tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17905398299267087072024-03-13T08:04:23.426-04:00THE QUARTER BINWOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-82017459787440213992012-06-11T10:23:00.000-04:002012-06-10T08:20:53.360-04:00RE-LAUNCH GUIDE (UPDATED 6/11/12)<div style="text-align: justify;">
With the recent DC massive relaunch and several Marvel books hitting shelves with new #1s, I've decided to compile a list of relaunched titles tracing their genesis throughout the years. I'm hardly the first to do this, with <a href="http://www.newsarama.com/comics/most-frequently-relaunched-comics-110218.html">Newsarma</a> doing a glitzier, though more limited version, of what I'm attempting. I will update this post frequently, but I invite anyone to special request their favorite book as the next series I should hit if I haven't already gotten to it.<br />
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What exactly is a relaunch and why does it happen? Well, simply put, it's when a book keeps the same title but resets its numbering back to 1. In the olden days, these relaunches would be noted in the interior copyright as a volume, a practice which ended around the time Marvel began restoring it's original numberings on their relaunches. As for the why, it's a multitude of reasons. A book sold so poorly they cancelled it, but somewhere down the line it was decided to be given another chance with some changes. Many times, it's done to preserve the copyright of a title from lapsing into the public domain. Recently, it's done with the belief that new readers are too intimidated by high numbers to come into reading comics so a #1 is more welcoming for them. </div>
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Here's what I'm doing: I'm tracing the lineage of one ongoing book at a time. Spin-offs, if they were ever relaunched, will be covered separately, even if the book in question was spun-off into that book. And if you see the term "legacy number" pop up, that is simply the number the book should have reached had it been published continuously without renumbering.</div>
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<i>Archie's Weird Mysteries </i>(2000) ran for 25 issues before being renamed <i>Archie's Mysteries </i>until it ended with #34.</div>
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<i>Archie's Double Digest Quarterly Magazine </i>(1982) was renamed <i>Archie's Double Digest Magazine </i>with #10. Magazine was eventually dropped from the title, and #213<i> </i>saw the title changed to just <i>Archie Double Digest</i>.</div>
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<i>Archie's Pal Jughead Comics </i>(1949) was renamed <i>Jughead </i>with #122. The series ended with #352, but was relaunched the same year. The original title, <i>Archie's Pal Jughead Comics </i>was restored with #46.</div>
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<i>Archie's Pals 'n' Gals </i>(1952) ran for 224 issues before it was cancelled and the title was reused for a new double digest. The digest ended with #146 and was replaced with <i>Archie & Friends Double Digest</i>.</div>
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<i>Laugh Comics </i>(1946) began at #20, replacing <i>Black Hood Comics</i>, and ran for 400 issues. A new series began immediately after, titled simply <i>Laugh</i>, and ran for 30 issues. In 1974, Archie also used the title for a digest-sized publication called <i>Laugh Comics Digest</i>, which ran for 200 issues.<br />
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<i>Life With Archie </i> (1958) ran for 286 issues before it was cancelled. In 2010, a new magazine began with the title, although the format has changed to feature only "The Married Life" series of comics.<br />
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<i>Alpha Flight </i>(1983) ran for 130 issues before it was cancelled. Three years later, a second volume began and ran for 20 issues. Five years later saw the next volume, which was quickly cancelled after only 12 issues. In 2011, an 8-issue mini-series began to tie into the Fear Itself event and was briefly extended into an ongoing, but after a sales drop was reverted back to its original 8-issue run two months later. </div>
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<i>The Avengers </i>(1963) ran for 402 issues until it was restarted for the Heroes Reborn event. The second volume ran for 13 issues until it was restarted again for Heroes Return. After 84 issues, the original numbering was restored for #500 until the book ended with #503 and was split into <i>Mighty Avengers </i>and <i>New Avengers</i>. For Marvel's Heroic Age, a new <i>Avengers </i>was launched.</div>
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<i>The New Avengers </i>(2005) ran for 64 issues before being relaunched with a new volume.<br />
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<i>Batgirl </i>(2000), the first time the character had her own series, though not as the original, ran for 73 issues before it was cancelled for the One Year Later restructuring event. In 2008, a 6-issue mini-series was released. The following year, a new ongoing began with former Spoiler Stephanie Brown taking up the mantle. The series ran for 24 issues before being cancelled during DC's line-wide reboot of 2011. A new <i>Batgirl </i>began that year, starring Barbara Gordon back in the role after being the wheelchair-bound Oracle for 2 decades.<br />
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<i>Batman Beyond </i>(1999) started out as a 6-issue mini-series based on the show before becoming an ongoing that year, running for 24 issues including a <i>Return of the Joker </i>special. After a series of appearances in comics like <i>Superman/Batman </i>and <i>Countdown</i>, a new 6-issue mini-series was released in 2010, folllowed by a new ongoing. The series ran 8 issues before being cancelled as part of DC's line-wide reboot of 2011. A new series began in 2012.<br />
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<i>Birds of Prey </i>(1999) ran for 127 issues before it was cancelled for a reorganization of the Batman line. The following year in 2010, a new series began as part of the Brightest Day event, but after 15 issues was restarted as part of the DC line-wide reboot of 2011.</div>
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<i>Black Panther </i>(1977) ran for 15 issues after having been featured in <i>Jungle Action</i>. <i>Black Panther </i>was launched as a four-issue mini-series in 1988 before returning as an ongoing series 10 years later. After 62 issues, the series was cancelled before being relaunched under the Marvel Knights banner for another 41 issues. A new <i>Black Panther </i>was started featuring Panther's sister in the role, but after 12 issues was put on indefinite hiatus following the events of <i>Doomwar</i>.<br />
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<i>Black Widow </i>(1999) was a three-issue mini-series. It was followed-up by another three-issue mini in 2001. 2004 saw the title resurrected for a six-issue mini-series. In 2010, an ongoing series began but was cancelled after only 8 issues.<br />
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<i>Blue Beetle </i>(1939) began at Fox Comics and ran for 59 published issues. However, the title received numerous publication gaps and was numbered to issue 60 with no #43 ever being produced. #12-30 were also published through Holyoke Publishing. Charlton bought the character and in 1955 renamed <i>The Thing </i>to <i>Blue Beetle </i>from #18-21. With #22, the series became <i>Mr. Muscle</i>. In 1964, <i>Blue Beetle </i>received a new series lasting only five issues. The following year, <i>Unusual Tales </i>was renamed <i>Blue Beetle </i>with #50 until #54, when it was again renamed <i>Ghostly Tales</i>. A new series began that year with the second Beetle, but ended after five issues when Charlton's "Action Heroes" line was cancelled. In 1977, a three-issue series ran, reprinting earlier Charlton stories before an all-new series was begun by new owner DC in 1986. The series ended after 24 issues. In 2006, DC introduced an all-new third Blue Beetle and gave him his own series, which ran for 36 issues. A new series began as part of DC's line-wide reboot of 2011, featuring the third Beetle.</div>
