November 5, 2023 • 32 mins
In our blockbuster 50th Episode, DC Comics writer Robert Venditti is talking about Superman '78 The Metal Curtain. Not only is the man of steel back for another Reeve inspired series, but Robert suprises Jay and Jim with some big news on 2 new characters in the DC universe you may know.
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On today's Cape Wonder Superman Podcast.It's our fiftieth episode, and there's no
better interview than the guy who broughtthe Christopher Reeve legacy back to comics.
Superman seventy eight, The Metal Curtain, the second series from Robert Vin Didi,
and here he is on episode fiftynow the Cape Wonders Superman Podcast with
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Jay Cowers and Jim Bowers on IinheartRadio. Robert, welcome back to the
Cape Wonder Superman Podcast. It's greatto have you. Thanks so much.
I appreciate you all having me back. It's crazy to think two years ago,
right last time we talked around thetime the first first series came out.
That's right, and you were onepisode forty and here we are today
with you back. Wow does timefly? And your first series has just
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been a remarkable hit. Yeah,I feel very very blessed about that,
and y'all were such huge champions ofit from the beginning. First, it's
Superman, which is a beloved character, but this particular version of Superman,
you know, the Reeve Donner Supermanis so so beloved and really the gold
standard of the character. You don'tknow how it's going to go when you
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do a story with that, becauseone hadn't been done before, right,
so it could very easily have gonereally wrong. So feel very very blessed
and very very happy that the responseto it has been as positive as it
has. I mean, the book'snot even a paperback yet, you know,
it's still in hardcover and there's stillyou know, Mondo did a release
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of the soundtrack on LP when itcomes with the copy of the book,
and you know, the steel bookedition of the DVDs came with the comic
inside it, you know, soyou know, of course to be able
to do more stories, you know, which is what we've been able to
do so well. The timing ofthis second series is just great because,
as we all know, the fortyfifth anniversary of Superman the movie is December
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of this year, and then we'vegot a variety of concerts Superman in Concert
recently in Pittsburgh and it's coming toToronto, and then Jay and I are
going to be at the Walt DisneyConcert Hall in March of next year to
also watch Superman in concerts. Soyour comic series is coming out right when
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all of this excitement is going on, and talk about nostalgia fantastic, it
is. And you know, I'vebeen thinking a lot about this lately,
because nostalgia is a word that youhear a lot, and I think that
sometimes people can think of nostalgia asa negative connotation, right, particularly with
something like this film and these charactersand these versions of these characters. Yes,
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certainly there's nostalgia for Reeve and Hackmanand Kidder and all those things.
But I also think there's a nostalgiafor just happier times. You watch them
today and you still leave them feelinggood about the world and that good things
can happen and that people are decent. I feel that way too, you
know, and I'm very glad thatthese stories can be on the stands at
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a time when they almost feel needed. We've talked about this before, the
last time we saw Christopher Reevan,you know, a big screen was in
nineteen eighty seven and Superman four andthat was it. And then it was
VHS and laser disc and Blu rayand DVD and four K and a couple
of showings on television. But youknow, it's such a beloved version of
Superman. How did your idea yourcomic series become that bridge to the films,
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and how did you get the greenlight? I don't know what the
internal decisions were to do it whenthey did. I know as far as
my involvement, when the editor AndrewMarino asked me about it. You know,
it was always kind of a runningjoke at DC. They would ask
me if I wanted to write acharacter, and I would always say,
I don't know anything about that characterbecause I didn't grow up reading comics,
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so I knew very little about GreenLantern or Hawk Man or any of these
things aside what just everybody knows fromjust general pop culture immersion. But this,
I would always say, this wasmy version of Superman, you know,
the Christopher Reeves Superman as well,that I grew up with. And
it really resonated with me when Isaw the films, not just as my
introduction to superheroes as a concept ormy introduction to the DC universe or Superman
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as a character, but just theaesthetics of it. It just resonated with
me. Not that he flew,and not that he you know, could
do heat vision and all those things. What resonated with me was his character.
And here was this person who couldliterally do anything, and of all
the things he chooses to do,he chooses to do the right ones.
Do you hear people say things likethat wouldn't work today because it's you know,
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it's corny, or it's too boyscout, or the world isn't that
way, And to that, Isay, that's such an obvious misreading.
I think there's always room for thosestories. And I think the success of
the first series shows that there's aplace for those stories and that people are
hungry for them, that they wantthem. And well, fred O Torre,
as the artist in the first series, was every bit as much a
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fan of the films as I was, you know, really a student of
them. What I would hope orwhat I would guess, I say,
it's up to the reader to decide. Is that that love that well?
Fredo and I had not just forthe fun of the films or the special
effects or the moments or whatever,but the heart of those films. I
don't think I would be a verygood Batman writer, you know, I
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don't want to write Batman, andif somebody asked me, I don't know
that I would. I don't thinkI would be good at it because that's
just not my view of the world. And I'm not criticizing anybody who does
have that view of the world,but it's just not how I want to
look at things, and that's notwhat inspires me to write. And so
maybe those are the things that comeacross on the page. You know,
I'm with you all the way onthat, Robert, as far as having
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these gifts and doing something good withthem, and I was very fortunate.
I grew up in an army family. I was a boy scout at the
time when I saw this film,and so I was taught being a gentleman
and having manners and helping people outno matter who they were, young and
old. So that's why Chris's Supermanhas always stayed with me all these years.
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Although I did grow up with GeorgeReeves in the sixes, but it
was really Chris that took off becauseI'm like you, and I think Jay
you're the same way. We didn'tgrow up reading comic books every week.
We grew up with the live actionversion. These are referred to now as
comic book movies in retrospect, right, because comic movies exist as a concept
now, right, there's a billionof them. First of all, these
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are originally we're groundbreaking in that regard, right, so they're sort of retroactively
classified as comic movies. But theseare films. I mean, this is
Richard Donner, this is Mario Puzo, you know, this is Marlon Brando,
this is Gene Hackman, like,these are films, you know,
and the quality of those, inthe artistry of those hold up across the
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decades, just like films of thatera do, because they're quality films.
You know, films like this arethe ones that people will still talk about
one hundred years from now, youknow. I don't know if that's true
of Avengers Infinity War or Iron Manor something like that. Good movies entertaining,
but will people still be talking aboutthem in the same way generations from
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now, I don't know, maybethey will. Superman seventy eight, The
Metal Curtain will be out on Novemberseventh. So talk a little bit about
about this this version. Where whereare we in the universe. We know
we're in the Donner Christopher Reeve universe, but what time period is it and
where do things start? Yeah,so in my head canon, and I
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don't know that you have to nailit down as a reader, you know.
