JD Hancock Photos

Darth Vader

Darth Vader is the central character in the Star Wars universe. Created by George Lucas, the character was the primary villain in the original trilogy Star Wars (1977), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983), but he was one of the heroes in the prequel trilogy Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). His story is one of tragedy as the young Anakin Skywalker is lured away from his Jedi mentors to the Dark Side of the Force by Emperor Palpatine and eventually betrays everyone he ever cared for. In the original trilogy Darth Vader was played primarily by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones. Anakin Skywalker was played by Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen in the prequel trilogy. Darth Vader is a powerful character and perhaps the most iconic figure in the Star Wars saga.

Duel 365

Duel 365 was a year-long project I started in 2010. The goal was to post one photo each day depicting a duel, usually between two pop culture figures, and asking the question, "If they had to fight, who would win?" At the request of those who came to follow the project, I also provided text descriptions of each character. One of the rules was to avoid using the same figure in multiple photos. Another challenge was that I was not allowed to use Photoshop or other advanced photo editors to create the scenes; all editing was done either in-camera or with Apple’s iPhoto software. Over 700 figures were used for the project, which believe it or not represents only a small part of my toy collection.

Superman

Superman is a superhero in comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and first appeared in Action Comics #1 (1938). Rocketed to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton, the baby Kal-El was raised in Smallville as Clark Kent. As he grew to maturity, he found himself possessed of amazing physical powers: faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. To use his abilities in a never-ending battle for truth and justice as "Superman," he travelled to Metropolis and assumed the disguise of a mild-mannered reporter for The Daily Planet, a great metropolitan newspaper. His costume is red and blue with a cape and a distinctive "S" shield on his chest. He is often depicted as part of the Justice League superhero team along with Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and others. Superman was played by Christopher Reeve in a series of films beginning with Superman: The Movie (1978) and by Tom Welling in the television series Smallville (2001).