By the 1970s comics were seen as something for children. They were also stuck in a bygone era. Superman was all American and apple eye. Perfect for the Eisenhower age.
The 1970s under Nixon saw an America divided especially over the Vietnam war. There was widening social inequality and hyperinflation. The comics were not speaking to older teenagers anymore.
Back at Marvel comics. Their superheroes were tackling issues of being an outsider, a metaphor for racism. DC needed to keep up. Maybe a Superman movie would arrest the decline of falling comic book sales and wipe away the memories of the 1960s campy Batman television show.
The second episode tried to do too much. I think there should had been an episode solely on television and film adaptations. The bits on Shazam and Aquaman was just a promotional puff piece.
Much better was how comics were reinvented by a new breed of American writers and artists such as Frank Miller, Neal Adams and George Perez.
Later on there was the British invasion led by the likes of Neil Gorman, Grant Morrison and the ever cheerful Alan Moore. The latter's Watchman was later published as a graphic novel. Now it is regarded as an important literary work.
Once again I felt the second episode wants to take the easy way out. Aren't DC wonderful, they promoted women as executives. There were black and female superheroes. With The Crisis on Infinite Earths, the comic range could be streamlined. It still was not a long term answer to declining comic book sales. In the 1990s they decided to kill off Superman.
What the episode ignored was how DC took over and exploited the work of the artists. Hence why Moore is such a misanthrope losing rights to Watchmen and V for Vendetta.
Frank Miller's reinvention of Batman as The Dark Knight was not a reaction to Reagan's America. It was Batman reinvented as Dirty Harry meets Death Wish. Miller's approach was even more conservative, although he describes himself as a libertarian. I have never met a liberal one. Miller also blotted his copybook with his anti Islamic works.
In the end you always have a feeling that this was a self serving exaggerated praise for DC comics.
The 1970s under Nixon saw an America divided especially over the Vietnam war. There was widening social inequality and hyperinflation. The comics were not speaking to older teenagers anymore.
Back at Marvel comics. Their superheroes were tackling issues of being an outsider, a metaphor for racism. DC needed to keep up. Maybe a Superman movie would arrest the decline of falling comic book sales and wipe away the memories of the 1960s campy Batman television show.
The second episode tried to do too much. I think there should had been an episode solely on television and film adaptations. The bits on Shazam and Aquaman was just a promotional puff piece.
Much better was how comics were reinvented by a new breed of American writers and artists such as Frank Miller, Neal Adams and George Perez.
Later on there was the British invasion led by the likes of Neil Gorman, Grant Morrison and the ever cheerful Alan Moore. The latter's Watchman was later published as a graphic novel. Now it is regarded as an important literary work.
Once again I felt the second episode wants to take the easy way out. Aren't DC wonderful, they promoted women as executives. There were black and female superheroes. With The Crisis on Infinite Earths, the comic range could be streamlined. It still was not a long term answer to declining comic book sales. In the 1990s they decided to kill off Superman.
What the episode ignored was how DC took over and exploited the work of the artists. Hence why Moore is such a misanthrope losing rights to Watchmen and V for Vendetta.
Frank Miller's reinvention of Batman as The Dark Knight was not a reaction to Reagan's America. It was Batman reinvented as Dirty Harry meets Death Wish. Miller's approach was even more conservative, although he describes himself as a libertarian. I have never met a liberal one. Miller also blotted his copybook with his anti Islamic works.
In the end you always have a feeling that this was a self serving exaggerated praise for DC comics.
