I love the 60s. Such a time of feigned innocence. Political correctness meant knowing the right way to shake hands at a Kiwanis meeting, and, the Fantastic Four’s playfulness with Sue Storm was seen as cute.

That’s why this sequence from Fantastic Four #38 is so amazing looking back with 2009 eyes. In just two panels, there’s enough to make Gloria Steinem and Naomi Wolf assault Marvel HQ with the fire arrows from Braveheart. First, the Thing looks to be ready to administering a playful spanking to Ms. Storm … and then he and Reed play flickball with her. Score!

Actually, Sue may deserve a spanking for getting that haircut.

Honestly, this is Stan and Jack keeping the book lighthearted. The FF were a family. They loved each other. They weren’t afraid to have fun with their crazy lives and power. and Sue was the adored kid sister — well, not so much for Reed.

But, now, just a year Tigra’s beating/rape? at the hands of The Hood’s villains and Sue Dibny’s rape/beating/murder pissing loads of readers off (including me, I admit, as the father of two girls) … this scene just seems so antiquated and naive. And, it makes me not just a little nostalgic for a time when I didn’t know so much about how badly men can treat women in real life.

In case you haven’t noticed from my posts, I adore the golden/silver ages. I read comics for an escape. I have enough real life in my real life.

Guys … this one is easy. I am going to gush forth a lot of digital love today. (Stay away from me, Chris Hansen.)

You have to love that there was a comic called, “Journey Into Mystery” … and that it made it to 107 issues by this point.

You have to love Stan and Jack created a villain named “The Grey Gargoyle” … and that they repeated his origin in each of his first four appearances almost verbatim.

And, that said villain could be seen as worth of going toe to toe with a god.

But, you’ve really got to appreciate that they show him getting into costume …

Dr. Doom Ettiquette Note: One must take time to get one's villainous boots on properly, lest one be horribly embarassed.

And, that, when attacking Dr. Donald Blake, his weapon of choice is … a paper airplane he turns into stone. I FREAKIN’ LOVE THAT!!!!!! Only in Marvel, kids. They’re here all week. Try the veal.

Modern comics are nice, but I have always … always … had an affinity for the classics. And, J.I.M. has been a particular favorite. I even tried to mount a relaunch of the title in 1985, but Marvel somehow did not take a shine to the hand-drawn, un-inked covers I mailed … with no stories inside. Go figure. Evidence Below.

Please, don’t ask me what “Klink the Iron Knight” was going to be all about. Or, what “J.O.E.” stands for in “Godakin J.O.E.” Or, even what “Godakin” means. I’m not sure I ever really had a plan.

The Hollywood Reporter reports The Office actor Idris Elba has just been cast for Marvel’s Thor film. The once-rumored Bond actor will take on the role of Heimdell, the guardian of Asgarda defender who defends the city, while Thor hammers his way through half-brother Loki. Damn, this cast just gets bigger and bigger by the week. In addition, sets for the film are being created as we speak.

Pôster do filme

Para quem estava tão ansiosa para assistir a este filme a ponto de escrever dois ou três posts a respeito do elenco, até que demorei um bocado para vê-lo de verdade. X-Men Origens: Wolverine [X-Men Origins: Wolverine, EUA/2009] foi lançado em maio e é o primeiro de uma série de spin-offs da trilogia de filmes X-Men baseados nos quadrinhos da Marvel. O roteiro se calça principalmente na graphic Origem [Origins], de Paul Jenkins com arte de Andy Kubert e colorização digital de Richard Isanove.

A ideia é mostrar a origem [dã] de alguns dos personagens principais e/ou mais carismáticos do grupo de herois, então o flme começa lá na infância de James Howlett, um menino fraco que vive doente. À beira de seu leito estão Victor, filho do caseiro que na HQ é chamado de Cão, um pouco mais velho do que James e que o protege, e o pai de James, homem rico e também superprotetor. Thomas Logan, o caseiro, esmurra a porta e aí temos um momento Star Wars quando James descobre seu poder Jedi ao mesmo tempo que Darth Vader lhe revela: “Luke, I’m your father”.

Perdão, misturei as sagas.

Mas aí vem a melhor parte do filme, quando James e Victor fogem de casa e passam a lutar juntos, lado a lado e costas com costas em guerras ao longo da História [Guerra Civil norte-americana, Primeira e Segunda Guerras mundiais e Guerra do Vietnã], enquanto passam os créditos iniciais. Essa sequência aumentou a expectativa de que viria boa coisa, mostrando o desenvolvimento dos dois personagens sem uma única linha de diálogo para explicar a degeneração moral de um e a crise de consciência de outro.

E então toda expectativa começa a ser minada pouco a pouco.

Liev Schreiber, Hugh Jackman e Danny Huston

O universo X-Men é uma daquelas poucas obras que se presta para desenvolver grandes debates através de metafóras e analogias. Os três filmes anteriores conseguiram trabalhar aspectos filosóficos, psicológicos e políticos ao mesmo tempo em que os roteiros mantiveram um pouco de humor e leveza e ação a dar com pau [desculpe o latim].

Já Wolverine ficou apenas na ação – bastante bem feitinha, é verdade, mas não o bastante pra me distrair e fazer esquecer que a trama era superficial e didática, sem deixar muito argumento para uma boa discussão de mesa de bar depois de sair da sessão, sem gravar uma impressão mais profunda além dos torsos musculosos de Hugh Jackman e Ryan Reynolds, Liev Schreiber e Daniel Henney.

Nem digo das alterações da adaptação em relação à HQ porque, incrivelmente, achei que funcionaram bem aqui. Não, minha grande decepção foi mesmo a abordagem rasa da história.

Victor Creed / Dentes-de-Sabre

Tanto que não vou comprar o DVD para juntar à minha X-coleção, apesar de eu ter gostado das atuações de Jackman, Schreiber [excelente chamada para substituir Tyler Mane], Huston e Will.I.Am, do Black Eyed Peas [mas Taylor Kitsch realmente não me comprou no papel de Gambit]. Por qualquer outro motivo, não precisarei rever para achar a costumeira aparição de Stan Lee: ele não gravou uma aparição.

Talvez haja um segundo filme do Wolverine a caminho. Qualquer uma das duas cenas extras pós-créditos finais daria um bom pontapé pra uma sequência [desde que corrigissem a questão da superficialidade]: de acordo com a página de trívia do iMDB, cada sala escolhe qual cena extra exibir. A que eu vi mostra Logan num bar no Japão, bebendo para se lembrar. Um arco com a Mariko Yashida seria legal.

Por enquanto vou reler a graphic – se achá-la na pilha velha…

Ficha técnica:
Título original: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Gênero: Aventura
Duração: 01h47
Ano de lançamento: 2009
Site oficial: http://www.xmenorigenswolverine.com.br
Estúdio: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation / Marvel Enterprises / Seed Productions / Dune Entertainment / Donners’ Company
Distribuidora: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
Direção: Gavin Hood
Roteiro: David Benioff, baseado em personagens criados por Len Wein
Produção: Kevin Feige, Hugh Jackman, John Palermo, Laura Shuler Donner e Ralph Winter
Música: Harry Gregson-Williams
Fotografia: Donald McAlpine
Direção de arte: Michael Diner, Brian Edmonds, Ian Gracie, Helen Jarvis, Karen Murphy e Mark Robins
Edição: Nicolas De Toth e Megan Gill
Eeitos especiais: CEG Media / Lola Visual Effects / Rising Sun Pictures / Tippett Studio / Vital Distraction / Cinesite / Hatch Production / Image Engine Design / Matte World Digital / Soho VFX

Elenco
Hugh Jackman (Logan / Wolverine)
Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson / Deadpool)
Liev Schreiber (Victor Creed / Dentes-de-sabre)
Dominic Monaghan (Bradley)
Lynn Collins (Raposa Prateada)
Danny Huston (William Stryker)
Daniel Henney (David North / Agente Zero)
Taylor Kitsch (Remy LeBeau / Gambit)
Stephen Leeder (General Munson)
Alice Parkinson (Elizabeth Howlett)
Tim Pocock (Scott Summers)
Myles Pollard (Lumberjack)
Tahyna Tozzi (Emma Frost)
Will i Am (John Wraith)
Troye Sivan (Logan – jovem)
Kevin Durand (Frederick “Fred” J. Dunes / Blob)
Michael-James Olsen (Victor Creed – jovem)
Patrick Stewart (Prof. Charles Xavier)

Serviço
Ficha no iMDB
Resenha de Tommy Beresford no blog Cinema é Magia
Verbete no Wikipedia

Posts relacionados
X3: O confronto final
Expectativas
Quadrinhos -> Telona

Trailer do filme – legendado

Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag4eE-MBxc8

Abertura – créditos

Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUWBF8-jjOU

I get so pleased with myself sometimes.  I really wanted to do a word pyramid that started with a NYC-centric “X” clue, but I wanted to steer clear of Malcom X.  For me, the use of Malcom X to start the word pyramid was both too clichéd and politically charged.  Also, strictly from a puzzling standpoint, I couldn’t come up with a good ending word that contained X in it to link back to the 60’s icon.  I remembered the X-Men of Marvel Comics fame weeks ago, but only recently remembered “Excelsior!” as a Stan Lee catch phrase.  The rest is history.  5 word pyramids down, 21 to go.

