Superman Returns hits theaters June 28. In bookstores now is The Art of Superman Returns, featuring the drawings, paintings, and sketches of a legion artists, plus an introduction by director Bryan Singer.

Last June I traveled to Sydney Australia on behalf of Chronicle Books to prepare for this project, which I alluded to in this blog entry. I was only there for two days, but the days were packed. I spent a day and a half with head production designer Guy Dyas, half a day with costume designers Louise Mingenbach and Dan Bronson, plus time with the script. (Later I interviewed Bryan Singer and screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty.) The overall impression I got? People were passionately committed to this project. People genuinely loved Superman. Nobody emitted a "just a job" vibe.

Let me state at the outset -- I'm a huge Superman fan. Before I ever got the offer to write The Art of Superman Returns, I was just another fanboy watching the bluetights.net production diaries, and drooling over the art deco architecture used for the Daily Planet. A month later, I was walking around on that same set. For a Superman geek, it was surreal, bordering on dreamlike.

I realized, of course, that I needed to be professional, jotting down notes and monitoring my tape recorder. But let's be honest, I was awed to be on set, and I felt that if I didn't take it all in I'd forget it.

I've read of blind people who have suddenly had their sight restored -- even though they can "see," in many cases they can't really understand something until they touch it. That was me, blind in the island of the sighted. I was shown Superman's suit on a mannequin. After getting over the initial giddiness (Dude! That's Superman's suit!) I compulsively touched the fabric and the raised S medallion, rubbed the gluey heaviness of the cape, and hefted the thick-soled leather boots while tracing their laser-cut S insignias with a fingertip. While standing on the set for the Fortress of Solitude, I reached out to clap my hand on a fiberglass crystal pillar. While following Guy Dyas up a frozen arctic trench -- surgical booties in place as we delicately retraced the steps of Lex Luthor -- I crushed a tiny shaving of shredded paper between my thumb and forefinger, to see the guts of the stuff that doubles as snowflakes. While walking through the Daily Planet bullpen...well, I didn't touch anything, since it was a dressed set. But I felt the scuff of the carpet on the soles of my shoes.

So what I have now is a very tactile sense of this movie. When I see publicity photos of Brandon Routh in costume, I remember the slight variation in surface texture of the patterned "blue suit" material. When I see the outdoor plaza of the Daily Planet building, I remember the cool metal of the push bars on the revolving doors.

I'm a huge fan of "Art Of" books. One of my favorite old-school possessions is The Art of Star Wars, published well before the movie was relabeled Episode IV: A New Hope. For any movie, but particularly for a movie on this scale, the craftsmanship that goes into concept sketches, storyboards, key frames, production paintings, and computer models is astonishing. I'm proud to be the guy to bring this work to light in The Art of Superman Returns.

Guy Dyas is a gifted artist in his own right, but more importantly he had a vision for this movie. Superman Returns' three visual themes -- Krypton, Smallville, and Metropolis -- are utterly distinct and mark very specific beats in the movie. Krypton, inspired by the John Barry designs from 1978's Superman: The Movie, is pure and sterile, marked by the parallel lines that emerge from crystalline growth. Smallville is Americana as envisioned by Norman Rockwell and Andrew Wyeth, with an impossibly distant horizon tinged red by sunset. Metropolis (my favorite) is an art deco masterpiece -- New York City as reenvisioned by a mad architecture fanboy -- with vertical lines that provide the perfect backdrop for a soaring Man of Steel.

I can't wait to see the movie, but I already know it will be a visual stunner. I'm grateful to Chronicle Books for the opportunity to knit the connective tissue of The Art of Superman Returns, but let's face it -- no one will be buying this book for the words. It truly is an artistic tour de force, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Dan
(writing projects and current releases)