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<i>Captain America Comics </i>(1941) was retitled <i>Captain America's Weird Tales </i>for #74-75 (not even starring Cap) before it was cancelled. It<i> </i>returned in 1953 with 3 more issues, simply titled <i>Captain America</i>, before being cancelled at #78. Cap became a feature in <i>Tales of Suspense </i>with #59 and it was retitled <i>Captain America </i>with #100, running until #454 with the cover title altered to <i>Captain America and the Falcon </i>between #134 and #222. It was relaunched as part of the Heroes Reborn event for 13 issues before beginning again with a new #1. That series ran for 50 issues until starting over with a new #1 under the Marvel Knights imprint, offering a darker and edgier take on the character's adventures. That series ended with #32 and began again with a new #1. After 50 issues, the series reverted to its legacy number with #600. The series becomes <i>Captain America & Bucky </i>with #620 while a new #1 debuted in time for the Cap movie.<br />
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<i>Strange Suspense Stories </i> (1952) was originally published by Fawcett before giving up their comics division and being purchased by Charlton. Instead of picking up from #6, where Fawcett left off, Charlton opted to collapse the number into cancelled series <i>Lawbreakers Suspense Stories </i>and resumed publication with #16. The book was briefly renamed <i>This Is Suspense! </i>from #23-26 before reverting back. After printing Captain Atom stories starting in #75, the series was renamed <i>Captain Atom </i>from #78 until its cancellation with #89. That same year, a new series began and lasted nine issues.<br />
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<i>Captain Atom </i>(1965) under Charlton replaced <i>Strange Suspense Stories </i>with #78 until the series was cancelled with #89. When DC brought their purchased Charlton characters into their universe following <i>Crisis on Infinite Earths</i>, a new <i>Captain Atom </i>began in 1986. That series ran for 57 issues, cancelled with plans to make Atom the villain of <i>Armageddon 2001 </i>(subsequently abandoned once that info leaked out). A new series was launched as part of DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.<br />
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<i>Catwoman </i>(1989) was a four-issue mini-series. In 1993, an ongoing began and ran for 96 issues. The following year, a new series was started and ran for 82 issues before being cancelled. An 83rd issue was produced during the Blackest Night event when DC resurrected all their cancelled titles for a single issue. A new <i>Catwoman </i>began as part of DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.<br />
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<i>Daredevil </i>(1964) ran for 380 issues before being cancelled to be retooled and placed into the darker Marvel Knight imprint. The series ran for 119 issues before being restored to it's original numbering with #500. Following the Shadowland event, the series was retitled <i>Black Panther: the Man Without Fear </i>with #513 (renamed <i>The Most Dangerous Man Alive! </i>with #523.1 and cancelled with #529). A new <i>Daredevil </i>began in 2011.<br />
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<i>The Darkness </i>(1996) ran for 40 issues before Image/Top Cow was forced to restart it in the face of sagging sales. The second series ran for 24 issues before being restarted the following year. After 10 issues, the series returned to its original numbering with #75.<br />
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<i>DC Comics Presents </i>(1978) was DC's answer to <i>Marvel Team-Up</i>, running for 97 issues. In 2004, the title was revived for eight one-shot issues dedicated to editor Julius Schawrtz who had just recently died <br />
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<i>Deadpool </i>(1994) was a mini-series that eventually led to an ongoing three years later. The series ran for 69 issues before being relaunched as <i>Agent X</i>, which ran for 15 issues. A new series began in 2008 (a #900 & 1000 issue was produced in response to <i>Action Comics </i>reaching #900 before its relaunch).<br />
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<i>My Greatest Adventure </i>(1955) was retitled <i>Doom Patrol </i>with #86, their having debuted six issues prior. The series lasted 121 issues before it was cancelled. A second volume was launched in 1987 and ran for 87 issues before being cancelled. The next volume ran for 22 issues in 2001. In 2004, after debuting in JLA, the team was given a new series, but only lasted 18 issues before it was cancelled. Four years later, another series was attempted, but again only lasted 22 issues before it was cancelled in time for DC's line-wide reboot. <i>My Greatest Adventure </i>was launched in 2011 as a 6-issue mini-series, featuring Doom Patrol's Robotman.</div>
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<i>Excalibur </i>(1988) ran for 125 issues, briefly renamed as <i>X-Calibre </i>for four months during the Age of Apocalypse event in 1995. A four-issue mini-series followed with a new ongoing series in 2004. After 14 issues and the House of M event, the series was restarted as <i>New Excalibur </i>and cancelled with #24, with story lines being resolved in the mini-series <i>X-Men: Die By the Sword.</i><br />
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<i>Exiles </i>(1993) began as a 4-issue mini-series as part of Malibu's Ultraverse. When Malibu was purchased by Marvel, the book was restructured into the <i>All-New Exiles </i>for 11 issues before it was cancelled. In 2001, a new <i>Exiles </i>series was started under Marvel proper as a replacement for their <i>What If? </i>series with an X-Men twist. The series ran for 100 issues before being relaunched as <i>New Exiles</i>. The series ran for 18 issues, plus a #0 reprint issue, before being cancelled. Immediately following, a new <i>Exiles </i>was launched but was cancelled after 6 issues.</div>
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<i>Fantastic Four </i>(1961) ran for 416 issues until it was relaunched as part of the Heroes Reborn event. After 13 issues, the series was relaunched again for Heroes Return and ran for 70 issues before returning to its original numbering with #500. The series continued on to #588 until it was ended and relaunched as <i>FF</i>, which stands for their new incarnation as the Future Foundation following the death of the Human Torch. <i>FF</i> continued with its principle supporting cast, while <i>Fantastic Four </i>resumed with #600.<br />
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<i>Gambit </i>(1993) was a four issue mini-series, followed by another in 1997. Two years later, he got his first ongoing which ran 25 issues. Three years later another ongoing began, but was cancelled after only 12 issues.<br />
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<i>Gen13 </i>(1994) began as a four-issue limited series, including a <i>Wizard Magazine </i>#1/2. The following year, it became an ongoing that ran for 76 issues, plus a #-1. The series was rebooted in an attempt to boost sales, but only lasted 17 issues. Two years later, with Wildstorm now part of DC, a new series was launched and ran for 39 issues before it was ended with the other Wildstorm titles.<br />
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<i>Ghost Rider </i>(1967) ran for seven issues starring the character that would become known as Night Rider, and later Phantom Rider, once the new Ghost Rider debuted. His series began in 1973 and ran for 81 issues. Another new Ghost Rider debuted in the third series, which ran for 93 issues and cancelled before its final issue was released. The 94th issue was finally released in 2007 packaged with #93 as <i>Ghost Rider Finale</i>. A 6-issue mini-series came out in 2001. Although the story and trade were subtitled <i>The Hammer Lane</i>, the name never appeared on the cover and copyright. Three years later, another 6-issue mini-series was released before a new ongoing the following year. That series ran for 35 issues. The latest ongoing began in 2011 as part of the Fear Itself event. The series was cancelled after 9 issues.<br />