Comic books are something that makes me think of my generation.  I am in my early forties now, a post Boomer, Gen X (see what I did there?) kinda guy, and comic books is one of the things that defines my generation.  We were the first bunch of kids that didn’t “outgrow” comics and many of my friends still read them today.  The holding on the childhood things well into adulthood is a big part of my generation and I don’t know what to make of it.  In some ways, this makes Gen X a bit Polyanna-ish with a mix of creepy guy living in his parent’s basement thrown in, but also this shows a sense of fun and imagination that can be found lacking in previous generations.  Some will see my generation as Peter Pan’s who won’t grow up and avoid hard things like grown up work.  Others will see us as those who changes the rules regarding work and play, and while we certainly can be a frivolous lot, we also have a lot of heart and passion.  I think that both sides of the coin are accurate, but I like being able to embrace my geeky passions amongst my peers with minimal eye rolling, so I will lean towards the positives on this one.

Comic books did reinforce my sense of right and wrong as a youth.  Peter Parker’s revelation that “With great power comes great responsibility” resonated with me as much as anything my parents or CCD classes did.  I am also very much a left leaning person, so comics underlying messages about justice, equality, and responsibility were pretty much in sync with my basic personality in the first place.

I have a co-worker who is into super hero comics more so than I, and he told me about a conservative comic fan who lamented the fact that an overwhelming majority of mainstream comics lean left.  This is the real connection and legacy of New York on the super-hero world.  Many of the original super-heros were written and drawn by left leaning New York Jews.  They set the formulas down that work for the cape and tights lot, and that formula stems from this New York sensibility.  New York City has more than its fair share of conservatives within it boarders, but it has been a liberal town for a long time.  The New York qualities of independence linked with community, acceptance of new ideas, and progressiveness have been laid down in the DNA of the super-hero, and through this New York’s world view has spread into the minds of the youth of said world.  I for one find this to be a great thing.

Excelsior!

Article by: Owen Vaughan

To celebrate 70 years of Marvel Comics we have dug up 70 nuggets about the comic company – one, however, is an outright fib. Try to guess which one. The answer appears at the end of the piece.

1 Marvel was first known as Timely Comics. It was set up in 1939 by New York magazine publisher Martin Goodman. From 1951 the company’s comics were printed under the name Atlas but this was changed to Marvel in 1961. The first comic to appear under the Marvel Comics brand was Amazing Adventures No 3.

2 X-Men No 1, published in 1991, is the world’s biggest-selling comic book. It sold close to 8 million copies.

3 Goodman thought that Spider-man was a rotten idea for a superhero. He told Stan Lee that the character would fail because readers hated spiders. He changed his mind when the sales figures came in.

4 Stan Lee became Editor-in-Chief of Timely aged 18 in 1941. He stayed in the role until 1972. Timely’s first Editor-in-Chief was Joe Simon.

5 Michael Jackson once came close to owning Marvel. According to Stan Lee’s former business partner, Peter Paul – who was jailed in 2005 for stock fraud – Jackson agreed to buy Marvel on Lee’s behalf. Paul had met Lee in 1989 and had brought him onboard the American Spirit Foundation, a charitable organisation he ran with the actor James Stewart. Spotting the worth of Marvel’s superhero properties, Paul hatched a plan to bring in investors to buy Marvel and install Lee as company’s head. In 1991-92, he put together a Japanese/American investment group and approached Marvel’s Ron Perelman. with an offer to buy the company for about $28 million. Perelman decided instead to take Marvel public. Paul tried again several years later, this time lining up Jackson as an investor. Jim Salicrup, a former Marvel editor who was present at the meetings Jackson had with Lee and Paul, remembers Jackson saying to Lee: “If I buy Marvel, you’ll help me run it, won’t you?” Paul said that Marvel’s owner at the time, Ike Perlmutter, was unwilling to take less than $1 billion for the company and Jackson eventually lost interest.

Lee has a different take on Jackson’s interest in Marvel. “I had been to his place in Neverland … and he wanted to do Spider-Man,” he told MTV News in July. “I’m not sure whether he just wanted to produce it or wanted to play the role, you know? Our conversation never got that far along.” Lee said that the singer had hoped to buy the rights to Spider-man. “He thought I’d be the one who could get him the rights and I told him I couldn’t, he would have to go to the Marvel company.”

6 The Seventies Fantastic Four cartoon series was missing the Human Torch, not because NBC executives feared he would inspire children to douse themselves in petrol, strike a match and shout “flame on”, but because the rights to the character belonged to Universal Studios. Universal would not allow NBC to use the Torch so he was replaced by a cute talking robot named H.E.R.B.I.E

7 Casablanca Records helped to create the X-Men hero Dazzler. The record label, which produced hits for Cher, Donna Summer and the Village People, had approached Marvel with the idea of a Disco super-hero that they could cross promote. According to Marvel editor Louise Simonson, Casablanca said, “Hey, you make a singer and we’ll create someone to take on the persona.” However, the collaboration proved fraught and ended with both parties walking away from the deal.

8 Marvel went bankrupt in 1996. The financier Ron Perelman bought Marvel for $82.5 million in 1989, putting up $10.5 million of his own money and borrowing the rest. After taking the company public he went on a buying spree, hovering up trading card companies and taking a controlling interest in a toy company. It was a bad move – the trading card and collectible market tanked – and Marvel became swollen with debt. In 1996 Marvel missed an interest payment, putting it technically in default. Perelman offered to rescue Marvel by injecting $350 million but only if Marvel creates more shares and gives them to him. Carl Icahn, a bondholder and corporate raider, buys Marvel’s bonds and vows to block Perelman. Marvel then filed for Chapter 11 protection in the bankruptcy court.

9 Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant once worked for Marvel. Between 1975 and 1977, Tennant was an editor at Marvel’s UK division, a job that required him to anglicise American spellings and indicate when the more scantily dressed superheroines needed to be redrawn decently.

10 Disney agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in August. Fans have expressed concern that Spider-man would soon be fighting crime wearing Mickey Mouse ears.

11 The word ’sex’ was concealed in the illustrations of New X-Men issue 118 at least 18 times – one almost every page. It surreptitiously appears in hair strands, bottles of whisky, a hedge, a puddle, tree branches, protest signs and, thanks to some conveniently placed garden tools, a lawn. The book’s artist, Ethan Van Sciver, has said that he scattered the word throughout the book because Marvel was annoying him at the time and he thought it would be fun to inject a little mischief into his work. Weirdly, this was the sort of activity that the psychologist Fredric Wertham railed hysterically against in the Fifties. He thought that comics were corrupting America’s youth, with their overt and covert depictions of sex and drugs, and his book on the subject, Seduction of the Innocent, led to Senate hearings and a strict moral code being imposed on the comic industry.

12 Jack Kirby, the artist who co-created the Fantastic Four with Stan Lee, was removed from the cover of the Fantastic Four’s 20th anniversary issue. The issue’s artist, John Byrne, had originally included both Kirby and Lee among the cast of characters squeezed onto the cover but at the behest of Marvel executives Kirby was erased from the final artwork. This may have had something to do with arguments Kirby was having with Marvel at the time over the ownership of his artwork.

13 The escape artist hero of Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay is based on the Marvel artist Jim Steranko. Steranko, who memorably drew Doctor Strange and Nick Fury during the Sixties, was himself an accomplished escape artist before he joined Marvel. Chabon says that he was wrestling with how to get his Jewish hero Joe Kavalier out of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia when he started reading about Steranko’s feats during the Fifties and the solution came to him.

14 Spider-man co-creator Steve Ditko sometimes uses his original artwork as cutting boards. The comic historian Greg Theakston told the comic industry magazine Wizard that when he last visited Ditko’s studios he saw a piece of illustration board leaning against a wall that had been slashed to pieces. “He’d been using it as a cutting board. I looked a little bit closer and I detected a comics code stamp on it.” Not only was Ditko not displaying, preserving or prizing his artwork, he was using it as a cutting board. Theakston said that he quickly offered to go down to the nearest art supply store and buy Ditko “the finest cutting board on the block” but Ditko refused. Ditko then pointed to a curtain next to Theakston’s chair and asked him to lift it up. Behind it was a large stack of original artwork from Marvel. Theakston asked if he could look at them but Ditko replied no. Theakston believes the reason for Ditko’s odd behaviour lay in his bitter dispute with Marvel over who ownership of original artwork. Marvel believed that all artwork produced for its comics belonged to it but after years of fighting with its artists and the bad publicity that this was causing it decided to give the artists back their original work – but as gift. Ditko did not agree with this mock generosity.

15 The idea for Spider-man’s black costume came from a comics fan. In 1982 Marvel asked its readers for ideas for new Spider-man stories. Randy Schueller, a 22-year-old reader from Chicago, spent two weeks writing a story in which Spider-man ditches his red and blue threads for a sleek black costume. “It occurred to me that Spider-man is this character that creeps around in the shadows looking for bad guys, so why is he wearing this bright red and blue costume?” Schueller told the New York Post in 2007. “It seemed like he should have more of a stealth mode.” A few months after sending his idea to Marvel, he got a letter from Jim Shooter, Marvel’s Editor-In-Chief, offering to buy it for $220. The film Spider-man 3, which conspicuously features the black costume, made almost a billion dollars at the box office.

