Superheroes for the real world
October 22, 2006 | 12:00am
This Week’s Winner
Edwin R. Maristany is an English teacher at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. He is also currently finishing his master’s degree in Second Language Teaching and English Language Education at DLSU. He collects comic books and reads manga, and what he calls "books without the cool pictures." His favorite authors include Peter David, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, Matthew Pearl, Jonathan Stroud, Ray Bradbury, Cornelia Funke and Paulo Coelho.
Okay. I admit it. I’m a huge comic book fan. I collect and read them, and put them in special Mylar bags backed with acid-free cardboard in specially-designated boxes. Blame it on my Dad, who used to take me to Carriedo to buy Marvel and DC Comics that were not bookstore reprints. My cousins also used to send me comic books from the US. Even today, I still have some of the issues that were bought in the ’70s and early ’80s (and yes, I still read them, yellowed and creased as they mostly are).
It would be safe to say that I owe a lot to my comic books. Because of them, I learned English, and they have also provided me with hours of reading pleasure during my largely cloistered childhood. Comics have also given me a love for drawing, a pastime that I still pursue. They have also imbued me with a sense of imagination and whimsy, and have opened my mind to new cultures and ideas. It was also because of them that I was able to learn the ideals of truth, justice and sacrifice. Indeed, these "books" have had a profound positive influence on me.
Of course, the comic books of today have come a long way from their humble beginnings. From a medium that was primarily created to entertain children, they have evolved into a distinct and unique literary art form all their own, and have expanded their audience to include teens and even adults. Comics have become a venue for telling rich, intelligent and highly imaginative stories, with complex and realistic characters.
Granted, they still stretch the boundaries and limits of reality, but their stories have pleasantly come a long way from the simplistic and mundane plots of the past. Many of them are now also being collected into book volumes and the line between comic books and literature is beginning to converge and blur. Today, these volumes are called by many names, the two most common being "trade paperback" (a term for a comic series or story arc that’s collected into a single volumes or series of volumes), and "graphic novel" (similar in definition, but more often reserved for those that cater to more mature audiences).
One sterling example of a graphic novel is The World’s Greatest Super Heroes written by Paul Dini and drawn by the incredibly talented artist Alex Ross. The first thing that strikes you about it is its size: it is at least as big as a coffee-table book, and just as thick. This book also has a beautiful slipcase that features the heroes of the title in all their painted glory. It is also remarkable in that it combines consummate writing and painted art: just imagine a comic book with every page a fine-art painting, and you’ll have a good idea of the book’s look.
The World’s Greatest Super Heroes is a collection of the "oversized comic books" created by Dini and Ross between 1998 and 2003, namely, Superman: Peace on Earth, Batman: War on Crime, Shazam!: Power of Hope, Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth, JLA: Secret Origins, and JLA: Liberty & Justice. The stories feature the icons of the DC Universe, mostly solving problems that pervade our headlines and collective consciousness today: crime, hunger, racial and gender bias, to name a few. This is one of the things that makes the book very unique, and also gives it a sense of relevance and timeliness not found in other such books.
Emmy award-winning writer Paul Dini weaves incredible tales of adventure. To his credit, the characters are handled in a very realistic way. The writer does not present idealized and sanitized heroes, but imbues them with a humanness that is both believable and disarming. They feel confusion, regret, pain and all the other emotions that we ordinary mortals have to deal with on a daily basis. Superman is heartbroken when his plan to end hunger fails, Wonder Woman struggles to understand why her efforts to effect change in the world are met with hostility and suspicion, Shazam becomes world-weary and begins to wonder whether he is really making a difference, Batman empathizes with an impressionable child who is being led to a life of crime, and has to keep his emotions in check when dealing with a villain in his human guise as Bruce Wayne.
Although these heroes are capable of wondrous and sometimes even miraculous feats, they are all portrayed in such a way that we are able to relate to their struggles on a human level.
Even "aliens" such as Superman and Martian Manhunter, or "metahuman" characters like Wonder Woman, are given depth and personality so that we can believe they can exist in our real world. The other characters and settings, too, echo familiar headlines and recent events. And although many of them are never specifically named ("the South American dictator," terrorists, oppressive governments, a country that uses "human shields"), we are able to get them anyway.
