Comics and their characters were the best friends of a skinny, fearful kid severely abused by his stepfather. The kid grew up to be an engineer, published sci-fi author, husband, father ( who never struck his kids ) and general all around normal guy. Comics helped me survive the dark days by allowing me to retreat into a world where kids didn't get beat up for looking at someone "the wrong way" ( he never explained the right way to me) or for leaving one stinking grain of rice on the plate. Thanks Stan Lee and all the others that brought me comfort when it counted.
This special was on history at height of Raimi's Spider-Man craze and pre Nolan/Dark Knight Trilogy...interesting how much has change even since then. I was probably the only pre-teen into this stuff in my school so I'd relish when programs like this would come on, still have this recorded on vhs somewhere.
Ysgramornorris don’t you just love it when those in power use irrelevant things as a scapegoat to cover for some other persons incompetence more often than not their own lol
Sadly as well as ironically history channel rarely deals with history anymore. Now it’s all reality tv shows. History channel use to be my favorite channel
What's ironic about The war on comics back in the 50s and 60s is that nowadays Comic Books are million times as dark and kid unfriendly as those were. And the business is booming unchallenged. Not that I want to them to go or anything.
lol the buisness is not booming. comics are more expensive now than they ever were before. And sales figures are coming in at the 100,000s, whearas back in the day they could come in at a million
Maybe things looked a little less grim 7 years ago. Obviously Western comic book industry is an irrelevant shell of its former self due to lack of meritocracy and radicalized ideologies. The customer chose Manga instead.
Whether Marvel fans like it or not, DC is here to stay forever. And without DCs Superman nothing would exist, he's the majore Superhero spark that started it all.
Everyone who keeps saying “comics are for kids” or “ the comic industry has never been diverse or inclusive” and especially “comics have never been political” should watch this.
Marvel Comics "Conan the Barbarian" was sadly left out of this story. Its sad because Conan was ingenius in how it represented a major philosophical lifestyle, Zen Buddhism. Instead of seeking out adventure and bad guys, he just responded in an admirable way to situations that life just threw at him. He was fully natural and his simplicity was an antithesis to the modern complexity that drives us all crazy. The series lasted 30 years and should of been included in this video.
That's quite a reach and Wertham was kind of a crazy conservative. Just because one person insinuates it doesn't make it true, as that wasn't the author's intent, anyway.
There was a panel where it looked like batman and robin were share a bed(in reality their beds were right next to eachother ) and it it seemed to promote them as being gay. Also robin was bright green short shorts, this was probably seen as being too flamboyant
Superman 🦸🇺🇸 Batman 🦇 Spiderman 🕷️🕸️ Wonder Woman 🛡️🗡️ Ironman 🦾 Thor ⚒️ Ant Man 🐜 Captain America 🇺🇸🦅 Professor X 👩🦲🤏👨🏻🦽 Storm 🌪️⚡ Morbius 🦹 Hulk 🤬☢️ Daredevil 👿👨🏻🦯 The Punisher ☠️ Aquaman 🌊🔱 The Joker🃏
Great show overall but of course, a couple of minor quibbles. 1. The show seemed to imply that the editors at DC had come up with the idea for Robin, but it makes no sense that they would introduce it in the Noirish BATMAN instead of SUPERMAN, where it would have made more sense. Even if DC was interested in capitalizing on their young fans, giving Batman a kid partner couldn't have come from them, otherwise we would have heard about it long before now. The idea for Batman to have a kid sidekick came from Bob Kane and his love of the Dick Tracy newspaper strip where Tracy's sidekick Junior was hugely popular. Kane's assistant Jerry Robinson came up with the name and suggested a Robin Hood approach to the costume, and of course, Bill Finger and Kane worked out the origin. 2. Not enough info on JACK KIRBY and STEVE DITKO. There's actually more on Jim Steranko and while I admit Jim was influential, Kirby, Ditko and STAN LEE were responsible for not only saving Marvel from oblivion in the early 60s but combined, the two artists cast large shadows over the industry; and each one was at least the equal of Wil Eisner when it came to crafting visual languages from which later generations of artists would borrow.
I agree with the sentiment for Kirby, as he was a great background and architectural artist. Even his human bodies bending at odd angles and perspectives made the characters seem superhuman. Though, Ditko has some baggage as the producers would have to contend with his pseudo-philosophy.
I didn't know until this documentary that DC tried to screw over the original Superman creators. I'm glad the creators finally got some money but that's a shame.
I read a great deal of comics in the 80's and 90's when I was a kid growing up. Spider-man and Superman were my two favorites, more than any of the others, so I remember most of what was going on during those times, and how the conics were trying to be relevant and a lot of the stories and they way they were handled blew my mind at the time because they seemed to tap into the pulse of not only things I was afriad of but what everyoe else was afraid of in those times...but they also give people hope, they inspire kids, adults, and people around the world that regard them as globally popular myths, and now tv shows, movies have made them even more popular, which is also a good thing because when they're done well, it's really quite impressive.