16 The Spider-man villain Venom was originally supposed to be a woman, not the Daily Bugle journalist Eddie Brock. Venom’s creator, David Michelinie, said that woman was heavily pregnant and on her way to hospital when a cab driver, distracted by a fight between Spider-man and some super goon in the sky above, accidentally runs over her husband in front of her, causing her to go into labour. She loses the baby and goes crazy as a result. The black alien costume that Spider-man had tried to destroy several issues before because it was taking control of his mind seeks her out and bonds with her. Although Spider-man editor Jim Salicrup liked the idea of an “evil Spider-man”, he did not think a woman could be a credible threat to the hero. Michelinie then came up with the idea of Eddie Brock.

The question of who created Venom, one of Spider-man’s most iconic foes, has been fiercely contested over the years. Michelinie has taken exception to claims that he co-created the villain with artist Todd McFarlane. McFarlane did the art for Michelinie’s Amazing Spider-man plots during the late Eighties, including Venom’s first appearance, issue 298, March 1988. In 1993 Michelinie wrote a letter to Wizard in response to an article that referred to him as the co-creator of Venom. He said that he was Venom’s sole creator, although he accepted that without McFarlane Venom would not have been the success that he was.

However, not long after McFarlane’s successor on Amazing Spider-man, Erik Larsen, disputed Michelinie’s version of events in a letter to Wizard. He said that Michelinie had swiped the alien costume and its powers and simply placed them on a poorly conceived and one-dimensional character. It took an artist of McFarlane’s calibre to make Venom commercial. (Larsen himself added several characteristics to Venom, including the monstrous tongue and drool.)

In 2004 McFarlane admitted that Michelinie had indeed come up with the idea of Venom and the character’s basic design – “a big guy in the black costume” – but that it was he who gave Venom his monster-like features: “I just wanted to make him kooky and creepy, and not just some guy in a black suit.”

17 The Hulk that appeared in the classic TV series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno was almost made red in colour. In an interview with film website IGN, the show’s executive producer, Kenneth Johnson, said: “I asked Stan Lee, ‘Man, what’s the logic of green? Is he the envious Hulk? Is he green with envy or jealousy?’ The colour of rage is red, which I was pushing for because it’s a real human colour – you know, when people get flushed with anger.” Lee told him that the Hulk had in fact started out grey but due to problems with colour separation, grey would simply not print the same way each time. “Our printer came to us and said we can do a pretty consistent green, so we decided to go with green,” Lee said. Thus the Hulk was coloured green from issue two of the Incredible Hulk onwards, although without any explanation. On hearing this, Johnson remembers telling Lee: “That’s not really very organic! But that was a battle I could not win. I couldn’t make the Hulk red because he was just too iconic already in the comic books.”

18 One change Johnson did get to make was to the name of the Hulk’s alter ego, Bruce Banner. He switched it to David Banner because of his antipathy towards alliterative names, not because, as some fans had claimed, he thought the name Bruce sounded too gay. “I don’t recall feeling that way at the time, because Bruce Wayne was a pretty straight guy. But it was more the alliteration that bothered me, the Lois Lane, Clark Kent, that sort of thing. I was trying to get as far away from the comic book origins as I possibly could. Virtually the only thing I kept from the comic book were gamma rays, the green Hulk and the metamorphosis. When you put somebody into a story whose name is Bruce Banner, it just immediately starts to sound comic booky, and I was very anxious to attract an adult audience because I knew that we could not have a hit show if we just had kids watching us.”

19 This was not the first time Banner’s name was changed. For a short period Lee himself accidentally started calling him Bob Banner. At the time Lee was juggling dozens of titles and often had difficulty keeping track of all the characters he was writing. He said that alliterative names made them easier to remember. However, he did slip up from time to time, most noticeably in Fantastic Four 25, where he introduced the Hulk as Bob Banner. Marvel’s ever-vigilant fans did not shy away from pointing out his mistake and in the letters page three issues later, Lee responded in true showman style: “There’s only one thing to do – we’re not going to take the cowardly way out. From now on his name is Robert Bruce Banner – so we can’t go wrong no matter WHAT we call him!”

20 ‘She Hulk’ was Stan Lee’s last major creation for Marvel. The female version of Marvel’s grumpy green giant first appeared in Savage She Hulk No 1 in February 1980. By that time Lee had retired as Marvel’s Editor-In-Chief and was the company’s frontman in Hollywood but he returned to the bullpen one last time and, with artist John Buscema, produced another winning hero. But the origins of the character more to do with trademark issues than Lee’s need to get behind the typewriter. Because the Incredible Hulk TV series airing at the time was a hit, Marvel knew that it wouldn’t be long before the show’s executives started pitching a female Hulk, after the manner of the Bionic Woman TV show. To make sure it owned the rights to any such character, it had to act fast and publish a She Hulk comic straight away. As Buscema said: “They were protecting themselves.”

21 Captain America’s shield changed shape because of legal fears. When the sentinel of liberty first appeared in March 1941 in Captain America Comics No 1, his shield was not the familiar disc shape it is now but a heraldic edged shield, of the sort knights would carry. However, this shield was similar to the one that appeared on the chest of a patriotic superhero produced by rival comic publisher MLJ. The Shield, by Harry Shorten and Irv Novick, had been entertaining readers for a year before Joe Simon and Jack Kirby came up with the idea of Captain America so when MLJ’s bosses saw the new hero they made their objections plain. Timely, as Marvel was known then, did not put up a fight and ordered Simon and Kirby to change the shield.

22 The mayor of New York personally promised to protect Simon and Kirby from death threats after Captain America Comics appeared, although this had nothing to do with legal threats from MLJ. The first issue showed Cap punching Hitler on the kisser, the second had him smacking the Fuhrer with his trusty shield. The books were a hit, but not with America’s isolationists and Nazi sympathisers, and America was not yet at war with Germany. Simon, who was like Kirby Jewish, says in his autobiography: “Hitler was a marvellous foil; a ranting maniac … [but] no matter how hard we tried to make him a threatening force, Adolf invariably wound up as a buffoon – a clown. Evidently, this infuriated a lot of Nazi sympathisers. There was a substantial population of anti-war activists in the country. ‘American Firsters’ and other non-interventionist groups were well-organised. Then there was the German American Bund. They were all over the place, heavily financed and effective in spewing their propaganda of hate; a fifth column of Americans following the Third Reich party line. We were inundated with a torrent of raging hate mail and vicious, obscene telephone calls. The theme was ‘death to the Jews’. At first we were inclined to laugh off their threats but people in the office reported seeing menacing-looking groups of strange men in front of the building and some of the employees were fearful of leaving the office for lunch. We reported the threats to the police department and the result was a police guard on regular shifts patrolling the halls and office. No sooner than the men in blue arrived than the woman at the telephone switchboard signalled me excitedly. ‘There’s a man on the phone says he’s Mayor La Guardia. He wants to speak to the editor of Captain America Comics.’ I was incredulous as I picked up the phone but there was no mistaking the shrill voice. ‘You boys over there are doing a good job,’ the voice squeaked, ‘The City of New York will see that no harm will come to you.’ I thanked him.”

23 Marvel came up with the Transformer names Optimus Prime and Megatron. In the early Eighties the toy manufacturer Hasbro asked Marvel for help with its new action figure line, Transformers. The robots that disguised themselves as cars and planes were Japanese in origin and needed new names and backgrounds. Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter and writers Denny O’Neil and Bob Budiansky were given the task. In an interview in 2004 Budiansky said: “Shooter and O’Neil came up with the backstory. Shooter brought me in when most of the initial names and at least some of the character profiles were rejected by Hasbro. For whatever reason, Denny declined to revise them. So, facing an imminent deadline, Shooter scoured the Marvel editorial offices looking for someone who could write at least basic English. The first few Marvel editors Shooter approached, all with more writing experience than me, wanted nothing to do with Transformers. I was probably Shooter’s third or fourth choice. I turned around the revisions over a couple of days – right before Thanksgiving of 1983 – and Hasbro was very pleased with what I wrote. I renamed most of the characters – Optimus Prime was Denny’s, Megatron was mine – and revised some character profiles.”

24 Marvel once owned the rights to the word zombie. As improbable as it sounds, Marvel attempted to trademark the word zombie in comic book titles after publishing Tale of the Zombie in 1973. By the time the trademark was approved two years later, the series was coming to an end. Marvel lost the trademark in 1996 but it wasn’t long before it was once again trademarking the armies of the undead, registering the words Marvel Zombies to protect its comic series of the same name. With DC, Marvel also trademarked the phrase ‘Super Hero’.

25 Marvel has attracted some of the hottest writers in Hollywood. Among those who have penned its superhero adventures are: the indie director Kevin Smith, who had Stan Lee appear in his film Mallrats; OC and Sex and the City script writer Allan Heinberg; Lost writers and producers Brian K Vaughan and Damon Lindelof; Heroes producer and Teenwolf creator Jeph Loeb; and Babylon Five creator and Changeling writer J Michael Stracynski.

