Secret Identity, an ongoing series of photorealistic paintings of plastic superhero models enclosed in plastic bags, visually highlights what Simon Monk sees as a major contradiction: the iconic power of these mythic figures versus their roles as purchased objects — a situation that he says is similar to the plight of the artist. “My painting process is pretty painstaking as the images are built up from many transparent layers to give them the luminosity that I want,” he recently explained to My Modern Met. “The plastic bags start with barely visible glazes of white and are very gradually built up until I feel that they work visually. Each painting takes at least three months to complete.” Click through to check out the amazing end results.
Last week, Marvel debuted a new biracial superhero in Ultimate Spider-Man — creators hoped the new half-black, half-Hispanic Spider-Man, Miles Morales, would reflect the diversity of modern society. While some (including your author) welcomed Marvel’s progressive adaptation to a changing market, many fans took to the internet to share their disdain. The eruption of fan backlash was disheartening and, at times, ugly.
Some ranted that Marvel was taking unnecessary steps towards being “politically correct,” while others complained that such a recognizable superhero shouldn’t be open to adjustments. The climax came when Glenn Beck joined the noise, somehow connecting the character to Michelle Obama. For our part, we think it’s important to point out that, while it can be slow to change, the comic-book world is becoming a more diverse place — Miles Morales isn’t the first non-Caucasian superhero and isn’t likely to be the last. To celebrate the Marvel Universe’s newest addition, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite superheroes of color.
Thanks to the success of the Spider-Man and X-Men film franchises, and more recently, the Captain America movie, you don’t need to be a comic book geek to appreciate the beauty of these minimalist Marvel posters by Marko Manev — but it definitely doesn’t hurt. Click through for his understated odes to some of our favorite superheroes and villains in the Marvel Universe, and let us know in the comments which ones you’d like to hang on your apartment’s walls.
Remember back in June of last year, when Donald Glover was lobbying hard for the chance to audition for the starring role in Marc Webb’s Spider-Man reboot? A lot of comic book fans thought the idea of a non-white Spider-Man was totally out of the question. Perhaps we should take it as a sign of progress then that as Splitsider reports, Miles Morales, a new half-black, half-Hispanic Spider-Man will make his debut tomorrow in Marvel’s Ultimate Fallout #4. “What you have is a Spider-Man for the 21st century who’s reflective of our culture and diversity,” his creator Brian Michael Bendis told USA Today. “We think that readers will fall in love with Miles Morales the same way they fell in love with Peter Parker.”
While Bendis says Glover’s campaign did not directly inspire the new character, he was happy when he spotted the Community actor wearing Spidey pajamas in the show’s season premiere last fall. “He looked fantastic! I saw him in the costume and thought, ‘I would like to read that book.’ So I was glad I was writing that book.” Judging from the image of Morales above, we’d say there’s more than a slight resemblance between the two — suggesting that perhaps Glover had more influence than Bendis even realizes. What do you think?
Welcome to “Trailer Park,” our regular Friday feature where we collect the week’s new trailers all in one place and do a little “judging a book by its cover,” ranking them from worst to best and taking our best guess at what they may be hiding. This week, we’ve only got six new ones — perhaps due to last week’s trailer overload — but there are two very big superheroes among them. Check ‘em all out after the jump.
The Green Lantern, the third of this summer’s four huge potential-tentpole superhero comic book adaptations, opened over the weekend with a total box office take of $52.6 million — a sum that pretty much every movie site that comments on such things has deemed “disappointing.” Of course, only in 2011 Hollywood can generating over $50 million in three days be deemed a downer, but there ya go. However, hard on the heels of X-Men: First Class’s similarly “disappointing” $55 million opening two weeks back, it begs the question: are moviegoers, at long last, growing tired of superhero movies?
Today at Flavorpill, we were impressed by Jay-Z’s cameraphone video of Beyonce’s rehearsal last night (that voice!), but wished that he would have rotated his freaking phone. We found it almost impossible to tell the difference between the Terrence Malick cutaways and the nature documentary footage in Brow Beat’s clever quiz. We wondered how long it will take before this painter breaks his hunger strike against The New Yorker. We were excited to hear that Comedy Central will be streaming comedy live from Bonnaroo — now we don’t have to camp! We imagined a world where boring cereals had mascots too. We couldn’t bring ourselves to stream Eddie Vedder’s ukulele album. We revisited some of the most scarring moments from Little House on The Prairie. And finally, we enjoyed Vulture’s analysis of movie superheroes’ suits in regards to the amount of groin protection that they offer. (Poor Andrew Garland!)
What if Spider Man rode around Queens on a bicycle made out of webs? Or Superman took to the streets of Metropolis on a heat vision bike? Maryland-based mountain biking enthusiast and illustrator Mike Joos has created a hilarious series of affordable posters that re-imagines some of our favorite superheroes on two-wheelers. (Note: If you’re not a comic book geek, he also has bike-themed prints featuring Cookie Monster, Hans Solo, and George Washington in his Etsy shop.) Click through for our favorites.
Normally, we wouldn’t write about minimalist posters twice in one day, but these pictogram film posters by graphic designer Viktor Hertz are just too good not to share. As is always the case when a designer distills an entire movie into one image, it’s fascinating to see what icon he chose to represent each film. “I try to bring a twist to it, and not get too simple, he explained to My Modern Met. “I want to be unpredictable and entertaining, and make something that communicates the film instantly, yet in an original way.” Click through to check out a gallery of his work, which is available for purchase on Zazzle.
Donald Trump is “seriously thinking about” a run for president because he thinks the U.S. has become “the laughingstock of the world.” Also, he’d sure like to tell China, “You’re fired.” This looks promising. [CNN]
In the year since he was branded “too fat too fly,” Kevin Smith has lost 65 pounds. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t still pissed off about the incident. [Time]
Dr. Dre will join Eminem in a performance at this weekend’s Grammy Awards. Does this mean Detox really is almost ready for release? Bob Dylan will also take the stage Sunday for a collaboration with Mumford & Sons. [MTV News]
Big news, comic fans: Spider-Man is joining the Fantastic Four. Beginning March 23, he’ll replace the Human Torch, who died last month. Here’s hoping he fares better on the page than on the stage. [AP]
Emma Watson has signed on to star opposite Logan Lerman in the big-screen adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Stephen Chbosky, the book’s author, will direct the film, and John Malkovich is the executive producer. [Digital Spy]