The plots are very well written, with no events or scenes thrown in haphazardly or "just because." Every event and scene serves to further the plot and move the stories along. To Dini’s credit, the stories also move along at an even and measured pace that is neither rushed nor dragging. There are moments of poignancy, humor and, of course, the requisite action sequences that all superhero books must have. And all of these moments contribute to the overall impact of the story.
Aside from the superb writing, the book also features page upon page of incredibly detailed and intricate painted art by Eisner award—winning artist Alex Ross, all done by hand. Just as Dini is able to portray the book’s characters through their speech and actions, Ross is able to visually lend an unprecedented degree of realism to the people and places of the story. Ross’ art is stunning and beautiful, almost photo realistic – as if the images were copied from real life. The book features a behind-the-scenes look at Ross’ creative process, and we see the great pains the artist took to help DC create authentic-looking characters: from the models he painstakingly copied to the numerous thumbnails that served as tests for the individual books’ covers, to the art that he produced for DC merchandise such as posters and collectible dinner plates.
The common theme in these stories is the need for a human solution to the world’s problems. In most of the stories, the heroes are able to effect meaningful change only when they revert to their human personas. Most notably in the individual character stories, the heroes (and heroine, in the case of Wonder Woman) are able to do more good by silently, anonymously, and individually lending a hand. The world’s problems, the book seems to tell us, are not solved by flashy costumes and incredible displays of strength and speed, but by understanding, empathy, belief in others, and the power of unity and cooperation. The book also appears to be saying that we cannot always rely on heroes and heroines to solve our problems for us, and that we should be the ones to take an active part in making a difference and changing the world. As the saying goes, we must "become the change that we want to see in this world." And this is a good message to leave the reader with.
DC’s The World’s Greatest Super Heroes is a landmark book, not just because of its realistic art and treatment of superheroes, but because of the tremendous effort and care that the artists have devoted to their work. It shows us the comic book form’s potential to transcend the realm of purely juvenile and relatively shallow entertainment, and take its place as a legitimate literary art form.
Edwin R. Maristany is an English teacher at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. He is also currently finishing his master’s degree in Second Language Teaching and English Language Education at DLSU. He collects comic books and reads manga, and what he calls "books without the cool pictures." His favorite authors include Peter David, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, Matthew Pearl, Jonathan Stroud, Ray Bradbury, Cornelia Funke and Paulo Coelho.
Okay. I admit it. I’m a huge comic book fan. I collect and read them, and put them in special Mylar bags backed with acid-free cardboard in specially-designated boxes. Blame it on my Dad, who used to take me to Carriedo to buy Marvel and DC Comics that were not bookstore reprints. My cousins also used to send me comic books from the US. Even today, I still have some of the issues that were bought in the ’70s and early ’80s (and yes, I still read them, yellowed and creased as they mostly are).
It would be safe to say that I owe a lot to my comic books. Because of them, I learned English, and they have also provided me with hours of reading pleasure during my largely cloistered childhood. Comics have also given me a love for drawing, a pastime that I still pursue. They have also imbued me with a sense of imagination and whimsy, and have opened my mind to new cultures and ideas. It was also because of them that I was able to learn the ideals of truth, justice and sacrifice. Indeed, these "books" have had a profound positive influence on me.
Of course, the comic books of today have come a long way from their humble beginnings. From a medium that was primarily created to entertain children, they have evolved into a distinct and unique literary art form all their own, and have expanded their audience to include teens and even adults. Comics have become a venue for telling rich, intelligent and highly imaginative stories, with complex and realistic characters.
Granted, they still stretch the boundaries and limits of reality, but their stories have pleasantly come a long way from the simplistic and mundane plots of the past. Many of them are now also being collected into book volumes and the line between comic books and literature is beginning to converge and blur. Today, these volumes are called by many names, the two most common being "trade paperback" (a term for a comic series or story arc that’s collected into a single volumes or series of volumes), and "graphic novel" (similar in definition, but more often reserved for those that cater to more mature audiences).