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<i>Green Hornet Comics </i>(1940), published by Helnit aka Holyoke Comics, ran for six issues. Harvey Comics picked up the series with #7. The title was changed to <i>Green Hornet Fights Crime </i>with #34, and then <i>Green Hornet, Racket Buster </i>with #44, before the series ended with #47. In 1967, Gold Key produced a three-issue series based on the TV show. In 1989, NOW Comics published a 14 issue ongoing before relaunching the series two years later, running 40 issues until the company's bankruptcy ended it. In 2009, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights to the character and began a limited series, retroactively turned into an ongoing.<br />
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<i>Tales of the Green Hornet </i>(1990) was a series of mini-series published by NOW and initially ran for 2 issues. Two years later, a second volume ran for four. That same year, another series ran for three.</div>
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<i>Green Lantern </i>(1941) ran for 38 issues with the Alan Scott Green Lantern before ending with the age of super heroes. Years later, Hal Jordan's Green Lantern would get his own series. It was renamed <i>Green Lantern Co-Starring Green Arrow </i>with #76 until #122. It was later retitled <i>Green Lantern Corps </i>with #201 until #224. The next <i>Green Lantern </i>series ran for 182 issues before being restarted again a year later. That series ran for 67 issues until it was restarted with DC's line-wide reboot in 2011.<br />
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<i>Green Lantern Corps </i>(1986) replaced <i>Green Lantern </i>from #201 to #224. They received their first series in 2006, which ran for 63 issues before being relaunched during DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.<br />
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<i>The Hawk and the Dove </i>(1968) ran for six issues before being cancelled. After starring in <i>Teen Titans</i>, a new <i>Hawk and Dove </i>mini-series ran for five issues. The following year, an ongoing began and lasted for 28 issues. Six years later, a new mini-series with a new Hawk and Dove ran for five issues. A new ongoing was started as part of DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.<br />
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<i> Heroes For Hire </i>(1997), a spinoff of sorts of <i>Power Man and Iron Fist</i>, ran for 19 issues before it was cancelled. In 2006, the Civil War event spawned a new series and ran for 15 issues. In 2010, the Shadowland event spawned a third series, which was cancelled after only 12 issues.</div>
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<i> Incredible Hulk</i> (1962) ran for 6 issues until it was cancelled. Hulk became a feature in <i>Tales to Astonish</i> in #60, which was retitled <i>Incredible Hulk</i> with #102 and ran until #474. The title was relaunched as <i>Hulk</i> for 11 issues before reverting back to <i>Incredible</i> with #12. The book ran until #112 before being retitled <i>The Incredible Hercules</i> with #113. A second adjectiveless <i>Hulk </i>began again after this, and after 12 issues a second Hulk series, <i>Incredible Hulk, </i>was restarted at #600, the legacy number of all the Hulk books combined (counting the initial issues of the new <i>Hulk </i>series). #612 saw the series retitled <i>Incredible Hulks, </i>due to all the Hulk-like characters starring in it, until its ending with #635. A new <i>Incredible Hulk </i>#1 began the same year.<br />
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<i>Huntress </i>(1989) was an ongoing series that lasted 19 issues. Four years later, a new four-issue mini-series followed. In 2011, a new <i>Huntress </i>6-issue mini-series began as part of DC's New 52. <br />
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<i>Iron Fist </i>(1975) was spun out of <i>Marvel Premiere </i>and ran only 15 issues before the series was cancelled and Iron Fist sent to pair with Power Man in <i>Power Man and Iron Fist</i>. In 1996, there was a two-issue mini-series followed two years later by a three-issue one. In 2004, a third mini-series ran for six-issues. </div>
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<i>Tales of Suspense </i>#39 (1960) saw the debut of Iron Man, who remained a feature until #99 when Captain America took over the book. He was given his own book, which ran for 332 issues before being relaunched as part of Heroes Reborn for 13 issues. The book relaunched again for Heroes Return and ran for 89 issues before being relaunched again. That run became <i>Iron Man: Director of SHIELD </i>with #15 (reflecting the new status quo), then <i>War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD </i>for #33-35 before the series was cancelled and spun off into War Machine's second short-lived book. During that run, a second book began called <i>The Invincible Iron Man </i>("Invincible" had always been on the cover for most of the series' run, but was the descriptive term for the character rather than part of the actual title) which, after 33 issues, assumed the original numbering with #500.</div>
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<i>Jonah Hex </i>(1977) ran for 92 issues before being cancelled after <i>Crisis on Infinite Earths</i> and relaunched as simply <i>Hex</i> for 18 issues. After three mini-series, <i>Jonah Hex </i>returned for 70 more issues before being cancelled during DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.</div>
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<i>She's Josie </i>(1963) became <i>Josie </i>with #17. The title was again renamed <i>Josie and the Pussycats </i>with #45, which remained until the series ended with #106.<br />
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<i>Justice League of America </i>(1960) began after the successful appearance of the team in <i>The Brave and the Bold</i> and ran for 261 issues. A new series began as simply <i>Justice League </i>and was renamed <i>Justice League International </i>with #7. The title returned (sans <i>of</i>) to <i>Justice League America </i>with #25 until it ended with #113. Failing sales prompted DC to revamp the entire League line by disbanding all the spin-offs and focusing on a single title, called <i>JLA</i>. The series ran for 125 issues and, after <i>Infinite Crisis, </i>was relaunched as <i>Justice League of America </i>again. The series ran for 61 issues until it was relaunched again as <i>Justice League </i>as the first new series of DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.<br />
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<i>Justice League International </i>(1987) was the name of the <i>Justice League </i>comic from #7-24 before it returned to <i>Justice League America</i> with #25. <i>Justice League Europe </i>was retitled <i>Justice League International </i>with #51 until the series ended with #68. The series was restarted with its first #1 as part of the DC line-wide reboot of 2011.<br />
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<i>All-Star Comics </i>#3 (1940) saw the debut of the Justice Society of America, who dominated the title until superheroes fell out of popularity and the book became <i>All-Star Western </i>with #58. After the JSA's popularity began to grow, <i>All-Star Comics </i>was restarted in 1976 from #58 and ran until #74. A 2-issue mini-series was released in 1999 as part of the "Justice Society Returns" storyline.<br />
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<i>Justice Society of America </i>(1991) was an 8-issue mini-series set in WWII, leading into an ongoing the following year. However, it was quickly cancelled after 3 issues after having been slated for cancellation after 10. Seven years later, a new series was launched called simply <i>JSA</i> and ran for 87 issues. Several months after <i>Infinite Crisis</i>, a new <i>Justice Society of America </i>was launched and ran for 54 issues until it was cancelled and relaunched during DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.</div>
