Twofold Comics

Archive for June, 2010

When Christian Bale set out to get in shape and become Batman, he was a man on a mission. He had just finished working on The Machinist, and only weighed 122 pounds. He had just six weeks to pack on some serious muscle.

The first thing that he did was increase his food intake. He was starving throughout the shooting of the Machinist, so he had to make sure he was getting adequate nutrition to build muscle for Batman. His diet included lean protein (fish, chicken, turkey) and healthy fats (olive oil, avocado). He did not eat sugar, but opted instead for complex carbohydrates like oatmeal and brown rice.

His workout was split into three days, with each day focusing on different muscle groups. On day one, he did chin-ups, squats, and high pulls. Chin-ups are primarily a back workout that provides a decent secondary workout for the biceps and forearms. To perform chin-ups, simply grab onto a pull-up bar with your palms facing away from your body, and pull yourself up. Squats work out the legs and lower back. There are several ways to do squats; they can be done with a barbell, or on a machine. Squats are exactly what they sound like, you simply lower yourself and raise yourself back up to a standing position. If you are a beginner to squats, I recommend using a machine at first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the correct motion of the exercise. A basic description of a high-pull is to set a barbell on the ground in front of your body, and then you squat down, grab the bar, and extend your legs, picking up the barbell. Raise your body to a standing position, and lift the barbell to your chest.

Day two consisted of leg workouts. Because the legs are the largest muscle group in the body, they must not be neglected if you are trying to bulk up- especially if you are trying to bulk up fast. Christian did sprints, lunges, and squat jumps. Sprints are an explosive exercise that is great for building muscle mass very quickly. Lunges involve standing straight up, then lunging one leg out in front of yourself, and then lowering your body to the ground, and then raise your body back up to a standing position- Lunges are kind of like one legged squats. And squat jumps are exactly what you would expect; simply squat down and the thrust your legs all the way, and jump.

Day three was Christian’s chest workout. He did the butterflies and clap pushups. Clap pushups are a variation on regular pushups, and they should only be attempted by somebody that is comfortable doing standard pushups. They involved doing a very fast pushup, and ‘jumping’ off the flour, and then clap your hands under your chest while your lifted off the ground, then quickly move your hands back to the ground to catch yourself. Clap pushups are a very intense exercise that is great for building up the chest muscles. Butterflies are great for stretching out the chest and shoulders. They can be performed on a machine, or with dumbbells. The butterfly movement involves stretching your arms out to your sides (towards your back), away from your chest, and then moving your arms back to the center. Another way to visualize the butterfly is to extend your arms straight out in front of your body, then point your right arm straight out to your right side, and your left arm to your left side. Then, move your arms back to their original position. A butterfly simply adds resistance to the movement back to the original position.

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We all must have fought to watch our favorite cartoon shows and enjoy the funny and cute animated cartoon characters. Today when Hollywood and superstars stature is phenomenal, fictional carton characters too have achieved name, fame and popularity. Various TV channels, programs and films are made on Cartoon characters. They have the long list of kids fan following.

Some of the most widely popular characters, loved by everyone are-

Mickey Mouse:

Mickey Mouse is an iconic Academy Award-winning comic animal cartoon character. He was created in on November 18, 1928 by the Walt Disney. Mickey is the most famous character. And he has appeared in animated cartoons, comic strips, films, toys, clothes and games along with his love interest Minnie.

Donald Duck:

Donald Duck is an animated comic-book character from Walt Disney Productions. Donald appearance is a white duck with yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He often wear

sailor shirt, cap, and a red or black bowtie. The main reason behind the Donald’s rise to stardom is attributed to his most identifiable voices in all of animation.

Tom and Jerry:

We have all grown up watching the cat-mouse fight between Tom and Jerry. They are an Academy Award-winning animated cat (Tom) and mouse (Jerry). Tom and Jerry is the collaboration that is created, written and directed by animators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Hundreds of animations series of Tom and Jerry cartoons were produced by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio in Hollywood that were likes and praised by everyone.

Tweety:

Tweety Bird is popularly known also known as Tweety Pie or simply Tweety. It is an Academy Award-winning fictional character in the Warner Bros. Tweety’s popularity rose high like that of The Tasmanian Devil, following the dissolution of the Looney Tunes cartoons. Today, Tweety is counted, along with Taz and Bugs Bunny, among the most popular of the Looney Tunes characters. Tweety is a yellow colored small bird and instead widespread speculation that Tweety was female; it is always a male character. He is by everyone for his cute appearance.

Garfield:

Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis featuring Garfield the cat. The popularity of the strip led to an animated television series and films On Garfield including a large amount of merchandise.

Superman:

Superman is a superhuman fictional character. He is regarded as the most influential and popular superhero of DC Comics. Superman was created by the Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster and American writer Jerry Siegel in 1932 and was sold to the Detective Comics, Inc. in 1938. The Superman first appeared in the Action Comics. Later it appeared in various radio serials, television programs, newspaper strips, and video games. A series of big budgeted Superman movies have been made by the Hollywood giants.

Ask any child about reading and they will tell you that reading is boring. Kids today will more likely prefer to play video games, listen to musics, watch movies and the TV, or simply surf the internet rather than read a book.

Your child should be encouraged to turn off the TV and sit down with a good book, but asking him to do so is one of the most difficult task for any parents. This is where a comic book can play the role to introduce you child to reading.

Why reading?

Reading helps your child acquire knowledge. If English is your second language, reading promotes speech and language development, and helps to improve pronunciation and vocabulary. Reading calms the mind and this helps your child to relax.

Why Comic Books?

To explain it better I will use the upcoming Iron Man 2 movies and comic titles from Marvel. Iron Man 2 is coming out in May 2010, if you have taken your son to the first one, I am sure he is waiting for the second installment.

The first thing you need to do is buy him his first comic book. You can start by getting the latest issue of Mighty Avengers or Invisible Iron Man. This is to build his anticipation for the movie and at the same time, his interest into reading. You have a few months to Iron Man 2, enough time to get a few issues for your son.

In between the issues, talk to your son about what is he reading. Ask him to retell it to you. Ask him what he likes about Iron Man. Ask him about the enemies of Iron Man. You can actually ask just about anything about Iron Man. The more details he include, the more apparent that he is following the story and engaged in it.

By May 2010, take him to the movie. He will thank you for that and at the same time, you would have taken some time off from his TV and video games schedule to reading. Even if it is only reading comic books, it is a start.

Reading comics is the first step. If he likes it, gradually introduce him to junior novels. This could be introduce during your next family travel trip where he would need more than just comics to keep his time occupied. Especially when it involve a long drive.

Get the idea?

The world is full of interesting things to learn and do. Don’t let your kids merely sit back and watch TV, or play video games. Get them interested into reading, and let comics be the first step.

It will also be good for you. If you are tired of books, give comics a try.