Charles decided at the last moment to ride the elevator to the 24th floor with the sad creature. When the doors closed he glanced down at the sobbing person curled in the corner and saw a long dark ponytail hanging over, what he assumed was a girl’s shoulder, shaking as she convulsed. Curiosity permeated Charles as he stared down at her. A feeling rose in his chest that was something he had never experienced before. By the fifth floor, he was still trying to decipher what he felt in his stomach – there was a fluttering of spasms that were…not unpleasant. An odd thought crossed his mind that he shook off; it was completely and utterly implausible for that to be what was happening to him. Ignoring his racing mind, he bent down and gently tapped the girl on her shoulder.
The girl looked up and peered into Charles’ face. Her almond shaped brown eyes glittered with tears on the verge of cascading. Her face was devoid of imperfections, aside from the streaks of unhappiness that trailed from her eyes. Charles felt as though he could gaze upon her face for all of eternity. Silently he sat down next to her, pulling his legs up to his chest and continuing to stare at her. Feeling uncomfortable the girl blinked her long dark lashes, spilling more tears down her cheeks and looked away.
“Uh…sorry,” said in an unnaturally high voice. He cleared his throat and asked: “If you don’t mind me asking…um –?”
“Why am I hiding in an elevator, crying my eyes out?” she supplied, with a hint of sarcasm.
“Uh…yeah,” he replied uncomfortably, shifting a bit on the carpeted elevator floor. He looked over at the numbered wall and saw that they were now on the 11th floor.
“Well…I just got a phone call from my father, before I headed over here. My brother died.”
“Um…”
“Now you’re wondering why I’d still come to this place after getting such horrible news, right?”
“Something like that. Why didn’t you go home?”
“My family lives in Delaware. I can hardly just jump on a plane and head for the east coast. Do you know how much a trans-continental ticket costs last minute?”
“No, sorry I don’t. But that still doesn’t answer why you came here.”
“I thought I would come to keep my head clear, have some fun to drown the pain, I thought I could handle it,” she finished, shrugging.
“Really?”
The girl paused for a moment before answering. She looked backed over at him, apparently sizing him up, deciding whether or not she should continue to talk to a stranger about such personal matters. She must have decided that she could share with him when she replied:
“No, not really. I just didn’t want to be alone.”
“But you’re here in this elevator alone.”
“Not anymore,” she said with a flicker of a smile.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Superheroes: For Kids or Adults?
Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a guy wearing spandex that comes to life in our imaginations. Superman first hit the comic book pages in the early 1930's. His popularity led to the Golden Age of Comics and the time of the costumed hero. Along with his peers, Superman thrilled children who saved their dimes and nickels for when the next comic hit the stands. What was most appealing about the costumed hero in that era was the offer of escape from the depressive times that were all around. A fantasy world - where men could fly; where aliens were friendly; where villains were ruthless; where ordinary people could become extraordinary - was just what the kids needed, an escape.
Today many of these heroes still exist. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman from the DC comic world are still very popular. In the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Captain America and the Avengers still inspire many readers of this century. But funnily enough, these characters that were once so innocently depicted in newspapers and in their own features have become a lot more graphic. Yes, the medium that superheroes are most often drawn in this day and age is the magical graphic novel, but when did the exploits of the men, and women, who don spandex, that we are suppose to look up to become the precursors of pornographic drawings. Women are always scantily clad, parts of them are over-emphasized and they are almost always drawn in proportions that would not support them if they were real. Men are drawn with more muscles than even a person doped up on steroids could possibly have, expanding the chest to large abnormal proportions. The content of most graphic novels is darker than what it used to be back in the Golden Age. Superman must decide whether or not to kill another in order to save the lives of millions or even billions. Peter Parker is infected with a disease that could impair his abilities as Spider-Man. Along with a long stream of story lines that are quite PG-13, the violent battles that ensue between heroes and bad guys, looks like a bare-knuckle boxing bout reminiscent of Fight Club. It seems to me that Superheroes have reached a new benchmark, they are now geared more towards adults.
