Jupiter’s legacy is an American superhero comic book series written by Mark Miller. It is drawn by Frank Quietly, lettered and colored by Peter Doherty, and published by Image comics. It is first published in 2013.
It is the longest series published by Miller as a part of his Millar world line of creator-owned comics. This was the first collaboration between Quietly and Miller since their work on the authority.
The story is inspired by Star Wars, King Kong, and Roman Mythology. It also includes stories from the Golden age of comics.
Plot of the the show:-
- The opening story shows the generational conflict between a group of aging superheroes known as Union who used their power for the betterment of mankind, especially for their leader Sheldon Sampson and their children.
- Other conflicts in the book are socio-political and economic differences among older heroes and the end of capitalism. The series got positive reviews and audiences praised Miller’s writing, Quitely’s art, and Doherty’s colours.
- Initially, Jupiter’s Legacy was to be titled Jupiter’s children. Mark Miller conceived the idea after reading the memoirs of Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher. There she stated that she, despite having her fame as Princess Leia, didn’t feel anything special because of her famous parents.
- Miller observes this and wanted to describe his story exploring themes like the generational conflict of Hamlet. He particularly wanted to depict the difficulty in living up to the legacy of previous generations.
- The story begins with a patriotic American who lost everything in the stock market crash of 1929. He sailed to a mysterious island after it appears in his dream,600 miles west of Cape Verde. For him, the united states constitution is very sacred and he believed that the island holds gifts that will return the country to greatness.
- After traveling to the island with his brother and five friends, he becomes a superman named Utopian, who is regarded as the greatest superhero.
- After his father commits suicide due to the wall street crash of 1929, Sheldon Sampson was suffering from psychiatric trauma and having strange dreams. So he travels to a mysterious island with his brother and friends.
- They were indulging themselves in Indian jones-Esque antics to fight with obstacles guarding their path, and soon the island will grant them superpowers.
Netflix has released its series, the American superhero drama based on the Image comic book series by Mark Miller and Frank Quitely. It was developed by Steven S Deknight. But midway in the production, he was replaced by Sang Kyu Kim.
The cast includes Josh Duhamel, Ben Denials, Elena Kampouris, and Andrew Horton, Mike Hawke. They effectively bring this show to an end after 1st season.
Netflix is now planning to release an adaptation of Mark Miller ‘Supercrooks’ which has almost the same world as ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’ and has supervillains instead of superheroes and in this way, they will position this show as the new installation in an anthology series.
Despite its attempts at subverting genre expectations, This Netflix series, an adaption of a graphic novel by Mark Miller and Frank Quitely ends up emulating everything it tries to fight against.
The show depicts the lives of the first generation of superheroes on earth and their appointed meeting with the supernatural. Even after having unique abilities and vast resources, they end up being unhappy with their children who also have superpowers.
To depict the reasons behind the same, the show navigates between two different subplots, one set in the United States, the depression era where we learn about the origin stories of early superheroes.
There is another parallel storyline that is set in present-day America. Here the central characters are aged. They have become powerful many years ago, their kids seem to be annoyed by their presence, kids question their monochromatic ways of looking at morality and life.
Rebellion leads to overdose of Drugs, killing an adversary, hooking up with a supervillain’s son, and the likes.
Review of ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’
The show’s narrative is not that much proper and it jumps from one era to the other without paying proper attention, and this a major drawback.
The performance of its stellar cast is completely outstanding, and it compensates for the mediocrity of the rest of the endeavor. The audience gave positive reviews about their performances. Duhamel as Sheldon and Daniels as who plays his brother did an absolutely amazing job.
Matt Lanter as George aka Skyfox did his character very well. The three of them succeed in developing an authentic and palpable on-screen chemistry, which anchors the show throughout.
Off the cuff camera angles and stunning visuals provide a distinct quality to each episode, making them visually stimulating. The high-quality special effects used to bring the superhero story to life are breathtaking as well. They help viewers to immerse themselves in its world of make-believe.
The production design and dialogue writing are also excellent. Regrettably, the fight sequences are not up to the mark. The family drama is very much affected by the lack of proper character development.
The series has received mixed reviews as it follows the story of the world’s first superheroes who received their powers in 1930. The modern-day story is about relationships and characters, the old plot-line is driven by clear goals.
The comic readers very well know the destination of this story, but if you are not so much familiar with the source material, you can still understand where the plotline is going, as it is a flashback from past to present-day events unfolding in front of you.
The clashes between the two generations intensify but marvel at some of the delightful moments which the show manages to please the audience.
The show very well balances the significant power of superheroes, the difficulty in taking the right path, the temptation to abuse it, and issues over handing the responsibility.
All in all, The Jupiter’s Legacy is a great tale of grandiose Demi-Gods and each fighting with the other using inventive powers