Friday, February 01, 2008

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned Jeph Loeb on here before, but for those without the nerd-leanings, Loeb is a pretty successful comic book writer (he, along with frequent collaborator Tim Sale, have written some of the best adaptations of popular characters ever, specifically the 3 or 4 Batman books they did), movie writer (Teen Wolves 1 and Too!, Commando*!) and TV writer/producer (Lost, which he left to help start Heroes), and all around man about LA.
Make no mistake, Jeph Loeb is a giant nerd, and hearing interviews with him convinces me that he's a bit of an obsessive weirdo, but in a fun sort of way. He displays a lot of common sense, at least for a guy whose career has spanned across several entertainment mediums.
Anyway, Jeph lost his son Sam to Cancer in June of 2005. Sam was by all accounts a good kid, and clearly affected a lot of people. The eulogy his father gave for him was famously given again for Captain America last year, and it's truly one of the most touching things I've ever read. Even in the context of being for a fictional character with wings on the side of his head (no, not Hermes, you asshole).
I was flipping through an old stack of books getting ready to throw them out the other day and came across one that Sam had plotted, and 26 of the most talented people to ever work in the (or any) industry scripted and drew in tribute to him. It's really a testament. But what I completely forgot about was the story attached, that was done by the incredible creative team of Loeb/Sale that I mentioned above. It's pretty bare bones; six pages and B&W, but still incredible moving. It puts Sam in the fictional DC Universe, as a childhood friend of Clark Kent.
It's an astounding piece of work, and it hits me like a sucker punch to the chest. You can read details about it here, and I'm going to post to all six pages below. Don't read it if you don't want to, but it's really not something you have to be into comics to get and to be moved by. It will take 4 minutes of your time and is worth it.
and it won't turn you into a sweaty nerd, I promise.
Anyway, thanks to the sweaty nerds at Newsarama for leaving it up long enough for me to link to them. If the pages are too large on your screen to read, try clicking the actual pages in the link above.

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6

*I have to figure out a better footnote system, but I recently found out that the original plot for Commando involved an ex-Mossad agent and was written with Gene Simmons in mind. Just think about that for a second and imagine a power-mad Gene Simmons hurling a heating pipe through someone's chest cavity.

No comments: