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Comic Book Shows: The Definitive Live-Action List

By on November 28, 2018 in Mixed Media, Television

Have we reached peak comic book shows?

We’re living in the heyday of shows based on comic book properties. There was a time when live action shows came out every couple years and the quality was always questionable. Shows like Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, and Smallville were few and far between. We’d gnaw on every little morsel thrown our way in hopes it would boost ratings leading to more adaptations. Remember Ultraverse’s Night Man? Or The Crow: Stairway to Heaven?

How the times have changed. In the first half of 2018, there are were nearly 30 shows based on comic books. It isn’t slowing down. The already long list will be joined this fall by Titans (please be good enough to justify a “Titans Hunt” storyline), Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and possibly Umbrella Academy. 2019’s new comic book shows include Doom Patrol, Deadly Class, and The Boys. If we want to keep our sanity (and have a social life) we need to now make sacrifices of shows instead of sacrificing our free time for questionable quality.

With impending comic book show doom on the horizon, I thought it might be a good time to take stock of what’s out there and what brings me joy. Below is a list of live action comic books shows I’m currently watching and what I think about each one. At the end are shows I stopped watching and shows I’ve yet to watch.

Note: This article about comic book shows is full of spoilers about every single one of these shows.

Note II: Updated November 28, 2018 to include The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

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Daredevil Tour of the Bay Area: Issue 3

By on May 24, 2014 in Comics by the Bay

This regular feature on The Shared Universe is intended to act as a tour guide of the Bay Area by following the adventures of our most recent New York City transplant. If an issue of Daredevil features any notable landmarks I’ll pull them out and provide some context for readers unfamiliar with this region of the country. Previous entries in this series:

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Presidio of San Francisco

This month’s issue opens in the Presidio at the Northern tip of the San Francisco peninsula. Mob boss Leland “The Owl” Owlsley has chosen this location to meet with a henchman who has information on the Shroud and Daredevil. The Presidio is the perfect place for the Owl to hang out, because it’s part of the lushly forested Golden Gate National Recreation Area. He has many tress to choose from and can also hang out with a number of actual owls.

The Presidio is a fascinating region of San Francisco that’s often missed by visitors. In addition to having one of the best views of the Golden Gate Bridge the Presidio has a rich history that was integral in San Francisco becoming the city it is today.

The Presidio was established by the Spanish in 1776 as a garrison to defend their claim of the Bay Area. At the time it was known as El Presidio Real de San Francisco and provided support to Mission Delores. When Mexico declared independence in 1821 the Presidio began to suffer from neglected. The garrison once housed at the Presidio moved to Sonoma leaving the settlers of that region mostly undefended. In 1846, during the Bear Flag Revolt, the U.S. Army took control of the Presidio. This was the start of a rich U.S. military history for the Presidio which is well documented while strolling through The Presidio. The region played important roles in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and both World Wars. It was also the site of the 1968 “Presidio mutiny” which helped bring attention to anti-Vietnam War sentiment within the ranks of the U.S. military.

In 1994, the Presidio was transferred to the National Park Service and two years later privatized by Congress. Today this once militarized region of the Bay Area plays an important role in fostering the arts. George Lucas has made substantial investments in an effort to make it a hub for San Francisco filmmaking. The Letterman Digital Arts Center houses Lucasfilm’s marketing division, Industrial Light and Magic, and LucasArts. The property is peppered with a number of statues including Yoda and Ray Harryhausen.

The Presidio is additionally home to the Walt Disney Family Museum, the San Francisco Film Society, and a number of other organizations.

That’s it for this week!

A Daredevil Tour of the Bay Area: Issue 2

By on April 24, 2014 in Comics by the Bay

This regular feature on The Shared Universe is intended to act as a tour guide of the Bay Area by following the adventures of our most recent New York City transplant.  If an issue of Daredevil features any notable landmarks I’ll pull them out and provide some context for readers unfamiliar with this region of the country. Previous entries in this series:

This month’s issue doesn’t feature any visual landmarks, but there are a handful of locations mentioned in a news report at the start of the issue.

