Are Your Ancestors Super?

At Foto Marvellini, an art workshop in Milan, two brothers have released the family photos of your favorite superheroes. How they came across so many vintage portraits is unknown, but these pictures answer a lot of questions about why some superheroes adopted their demeanor, garb, and sensibilties.




Take Spiderman for example. Most fan boys and girls believe it was a radioactive spider that produced the web-spinning acrobat, but according to family tradition there seems to be an early twentieth century dapper dude who first donned the spidey mask. Maybe the spider gave Peter Parker his super powers, but there are some spiders in his family closet.





This portrait of Captain America's great-great-great grandma may explain his patriotic roots (and style) as the Victorian lady displays the cameo shield familiar to most readers.






Batman enthusiasts may now understand the penchant for the furry flying mammals as Great-grandad Wayne studies his stocks and bonds. No wonder there was a convenient batcave under the Wayne Manor foundations -- not to mention the studious nature he passed along to Bruce.




If you're interested in seeing more portraits of superhero ancestors, check out Foto Marvellini over at Visual News.

What superheroes do you have in your family tree?



Me? It's kind of hard to go farther back than my mom, the ruffled superhero raising two kids alone. A woman who could leap society's obstacles in a single bound and was definitley more powerful than a locomotive in the metaphorical sense.

Comments

  1. I thought this article was really interesting and funny. I think the portraits are very original and I've never seen any portraits similar to these. I think people who aren't even fans of superheroes or comic books would enjoy the creativity the artist put into these portraits. As for superheroes in my family, I think that the super hero would be my older brother because as a child he was diagnosed with cancer but he fought through it and survived like any other super hero would.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The article was interesting. I never imagined people having portraits of themselves in masks before the movies came out. it would be nice to see my great grand father wearing a mask. For him the mask appropriate would be "Super Man," because he was a brave man and extremely hard working. It is as if, he lifted his family out of poverty single handed. Now his children and grand children are so proud of him and they are well off because of their great grand father.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This article is so interesting, especially the portrait of grandma, Captain-America, I think she forgot the shield. It is the first time for me to see some portraits with the masks of superheros, the author must have a lot of creativity. We all like the superheros, if there has a chance, I will put a iron Man's mask on my father's portrait, because I like the iron man most, and my father has a spirit like iron man, hard working and never give up. Then I will show it to him, I think he will like it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This article was different between another. I never see spider man in the oil painting and he use spider man's head portrait to instead someone else. evreyone knows the American super hero, and i know them in the movie. the spider man, batman and iron man. they are so famous in our world. and in these oil painting I can see the other side of them, so serious and solemn. in fact I think the super hero not just live in our dream, but also they live near us, because when I was a child , in the night I will dream I have super power too. I like these painting and they are really interesnting

    ReplyDelete
  5. Everyone has their own childhood memories. I can not watch any American superheroes comic until late 20th century. There is no doubt that we human are very amazing living things on earth. The best gift we get is creation. Imagine that without creation, there is no light during the night, there will be no more computers or internet. But, every time when some one discover a new idea or design a new stuff, people will say those are si-fi subject. Look, 100 years ago, if you talking about a hand size device could play music, read tons of books, call someone and take pictures, everyone will laugh at you. But, smart phone and iphone are very common things nowadays. So, maybe one day in the future, superhero , superhero power become normal to everybody. And where we get those inspires? From all these comic, superhero and si-fi stories.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really liked the portraits that were placed here. It gave me a visual imagery of the current super heroes ancestors. I also enjoyed your article of your mom and how she's a superhero to you. When i grew up, i envision SuperWoman or even Storm as my superwoman. As a child, I could never really understand how or even why I should my mom as a superhero- in my childish mind, there really wasn't anything super about my mom. She couldn't fly or read minds or use telepathy. But as I began a young woman, I realize how amazing and super my mom is to me. Growing up, I never saw my mom struggling or tired from a long shift of work, and I never heard her complain. She would wake up every day, commute to the city via public transport, pick me up from class and make dinner and buy all the toys I asked for. Being a college student, I know how much my mom struggles and how tired she gets after a long day of work and school. To me, my mom is the greatest superwoman. Better than Storm or any other female character, because to me, they're just characters, but my mom is the real deal.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think that this article is very interesting. It's very unique in that they portray the ancestors of superheros. I wonder how they came across these pictures. I believe most of these pictures are Photoshopped because in the real comic books they never show pictures of the ancestors of the superheroes themselves.
    The superheroes that I have in my family tree begin with my grandparents, they are the roots. My grandparents have taught me and my parents life lessons. Their wise view of the world is their main talent, apart from having a good joke now and then. My parents are my superheroes, they taught me everything to know about life and they gave me the right tools to succeed in life, it's up to me to use them. They are my role models in life, without their superpower of passing on their wise knowledge of the world I would be the person that I am today. My parents are the greatest superheroes in my life, and they are still saving the day every time I talk to them.

    ReplyDelete
  8. this article makes me laugh, it's very interesting. American super hero was one of the best member in my childhood, although I like the Japanese animate better, the American super hero is more simple and straight forward, also it have a very complexity world build(sometimes is too complexity even the author got mass up). Also all the hero have an mask, I think it is a metaphor, which means behind this mask, everyone could be a super hero, everyone is a super hero, I think this is a important part of American spirit, everyone is super, everyone is unique.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This article is very interesting because the artist makes the ancestors of superheros look so real and believable. Yet I know that it is obviously photoshop and editting skills but it did make me wonder about what if Spiderman actually had a great great grandfather who did wear a "spidey" mask. I am also curious about what my ancestors were like. It has always been in the back of my head to know if I was ever related to a famous person, and now I feel like i should do a lot more research on my own family.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I can see how you have a great image about your family, the image or some super heroes characteristics of batman reminds you to some traits of your greatgrandad.
    I Belive, we people who love superheroes see certain features or caracteristic on people we admire, like the image of a little brother who has of his older brother. He see them as superman, or like the captain america in your great great great gandma shows the pride of the American country, and the nationality from where you are.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This article grabbed my attention based on the portraits that it showed. Without yet reading what was being said about the portraits I thought that they would be about creating something new and different of what was already made before. I thought that maybe the artist was trying to continue on the generations of superheroes. After reading the entries on the portraits, I thought it was pretty funny and interesting that they were trying to imagine there being generations before the superheroes. I thought it was creative how they tried to create a family tree based on their own ideas and imaginations. It also makes me wonder what it would be like if those superheroes did have ancestors that were superheroes and if it would change the stories about superheroes. I wonder if it would make the stories more interesting or if it would throw everything off instead.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This article interested me because of the fact that it had to deal with superheroes. Now I'm a huge superhero guy and the hero in my family would be my dad. He reminds me of Batman in so many ways, for one he doesn't sleep ever, works at night, and will do whatever it takes so that my family doesn't have to worry. He works as a newspaper supervisor so he is up by 2 a.m. and working till 1 in the afternoon. He would sacrifice everything just in order for our family to have a descent life just like batman sacrifices everything for Gotham. I'm sure that every generation has had their own superhero despite if they were wearing a mask or not.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This article makes me laugh in an obnoxious way. I can remember a time where I was obsessed with comic books. As a kid, I would walk to the comic book store two blocks away from where I went to school just to buy 50 cent comic books. I ran home immediately to read these comic books because I was so interested in all kinds of super heroes who fought crime as a heroic vigilantes. I had posters of all kinds of superheroes on my wall and would keep my favorite super heroes in my binder. Looking back as an adult, my obsessions with comic books and superheroes was a great hobby and memorable as well.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Reading this article made me think back to my ancestry.I do not know alot about my family history, but from what i do know is that they had a tough life but also had good adventures. On my dad's side, his dad was in the military and also got paralyzed. He is a twin and was a really smart guy. He lived on a farm back in the old country in Romania, and people from colleges would come to his home to convince him to go to their college, but his parents wouldnt let him because he had to take care of the farm. My grandpa could have made something really big of himself, but he took care of his home and family instead. On my mom's side, my grandfather or great grandfather came to America on a trip and was very rich. Both my grandparents grew up on a farm and lived a hard life. It makes me appreciate how lucky we are today. There are only a few people that i consider my superheros. Jesus, my dad, brother and my grandfather are what i consider to be my superheros and one day i hope to become a superhero myself and have other people look up to me one day and to make something of myself in this world.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The article had an interesting topic about people's ancestors being superheros, but I do not know much about my family history. However, I do know that my great-great grandmother on my dad's mother's was Chinese that married a latino. I also know that my dad's great-great grandfather came from Spain and brought his family to live in Mexico. My family history that my ancestors had the courage to go over seas and to live in Mexico. Also, their courage is still passed down through my family till this day. They are my superheros from my family's past, and I will not change that in any way. This courage that was passed down to me is something that has made me to continue on my education, even when people discouraged me. It is what makes me who I am, and I don't want to lose that.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The only superhero I can think of that actually has ancestral traits is Superman. Most superheroes that I'm familiar with, especially those in the Marvel series, gained superpowers through technology, a freak accident, or mutation. Still, these hints of superheroes having ancestors with hints of their powers makes me think about the traits that have been passed down to me from my Dad. My dad is and has always been a musician, and he is definitely one of the biggest reasons why my life revolves around music today. It's as if he passed down his super-music-powers to me!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I found this article interesting as I have never thought of the super heroes ancestor being a super hero . If I look into my family, I know one super hero, too. when I look at my Grandfather and remember the hardships he went through while working for an Indian Air Force, I find him no less than a super hero. He brought up his three kids and 6 grand children. I hear stories about him all the time not only from my family members but also from people who have known him from years. My grandfather is my first teacher and also a guide who has taught me the rules of living life and till today is there for me to help me judge right and wrong. He surely doesn't wear any super hero dress instead is a human being with values but is no less than a super hero for me.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Well this is cool. I really like the new twists these Italians are putting on both superheroes and art. I never would have even thought to explain a superhero's origin apart from what the comic books say, but it's nice to know that other people have these unique ideas.
    These photo's are all very well done. I especially like Captain America's great great great grandmother. She's so classically stoic.
    I'd like to think my heroic ancestor fell under the category of "super life-success." Because it would be really cool to know that I have that in the bag.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Superpower Would You Choose?

The 12 Types of Procrastinators and Kittens

Ancient Rome: When Being a Teen was Tough