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Superheroes in LA?
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This morning LAist read that the Travel Channel will air the "Marvel Super Heroes Guide to New York City" special on Sunday, August 15, at 8:00 PM. The show features comic book industry writer/creator/editor veterans—like Stan Lee (co-creator of Spider-Man) and Roy Thomas (former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics), among others—discussing the impact that NYC and its famous landmarks have had on superheroes and US culture.
LAist takes issue with this city-centric view of the comic book landscape. What about Los Angeles? The LA cityscape has certainly inspired filmmakers for years, up to and including Michael Mann's latest movie, Collateral. Is Los Angeles too hard to draw?
How come New York takes all the credit as inspiration for "Metropolis"? Superman's creators (yeah, we know they worked for Marvel rival DC Comics) initially modeled the fictional city after Toronto and Cleveland. Gotham City could just as easly be Chicago or Newark at night, as well.
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Does New York dominate the comics because most comic book publishers are located on the East Coast? Publishers reside in Southern California too: Image Comics, IDW Publishing, LA-based Hometown Productions, and Street Legends, which publishes the hip-hop comic "Blokhedz," are all centered here.
Although it was not originally conceived as a comic book, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" should count. Toontown could only exist in LA.
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