Voices From Krypton

Bruce Timm Interview - Part 2

With DC launching a series of made-for-DVD animated films that are decidedly more adult-oriented than a lot of the fare being produced for television, anticipation is high for the adaptation of the Death of Superman comic book storyline in the form of Superman: Doomsday. The storytelling challenge of this particular chapter in the Man of Steel's history lies in the fact that, in print, the scenario stretched out over a year's worth of weekly comics. All of that had to somehow be condensed into a 76-minute running time.

In the second part of Voices From Krypton's exclusive interview with Bruce Timm, we continue our discussion of the film.

Grayson — A Look Back

The fan film phenomenon is truly something to behold, and absolutely the next step in the evolution of fan fiction.  A genuine standout among fan films is Grayson, an extended trailer for a proposed film that would focus on Robin in the aftermath of Batman's death.  Clicking below will bring you to an in depth look at the making of that trailer from the  points of view of its cast and crew.

Download the_making_of_grayson.pdf

Supergirl - The Student Becomes the Teacher

The announcement that Supergirl will be joining the recurring cast of Smallville is intriguing for a number of reasons. First off, like the Daily Planet, Lois Lane and a variety of other elements from the DC universe, it's being introduced out of continuity and "tweaked" to more appropriately fit the Superman universe as established by the series. Based on some recent comments by executive producer Al Gough,it would seem that Kara Zor-El, who already has the power to fly, will play an important role in Clark Kent's continuing evolution toward his destiny as Superman. If that's the case, it's a reverse of the character's lore in that in the comics Kara arrived on on Earth well after Clark had become Superman, and he's the one who mentored and prepared her for life as a Kryptonian on earth. To date, Supergirl has appeared on film in the 1984 movie starring Helen Slater as the Girl of Steel, and as a part of DC's animated universe. Additionally, in season three of Smallville, Adrianne Palicki played a character claiming to be Kara, but she turned out to be a pawn of Jor-El's manipulation of his son. And besides all of those, scour the Internet and you'll find a wide variety of Supergirl fans who have decided to don her costume themselves.

THE GREAT MARVEL/DC DEBATE

Goobers or Raisinettes?  PC or Mac?  Marvel or DC?   These are the eternal questions that have plagued humanity for... well, at least a few years. In the case of the latter, some answers may be provided in a series of "dialogues" between superhero representatives from both comic companies. These vignettes, created and posted on YouTube by ItsJustSomeRandomGuy, are a clever takes on the Mac/PC ads.

Here's one; more inside...

THEY ARE LEGEND

With Independence Day and I, Robot behind him, Will Smith returns to the genre on December 14th in the big budget adaptation of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. This is actually the third adaptation of Matheson's novel, the first coming in the 1950s as The Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price as Robert Neville, seemingly the only human left on earth following a pandemic, who spends his days hunting down and destroying the world's population of vampires. The second take on the story came in the 1970s with the Charlton Heston starrer The Omega Man, and now, of course, comes this new version. What follows is a look back at the trailers for all three.

The Last Man on Earth

For the rest of the trailers...

Superman: Doomsday, Part 1: Bruce Timm

The Death of Superman storyline from the 1990s is finally being adapted in the form of Superman: Doomsday, the made-for-DVD animated film that will debut in September, and which will be the first in a series of seminal DC storylines that will be adapted in this format. Superman: Doomsday is written by Bruce Timm (Justice League Unlimited) and Duane Capizzi (The Batman), with Timm also serving as  producer. In this first part of an audio interview with Timm, we explore the reasons behind this story being chosen to kick off the animated films, and the power it holds for him from a creative point of view.

WELCOME TO VOICES FROM KRYPTON

There comes a point in any obsession where you realize that you have to do something about it. For me, after a lifetime of sustenance provided by comic books, movies, TV shows, the Beatles and more, that “something” was becoming an entertainment journalist so that I could conduct interviews with and provide coverage of the objects of my passions. Now, after doing that for more years than I care to think about, I’ve decided to embrace the 21^st Century (admittedly a bit late), thus the creation of the Voices From Krypton blog.

The title automatically suggests Superman, of course, and the Man of Steel in all of his incarnations will be fully represented here both in written and audio interviews. But you’ll also find coverage of different superheroes from film, television and print, as well as a variety of other subjects within the sci-fi, fantasy, horror and action-adventure genres. There will be reviews, personal observations, reflections of a life consumed with all of this stuff and, over time, an exploration of over two decades worth of archived articles going behind the scenes on a wide spectrum of projects. – Edward Gross