But in my head canon, thesethese stories take place after Superman two
and before Superman three in that window. Okay, so you know, we
did the cellophane s and had noidea that was going to be controversial,
you know, but that obviously firmlyplants us after Superman two, right,
and so you know, it's it'sthe eighties. And when DC came to
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me about the first series, allthey really said was they wanted to do
a news story told in that universe, and they wanted the villain of the
first story to be brainiact, andwe just kind of build everything out from
there. I always, not always, but pretty immediately had an idea for
what I would want the second storyto be if we got lucky enough that
the first series did well and theywould want to do more. And it
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was always Metallo. And the reasonwas, well, you certainly have a
quest for peace, which deals withyou know, the nuclear question and things
like that. It isn't what Iwould classify as a cold war film in
the way that you had those eightiescold war films where it was the USA
versus the Soviets and you know,spies and you know, espionage and weaponry,
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and you know the world hangs inthe balance and all those kinds of
things. And so Mattallo, traditionallyand in the Superhero comics is an American
soldier who's very gravely wounded and theyrebuild him as kind of a cyber netic
or you know, cybernetic soldier,and he's powered by a chunk of kryptonite
he has he has a kryptonite heart, that's where he gets his power from.
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But he's an American soldier who's createdas a way to combat Superman a
Superman ever goes Rugue. Right.The great fun of being able to work
in these in the film universe todo stories as you're not really beholden to
all the comple continuity going back tonineteen thirty nine, right, you can
you can pull whatever you want anduse it to new effect in the films
in the same way that Donner did. Right. So my thought was,
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you know, we already know fromthe first film a chunk of kryptonite landed
in Ethiopia, right, And weknow that Lex had that chunk, and
then it goes down the drain andwe don't know what happened to it.
Anymore. But presumably if Krypton exploded, there'd be more than one chunk that
came here, as Lex himself surmises, right. So my theory is that
at the same time that Superman landedin Kansas, there were chunks a trunk
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of kryptonite lands in rural Russia,and they've had that all this time.
I've been waiting to develop a weaponand a suit of armor that they can
put a soldier in. So nowwe have the Soviet super soldier going against
the American you know, as theSoviets would call it super soldier, and
you have this clash of ideologies andthis communism versus capitalism and and so that's
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kind of how we repurposed it.And there's a lot of twists and things
that happened along the way, andthe ways we get you know, Lex
involved again, and the way weget uh Lois involved. General Lane is
a part of this story because nowwe're dealing with military, so we get
Lois's father into the series. Soyeah, that that's kind of the high
concept of it. And we reallywanted to go for that Cold War version
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of films that you saw so muchback during that time, you know,
films like Red Heat and you know, stuff like that, right, that's
I was thinking of when I readIssue one. I actually thought of a
Rocky four for a minute. Theokay, sure, yeah, Avandrago right
right, I did immediately, Andwhen I found out it was Metallo,
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I went right to the Superboy TVshow with our friend Gerard Christopher. Of
course, that's the first time Iremember seeing a live action Metallo and that
was a lot of fun. Butthis feels like an eighties film just from
Issue one. Yeah, we wantedto do something that feels of that time
in the same way as the firstseries too, right, Like, esthetically,
we wanted to feel at that timein terms of pacing and storytelling and
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all that kind of stuff, notmake it something that would alienate a modern
audience either, you know, LikeI feel like, if you don't know
anything about the Superman seventy eight filmsand you read these, they're just good
Superman stories. And that's really kindof always the target that I try to
shoot for as a writer. Iwant something if you have no familiarity with
the characters and the concepts at all, it's a good entertaining story for you.
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But if you have huge, intricatefamiliarity of the characters and concepts.
Already, there's still something in therefor you that you get that is deeper
and you can read underneath and seecertain things. And we did that hopefully
with the first series, and certainlywant to do it with the second one.
And I think if you're a fanof the Reeve Legacy and those films,
you know there are still some unansweredquestions from the past that certainly I
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think could make it into a comicbook. Whatever happened to the three villains
that were hauled away in the Arctic? How would they get back at Superman
without Powers? I already have haddiscussions along these lines with editorial. You
know, the response to the firstseries has been so positive. Sales have
been really good. So if wekeep that trend going, I feel the
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chances of doing a third one arepretty good. And we've already talked about
what that story would be, whothe villain is, you know, how
it would play out again, allthe little ways we get the whole cast
involved, you know, because tome, you know, obviously you've got
Clark, and you've got Lois,and you've got Perry, and you've got
Jimmy, But to me, Lexis also a piece of that. He's
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a leg of that table sure thatI feel like needs to be a part
of those films in some way.You know, whatever his role is doesn't
mean he always has to be thevillain. Like if you read the first
series, he's a part of it, but he's not the villain, right,
He's just always up to his Lexthings. And so you know,
how do we get those characters involved? And beyond that third story, I've
already talked to them about a storyidea I have did I think would be
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more like an annual, which wouldbe like a forty eight page story or
a thirty six page story instead ofa whole series. Do a deal with
some of the questions you're talking aboutthere, And then I have ideas for
things beyond that as well that Iwould love to get to. But as
with anything, it just depends onthe success. And if it's able to
keep rolling and keep doing well,you know, they'll always be happy to
do more. Something that I've mentionedto many fans is we don't have any
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idea when Clark Kent's mom in Smallvillepassed away. Of course, we've seen
stills of Christopher Reeve leading on Maand Paul Kent's graves. And for Superman
four, I don't know if thefootage was actually shot. We've never seen
anything, but I always thought itwould be interesting if Clark had the opportunity
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to go back to Smallville and visitmom and help her around the farm and
kind of give her an idea ofwhat it's like to be Superman and what
it's like to be you know,sort of an escape from Metropolis and he
can come home and just be himselfagain. So yeah, I mean,
you know, I think that's anothergreat thing about those movies, how many
threads they leave. Jim. Iknow you're you know, your new daughter,
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and you are really a scholar ofthese films, But you really get
the sense that he was laying thegroundwork and leaving things dangling, specifically to
be able to continue to pull onthem, you know what I mean,
Which is the way episodic writing works. That's why com book writing works,
right, Like I write stories andalways leave a thread there that could be
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pulled on. If I'm never pullon it, you don't feel like it's
unfinished. But if I do,you'll be able to remember where it came
from, and things like that,and you know, things like like the
mom or them just falling into theabyss, you know, Zod Nursa and
Non just falling into the abyss neverseeing them again. Like all these little
elements, you just get the sensethere was so much there that could have
pulled on. And I think that'spart of what makes the films indoor as
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well. You know, it alwaysinterests us to think about you visualizing something,
you writing it, and then itgets handed off to an artist to
kind of illustrate and create what you'rein envisioning and kind of wonder what that
process is like a little bit.It always helps when you're dealing with something
like this where a lot of thevisual vernacular already exists, right, Like
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everybody knows what the suit looks like, right, everybody knows what Lex looks
like and how he dresses, andeverybody knows what the Daily Planet looks like
inside and Perry's office and Jimmy wearsa bow tie and such and such.
Right For me as a writer,what I try to communicate, of course,
there's a dialogue and there's the plot, and I do break the scenes
down into individual beats you know,panels and things. The most important thing
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to communicate is the emotions of thecharacters, right so that the artist knows
how those characters are feeling and thenknows how to draw their facial expressions in
a way that communicates the story ofthe picture. That's always the most important
thing to me. Sometimes I'll givemore information. There's a lot of stuff
I write in scripts that could neverbe drawn, but it's really to just
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get the artist in the mindset ofhow the characters are feeling, you know.
