Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Monday, June 12, 2006
Origin of Superman : "The Man of Steel"
"The Man of Honor, The Man of Steel" 
Who doesn't know this famous caped crusader. He is the heart throb of millions, and an ingenious creation from the artistic and publishing point of view. Superman has been around for a long time now...
A Brief Histroy...
Superman is the brainchild of writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster. "Joe and I were high school classmates in Cleveland," Siegel recalls. "Like me, he was a science fiction fan; we published a fanzine called Science Fiction, with Joe as art director and myself as editor." In the January 1933 issue, Siegel's The Reign of the Superman, illustrated by Shuster, saw print. In this tale, the "Superman" becomes a villain after being granted super-powers by a mad scientist who is very much like the later arch-villain, Lex Luthor.
Later in 1933, when Siegel saw Detective Dan, one of the first comic books, "it occurred to me that a Superman who was a hero might make a great comic character," and wrote a comic book story that Shuster drew: The Superman. After it was rejected by Dan's publisher, a dejected Shuster destroyed all of the original art - only the cover survived.
"We had a great character," Siegel remembers, "and were determined it would be published." They set out to recreate Superman as a comic strip. One summer night in 1934, Siegel came up with almost all of the Superman legend as we know it, wrote weeks of comic strips by morning, and had Shuster drawing it all the next day - including the creation of Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Superman's distinctive red, yellow, and blue costume.
"I suggested to Joe he put an 'S' in a triangle," Siegel says. Shuster added the cape to help give the effect of motion to Superman. Together they chose primary colors for his costume because they were, Shuster recounts, "the brightest colors we could think of."
Over the next three years, their Superman strip was turned down by every comic syndicate editor in the country. Esquire Features suggested, "pay a little attention to actual drawing. Yours seems crude and hurried."
But Sheldon Mayer, an editor at the McClure syndicate "went nuts! It was the thing we were all looking for!" He couldn't convince his boss, M.C. Gaines, to publish it - but when DC Comics publisher Harry Donenfeld called Gaines looking for material for his new title, Action Comics, Gaines sent him Superman.
Donenfeld showed it to his editor, Vince Sullivan, who bought it, saying, "it looks good... it's different... and there's a lot of action! This is what kids want!"
In order to meet the first issue's deadline, Shuster cut, pasted, and redrew Superman's daily strips into 13 comic book sized pages. The cover was based on an interior panel; according to Mayer, "Donenfeld felt that nobody would believe it!"
Slowly and gradually, the sales picked up and Superman was a hit. Many cartoon films were made in the late 40's depicting the Man of Steel in all his grandeour. But his most memorable impersonation was by the late Cristopher Reeve. He immortalized Superman on the Silver screen. The legacy is now being continued by Brandon Routh. This young actor is all set to star as Clark Kent/ Superman in Superman Returns which is expected to hit the Screens by 30th June. Lets hope this film goes "Up, Up and away!" on the charts too..!!
A Brief Histroy...
Superman is the brainchild of writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster. "Joe and I were high school classmates in Cleveland," Siegel recalls. "Like me, he was a science fiction fan; we published a fanzine called Science Fiction, with Joe as art director and myself as editor." In the January 1933 issue, Siegel's The Reign of the Superman, illustrated by Shuster, saw print. In this tale, the "Superman" becomes a villain after being granted super-powers by a mad scientist who is very much like the later arch-villain, Lex Luthor.
Later in 1933, when Siegel saw Detective Dan, one of the first comic books, "it occurred to me that a Superman who was a hero might make a great comic character," and wrote a comic book story that Shuster drew: The Superman. After it was rejected by Dan's publisher, a dejected Shuster destroyed all of the original art - only the cover survived.
"We had a great character," Siegel remembers, "and were determined it would be published." They set out to recreate Superman as a comic strip. One summer night in 1934, Siegel came up with almost all of the Superman legend as we know it, wrote weeks of comic strips by morning, and had Shuster drawing it all the next day - including the creation of Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Superman's distinctive red, yellow, and blue costume.
