boy, and that was Batman. It made sense! My memory of receiving the toy is faint, but what he did with it later is as crystal clear as if it happened yesterday. You see, I was a mischievous little one, and I just couldn’t live without perusing my father’s cabinet of cassette tapes. It didn’t matter how great the band was—Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dire Straits, The Beatles—if that shiny brown tape could be removed, I was going to make sure my parents found me with it all of its inside contents strewn across the entire room.
I don’t blame my father for what he did, if I found my child destroying my film collection, I certainly wouldn’t react calmly. But still, the image of that inflatable Batman COMING ALIVE is burned into my brain.
Of course, it didn’t really come to life. But at that age, I was positive that when I crawled over to my father’s cabinet, opened it, and Batman popped out… I was witnessing the demonic possession of an inflatable superhero.
My devious father had realized that the most effective way to keep me from getting into his cabinet would be to terrify me. So, he’d placed that horrible toy inside the cabinet, closing the doors in just the right way so that when I opened them—and he somehow knew I would—Batman would pop out. I cried for a long time, and I’ve spent the last twenty-four years since then hearing my father tell everyone with a pair of ears how hilarious that was. Thanks, Dad.
[no image in epub file]
6
But really, thank you, Dad. Because despite being scared to death of Batman for a few weeks, I eventually grew to love the Caped Crusader. I have no clue if it’s because of that inflatable toy, but that is definitely my earliest and most impactful memory involving a comic book character.
Cut to a few years later, and I’m obsessed with the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, even the third and fourth one. I’d often imitate a drunken Richard Pryor, fumbling to hack into a computer: “Both keys at the same time? Oh ho!” I can recall Nuclear Man’s silver fingernails scaring me. Don’t ask me why. Those things were horrifying. My parents still tell people about how I used to run around the house with my underwear on outside my pants, and a bath towel tied around my neck. As far as I was concerned, I was Superman, dammit.
Soon, I became aware of The Incredible Hulk starring Bill Bixby, and tore through the house, flexing my boney arms like Lou Ferrigno. I crawled face-first down the steps like Nicholas Hammond in The Amazing Spider-Man, and instructed my sisters in the proper way to beatbox the show’s funky 70’s bass-line.
“Stop laughing!” I commanded my family while watching Adam West in the satirical Batman. As a five year-old, I was convinced that program was high art. But when Michael Keaton came on the scene, I pretty much lost it. From then on, Batman was officially my life. Batman Returns was always my favorite. I loved Michelle Pfieffer as Catwoman, for reasons I probably didn’t yet understand. I’m sure it had absolutely nothing to do with the scene in which she gave herself a “bath.” Nothing at all…8 Superheroes have played a large role in my life, and not just for entertainment. I grew out of my shell thanks to those movies. It gave me something to talk
[no image in epub file]
7
about with classmates, and while most kids in the 90’s were afraid to admit they liked “nerdy” things like comic books, I made some of the best connections in my life due to talking about those characters.
Still, as recent as yesterday—as of this writing—I perused my neighborhood comics shop, JC Comics and Cards, and talked with the owner. This guy has literally watched me grow up. Whether it is manga, anime, or comics, he can get it for you. Best comic shop in Ohio as far as I’m concerned. We’ve gone from chatting about Dragon Ball Z to in-depth conversations about how much we loved Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Today, I understand that Adam West was going for a laugh when he couldn’t get rid of that bomb, that Spider-Man being accompanied by a 70’s bass guitar is hilarious, and to top it all off, I wear my underwear correctly. But that’s not to say I’m never tempted to stretch those babies over my pants.
- Chris Stuckmann, Author and YouTube Film Critic
[no image in epub file]
8
[no image in epub file]
9
[no image in epub file]
[no image in epub file]
Mashing Comics with History
BENNY
When I was first asked to write a book, I was a bit taken aback. I’m a guy who takes comic books, condenses them down and adds in some music and flair for a dramatic recap of that comic. This was completely out of my wheelhouse, and I was a floored that I would get the offer. But then when they asked me to write about comic book movies, it made more sense. This is what I do: talk about comic books and the movies related to them.
Originally, the plan was to discuss comic book movies in the context of how we got from the worst to the best. But as I did the research and dived into these movies I discovered, that isn’t how it happened. Everyone loves to think about those little gems that get mentioned but that no one has ever seen. Things like the Nick Fury television movie starring David Hasselhoff or the original Fantastic Four movie that was never actually released.
We all have fond memories of the bat nipples from Batman and Robin and memories of Christopher Reeve from Superman. But it’s a jumbled mess in which timelines and ideas are mixed up. It’s been so long, and so much has happened, that people just don’t remember things properly anymore. I for one am guilty of that.
Now a recurring theme you’ll begin to see with movies post-2005, after the era of the Spider-Man films and the Batman
[no image in epub file]
10
movie people wanted, is a larger acceptance for the superhero genre. The fantastic worlds of superheroes had become more acceptable largely due to a 10 shifted focus of the general public. For whatever the reason, people began to praise nerdy and geeky topics. Comic books directly benefited from this. Since the source material benefited, so did the superhero movie genre. We were hot on the tails of things like Harry Potter being a successful franchise and not just a single movie. Shows like Lost were doing well on television and showing that the general viewing public was looking for something with a deeper meaning, even if Lost never provided that meaning.
Addding to this acceptance, the world view had shifted. When I was a child, I was told I needed to throw away my childish things around eighteen and grow up. My parents used to teach me that I was supposed to go to college, get a good paying job, find a wife, have many children and that was life. This was a mentality instilled in them from their parents and their parents before them.
As the
