Silverblade
Encyclopedia
Silverblade is a supernatural fantasy
comic book
limited series
, published in the United States by DC Comics
in 1987. The maxi-series ran for twelve issues. The book was written by Cary Bates
with the art drawn by Gene Colan
; it was edited by Dennis O'Neil
. Silverblade was published in DC Comics' deluxe format.
-type adventure story. Unfortunately Lord had become typecast
as a swashbuckler and grew too old to play such roles.
He lives alone in a mansion, with only his butler
and majordomo for company. The butler, a former child actor named Bobby Milestone, is the Silverblade series' first person
narrator
.
Milestone recounts how the mansion used to be a happier place, before the movie deals dried up, Lord's various marriages failed, and the actor became a bitter old recluse. He says of Lord, "He was my hero once, a thousand reels ago. Once he was even my friend."
One day the butler is on a shopping trip when he sees and buys a Maltese Falcon
-like statue of a bird. Milestone takes the statue home hoping to make the statue part of a decorative exhibit he is building to cheer up the atmosphere at the mansion, but Lord complains about the exhibit as well. Tired of his boss's constant complaints, Milestone flies into a rage and storms out of the house.
Shortly afterwards, Milestone is kidnapped by someone from his own past with a grudge against him. The kidnapper blames Milestone for a career-ruining injury he suffered during a movie stunt and now plans to kill him.
Jonathan Lord is left alone in the mansion when the bird statue suddenly comes to life, telling Lord he will restore him to what the star once was. Lord is immediately enveloped by a magical plume of flame. Bobby Milestone is later rescued from his kidnapper by a man who appears to be a younger Jonathan Lord, the age at which he appeared in the film Silverblade. Milestone passes out and reawakens in the mansion, where he sees it is indeed Lord, wearing his costume from Silverblade and appearing fifty years younger. Lord has been given the power to transform into any character he portrayed on film, effectively turning him into a real-life superhero.
The series had little end blurbs similar to what appeared in the Watchmen series giving the reader greater background about Jonathan Lord and the world he lived in than was provided in the main body of the comic.
#4, which features a movie theatre which is showing Silver Blade II, and 52
#22 which has an advertisement on the back window of a bus promoting Silverblade Returns - due for release 10.13.06.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
, published in the United States by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
in 1987. The maxi-series ran for twelve issues. The book was written by Cary Bates
Cary Bates
Cary Bates is an American comic book, animation television and film writer.-Biography:Bates began submitting ideas for comic book covers to DC Comics at the age of 13, and a number of them were bought and published, the first as the cover to Superman #167...
with the art drawn by Gene Colan
Gene Colan
Eugene Jules "Gene" Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series, Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series...
; it was edited by Dennis O'Neil
Dennis O'Neil
Dennis J. "Denny" O'Neil is an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of books until his retirement....
. Silverblade was published in DC Comics' deluxe format.
Synopsis
The series centers on a fictional has-been movie star named Jonathan Lord. He had a career playing a wide variety of swashbucklers and other fantasy roles during Hollywood's golden age, his greatest being in the film Silverblade, an Errol FlynnErrol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
-type adventure story. Unfortunately Lord had become typecast
Typecasting (acting)
In TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
as a swashbuckler and grew too old to play such roles.
He lives alone in a mansion, with only his butler
Butler
A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
and majordomo for company. The butler, a former child actor named Bobby Milestone, is the Silverblade series' first person
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
.
Milestone recounts how the mansion used to be a happier place, before the movie deals dried up, Lord's various marriages failed, and the actor became a bitter old recluse. He says of Lord, "He was my hero once, a thousand reels ago. Once he was even my friend."
One day the butler is on a shopping trip when he sees and buys a Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)
The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and a remake of the 1931 film of the same name...
-like statue of a bird. Milestone takes the statue home hoping to make the statue part of a decorative exhibit he is building to cheer up the atmosphere at the mansion, but Lord complains about the exhibit as well. Tired of his boss's constant complaints, Milestone flies into a rage and storms out of the house.
Shortly afterwards, Milestone is kidnapped by someone from his own past with a grudge against him. The kidnapper blames Milestone for a career-ruining injury he suffered during a movie stunt and now plans to kill him.
Jonathan Lord is left alone in the mansion when the bird statue suddenly comes to life, telling Lord he will restore him to what the star once was. Lord is immediately enveloped by a magical plume of flame. Bobby Milestone is later rescued from his kidnapper by a man who appears to be a younger Jonathan Lord, the age at which he appeared in the film Silverblade. Milestone passes out and reawakens in the mansion, where he sees it is indeed Lord, wearing his costume from Silverblade and appearing fifty years younger. Lord has been given the power to transform into any character he portrayed on film, effectively turning him into a real-life superhero.
The series had little end blurbs similar to what appeared in the Watchmen series giving the reader greater background about Jonathan Lord and the world he lived in than was provided in the main body of the comic.
Beyond the maxiseries
Recent references to the Silverblade story in the DC Universe include The All-New AtomAtom (comics)
The Atom is a name shared by several fictional comic book superheroes from the DC Comics universe.There have been five characters who have shared the Atom codename. The original Golden Age Atom, Al Pratt, was created by Ben Flinton and Bill O'Connor and first appeared in All-American Publications'...
#4, which features a movie theatre which is showing Silver Blade II, and 52
52 (comics)
52 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...
#22 which has an advertisement on the back window of a bus promoting Silverblade Returns - due for release 10.13.06.