"The Legends Behind The Comic Books" Premieres at the Garden State Film Festival
Saturday April 5, 2008 (1:00pm)
The Paramount Theater, Asbury Park
Q & A Panel Discussion to follow with Special Guests
Producer/Director Chip Cronkite,
Executive Producer, Michael E. Uslan
And Comic Book Legends
Joe Kubert, Greg Hildebrandt, Denny O
'Neil
Hosted by NFL Football Great & Screenwriter Darian Barnes
“THE LEGENDS BEHIND THE COMIC BOOKS”
will premiere at the sixth annual Garden State Film Festival on Saturday, April 5th (1:00pm), at the famed Paramount Theater. The Q & A discussion following the screening will include special guests, Producer/Director, Chip Cronkite, Executive Producer, Michael E. Uslan (Executive Producer of the Batman movies) and comic book legends, Joe Kubert, Greg Hildebrandt and Denny O'Neil.
This new documentary film recognizes the comic book as a true art form, as indigenous to American culture as jazz. It presents comic books as reflectors of a changing America from the 1930's to today, and it hails comic book superheroes as modern-day mythological figures.
“THE LEGENDS BEHIND THE COMIC BOOKS” captures for posterity the living artists and writers from The Golden Age of Comic Books (1938-1951) and The Silver Age of Comic Books (1956-1973). Insightful comments are provided by the creative geniuses who were there at the beginning, including…
· Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man, The Hulk, The X-Men, The Silver Surfer, Daredevil, and The Fantastic Four
· Jerry Robinson, co-creator of The Joker and Robin the Boy Wonder
· Joe Simon, co-creator of Captain America, Sandman, Manhunter and the genre known as "romance comics"
· Joe Kubert, definitive comic book artist of Hawkman, Sgt. Rock, Tarzan
· Murphy Anderson, definitive artist of Buck Rogers, The Spectre, Dr. Fate, Hourman, Starman, and Black Canary
· and many more.
These men - and one woman, Ramona Fradon - and their creations inspired our servicemen and patriotic kids at home with four-color entertainment during the dark days of World War II, as Superman and his super-brethren fought Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini. Then they introduced the comic book villain of the 1950's in the form of the Red Barbarians of Asia to face the All-American caped crusaders. In the 1960's, these artists and writers made comic books relevant to the times, inventing minority superheroes and bringing the superheroines up to equal status with men, while facing them off against such new supervillains as environmental pollution, overpopulation, drug abuse, and political corruption.
Even today, comic books continue to mirror historical and social trends, warts and all. But in the end, amid themes of power, wealth, fame, alienation, natural disaster, and science fiction, comic books present us with hope for the future - a future of truth, justice and the American way.
The ancient gods of Egypt, Greece and Rome still live…only today they wear spandex and capes.
“THE LEGENDS BEHIND THE COMIC BOOKS” is a documentary film produced and directed by Chip Cronkite. Executive Producers, Michael E. Uslan, Susan & David Bershad, the founders of Stonebridge Productions, LLC, served as Executive Producers.
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