But really, when you're working withthe artists, they're the experts at
the visuals, you know, sothey know how to do composition of scenes
and to lay things out and allthat kind of stuff in a way that's
far more effective than I would everbe able. And Gavin Gidry, who's
the artist on the news series,the whole thing is already drawn and completed,
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so it's all ready to go.We'll hit all our ship dates and
everything. You know. He's justbeen wonderful to work with, you know,
also a huge fan of the characterin the films and really gets the
emotion and things. And Jordy Belaiiris returning on Colors she colored the first
series with Elfredo, So there's acontinuity of this sort of lighting approach,
if you want to describe it inthat film terms, you know, across
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the two stories. And you know, these are all very talented people in
their craft, and Dave landfear theletter as well as a veteran of work
us many times, and you knowthey don't need a lot of instruction from
me about those kinds of things.Well, the variant covers, and there
are very there are a lot ofthem for the first issue, are all
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great. Will Frado's Black and Whiteis one of my favorites. Yeah,
and I got a big chuckle outof Adrian Gouteris's Bad Vibrations cover, which
apparently is going to be one ofthe more rare issues. They're all completely
different, and they're all wonderful,and I know all of the hardcore fans
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are probably going to pick up everysingle version like Jay and I have.
So yeah, I'm so excited toget these. Yeah. I mean they're
still doing variants of the first series. You know, New York Comic Con
they just put out two variants.There were convention exclusives of the first series.
Of course, you all helped getone made for MotorCity Comic Con back
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in twenty twenty two, and sothere's still its being made, which is
nice. You know, again itspeaks to the fandom and it's nothing just
so your audience knows. The interiorof the comics are all the same.
You know, whichever version, whichevercover you get, you get the entire
story. Right. It's just ifyou like this piece of art, or
you know you want to have moreversions of it, whatever, it's there
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for you in that regard. Butanybody can buy any version of the cover,
including just the main cover, ofwhich there will be more than enough
of, and you get the wholestory. You mentioned will Fredo a little
while ago, but both you andWilfredo were at MotorCity Comic Con back in
twenty twenty two. We did theChristopher Reeve Legacy reunion. There were cast
members from all four Superman films.You were up on stage for the big
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panel Jim and I moderated. Ido have to wonder, when you're the
guy writing Superman seventy eight, thecomic book now for the second time,
the second series, what was itlike for you to be up there and
interact with them, guys. Idon't mean to brag or anything, but
you know, we were on thatpanel and there was a moment when Mary
all hav Anyway leaned over a whispereda question in my ear. You know,
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I don't I don't want to pullrank on anybody here, you know,
But I'm just kind of a bluecollar kid. You know, Nobody
in my family, you know,they were homebuilders, you know, construction
workers. You know, my motherwas a courts sonographer. The idea that
I would go on to make aliving in any capacity off my imagination or
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telling stories in whatever fashion is anabsolute impossibility when I was a kid,
you know. But even more specifically, to work on these particular stories,
with these particular versions of these particularcharacters, and then to go to an
event like that where I'm on stagewith all of these people that I literally
when I was in the theater andI saw Superman too, I believed that
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Superman came out of the particle chamberand had lost his powers, and I
did not know what the world wasgoing to do without Superman. And I
don't mean the world in the fictionalworld of the film, right, I
mean my world where I currently lived. What are we going to do with
no Superman? And when he crushesZod's hands and the theme swells, I
still my hair still stands on endevery time I think of it, you
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know. And now here I amon stage with Ursa Non and you know,
so it's moments like that where youjust have to take stock of the
moment and just say, the ideathat I'm here is is absolutely crazy,
you know, in any capacity,and it's just it's a blessed life,
you know. You know, Isaid to myself, if I could just
write one story one time and thatnobody even reads, but somebody publishes it,
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I'll know that I did it.Yeah, and then I'll go on
and do whatever I'm going to dowith the rest of my life, you
know. And here I am later, you know, over three hundred comics,
later, graphic novels, sticks NewYork Times bestsellers, one of my
books was turned into a film,and so all these things that happened.
I was part of a question onJeopardy, right, Yes, my grandma
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was just absolutely And that's the thing, right, Like my grandmother is so
proud of me, you know,is so proud of me, you know,
because it's just an amazing thing tobe a part of. So I
never I never get I never takeit for granted. You know, It's
a blessing every time, and Ihope we get to do it all again
someday. Well five short years fromnow is the fiftieth anniversary of Superman the
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movie, and certainly I would thinkDC Comics would let you create something super
extraordinary. I would hope, AndI would also love, however, many
of these stories that we do,you know, I would love for there
to be that big hardcover ombrass atthe end, you know that collects them
all. You know, we lovesome of the Easter eggs and Superman seventy
eight. How about this next series? Well, I do know too.
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I don't know if you want meto say that, Yeah, we do,
for sure. I can think ofonly two. There's only two week
care about? Yeah, So thereare there are going to be appearances by
a certain pair of Cape Lunder Supermanpodcast hosts in the second story. I
want to say you both are anissue four. We have a certain newscaster
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and we have a certain photographer whoappear in the stories. I'm trying to
think if there are any others thatGavin did for fun. The only one
that I asked for in the firstseries is like the only one wil Fredo
didn't do. Like, he dida million of them in the first series
that I didn't even ask for,but I thought it would have been funny.
There's a scene in the first onewhere Lex is down on his luck
and he actually has to take acab to the site of Brainy Act's first
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arrival, and I wanted the cabbyto be Elaine Nardo from Taxi. Yeah,
okay, And that was the onlyEaster Egg that I think he didn't
do. But he did a millionof them in there, you know,
like a ton of fun stuff thathe put in, And that was all
just his creativity, because I trynot to burden artists with those things,
you know, because our job isalready hard, sure, and I don't
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want to say, you know,draw all these things. But will Fredo
really took to it and did alot of really fun stuff. Yeah.
You know, you talked about someof those pinch yourself moments in your career,
and when I had the opportunity tobe in Batman v. Superman playing
myself as a reporter, I wasyou know, floored. I couldn't believe
it. For Jim and I tobe in the universe that we love more
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than anything, the Christopher Reeve LegacySuperman seventy eight, to be ourselves and
to just have a little tiny cornerof that universe in your series just means
the world to us. We can'tthank you enough. Yes, I appreciate
that. And I also would sayI really had a chance at the Superman
reunion that y'all invited me to intwenty two. I had a chance to
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meet a lot of the fans aswell that you all know very well,
and just a wonderful community of people. Yeah, you know everything that you
would hope that Superman fans would be. Just really good, decent people,
fun to be around, good totalk to, even if you're not talking
about Superman, just talking about whatever. You know. Martin and Andy or
two that really stuck out of myhead. You know, I had some
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wonderful conversations speaking with both of them. It's just a wonderful community and I'm
so happy that I'm able to bea part of it to the extent that
I am, and that we didn'tlet them down and hopefully we'll continue not
to let them down. Well,I am so grateful that we've had these
reunions, Robert. I mean,Jay first approached me back in twenty fifteen
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when we did that wonder Con reunionin Anaheim, and it was huge,
like Motor City. And that's whatstruck me was so wonderful is that the
fans are such grateful, humble people. Just loved being there and hanging out
and like you said, not alwaystalking about Superman, just talking about life,
talking about other things that interest them, music, movies, and they're
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just so down to earth and willingto step up and help. I had
so many people volunteer to help me, and Jay being the first one to
help me. I still remember hiscall so well. And it went from
having a little table to this hugeaisle of celebrities in this monster panel with
fifteen hundred people in the room,and here we are today and it's just
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just brought together so many great peopleand that's why we keep doing this.