You may be wondering why would the writers of graphic novels intentionally make the content more mature? The answer is simple. While there are children who have become enraptured with capes, many of the fans that remain are in their 20s, 30s, 40s or 50s now. They are the target audience for such a genre. Large movie companies also seem to have come to this consensus as the majority of all superhero movies that have hit the silver screen in the past 10 years have been rated PG-13. Even animated attempts on these characters have toppled over the safe PG rating. The animators of the DC Universe series have created animated features rated PG-13. And their animated Superman, Batman and Justice League series, pushed the boundaries of their TV ratings.
Comic books have pretty much died as a genre, graphic novels pick up the slack in the publishing world for that diminishing sub-culture. I believe that is safe to say that Superheroes are, for now at least, for adults.
Today many of these heroes still exist. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman from the DC comic world are still very popular. In the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Captain America and the Avengers still inspire many readers of this century. But funnily enough, these characters that were once so innocently depicted in newspapers and in their own features have become a lot more graphic. Yes, the medium that superheroes are most often drawn in this day and age is the magical graphic novel, but when did the exploits of the men, and women, who don spandex, that we are suppose to look up to become the precursors of pornographic drawings. Women are always scantily clad, parts of them are over-emphasized and they are almost always drawn in proportions that would not support them if they were real. Men are drawn with more muscles than even a person doped up on steroids could possibly have, expanding the chest to large abnormal proportions. The content of most graphic novels is darker than what it used to be back in the Golden Age. Superman must decide whether or not to kill another in order to save the lives of millions or even billions. Peter Parker is infected with a disease that could impair his abilities as Spider-Man. Along with a long stream of story lines that are quite PG-13, the violent battles that ensue between heroes and bad guys, looks like a bare-knuckle boxing bout reminiscent of Fight Club. It seems to me that Superheroes have reached a new benchmark, they are now geared more towards adults.
You may be wondering why would the writers of graphic novels intentionally make the content more mature? The answer is simple. While there are children who have become enraptured with capes, many of the fans that remain are in their 20s, 30s, 40s or 50s now. They are the target audience for such a genre. Large movie companies also seem to have come to this consensus as the majority of all superhero movies that have hit the silver screen in the past 10 years have been rated PG-13. Even animated attempts on these characters have toppled over the safe PG rating. The animators of the DC Universe series have created animated features rated PG-13. And their animated Superman, Batman and Justice League series, pushed the boundaries of their TV ratings.
Comic books have pretty much died as a genre, graphic novels pick up the slack in the publishing world for that diminishing sub-culture. I believe that is safe to say that Superheroes are, for now at least, for adults.
Monday, October 5, 2009
A New Superhero Tandum: Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Review
I love comic books and superheroes. It's a side-effect of having two nerdy older brothers. I'm so fortunate to have been immersed in this fantasy world of metahumans and costumed crusaders for justice and peace.
When I heard first heard that the creators of my favorite animated features and shows based on the DC Comics Universe were bringing the first installment of the Superman/Batman graphic novel series to the screen, I became "super-excited". Producer Bruce Timm and his creative team are the visionaries behind the Justice League Series, Superman:Doomsday, Wonder Woman and Justice League:New Frontier animated shows/movies. Timm and the DC Universe team have proved their worth in the past and I am excited to say they have far surpassed their previous quality with this adaptation.
The character designs in this showing are quite varied from the previous streamlined presentations by the Warner Bros. Animation team, the extra musclar definition is definitely much more appealing to the feminie eye and I imagine that it inspires the young boys who see the buffed up characterizations of their favorite heroes. As far as the story goes, the themes from the action-packed graphic novel made their way to the screen accompanied by recent events in the economy.
The plot is spicy. Lex Luthor, after his years of trying to bring down Superman and his string of high-profile crimes is elected as the leader of the free world: president of the United States. Superman is plagued by this development. He is very aware of what type of person Lex Luthor is and he plans to expose Luthor's supposed evil plot before it is too late. Teaming up with Batman, they work hard to stop Luthor's mania while at the same time, working to stop a large Kryptonite meteor that is headed for Earth. However, Superman and Batman are detained from their mission by their former allies, Superheroes that have gone to work for Luthor's government. Batman and Superman's journey shows the strides they have made in their tolerance of each other and their ideas. In this gripping story, the true measure of their friendship is observed and the viewers find what lengths Superman will go to in order to save the world and a friend.
I give this two thumbs up!
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