Usually, I write the occasional blog relaying comic news or simply getting something off my chest. This time, I want to talk about something a little different. Hasbro's been pumping out their 3 & 3/4" Marvel U line for a while now, and recently unveiled their new figures for the upcoming months. I have to say I was thrilled at the prospects coming, in particular the Jim Lee-style Cyclops, Gladiator, and pretty much all of the new comic 2 packs (I mean 70's Captain Britain made me squeal). It got me to thinking, if I could choose a line up for the next two waves what would they be? Here I propose my top 15 wanted figures for upcoming lines, two comic packs, and a giant figure. Well, here's who, and why:
1. Professor X 2. Dazzler 3. Invisible Woman 4. Human Fly 5. Quasar 6. Shaper of Worlds 7. Rogue 8. Beast 9. Elektra 10. Dr. Octopus 11. The Angel (Golden Age) 12. Mole Man 13. Molecule Man 14. Mandarin 15. Polaris
Few can question the importance Siegel & Shuster's SUPERMAN has had on popular culture. Even as a Superman fan, I can objectively say he's culturally significant. As such, so his is origin story and supporting cast. Scores of non-comic readers know the names Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, and even Perry White, which is a testament to the memorable and enjoyable Supes stories that have crazed the four color art form for decades. With the announcement of the new Superman a while ago and the involvement of Zak Snyder, I didn't really bat an eye. I dislike the vast majority of superhero movies, especially the more recent ones. Don't get me wrong, Snyder has done good work, and I'll give credit where it's due, but I really don't need another Superman movie. Superman Returns just wasn't very good. It entertained me the first time I saw it, but subsequent theatrical viewings with others made the honeymoon period elapse pretty quickly.
Moving on....
Now we have our latest S-related announcement in the form of Diane Lane's casting as Martha Kent. Well.... I've noticed something about that. The Kents were always an older couple. Even dying of essentially old age before Golden Age Superman even donned the cape. That also was a handy plot device to explain why Clark wouldn't be having any siblings from his adoptive parents in the near future. The Superman franchise has largely been faithful to the notion of Superman's parents being old respectable looking All-American folks.
Comic Book Martha
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Virginia Carroll, a Western actress played Martha at the young age of 35, but (not to be unkind) she was a fairly average looking woman and they played down her youth. Phyllis Thaxter gave THE archetypal performance as Martha, and was again matronly and elderly. When Superman Returns roles around, we got blonde bombshell Eva Marie Saint, who I would rank as one of Hollywood's sexiest starlets from the late 40's into the 60's, combining confidence with good looks. Saint however, was 80 when she played Martha. Now, with this back to basics approach we have Diane Lane playing Martha Kent. And while it's way too premature to comment on casting or the movie itself. I just don't know if I want to have dirty thoughts about Superman's mom.
I love Neal Adams art. It's distinctive and definitely made a bold statement when it came onto the scene way back when. If you've seen my TOP 150 COVERS Series of lists, you know he's pretty well represented. His most recent return to the limelight was Batman: Odyssey. I met him and got the first issue signed and sadly never got around to actually reading it. According to the general public I didn't miss much. Well his Odyssey continues, and he talks about his new projects in this interview: http://geek-news.mtv.com/2011/02/28/neal-adams-returns-with-a-blood-y-vengeance-in-dark-horse-presents/
I thought I'd share this unbelievable piece of news, that IDW's Godzilla #1 (which I for one eagerly anticipate) is going to have 80 VARIANT COVERS! I'm not kidding. I thought this was a joke too when I first heard it. Here's the link with the covers http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/02/19/all-eighty-variant-covers-of-godzilla-1-from-idw/
Marvel gradually made the transition from the dominant presence in my comic book reading life, to fond memories and some facepalming over their recent decisions. Let's look at some upcoming stuff, shall we? The Hulk's New Rogues Gallery! Wow, so we have cranky Dr. Doom guy, the metallic lump, shamelessly and vaguely naked chick, and some guy who came from Exo Squad. Great. The Hulk always had what I considered to be a pretty underrated Rogues Gallery. I liked the Leader, and Gremlin, and the Metal Master, and all the crazy brainy guys, plus he had some jacked up heavy hitters like Abomination and Bi-Beast in the fold too. What is this?
Next up a hybrid of Curse of the Mutants and Shadowland. Vampires + the Selling of souls, apparently. I'm sick of vampires in comics. I don't want anymore, I barely want to rewatch the great older vampire movies of yesteryear that I enjoy so much. I wish Scarlet Witch would come back from the Children's Crusade, waltz into the MU and say NO MORE VAMPIRES. Boom. Solved. the last one is a minor pet peeve I suppose. Captain America epitomizes the U.S. So why is that flag hung incorrectly on one of his covers?
P.S. I'm also mystified by the stupid, stupid, ".1" thing Marvel is doing with their comics.
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Stan Lee has lost his mind. OK, so maybe he did a long time ago. We all love Smilin' Stan the Man. He's a fixture in the comic book world and his unbridled enthusiasm is downright adorable. Most of us even looked the other way when he stamped his name on a group of new heroes that were rather lackluster, but now we have to say something. The latest Stan work is The Guardian Project, instead of going into specifics I'll briefly say that NHL teams are each given a superhero representative. They are released one at a time, and here's who we have so far:
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Now, I like superheroes, and I like hockey, and at first the blend along with Stan's name peaked my interest, but check out some of those characters (cough cough Canuck = Batman with a fin). I also know I'm probably not the first to bring this up, so instead of posting this in the forums I leave it as a blog post for my inner circle of 65 followers to mull over.
P.S. Anybody else reminded of the thankfully forgotten NFL Superpro?
There are loads of comic book creators on Facebook. Now before you ask, I'm not posting links or endorsing that you pester your favorite artists and writers, but many of them are on there, and I was wondering who are some of your famous FB friends? My list is fairly short and consists of Jim McCann, Louise Simonson, Jim Lee, Jim Starlin, and Francis Manapul. Any memorable moments with these friends? For me, it was watching the drama of Starlin getting kicked off FB temporarily because someone thought him to outspoken on politics. I also had a fairly nice dialogue with Tank Girl artist Rufus Dayglo. So who's on your list?
Having just read the new GL issue, and thinking about Flash's friendship with Hal, and his friendships in general, I was wondering if anybody knows of any good stories depicting Bruce and Barry (or any other speedster) bonding.
What character would you like to see drawn by an artist that has never drawn them? It can be a deceased artist and just about any character since this is all pure fantasy. Personally, off the top of my head I wouldn't mind seeing Neal Adams do an issue of Spawn.
Earlier I planned on doing a feature where I'd give my personal top 100 covers of a particular age of comics. I started with Bronze, and then never updated. Truth is, I think I'm going to to this in list form, as it's easier to add covers, (in blog mode, there's a cap to how many images you can add at a time). SO stay tuned followers and fans of my silly ramblings covers are coming. Just check the lists in the near future!
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