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<i>Adventure Comics </i>#247 (1958) saw the debut of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Their popularity brought them back for #267 and then as a regular back-up feature starting with #300. #380, the Legion was displaced by Supergirl and their adventures moved to <i>Action Comics </i>from #377-392. After, the Legion moved to a back-up feature in <i>Superboy </i>with #172. In 1973, the first solo Legion book was the 4-issue <i>Legion of Super-Heroes </i>that reprinted stories from <i>Adventure Comics</i>, while at the same time <i>Superboy </i>was renamed <i>Superboy Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes</i> with #197. The title changed again with #231 to <i>Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. </i> The Legion took over the title entirely with #259. The book was renamed <i>Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes </i>with #314 (ending at #354) as another <i>Legion </i>#1 was started. That series ran for 63 issues before being restarted again for 125 issues. The next series was the 38 issue <i>The Legion </i>before the launching of <i>Legion of Super-Heroes </i>for 50 issues, renamed <i>Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes </i>from #16-36. The Legion eventually returned to the second volume of <i>Adventure Comics </i>before moving to a new <i>Legion of Super-Heroes</i> for 16 issues, until it was restarted once again for the DC line-wide reboot of 2011.<br />
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<i>Legion Lost </i>(2000) was a 12-issue mini-series designed to bring new readers into the Legion. In 2011, a new <i>Legion Lost </i>was launched as part of DC's line-wide reboot.<br />
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<i>Moon Knight </i>(1980) ran for 38 issues before it was cancelled. It was relaunched as two mini-series in 1998 and 1999 before returning as an ongoing in 2006. The series ran for 30 issues before it was cancelled and relaunched as <i>Vengeance of the Moon Knight</i>. A new <i>Moon Knight </i>began in 2011 but was cancelled after 12 issues. <br />
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<i>My Greatest Adventure </i>(1955) was an anthology series that ran for 85 issues. The title was revived in 2011 for a 6-issue mini-series continuing the previous mini-series <i>Weird Worlds</i>.<br />
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<i>New Mutants </i> (1983), the X-Men's junior class, ran for 100 issues before being replaced by <i>X-Force</i>. In 2003, a new series began featuring all-new students that ran for 13 issues before being replaced by <i>New X-Men: Academy X</i>, later renamed <i>New X-Men. </i>A new ongoing reassembling the original team began in 2009.<br />
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<i>Batman and the Outsiders </i>(1983) was renamed <i>Adventures of the Outsiders </i>with #32 until the series ended with #46. Launched during the final year of the previous series and set a year later, <i>Outsiders </i>began and lasted 28 issues. A new series began in 1993 and lasted 24 issues. Eight years later, another attempt was made and ran 50 issues before it was relaunched as <i>Batman and the Outsiders. </i>Following Batman's death, the series was renamed <i>Outsiders </i>with #15 until it reverted back for the final issue, #40. The series ended during DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.<br />
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<i>Power Girl </i>(1988) was a 4-issue mini-series. An ongoing began in 2009 and ran for 27 issues, until it was cancelled during DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.<br />
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<i>Hero For Hire </i> (1972) ran for 16 issues before being renamed <i>Power Man</i> (Luke Cage was above both titles, but not considered part of it). Deciding to combine two poorly selling characters together, Iron Fist was brought into the book and it was renamed <i>Power Man and Iron Fist </i>with #50 (the copyright would remain unchanged until #67). The move proved successful enough to sustain the book until #125, when it was cancelled to clear space for the New Universe titles. In 2011, a five-issue mini-series ran featuring Iron Fist with a new Power Man (the original going by simply Luke Cage for years).</div>
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<i>The Punisher </i>(1986) was a 5-issue mini-series. An ongoing series was launched the following year and ran for 104 issues before being cancelled. The book was relaunched as part of the short-lived Marvel Edge line as simply <i>Punisher </i>and ran for 18 issues. The next year came another mini-series before a 12-issue maxi-series ran in 2000 under the Marvel Knights imprint. Immediately following was a new ongoing series that ran for 37 issues before moving over to Marvel's mature MAX line with a new #1 (also sometimes called <i>The Punisher MAX</i>). When Marvel launched a new <i>The Punisher </i>in 2009 to bring the character back into the main universe, the MAX book was retitled <i>The Punisher: Frank Castle </i>(although the title appeared reversed on the cover) with #66 until it ended with #75. <i>Frank Castle </i>was relaunched as <i>PunisherMAX, </i>which ran for 22 issues. Meanwhile, the other book was retitled <i>FrankenCastle </i>with #17 until it ended with #21 for the corresponding storyline. In 2011, a new <i>Punisher</i> series was started set in the main Marvel Universe.</div>
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<i>Punisher War Journal </i>(1988) was a spin-off series that ran for 80 issues before being cancelled. In 2007, a second series was launched for 26-issues until it was cancelled in favor of relaunching a new regular Punisher book, which basically served as a continuation of this series.<br />
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<i>Red Sonja </i>(1977) began at Marvel comics for 15 issues before it was cancelled. In 1983, <i>Red Sonja </i>was given a two-issue mini-series before getting another ongoing months later. That series lasted only 13 issues. Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights and began a new series in 2005. After 49 issues, the series was cancelled and relaunched as <i>Queen Sonja</i>. However, popular demand resulted in the series starting back up with #50 later that year and running concurrently with <i>Queen</i>.<br />
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<i>Ray </i>(1992) was a six-issue mini-series, followed by an ongoing two years later that ran for 29 issues. In 2011, a new Ray mini-series with a new Ray was launched as part of DC's New 52.<br />
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<i>Robin </i>(1992) was the first of a trilogy of mini-series (followed by <i>Robin II: Joker's Wild </i>and <i>Robin III: Cry of the Huntress</i>) that led to an ongoing the following year. The series ran for 183 issues until it was replaced by <i>Red Robin</i> after <i>Batman: Battle for the Cowl</i>.</div>
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<i>Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch </i>(1971) ran for 77 issues. A special was released in 1996 before a new series began in 1997 for 32 issues to tie-in with the TV series. A new series began for the new animated series and ran for 100 issues. The series was renamed <i>Sabrina the Teenage Witch Presents: The Magical Tales of Young Salem </i>in order to save on newsstand costs when publishing the four-issue mini-series, which ended the entire series at #104.<br />
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<i>Shade the Changing Man </i>(1977) ran for eight issues before it was cancelled with a slew of other DC books. A ninth issue was produced but only released as part of DC's <i>Cancelled Comic Cavalcade</i>, which also appeared with some revisions in <i>Detective Comics </i>#487. In 1990, a new series began and moved into DC's Vertigo imprint with #33, ending with #70. In 1997, a mini-series called simply <i>Shade </i>ran, featuring the Starman villain The Shade. In 2011, a new <i>Shade </i>began with the Changing Man as part of DC's line-wide reboot.<br />
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<i>Savage She-Hulk </i>(1980) ran for 25 issues before its cancellation. <i>Sensational She-Hulk </i>was a 1985 graphic novel before becoming the title of a new ongoing series for 60 issues. In 2004, a new <i>She-Hulk </i>was launched along with several other books. The combined low sales resulted in that series being ended with #12, but restarted again on its own eight months later. The third issue of that series was marked as She-Hulk's 100th issue, the combined number of all her previous series to that point. The series was cancelled with #38.<br />