26 The writer Tom Wolfe once appeared in the pages of the Incredible Hulk. The author of Bonfire of the Vanities was a great admirer of Marvel and had even made reference to its hero magician Dr Strange in his 1968 book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Three years later Marvel returned the favour by adapting his short story Those Radical Chic Evenings for the Hulk. In Radical Chic Wolfe tears into New York’s white liberal elite for espousing radical causes they didn’t actually believe in. In issue 142 of the Hulk, titled They Shoot Hulks, Don’t They?, the writer Roy Thomas took the premise and, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, ran with it. He has a rich couple from New York host a fund-raising party for the Hulk so he can buy a place of his own. In doing so they upset their feminist daughter who had wanted them to host a party for women’s rights. One of the Hulk’s villains appears and gives the girl superpowers so she can beat up the Hulk in the name of feminism (the book’s cover shows the girl holding a defeated Hulk above her head and shouting to the world: “Every male chauvinist pig will tremble when he sees the Hulk thrown to his death – by a woman!”). Wolfe himself appears at the fundraising party in his trademark white suit.

27 Daredevil/Matt Murdock once pretended to his own twin brother to get out of a tight spot. The introduction of Mike Murdock, the swinging hipster who was guaranteed never miss a party – or your money back!, injected an element of cornball comedy into the pages of Daredevil. When Matt’s legal partner and secretary, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, accuse him of being Daredevil, Matt is forced to come up with a plausible excuse. He can’t so he makes up a story about a twin brother no one has ever heard of. Foggy and Karen then demand to see this mystery brother… Uh oh! Matt does a quick change several panels later and Mike Murdock’s makes his big debut at the office. “What’s Matt doing with those loud clothes – and sun-glasses?” gasps Karen. “Say! Wait a minute! Foggy! That … that isn’t Matt Murdock!”

The lounge lizard replies: “You can say that again, doll! Ol’ Matt’s the one with the brains – but I’m the family pussycat! The name’s Mike, gang – and try not to applaud – I’m almost as shy as I am glamorous! Say! No wonder Matthew likes working here! Any more at home like you, baby?”

Mike hangs around for a few issues – wearing pork pie hats, laying cheesy lines on Karen and living it up in ways the square Matt Murdock couldn’t possibly imagine – but the strain of living two secret lives takes a toll on Matt and the character is quietly brushed aside.

28 One of the heroes in the Eighties cartoon series Spider-man and his Amazing Friends was created from scratch because of licensing issues. The original plan was for Spider-man to have Iceman and the Human Torch as teammates but because the Human Torch was still wrapped up with Universal, the producers created Firestar instead. Marvel soon made her a part of its comic universe and gave her a starring role in its New Warriors book.

29 Paul Simon wrote the lyrics and theme song to the Sixties Spider-man cartoon as a favour to head of the ABC network. Because he didn’t want to be associated with kiddie material, he asked that the music be credited to his old stage name, Jerry Landis. Spider-man’s pop pedigree is set to continue next year in the Broadway musical Spider-man: Turn Out the Dark, with Bono and The Edge providing the music and lyrics.

30 Tobey Maguire wasn’t the first actor to play Spider-man on screen. Between 1977 and 1979 CBS aired a live-action Spider-man TV series with Nicholas Hammond in the title role.

31 The line most associated with the Hulk TV series, “Don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry”, appears in both the 2003 and 2008 Hulk films, although in the latter it is played for laughs. When Edward Norton, as Bruce Banner, is surrounded by a group of Brazilian thugs, he tries to warn them off with some very ropey Portugese: “Don’t make me hungry, you wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry.”

32 Samuel L Jackson makes a surprise appearance in Iron Man after the end credits have rolled. He plays the one-eyed, Government super-spook Nick Fury and tells the newly outed Iron Man that he’s putting together a team. Fans drool in anticipation at the hinted Avengers movie.

33 The strip Stan Lee is most proud of is the one he wrote for the Incredible Hulk/Spider-man toilet paper.

34 Artist John Romita Jr based the Daredevil villain Typhoid Mary on his ex-wife.

35 Artist Dave Cockrum’s resignation letter to Marvel surreptitiously appeared in Iron Man No 127. In the issue, Tony Stark’s butler, Jarvis, resigns after a drunk and out of control Stark verbally abuses. The letter reads:

Anthony Stark,

I am leaving because this is no longer the team-spirited “one big happy family” I once loved working for. Over the past year or so I have watched Avengers’ morale disintegrate to the point that, rather than being a team or a family, it is now a large collection of unhappy individuals simmering in their own personal stew of repressed anger, resentment and frustration. I have seen a lot of my friends silently enduring unfair, malicious or vindictive treatment.

My personal grievances are relatively slight by comparison to some, but I don’t intend to silently endure. I’ve watched the Avengers be disbanded, uprooted and shuffled around. I’ve become firmly convinced that this was done with the idea of “showing the hired help who’s Boss”.

I don’t intend to wait around to see what’s next.

Three issues later Iron Man’s writer, David Michelinie, explained to readers that this was the not the letter Jarvis had intended to write and that due to a production error the wrong text had been published. The letter that appeared was none other than Cockrum’s own resignation letter, only someone had swapped “Marvel” for “Avengers”.

36 One of the X-Men was killed off because Marvel’s Editor-In-Chief at the time didn’t think she should get away with eating a planet. Jean Grey was never supposed to die at the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga but when Jim Shooter saw that she had annihilated a planet in one of the issues he ordered the writer Chris Claremont to change the ending.

37 Stan Lee came up with the idea of a superhero version of Thor while wrestling with problem of how to create a character that was stronger than the Hulk. He decided that the only solution was to make his new hero a god so he went delving into Norse mythology to find a suitable candidate.

38 Wolverine was created as a punching bag for the Hulk. He was introduced in issue 180 of the Incredible Hulk as a pint-sized Canadian superhero charged with bringing the Hulk down. The book’s writer Len Wein created Wolverine with artist John Romita and although Wolvie is different from the lone brawler he is now, many of his trademark characteristics appear in the issue: the claws, the rough temperament, the yellow and blue costume and the strange mask with pointy ears. Although he was a secondary character, Wein thought he would be able to use him again in the revived X-Men book he was planning.

39 Captain America made a brief return to comics 1953 as a “Commie Smasher”. The hero was retired in 1950 but he was brought back to purge America of Reds and traitors in the pages of Young Men Comics, just as the country was coming to terms with the horrors of McCarthyism. The Red-bashing adventures did not last long and when Marvel revived Captain America again in 1964, it forgot the embarrassing Fifties, and created a story that he had lain frozen in ice since the end of the Second World War.

40 Sylvester Stallone’s ex-wife Brigitte Nielsen was to appear in a movie version of She Hulk. Although the film never got off the ground, Marvel did get as far as taking pictures of Nielsen dressed as She Hulk.

41 Marvel was the first comic company to give a black superhero his own comic book. Created by Archie Goodwin and John Romita, Luke Cage was a streetwise hero whose skin was as hard as steel. He made his first appearance in Luke Cage: Hero for Hire No 1 in June 1972 and was clearly an attempt by Marvel to cash in on the popular Blaxpoitation genre.

42 He was not, however, Marvel’s first black superhero – that title belongs to the Black Panther, who first appeared in 1966 in Fantastic Four No 52. Although born in the same year, the Black Panther has no connection to the militant Black Panther Party. However, it what seems like a clumsy attempt to distance the character from the party, Marvel briefly changed his name to the Black Leopard in the early Seventies. The first African-American superhero was the Falcon, who first appeared in Captain America No 117 in 1969.

43 Stan Lee sued Marvel. Lee filed a $10 million lawsuit against his employer in 2002, saying it had cheated him out of millions of dollars. He claimed that Marvel had signed a deal giving him 10 per cent of any profits made from films and TV shows that used his characters. Marvel settled the suit. Last month the children of the late Jack Kirby, who created the Fantastic Four and scores of other superhero titles with Lee, began a legal fight with Marvel and Disney to recapture the copyright to Kirby’s creations.

44 A Fantastic Four film exists that is so terrible it will never reach a screen. In 1992 the production company Constantin Film was in danger of losing the film rights to the Fantastic Four unless it started production on the movie by the end of the year. Lacking the $40 million it needed to make a full-budget film, it turned to low-budget movie supremo Roger Corman for help. He spent just $1.98 million to crank a quickie Fantastic Four movie. Constantin never intended to release the film but it never told the director or the actors this. “Oh, that was a tragic event. I feel so sorry for the people involved,” Stan Lee remembered years later. “The director really tried his best, and so did the actors. They all thought that this was their big chance. But the movie was never supposed to be seen. Most people thought, “Jesus, what a terrible job that is! How corny! How cheap!” They didn’t realize that it wasn’t meant to be any better than that. Unfortunately, the people working on the project didn’t know that, and they tried their best. Really, I feel so bad for all of them.” Other low-budget Marvel misfires include the 1989 Punisher film starring Dolph Lundgren and the 1990 Captain America film – starring no one you’ve ever heard of.

45 Death in the Marvel Universe has to be by the rules. In the preface to the Marvel Universe Book of the Dead, editor Mark Grunewald touches on the phenomenon of dead heroes and villains miraculously coming back to life. “Characters such as Doctor Doom have made it their stock in trade to escape one seeming death after another,” he writes. He handily draws up a rough guide to sorting out the fake deaths from the real ones. For a death to be real it has to take place in the comic panel, and not simply referred to in dialogue. The remains must be seen by two qualified witnesses and must be destroyed – burial is not enough in a universe where zombies and vampires exist. Of course all these rules have been wilfully ignored by writers at some time or another. The other abiding rule of the Marvel Universe was that Captain America’s sidekick, Bucky, and Spider-man’s uncle, Ben, had to stay dead. This rule has also been broken.