And I knew when I got holdof a lot of content, I wanted
to share it so badly. Ifigured out what the Internet was all about.
And it's just over twenty years nowand we're still talking about all of
this just like we were forty plusyears true, and this uniting or reuniting
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with people maybe we've known a longtime. You know, I had never
met Andy or Martin until MotorCity.I talked to them and emailed them for
twenty plus years. And to beable to finally meet all of these people
and just hang out, it's sogreat, and you always want more time
with them at a con. Itnever seems like you have enough. I
think just drives us to keep stickingtogether and sharing and learning and all of
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that. So well. Superman seventyeight The Metal Curtain November seventh, a
new issue every month for six months. Really looking forward to this, Robert,
Yeah, we wanted to do itconceptually like a film. You know,
it's a whole complete story, andthen you take a pause, and
then you do another whole complete story, you know, just like back in
the day. I think that's somethingthat's really lost about our entertainment today,
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the extent to which you would gosee Superman one and you would have to
wait three years to see Superman two. You know, you know, we
very much want to pace it ina similar fashion where each story is wholly
self contained. Probably my absolute,very favorite Superman moment that I've written yet
of all the stuff I've written,happens in the sixth issue of this series.
Oh boy. To me, it'slike it's like the moment that like
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really crystallizes for me everything that thisversion of Superman stood for and made me
feel in the films. Wow.Thank you all for all the support and
for all of the fans listening toyou know, we're so appreciative of it,
and you know, hope you guysall like the new series. November
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seventh, Superman seventy eight, TheMetal Curtain, Robert, thank you so
much, Thank you. I appreciateit. And there he goes and how
fitting on our fiftieth episode, Jimfor a podcast that honors the legacy of
Christopher Reeve, a comic book seriesthat has brought back the Reeve legacy.
And I believe this is the firstcomic book, true DC comic book debut
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of us. Can you believe that? No? I just I was just
absolutely blown away when Robert told methis. And you know what, I've
seen the original panels that feature us. I just want to tell everybody about
them, but I don't want tospoil it. I'm not a spoiler kind
of guy, but they're really cool. Well, I mean, he mentioned
that you are a photographer and Iam on TV. And the only thing
(27:37):
he told me was he said,you know, we just we had to
change your hair a little bit becausetwenty twenty three j Towers hair may not
have looked like that in the earlyeighties. Well, I've got about the
same amount of hair in the seriesas I do now, and that's okay.
It looks like they put a fewpounds on me. So maybe i'd
been, you know, partaking insome of those Krypton teenies the ice cream
(28:00):
you can buy and yeah, welllisten, it was the eighties. Maybe
you were having a lot of theSuperman peanut butter that was big. Then,
ah, that's right, does jarsand jars of it. And by
the way, if you still ownone of those jars, folks, please
like the bubblegum, don't even try. Oh boy, I mean, listen,
we joked, but it really is. It is really special. I
mean, this this film series meansso much to us and for it to
(28:22):
come full circle like this, andI mentioned this in the podcast, I
was lucky enough to be in Batmanv. Superman, which is really awesome
to be in any film, butto be in a DC comic and a
Superman comic, I mean, Idon't know, Jim. I mean,
we're really checking a lot off thebucket list here, aren't we? Blessed?
Jay? And actually, isn't thisthe second time we've been into DC
(28:44):
book? Because remember our special variantfrom motor City on Series one. I
designed twelve special pages and we arethroughout those pages along with so many of
our great Caped wonder friends. Yeah, and how special was that? But
to be in this series, youknow, within the official pages, now
that's something else. Yeah, itis exciting. So listen November seventh in
(29:07):
stores everywhere. Can you imagine ifthey do three or four or even more,
what that collectible book is going tolook and feel like? It's going
to be this big, heavy,cool book with a hardcover, And I'm
sure they're going to do a variantversion or a couple of them, sort
of like that Mondo soundtrack release that'scoming out with the with the very unique
(29:27):
special cover that I really like,and I think that's sold out in an
hour. But isn't it just great? Jay? That people are just continuing
to embrace this legacy and it's goingto go on forever. And then we've
got a movie coming out called SupermanLegacy. I mean, there's just so
many exciting things going on. Well, I know we're looking forward to the
(29:48):
big concert coming up in twenty twentyfour. We're going to be in Los
Angeles Walt Disney Concert Hall, walDisney Concert Hall. That's it, yes,
right right, It's downtown LA.It's March fifteenth at eight pm,
and we plan on getting there early. We've got some details to work out
that we'll be sure to share withyou. We've got some celebrities from the
(30:10):
movies coming and once we confirm thosenames, we'll also share those with you.
But we've got a lot of excitement. Pittsburgh recently had Superman in concert
and we heard from some Caped Wonderfriends that it was fantastic, very similar
to the Royal Albert Hall concert inthe UK, that so many people shared
videos and pictures where they all gottogether and had just a grand time.
(30:33):
So there you go, Episode fiftyof the Cape Wonder Superman Podcast. It
has been quite the ride and wecan't wait to bring you more episodes.
We've had a great time talking tothe actors and actresses and the people behind
the scenes that have made the Reevelegacy of Superman our absolute favorite. And
I know we will have more tocome, but plenty of podcasts on the
(30:55):
iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen topodcasts where you can really enjoy some of
these pod and get into the realmaking of these films, right. And
not only do we have audio podcasts, but some of the podcasts also have
video and on the caped Wonder Supermanpodcast page on capedwonder dot com. There's
(31:15):
also select episodes that have rare photosbecause the guests sometimes shot some great photos
during production and we've shared those withyou. In addition to that, there
are a few bonus episodes, that'sright, And one of them was with
Sarah Douglas when she was in Detroitand we all got together in the studio
Jay's studio and we were sitting thereface to face, having a great time
(31:38):
talking about her career and what wewere doing at that time, which was
of course celebrating the celebrity reunion atMotorCity Comic Con. So those bonus episodes,
I really need to go back andlisten to those again. Jay,
it's been a while. We'll beback before the end of the year with
another Caped Wonder Superman podcast, soI hope you will listen and continue to
join us. And as always,Jim stay you've been listening to the Cape
(32:01):
Wonders Superman podcast on the iHeartRadio app. Jay Towers is a Detroit TV anchor
and morning radio host on one hundredpoint three w NIC Detroit. Follow Jay
on Instagram and Twitter at j Towers. Jim Bowers is the founder and editor
of kapewonder dot com, the homeof Cape Wonder Superman imagery. Follow Jim
(32:23):
on Instagram at Cape Wonder and onTwitter at Cape Wonder Jim
On today's Cape Wonder Superman Podcast.It's our fiftieth episode, and there's no
better interview than the guy who broughtthe Christopher Reeve legacy back to comics.