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<i>Spider-Girl </i>(1999) was launched as part of Marvel's short-lived MC2 imprint, spinning off from <i>What If? </i>#105. The series ran for 100 issues, including a special <i>Wizard Magazine</i> #1/2, after numerous cancellations, finally being rebooted as <i>The Amazing Spider-Girl</i>, which ran for an additional 30 issues. In 2010, May's final series, <i>Spectacular Spider-Girl</i>, was cancelled so a new <i>Spider-Girl </i>could begin featuring Anya Corazon, formerly Arana. It was cancelled after only 8 issues.</div>
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<i>Amazing Spider-Man </i>(1963) ran for 441 issues, interrupted for two months when it became <i>The Amazing Scarlet Spider,</i> before being relaunched as part of a move to streamline Spidey's books (he had 7 ongoing at one point). The second run lasted for 58 issues before reverting to its original numbering with #500. Similarly, the adjectiveless <i>Spider-Man </i>started by Todd McFarlane in 1988 ran for 99 issues, including a special <i>Wizard Magazine</i> #1/2, and was retitled <i>Peter Parker: Spider-Man </i>with #75. Part of the Spidey reboot, the second run lasted 57 issues until it was replaced by a new run of <i>Spectacular Spider-Man</i>.</div>
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<i>Sensational Spider-Man </i>(1996), replacing <i>Web of Spider-Man,</i> ran for 35 issues before the consolidation of the Spider-Man line to two titles in 1999. <i>Wizard Magazine </i>also released an ashcan with the title. With the dissolution of the Marvel Knights imprint, <i>Marvel Knights Spider-Man </i>was renamed <i>Sensational Spider-Man </i>with #23 until it was cancelled with #41 when <i>Amazing Spider-Man </i>began shipping three times a month.<br />
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<i>Spectacular Spider-Man </i>started as a 2-issue magazine-format experimental run in 1968 (the first issue later reprinted in <i>Amazing Spider-Man </i>#116-118 with color and some alterations) before becoming a comic series in 1976, called <i>Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man. </i><i>Peter Parker </i>was dropped from the title with #134. The series also featured a 2 month break to become <i>The Spectacular Scarlet Spider. </i>The series ended with #263. 2003 saw the launch of a new <i>Spectacular Spider-Man </i>for 27 issues. In the UK, a kid-friendly reprint/original material series called <i>Spectacular Spider-Man Adventures </i>(the <i>Adventures</i> sometimes dropped) is published.<br />
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<i>Spider-Man Unlimited </i>(1993) ran for 22 issues before being cancelled consolidation of the Spidey-line into two books in 1999,taking a break for one issue as <i>Scarlet Spider Unlimited</i>. In 1999, a new series began to tie into the new animated series of the same name, but was cancelled after only 6 issues, including a special Wizard Magazine #1/2. A return to the original, though smaller, format in 2003 ran for only 15 issues.</div>
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<i>Web of Spider-Man </i>(1985) ran for 129 issues until it was replaced by <i>Sensational Spider-Man</i>. A second volume was started with a two-story format that lasted for only 12 issues, the first 7 featuring continuing Spider-Girl stories.<br />
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<i>Spider-Woman </i>(1978) ran for 50 issues with Jessica Drew before it was cancelled. In 1993, the new Spider-Woman, Julia Carpenter, received a four-issue limited series. Five years later, the latest Spider-Woman, Mattie Franklin, received an ongoing that ran for 18 issues before it was cancelled. In 2009, Drew received a new series that was also released as a motion comic on the Marvel website. Due to the immense amount of work that went into producing both simultaneously, the proposed ongoing was ended after only seven issues.<br />
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<i>Star Trek </i>(1967) was published by Gold Key for 61 issues, until the license went over to Marvel. A year later, Marvel began their series, but heavy content restrictions ended the series after only 18 issues. DC acquired the license in 1984 and published the series for 56 issues. After a year's hiatus, a new DC series began with an entirely new continuity and ran for 80 issues. In 2011, IDW began publishing a series based on the new <i>Star Trek </i>movie. <br />
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<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation </i>(1988) was a six-issue mini-series by DC, followed shortly after by an ongoing that lasted 80 issues.<br />
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<i>Star Trek: Deep Space Nine </i>(1993) was published by Malibu for 32 issues until Marvel bought them out. They began their own series that year, but only lasted 15 issues until Marvel jettisoned the license.</div>
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<i>Marvel Comics </i>#1 (1939) saw the debut of Namor, the Sub-Mariner before he received his own title, <i>Sub-Mariner Comics </i>for 32 issues starting in 1941. The title was resurrected 5 years later until it was cancelled again with #42. After returning in the Silver Age, Namor was made a co-feature of <i>Tales to Astonish </i>with #70 until receiving his own book, <i>The Sub-Mariner, </i>for 72 issues. Ten years later, Namor received a 4-issue mini-series <i>Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner </i>before getting a new ongoing in <i>Namor, The Sub-Mariner </i>for 62 issues. As part of their Tsunami imprint initiative to draw in new readers in 2003, <i>Namor </i>was launched for 12-issues focusing on Namor's teen years. Four years later, another mini-series, <i>Sub-Mariner </i>focused on Namor's newly revealed son. Namor ultimately gained a new series after joining the X-Men called <i>Namor, the First Mutant, </i>which lasted 11 issues.<br />
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<i>Suicide Squad </i>(1987) ran for 66 issues before being cancelled. After a series of guest appearances, <i>Suicide Squad </i>returned 8 years later with a new cast for a 12-issue mini-series. In 2011, a new <i>Suicide Squad </i>began as part of DC's line-wide reboot.</div>
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<i>Superboy </i>(1949) focused on the adventures of young Superman, and gained a Legion of Super-Heroes back-up feature in #172. The cover title was changed to <i>Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes </i>with #197, then <i>Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes </i>with #222. It wasn't until #231 the book officially changed the title. The book became <i>The Legion of Super-Heroes </i>with #259. Superboy continued to be feature in <i>Adventure Comics </i> and eventually gained a new series with <i>The New Adventures of Superboy</i>. In 1990, a new <i>Superboy </i>began focusing on the continuity of the TV show with the same name. The cover title was changed to <i>The Adventures of Superboy </i>with #12, and officially changed name with #18 until it was cancelled with #22. After <i>Crisis on Infinite Earths</i>, <i>Superboy </i>was restarted with Superman's new clone for 102 issues. A new <i>Superboy </i>volume began, but the DC line-wide relaunch of 2011 caused it to end with #11 in order to be restarted.</div>
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<i>Adventure Comics </i>began as <i>New Comics </i>in 1935. It was renamed <i>New Adventure Comics </i>with #12 before becoming <i>Adventure Comics </i>with #32. It ran with various themes and features until its cancellation as a comic with #490 in favor of a reprint digest until #503. 1998 saw an <i>Adventure Comics 80-page Giant </i>followed by a retro one-shot <i>Adventure Comics </i>#1 as part of a Justice Society event. 9 years later saw another one-shot, <i>Adventure Comics Featuring the Guardian</i>. A new series starring the Connor Kent Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes was started the following year. This series featured a dual number signifying both the new series while continuing the original numbering with #504 (variant covers featured the legacy number more prominently). The title resumed its original numbering entirely with #516. </div>