46 Marvel is home to the first openly gay superhero. Northstar, a French-Canadian mutant, came out in Alpha Flight No 106 in 1992.

47 Daredevil artist Wally Wood once corrupted the morals of Mickey Mouse. Wood, who came up with Daredevil’s signature red costume, also drew the Disneyland Memorial Orgy, which shows Disney favourites engaged in some very unDisney activities. Dumbo has never looked so shocked.

48 Stan Lee officiated at Spider-man’s wedding. In 1987 Marvel decided to let Peter Parker get hitched to his model girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson. The event took place in Amazing Spider-man Annual No 21 and, bizarrely, in real life at the Shea Stadium in New York with Lee presiding. You can see footage of the ceremony here. Although the marriage generated the publicity Marvel hoped it would, later writers and editors rued the event, believing a married Peter Parker limited them creatively. They eventually got round the marriage in 2007 by having the devil Mephisto erase it from everyone’s memory – the ctrl alt delete approach to storytelling.

49 Steve Ditko was sharing a studio with the fetish artist Eric Stanton when he came up with the designs for Spider-man’s costume and webbing. Before fetish fans get excited and moralists over flow with outrage, Stanton has said that his influence on Ditko’s designs was “almost nil”. Still, there’s something kinky about that mask.

50 Barack Obama appeared on the cover of Amazing Spider-man No 583 in celebration of his inauguration but he is not the first US president to feature in a Marvel comic. His predecessor, George W. Bush, turned up to congratulate Captain America in The Ultimates while Jimmy Carter appealed to the Avengers for help in Uncanny X-Men No 135 after a super-villain destroyed a swanky part of down-town New York. The most controversial presidential appearance was one made by Richard Nixon. In Captain America No 175, published a month before Nixon resigned the presidency, the Cap uncovers the identity of a high-ranking government official who has been directing an evil plot to enslave America. On being exposed, the villain kills himself infront of the Cap. We never see his face, nor is he explicitly named but it is clear that the villain is Nixon. The comic’s writer, Steve Englehart, recalled: “America was moving from the Vietnam War toward the specific crimes of Watergate. I was writing a man who believed in America’s highest ideals at a time when America’s President was a crook. I could not ignore that. And so, in the Marvel Universe, which so closely resembled our own, Cap followed a criminal conspiracy into the White House and saw the President commit suicide.”

51 Spider-man once went on a double date with Superman. Marvel and DC decided to put their flagship characters together for the first time in the 1976 special Superman v Amazing Spider-man. Although the two heroes joined forces to battle the combined villainy of their nemeses, they did spent a fair amount of the comic knocking each other about. Both won a round each but this being comics, friendship was declared the eventual winner. The two defeated their foes and celebrated by going on a double date with Lois Lane and Mary-Jane. Superman and Spider-man crossed paths again in 1981, when Superman was clobbered by the Hulk, but the ultimate cross-universe slug-fest was the 1996 series DC v Marvel Comics, in which reader votes determined the outcome of the fights.

52 The Comics Code Authority forbade the use of werewolves in comics so Marvel writers had to come up with ingenious ways of including the classic villain archetype. For X-Men No 60 (1969) Roy Thomas and Neal Adams created Sauron, a were–pterodactyl to get round the code.

53 The final issue of Captain America Comics didn’t feature even feature Captain America. By 1950 the title was known as Captain America’s Weird Tales and bore little resemblance to the sentinel of liberty’s first adventures. The final issue, No 75, contained four horror stories: Hoof Prints of Doom, A Cigarette Stamped Death, The Thing in the Chest and The Bat!

54 Spider-man got his very own car, the Spider-Mobile, as a result of merchandising deal between Marvel and Corona Motors. The ludicrous beach buggy, which was eventually modified to imitate Spidey’s powers, made its debut in Amazing Spider-man No 130 in 1974. Shamelessly, the issue features Corona Motors offering Spidey a lot of loot to endorse a new non-polluting car it has developed. A few issues later he ditched the buggy into the river.

55 Mario Puzo, the author of The Godfather, found writing comics too difficult. Before he found fame as a novelist, Puzo eked a living writing for men’s adventure magazines for Marvel’s publisher. Short of cash one month he asked Stan Lee if he could try his hand writing a comic script. Lee readily agreed but Puzo couldn’t deliver the goods. “He said it was too difficult,” Lee recounts in his autobiography. Puzo told him: “I could write a novel in the time it would take me to figure this damn thing out.” Puzo did eventually crack the superhero nut, writing the screenplays for the first two Superman movies.

56 The X-Men comic was originally going to be titled The Mutants but Marvel publisher Martin Goodman hated the name, telling Lee that readers would be clueless as to what a mutant was. Lee says that the new name came from the fact that the heroes had extra powers.

57 Stan Lee was prepared to cancel Daredevil if there was any hint the book caused offence to blind people.

58 Terminator director James Cameron tried to make a Spider-man film in the Nineties but was frustrated by a complicated rights battle between studios over who owned the character. However, his idea to have Spidey’s webs shoot out of him organically was kept in the 2002 film made by Sam Raimi.

59 In Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-Enforcement Division. In the Iron Man movie the awkward acronym is changed to the similarly preposterous Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.

60 Readers who alerted Marvel to mistakes in their comics were awarded a No-Prize. This would be empty envelope sent back to the reader on which would be written: “Congratulations! This envelope contains a genuine Marvel Comics No-Prize, which you have just won!” The No-Prize has become a much sought-after item for fans.

61 Spider-man revealed his identity to the world in 2006. As part of the huge Marvel crossover series Civil War in which secret identities are banned Spidey is forced to unmask himself in front of TV cameras. Everything goes back to normal a year later after The Devil magically erases everyone’s memories.

62 One of the first superhero graphic novels was The Silver Surfer (1978), by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

63 Stan Lee and Jack Kirby often appeared as themselves in the Fantastic Four. They first did so in issue No 10 in 1963, which established that they were producing the comic as a newsletter to recount the heroes’ ‘real’ adventures. Artist and writer John Byrne revived the conceit 20 years later by inserting himself into his own story, The Trial of Galactus.

64 The Fantastic Four is never short of surreal moments. The second issue of the comic set the tone when the team hypnotises an invading army of shape-shifting aliens into beginning life anew as cows.

65 Britain got its own team of Marvel superheroes with Excalibur. The comic made its debut in 1987 and featured Captain Britain alongside former X-Men Nightcrawler and Shadowcat. Marvel’s presence in Britain stretched back to 1972, when it set up Marvel UK to reprint its American stories for the weekly British comic market. Captain Britain was created in 1976 by Chris Claremont and Herbe Trimpe specifically for British readers.

66 Fantasy author Neil Gaiman transported the Marvel Universe to the Elizabethan Age in his acclaimed series Marvel 1602. The Fantastic Four were reimagined as a group of sea-faring explorers and the X-Men’s arch-enemy Magneto was depicted as a leading member of the Spanish Inquisition.

67 Luke Skywalker saved Spider-man. Marvel’s comic book adaptation of Star Wars in 1977 was a runaway success and the only highlight of very dismal sales year for Marvel. Roy Thomas, who wrote the adaptation, has said that Marvel almost lost the chance to do the comic series because Stan Lee, Marvel’s then publisher, wasn’t interested in the idea of doing adaptations of other people’s work. “Stan whose memory about such matters is generally just this side of amnesiac, has since said since that he was sold on the idea the second time around because Alec Guinness was starring in it,” Thomas said. “Still, adapting a movie into a comic because Alec Guinness was in it would hardly have been a logical move. His name had no marquee value to Marvel’s readers.”

68 Stan Lee wanted to play Jonah J Jameson in Canon Films’s abortive late Eighties Spider-man movie project but did not get his wish. He has, however, appeared in almost all of Marvel’s movies since 2000. His last cameo role, in Iron Man, saw him surrounded by Penthouse pets.

69 Wolverine’s origin story was kept a mystery for 26 years. Most superhero comics deal with origin stories in the first few issues but Wolverine was different. His writers fed readers only snippets of his past – he fought in the Second World War, sinister government scientists erased his memories and covered his bones with an indestructible metal alloy, he may have been the first mutant, his real name is not Logan but James – but these served only to make him mysterious. Marvel eventually relented to fan pressure in 2001 and published Wolverine Origin. The series is set in late 19th century and tells the story of a servant girl who befriends a frail, pampered boy from a rich family. After a series of Bronte-like tragedies, the boy eventually turns into the rough, beer-swilling clawed killer fans know and love.

70 Stan Lee has trademarked his catchphrase “Excelsior!”

Answer: * The theme to the Spider-man cartoon was in fact written by Bob Harris and the Academy Award-winning lyricist Paul Francis Webster. Unfortunately Webster didn’t win any awards for “Spider-man, Spider-man, does whatever a spider can”.

A stroll down nostalgia lane today as I came away with a veritable treasure trove of iconic childhood memories… and best of all it cost me nothing. We traded in some old Life Magazine coffee table books and in exchange received portals into worlds of mystery, magic, and wonder.

With the flick of the web and the pounce of a hero, Sony Pictures unleashes Marvel Comics prime creation, Spiderman into a multiplex near you.