Superman seventy eight, The Metal Curtain, the second series from Robert Vin Didi,
and here he is on episode fiftynow the Cape Wonders Superman Podcast with
(00:23):
Jay Cowers and Jim Bowers on IinheartRadio. Robert, welcome back to the
Cape Wonder Superman Podcast. It's greatto have you. Thanks so much.
I appreciate you all having me back. It's crazy to think two years ago,
right last time we talked around thetime the first first series came out.
That's right, and you were onepisode forty and here we are today
with you back. Wow does timefly? And your first series has just
(00:49):
been a remarkable hit. Yeah,I feel very very blessed about that,
and y'all were such huge champions ofit from the beginning. First, it's
Superman, which is a beloved character, but this particular version of Superman,
you know, the Reeve Donner Supermanis so so beloved and really the gold
standard of the character. You don'tknow how it's going to go when you
(01:11):
do a story with that, becauseone hadn't been done before, right,
so it could very easily have gonereally wrong. So feel very very blessed
and very very happy that the responseto it has been as positive as it
has. I mean, the book'snot even a paperback yet, you know,
it's still in hardcover and there's stillyou know, Mondo did a release
(01:32):
of the soundtrack on LP when itcomes with the copy of the book,
and you know, the steel bookedition of the DVDs came with the comic
inside it, you know, soyou know, of course to be able
to do more stories, you know, which is what we've been able to
do so well. The timing ofthis second series is just great because,
as we all know, the fortyfifth anniversary of Superman the movie is December
(01:53):
of this year, and then we'vegot a variety of concerts Superman in Concert
recently in Pittsburgh and it's coming toToronto, and then Jay and I are
going to be at the Walt DisneyConcert Hall in March of next year to
also watch Superman in concerts. Soyour comic series is coming out right when
(02:15):
all of this excitement is going on, and talk about nostalgia fantastic, it
is. And you know, I'vebeen thinking a lot about this lately,
because nostalgia is a word that youhear a lot, and I think that
sometimes people can think of nostalgia asa negative connotation, right, particularly with
something like this film and these charactersand these versions of these characters. Yes,
(02:37):
certainly there's nostalgia for Reeve and Hackmanand Kidder and all those things.
But I also think there's a nostalgiafor just happier times. You watch them
today and you still leave them feelinggood about the world and that good things
can happen and that people are decent. I feel that way too, you
know, and I'm very glad thatthese stories can be on the stands at
(02:57):
a time when they almost feel needed. We've talked about this before, the
last time we saw Christopher Reevan,you know, a big screen was in
nineteen eighty seven and Superman four andthat was it. And then it was
VHS and laser disc and Blu rayand DVD and four K and a couple
of showings on television. But youknow, it's such a beloved version of
Superman. How did your idea yourcomic series become that bridge to the films,
(03:23):
and how did you get the greenlight? I don't know what the
internal decisions were to do it whenthey did. I know as far as
my involvement, when the editor AndrewMarino asked me about it. You know,
it was always kind of a runningjoke at DC. They would ask
me if I wanted to write acharacter, and I would always say,
I don't know anything about that characterbecause I didn't grow up reading comics,
(03:45):
so I knew very little about GreenLantern or Hawk Man or any of these
things aside what just everybody knows fromjust general pop culture immersion. But this,
I would always say, this wasmy version of Superman, you know,
the Christopher Reeves Superman as well,that I grew up with. And
it really resonated with me when Isaw the films, not just as my
introduction to superheroes as a concept ormy introduction to the DC universe or Superman
(04:10):
as a character, but just theaesthetics of it. It just resonated with
me. Not that he flew,and not that he you know, could
do heat vision and all those things. What resonated with me was his character.
And here was this person who couldliterally do anything, and of all
the things he chooses to do,he chooses to do the right ones.
Do you hear people say things likethat wouldn't work today because it's you know,
(04:32):
it's corny, or it's too boyscout, or the world isn't that
way, And to that, Isay, that's such an obvious misreading.
I think there's always room for thosestories. And I think the success of
the first series shows that there's aplace for those stories and that people are
hungry for them, that they wantthem. And well, fred O Torre,
as the artist in the first series, was every bit as much a
(04:55):
fan of the films as I was, you know, really a student of
them. What I would hope orwhat I would guess, I say,
it's up to the reader to decide. Is that that love that well?
Fredo and I had not just forthe fun of the films or the special
effects or the moments or whatever,but the heart of those films. I
don't think I would be a verygood Batman writer, you know, I
(05:17):
don't want to write Batman, andif somebody asked me, I don't know
that I would. I don't thinkI would be good at it because that's
just not my view of the world. And I'm not criticizing anybody who does
have that view of the world,but it's just not how I want to
look at things, and that's notwhat inspires me to write. And so
maybe those are the things that comeacross on the page. You know,
I'm with you all the way onthat, Robert, as far as having
(05:39):
these gifts and doing something good withthem, and I was very fortunate.
I grew up in an army family. I was a boy scout at the
time when I saw this film,and so I was taught being a gentleman
and having manners and helping people outno matter who they were, young and
old. So that's why Chris's Supermanhas always stayed with me all these years.
(05:59):
Although I did grow up with GeorgeReeves in the sixes, but it
was really Chris that took off becauseI'm like you, and I think Jay
you're the same way. We didn'tgrow up reading comic books every week.
We grew up with the live actionversion. These are referred to now as
comic book movies in retrospect, right, because comic movies exist as a concept
now, right, there's a billionof them. First of all, these
(06:21):
are originally we're groundbreaking in that regard, right, so they're sort of retroactively
classified as comic movies. But theseare films. I mean, this is
Richard Donner, this is Mario Puzo, you know, this is Marlon Brando,
this is Gene Hackman, like,these are films, you know,
and the quality of those, inthe artistry of those hold up across the
(06:43):
decades, just like films of thatera do, because they're quality films.
You know, films like this arethe ones that people will still talk about
one hundred years from now, youknow. I don't know if that's true
of Avengers Infinity War or Iron Manor something like that. Good movies entertaining,
but will people still be talking aboutthem in the same way generations from
(07:03):
now, I don't know, maybethey will. Superman seventy eight, The
Metal Curtain will be out on Novemberseventh. So talk a little bit about
about this this version. Where whereare we in the universe. We know
we're in the Donner Christopher Reeve universe, but what time period is it and
where do things start? Yeah,so in my head canon, and I
(07:26):
don't know that you have to nailit down as a reader, you know.
But in my head canon, thesethese stories take place after Superman two
and before Superman three in that window. Okay, so you know, we
did the cellophane s and had noidea that was going to be controversial,
you know, but that obviously firmlyplants us after Superman two, right,
and so you know, it's it'sthe eighties. And when DC came to
(07:47):
me about the first series, allthey really said was they wanted to do
a news story told in that universe, and they wanted the villain of the
first story to be brainiact, andwe just kind of build everything out from
there. I always, not always, but pretty immediately had an idea for
what I would want the second storyto be if we got lucky enough that
the first series did well and theywould want to do more. And it
(08:11):
was always Metallo. And the reasonwas, well, you certainly have a
quest for peace, which deals withyou know, the nuclear question and things
like that. It isn't what Iwould classify as a cold war film in
the way that you had those eightiescold war films where it was the USA
versus the Soviets and you know,spies and you know, espionage and weaponry,
(08:35):
and you know the world hangs inthe balance and all those kinds of
things. And so Mattallo, traditionallyand in the Superhero comics is an American
soldier who's very gravely wounded and theyrebuild him as kind of a cyber netic
or you know, cybernetic soldier,and he's powered by a chunk of kryptonite
he has he has a kryptonite heart, that's where he gets his power from.
