superheroes

Ever feel like the modern superhero seems a little too gaudy in its presentation?

Marko Manev, a 27-year old freelance artist in Macedonia, drew up a series of images that cast superheroes in a new (or perhaps visually more simple) light: noir style. Manev told Crave he found inspiration for the series from the video game Limbo, a puzzler full of black and white aesthetics and eerie overtones. … Read more

Everett Downing knows a thing or two about drawing. After all, he's a story artist for Pixar, and has worked on such classics as "Up," "Wall-E," and other major films.

Given how much drawing he does during work hours, it might surprise you that one of Downing's hobbies is even more drawing. Several years ago, Downing created a blog called 365 Supers, a site that would eventually house hundreds of his original superheroes. The goal? Overcome a creative rut, and have a little fun in the process. We took a moment to highlight a few of Downing's heroes (and heroines) for your pleasure.… Read more

Kids at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis got a Spidey-size surprise last week when they spotted none other than Spider-Man rappelling down the side of the building, with Captain America in hot pursuit.

The superhero sighting came courtesy of a few real-life superheroes -- employees of the commercial window cleaning company American National Skyline who wanted to do something nice for the young patients. Rosetta Ford, an administrative assistant in the hospital's environmental-services department, suggested costumes, so Steve Oszaniec, his son Danny Oszaniec, and Jordan Emerson suited up superhero-style, secured themselves in their window-washing safety harnesses, and started their slide down the 12-story building. … Read more

A Canadian comic book publisher is taking a biographical twist with its latest releases. Instead of caped crusaders and Web-slinging avengers, the focus is on tech pioneers like Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Steve Jobs.

Bluewater Production comics has already seen success with comic books about pop culture icons like Lady Gaga and Betty White. Writers and illustrators say the stories of these technology mavericks play out in many ways like a typical comic story, the heroes are just real people overcoming the odds with super human qualities we all admire.

But there is a real difference between penciling a … Read more

Some superheroes are born. Some are made. Some are made from a whole lot of money. We already know being Batman comes with a $2.8 million price tag for crime-fighting gear. Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man, would have to invest $1.6 billion for his fancy contraptions.

MoneySupermarket.com released an infographic estimating the cost of being Iron Man. The Arc reactor that keeps Iron Man alive and powers the suit would cost $36 million. The wrist-mounted anti-tank missile launchers would cost at least $1.5 million.… Read more

Avengers fans will soon be able to grab the popular movie on Blu-ray and DVD at Target stores, with a little bonus added to the action.

Starting September 25, the retail outlet will be selling the blockbuster film for $32.99. For that you get both the Blu-ray and DVD edition in one single package.

But Target is throwing in a bonus disc called "Building a Dream: Assembling the Avengers." The extra 90-minutes of footage will show how the original Iron Man, Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America films were developed, forging the array of mighty … Read more

Stern Pinball has officially started churning out the X-Men pinball game it hinted at back in June.

The machine comes in three different flavors. The base model is the X-Men Pro ($5,699) and includes a backglass graphic with all the X-Men mutants crammed together in an explosion of awesome.

Then you have the two X-Men Limited Edition machines ($7,999) which include a few extra playfield options, such as a motorized "Ice Slide" ramp, pop-up Night Crawlers, color-changing LEDs, and a magnetic spinning disc that basically rules. The two versions of this machine include an edition with … Read more

Sometimes you're a superhero. You want the world to know it, so naturally you want the world to know it while you're out jogging. No problem. Etsy seller Helen McCarty has you covered.

McCarty's Etsy shop is called This PrincessRuns. It's full of princess and superhero costumes made of moisture-wicking athletic fabric designed to get you through those long, sweaty marathons in style.… Read more

Take a look at this eccentric array of action figure lamps by U.K. firm Evil Robot Designs. They feature painted pint-size superstars from geeky films, video games, and comic books.

Each of the six lamps in the collection has an ear-catching name like Alien Nation and Forbidden Planet. It would take paragraphs to list all the characters integrated into the 2-foot fixtures, but some notables (not mentioned in the photo captions) include Mysterio; Green Goblin; evil xenomorphs from the "Alien" movie series; He-Man; Bunnygirl "Suzumiya Haruhi"; and many more. … Read more