Actualizing Akira

Scott Green gathers together a collection of recently released concept art by the likes of illustrator Rodolfo Dimaggio and storyboard artist Jeffrey Errico for the now seemingly abandoned, live-action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira.

(Image: motorcycle design, Tommy Lee Edwards)

Super Psyche

The boys over at Broadcast Thought consider some of the emotional challenges Clark Kent faced while growing up, including Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, risk-taking, and his own lineage: 

“Clark’s adolescence is a bit more complicated that that of a typical teenager. First, he’s adopted. As adopted children go through puberty, not only their bodies resemble their biological parents more, but they become capable of being parents themselves. This transformation raises questions about their own identity and can spur them to search for their parents. Also, as Clark’s body changes, he discovers emerging powers that are not only super-human, but super-scary. As if puberty wasn’t awkward enough already.”

(Image: Henry Cavill as Superman in Man of Steel, Warner Bros.)

Coming Attractions: Batman Forever

Batman Forever, the third film of the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman era, appeared in theaters on this date in 1995. The cast includes Val Kilmer (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Chris O’Donnell (Dick Grayson/Robin), Tommy Lee Jones (Harvey Dent/Two-Face), Jim Carrey (Edward Nigma/the Riddler), Nicole Kidman (Dr. Chase Meridian), Michael Gough (Alfred Pennyworth), Pat Hingle (Commissioner James Gordon), Drew Barrymore (Sugar), Debi Mazar (Spice), René Auberjonois (Dr. Burton), and Ed Begley, Jr. (Fred Stickley).

Bat Photos

Retronaut rounds up a collection of images from the set of the 1960s television series Batman.

(Image: Adam West reviewing a script on the set of Batman)

A Conceptual Hat Trick

Illustrator James Carson lent his considerable talents to the pre-production phases of Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007).

(Image: Black Cat, who was originally slated to appear along with Doctor Octopus and the Lizard in Spider-Man 2.)

Man Of Reel

Over at CraveOnline, Williams “Bibbs” Bibbiani and Witney Seibold look back at Superman’s film adventures in their 10-part Cinema of Steel series. The pair will examine a different theatrical release each day (parts one, two, and three here and here, and here) leading up to the arrival of Man of Steel on June 14.

(Shout-out: Superhero Hype)

"A Brutal And Surgical Display, Exuberant And Cold"

Last week, the Cannes Film Festival bestowed its coveted Palme d’Or upon director Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is the Warmest Colour based on the graphic novel Blue Angel by Julie Maroh. It is the first time that a film inspired by comics has ever taken the festival’s top prize. The jury also took the unprecendented step of extending the award, which traditionally goes only to the director, to actresses Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux as well.

The movie, about a coming of age romance between two young French women, raised some eyebrows for its intense sex scenes. Maroh herself expressed some displeasure with how the subject was handled:

“The heternomormative laughed because they don’t understand it and find the scene ridiculous. The gay and queer people laughed because it’s not convincing, and [they] found it ridiculous. And among the only people we didn’t hear giggling were the potential guys [sic] too busy feasting their eyes on an incarnation of their fantasties on screen.”

Without having yet seen the film (it’s slated for release in France on October 9), we cannot comment on its content. But we are a bit dismayed that such a milestone achievement does not appear to have registered with those who report on the comics community.

(Image: Léa Seydoux as Emma and Adèle Exarchopoulos as Adèle in Blue Is the Warmest Colour, Canal+)