(08:56):
But he's an American soldier who's createdas a way to combat Superman a
Superman ever goes Rugue. Right.The great fun of being able to work
in these in the film universe todo stories as you're not really beholden to
all the comple continuity going back tonineteen thirty nine, right, you can
you can pull whatever you want anduse it to new effect in the films
in the same way that Donner did. Right. So my thought was,
(09:20):
you know, we already know fromthe first film a chunk of kryptonite landed
in Ethiopia, right, And weknow that Lex had that chunk, and
then it goes down the drain andwe don't know what happened to it.
Anymore. But presumably if Krypton exploded, there'd be more than one chunk that
came here, as Lex himself surmises, right. So my theory is that
at the same time that Superman landedin Kansas, there were chunks a trunk
(09:43):
of kryptonite lands in rural Russia,and they've had that all this time.
I've been waiting to develop a weaponand a suit of armor that they can
put a soldier in. So nowwe have the Soviet super soldier going against
the American you know, as theSoviets would call it super soldier, and
you have this clash of ideologies andthis communism versus capitalism and and so that's
(10:07):
kind of how we repurposed it.And there's a lot of twists and things
that happened along the way, andthe ways we get you know, Lex
involved again, and the way weget uh Lois involved. General Lane is
a part of this story because nowwe're dealing with military, so we get
Lois's father into the series. Soyeah, that that's kind of the high
concept of it. And we reallywanted to go for that Cold War version
(10:31):
of films that you saw so muchback during that time, you know,
films like Red Heat and you know, stuff like that, right, that's
I was thinking of when I readIssue one. I actually thought of a
Rocky four for a minute. Theokay, sure, yeah, Avandrago right
right, I did immediately, Andwhen I found out it was Metallo,
(10:54):
I went right to the Superboy TVshow with our friend Gerard Christopher. Of
course, that's the first time Iremember seeing a live action Metallo and that
was a lot of fun. Butthis feels like an eighties film just from
Issue one. Yeah, we wantedto do something that feels of that time
in the same way as the firstseries too, right, Like, esthetically,
we wanted to feel at that timein terms of pacing and storytelling and
(11:16):
all that kind of stuff, notmake it something that would alienate a modern
audience either, you know, LikeI feel like, if you don't know
anything about the Superman seventy eight filmsand you read these, they're just good
Superman stories. And that's really kindof always the target that I try to
shoot for as a writer. Iwant something if you have no familiarity with
the characters and the concepts at all, it's a good entertaining story for you.
(11:39):
But if you have huge, intricatefamiliarity of the characters and concepts.
Already, there's still something in therefor you that you get that is deeper
and you can read underneath and seecertain things. And we did that hopefully
with the first series, and certainlywant to do it with the second one.
And I think if you're a fanof the Reeve Legacy and those films,
you know there are still some unansweredquestions from the past that certainly I
(12:03):
think could make it into a comicbook. Whatever happened to the three villains
that were hauled away in the Arctic? How would they get back at Superman
without Powers? I already have haddiscussions along these lines with editorial. You
know, the response to the firstseries has been so positive. Sales have
been really good. So if wekeep that trend going, I feel the
(12:24):
chances of doing a third one arepretty good. And we've already talked about
what that story would be, whothe villain is, you know, how
it would play out again, allthe little ways we get the whole cast
involved, you know, because tome, you know, obviously you've got
Clark, and you've got Lois,and you've got Perry, and you've got
Jimmy, But to me, Lexis also a piece of that. He's
(12:46):
a leg of that table sure thatI feel like needs to be a part
of those films in some way.You know, whatever his role is doesn't
mean he always has to be thevillain. Like if you read the first
series, he's a part of it, but he's not the villain, right,
He's just always up to his Lexthings. And so you know,
how do we get those characters involved? And beyond that third story, I've
already talked to them about a storyidea I have did I think would be
(13:09):
more like an annual, which wouldbe like a forty eight page story or
a thirty six page story instead ofa whole series. Do a deal with
some of the questions you're talking aboutthere, And then I have ideas for
things beyond that as well that Iwould love to get to. But as
with anything, it just depends onthe success. And if it's able to
keep rolling and keep doing well,you know, they'll always be happy to
do more. Something that I've mentionedto many fans is we don't have any
(13:33):
idea when Clark Kent's mom in Smallvillepassed away. Of course, we've seen
stills of Christopher Reeve leading on Maand Paul Kent's graves. And for Superman
four, I don't know if thefootage was actually shot. We've never seen
anything, but I always thought itwould be interesting if Clark had the opportunity
(13:54):
to go back to Smallville and visitmom and help her around the farm and
kind of give her an idea ofwhat it's like to be Superman and what
it's like to be you know,sort of an escape from Metropolis and he
can come home and just be himselfagain. So yeah, I mean,
you know, I think that's anothergreat thing about those movies, how many
threads they leave. Jim. Iknow you're you know, your new daughter,
(14:18):
and you are really a scholar ofthese films, But you really get
the sense that he was laying thegroundwork and leaving things dangling, specifically to
be able to continue to pull onthem, you know what I mean,
Which is the way episodic writing works. That's why com book writing works,
right, Like I write stories andalways leave a thread there that could be
(14:41):
pulled on. If I'm never pullon it, you don't feel like it's
unfinished. But if I do,you'll be able to remember where it came
from, and things like that,and you know, things like like the
mom or them just falling into theabyss, you know, Zod Nursa and
Non just falling into the abyss neverseeing them again. Like all these little
elements, you just get the sensethere was so much there that could have
pulled on. And I think that'spart of what makes the films indoor as
(15:03):
well. You know, it alwaysinterests us to think about you visualizing something,
you writing it, and then itgets handed off to an artist to
kind of illustrate and create what you'rein envisioning and kind of wonder what that
process is like a little bit.It always helps when you're dealing with something
like this where a lot of thevisual vernacular already exists, right, Like
(15:24):
everybody knows what the suit looks like, right, everybody knows what Lex looks
like and how he dresses, andeverybody knows what the Daily Planet looks like
inside and Perry's office and Jimmy wearsa bow tie and such and such.
Right For me as a writer,what I try to communicate, of course,
there's a dialogue and there's the plot, and I do break the scenes
down into individual beats you know,panels and things. The most important thing
(15:46):
to communicate is the emotions of thecharacters, right so that the artist knows
how those characters are feeling and thenknows how to draw their facial expressions in
a way that communicates the story ofthe picture. That's always the most important
thing to me. Sometimes I'll givemore information. There's a lot of stuff
I write in scripts that could neverbe drawn, but it's really to just
(16:07):
get the artist in the mindset ofhow the characters are feeling, you know.