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First Stop: War Memorial Opera House

San Francisco’s opera house is home to both the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet. The building began construction in 1927 and was completed in 1932. It’s considered one of the last structures in the country to use the neo-classical architectural style of Beaux-Arts. Matt Murdock would likely feel right at home in the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House. Columbia University, where Murdock attended law school, was designed using the Beaux-Arts style. Additionally, Grand Central Terminal in New York City is likely one of the most notable uses of Beaux-Arts in the United States.

The Opera House is one of four venues that make-up the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center. The name of the series of building was intended to commemorate all of those who served during the First World War global conflict. Since that time the name has come to have a greater meaning. In 1951, the opera house was the site of the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco officially marking the end of hostilities with Japan. Across the courtyard from the opera house is the Veterans Building which was the site of the signing of the first United Nations charter in 1945.

Second Stop: Pier 39

If you’ve been a tourist in San Francisco there’s a high probability you ended up at Pier 39. This is where the infamous California Sea Lions have come to roost since they started a migration from Seal Rock in the late-80s. The pier has a clear view of the Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz. Pier 39 is also home to the Marine Mammal Center and the Aquarium of the Bay. You’ll also find two stories of family-focused shopping and entertainment.

Third Stop: Golden Gate Park

*checks watch* There is much to write about Golden Gate Park. So much. I’ve only lived in the Bay Area for little more than a year and I keep finding out new things about the park. I could spend multiple entries writing about all of the treasures tucked away in the Park’s 1,017-acres. Instead, I’m going to cheat and direct you to wikipedia. However, I will make one loose additional connection between Golden Gate Park and the most recent issue of Daredevil: Owls. It appears that Chris Samnee and Mark Waid are directing Daredevil toward a confrontation with the minor crime-lord the Owl. Golden Gate Park has become well-known, in these parts at least, for housing a family of Great Horned Owls. You can see a lengthy video of these owls below. I have no videos of Owl the crime-lord roosting in Golden Gate Park, because he’s a comic book character.

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A Daredevil Tour of the Bay Area: Issue 1

By on March 20, 2014 in Comics by the Bay

The Man Without Fear is also the Man Without Rest. After a long road trip Daredevil finally arrived in San Francisco yesterday. Instead of taking a day or two to enjoy the smells and sounds of the Bay Area, he’s already working with the SFPD to track down a kidnapped child. The first issue of the fourth volume of Daredevil is an enjoyable romp that finds hornhead being chased by sky sleds from The Embarcadero to Nob Hill. As noted in the issue, this isn’t the hero’s first stint in San Francisco.

This regular feature on The Shared Universe is intended to act as a tour guide of the Bay Area by following the adventures of our most recent New York City transplant.  If an issue of Daredevil features any notable landmarks I’ll pull them out and provide some context for readers unfamiliar with this region of the country.

In the unlikely event that Waid or Samnee stumble across this website I want to mention that I have no interest in nitpicking inconsistencies with reality. I respect the prerogative of the artist and writer to bend facts and visuals for the purpose of storytelling. Also, I know Daredevil’s a character in a funny book.

A Daredevil Tour of the Bay Area: Issue 1

The issue starts at a San Francisco police station where Matt Murdock is lending his unique set of highly tuned senses to the search for a missing child. He puzzles together enough clues for one of the officers to conclude that the girl may be in the old Naval Yard on San Francisco’s Treasure Island. Matt believes she may be in a bowling alley on the island.

Daredevil Issue 1: Treasure Island reference

Daredevil Issue 1: Treasure Island reference

First Stop: Treasure Island Naval Yard

Treasure Island is a man-made land mass in the San Francisco Bay. The landmass is named for Treasure Island author Robert Louis Stevenson who briefly lived in San Francisco from 1879-80. It was built in the 30s as a federal Works Progress Administration project to provide a place to host the 1939 World’s Fair. The island became a Naval Base during World War II until it was closed in 1997. In 2008 the federal government sold Treasure Island to the city of San Francisco. Since that time there’s been a great deal of controversy over radiation levels and whether or not the island should have been opened for residential use.

