we’re back — hope the ‘hiatus’ wasn’t too annoying. actually, some bug attacked the whole site and put it on Google’s “stay-away” list which I thought was pretty funny. But back now — keep trying Brainiac. You have no heart, so you can never win (tear).

and oh yeah, props to MATTHEW CHEUNG, who is also a teacher, and who I talked about in an interview with The Christian Science Monitor (he was sitting next to me on the shuttle bus, wearing a Starfleet Academy sweatshirt) but I didn’t know his name so I could only call him “some dude.” So here you are — too late and a dollar short, I know, but so it goes.

Read the article here.

Here is an old PD article from when he was starting out, really great stuff. Click below to read the whole thing.

Click here for the whole article (it’s really classic Harvey).

And here for the rest of it.

see you all next week.  God and Country.

Bradley Ricca, the creator of the Superman movie Last Son, took honors — the Silver Ace Award — recently at the Las Vegas Film Festival for his independent film about the creation of the superhero. No one is more surprised at the acceptance Last Son has received at film festivals across the country than its creator, a Case Western Reserve University lecturer in the Department of English and a fellow in the Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship (SAGES) program. Academics primarily write, publish and report on papers, but Ricca has found this new venue to reach wider audiences about his Superman research. What he likes about the movie is the teaching moment that comes when the theater lights dim and the audience sits back totally focused on the big screen. Unlike reading a book, few interruptions can intrude on the delivery of the story. Much like Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster drew and pasted together a comic book at their homes in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood, Ricca pieced together and edited the movie at his home computer without the high-tech equipment or funding of a major Hollywood studio. Friends supported his movie. What sets audiences abuzz with questions about Last Son is Ricca’s discovery that Siegel’s father died of a heart attack. This finding overturns popular culture theories about what motivates Superman’s a ctions. “Historians had said for years that Jerry’s father, who had run a clothing store on Central Avenue in Cleveland, was murdered by burglars,” Ricca said. Click here to read more.

Recently reviewed in Vol. 12.1 of The International Journal of Comic Art! THE academic publication for comics scholarship, put together with such care by John Lent. The film was reviewed by Dr. Matthew J. Smith of Wittenberg University, who also wrote The Power of Comics.

Review from Toronto Film Scene:

Joe Shuster was actually born in Toronto but this documentary focused more their teen years growing up just a few blocks away from each other in Cleveland, Ohio. Joe as the artist and Jerry as the writer created a world that was influenced by pop culture, the movies, sports, history and the people around them to create on of the most enduring fictional characters of all time. There have been many misconceptions of how and where much of the Superman mythology came from over the years. This film does a great job of clarifying those myths and revealing many unknown facts: Everything from the origins of Lois Lane to where the look and name of Clark Kent came from.

Read the rest here — I really like what the reviewer says about the kids.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t make the drive up to Toronto — I’m a teacher and it was the last day of the semester. Thanks to Ellie Skrow for taking such good care of the film. She said the turnout was great and people were “blown away” by it (!). Hopefully we can bring it back to Toronto soon, but like I said, it really meant a lot to have its Canadian premiere in Joe’s birthplace at this very festival. Thanks so much to those who came and saw it — drop me a line and say hi.