YES! Fucking thank you. I know some people who just beat their meat over DC and just shit all over Marvel for no reason. Oddly enough its never the other way around but Im sure those people are out there. I love it all: IDW, Darkhorse, Marvel anyone if its good its good.
@@jeanemlicar27 I KNEW that voice sounded familiar! "Gargoyles" was one of my favorite shows, when I was a kid. I remember loving how philosophical Goliath was. (9/30/2021)
I wonder how Steve Ditko,Ron Frenz,Jack Kirby,Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster would they traverse in todays Comicbook industry??They were such creative mavericks but in their day,todays artist are so restricted.
+Anthony Jordan frank miller probably went off the deep end by the time he wrote and illustrated 300. He was too far gone by the time the movie was made, being the homoerotic, far right (or fascist) and ethnocentric carnage fest that it is
if it weren't for the comics code we probably wouldn't have gotten a bunch of stupid dark for the sake of being dark comics in the 90s and we would have gotten more mature stories gradually
i remember reading those original Hulk comic books as a kid in the early 70's, my dad had a huge collection and Hulk was my very favorite of all of them and he still is.
Nice history. Though it sadly leaves out how often the big two have screwed over creators. Jack Kriby, Joe Simon, Allen Moore and others have been screwed over just as bad as the creators of Superman.
Keith David has a way better narrating voice than Morgan Freeman ,who's always been good but a little too folksy for certain things ...............and you're all wrong , the narrator sounds like Elroy from season 6 of Community !, lol
Wow...Stan Lee is "Won't Die Man." he's got some serious super powers, he's gotta be getting close to a 100 in the next few years , still sharp as a tack though....... Excelsior!
+signoguns You know when the day comes And Stan does finally pass I'll be an emotional wreck along with so many fans of his work and all of his children will be orphaned (Comic Characters.)
Ya we do take for granted the fact he's still with us i think , it will be a sad day for sure. Hopefully he can show us some more of his "super powers" and make it to 110! lol
Great film...except the last part makes it sound like nothing of any significance has happened in superhero comics since 2001. I've been reading since I was a kid...the early 70's...and admittedly,these last few years,I haven't been following them like I was...but anyone who thinks "nothing's happening" isn't paying very close attention.
dude past identity crisis. everything made me depressed from killing cap to new 52 then another 52. plus the combining of stories in marvel titles. still too much.
bekim sakipi WRONG! Bendis's New Avengers ARE EPIC! Now just out in Giant Tpb. format! Leads into CIVIL WAR & Dark Reign (ELLIS'S #TBolts "Caged Angels is All time Top 5 series).. NTM Hickman's FF Is thee Most Heroic & one of the Most Creative things ever written! What about ASM: CIVIL WAR! & Later ASM "BIG TIME" (Slott & Ramos) leads into Superior Spider-Man Allah #700 w/ Dock-Oct!
I will always treasure Nov 1961- Dec 1964 as the Golden Age for Marvel! (I don't think it got bad after 64, it's just those were the years all the great characters were created!)
It's interesting that the guy at 1:22:31 notes that 9/11 was like a Doctor Doom plan. I remember my friend calling me that day (me in Florida, she in Massachusetts) asking where Mothra was. So yeah, he wasn't the only one thinking that...
So, Fredrick Wertham bitched about something he barely understood, made loose connections to prove his point, and even made out-right false accusations without the proper research? Why do I have a feeling he would be a RUclips commenter if he was still around.......
As much as I hate to say it (and my father once wrote comic books for Marvel!), comics themselves are barely read anymore. Superhero stories barely sell a tenth of what they used to sell in the 1940s - 1960s, and the highest earner for Marvel now are their new Star Wars comics. Seriously, this is the second time they have made Star Wars comics now, although Disney owns Marvel and Star Wars, and is VERY unlikely to ever let them go.
anyone else notice how Kieth David (narrator) got a little excited when talking about Spawn, being that he voiced Spawn for the animated series ?? i think would've done too !! :D
I'll give you a memo to tell kids not to take drugs! Let's tell kids not to take drugs! But this is part of a character study instead of nagging! Hey we won't allow you to show that in your comics! Well let's publish it anyway.
Keith David, the narrator, also played Mary's dad in Something About Mary, and has narrated two or three of Ken Burns' documentaries. Pretty neat range.
John Reilly he 's also the NARRATOR of City Confidential!! and the voice of the lead GARGOYLE on suitably enough GARGOYLES !! [the show that made those ugly buggers cool to kids!!] and numerous other voice -overs as well!!
“critics dismiss these comics as kids stuff” Critics are just a bunch of frustrated, boring old farts who have decided to embark on a life of utter boredom. And by being boring, they actually think they are being “mature”. What a joke they are.