(This is at least the second mention of Treasure Island in a comic book since August of last year. In Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman‘s Station-to-Station a secret lab there creates dinosaurs, laser guns, and a massive tentacle monster.)

And, yes, as Matt Murdock learns, there is an abandoned bowling alley on the naval base grounds.
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Daredevil swings through North Beach

By on March 11, 2014 in Comics by the Bay

In advance of the first issue of Daredevil’s new series, which will see the horned hero in San Francisco, Marvel Comics and Wizard World have released a sneak peak at a variant cover that will be made available for VIP attendees of Wizard World Louisville Comic Con. The cover by illustrator Michael Golden gives fans a first taste of Daredevil with recognizable San Francisco landmarks. The cover shows Daredevil swinging to action in front of the 105-year-old Columbus Tower (also known as the Sentinel Building) and the Transamerica Pyramid. The Transamerica Pyramid, which is the tallest building in San Francisco at 853-feet, had only recently completed construction when Matt Murdock last visited the Bay Area in 1972. Around that same time Francis Ford Coppola purchased and renovated Columbus Tower and it currently houses his American Zoetrope studios. The variant cover is below.

Daredevil Columbus Tower Large

The first issue of Daredevil Volume 4 hits shelves on March 19.

Daredevil will return to San Francisco! Let’s hope it goes better than last time.

By on November 27, 2013 in Comics by the Bay

In March, Mark Waid and Chris Samnee will move Daredevil from New York City to start a new life in San Francisco.

This will be Daredevil’s second attempt at adapting to life in the Bay Area. He last moved to San Francisco in 1972 while somewhat obsessively crushing on Black Widow. They lived together in a mansion Black Widow rented for a year using the last of her inheritance. (This is in 1972 dollars, so her inheritance would likely only secure her a month’s rent in San Francisco’s current rental market.)

Electro in ChinatownDaredevil’s arrival in San Francisco is well timed as it happens to be the same month Electro decided to move to the Bay Area “to get away from that creep Spider-Man.” Never one to be idle, Electro decides to use his opportunity in a city “uneducated in the matters of supervillainy” for “the total annihilation of San Francisco’s will to resist.” Much to his shock, Electro is defeated by Daredevil and San Francisco’s will is preserved. Imagine what would have happened if Daredevil hadn’t coincidentally moved to San Francisco at the same time as Electro! He might have broken the will of San Francisco, but he could have fulfilled the city’s dream of being powered 100 percent by clean energy (assuming being powered by Electro is considered “clean”).

Living in the Bay Area quickly becomes a frustrating experience. San Francisco’s media proves to be much less dense than New York City’s. In issue 92 a television reporter notes Daredevil and Black Widow showed up at the same time as “a certain trial lawyer known for his connection with that same infamous lady.” The reporter concludes that Murdock and Daredevil are one and the same.

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Sadly that reporter never has the opportunity to see a Pulitzer for being the first ever to put facts together and figure out a superhero alias. To save his identity, Murdock asks T’Challa to fly from New York City to San Francisco, put on the Daredevil costume, and appear with him at a news conference. He explains to the reporters that Daredevil used to be his brother Mike (who was really Matt), who died, but before his death asked a new Daredevil to watch over his blind sibling. Therefore, this new Daredevil followed Murdock all the way from New York City to San Francisco and teamed up with Black Widow. Everyone buys it.

All of this should have fallen apart when Peter Parker, on assignment from the Daily Bugle, shows up to interview Daredevil and Black Widow. As Spider-Man he tails them to the Widow Mansion, changes into his civilian clothes, and knocks on the door. Conveniently, Matt Murdock apparently enjoys spending his leisure time in his Daredevil costume, because he’s still in hero gear when Parker is let in the mansion for his unannounced interview.  The interview is interrupted by the villain Ram Rod and, of course, Spider-Man appears to lend an assist. Black Widow and Daredevil are confused when Spider-Man “pops up out of nowhere to help us than just swings away into the sunset.” Parker appears moments after Spidey swings away and the heroes never connect the two.

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