I don't know where to put this, so I put a copy in Apparel because it has to do with Lynda Carter's costume at The Met, but also here because it's sort of a recap of my visit to DC Comics offices and studios, too!
I spent Monday 8/4 in New York City celebrating my friend's birthday and it turned out to be quite a "DC" themed day! I wanted to share a couple of the highlights of the day with everyone here:
At 10:00am I took a (pre-scheduled) private tour of the
Superheroes Fashion & Fantasy exhibit at The Met, graciously offered by one of the The Met's Press Officers. Since the museum was closed, she allowed me to take a bunch of photos of Lynda Carter's costume on display - this is usually not allowed during normal hours! I will be formatting them and putting them on ETW this week, but here is a teaser of me with the costume:
I got some amazing close-ups of the costume from all angles! I also enjoyed the chance to seeing the screen-worn costumes from Dark Knight, Iron Man, Spiderman, Superman, Batman Returns (Catwoman) and X-Men (Mystique) along with the couture fashions inspired by the costumes. It was amazing!
During a visit to Midtown Comics on Lexington Avenue, I scored all the new NECA Wonder Woman collectibles including the mini-clock and flashlight keychain. I also picked up a Wonder Woman mousepad, sweatband, leather cuff, rubber bracelet, 2 "logo" necklaces and a keychain. Just miscellaneous licensed stuff I had not added to my collection yet.
At 2:30pm, I walked into 1700 Broadway where I received a generous (pre-scheduled) tour of the DC Comics offices and studios! I met everyone and saw all the cool behind the scenes action. No photography was allowed in the offices/studios and the photos I took of the public areas, I have been asked to just keep for myself and not share online.
What I can tell you is that they have 5 floors...the lobby of the 3rd floor is set-up like a rooftop in Gotham City - complete with the illumated Bat-signal, air ducts, exposed brick, (decorative) warehouse-style windows and a black ceiling! The 4th Floor is dedicated to MAD Magazine with some legal and financial offices. The 5th and 6th floors are creative (artists, creative directors, etc) and some financial. The lobby of the 7th floor (executive offices) is set-up like Metropolis complete with a life-size Superman flying out of a telephone booth, "authentic" kryptonite under glass and a Daily Planet "globe" reception desk! They have these awesome red, yellow and blue leather club chairs in the waiting area! The conference rooms feature red and blue leather chairs and have a star-pattern on the carpet! The Executive Conference room on the 7th floor has a life-size Clark Kent sitting in a side chair and talking on the phone, taking notes in a spiral notepad. Above him are original
Batman: The Animates Series production cells and character designs.
While on the tour, I got to meet DC Comics' President & CEO, Paul Levitz (and spend a few minutes in his amazing office overlooking Broadway and - down a few blocks - Times Square). I was also honored to meet some of the legal team, a few of the licensing people, production artists, and a host of others that work tirelessly to make our favorite comics and products!
In the art studio, I was shown some original comic art that had just been inked and was ready to be scanned, and met one of the many uncredited production artists who was digitally "fixing" some of the inked panels for an upcoming issue.
There is a ton of great original (and reproduced) artwork as well as memorabilia scattered all over the 5 floors as well as in people's offices and cubicles - the licensing folks have loads of amazing figures, toys, statues and more! In Paul Levitz's office I think I spotted the paint master of the Warner Brothers Studio Store WW Figurine because it had a gold-leafed lasso and the paint was much more bright and detailed than the production pieces! It was on the top shelf of a full wall bookcase system that seemed to have every collected edition, figurine, statue and book DC has released! He also has an awesome HUGE Batman wall-hanging behind his desk - kind of like a latch-hook but more like a throw rug - not sure exactly how to describe it. I also got a sneak peek at the packaging and production sample of the upcoming JLA Build-A-Scene statue featuring Batman and Wonder Woman! I think it was there for Paul to sign-off on or something.
It was really neat to see original movie props (Christian Bale's Batman Begins costume, Dr. Freeze's "freeze ray", Dark Knight Joker henchmen masks, etc), head molds from the Batman movies (George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris O'Donnel) prototypes, rare products, licensed products - and catch a glimpse of some of the upcoming licenses that are still "in development". Can't say any more than that, so don't ask! :)
I also got a little back-story from the licencing team about why they always defer to the Bronze-Age or Super Friends style guides for mass-retailer product designs. It is because they want to appeal to the widest possible audience and those versions seem to be how most consumers know the heroes. Hey, I love the Alex Toth Super Friends designs and any art by Garcia-Lopez, so that is fine by me! Only collectors and comic fans respond to more current or artist-specific representations which is why those products are only designed and released by DC Direct in a much more limited series.
Well, I'm exhausted from the day and may have more anecdotes later, but for now that's all I can think of. Special thanks to both The Met and DC Comics allowing me the opportunity to enjoy these once in a lifetime "experiences" during my day trip to NYC!
It certainy has made all the time, effort and money I have put into building my Wonder Woman collection and developing a fansite and online museum well worth it!
