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Ink! Alter Egos Exposed

The iconic figures of American popular culture

Ink! Alter Egos Exposed
Characters such as Spider-Man, Superman and the Hulk have become iconic figures in American popular culture. While Holden Caulfield was drifting through 1950s’ Manhattan in JD Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye, America was restless for a new kind of literary hero. Heroes that could lift up cars, climb up walls and combat evil in a way never seen before. From the 1950s and 60s emerged the golden age of comics in which colour, adventure and imagination leapt from every page. Featuring interviews with a who’s who of comic book legends – including Stan Lee, Frank Miller and ToddMcFarlane – this new ten-part series serves as a definite guide to the worldwide phenomenon of comic books, exploring themes of love, death and sexuality.

Episode Synopsis

Heroes
The Superman of today is by no means the same Superman who was first created back in the 1930’s, and the same can be said about Batman, Wonder Woman, and Spiderman… So what do our heroes symbolize today and how have they changed over time?

Death and Resurrection
Death is inevitable… even for the costumed heroes gracing the pages of comic books. From Doomsday, the earth shattering force of nature that ended the life of Superman, to the tragic ‘collateral damage’ death of Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker’s first girlfriend, Super heroes face death everyday in many forms… some times in ways you would never have imagined…

Gender and Relationships
Sex and comics have always had an uneasy association. From the strained relationships of Superman and Lois Lane, Spiderman and Mary Jane to the sexual orientation of North Star and the latest incarnation of Bat Woman, sex is not a subject that has been easy for most comic book creators and publishers.

Social Relevance
How do comic books help with the problem of global warming? How have comic books fed starving people? And how have comic books helped pass a bill to create a law in the United States? Comic books are a reflection of their times and the problems of those times can’t help but appear in the pages. There are dozens of issues that comic books have taken on over the years… here are some of the biggest…

Evolution of Comics
In the early years comic books were regulated to ensure that nothing sexual, offensive or unpatriotic made it onto the pages or into the minds of their young readers. This regulation was the job of the Comics Code. As the audience for comics became older and more sophisticated the code vanished and the work done in the medium of comics became more mature making way for some of the greatest works in the medium.

Villains
Comic book villains like comic book heroes, started out as simple statements on evil. But they too had to evolve to keep up with the changing times and audience. The Joker, Dr. Doom, Lex Luthor and Magneto are not exactly the simple one note super-villains they were when they were created…

Politics
What does it mean when a Super hero’s uniform is based on his country’s flag? Art and politics have crossed over in many forms and comic books are no exception. From fantastic story lines like Lex Luthor becoming the President of the United States to the real historical comic books based on the war in Bosnia, comic books have examined the subject of politics in a fantastic and often very realistic light.

The Creators
Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert, Stan Lee… these are just a few of the big names that have made the comics industry what it is today. These are their stories.

Genres
We all know about superhero comics, but the western, sci-fi, fantasy, horror and noir are just some of the other genres that are available to readers. While the super hero genre seems to have literally hijacked the medium of comics in the minds of the public, there really are stories being told in comic form that will astound and amaze you… and they do it with no heat vision or spandex…

Alternative Press
Everyone knows Spiderman and Superman, but there are works being done in the field of comics that have nothing to do with the big-title publishers. Legendary figures like Robert Crumb along with not so-well-known artists have created works that have altered the art form of comics for all time. Telling stories that range from deeply personal to historical biography, these creators present an alternative view of the art form you thought you knew.

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Latest comments

Darci

Sun 30 August 2009, 22:58

It’s disappointing that whoever wrote this thinks the Golden Age was in the 1950s and 1960s. The Golden Age ended when companies like Quality, Better/Standard/Neder, and Fawcett left the field. What’s known as the Silver Age began with DC’s new Flash in Showcase Comics #4 (Oct 1956).

Dave

Mon 31 August 2009, 13:51

I watched this series on IFC in Canada whenever it was on - I thought it was excellent, although the half-hour format precludes any in-depth discussion. Hugh Dillon, the host, was absolutely perfect.
I will add that Darci’s point is well-taken, although the series concentrates more on the modern (Bronze?) age and delves only in a superficial way into history.

Neil Martin

Mon 31 August 2009, 20:17

I can never take articles seriously when they’re so badly researched that the author writes, “Spiderman”. It’s a sloppy mistake, proving the author has no credible notes in front of them. It’s “Spider-Man”, as evidenced on several thousand different comic covers, a live-action tv series, multiple cartoons and 3 successful motion pictures.