One sterling example of a graphic novel is The World’s Greatest Super Heroes written by Paul Dini and drawn by the incredibly talented artist Alex Ross. The first thing that strikes you about it is its size: it is at least as big as a coffee-table book, and just as thick. This book also has a beautiful slipcase that features the heroes of the title in all their painted glory. It is also remarkable in that it combines consummate writing and painted art: just imagine a comic book with every page a fine-art painting, and you’ll have a good idea of the book’s look.
The World’s Greatest Super Heroes is a collection of the "oversized comic books" created by Dini and Ross between 1998 and 2003, namely, Superman: Peace on Earth, Batman: War on Crime, Shazam!: Power of Hope, Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth, JLA: Secret Origins, and JLA: Liberty & Justice. The stories feature the icons of the DC Universe, mostly solving problems that pervade our headlines and collective consciousness today: crime, hunger, racial and gender bias, to name a few. This is one of the things that makes the book very unique, and also gives it a sense of relevance and timeliness not found in other such books.
Emmy award-winning writer Paul Dini weaves incredible tales of adventure. To his credit, the characters are handled in a very realistic way. The writer does not present idealized and sanitized heroes, but imbues them with a humanness that is both believable and disarming. They feel confusion, regret, pain and all the other emotions that we ordinary mortals have to deal with on a daily basis. Superman is heartbroken when his plan to end hunger fails, Wonder Woman struggles to understand why her efforts to effect change in the world are met with hostility and suspicion, Shazam becomes world-weary and begins to wonder whether he is really making a difference, Batman empathizes with an impressionable child who is being led to a life of crime, and has to keep his emotions in check when dealing with a villain in his human guise as Bruce Wayne.
Although these heroes are capable of wondrous and sometimes even miraculous feats, they are all portrayed in such a way that we are able to relate to their struggles on a human level.
Even "aliens" such as Superman and Martian Manhunter, or "metahuman" characters like Wonder Woman, are given depth and personality so that we can believe they can exist in our real world. The other characters and settings, too, echo familiar headlines and recent events. And although many of them are never specifically named ("the South American dictator," terrorists, oppressive governments, a country that uses "human shields"), we are able to get them anyway.
The plots are very well written, with no events or scenes thrown in haphazardly or "just because." Every event and scene serves to further the plot and move the stories along. To Dini’s credit, the stories also move along at an even and measured pace that is neither rushed nor dragging. There are moments of poignancy, humor and, of course, the requisite action sequences that all superhero books must have. And all of these moments contribute to the overall impact of the story.
Aside from the superb writing, the book also features page upon page of incredibly detailed and intricate painted art by Eisner award—winning artist Alex Ross, all done by hand. Just as Dini is able to portray the book’s characters through their speech and actions, Ross is able to visually lend an unprecedented degree of realism to the people and places of the story. Ross’ art is stunning and beautiful, almost photo realistic – as if the images were copied from real life. The book features a behind-the-scenes look at Ross’ creative process, and we see the great pains the artist took to help DC create authentic-looking characters: from the models he painstakingly copied to the numerous thumbnails that served as tests for the individual books’ covers, to the art that he produced for DC merchandise such as posters and collectible dinner plates.
The common theme in these stories is the need for a human solution to the world’s problems. In most of the stories, the heroes are able to effect meaningful change only when they revert to their human personas. Most notably in the individual character stories, the heroes (and heroine, in the case of Wonder Woman) are able to do more good by silently, anonymously, and individually lending a hand. The world’s problems, the book seems to tell us, are not solved by flashy costumes and incredible displays of strength and speed, but by understanding, empathy, belief in others, and the power of unity and cooperation. The book also appears to be saying that we cannot always rely on heroes and heroines to solve our problems for us, and that we should be the ones to take an active part in making a difference and changing the world. As the saying goes, we must "become the change that we want to see in this world." And this is a good message to leave the reader with.
DC’s The World’s Greatest Super Heroes is a landmark book, not just because of its realistic art and treatment of superheroes, but because of the tremendous effort and care that the artists have devoted to their work. It shows us the comic book form’s potential to transcend the realm of purely juvenile and relatively shallow entertainment, and take its place as a legitimate literary art form.
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