Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle

Hello true believers, I am just another nerd who loves nerdy documentaries.This is a wonderful buy as a DvD. It succinctly explains the history of super hero comics in the 20th century, but there is a give an take to that.The key to a documentary is facts and for a nerdy subject like this (where the people most involved are professional escapists and by nature divorced from facts) two things get in the way.Idealism is the first obstacle. Obviously you can't devote time to a subject without love or need for the subject, but love for the subject deifies factors that are not a part of history. Obviously the history here did not start with something as overreaching as the concept of super heroes (You, like in Neil Degrass Tison's Cosmos where they tries to make Gilgamesh into a super hero?), but they did not dwell on more immediate inspirations like the Scarlet Pimpernel or Zorro or the kinds of books the creators of modern comics would read before they became the creators more iconic characters like Superman, Batman, and the Joker. Much like many of the Walt Disney documentaries I purchase there are moments where research, retrospect, and insight into the events and repercussions of objective information becomes "Golly gee, what a better world this imaginary thing made". Again, this is to be expected when wide eyed nerds try to tell the truth about people and subjects before their time with wide eyed love. I can take that obstacle in any documentary.Indignation is the bigger second obstacle. Whether it is comics, television, film, or animation, these art forms are an industry and these industrialist are artists. Which means you have the back stabbing of a competitive world of work meeting with people less likely to be stable about it. The older artists and writers give the best perspective in this documentary because time humbles all tempers and egos, but then you get to the creators from the 1990s and suddenly the facts are gone. Todd McFarlene in this documentary really miss evaluates his role in the era of the comic boom and the establishment of image comics (though he is still an important figure head of the time with allot of good in sites to share) as does the writers of the Death of Superman books. This was the time period where new comic companies were risking it all, 90% of comic shops closed, and the economy of comics collapsed.........but all we got out of the insiders in THIS documentary is "Here is how I did the daring thing and wrote a darker story.........and somehow the economy of my industry fell apart. I don't know. Does not matter. Want to read the issue of Batman I wrote where he found his first grey hair?". It is really disappointing to say the least to have such a complex and charged time skimmed over because the artists they asked still had chips on their shoulders.But again, this is still a good documentary set. I recommend you look up an internet reviewer by the name of SFDebris and his recent miniseries covering the Rise and Fall of the Comic book industry in the late 80s and early 90s (currently 7 parts long on the Blip internet channel). It covers the artists, the investors, the venture capitalists, the market, the shipping, the battle of egos in every office, and every inspired mistake along the way. It damn near picks up all the slack this dvd left hanging behind it.

Comic books have come a long way from "all in color for a dime" just as WWII loomed. Today $3.99 is the new "dime" for comics themselves. Don't get me started on the prices to see the blockbuster movies their mythologies have spawned. From the "work for hire" sweatshops of the '40's to the corporate movies moguls of today, comic publishers have given us an American mythology which has moved from disposable to must see. This is an excellent overview of the now recognized art form which grew up along with those generations who loved it in their youth. Comics are a visual art form and the visuals abound in this 3 hour survey. We see the seminal images and hear from some their creators who have survived with their characters. As a Boomer, I followed Infantino's DC silver age pantheon of the '50's and embraced the kinetic Kirby explosion at Marvel in the '60's. When I reveled in the resurrection of Captain America or savored Jim Steranko and Neal Adams arrival on the scene; when Spidey tried to save a kid tripping on drugs or we learned that Green Arrow's ward Speedy was an addict, I did not realize I was reading history. Nothing says mainstream like a PBS special. SUPERHEROES: A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE explains how the comics have survived both market pressures and marked prejudice to rise from book burnings to the bookshelves of libraries, from corner drug stores to college courses. After your senses savor this vision of an art form which arose from reprinting the Sunday Comics in newspapers, run to your libraries where almost a century worth of comics greatness is collected as graphic novels both new and retrospective. If you don't want to run, you can now download digital versions, but this disk will whet your appetite for the output of these American visionaries. Stay young at heart with a visual mythology as old as time.

I enjoyed this dvd.

This is a great film that examines every comic book Superhero and their influence to the comic industry. Without the influence of the first Superhero Superman we would have nothing! The impact of the character Superman inspired people to come up with their own Superheroes that people love today, so give Superman a little more respect. Based on my opinion Superhero's are not just for kids, but are for adults as well. Kids may ware Superhero clothes and watch cartoons and movies, but they do not read comic books anymore. Adults Do! If you walk into any comic shop, you will not find a single child in there, except adults. This movie explains everything you need to know about comic book history and is a wonderful dvd to add to any Superhero fans collection. Just to point it out there they show very little photo's toward the end of the film, towards our current time from the movie Man of Steel but say nothing about it and say in no way how it impacted the comic book world like they do with the other superhero movies, You know why? Man of steel was a horrible film that ruined Superman, had no character study, a horrible plot, and was about dumb and unnecessary, non stop fighting.

I originally saw this on PBS and I was amazed at how good it was, so I had to add it to my collection. If you think comics are kid stuff, this will change your mind.This is very well done, intelligent and respectful story of comics from the begging in the 30's all the up through modern day blockbuster movies. But its more than a retelling of comic book superhero history. Its intelligent and insightful, explaining how historical events and societal attitudes influenced the storylines and characters. This doc makes it clear that writers and artists werent writing kids entertainment, rather, illustrating and interpreting issues of the day. War, racism, you name it, were all discussed within comic pages, making those topics palatable to young audiences.If you're a comic fan, I guarantee you'll love it. If you aren't, you'll come away with an understanding of why comic are and important artistic medium.

For me, this was like receiving an encyclopaedia when I had only just learned to read! It was information overload.O.K., there are lots of talking heads, but they are (to me) largely unknown, as is the subject matter about which they are talking. If you are looking for a simple introduction to the comic book world, then this isn't it. My advice, if you're a newbie, is to approach the subject one or two characters at a time and get to know their story, before moving on. The origin story of Captain America is a good start, as this is fairly straightforward.

I bought this on word of mouth as a friend of mine had seen it and told me how good it was.Over three episodes it charts the history of the comic book companies that brought us the mainstream superheroes that are now constantly breaking box office records.There are some areas that could have been fleshed out more and to be honest another episode or two may have been welcome. But what we have is an entertaining and informative look at the rise of our favourite heroes and how the industry has changed over 75 years.

the item was very well packed and exactly as described

Was very excited to find this for my husband. Arrived on time, in tact and thrilled my hubby. Awesome documentary on the origins and evolutions of superheroes.

Short but very interesting doc. on comic super heroes they do a good job covering all eras of super heroes.