Crtics DO have a point - MOST comics are just soap operas with muscles and capes - its rare for anything controversial to happen and even when it does it quickly gets re-jigged back to normalcy...IMHO ONLY one-offs or limited series can rise above the average-ness case in point marvel.com/comics/issue/45722/a-babies_vs_x-babies_2012_1 I am not saying that ALL comics are bad...just a huge % of them
History channel & (the Pedo supporters at the) BBC. Have ordered for A 90mnt Updated Historical Comic book documentary. Maybe it will turn into A whole like 6pt. series; Golden Age, ATOM-Age, Silver Age, Bronze-Age, Copper-Age, Modern Era.. That'd B Dope!
"A woman who could lift only about thirty-five tons as well as could run only about eighty-five miles per hour was born to fight against to force of crime and injustice upon the earth itself."
Excellent documentary. First started reading comic books at about age 11 or 12. Sampled a little DC, but gravitated towards Marvel. At age 57 I still occasionally pic up a book, and heart remains with Marvel .
I'm 16 from England (not really relevant but anyway), and I love the idea of buying comics rather than watching tv programs on super heroes. Nearly everyone my age doesn't like reading comics, their more interested in apps. There always will be however enough of us around to keep it going.
yeah. Kids spending hours a day, every day, doing nothing but killing people and stuff in video games, doesn't affect a developing childs psyche at all....
james pogrebetsky And kids never been violent before violence on tv and video games came out. Yeah right. Please stop blaming the media for all this violences
james pogrebetsky Haha, thats ridiculous man, the idea of blaming a new form of media for violence has always been around, comics got blamed too! Videogames and TV are just the new version of comics.
I suggest anyone of 16 or so who is brave enough to read their comics books - especially ones that clearly say Flash or Avengers, you know stuff people know - in public. I think you'll find more people who might be interested.
This is the best comic book documentary I've seen. About the only things I can think of that they should've included were Alan Moore's late 1980s work on Swamp Thing (which was every bit as groundbreaking as Watchmen and Dark Knight), the Wonder Woman tv show starring Lynda Carter, and the Kingdom Come graphic novel that showed an aging group of DC heroes. But this is still an excellent documentary. And I'm so glad they mentioned Neil Gaiman's Sandman work!
Nic Cage used to own the first Superman comic , also that giant mansion in the end of National Treasure and lost them and a lot more to bankruptcy . Ironic that He also was almost Superman .
I once saw a man drag an elderly lady to the floor and tear her purse from her hands in broard daylight. I was 12 years old and as he ran towards me I remember thinking of Spiderman or Batman apprehending the guy. It was a split second thought, I thought of my heroes and stuck my foot out. The man went crashing to the floor dropping the purse which was quickly picked up and given to the old woman who it belonged too. I remember the crook locking eyes with me and there was pure hatred there, I felt it. As he jumped up towards me two blokes grabbed and restrained him and he was eventually taken away by the police. One of the men commended me for my bravery. He'd said he'd watched the whole thing but was too far away to initially do anything. They agreed that they were both moved to act after a boy half their age stuck out his foot and one said "that's how heroes are made." The old lady wanted to give me a ten pound note as a reward and I did politely refuse and stated that wasn't why I did what I did. But she would not take no for an answer. I was a pretty anxious kid and never had the best social skills. I remember my eyes tearing up as all these strangers clapped and applauded me. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. With the ten pounds I went to my local comic shop and bought a batman and a spiderman book. When I got home my parents were out at the pub and my sisters were all too teenage girl to care. I just sat on my bed and stirred at these two comics thinking about how amazing it was that these two fictional characters had such a prefound affect on me. I have never forgotten the lesson I taught myself that day. If you see something happen and you know in your heart it's wrong, act no matter what happens do something if you can.
@casual_bill8749 "With great power...." and at that moment you used it, well, to do good.👍. I 'm sorry no one was home to share in the emotions you were experiencing after that event. Signed, A seven decades old comic book fan, a retired vet and a great grandfather
Thank you so much for putting this up! What an excellent and insightful documentary. And the people interviewed all seem very likable and interesting. After I saw the wonderful depiction of Electro in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", I was deeply impressed by the way he was portrayed and the whole superhero concept started to really intrigue me. Like jazz music or pop orchestras, modern comics and superheroes are one of the gifts of the United States to the world. I wanted to know more about it and started looking up documentaries about superheroes.
+Clinton Bigelow bad. Stan Lee is considered to be one of the defining authors of his generation yet didn't do most of the work himself and stole it off others
He's got one of those voices, interesting and emotional like Morgan Freeman or James Earl Jones. Hell even Mark Hamill has a great voice for documentaries.
Will Niles The voice acting industry is relatively small compared to mainstream acting circles ! because typically people don't become as tired with a particular voice as they do with a person's appearance also voice -actors can obviously alter their speech and accent !!
They couldn't have picked a more direct narrator the Keith David, the mans voice is music to my ears.
I agree with everything you just said
Wow.....up until now, I thought it was Avery Brooks. I stand corrected.
Fitting. He was Spawn.
'I LIVE AGAIN!............Again!'
@@jamestilson8985 And I thought it was Laurence Fishburne!