“Spider-Man” debuted in August 1962 in Amazing Fantasy #15 and launched a new kind of superhero. This new kind of superhero was a teenager who had typical human problems and was always influenced by the world around him. This hero was a more realistic version than heroes before him.

Spider-Man was the brainchild of Stan Lee and famed comic artist Steve Ditko. Amazing Fantasy #15 eventually went on to become one of the greatest comics of all time.

In its comic book infancy, Spider-Man was never a sure thing a lot like the new feature film that is about to hit theatres around the globe. It has taken over a decade to bring the Marvel’s prime creation to the silver screen. It wasn’t until the character rights surfaced from legal battles that the film was finally green-lit.

The new feature film that stars Tobey Maguire (Cider House Rules) as Spider-Man’s alter ego Peter Parker is accidentally bitten by a “genetically-altered” spider while on a class field trip. This small insect bite revolutionizes Peter’s life.

Peter finds himself invigorated by the bite as he is able to make a mark in his world. But no matter how hard he struggles with his new identity, Peter can never quite get up enough nerve to ask out the girl of his dreams, Mary-Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst).

Years go by and Peter eventually moves to the “City” and moves in with his friend and millionaire offspring Harry Osborn (James Franco).

Meanwhile Harry and Peter start to see significant changes in Harry’s father, Norman (Willem Dafoe) as a sinister armored man, dubbed the Green Goblin, starts terrorizing New York. Spider-Man is forced to confront this fiend when he targets people Peter cares about.

“Spider-Man” has all the elements of a great superhero film and a summer blockbuster. Just while I was watching it I couldn’t help but feel there was something missing within this new version of our favorite “webhead”.

The beginning and first half of Spider-Man is literally ripped right from that infamous Amazing Fantasy #15 and it made my adrenaline surge. I loved watching Tobey Maguire’s looks and eye movements during the scenes where he explores his new powers.

It was a great performance and encompassed the character to perfection. I could see what director Sam Raimi saw in Tobey. The wrestling match and the field trip were all great scenes. They were always what I imagined when reading the origins of Spider-Man.

I loved that they maintained to the classic look of Spider-Man’s costume but why make the Green Goblin look like a “Transformers” robot. I found it hard to relate to the villain because of that armored look. I would have liked to have seen him have prosthetics on his face as he goes insane (ala the Joker in the 1989’s Batman).

And have them maintain the green and purple style costume so loved in the comics. Since we can’t see either hero or villain’s mouth or eyes when they fight it kind of reminded me of those old Japanese monster films. You know the ones with the rubber suits. Maybe that was just me.

My problems and feelings of something that is missing occur when the film brings the characters to New York. I felt something was missing as they try to bring the worlds of Peter, Mary-Jane and the Osborn’s. I really liked how they portrayed Peter and how he eventually got a job at the Daily Bugle. The whole portrayal and handling of J. Jonah Jameson was brilliant. But the other stories really never did much for me except for Dafoe’s performance as the stressed out, secret hiding Norman Osborn.

As I thought more and more about what was wrong with the whole film I came to the conclusion was that the film doesn’t have a constant cohesion as it evolves.

The textures and tone of the film as it follows Peter’s life seem to be slightly off key. The feel of the second half of the film is much darker and grittier than the first half except when Spider-Man is swinging.

The final fight scene and eventual film ending is very dark and cryptic which made me wonder why leave a film on a down note even if it is a set-up for a sequel.

I enjoyed Spider-Man to a point but I guess I was disappointed because they stuck so realistically and loyal to the comic until the second half. I wish this adaptation would have maintained what it set out to do in the first half.

4 out of 5

So Says the Soothsayer.

By Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Tim Levins & Lee Garbett (pencillers), Dan Davis, Aaron Sowd & Trevor Scott (inkers), Harvey Richards (assistant editor), Michael Siglain (editor)

The Story: As always, Miller makes his themes (in this case, the title “Field Test”) do double duty. Stephanie Brown is field testing her new high-tech Batgirl costume. Barbara Gordon is helping monitor the suit while giving advice, but when she has to deal with something, Batgirl herself is field tested against someone well out of her league.

What’s Good: If there’s one issue that can vouch for Miller’s writing, it’s Batgirl #4. The plotting and thematic ideas are always tight, but my hat remains off on his character work. His characters are just fun to follow. The back and forth between Barbara and Stephanie is solid, as Miller packs his dialogue with personality. Stephanie’s running self-deprecation could get tiresome in another character, but when put together with her natural exuberance and fun, it works, with lines like “And this Batgirl doesn’t sing – not in front of people anyway” and “I’m almost fifty percent sure nothing could go wrong.” I’m also waiting to see where this romantic tension between Batgirl and the young detective is going to go.

Art team has changed a bit. Tim Levins has replaced Scott and Hope in the driver seat with Lee Garbett. The art is clear, the expressions tell the story and the poses are more natural. The layouts also seem to be evolving positively. The final battle page between Batgirl and the villain is a funny and well-told stack of panels.

What’s Not So Good: The superhero skeleton of the story is nothing original. Batgirl’s encounter with this super-villainess is pretty forgettable, but I’m wondering if the search for something truly field-expanding is what Batgirl readers are looking for when they buy this book. Would something truly original to the field (think the teen angst of Lee/Ditko Spiderman, the gritty noir of Miller’s Daredevil or the soap opera of Claremont’s X-Men) fit within a book whose focus is the fun of watching a flighty, occasionally quixotic teenager turn herself into a real superhero? But if ground-breaking work is not in Batgirl’s future, will the series survive? Sales estimates for issue #3 from Diamond are around 37,000, which is pretty respectable for a new book, so Michael Siglain has some flex before making any serious decisions, but Miller has got some work ahead of him to convince readers that Stephanie Brown matters, without losing the fun of what makes her great.

Conclusion: Batgirl is an entertaining book and very accessible to the new reader. This is what mainstream comics do well. But I hope that Batgirl does not get lost behind a lot of other books that are also delivering mainstream stories.

Grade: C+

-DS Arsenault

Rachel McAdams o Romola Garai

‘Spiderman’ busca a su Gata Negra

LOS ANGELES, 10 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS)

Sam Raimi está ultimando el reparto de ”Spiderman 4”. Con Tobey Maguire y Kirsten Dunst confirmados para el regreso del hombre-araña a al gran pantalla, ahora el director busca a la actriz ideal para encarnar a la Gata Negra. Dos son las candidatas: Rachel McAdams y Romola Garai.

Varios medios de Hollywood dieron por segura la incorporación de de Rachel McAdams, a la que pronto veremos en el nuevo Sherlock Holmes junto a Robert Downey Jr. y Jude Law, a la saga de Spiderman. Según se rumorea la actriz ya se habría reunido con los productores de la saga para hablar sobre su papel de Felicia Hardy, alias la Gata Negra.

Pero las alarmas han saltado al leer lo que la actriz Romola Garai (Expiación. Más allá de la pasión, Scoop), ha publicado en ‘The Observer’ detalles sobre su audición para un papel en la franquicia de Spiderman. “El amor es la raíz de todo lo bueno que ha sucedido y que sucederá”, esta es la frase que Romola tuvo que decir mirando a cámara y subiendo unas escaleras mecánicas de metro en el Oxford Circus.

Una enigmática frase que abre el casting sobre la Gata Negra. Aunque también hay quien va más allá y apunta a un posible relevo de Kirsten Dunst en el papel de Mary Jane. Sea como fuere, todavía habrá que esperar un poco para que se desvelen todas las incógnitas que Raimi todavía mantiene sobre la cuarta entrega de Spiderman, cuya llegada a los cines esta prevista para mayo de 2011.

It’s been a while since I started this blog and, let’s be frank, I’ve made a lot of promises, making good on some, and completely neglecting to fulfill others. One of these promises I made in writing the mission statement to this blog, “A Gentleman’s Mission,” and also in writing the very subtitle you see at the top of this blog everyday. That is, I have called this a blog with a focus on three things: Music, Food & Drink, and Literature. This is not to say that what I have written is without any literary merit, but, really, it has had nothing to do with literature. So today that changes, with a new feature I would like to call, “Booked Solid”.

Dedicated to the books that grab your attention and keep it, until you’re (drum roll…) Booked Solid (rim shot!), Booked Solid is about the paper snacks you devour in one sitting, the modest meals you finish in a matter of days, or the banquets upon which you feast for weeks, even months. Any book that consumes, and is in turn consumed, is one worthy of Booked Solid.

The first installment: Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

One of three covers for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

Michael Chabon, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and all-around whiz kiz whose masters thesis was immediately published upon his graduation and revered as a nifty slice of genius, is, by all accounts, a damn good writer. Kavalier & Clay is no exception.

Widely considered Chabon’s masterpiece, the novel follows the lives to two fictitious characters, Sammy Klayman, a Jewish Brooklynite with big dreams and bigger stories, and Joseph Kavalier, Sammy’s cousin, a Czech-born artist who “immigrates” (you will see just what I mean) to the U.S. in search of modest success and the money necessary to help his family escape from Nazi-occupied Prague, as they both attempt to realize a dream in a very real time. Including encounters with notable celebrities like Orson Wells, Salvador Dali, Stan Lee and Max Baer, the novel is steeped with the perils and privileges of American Pop Culture, laden with themes of bigotry, Pre and Post-War America, homosexuality, the American Dream, and packed so full of substance you can almost feel all 700+ pages struggling to rip themselves from their binding.