But really, when you're working withthe artists, they're the experts at
the visuals, you know, sothey know how to do composition of scenes
and to lay things out and allthat kind of stuff in a way that's
far more effective than I would everbe able. And Gavin Gidry, who's
the artist on the news series,the whole thing is already drawn and completed,
(16:29):
so it's all ready to go.We'll hit all our ship dates and
everything. You know. He's justbeen wonderful to work with, you know,
also a huge fan of the characterin the films and really gets the
emotion and things. And Jordy Belaiiris returning on Colors she colored the first
series with Elfredo, So there's acontinuity of this sort of lighting approach,
if you want to describe it inthat film terms, you know, across
(16:51):
the two stories. And you know, these are all very talented people in
their craft, and Dave landfear theletter as well as a veteran of work
us many times, and you knowthey don't need a lot of instruction from
me about those kinds of things.Well, the variant covers, and there
are very there are a lot ofthem for the first issue, are all
(17:12):
great. Will Frado's Black and Whiteis one of my favorites. Yeah,
and I got a big chuckle outof Adrian Gouteris's Bad Vibrations cover, which
apparently is going to be one ofthe more rare issues. They're all completely
different, and they're all wonderful,and I know all of the hardcore fans
(17:34):
are probably going to pick up everysingle version like Jay and I have.
So yeah, I'm so excited toget these. Yeah. I mean they're
still doing variants of the first series. You know, New York Comic Con
they just put out two variants.There were convention exclusives of the first series.
Of course, you all helped getone made for MotorCity Comic Con back
(17:56):
in twenty twenty two, and sothere's still its being made, which is
nice. You know, again itspeaks to the fandom and it's nothing just
so your audience knows. The interiorof the comics are all the same.
You know, whichever version, whichevercover you get, you get the entire
story. Right. It's just ifyou like this piece of art, or
you know you want to have moreversions of it, whatever, it's there
(18:18):
for you in that regard. Butanybody can buy any version of the cover,
including just the main cover, ofwhich there will be more than enough
of, and you get the wholestory. You mentioned will Fredo a little
while ago, but both you andWilfredo were at MotorCity Comic Con back in
twenty twenty two. We did theChristopher Reeve Legacy reunion. There were cast
members from all four Superman films.You were up on stage for the big
(18:42):
panel Jim and I moderated. Ido have to wonder, when you're the
guy writing Superman seventy eight, thecomic book now for the second time,
the second series, what was itlike for you to be up there and
interact with them, guys. Idon't mean to brag or anything, but
you know, we were on thatpanel and there was a moment when Mary
all hav Anyway leaned over a whispereda question in my ear. You know,
(19:03):
I don't I don't want to pullrank on anybody here, you know,
But I'm just kind of a bluecollar kid. You know, Nobody
in my family, you know,they were homebuilders, you know, construction
workers. You know, my motherwas a courts sonographer. The idea that
I would go on to make aliving in any capacity off my imagination or
(19:26):
telling stories in whatever fashion is anabsolute impossibility when I was a kid,
you know. But even more specifically, to work on these particular stories,
with these particular versions of these particularcharacters, and then to go to an
event like that where I'm on stagewith all of these people that I literally
when I was in the theater andI saw Superman too, I believed that
(19:48):
Superman came out of the particle chamberand had lost his powers, and I
did not know what the world wasgoing to do without Superman. And I
don't mean the world in the fictionalworld of the film, right, I
mean my world where I currently lived. What are we going to do with
no Superman? And when he crushesZod's hands and the theme swells, I
still my hair still stands on endevery time I think of it, you
(20:10):
know. And now here I amon stage with Ursa Non and you know,
so it's moments like that where youjust have to take stock of the
moment and just say, the ideathat I'm here is is absolutely crazy,
you know, in any capacity,and it's just it's a blessed life,
you know. You know, Isaid to myself, if I could just
write one story one time and thatnobody even reads, but somebody publishes it,
(20:33):
I'll know that I did it.Yeah, and then I'll go on
and do whatever I'm going to dowith the rest of my life, you
know. And here I am later, you know, over three hundred comics,
later, graphic novels, sticks NewYork Times bestsellers, one of my
books was turned into a film,and so all these things that happened.
I was part of a question onJeopardy, right, Yes, my grandma
(20:55):
was just absolutely And that's the thing, right, Like my grandmother is so
proud of me, you know,is so proud of me, you know,
because it's just an amazing thing tobe a part of. So I
never I never get I never takeit for granted. You know, It's
a blessing every time, and Ihope we get to do it all again
someday. Well five short years fromnow is the fiftieth anniversary of Superman the
(21:15):
movie, and certainly I would thinkDC Comics would let you create something super
extraordinary. I would hope, AndI would also love, however, many
of these stories that we do,you know, I would love for there
to be that big hardcover ombrass atthe end, you know that collects them
all. You know, we lovesome of the Easter eggs and Superman seventy
eight. How about this next series? Well, I do know too.
(21:37):
I don't know if you want meto say that, Yeah, we do,
for sure. I can think ofonly two. There's only two week
care about? Yeah, So thereare there are going to be appearances by
a certain pair of Cape Lunder Supermanpodcast hosts in the second story. I
want to say you both are anissue four. We have a certain newscaster
(22:02):
and we have a certain photographer whoappear in the stories. I'm trying to
think if there are any others thatGavin did for fun. The only one
that I asked for in the firstseries is like the only one wil Fredo
didn't do. Like, he dida million of them in the first series
that I didn't even ask for,but I thought it would have been funny.
There's a scene in the first onewhere Lex is down on his luck
and he actually has to take acab to the site of Brainy Act's first
(22:27):
arrival, and I wanted the cabbyto be Elaine Nardo from Taxi. Yeah,
okay, And that was the onlyEaster Egg that I think he didn't
do. But he did a millionof them in there, you know,
like a ton of fun stuff thathe put in, And that was all
just his creativity, because I trynot to burden artists with those things,
you know, because our job isalready hard, sure, and I don't
(22:48):
want to say, you know,draw all these things. But will Fredo
really took to it and did alot of really fun stuff. Yeah.
You know, you talked about someof those pinch yourself moments in your career,
and when I had the opportunity tobe in Batman v. Superman playing
myself as a reporter, I wasyou know, floored. I couldn't believe
it. For Jim and I tobe in the universe that we love more
(23:10):
than anything, the Christopher Reeve LegacySuperman seventy eight, to be ourselves and
to just have a little tiny cornerof that universe in your series just means
the world to us. We can'tthank you enough. Yes, I appreciate
that. And I also would sayI really had a chance at the Superman
reunion that y'all invited me to intwenty two. I had a chance to
(23:33):
meet a lot of the fans aswell that you all know very well,
and just a wonderful community of people. Yeah, you know everything that you
would hope that Superman fans would be. Just really good, decent people,
fun to be around, good totalk to, even if you're not talking
about Superman, just talking about whatever. You know. Martin and Andy or
two that really stuck out of myhead. You know, I had some
(23:55):
wonderful conversations speaking with both of them. It's just a wonderful community and I'm
so happy that I'm able to bea part of it to the extent that
I am, and that we didn'tlet them down and hopefully we'll continue not
to let them down. Well,I am so grateful that we've had these
reunions, Robert. I mean,Jay first approached me back in twenty fifteen
(24:17):
when we did that wonder Con reunionin Anaheim, and it was huge,
like Motor City. And that's whatstruck me was so wonderful is that the
fans are such grateful, humble people. Just loved being there and hanging out
and like you said, not alwaystalking about Superman, just talking about life,
talking about other things that interest them, music, movies, and they're
(24:37):
just so down to earth and willingto step up and help. I had
so many people volunteer to help me, and Jay being the first one to
help me. I still remember hiscall so well. And it went from
having a little table to this hugeaisle of celebrities in this monster panel with
fifteen hundred people in the room,and here we are today and it's just
(25:00):
just brought together so many great peopleand that's why we keep doing this.