In my opinion this is still the greatest comic book documentary of all time
That’s why I uploaded it dude :)
I agree. This documentary is magnificent!
@@andrewdayton3914I'm curious what your thoughts are on "Superheroes: A Never Ending Battle"?
@@SchweitzerMan I never seen it before, is it better than this one?
@@andrewdayton3914 It's from 2013/14 and I'd argue that it is. I think you can find the third part on RUclips
Comics and their characters were the best friends of a skinny, fearful kid severely abused by his stepfather. The kid grew up to be an engineer, published sci-fi author, husband, father ( who never struck his kids ) and general all around normal guy. Comics helped me survive the dark days by allowing me to retreat into a world where kids didn't get beat up for looking at someone "the wrong way" ( he never explained the right way to me) or for leaving one stinking grain of rice on the plate. Thanks Stan Lee and all the others that brought me comfort when it counted.
Right on,keep kicking life in the teeth✊
how deceived you are. There is only one hero and that is Jesus Christ.
@@bryanbulmer6716If you really believed in Jesus, you'd know He isn't threatened by people liking comics
@@bryanbulmer6716that hero asked his followers to kill babies, then he killed himself 😂
This special was on history at height of Raimi's Spider-Man craze and pre Nolan/Dark Knight Trilogy...interesting how much has change even since then. I was probably the only pre-teen into this stuff in my school so I'd relish when programs like this would come on, still have this recorded on vhs somewhere.
am I the only nerd here who got emotional about this entire thing?
Scrabdusan Productions no!
NOOOO!!
Scrabdusan Productions NOOO!!!
Definitely not, the documentary does a great job at granting insights about and forging an emotional connection to this topic.
Of course not! Comic book history is beautiful and interesting as hell.
29:46
So, in the 50s, it was comic books, then it was role playing games and rock'n roll, and now it's video games.
Ysgramornorris don’t you just love it when those in power use irrelevant things as a scapegoat to cover for some other persons incompetence more often than not their own lol
Censorship and attacking media has always happened
Media always uses things as ScapeGoats.
@@wolfpack2210 exactly. So it's not even real news anymore. Even at this day and age
Action Comics #252 marks the debuts of Superman’s cousin Supergirl and one of Superman’s villains John Corben AKA Metallo.
Cool documentary I wonder why don't History Channel don't make stuff like these again.
ivanhoe & Patoruzu started the superhero genre.
Sadly as well as ironically history channel rarely deals with history anymore. Now it’s all reality tv shows. History channel use to be my favorite channel
Stupid reality shows with fabricated drama to generate views. Its laughable
Disney bought em
CT Kooz God dammit Disney
Am I the only one who notices that Spawn is narrating this?
gypsy1287 Keith David is the voice actor who played Spawn in the animated series.
gypsy1287 no biggie. Have u seen the series?
Really? sounds like Goliath to me
Admiral David Anderson Mass effect Series :)
MasterVideoStudios
OOOOOH!! Rekt.
i'm 70 and i must have done something right
my 39yr old son, owns a comic book store, sells gaming things, and has game sessions at his comic store
Sounds awesome 👍. You still kicking?
What's ironic about The war on comics back in the 50s and 60s is that nowadays Comic Books are million times as dark and kid unfriendly as those were. And the business is booming unchallenged. Not that I want to them to go or anything.
lol the buisness is not booming. comics are more expensive now than they ever were before. And sales figures are coming in at the 100,000s, whearas back in the day they could come in at a million
Maybe things looked a little less grim 7 years ago. Obviously Western comic book industry is an irrelevant shell of its former self due to lack of meritocracy and radicalized ideologies. The customer chose Manga instead.
@@youtubeistryingtocensorme I wrote that seven years ago
@@codafett 7 yrs ago the comic Industry wasn't booming
@@hermonymusofsparta Eh, I was a novice.
jason todd death's was the best investment in DC, resulting in Red Hood II
Yea
Who wants to make a petition for a follow up to this documentary?
Whether Marvel fans like it or not, DC is here to stay forever. And without DCs Superman nothing would exist, he's the majore Superhero spark that started it all.
DC has been killing it lately! (Not so much in the movie department
Is that... Keith David narrating? Cool!
WalterLiddy Were it so easy...
WalterLiddy It sure sounds like him; I'd be quite surprised if it were not.
it sure sounds like him :D
WalterLiddy I recognize that voice, I think you are spot on :)
No doubt about it bruh!! For me it was Spawn animated series, an awesome job that he did.
Everyone who keeps saying “comics are for kids” or “ the comic industry has never been diverse or inclusive” and especially “comics have never been political” should watch this.
Marvel Comics "Conan the Barbarian" was sadly left out of this story. Its sad because Conan was ingenius in how it represented a major philosophical lifestyle, Zen Buddhism. Instead of seeking out adventure and bad guys, he just responded in an admirable way to situations that life just threw at him. He was fully natural and his simplicity was an antithesis to the modern complexity that drives us all crazy. The series lasted 30 years and should of been included in this video.