"I suggested to Joe he put an 'S' in a triangle," Siegel says. Shuster added the cape to help give the effect of motion to Superman. Together they chose primary colors for his costume because they were, Shuster recounts, "the brightest colors we could think of."
Over the next three years, their Superman strip was turned down by every comic syndicate editor in the country. Esquire Features suggested, "pay a little attention to actual drawing. Yours seems crude and hurried."
But Sheldon Mayer, an editor at the McClure syndicate "went nuts! It was the thing we were all looking for!" He couldn't convince his boss, M.C. Gaines, to publish it - but when DC Comics publisher Harry Donenfeld called Gaines looking for material for his new title, Action Comics, Gaines sent him Superman.
Donenfeld showed it to his editor, Vince Sullivan, who bought it, saying, "it looks good... it's different... and there's a lot of action! This is what kids want!"
In order to meet the first issue's deadline, Shuster cut, pasted, and redrew Superman's daily strips into 13 comic book sized pages. The cover was based on an interior panel; according to Mayer, "Donenfeld felt that nobody would believe it!"
Slowly and gradually, the sales picked up and Superman was a hit. Many cartoon films were made in the late 40's depicting the Man of Steel in all his grandeour. But his most memorable impersonation was by the late Cristopher Reeve. He immortalized Superman on the Silver screen. The legacy is now being continued by Brandon Routh. This young actor is all set to star as Clark Kent/ Superman in Superman Returns which is expected to hit the Screens by 30th June. Lets hope this film goes "Up, Up and away!" on the charts too..!!
Earthshine: The Da Vinci GLOW
Leonardo Da Vinci. He is undoubtedly one of the most known persons of our time. A lot of controversy arises at the mere mention of this guy's name, and Da Vinci himself-when alive- was no stranger to this. Whether or not we believe a certain Author's claims of Da Vinci's Connections to a Secret Society or his 'Social Preferences', we have to admit that he was a Genius par excellence. Genius in its PUREST form!
Very few know that Da Vinci was a great Astronomer too. One of his finest works in Astronomy was solving the ancient riddle of 'Earthshine'.
Earthshine??!
You can see Earthshine whenever there's a crescent Moon on the horizon at sunset. Look between the horns of the crescent for a ghostly image of the full Moon. That's Earthshine. The image shown above is Da Vinci's Sketch of Earthshine. (Source: NASA.gov)
The Reason...
When the sun sets on the Moon, it gets dark-but not completely dark. There's still a source of light in the sky: our very own Earth. Earth lights up the lunar night 50 times brighter than a full Moon, producing the ashen glow-or the EarthShine.
Where Da Vinci goofed up..
We cant blame the poor guy! First, he was in the 1500's and Second, it required a lot of guts to be a 'Free thinker' in his times. Still, he was wrong about TWO things as far as Earthshine was concerned...
- He said that the Moon was filled with Oceans, which we know, is not.
- Earth's Oceans were the Primary source of Earthshine. But actually, the CLOUDS are as they do most of the reflecting..
Yeah, he did goof up at places, but he had got the Basics right, and had understood Earthshine way back in the 1500's.
Who knows what else went on in the mind of that great thinker. One can't stop to think of the possibility of him having solved the riddles of space and time: Something for which Einstein slogged all his life.
Kudos to the man, an example for Humanity!
Finally A Blogger..!
Although I have been a Blogger user for quite some time now, it was not untill recently that I actually took the pains to create a post-My very first POST! Now isn't that "something"..?
..It could hardly be called Something. It is funny the way things change when an apparatus as stupid as a computer becomes your friend (Read: ONLY friend for Geeks and Super Nerds). But in todays context, having a Blog, a space on the Internet, a Hi5 account, a Gmail Invite, your very own computer-all these have become something like food, which you just can't do without!
So, lemme see how far I go about flaunting my very own blog at Blogger!
Peace.
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