This is, indisputably, a book for the ages and destined to be viewed as one of the greatest novels of the 21st century. It may be long, but it sucks you in, destroys your sense of time, and ushers you along on an incredible journey through a remarkable era, one of the Second World War and the Golden Age of comic books. Each read is consistently satisfying and joyful, rife with Chabon’s exceptional wit, dazzling turns of phrase and seemingly limitless vocabulary.

I implore you to set aside some time, get comfortable, lay down with this and really, really book yourself. While, to many including myself, this book will be seen, and hefted, as quite an undertaking, getting to know these magnificent characters, the world in which they live, and accompanying them on their amazing adventures (pun intended) is, in a massive understatement, time well booked.

You have to stay up really late to catch this one on “Game Show Network. “  View a bigger version here.

P.S. You don’t even want to know the strangest place Dr. Zola has ever made whoopee.

A pouco tempo descobri um herói do qual gostava muito mas não tinha muito conhecimento sobre, apenas da “divindade cósimica” da qual ele representava.

“Nota do autor e editor: Não gosto de recorrer ao Wikipédia para desenvolver um post, mas o tamanho imenso com o qual o post se finalizaria, foi dividido em 2 partes, para a leitura não ficar cansativa. A primeira parte, retratando da primeira aparição dele, a segunda parte, a sua revista solo e recomendações. Espero que LEIAM e se interessem, por isso estou aqui.”

O  Surfista Prateado

O Surfista Prateado tem uma trama triste e reflexiva para com os padrões e hábitos terrestres, dentro deles, a destruição do meio-ambiente, a discrimanação e etc.
Stan Lee enquadrou toda a melancolia de um amor galático impossível ambientado em um planeta longíquo muito semelhante ao nosso planeta Terra.

O ano é 1966, um pequeno lanchinho entre Stan Lee e Jack Kirby resulta em varias questões de como seria a nova empreitada do Quarteto fantástico nas suas revistas mensais, que já contava com seus tão famosos e rotineiros vilões; Dr.Destino, Toupeira, Namor e por aí vai.

A vontade de jogar a familia fantástica em algo grandioso, maior do que todas as passadas, foi algo trabalhoso e difícil de se idealizar.

A nova proposta da dupla era ultrapassar qualquer tipo de barreira em questões de vilânia; Não poderia ser um simples homem, alguma raça alienígena ou um grupo de super-vilões, mas sim um ser do qual se assemelharia um grande senso de poder, temor e quase onipotência nos seus atos, que poderia destruir um planeta quando bem entendia, quando estava entediado, coçando a bunda em alguma constelação distante. Simples assim.

Conheça nosso amiguinho escarlate:

A chegada de Galactus na Terra foi marcada por essa página inteira, mostrada de um ângulo em que a sua maioridade sobre os humanos era reforçada.
Stan Lee fala que sua divindade cósmica ultrapassava qualquer clássificação genética humana, equivalente a superioridade do homem a uma simples formiga. Acertou em cheio.

A forma com a qual Stan Lee escrevia seus roteiros, o até nomeado “Marvel Way” (que foi descartado com o tempo), possibilitava uma participação maior dos desenhistas ao meter o bedelho e adicionar ideias em cima, criando personagens e acrecentando conceitos ao que bem lhe desejassem.
Com essa possibilidade e abertura de roteiro, Jack Kirby adicionou em seus desenhos que até então, incluam apenas Galactus, um homem careca,que usava como meio de transporte uma prancha e tinha a pele prateada.
Baseado na obviedade das características do personagem, Stan Lee o batizou como Surfista Prateado (Silver Surfer).

Kirby idealizou o personagem como um cavaleiro de poderes supremos dados pelo seu até então mestre, Galactus.
A tarefa do Surfista se baseava em apenas averiguar quais planetas seu mestre devoraria, seus atos são superficiais nos primeiros instantes de sua vida a terra, dos quais ficariam mais claro e justificados no futuro.

Dada então as ideias e as características, Stan Lee começou a trabalhar nos aspectos de diálogos em cima do Surfista, se baseando na forma com a qual a Jack Kirby o desenhara, viu que o personagem havia criado  um potencial muito além de um mero coadjuvante e decidiu criar características próprias do personagem, formando uma aura distinta e diferente em cima do personagem.

Stan Lee desenvolveu uma nobreza, uma conduta espiritual. O padrão de discurso do personagem, se assemelharia a um apóstolo que cruzava as galáxias. O Surfista teria atitudes bíblicas, algo totalmente puro e magnificamente inocente. Tornando-o em um ser de aspectos semelhantes a personagens religiosos.

Voltemos agora a parte em que o Planeta corre perigo…

O Surfista, cumprindo o papel que fora dado por seu mestre, prepara e analisa os padrões terrestres para que então seu mestre, consuma o planeta e sacie sua “fome”.
Entra em cena, então, o Vígia. Um ser cósmico que mora na Lua e  observa todos os grandes acontecimentos terrestres  sem mover um dedo , mas vendo que o planeta Terra não teria salvação, decidiu meter o bedelho na história e entregou a Reed Richards, a única arma capaz de deter o devorador de mundos.

Tarde demais, já que o trabalho do nosso amiguinho prateado já havia sido concluído, dando chegada ao seu mestre. Como você pode ver na imagem um pouco mais acima nesse mesmo post.

O Surfista então, se encontra com a namorada cega do Coisa, e se dá conta da semelhança dela com sua amada, da Terra com seu planeta natal e com a maldade e arrogância do seu mestre.

Advinha então o que ele fez quando bateu aquele peso na consiência?

A parafernalha do Vígia deu certo, mas a revolta do seu Arauto, fez com que Galactus banisse o Surfista da galáxia, e o prendesse na órbita do planeta em que ele adotou, fazendo o Surfista Prateado lamentar durante toda a sua estada por aqui.

A história da chegada do Surfista na Terra, até a primeira aparição de Galactus na terra, se desenrolou em três edições (Fantastic Four #48-#50) e foi apelidada pelos fãs, como a Trilogia de Galactus.

No próximo episódio: A vida e a morte do Surfista Prateado! NÃO PERCAM!

Education is key to electing politicians. As an effort to educate everyone* in the importance

• Last year a Kentucky Senate Committee met behind closed doors with the Family Foundation of Kentucky to pass the Gay Adoption Ban (previous story # 1), (previous story # 2)?
• Let us also never forget the bills Representative Stan Lee and Representative Joseph M. Fischer have tried to pass, directly attacking Kentucky’s LGBTI community. (previous story).

1. We need to get the government involved to create more jobs through programs and tasks that need to be done around our commonwealth.  I support the green collar concept in getting people back to work on “green” type projects.
2. We need to look at what parts of the commonwealth have been hit hardest by the economy and find new companies and operations that we can get in those areas, so we can get our citizens back to work.
3. We need to do something about our healthcare system so people don’t drown in even more debt because of medical bills.
4. Lastly we need to build confidence in our citizens about the government and what it is capable of doing when the right people are in office.

United We Stand: What do you think about Senate President Williams’ recent statement that Governor Beshear was “poisoning” the Commonwealth’s political atmosphere by dangling jobs to lure Republicans out of the Senate?

United We Stand: Do you support new taxes to close the Commonwealth’s deficit?Vanderpool: This is without a doubt one of the most difficult times in the history of our Commonwealth.  However, I do not think that new or higher taxes are the answer.

I believe we need to examine what we are spending money on now, into what programs, and determine if the program is efficient; if not, we need to either fix the program, or reallocate the funds to programs that do work.

If elected I will not stand for wasteful spending, but will support programs that bring new business to Kentucky, and enhance the lives of all Kentuckians. 

United We Stand: Unlike some states, the heads of Kentucky’s highest levels of government [Cabinet Secretaries] are appointment by the Governor and are never questioned or scrutinized by lawmakers. Do you feel like the Executive Branch of Kentucky’s Government has any oversight?

@smilinstanlee

Ahora ya podemos disfrutar de la Leyenda  de los Cómics, el creador de la Era Marvel, el mismísimo Stan Lee tiene una cuenta en twitter, no pierdas la oportunidad de conocer los pormenores de la vida diaria de este prestigioso creativo de los cómics, para poder verlo, darle sus comentarios, y demás, sólo hay que acceder a @smilinstanlee por supuesto, para tener réplicas hay que estar registrado en twitter

Per ora abbiamo incontrato un buon numero di babbei nati così, vissuti così e a volte morti, e dimenticati così, babbei inquadrati e coerenti che devono andare orgogliosi del loro ruolo.
Ma non sono i soli, c’è anche chi va contro a questa regola “babbei si nasce” per dare forma a un inedito “babbei si diventa”.
Questa è infatti la storia di Andy e di come è diventato, nel panorama Marvel attuale, un grandissimo babbeo.

Nome: Andy l’androide, il terribile Andy (Awesome Android, poi Awesome Andy).

ricordi di un grandioso passato

Vero nome: E’ un androide, il suo vero nome è quello.