Except for the fact Conan wasn’t a superhero. You know, what this entire documentary is about.
@@sweetbabyjaysus Good point, because Conan is the antithesis of a present-day superhero.
Thor is the Marvel's Conan
Back when history channel was awesome
"Batman and Robin were a like a wish dream of 2 homosexuals living together."
That's quite a reach and Wertham was kind of a crazy conservative. Just because one person insinuates it doesn't make it true, as that wasn't the author's intent, anyway.
There was a panel where it looked like batman and robin were share a bed(in reality their beds were right next to eachother ) and it it seemed to promote them as being gay. Also robin was bright green short shorts, this was probably seen as being too flamboyant
That mainly applies to Ren and Stimpy than Batman and Robin
The good news is comics are coming back again in a big way
Here from the future. Comic book movies are doing great but comics are dying out unfortunately
@@astrangehero You beat me to it :D
Here from a more distant future, the comics are still not back. But it's war, the aliens have invaded us. Long live the resistance.
They are indeed! There racking up $2 billion per year in the last 2 years!
This is like a time capsule of the pre Marvel Movie boom comics world
Keith David - greatest speaking voice in the history of humans.
Superman 🦸🇺🇸
Batman 🦇
Spiderman 🕷️🕸️
Wonder Woman 🛡️🗡️
Ironman 🦾
Thor ⚒️
Ant Man 🐜
Captain America 🇺🇸🦅
Professor X 👩🦲🤏👨🏻🦽
Storm 🌪️⚡
Morbius 🦹
Hulk 🤬☢️
Daredevil 👿👨🏻🦯
The Punisher ☠️
Aquaman 🌊🔱
The Joker🃏
What about Deadpool,Wolverine and Black Panther where's their logo?
Great show overall but of course, a couple of minor quibbles.
1. The show seemed to imply that the editors at DC had come up with the idea for Robin, but it makes no sense that they would introduce it in the Noirish BATMAN instead of SUPERMAN, where it would have made more sense. Even if DC was interested in capitalizing on their young fans, giving Batman a kid partner couldn't have come from them, otherwise we would have heard about it long before now. The idea for Batman to have a kid sidekick came from Bob Kane and his love of the Dick Tracy newspaper strip where Tracy's sidekick Junior was hugely popular. Kane's assistant Jerry Robinson came up with the name and suggested a Robin Hood approach to the costume, and of course, Bill Finger and Kane worked out the origin.
2. Not enough info on JACK KIRBY and STEVE DITKO. There's actually more on Jim Steranko and while I admit Jim was influential, Kirby, Ditko and STAN LEE were responsible for not only saving Marvel from oblivion in the early 60s but combined, the two artists cast large shadows over the industry; and each one was at least the equal of Wil Eisner when it came to crafting visual languages from which later generations of artists would borrow.
I agree with the sentiment for Kirby, as he was a great background and architectural artist. Even his human bodies bending at odd angles and perspectives made the characters seem superhuman. Though, Ditko has some baggage as the producers would have to contend with his pseudo-philosophy.
I didn't know until this documentary that DC tried to screw over the original Superman creators. I'm glad the creators finally got some money but that's a shame.
RIP Stan Lee . You will always be Stan The Man !
I read a great deal of comics in the 80's and 90's when I was a kid growing up. Spider-man and Superman were my two favorites, more than any of the others, so I remember most of what was going on during those times, and how the conics were trying to be relevant and a lot of the stories and they way they were handled blew my mind at the time because they seemed to tap into the pulse of not only things I was afriad of but what everyoe else was afraid of in those times...but they also give people hope, they inspire kids, adults, and people around the world that regard them as globally popular myths, and now tv shows, movies have made them even more popular, which is also a good thing because when they're done well, it's really quite impressive.
I still like both Dc and Marvel :)
YES! Fucking thank you. I know some people who just beat their meat over DC and just shit all over Marvel for no reason. Oddly enough its never the other way around but Im sure those people are out there. I love it all: IDW, Darkhorse, Marvel anyone if its good its good.
***** Me too!!! LMAO at that one.
Tyler Blanchard If I could, I would give you 5 thumbs-up for your comment.
Oldduketree Same
well that has changed after trump was endorsed by marvel. bye bye Marvel
Why can't you like both d.c. and marvel. To dislike one because it's not your "brand" is as stupid as saying I only like dreamworks movies.
I hopefully dc and marvel fans need peace
Please no bad comments
Not a problem. I love this documentary. And I can keep my negativity under control LOL Peace!
Keith David can make anything sound cool.
Isn't it the Truth!
Christina Lacey I loved him as Goliath in Disney's Gargoyles.
Why is commander Sheppard not even mentioned? XD
I'd like him to narrate my life story then have Morgan Freeman narrate the sequel
@@jeanemlicar27 I KNEW that voice sounded familiar! "Gargoyles" was one of my favorite shows, when I was a kid. I remember loving how philosophical Goliath was. (9/30/2021)
I wonder how Steve Ditko,Ron Frenz,Jack Kirby,Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster would they traverse in todays Comicbook industry??They were such creative mavericks but in their day,todays artist are so restricted.
