From top to bottom:
Lady Liberty as bygone relic
• The classic August-September 1953 cover of SF pulp Fantastic Universe by Alex Schomberg, widely considered to be the inspiration for...
• The chilling closing shot of the original Planet of the Apes (1968), both of which in turn likely prompted...
• Jack Kirby's cover for the premiere issue of his DC comic Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth (1972)
Lady Liberty bothered, beheaded and bowled over
• The poster image for John Carpenter's Escape From New York (1981), the acknowledged inspiration for...
• The notorious Cloverfield teaser (2007)
• And of course, between beheadings she was memorably knocked face-down into the muck of New York harbor by interplanetary hooligans in the Emmerichs' other New York smackdown, Independence Day (1996)
How to treat a Lady
• Thankfully, though, director Ivan Reitman demonstrated a little old-school gallantry, showing the Lady some respect and letting her stand tall in Ghostbusters II (1989). He even gave her a police escort!
(Why do I heart Bright Lights After Dark? Is it because of their snark-free love affair with all things movie? Is it because of their breezy and insightful perspective on the broader pop culture landscape? Because they clearly champion black and white film as a legitimate artistic medium with a long and rich legacy? All of the above— but right now I love them for kicking my ass into gear and inspiring my first post for 2008. Thanks for the push, folks!)
3 comments:
Thank you on behalf of Bright Lights After Dark for the kind words.
The Jack Kirby cover gave me a pleasant twinge of nostalgia, and I had no idea the Liberty/Apocalypse association could be traced all the way back to Alex Schomberg (unless someone knows of an even earlier example).
Wow, Mark - that's a great round-up! I've read plenty of old SF from the pulps but hadn't seen these particular examples. Now I'm intrigued - what was the earliest example anyone can dig up?
cjk, gary—I'm sure there are earlier examples, since urban catastrophe seems to be one of pulp culture's oldest images. There are loads of examples on covers, in comics and in film of Manhattan and its landmarks going kablooey. Hmm... material enough for a followup post...
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