Christian Beranek is a very busy man. Born in Iowa, raised in
Germany, a resident of Virginia, Chicago, Florida and now Los Angeles,
Beranek runs the publishing end of Silent Devil. In charge of putting
together projects and making sure they show up on store shelves, he has
taken the small press company from nothing to quite a bit of something.
Along with his very talented staff, he is hard at work developing the
new direction of Silent Devil.He knows that Silent Devil will not succeed without the
support of its fans, so expect him to continue to make appearances all
across the US, and starting in 2007, the world. These appearances are
done to promote goodwill and the industry we all love.
He 1980s saw an explosion in the popularity of graphic novels,
especially in the use of the term itself to apply to anything other than
your typical superhero comic. And while purists can (and do,
vociferously) debate the relevance and meaning of the phrase, there’s no
doubt that the spread of graphic novels has allowed for the telling of
nuanced and personal tales that used to be almost nonexistent in comics.
The lengthy comic books on this list are sharply observed
autobiographical works that blend humor and heartbreak with unique
artistic skill, turning each book into a special experience. Comic books
let the authors slide between literal representations of their lives
and surreal, emotion-driven images that evoke everything from love to
longing, and these books are true works of art.
Superman is the sole survivor of the planet Krypton. His father,
Jor-El, discovered that a nuclear chain reaction was building inside
Krypton that would soon shatter the entire world. Jor-El therefore
had his unborn son Kal-El removed from the Kryptonian Gestation
Chambers and affixed the life matrix containing Kal-El to an
experimental vessel for travel through hyperspace. Jor-El launched
the starcraft toward Earth just before Krypton exploded. Superman was, in effect, born on Earth when the starcraft landed
there. Jonathan and Martha Kent found the infant inside the vessel
and brought him to their farm in Smallville, Kansas. Since he
appeared entirely human, the Kents assumed that the baby was a victim of
a cruel experiment. At this time the baby had no super powers.
The Kents named the infant Clark and raised him as their own son.
As clark grew older his Kryptonian body began
developing superhuman abilities. When Clark was eighteen, took him
to the field where his starcraft still lay hidden and explained how he
and Martha had found him. Clark resolved to use his powers from then
on only for the good of mankind. After revealing his secret to his
childhood friend, Lana Lang, Clark left Smallville to study at
Metropolis University.
Clark initially used his
powers covertly to help people and prevent or thwart disasters.
Ultimately, he was forced to use his powers in public to prev ent the
crash of a NASA space-plane. Thereafter he and his foster parents
devised a new costumed secret identity he would adopt when using his
abilities in public. They called his new persona "Superman," the
name given him by Lois Lane, a reporter for the Metropolis Daily
Planet who had been aboard the space-plane.
Shortly afterward, Clark obtained a job as a reporter for the Daily
Planet by turning in his first detailed story about Superman. He
currently enjoys a freelance status with the Planet.
The 1980s saw an explosion in the popularity of graphic novels,
especially in the use of the term itself to apply to anything other than
your typical superhero comic. And while purists can (and do,
vociferously) debate the relevance and meaning of the phrase, there’s no
doubt that the spread of graphic novels has allowed for the telling of
nuanced and personal tales that used to be almost nonexistent in comics.
The lengthy comic books on this list are sharply observed
autobiographical works that blend humor and heartbreak with unique
artistic skill, turning each book into a special experience. Comic books
let the authors slide between literal representations of their lives
and surreal, emotion-driven images that evoke everything from love to
longing, and these books are true works of art.
Now collected in several volumes, American Splendor
is the story of Harvey Pear, an eternally worried and pessimistic guy
from Cleveland. The series began in 1976, and it was ahead of its time
for being so blunt and enjoyably ordinary. The novel Our Cancer Year
dealt with Pear battle with lymphoma. The work is an autobiography
constructed as it was lived. Pear died in July 2010 from prostate
cancer, leaving behind an impressive and influential body of work.
This dazzling biographical fable won Art Kriegspiel a special Pulitzer
Prize in 1992. The two-volume narrative tells the story of Art’s father, Vlad, a Polish Jew, before and after World War II. The true-life
account depicts Jews as mice and Germans as cats, amplifying the
relationship between hunter and prey and lending a fantastical but
haunting element to the story. The book also explores the author’s own
relationship with his father. One of the best historical comics ever
written.
Spider-Man is the quintessential
Marvel character. Although a super hero, he is spared none of the
slings and arrows of ordinary life; he experiences difficulties with
friends, family, sweethearts and employers. His powers enable him
to do good, but not to improve his own lot in life, and it is his
simple humanity, rather than his exotic talent, that has won him
millions of enthusiastic fans. He is one super-hero who has not lost
the common touch, and in fact he is frequently described as "your
friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."
In his 1962 debut,
Spider-Man took to fighting crime for a reason commonplace in comc
books: he was motivated by the murder of a father figure, his Uncle
Ben. Yet Spidey's driving force is guilt, not revenge; he must live
forever with the knowledge that he could have prevented the killing
if he had not been so self absorbed. Perhaps he suffers from a classic
Oedipus complex; in any case he is certainly neurotic, forever
agonizing over the choices that confront him when he attempts to do
the right thing. Despite his best efforts, he is viewed with a touch of
suspicion by those in authority, and is sometimes considered little
more than a criminal himself.
Although nobody seems to
understand him, Spider-Man has the spirit to be a joker as well as a
tragic figure. He is quick with a quip, appreciates the irony of his
endless predicaments, and relishes the chance to play tricks on
people who never suspect that he and Peter Parker are one and the
same.
As originally depicted by writer Stan Lee and
artist Steve Ditko, Peter Parker was just a bit of a wimp. Bright,
imaginative, but nonetheless an alienated adolescent, he might well have
been a typical comic book reader. Although he has matured and
gained in confidence over the years. Spidey is still all to human.
He misses appointments, catches the flu when he needs to fight,
forgets to put film in his camera and has trouble paying the rent. In
short Spider-Man remains Everyman, "the super hero who could be
you."
In December, Bluewater Productions is
publishing a biographical comic book called "Mark Zuckerberg: Creator
of Facebook", a 48 page giant sized issue priced at $6.99. Written by
Jerome Maida and penciled by Sal Field, with cover art by Michal
Szyksznian, it will be available from comic book stores and online
retailers.Who is the real Mark Zuckerberg? The answer, of course, is somewhere
in between and Bluewater Productions is announcing it is filling that
gap and exploring the background of the website's founder in the medium
of comic books.
Read about the lives and achievements of some of the greatest people
in history, both past and present, in a 150 page long comic book form. These
comics are educational and fun to read. Instead of boring plain text,
give your children a new, enjoyable reading experience that is light and
easy to read in comic book form. But even before the children can
start, parents won't be able to stop turning the pages, too.
Who?Comics
series contains the life stories of 10 of our greatest leaders of today
and 19 historical figures of the past. Read and learn about the
amazing lives of Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Steven Spielberg,
Joanne Rowling, Barack Obama, Warren Buffet, Stephen Hawking, Nelson
Mandela, Jane Goodall, Bill Gates and much, much more.
You can
even collect badges easily as you read the comic books and even try to
find and collect hidden badges for each great figure. Who?Comics
provides a fun badge collecting experience that both children and
parents will enjoy. Everyone can get caught up in the fun of badge
collecting and eventually discover and develop their new found reading
habit.