Read The Crossed and tell me its more restrictive today XD
@@ThrustBomb Horrible series
Frank Miller looks more sane than he usually is
Well although Frank Miller has gone off the deep end by this point in his writing this is still prior to his true descent into madness
+Anthony Jordan frank miller probably went off the deep end by the time he wrote and illustrated 300. He was too far gone by the time the movie was made, being the homoerotic, far right (or fascist) and ethnocentric carnage fest that it is
When was this done? Pre-Holy-Terror?
Chris Check yes
1:16:20 this is when the narrator of this program starts to talk about himself.
Than red hood came along and everyone shut up about Jason Todd being unlikable
Cpt. America and Superman are the most movie unadaptable heroes to me.
if it weren't for the comics code we probably wouldn't have gotten a bunch of stupid dark for the sake of being dark comics in the 90s and we would have gotten more mature stories gradually
i remember reading those original Hulk comic books as a kid in the early 70's, my dad had a huge collection and Hulk was my very favorite of all of them and he still is.
the guy that shows up at 5:20 is my history college teacher right now
How would he react if you showed him this?
Nice history. Though it sadly leaves out how often the big two have screwed over creators. Jack Kriby, Joe Simon, Allen Moore and others have been screwed over just as bad as the creators of Superman.
1:06:31 Frank Miller is the fucking man.
Keith David has a way better narrating voice than Morgan Freeman ,who's always been good but a little too folksy for certain things ...............and you're all wrong , the narrator sounds like Elroy from season 6 of Community !, lol
Thank you for sharing this great doc. I think is important for the new fans of the genre to understand how it all started. Rgds from Zurich.
The narration by Captain Anderson really adds to the awesome atmosphere if this documentary.
electronic comics is ONE way of the future. no way special hardcover books will become extinct soon.
I agree in any medium a physical release will always be wanted
Wow...Stan Lee is "Won't Die Man." he's got some serious super powers, he's gotta be getting close to a 100 in the next few years , still sharp as a tack though....... Excelsior!
maybe , lol
+signoguns You know when the day comes And Stan does finally pass I'll be an emotional wreck along with so many fans of his work and all of his children will be orphaned (Comic Characters.)
Ya we do take for granted the fact he's still with us i think , it will be a sad day for sure. Hopefully he can show us some more of his "super powers" and make it to 110! lol
That'd be awesome! ( I just didn't want to sound greedy, lol) ;)
lol ,he is what , 110? lol , has he been lying about his age , like a cougar ;)
Great film...except the last part makes it sound like nothing of any significance has happened in superhero comics since 2001.
I've been reading since I was a kid...the early 70's...and admittedly,these last few years,I haven't been following them like I was...but anyone who thinks "nothing's happening" isn't paying very close attention.
This documentary came out in 2003. 2001 was the last big event in comics when this was being written and filmed.
dude past identity crisis. everything made me depressed from killing cap to new 52 then another 52. plus the combining of stories in marvel titles. still too much.
bekim sakipi Try Hawkeye by Matt Fraction.
bekim sakipi WRONG! Bendis's New Avengers ARE EPIC! Now just out in Giant Tpb. format! Leads into CIVIL WAR & Dark Reign (ELLIS'S #TBolts "Caged Angels is All time Top 5 series).. NTM Hickman's FF Is thee Most Heroic & one of the Most Creative things ever written! What about ASM: CIVIL WAR! & Later ASM "BIG TIME" (Slott & Ramos) leads into Superior Spider-Man Allah #700 w/ Dock-Oct!
I will always treasure Nov 1961- Dec 1964 as the Golden Age for Marvel! (I don't think it got bad after 64, it's just those were the years all the great characters were created!)
My favorite documentary ever
It's interesting that the guy at 1:22:31 notes that 9/11 was like a Doctor Doom plan. I remember my friend calling me that day (me in Florida, she in Massachusetts) asking where Mothra was. So yeah, he wasn't the only one thinking that...
this is the greatest flim ever made
carl manis
It’s -probably- the best comic film ever made!
So, Fredrick Wertham bitched about something he barely understood, made loose connections to prove his point, and even made out-right false accusations without the proper research? Why do I have a feeling he would be a RUclips commenter if he was still around.......
because he sucked and was a waste of a person
Yeah, that sounds about right.
All the so called proof was recently (in the last few years) all disproved.
It could have been disproved just by people realizing correlation doesn't equal causation.
i don't even think he had a real concern he just wanted fame and money.
What's the bet that the Comic code that came about was an original order from Hitler himself for Wertham to get the dice rolling
Stan lee try to get batman in marvel comics. He knew bob kane they talk about it
The stories in all the comic books are all true stories but just in other dimensions and parallel universes.
@Tanner Allen Read Grant Morrison. Especially Multiversity and Flex Mentallo.