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<i>Supergirl </i>(1972) ran for 10 issues. She appeared regularly in <i>Superman Family </i>until her new series began in 1982. Originally titled <i>The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, </i>it became <i>Supergirl </i>with #13 and ran 23 issues. After <i>Crisis on Infinite Earths</i>, the new Supergirl received a 4-issue limited series. After debuting in <i>Superman/Batman, </i>the latest Supergirl received her own series that ran for 67 issues before being relaunched in DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.</div>
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<i>Superman </i>began in 1939 in an unprecedented move of giving a character their own solo title. It ran for 423 issues before the DC Comics relaunch spawning from <i>Crisis on Infinite Earths. Superman </i>was retitled <i>Adventures of Superman </i>and a new <i>Superman </i>#1 was launched. The series ran for 226 issues before the Superman titles were consolidated down to two titles, restoring <i>Adventures </i>to just <i>Superman </i>with #650. The series continued until #714, when it was relaunched as part of the line-wide DC relaunch in 2011.<br />
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<i>Teen Titans </i>(1966) began after the team's successful appearance in <i>The Brave and the Bold</i>. The series ran for 43 issues until it was cancelled. It was briefly revived for 10 more issues until finally cancelled with #53. Although operating under a new title in the interim (see below), a new <i>Teen Titans </i>wasn't published until 1996 and ran for 24 issues. The following year, a new series was launched and ran for 50 issues before immediately starting again. The series ran for 100 issues before being cancelled and relaunched during DC's line-wide relaunch of 2011.<br />
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<i>New Teen Titans </i>(1980) was the replacement for <i>Teen Titans</i>. The series ran for 40 issues before becoming <i>Tales of the Teen Titans</i> with #41 until it was cancelled with #91. After the renaming, a new <i>New Teen Titans </i>series was started and ran for 49 issues until it too was renamed <i>New Titans </i>with #50 until it was cancelled with #130.<br />
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<i>The Titans </i>(1999) featured the older Teen Titans for 50 issues until it was cancelled. In 2008, a new <i>Titans </i>series began with a similar premise until it was changed to focus on a villain team with #24, which remained until it was cancelled with #38 as part of DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.<br />
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<i>Journey Into Mystery </i>(1952) was an anthology book until Thor's debut in #83. With #125, the series was renamed <i>Thor</i> (<i>The Mighty Thor </i>on the cover). A second volume began in 1972 and ran for 19 issues. After the Onslaught event where Thor "died" with the other Avengers, his series was renamed <i>Journey Into Mystery </i>with #503 until the series was cancelled with #521 to make room for the second <i>Thor </i>series. The series ended after 85 issues until being relaunched again in 2007. After 13 issues, the series was renumbered with its original numbering as of #600 (including the original <i>Journey</i> volume). The series was renamed <i>Journey </i>with #622 and Thor was spun off into his own series <i>The Mighty Thor</i>.<br />
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<i>Ultimate Spider-Man </i>(2000) ran for 133 issues before being relaunched as <i>Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man </i>for the Ultimate Marvel reboot. The series ran for 15 more issues before reverting to its original name (already reverted in the copyright since #3) and numbering with #150, until the series ended with Spider-Man's death in #160. A new series with the new Spider-Man began in 2011.<br />
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<i>The Power of Warlock </i>(1972) became <i>Warlock </i>with #9 until it ended with #15. In 1992, <i>Warlock </i>returned as a 6-issue reprint mini-series, and then as a 4-issue mini-series 6 years later. The following year, an all-new <i>Warlock </i>debuted as part of Marvel's short-lived M-Tech imprint starring Douglock from Excalibur. The series was cancelled after 9 issues. In 2004, Adam Warlock returned to the title with what was originally solicited as a new ongoing series, but was retroactively made a 4-issue mini-series.</div>
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<i>Wolverine </i>(1982) was spun off from <i>X-Men</i> as a four-issue limited series based on the character's growing popularity. An ongoing was began in 1988 and ran for 190 issues, including a special <i>Wizard Magazine</i> #1/2, with four months spent renamed as <i>Weapon X </i>#1-4 for the Age of Apocalypse event in 1995. The next volume ran for 74 issues before being renamed <i>Dark Wolverine </i>when Wolverine's son Daken took over the title, running until #90. A new <i>Wolverine </i>began in 2010. After 20 issues, the series returned to its original numbering with #300 (a #900 & 1000 issue was produced as part of Marvel's response to <i>Action Comics </i>reaching #900 before its relaunch).<br />
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<i>Wonder Woman </i>(1942) ran for 329 issues until it was rebooted after the <i>Crisis on Infinite Earths </i>event. The second series ran for 228 issues until it was cancelled after <i>Infinite Crisis</i>. Several months later, as part of the One Year Later event, <i>Wonder Woman </i>began again and, after 44 issues, was restored to its legacy numbering with #600, the result of a write-in campaign by then-Editor-in-chief Dan DiDio. The series continued until #614 when it was relaunched during DC's line-wide reboot of 2011.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VmWqnE95uf4/T8F5o7GOURI/AAAAAAAAAtc/TRXp0u3917w/s1600/World%27s+Finest+%231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VmWqnE95uf4/T8F5o7GOURI/AAAAAAAAAtc/TRXp0u3917w/s400/World%27s+Finest+%231.jpg" width="258" /></a><a href="http://goldenagecomics.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/wb1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://goldenagecomics.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/wb1.jpg" width="288" /></a><i> </i><br />
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<i>World's Best Comics </i>(1941), starring Batman and Superman, was renamed <i>World's Finest Comics </i>with it's second issue and ran for 323 issues before it was cancelled. In 1990, the title was revived (sans <i>Comics) </i>as a mini-series. Another mini followed in 2009. In 2012, as part of the New 52, a new <i>Worlds' Finest </i>(note the apostrophe placement) ongoing series was launched this time featuring Earth-2's Huntress and Power Girl.<br />
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<i>X-23 </i>(2005) was a 5-issue mini-series, followed-up by a one-shot in 2010 (the mini in between was subtitled <i>Target X</i>). An onging series began the same year and was cancelled with #20.<br />
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<i> X-Factor </i>(1986) was the first X-Men ongoing spin-off that ran for 149 issues, before being cancelled and replaced by <i>Mutant X</i>. In 1995 it was briefly retitled <i>Factor X </i>for four issues during the Age of Apocalypse event. In 2002, a completely unrelated min-series bore the name for four issues. An all-new <i>X-Factor </i>was launched three years later and ran for 50 issues before returning to its legacy number with #200, not including the previous mini.<br />
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<i>X-Force </i>(1991) replaced <i>New Mutants </i>and ran for 129 issues, briefly retitled <i>Gambit & the X-Ternals </i>for four issues during the Age of Apocalypse event. The original team was "killed off" and replaced by all-new characters with #116 until the series' end, gaining their own series <i>X-Statix</i>. In 2004 the original characters were returned with a 6-issue mini-series before gaining a new ongoing three years later. After 28 issues, the series was relaunched as <i>Uncanny X-Force</i>.</div>
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<i>X-Men </i>(1991) began as a second series alongside <i>Uncanny X-Men. </i> The series was renamed <i>Amazing X-Men </i>for four months during the Age of Apocalypse event of 1995. With #114, the book was retitled <i>New X-Men </i>until reverting back with #157. As of #208, the series had become <i>X-Men: Legacy</i>. That series was given the same regard as <i>New X-Men</i>, as being part of the <i>X-Men </i>series, until 2010 when a new <i>X-Men </i>volume began.<br />