And I knew when I got holdof a lot of content, I wanted
to share it so badly. Ifigured out what the Internet was all about.
And it's just over twenty years nowand we're still talking about all of
this just like we were forty plusyears true, and this uniting or reuniting
(25:21):
with people maybe we've known a longtime. You know, I had never
met Andy or Martin until MotorCity.I talked to them and emailed them for
twenty plus years. And to beable to finally meet all of these people
and just hang out, it's sogreat, and you always want more time
with them at a con. Itnever seems like you have enough. I
think just drives us to keep stickingtogether and sharing and learning and all of
(25:44):
that. So well. Superman seventyeight The Metal Curtain November seventh, a
new issue every month for six months. Really looking forward to this, Robert,
Yeah, we wanted to do itconceptually like a film. You know,
it's a whole complete story, andthen you take a pause, and
then you do another whole complete story, you know, just like back in
the day. I think that's somethingthat's really lost about our entertainment today,
(26:07):
the extent to which you would gosee Superman one and you would have to
wait three years to see Superman two. You know, you know, we
very much want to pace it ina similar fashion where each story is wholly
self contained. Probably my absolute,very favorite Superman moment that I've written yet
of all the stuff I've written,happens in the sixth issue of this series.
Oh boy. To me, it'slike it's like the moment that like
(26:30):
really crystallizes for me everything that thisversion of Superman stood for and made me
feel in the films. Wow.Thank you all for all the support and
for all of the fans listening toyou know, we're so appreciative of it,
and you know, hope you guysall like the new series. November
(26:51):
seventh, Superman seventy eight, TheMetal Curtain, Robert, thank you so
much, Thank you. I appreciateit. And there he goes and how
fitting on our fiftieth episode, Jimfor a podcast that honors the legacy of
Christopher Reeve, a comic book seriesthat has brought back the Reeve legacy.
And I believe this is the firstcomic book, true DC comic book debut
(27:14):
of us. Can you believe that? No? I just I was just
absolutely blown away when Robert told methis. And you know what, I've
seen the original panels that feature us. I just want to tell everybody about
them, but I don't want tospoil it. I'm not a spoiler kind
of guy, but they're really cool. Well, I mean, he mentioned
that you are a photographer and Iam on TV. And the only thing
(27:37):
he told me was he said,you know, we just we had to
change your hair a little bit becausetwenty twenty three j Towers hair may not
have looked like that in the earlyeighties. Well, I've got about the
same amount of hair in the seriesas I do now, and that's okay.
It looks like they put a fewpounds on me. So maybe i'd
been, you know, partaking insome of those Krypton teenies the ice cream
(28:00):
you can buy and yeah, welllisten, it was the eighties. Maybe
you were having a lot of theSuperman peanut butter that was big. Then,
ah, that's right, does jarsand jars of it. And by
the way, if you still ownone of those jars, folks, please
like the bubblegum, don't even try. Oh boy, I mean, listen,
we joked, but it really is. It is really special. I
mean, this this film series meansso much to us and for it to
(28:22):
come full circle like this, andI mentioned this in the podcast, I
was lucky enough to be in Batmanv. Superman, which is really awesome
to be in any film, butto be in a DC comic and a
Superman comic, I mean, Idon't know, Jim. I mean,
we're really checking a lot off thebucket list here, aren't we? Blessed?
Jay? And actually, isn't thisthe second time we've been into DC
(28:44):
book? Because remember our special variantfrom motor City on Series one. I
designed twelve special pages and we arethroughout those pages along with so many of
our great Caped wonder friends. Yeah, and how special was that? But
to be in this series, youknow, within the official pages, now
that's something else. Yeah, itis exciting. So listen November seventh in
(29:07):
stores everywhere. Can you imagine ifthey do three or four or even more,
what that collectible book is going tolook and feel like? It's going
to be this big, heavy,cool book with a hardcover, And I'm
sure they're going to do a variantversion or a couple of them, sort
of like that Mondo soundtrack release that'scoming out with the with the very unique
(29:27):
special cover that I really like,and I think that's sold out in an
hour. But isn't it just great? Jay? That people are just continuing
to embrace this legacy and it's goingto go on forever. And then we've
got a movie coming out called SupermanLegacy. I mean, there's just so
many exciting things going on. Well, I know we're looking forward to the
(29:48):
big concert coming up in twenty twentyfour. We're going to be in Los
Angeles Walt Disney Concert Hall, walDisney Concert Hall. That's it, yes,
right right, It's downtown LA.It's March fifteenth at eight pm,
and we plan on getting there early. We've got some details to work out
that we'll be sure to share withyou. We've got some celebrities from the
(30:10):
movies coming and once we confirm thosenames, we'll also share those with you.
But we've got a lot of excitement. Pittsburgh recently had Superman in concert
and we heard from some Caped Wonderfriends that it was fantastic, very similar
to the Royal Albert Hall concert inthe UK, that so many people shared
videos and pictures where they all gottogether and had just a grand time.
(30:33):
So there you go, Episode fiftyof the Cape Wonder Superman Podcast. It
has been quite the ride and wecan't wait to bring you more episodes.
We've had a great time talking tothe actors and actresses and the people behind
the scenes that have made the Reevelegacy of Superman our absolute favorite. And
I know we will have more tocome, but plenty of podcasts on the
(30:55):
iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen topodcasts where you can really enjoy some of
these pod and get into the realmaking of these films, right. And
not only do we have audio podcasts, but some of the podcasts also have
video and on the caped Wonder Supermanpodcast page on capedwonder dot com. There's
(31:15):
also select episodes that have rare photosbecause the guests sometimes shot some great photos
during production and we've shared those withyou. In addition to that, there
are a few bonus episodes, that'sright, And one of them was with
Sarah Douglas when she was in Detroitand we all got together in the studio
Jay's studio and we were sitting thereface to face, having a great time
(31:38):
talking about her career and what wewere doing at that time, which was
of course celebrating the celebrity reunion atMotorCity Comic Con. So those bonus episodes,
I really need to go back andlisten to those again. Jay,
it's been a while. We'll beback before the end of the year with
another Caped Wonder Superman podcast, soI hope you will listen and continue to
join us. And as always,Jim stay you've been listening to the Cape
(32:01):
Wonders Superman podcast on the iHeartRadio app. Jay Towers is a Detroit TV anchor
and morning radio host on one hundredpoint three w NIC Detroit. Follow Jay
on Instagram and Twitter at j Towers. Jim Bowers is the founder and editor
of kapewonder dot com, the homeof Cape Wonder Superman imagery. Follow Jim
(32:23):
on Instagram at Cape Wonder and onTwitter at Cape Wonder Jim
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