1:06 + "Any that comic could sell for $300,000 US." 2014, it sold mint $3.2 million on Ebay. :)
As much as I hate to say it (and my father once wrote comic books for Marvel!), comics themselves are barely read anymore. Superhero stories barely sell a tenth of what they used to sell in the 1940s - 1960s, and the highest earner for Marvel now are their new Star Wars comics. Seriously, this is the second time they have made Star Wars comics now, although Disney owns Marvel and Star Wars, and is VERY unlikely to ever let them go.
They need to come up with new ideas.
anyone else notice how Kieth David (narrator) got a little excited when talking about Spawn, being that he voiced Spawn for the animated series ?? i think would've done too !! :D
Rip Stan Lee
They got too greedy. $5 books, no wonder they don't sell as many as they did in years past.
Been Meaning to Watch This All The Way Through
@27:21 that's my teacher Bradford wright!! soo dope, he showed us this video today in history class. awesome teacher.!
I'll give you a memo to tell kids not to take drugs!
Let's tell kids not to take drugs! But this is part of a character study instead of nagging!
Hey we won't allow you to show that in your comics!
Well let's publish it anyway.
Keith David, the narrator, also played Mary's dad in Something About Mary, and has narrated two or three of Ken Burns' documentaries. Pretty neat range.
John Reilly he 's also the NARRATOR of City Confidential!! and the voice of the lead GARGOYLE on suitably enough GARGOYLES !! [the show that made those ugly buggers cool to kids!!] and numerous other voice -overs as well!!
pvtrichter88 and the voice of
spawn on the HBO series
+Anna Travis I thought so
RIP Stan lee🙏
“critics dismiss these comics as kids stuff”
Critics are just a bunch of frustrated, boring old farts who have decided to embark on a life of utter boredom. And by being boring, they actually think they are being “mature”.
What a joke they are.
Crtics DO have a point - MOST comics are just soap operas with muscles and capes - its rare for anything controversial to happen and even when it does it quickly gets re-jigged back to normalcy...IMHO ONLY one-offs or limited series can rise above the average-ness
case in point
marvel.com/comics/issue/45722/a-babies_vs_x-babies_2012_1
I am not saying that ALL comics are bad...just a huge % of them
Jack Luminous That's just within the superhero genre not "comics" as a whole
Jack Luminous You are completely wrong
What a joke you are for taking the time to type that. The fact that you acknowledge critics gives them merit.
womblewandering womble well funny most movie critics are Idiotic millenials who cant conzentrate for 2 hours without a fight every 20 mins
History channel & (the Pedo supporters at the) BBC. Have ordered for A 90mnt Updated Historical Comic book documentary. Maybe it will turn into A whole like 6pt. series; Golden Age, ATOM-Age, Silver Age, Bronze-Age, Copper-Age, Modern Era.. That'd B Dope!
R.I.P Stan Lee (1922-2018)
Yeah Stan the man will live on forever.
47:04 EPIC FAIL for the comics code.
"A woman who could lift only about thirty-five tons as well as could run only about eighty-five miles per hour was born to fight against to force of crime and injustice upon the earth itself."
Captain America is a UNION soldier!
Excellent documentary. First started reading comic books at about age 11 or 12. Sampled a little DC, but gravitated towards Marvel. At age 57 I still occasionally pic up a book, and heart remains with Marvel .
I'm 16 from England (not really relevant but anyway), and
I love the idea of buying comics rather than watching tv programs on super heroes. Nearly everyone my age doesn't like reading comics, their more interested in apps. There always will be however enough of us around to keep it going.
yeah. Kids spending hours a day, every day, doing nothing but killing people and stuff in video games, doesn't affect a developing childs psyche at all....
james pogrebetsky
And kids never been violent before violence on tv and video games came out. Yeah right. Please stop blaming the media for all this violences
james pogrebetsky
Haha, thats ridiculous man, the idea of blaming a new form of media for violence has always been around, comics got blamed too! Videogames and TV are just the new version of comics.
I suggest anyone of 16 or so who is brave enough to read their comics books - especially ones that clearly say Flash or Avengers, you know stuff people know - in public. I think you'll find more people who might be interested.
yea there are actually a fair amount of people that I would expect, who do read comics.
This is the best comic book documentary I've seen. About the only things I can think of that they should've included were Alan Moore's late 1980s work on Swamp Thing (which was every bit as groundbreaking as Watchmen and Dark Knight), the Wonder Woman tv show starring Lynda Carter, and the Kingdom Come graphic novel that showed an aging group of DC heroes. But this is still an excellent documentary. And I'm so glad they mentioned Neil Gaiman's Sandman work!
Well now Action Comics #1 can sell for $3.2 million instead of the $300,000 that the guy said at the beginning of the documentary.
Nic Cage used to own the first Superman comic , also that giant mansion in the end of National Treasure and lost them and a lot more to bankruptcy . Ironic that He also was almost Superman .
