Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked (Documentary)
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- čas přidán 25. 05. 2013
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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 CZcams
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!
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
Stan Lee is right, there is magic in turning the pages of a comic book than there is reading it from a screen.
He is also wrong, when he lied about stealing Ditko's work
@@bussylarsen9792 That’s why some people feel comics are told better on screen with shows rather than movies
I always want printed comics than digital.
@@alexphillips4644 Tried ONLY digital for 4 years, I swear I was smelling comics while holding my iPad! Went back to physical, feel like I am 12 years old again! NOSTALGIA, cannot beat it!
@@mckinzie4934 older comic books from the 1980s and below and a unique age smell.
The ongoing pandemic has made me to admit to digital graphic novels for my library's graphic novel book club when it was impossible for me to return to the library in person...and it gave me chance to think buying the physical books after reading the digital content from an website/app called Hoopla.
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.
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.
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?
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
jason todd death's was the best investment in DC, resulting in Red Hood II
Yea
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.
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.
Keith David - greatest speaking voice in the history of humans.
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.
Back when history channel was awesome
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
the guy that shows up at 5:20 is my history college teacher right now
How would he react if you showed him this?
The narration by Captain Anderson really adds to the awesome atmosphere if this documentary.
This is like a time capsule of the pre Marvel Movie boom comics world
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.
RIP Stan Lee . You will always be Stan The Man !
My favorite documentary ever
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.
Cpt. America and Superman are the most movie unadaptable heroes to me.
They need to make a sequel. This was my childhood
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
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.
So glad you put up the original with the Keith David intro, not the Peta Wilson movie shill intro. This stayed on my Tivo for a year back in 2003. And DVR space was precious then. One of the essential documentaries along with Comic Book Confidential
My dad was a NY sanitation worker and brought home two huge boxes of old comics books that someone had thrown out in the trash, I was 12 y/o at that time, 1976. I spent every night for a month reading those old comics books. I still have them in my attic. Every couple of years I will sneak in the attic and read some of them. I love the smell of the old pages, the feel of that unique texture as I gently turn them, and the loving memories of my Dad who past away a year after he brought home those two glorious boxes of old comic books. Hope the magic of reading comic books never withers away. John. (Favorite comics- Fantastic Four and Luke Cage Hero for Hire)
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.
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.
Keith David has one of the best voices for narration. His voice makes alot more magical.
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 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
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 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
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
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.
This was a great documentary when I was a kid and still is I can keep rewatching
this is the greatest flim ever made
carl manis
It’s -probably- the best comic film ever made!
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!
R.I.P Stan Lee (1922-2018)
Yeah Stan the man will live on forever.
Been Meaning to Watch This All The Way Through
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
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...
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 .
"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
Rip Stan Lee
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!)
Hearing Spawn talk about superheroes hell yeah...
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
John Reilly Wow! That's AWESOME!
+Anna Travis I thought so
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!
tarwagon You said it! LOVE that guy!
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.)
tyler moran You, me, and a lot of other comic book fans.
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
From my earliest childhood memory, Superman and Batman are my first two superheroes. Just like the time they were published.
I guessed Kevin Smith was right...wolverines claws really are a "handy" weapon
I'm thrilled this is on CZcams. I can see a fictional comic book superhero such as Frequency Man (a heroic mutant who can access any communication signal) becoming a new age Achilles.
RIP Stan lee🙏
i have been looking for this documentary for years. i love it.
i know
+Efrayim FW Malembeka Never gets old
Efrayim FW Malembeka new comic documentary on superheros on history channel tonight superhero decoded.
1:06 + "Any that comic could sell for $300,000 US." 2014, it sold mint $3.2 million on Ebay. :)
“Give Batman his balls back”
That is the best line I’ve ever heard
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.
I swear I've watched this at least 10times never delete this pleeease
i love when keith david is talking about the spawn tv series(he voiced spawn)
"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."
I hope that the recent success of superhero films brings more readers to comic books.
I just hope that the content won't be compromised for mainstream readers.
Some good news, there's around 24 million comics readers.
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.
Happy 93rd Birthday, Stan Lee!!!
Happy 100th Birthday, Jack Kirby!!!
RIP
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
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.
Easily one of the best comic book documentaries.
Thanks for posting this I truly enjoyed watching it.
This guy is the voice behind the Arbiter In Halo.
Thanks for sharing!
@27:21 that's my teacher Bradford wright!! soo dope, he showed us this video today in history class. awesome teacher.!
Thank you for uploading this! This doc got me into comics when I was younger and changed my life. I probably shouldn’t have started with Watchmen, though.
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.
A comic book documentary with Spawn narrating it....AWESOME!!!
+XrosM you're wrong, try again.
+XrosM wait, Keith David is Spawn?
+Jon Garza Voice actor for Spawn, yes.
My bad bros.
Yes. Keith David is Spawn as Mark Hamill is Joker.
I love they got Goliath to narrate
Ben Quick Keith David played a character named Goliath in the Gargoyles TV show.
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.
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.
Wonderful documentary. Thanks for posting!
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
The narrater is the voice of goliath and spawn
Awesome documentary.
Diego Camacho I want to own this on DVD. Is it available on Amazon?
I love this documentary, I really need to buy this.
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
This is a fascinating documentary. It made me LOVE comic books much more than ever.
Captain America is a UNION soldier!
wow the 1st time I ever seen superman unmasked
This is really informative and cool.
I love how people either watch or don't watch the video then try to dispute what they see and hear from the professionals in the industry.
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.
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
They got too greedy. $5 books, no wonder they don't sell as many as they did in years past.
This Is AWESOME!!
As a kid who grew up reading comics in the 90ies, I idolized the writers and illustrators, even creating comics of my own with my friends. Wherever the medium goes from here, comics still hold a very relevant and speecial place in my heart.
Im right there with. My era also
My favorite superheroes of all time:
Spider-Man(Marvel Comics, 1962-Present)
Batman(DC Comics, 1939-Present)
As a web comic artist and aspiring for publication, I keep turning to this in order to learn a lesson or two.
love this doc. I watched this so many times when it first aired and I recorded it on VHS
I also had it recorded on vhs
Excellent documentary - I loved it!
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