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<i>New X-Men </i>(2001) took over for <i>X-Men </i>with #114 until it reverted back with #157. In 2006, <i>New X-Men: Academy X</i> was renamed <i>New X-Men </i>with #20 until it ended with #46.<br />
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<i>X-Men Unlimited </i>(1993) ran for 50 issues before being cancelled. The following year, a new series launched and ran for 14 issues before being cancelled again.<br />
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<i>Young Justice </i>(1998) ran for 55 issues before it was cancelled. In 2011, an unrelated series began tying into the new animated series of the same name. <br />
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<i>Zorro </i>(1959) spun off from Dell's <i>Four Color Comics </i>#1037 beginning with #8 and running until #15 when it was made a regular feature of <i>Walt Disney's Comics and Stories </i>from #275-278. In 1966, Gold Key began their own series that ran for nine issues and featured reprints of the previous Dell books. In 1990, <i>Zorro </i>was published by Marvel for 12 issues until Topps acquired the license two years later, publishing their own series for 11 issues, including a #0. In 2005, Papercutz released six graphic novels done in manga style, also titled simply <i>Zorro</i>. The next ongoing series came three years later from Dynamite Entertainment, running 20 issues.</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-12725018451464155742012-05-06T11:13:00.000-04:002012-05-13T11:14:07.114-04:00AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After four years of anticipation, the most eagerly awaited comic book-based movie has finally arrived.</div>
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Beginning with 2008's <i>Iron Man</i>, Marvel Entertainment had gained its own movie studio while Paramount Pictures handled their distribution. Meaning? Marvel no longer had to license its characters out to various movie studios, allowing for cross-franchise interaction previously unavailable to them. And they took advantage of that in spades.</div>
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As almost everyone knows by now, the seeds for the shared Marvel Movie Universe were planted in the post-credits scene of <i>Iron Man</i>, when Samuel L. Jackson made his first appearance as Nick Fury; having served as the inspiration for the version of the character in the Ultimate Universe of comics. Robert Downey Jr., as Tony Stark, paid it forward by appearing in a post-credits scene in <i>Incredible Hulk </i>the same year. Clark Gregg, appearing in <i>Iron Man </i>as SHIELD Agent Phil Coulson, reprises his role in <i>Iron Man 2</i> with Jackson, leading to a post-credits scene setting up <i>Thor</i>, in which they both appeared again. Finally came <i>Captain America: The First Avenger</i>, and Jackson served to not only welcome Cap (Chris Evans) to the modern world, but to lead the movie directly into the events of Marvel's <i>The Avengers</i>.</div>
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In a long-overdue grand experiment, characters from independent movies were merged together to form the first assembled movie super team, and the experiment paid off in spades. Directed and co-written by Joss Whedon (<i>Buffy, the Vampire Slayer</i>) with help from veteran comic movie writer Zak Penn, audiences were treated to an action-adventure movie with moments of comedy interspersed throughout. The audiences laughed in all the right places, and found themselves cheering at all the right moments.</div>
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<i>The Avengers </i>sees Loki (Tom Hiddleston) return and unite with an alien race known as the Chitauri in an attempt to use the Cosmic Cube (called the Tesseract in the movie-verse) to take over the mortal world. These events force Fury to go against his bosses' wishes and reactivate the "Avengers Initiative," assembling Earth's Mightiest Heroes in order to combat the threat. As expected from any new partnership, the team doesn't exactly gel well from the start and first must overcome their own conflicting personalities in order to find a way to work together for the greater good.</div>
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Downey reprises his role of Iron Man, along with his AI computer J.A.R.V.I.S. (Paul Bettany) and his assistant/girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). As in the <i>Iron Man </i>movies, Stark's hyper genius and glib approach to life give him the strongest presence and some of the best lines amidst moments of pure techno-babble. Scarlett Johansson also returns as Black Widow, and decidedly steps up her game as SHIELD's super-spy with some of the best action and character interactions in the film. However, despite their briefly glowing in one shot, her Widow's Bite still remain nothing by fancy bracelets she wears.</div>
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Evans returns as Captain America, displaying much more of Cap's fighting prowess than before. However, one element glosses over in the movie was Cap's adjustment to the new time period, reduced to only passing quips about references that post-date him. But, his leadership ability finally gets a chance to shine as Evans believably takes charge of the situation.</div>
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Chris Hemsworth is once again Thor, managing to return to Earth with the help of Odin to stop Loki and reclaim the Tesseract. Thor is a little less brash this time, but still manages to butt-heads with his fellow heroes, leading to some of the most entertaining battles during the movie. Also returning from <i>Thor </i>is Stellan Skarsgard as Dr. Erik Selvig and Jeremy Renner from his blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo as Hawkeye, aka Agent Barton. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) appears only as an image on a screen.</div>
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Mark Ruffalo joins the cast in his freshman appearance as Bruce Banner, taking over the role from <i>Incredible Hulk</i>'s Edward Norton after contract disputes resulted in his leaving the role. Although no Norton, Ruffalo does a commendable job in the role, looking to make Banner more timid, yet assertive. Lou Ferrigno lends his voice to Banner's alter-ego the Hulk once again, using a blend of both his and Ruffalo's voices to achieve the affect. Ruffalo also acted out the Hulk's scenes with motion-capture technology.</div>
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Also joining the cast is Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Fury's second-in-command, and Coulson plays a vital role in getting the team to assemble.</div>
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Overall, the experiment was a grand success, with both positive reviews and showings selling out quickly. <i>Avengers </i>raises the bar for Marvel's "Phase Two." Both the individual and team sequels have to find a way to keep the magic fresh and alive for the next big payoff, especially considering the villain reveal during the first (of two) post-credits scene. </div>
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Warner Brothers, it's your move. Isn't it long-past time for a Justice League movie?</div>
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WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-35924485757341685582012-04-01T10:32:00.000-04:002012-05-13T10:33:57.681-04:00ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Since the 1960s, Spider-Man hasn't gone a decade without some form of show on TV. In 1966, there was the cartoon that gave us the recognizable theme "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can..." In 1978, we had Nicholas Hammond as the live-action Spidey (although the <i>Electric Compan</i>y had the claim of having the first ever beginning in 1974). 1981 gave us a double dose with <i>Spider-Man</i> and S<i>pider-Man and his Amazing Friend</i>s. 1995 saw <i>Spider-Man: The Animated Series</i> with its poor follow-up in 1999's <i>Spider-Man Unlimited</i>. 2003 gave us MTV's <i>Spider-Man</i> loosely based on the movie universe, with the better-received <i>Spectacular Spider-Man</i> in 2008. </div>