@Speed Racer He also has a son named Kal-El. (9/30/2021)
@@daniellemusella1594 thats right I forgot that , thanks
They need to make a sequel. This was my childhood
I once saw a man drag an elderly lady to the floor and tear her purse from her hands in broard daylight. I was 12 years old and as he ran towards me I remember thinking of Spiderman or Batman apprehending the guy. It was a split second thought, I thought of my heroes and stuck my foot out. The man went crashing to the floor dropping the purse which was quickly picked up and given to the old woman who it belonged too. I remember the crook locking eyes with me and there was pure hatred there, I felt it. As he jumped up towards me two blokes grabbed and restrained him and he was eventually taken away by the police. One of the men commended me for my bravery. He'd said he'd watched the whole thing but was too far away to initially do anything. They agreed that they were both moved to act after a boy half their age stuck out his foot and one said "that's how heroes are made." The old lady wanted to give me a ten pound note as a reward and I did politely refuse and stated that wasn't why I did what I did. But she would not take no for an answer. I was a pretty anxious kid and never had the best social skills. I remember my eyes tearing up as all these strangers clapped and applauded me. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. With the ten pounds I went to my local comic shop and bought a batman and a spiderman book. When I got home my parents were out at the pub and my sisters were all too teenage girl to care. I just sat on my bed and stirred at these two comics thinking about how amazing it was that these two fictional characters had such a prefound affect on me. I have never forgotten the lesson I taught myself that day. If you see something happen and you know in your heart it's wrong, act no matter what happens do something if you can.
Wow you even added the “and then everyone clapped” meme. What a load of shite 😂
@@J.balvinforbrokebitches kiss a moose dude.
@@casual_bill8749 your mum wasn’t home
@@J.balvinforbrokebitches ooh ouch ill never get over that! Have you actually ever seen a naked woman?
Get a life you fool.
@casual_bill8749 "With great power...." and at that moment you used it, well, to do good.👍.
I 'm sorry no one was home to share in the emotions you were experiencing after that event.
Signed,
A seven decades old
comic book fan,
a retired vet and
a great grandfather
Great documentary. I think they would all be so happy to see what Marvel Studios has accomplished today.
Thank you so much for putting this up! What an excellent and insightful documentary. And the people interviewed all seem very likable and interesting. After I saw the wonderful depiction of Electro in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", I was deeply impressed by the way he was portrayed and the whole superhero concept started to really intrigue me. Like jazz music or pop orchestras, modern comics and superheroes are one of the gifts of the United States to the world. I wanted to know more about it and started looking up documentaries about superheroes.
Is it just me or does the narrator sound like Keith David, the voice actor for SGT. Foley in MW2.
D.C. all day... Batman for life
Oh Keith David, how your voice makes me quiver
Captain Cranston you should see his dong
There is some interesting info in this video.
Christian Feliciano Really great anecdotes too.
That was not the Golden Age of Comics.
lol ok
Rest in peace Stan
My Son will learn of what you & Jack Kirby gave us so much .... You both will always be in our heart's & dreams
wow the 1st time I ever seen superman unmasked
I love this documentary, I really need to buy this.
the name Jim Steranko reminds me the movie with Augustus Steranko and Micheal Corben
Spidey looking at ground zero made me so emotional, holy shit.
+Count Baltar Thought it was Dumbledore
Yeah, I didn't even know those emotions were still lingering within me.
deanielamborghini ASM #5?? Classic- Modern ish drawn by JRJR.
I respect Stan Lee but I get as much enjoyment from reading a comic online as I do holding a hard copy.
Stan Lee didn't create most of the characters he just made it look a bit more fancy and took credit
titus bramble
Is that a good or a bad thing in your opinion?
+Clinton Bigelow bad. Stan Lee is considered to be one of the defining authors of his generation yet didn't do most of the work himself and stole it off others
titus bramble
I completely agree and am surprised I don't hear more people say that. Personally I've always thought the exact same way you do.
+James Wentz Nazi
This guy is the voice behind the Arbiter In Halo.
Keith David has one of the best voices for narration. His voice makes alot more magical.
Hearing Spawn talk about superheroes hell yeah...
That first superman they said could go for more than 300k just sold for like 2 million
This is a fascinating documentary. It made me LOVE comic books much more than ever.
I love they got Goliath to narrate
Ben Quick Keith David played a character named Goliath in the Gargoyles TV show.
I guessed Kevin Smith was right...wolverines claws really are a "handy" weapon
Jesus Christ is the only Super Hero.
How many documentaries does Keith David narrate? lol
He's got one of those voices, interesting and emotional like Morgan Freeman or James Earl Jones. Hell even Mark Hamill has a great voice for documentaries.
As many as Morgan Freeman?
Will Niles The voice acting industry is relatively small compared to mainstream acting circles ! because typically people don't become as tired with a particular voice as they do with a person's appearance also voice -actors can obviously alter their speech and accent !!
not enough
He should do all of them
1938 The greatest super hero: Supeman.
*multiple people are typing*