impressedWatch "A Smallville Man." THIS is what I want from superhero mythology. This is MY Superman and the parents Kent. This five-minute short film is better than Man of Steel because it not only understands the archetype of the Unsullied Hero or Paragon, it digs deeper to examine how Superman came to be that way. It shows how to raise a hero: children tend to do what they see, whether positive or negative. Not everyone may have superpowers, but everyone will have opportunities to stand up for what they believe in and help other people -- or not. Also check out the gorgeous grayscale artwork. The artist says "drawing" but it looks like watercolor to me, so maybe digital with a watercolor effect? In any case the stylized design and the warm Payne's gray make a wonderful backdrop for the emotional impact. Bonus points for nonlinguistic storytelling, which is exceptionally difficult and requires adept-level skill; when well done, it results in a story that makes sense across cultures. There are lyrics on the soundtrack, well matched to the content, but the plot is completely told in the images. Five stars.
But hey, Man of Steel isn't useless. It's my textbook example for archetype failure. A spectacular bad example is valuable to a scholar!
Now watch "Gotham Fairytale," actually published first. Here we see one of the greatest vigilante superheroes, Batman, who has been variously classified as a Tragic Hero or Anti-Hero. I think it works better than the recent series of frankly horror-genre Batman flix -- it is a truly gothic tale, with a dash of fairytale mythos as advertised in the title, and I think that holds true to the core of this cthonic character. The storytelling here involves written dialog as well as images, and the lyrical soundtrack is pretty good though not as apt a match as in "A Smallville Man," so basically it's an animated comic book. That's difficult to do well, but I am impressed with the quality. Also done in grayscale, this one has more and deeper blacks with a chiaroscuro effect. Watch for the whitework. This film has a much scratchier style compared to "A Smallville Man." I am a fan of scratchy when the tone or theme of the art is edgy. That Joker -- the hairs on the back of my neck gave him a standing ovation. I kind of wish the fight scene had included a few Biff! Pow! bubbles, but that's my campy Batman fansquee showing; it probably wouldn't fit perfectly with this style. It did pop into my head, though. Check out the quality of martial arts moves in the choreography; there's an extended elbow lock and a hand-heel to the chin that are quite recognizable. Four stars.
Taken together, these two films show the artist's grasp of how medium can express meaning, because his style changes to match the content. They also pin down both ends of the heroic spectrum, demonstrating that Mauricio can handle a wide range of characters with equal fluency.
Visit the artist's website. See some full-color illustrations and even more different styles and tones. :D The visual development, theme park, and tutorial pages are particularly noteworthy. I looked for a donation button, but couldn't find one. :( One of his books is marked "Kickstarter campaign coming soon" though. He sells prints of his artwork, but there are no prices or even price ranges listed. The website is still lovely to browse.
January 20 2015, 13:01:04 UTC 6 years ago
As I watched the Batman one, I remembered something you might be interested in. I've been working on a character whose super-power is the ability to end conflict nonviolently. I don't have the details yet, but what I was thinking was some kind of siren-like power, to sing violent people into passivity. But maybe more targeted; like she can sing to a crowd or to a specific person. So a whole superhero thing where the hero never throws a punch, never shoots a weapon, never blows stuff up, and maybe never lets such things happen to her either, because she walks into a room singing, and the violent person becomes calm and passive and open to suggestion.
Now there *are* pitfalls there. A deaf villain wouldn't be affected by her singing, the acoustics of a place could screw with her powers, or passivity might be a bad thing if the villain has a bomb with a dead-man trigger and he gets too relaxed and drops it. But I like the idea of a superhero who never (or almost never) needs to resort to violence, and prevents violence from occurring around her.
Ooo...
January 20 2015, 19:43:51 UTC 6 years ago
Yay!
>> As I watched the Batman one, I remembered something you might be interested in. I've been working on a character whose super-power is the ability to end conflict nonviolently. <<
That sounds awesome! I have some characters who can achieve that goal through various powers (empathy, telepathy, bonobo powers...) but not as one unto itself.
>> I don't have the details yet, but what I was thinking was some kind of siren-like power, to sing violent people into passivity. But maybe more targeted; like she can sing to a crowd or to a specific person. <<
That would work.
>> So a whole superhero thing where the hero never throws a punch, never shoots a weapon, never blows stuff up, and maybe never lets such things happen to her either, because she walks into a room singing, and the violent person becomes calm and passive and open to suggestion. <<
:D The world needs more nonviolent superheroes. We have enough who smash shit and hit people. There are other ways to solve problems! Also there are many problems which are not nails and for which those hammers are no use. (I made a list of some on the bingo card generator.)
>> Now there *are* pitfalls there. <<
All superpowers, like all people, have weaknesses.
>> A deaf villain wouldn't be affected by her singing, <<
Bonus points for a supervillain with a disability able to wreak some serious badassery.
In the T&J model of characterization that I'm using, this would be written up something like, "Limitation: Peace Siren only affects people who can hear the song."
>> the acoustics of a place could screw with her powers, or passivity might be a bad thing if the villain has a bomb with a dead-man trigger and he gets too relaxed and drops it. <<
Also good points.
It won't work on natural phenomena, like a storm. Your call whether it works on animals and if so which ones. Some really do respond to music, others not so much.
>> But I like the idea of a superhero who never (or almost never) needs to resort to violence, and prevents violence from occurring around her. <<
Agreed! Occasional roughhousing would work, though. Suppose you made the deadman switch after several other zero-violence stories. To keep him from releasing the switch, she speaks soothingly to coax him into letting her get close, then turns on the full power and tackles him to grab the switch. Bad guy maybe gets a few scrapes and a bump on the head from hitting pavement. In an ordinary superhero series, this would be a step down from canon-typical violence; but in your context as described above, it's a step up and an example of "how far she'll go."
Re: Ooo...
January 21 2015, 04:22:35 UTC 6 years ago