The above title was the heading of a recent news announcement on the official Elvis website, Elvis.com.
The announcement heralded a new oversized coffee-table book called Graphic Elvis, a collaboration between EPE and Liquid Comics. Elvis? love of comic book superheroes is credited as the inspiration for the Graphic Elvis. As a teenager, Elvis was a huge fan of Captain Marvel Jr., who influenced his hairstyle, his TCB lightning logo, and his colorful jumpsuits and capes.
On the tour through Elvis? boyhood home at Lauderdale Courts, a Captain Marvel Jr. comic book is visible on the nightstand in his bedroom. Graphic Elvis features original artwork by leading international graphic artists and is praised as an homage to Elvis? lifelong appreciation of comic books.
The press release also quoted part of Elvis? acceptance speech at the ?Ten Outstanding Young Men? in 1971:
?When I was a child, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was the hero??
I think Graphic Elvis will be a terrific book, and I would love to have one, but I vowed years ago not to buy any more Elvis stuff. The book is priced at $195, which may put it out of reach for many fans. However, it will have a limited printing of just 2,500 copies, so I?m sure it will sell out. Graphic Elvis is available by mail-order here, and it will ship in time for Christmas. According to Elvis.com/news, if you buy before the end of August, you can use the discount code ELVIS FANS and get a $50 discount. Graphic Elvis will also be in stores by early April 2012.
Some of the artwork has been included in the media reports. Let?s look at a few. The triple Elvis drawing above is good work, but all three images show him in familiar attire. I?m not sure about the relevance to comic book superheroes.
Artwork by Mukesh Singh for Liquid Comics
This image is really clever. You see young Elvis sitting on the floor surrounded by comic books. Then a swirling vortex of comics rises above him and morphs into some kind of Arabian Nights hero.
Artwork by Jeevan J Kang for Liquid Comics
The next two images certainly capture the essence of Elvis in all his jumpsuit splendor. The one on the right could possibly be a caped crusader ready to leap into action, but the one on the left appears to simply be Elvis performing on stage.
Artwork by Mukesh Singh for Liquid Comics
This one is my favorite. Look closely and you can make out young Elvis playing guitar at the bottom. His superhero powers must be in all those tentacle-like things coming out of the guitar. The press release did not give the titles of these pictures, and I can?t imagine what they will call this, either. One thing for sure, if any bad guys try to mess with this Elvis, they will be asking for trouble.
After seeing the sneak preview of some of the images from Graphic Elvis, I wondered what else is out on the internet that portrays Elvis as a comic book superhero. Here are a some good ones.
TCB Man
Stone Cold Elvis
The Winged Avenger
The Masked E-Man
Fluid Man
Undead Elvis
Squiggle-E
Elvis Klingon Master (and his cute sidekick)
Rock Star Android (with very large sock stuffed in his pants)
In fairness to Graphic Elvis, it gives a modern generation of artists a chance to create works inspired by Elvis? music, his personal and public appearances, and the many reflections on life that he jotted down in books. So, the artwork will cover a lot more than comic book heroes.
Maybe EPE could put together a smaller, cheaper book of just superhero-inspired Elvis art. I might have to break my vow and buy that one.
� 2011 Philip R Arnold, Original Elvis Blogmeister All Rights Reserved www.ElvisBlog.net
Elvis, Elvis Presley, and Graceland are registered trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.
Source: http://www.elvisblog.net/blog/_archives/2011/7/30/4868666.html
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