Posted: Sat May 09, 2020 1:07 am
Kernie's Weekly Cover Update #11: The Superman Film Series!
[Click image to view in gallery]
I'm sure some of you are probably wondering, "Why are you wasting your time revising old covers when you could be adding new ones?!" I ask myself the same question. There's a few reasons...
1. On an aesthetic level, I just don't like the old ones anymore. They were made over 10 years ago and at a time when I was just trying to crank out as many covers as I could because I had the entire back catalogue of Comic Book movies to do. I slapped poster art and title treatments into the template and called it a day. I've learned a lot since those days and I can do better now. As someone who hates the changes George Lucas made to the original Star Wars trilogy, I realize the irony that I'm doing the exact same thing he did... except with a much smaller audience.
2. Over the years, my covers have been stolen, ripped apart, and re-posted to other cover sites. I've seen my covers (or pieces of them) pop up all over the place... in YouTube videos, articles, and even a Blockbuster advertisement! I know they're out there and I can't do much about that. By offering these new versions, I can at least bring a little bit of exclusivity back to HiResCovers.net and provide something that you can't find elsewhere... or at least until one of you goobers steals it and uploads it somewhere without my consent!
3. Updated versions of these films are being released, either in new Blu-ray editions or a 4K UHD upgrade. Personally, I just couldn't tolerate pasting a 4K logo and specs onto a 10+ year old cover that I was no longer happy with in the first place. I figured if I was making a new 4K version, might as well give the whole thing a facelift! At the moment, only a few of these have been released on 4K to my knowledge (Superman: The Movie, Man of Steel, and BvS), but I've done 4K editions for all of them anyway, just in case they do get an official 4K release!
So that brings us to what I have to share today... all of the films in the Superman film series (at least from the 1978 Christopher Reeve version forward), including the Richard Donner cut of Superman II, the Supergirl spin-off and the semi-sequel-reboot Superman Returns.
These were a particular challenge because finding high-resolution photography from 30-40 years ago was quite difficult. I also re-painted every character on every cover using gradient maps, including the more recent films. Finding suitable images and then restoring them, while keeping a consistent layout across all designs took quite a bit of time.
The title treatments are all custom as well. I was having trouble matching the hand-drawn 3D perspective of the old 1978 Superman title in a virtual 3D environment, so I kept the font but put my own spin on it. The Superman S-symbol also got a custom upgrade as well.
In addition, I wanted to make my own keyart for Man of Steel. It was never right that I used another piece of fan art for my original cover. I was younger and dumber at the time and I should have known better. Surprisingly, there wasn't a lot of great promo material available for Man of Steel, despite how relatively recent it is. Getting a decent image of Amy Adams' Lois and removing some of the blur and colorization filters from Russell Crowe's Jor-El were a task in itself.
Since I was on a roll and in the interest of consistency, I threw in a revised version and 4K upgrade of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice for good measure. I'll probably do a few slight tweaks to a few other DCEU films when I get around to their 4K updates, but I'm tired now and I'll save that for another time!
Okay, enough rambling, here are this week's updates!
Superman (1978) - 4K Ultra HD Edition
Superman (1978) - Blu-ray Edition
Superman (1978) - DVD Edition
Superman II (1980) - 4K Ultra HD Edition
Superman II (1980) - Blu-ray Edition
Superman II (1980) - DVD Edition
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980) - 4K Ultra HD Edition
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980) - Blu-ray Edition
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980) - DVD Edition
Superman III (1983) - 4K Ultra HD Edition
Superman III (1983) - Blu-ray Edition
Superman III (1983) - DVD Edition
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) - 4K Ultra HD Edition
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) - Blu-ray Edition
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) - DVD Edition
To be continued...
[Click image to view in gallery]
I'm sure some of you are probably wondering, "Why are you wasting your time revising old covers when you could be adding new ones?!" I ask myself the same question. There's a few reasons...
1. On an aesthetic level, I just don't like the old ones anymore. They were made over 10 years ago and at a time when I was just trying to crank out as many covers as I could because I had the entire back catalogue of Comic Book movies to do. I slapped poster art and title treatments into the template and called it a day. I've learned a lot since those days and I can do better now. As someone who hates the changes George Lucas made to the original Star Wars trilogy, I realize the irony that I'm doing the exact same thing he did... except with a much smaller audience.
2. Over the years, my covers have been stolen, ripped apart, and re-posted to other cover sites. I've seen my covers (or pieces of them) pop up all over the place... in YouTube videos, articles, and even a Blockbuster advertisement! I know they're out there and I can't do much about that. By offering these new versions, I can at least bring a little bit of exclusivity back to HiResCovers.net and provide something that you can't find elsewhere... or at least until one of you goobers steals it and uploads it somewhere without my consent!
3. Updated versions of these films are being released, either in new Blu-ray editions or a 4K UHD upgrade. Personally, I just couldn't tolerate pasting a 4K logo and specs onto a 10+ year old cover that I was no longer happy with in the first place. I figured if I was making a new 4K version, might as well give the whole thing a facelift! At the moment, only a few of these have been released on 4K to my knowledge (Superman: The Movie, Man of Steel, and BvS), but I've done 4K editions for all of them anyway, just in case they do get an official 4K release!
So that brings us to what I have to share today... all of the films in the Superman film series (at least from the 1978 Christopher Reeve version forward), including the Richard Donner cut of Superman II, the Supergirl spin-off and the semi-sequel-reboot Superman Returns.
These were a particular challenge because finding high-resolution photography from 30-40 years ago was quite difficult. I also re-painted every character on every cover using gradient maps, including the more recent films. Finding suitable images and then restoring them, while keeping a consistent layout across all designs took quite a bit of time.
The title treatments are all custom as well. I was having trouble matching the hand-drawn 3D perspective of the old 1978 Superman title in a virtual 3D environment, so I kept the font but put my own spin on it. The Superman S-symbol also got a custom upgrade as well.
In addition, I wanted to make my own keyart for Man of Steel. It was never right that I used another piece of fan art for my original cover. I was younger and dumber at the time and I should have known better. Surprisingly, there wasn't a lot of great promo material available for Man of Steel, despite how relatively recent it is. Getting a decent image of Amy Adams' Lois and removing some of the blur and colorization filters from Russell Crowe's Jor-El were a task in itself.
Since I was on a roll and in the interest of consistency, I threw in a revised version and 4K upgrade of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice for good measure. I'll probably do a few slight tweaks to a few other DCEU films when I get around to their 4K updates, but I'm tired now and I'll save that for another time!
Okay, enough rambling, here are this week's updates!
Superman (1978) - 4K Ultra HD Edition
Superman (1978) - Blu-ray Edition
Superman (1978) - DVD Edition
Superman II (1980) - 4K Ultra HD Edition
Superman II (1980) - Blu-ray Edition
Superman II (1980) - DVD Edition
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980) - 4K Ultra HD Edition
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980) - Blu-ray Edition
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980) - DVD Edition
Superman III (1983) - 4K Ultra HD Edition
Superman III (1983) - Blu-ray Edition
Superman III (1983) - DVD Edition
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) - 4K Ultra HD Edition
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) - Blu-ray Edition
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) - DVD Edition
To be continued...
the first version was great but this...... is TRULY AMAZING