Genesi del personaggio: Come anticipato Andy nasce come personaggio “non-babbeo”, o meglio, come cattivone di tutto rispetto. Creato dal Pensatore pazzo, in una storia del lontano 1963 dei “Fantastici quattro” partorita dalla Coppia per eccellenza del fumetto Stan Lee/Jack Kirby, il nostro era un semplice robottone dalle fattezze imprecisate che voleva uccidere un po’ chiunque gli capitasse a portata di mano.
Grosso, brutto, incazzato, fortissimo, surreale, un cattivo di tutto rispetto.
Da quel giorno, nonostante le numerose ma sudate sconfitte, Andy s’è menato anche con Iron man, gli X-men, Capitan America, i Vendicatori… in pratica ha fatto a botte con tutti gli eroi Marvel.
Poi però è successo qualcosa…

Aspetto: Ha cambiato più volte aspetto nel corso di questi quaranta e passa anni di vita editoriale. Le uniche certezze sono che è: Grosso, inespressivo come un blocco di ghisa (vedere imaggini esplicative) e particolarmente brutto.

Poteri: Superforza, e può anche imitare le abilità dei supereroi con cui si scontra. Quindi proprio uno sprovveduto non è.

Il tragico cambiamento: Potevano alcuni scrittori di fumetti odierni lasciare in pace questo burbero e carognoso tenerone gigante? Ma certo che no!
Succede così che dopo quarant’anni di baruffe supereroistiche un giorno Andy si scassa le palle di prenderle da cani e porci, si ribella al Pensatore pazzo e… si fa assumere nello studio di avvocati di She-Hulk diventando un comprimario fisso della serie.
Niente più scazzottate, niente più rabbia per Andy, complice l’aver assorbito lo spirito di Thor (bella cazzata che si sono inventati per far diventare un beota buono quello che era un insensibile oggetto di distruzione), il tutto raccontato con dovizia di particolari nella storia “Tutto quello che avreste voluto sapere sul terribile Andy, ma non avete mai osato chiedere” scritta da Dan Slott (se cercate un colpevole quindi eccovelo).
Non contento Slott fa anche innamorare Andy dell’avvocatessa Mallory Book…
A questo punto resta solo una domanda: Era più babbeo la macchina di distruzione controllata da un pazzo o lo sguattero gigante di uno studio legale vestito come un idiota che si esprime scrivendo su una lavagnetta?

Ps: So benissimo che la trasformazione di Andy verte verso un progetto umoristico, ma l’han reso ugualmente in un babbeo degno di uno spazio su questa rubrica, almeno per ricordarne il grandioso passato.

come uno sceneggiatore può spingere un robottone al suicidio

Finally, one of the biggest nightmares to Kentucky’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex community, Representative Stan Lee (R-Lexington) (pictured) has competition in the upcoming 2010 election.  Lee is not only a nightmare to the LGBTI community, but everyone who wants to move Kentucky forward and stands for equality, justice, and progress.   

The election is closer than you think considering the primary is in May 2010.  Representative Lee has run unopposed in the last several elections.  

• New try on ban of partner benefits.
• Rep. Stan Lee (R) attempts to block domestic partner benefits.
• Legislation proposed to prohibit domestic partnerships at all Kentucky educational facilities.
• Kentucky’s homophobic nightmare, Representative Stan Lee from Fayette County. (2006)

Scream Awards 2009

O início da transmissão do Scream Awrds na TNT estava programado para 00h25. Agendei no controle remoto. Por sorte [e por falta de coisa melhor nos outros canais] liguei antes do horário e fiquei vendo o final de Blade Trinity, porque eu teria perdido a entrada das gêmeas The Shining/O Iluminado, os clipes dos que concorriam a filme de fantasia mais aguardado [The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, New Moon/Lua Nova e Alice in Wonderland] e quase todo o discurso de agradecimento do Johnny Depp, que recebeu o troféu Spike por Alice. Pô, TNT, custa ajustar o relógio?

E, cara, fquei com medão das gêmeas The Shining. Criança em filme de terror é a coisa mais assustadora, brrr.

Esse ano não investiram muito na recepção dos homenageados, né? No ano passado teve as tacinhas de Chianti para saudar Anthony Hopkins, os Storm Troopers e espadas Jedi pro George Lucas e a plataforma de balões pro Tim Burton. Desta vez só rolou um zumbi tocando piano pro George A. Romero e a plataforma de Homem-Aranha pro Stan Lee. Os discursos foram menos dvertidos também, e nem teve número musical.

Tou procurando torrent pra comparar com a transmissão da TV, caus que achei muito curto [acabou antes das 2h00].

Alexander Skarsgard, Melhor Vilão

Daí logo em seguida foi a entrega do troféu para Melhor Vilão. Pobre Alex Skarsgard, ficou numa posição comprometedora por causa do microfone, que estava numa altura bem confortável pra Christina Ricci, por exemplo. Custava pôr um pedestal telescópico?

< — Olha o que ele teve de fazer pra falar no microfone.

Johnny Depp voltou depois [ele, que é avesso a premiações e eventos] para apresentar a homenagem ao Keith Richards dos Rolling Stones. Depp inspirou-se no guitarrista pra criar o Capitão Jack Sparrow de Piratas do Caribe, de tal forma que Richrds foi convidado para fazer o papel de pai do Jack Sparrow no último filme da trilogia.

E o pai do Alex Skarsgard fez o papel de pai do Will Turner [Orlando Bloom]. Mas isso não tem nada a ver com o tópico, heh. O que tem a ver é o discurso de agradecimento do Keith Richards:

Obrgado, muito obrigado. Vão beber.

O elenco de The Big Bang Theory apresentou a homenagem a Battlestar Galactica, o que me pareceu bem apropriado e simpático mas, Johnny Galecki, da próxima vez cuspa o chiclete antes de subir ao palco, sim? O Screm é descolado, mas falar enquanto masca é nojento e mal-educado em qualquer ambiente.

Johnny Depp e o Troféu Spike

Agora, no fim bateu-se-me uma dúvida: muitos sites informaram que os elencos de TrueBlood e de Twilight/Crepúsculo estariam presentes, que rolaria alguma homenagem pras duas por revitalizarem o gênero das histórias de vampiros e tal. O elenco de TrueBlood foi. Alex, Anna Paquin e Stephen Moyer venceram em suas categorias, Alan Ball recebeu por Melhor Série, e inda tava o Sam Trammel, a Rutina Wesley e o Reverendo Newlin [esqueci o nome do cara]. O prêmio pro Alan Ball, aliás, foi apresentado pelo trio de The Vampire Diaries [Ian Somerhalder, luv you, xuxu].

Alan Ball: Podem ter certeza de que isto [o troféu] será usado na cenografia da próxima temporada.

Mas de Twilight só apareceu o Taylor Lautner,  que levou o prêmio de Ator Revelação. Que couve? Quedê os demais? Robert Pattinson e Kristen Stewart venceram em suas categorias e o filme foi eleito Melhor Filme de  Fantasia, mas mais ninguém compareceu. Não que eu tenha sentido falta, só tou constatando.

Dos que compareceram: Harrison Ford, Quentin Tarantino [melhor traje évar], Woody Harrelson,  Elijah Wood, Christina Ricci, Morgan Freeman…

Oh, oh, e eu esqueci de comentar William Shatner recebendo o prêmio por Star Trek! J. J. Abrams estava na plateia, e quem recebe é um ator que nem participou do filme? Isso foi muito legal, uma homenagem ao Capitão Kirk original – e o discurso dele foi algo tão… Danny Crane!

Stan Lee

O discurso de Stan Lee foi mais emocional, mas foi legal ver algumas cenas dele nos filmes adaptados da Marvel [ele sempre faz uma pontinha, é uma brincadeira entre os fãs tentar achá-lo no filme]. Stan Lee pediu para o diretor Sam Raimi [Homem-Aranha] que lhe desse peo menos duas linhas para falar na próxim adaptação.

Vida longa, tio.

Lista de vencedores e homenageados:

Most Anticipated Fantasy Film: ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Best Sci-Fi Actress: Megan Fox, ‘Transformers 2′

Breakout Performance, Female: Isabelle Lucas, ‘Transformers 2′

Best Villain: Alexander Skarsgard, ‘True Blood’

Breakout Performance, Male: Taylor Lautner, ‘Twilight’

Best Comic Book Writer: Jeff Jones

Best Comic Book Movie: ‘Watchmen’

Rock Immortal Award: Keith Richards

Best Horror Movie: ‘Drag Me to Hell’

Best Horror Actor, Male: Stephen Moyer, ‘True Blood’

Best Horror Actor, Female: Anna Paquin, ‘True Blood’

Best Fantasy Actor, Male: Robert Pattinson, ‘Twilight’

Best Fantasy Actor, Female: Kristen Stewart, ‘Twilight’

Quentin Tarantino apresentou o prêmio para George A. Romero

Scream Mastermind Lifetime Achievement Award: George A. Romero

Best Director: J.J. Abrams, ‘Star Trek’

Best TV Show: ‘True Blood’

Best Fantasy Movie: ‘Twilight’

Comic-Con Icon Lifetime Achievement Award: Stan Lee

Ultimate Scream: ‘Star Trek’

Prévias

New Moon/Lua Nova

Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnyLS3gxgVs

Não achei os outros

Abertura do Scream Awards 2009, da plateia

Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMfpPQdlRKQ

Mais fotos aqui

Post relacionado
Scream Awards 2008