Ian Fischer Gets “Comic Booked” On Superhero Nation

It was earlier this month that I had the delight of calling the wonderful concept that is Ian Fischer’s Superhero Nation to your great attention.

Since then, I have had the privilege of corresponding with the man himself and have returned to bring you all further with me into the mind and heart of the progressing documentary, Superhero Nation.

Without further ado, I present you all with my enjoyable correspondence with Superhero Nation’s pilot and visionary, Ian Fischer.

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N: Hello Ian, thank you so much for “meeting” with me. I loved writing on you.

IF: Hi Nicole, great meeting you. I love Comic Booked and it is a pleasure to chat with you.

And thank you so much for the kind words on Superhero Nation! It’s been a tough shoot, but I have been learning a lot about why Superheroes are so popular in America and what it says about our culture.

N: It all sounds really amazing. Are there any Superheroes you relate to personally?

IF: Growing up, I was a huge Superman fan. He was the first superhero I was exposed to through comics and the fantastic cartoons and George Reeves show. A funny story: When I was in Nursery school, my mom sewed me up a Superman cape that I would wear all the time. Finally, the school told my mom that I couldn’t wear it because they were concerned that I would accidentally hang myself.

In my teens, my interests changed and I gravitated to darker characters like Nexus. His suffering really spoke to me while I went through those depressing teen years. In fact, I was such a fan of Nexus that I named my dog Horatio after the main character. It’s funny that all of these years later, I’m working with Nexus Co-creator/artist Steve Rude on my first feature documentary, Rude Dude and co-writing a horror/biker script with Nexus Co-creator/writer Mike Baron.

N: That is a funny story, and that is some great company you have helping you out with your amazing dream here. What’s that like? Working with men you admire?

IF: It is an amazing experience getting to know Dude and Baron and befriending them. I tell Dude that I’m having the best time making an art film on my favorite artist. And writing a script with MIKE BARON, of all people, a guy whose name alone would get me to buy a comic if I saw it on the stands is surreal. I’m still pinching myself that I get to work with the Nexus creators.

But it has been with Superhero Nation that I have met some of the most amazing people (both in comics, film, video game, and other fields). It has truly been an honor interviewing the captains of their respective industries and hearing their thoughts on why Superheroes are so popular in America. And what it says about us as a culture. Plus, it is fun just geeking out at being able to pick the brains of my heroes.

N: Of course. So then, who is your target audience for a feature like
this? Or more specifically, why take something like this and make it a full length documentary? What do you hope to achieve from it on a grand scale?

FI: My target audience is my parents. People who haven;t picked up a comic book in 40 years. While I’m a comic book fan/geek, this film is for the rest of America to explain why this is such an important pop culture phenomenon. I personally hate films only targeted to fans (I’ve seen them all) because I think this is a much wider/important question than one for just the fans. I’m a fan and I’m fascinated about how the popularity of comics and superheroes has changed over the years. I see this as a real change in American culture. Back in the 90′s I was embarrassed to bring a girlfriend to a comic store. Now, women think it is cool!

On a grand scale, I hope to examine America buy using superheroes as my lens. I’m a fan but not making a fan film. I think the popularity of Superheroes is something important to examine (especially in America) and I hope my journey to figure it out can shed some kind of truth to people who walk by a Batman poster and go “Huh.”

N: Very interesting, a unique approach to be sure. I like it. So, I guess my final and most important question is how long before we can expect to see a project like this coming to our front doors nationwide?

IF: I’m in the edit room with Rude Dude (the Steve Rude documentary) for the next few months while I continue to shoot Superhero Nation. I am hoping to be done with Superhero Nation before the end of 2011. As soon as I finish it, I will hit the film festival circuit (which is where I’ve been for the past four years) and see about screening portions of the film at San Diego Comic Con (like the Grant Morrison documentary filmmakers did) and bring in some special guests. During this time, my aim is to get the film broadcast on cable or on the various streaming VOD companies (Netflix, Amazon, etc).

Unfortunately, so few documentaries make it to theatrical.

For anyone interested in following the film’s progress, there is a page on facebook.

I am going to be setting up a website for the film and a fundraiser on Indiegogo to help me finish the film. All funds will be used to help me continue to rent equipment to continue to shoot and help me with the legalities involved in making a film about our favorite characters. I’ll put various perks up for anyone who wants to help with the film including a special thanks in the film. Documentaries are labors of love and filmmakers make them not because they necessarily want to, but because they have to.

And I HAD to explore my own fascination with superheroes and what it says about me, as an American.

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Well, there you have it fellow Superhero Fans. All in all, Superhero Nation is a fascinating concept that I greatly look forward to watching progress from Dream to Screen.

As for the visionary behind it, Ian Fischer has proven himself to be just the sort of All-American Comic Loving Patriot that both sides of our great Nation can definitely get behind. – N

Tags: Documentary, Ian Fischer, Movies & Television, Superhero Nation

About the Author

Written by Nicole Sixx

I'm a writer who loves to entertain and be entertained. My motto for life is the geekier the better!

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