With a Superhero Walking Tour of Manhattan scheduled for 2pm, we had a little time on our hands. So we took the opportunity to sleep in (after our big night in Brooklyn) and set off close to midday.
Our first stop was Forbidden Planet, the comic book/pop culture chain store which is always a fun place to go no matter which major city you are in the world. After purchasing some comics and paraphernalia, we had lunch and headed for Fifth Avenue, home of the Empire State Building.
We were told to meet our guide at another comic store called Jim Hanley's Universe and no more than five minutes later we were met by our tour guide Paul (I can't remember his last name). He said he used to work for DC Comics in the 1970s and that he would take us through the history of comics and their link to New York City. After meeting up with the rest of the group, we were off into the streets of Manhattan.
(View from the Observatory of the Empire State Building)
First of all we were quickly shown the Flatiron Building. This building is well known as a location used in numerous films (at least for establishing shots of NYC) but the comic book connection is from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man where this building was used as the Daily Bugle.
Also, it holds the offices of The Boys in their comic book series.
The brown building (with the advertisement down the side), used to contain the offices of Will Eisner and Bob Kane. Paul (who used to work for Eisner) tells the story of how the The Spirit creator took in a young Bob Kane and regretted the decision to take any royalties from his protege's new creation, The Bat-Man.
This is the MetLife building, a famous New York skyscraper. This building was used as Stark Tower in The Avengers. The filmmakers simply replaced the building with theirs, using its position in the skyline. Speaking of The Avengers...
This is the bridge outside Grand Central Station. This is where the finale of The Avengers film took place. Those pink umbrellas belong to the cafe nearby that characters from the film used to take shelter from the alien attack. And as you can see the MetLife/Stark Building overlooks this area. Our tour guide Paul told us that when he brought a tour through here last September they watched some of the finale being filmed and showed us footage he shot of Chris Evans, in full Captain America costume, leaping over cars while explosions were going off. It was pretty awesome!
Next stop was the Chrysler Building which is probably my favourite building in Manhattan. I love that Art Deco design!
This is actually the Chrysler Building reflected in the glass of the building across the street.
This building was used in the original Spider-Man films as Normon Osborne's penthouse apartment.
The next stop was something I was very much looking forward to.
The Daily News building, as seen in the original Superman as it was used as the Daily Planet.
Our final stop was a bar called The Overlook. This is where comics artists used to come for years to unwind after a long day. To blow off steam, they would draw on the walls...
Sergio Aragones.
Gil Kane
Jim Henson.
At this point, Paul left us to our own devices. We stayed at the Overlook, had a few drinks with the staff and a couple who we met on the tour, Audra and Rob, who were from Connecticut. It was a lot of fun! If you ever get to NYC, go to the Overlook.
After the tour we decided to go to the cinema.
First things first, we went out to dinner at The Meatball Shop, a restaurant that serves only a variety of meatballs in different ways. It was delicious!
Then it was off to see the new film Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Here's the trailer:
Beasts of the Southern Wild is a stunningly photographed and amazingly acted drama which should be seen, not only for the gripping drama and glorious visuals but for the young girl at the centre of the story, Hushpuppy, astonishingly played by Quvenzhané Wallis.
Well that wraps up Day Two.
NEXT TIME: Top of the Rock, MOMA, and kung fu.
No comments:
Post a Comment