwork of the "will they, won't they" Lois/Clark/Superman love triangle is neatly established.
So ends one of the greatest comic book/superhero movies ever made.
as luthor said in the fortress: its fantastic!!!!