Andrew Buckle

Sat 5 September 2009, 19:14

Only the first episode.. but certainly of interest. The emphasis of super heroes is understandable but at least the genres (eps 9) get a mention. There are (or were) a lot more publishers than just Marvel (Timely / Atlas) and DC .. such as EC / St John etc.

Still, good to see comics getting a decent programme for a change instead of the scant coverage on the BBC etc (German / French channels have a lot more coverage of the artform) - thanks Sky Arts..

Perhaps some documentaries about the artists such as Alex Toth / Matt Baker etc??

Karl A Russell

Sun 6 September 2009, 07:20

I watched the first episode last night and thought it was relatively well done, like an expanded version of the old French doc “Suddenly - The Superheroes.” That makes it a great primer for new readers but a little samey for those of us who’ve been reading for a little bit longer. I’ll be sticking with it though as hopefully the lengthy running time will allow for a little more depth than we usually see in these things. I’d agree with Andrew above - More detailed documentaries on individual creators would be great, appealing to the fans who don’t neccessarily need another overview of the industry as a whole. The Moebius: Redux film was a great example of this, and the movie Crumb would also fit perfectly into a comics mini-season.

Gray Jones

Sun 6 September 2009, 17:30

Hi all,

I had the great pleasure to work on the series (as a packaging editor and colourist), and welcome all comments. Each episode purposely limits the discussion to a particular theme, and you will find greatly differing styles, participants, and types of discussion between the episodes.

It would be impossible to bubble down all genres and themes related to comic books and graphic novels in a mere 230 minutes. We hope to continue the discussions and delve deeper in subsequent seasons—if you like the show, please write to your network and ask for more. Also, it must be mentioned that this is a primer for all audiences, so we couldn’t get too esoteric, lest we lose the novice.

If you think it’s too superhero-centric, just wait for the “Social Relevance,” “Genres,” and “Alternative Press” episodes—you’ll find we touch on many other aspects of the industry and history.

Kit

Sun 6 September 2009, 22:18

Darci,
Very valid points. I assure you those of us who researched and produced the show well know the difference between the Silver and Golden Age. And I certainly hope we spelled Spider-Man right, seeing as how we interviewed the always amazing Stan Lee!

Please keep the comments coming! We had a blast working on this show.

Andrew 'Hal' Bartram

Sat 12 September 2009, 15:15

Hi,
Have only seen the first episode so far (the second one is on tonight), but absolutely loved it. Good job gettting an interview w/ Stan Lee. But mainly i was impressed because of the exposure given to DC, rather than just Marvel as could of been the case given the popularity of their movies.
Great Work

Rob

Mon 21 September 2009, 19:09

Does anybody know where I can view all of the episodes that have currently been shown?

philip

Wed 30 September 2009, 18:56

what channel is it on.

Karl Peters

Fri 23 October 2009, 20:16

Will this series be available on DVD at some point?

vance

Mon 7 December 2009, 19:25

I have recently watched the entire series on Sky Arts and while it talked to a lot of top guys who made changes to the industry I think that they messed up by not talking to Jim Lee, Rob Liefield and the guys that founded Image comics. They did not even mention any of the Images titles or mention the innovation that they brought to the comic industry. Yes they did have a good selection of creators, artists, writers, etc who really made a major impact on comics and how they have evolved over the years but did not mention Image. To me Image comics really pushed the artwork to a new level using unheard of techniques at the time but this is totally neglected by this program which claims to be the encyclopaedia to comics. It does an alright job of highlighting various genres but by missing out on Image’s contribution I think they missed out on a major part of modern day comics.

Gray Jones

Mon 7 December 2009, 19:36

Hi Vance,

thanks for your comment. Actually, if you knew what it took place behind the scenes to secure the people and companies we had, you would be amazed that we got even half of the people we did.

An example: I would have loved to have heard from Neil Gaiman — sadly, he was one of a surprising number who were unwilling to take part. In many cases it was not willingness, but an issue of who we were able to secure interviews with and permissions from within the budget and schedule of the production.

Also, I should mention that this was always intended as a “season one” of many seasons — it was not intended that these 10 episodes would be considered a complete encyclopedia or “definite guide” as stated above.

We are all hoping for a season 2, so we can delve much wider and deeper.

Terry Allen

Sun 7 February 2010, 18:07

Hi , I know this is a little late but if anyone involved with the show could get in touch with me at there’s something I’d like to ask them .

Regards

Terry

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