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Now comes the latest offering from the still new-car-smell fresh pairing of Disney and Marvel (and, if you're keeping count, the third that shares its name with an actual comic series) <i>Ultimate Spider-Man</i>. Executive produced and partially written by comic scribe Brain Michael Bendis, with executive production by <i>Batman: The Animated Series</i>' Paul Dini and the creator alliance behind <i>Ben 10</i> known as Man of Action, one would expect this to truly be THE ultimate Spider-Man cartoon.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Move over, Batusi!</td></tr>
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What we got was the answer to the question: what if Spider-Man (Drake Bell) was an anime character? Unlike previous incarnations, this show is played up almost entirely for laughs by giving audiences a 4th wall-breaking look into Spidey's mind, complete with goofily animated sequences and chibi characters. Emotional moments are brief and fleeting, and there is no seriousness to the threats Spidey faces as each battle plays out like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon from Disney's Distinguished Competition.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spider-Toast, an invention even Yogurt the Wise couldn't even come up with.</td></tr>
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The show has a blend of elements from all over the Marvel-verse. It taps into the movies by having the Ultimate Nick Fury (Chi McBride) assembling heroes to train into the next generation of Avengers, presenting the animated debuts of Iron Fist (Greg Cipes), Luke Cage (Ogie Banks), Nova (Logan Miller, although playing a new character and not Richard Rider) and the female White Tiger (Caitlin Taylor Love) to work alongside Spidey. There's also a brief comedic flashback to Iron Man first testing out his armor akin to the boot-jet test from his first movie. J.K Simmons also returns as J. Jonah Jameson, although without nearly as much bluster as he spouts anti-Spidey rhetoric on TV. Dr. Octopus (Tom Kenny) works for Norman Osborn (Steven Webber), much like he worked for his son Harry in <i>Spider-Man 2,</i> and appears to have the goth-like appearance given to him in the second volume of the <i>Spectacular Spider-Man</i> comic. Aunt May (Misty Lee) is the hip, younger aunt from Bendis' <i>Ultimate </i>comics, rather than the doting old lady from the original comics and previous cartoons. Rounding out the cast is aspiring reporter Mary Jane Watson (Tara Strong), Peter's best friend Harry Osborn and bully Flash Thompson (both Matt Lanter). Stan Lee also appears as the school janitor to spout some nonsense.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spidey's NEW Amazing Friends. Or, is it Ultimate Friends?</td></tr>
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Another unfortunate holdover from the comics is Spidey's ineffectiveness as a hero, the whole basis for the show. In the <i>Ultimate </i>comic, it wasn't uncommon to see Spidey be easily defeated by his foes, usually resulting in some outside savior to save him and defeat said foe. It seems like setting up Spidey with a team of new heroes is just paving the way for more of the same.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nick Fury wants YOU...to clean up your room.</td></tr>
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<i>Ultimate Spider-Man </i>is a manic and bizarre interpretation of the animated series that in no way exhibits the lives up to the prior work of the people involved in its creation. Despite the excellent animation and character designs, the writing is where the show suffers greatly. The jokes are juvenile with only one or two actually earning any kind of laugh. If this is just a case of a show trying to find itself that's fine, but if this is the way the series is going to play out for its entirety, you're better off just skipping it and watching some of the older shows on DVD (whichever is available currently).<br />
<br />
<i>Ultimate Spider-Man </i>airs Sundays at 11AM on Disney XD.</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-42185797563052231612012-02-18T15:54:00.002-05:002012-02-18T15:58:49.737-05:00GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.80millionmoviesfree.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ghost-rider-spirit-of-vengeance-movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="http://blog.80millionmoviesfree.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ghost-rider-spirit-of-vengeance-movie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The century of comic book movies continues with the latest installment <i>Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance</i>, directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor and based on the <a href="http://www.marvel.com/">Marvel Comics</a> character. This is a pseudo sequel to 2007's <i>Ghost Rider</i> in that while Nic Cage reprises the title role of Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider, the main elements and back story have been modified to convey the same basic story while omitting every unique (and many would say painful) aspect related to the first movie. This was done most recently with <i>The Incredible Hulk</i> starring Ed Norton, which picked up from where Ang Lee's <i>Hulk</i> left off, but the brief recap altered the origin to more closely resemble that of the 1970s TV show with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The premise is that Johnny Blaze has fled overseas to get away from his curse, and ends up recruited in a holy quest by Moreau (Idris Elba) to save a young boy (Fergus Riordan) from the devil (<span style="font-size: small;">Ciarán Hinds) and his minions. What this movie does differently from the first is give Ghost Rider a more gritty visual feel than before, with black smoke billowing out, a darker skull, and his suit and bike taking on an almost melted appearance when transformed. The Rider's actions are given an almost horror-like quality which fits the character, and which is woefully underutilized in most representations of him as he is, basically, a creature out of someone's nightmares.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.enthunder.com/screenshot/17d0/17d0b3db/Ghost%20Rider:%20Spirit%20of%20Vengeance-2012/Ghost-Rider-Spirit-of-Vengeance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="376" src="http://www.enthunder.com/screenshot/17d0/17d0b3db/Ghost%20Rider:%20Spirit%20of%20Vengeance-2012/Ghost-Rider-Spirit-of-Vengeance.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scalp itch, the silent killer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The visual effects, for the most part, were impressive, including expanding an ability given to Ghost Rider at the end of the first movie. One instance was one of the more exciting moments in the film. Missing, though, was the Rider's penance stare effects from the first film, replaced by invisible soul-sucking that, if not explained beforehand, audiences would have no clue what was going on. Also gone is the ease in which the Rider dispatched foes with his chain, although still seen briefly. However, this did lead to contrived means in which ordinary human foes gave the Rider a bit of a hard time. But, there were some unique fight scenes that made good use of the Rider's supernatural origins. And, speaking of his origins, the film made use of the continually changing and increasingly complex origin given to the character over the last decade of the comic book. Blackout's "blackout" effect left a little to be desired, as instead of being a fully-realized special effect it was done with a mere camera filtering trick that would surely leave casual movie-goers scratching their heads as to what was supposed to be happening.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.fandango.com/MDCsite/images/featured/201112/mdc-ghost-rider-spirit-of-vengeance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="404" src="http://images.fandango.com/MDCsite/images/featured/201112/mdc-ghost-rider-spirit-of-vengeance.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Definitely not running on clean fuel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The story itself, penned by Scott M. Gimple, Seth Hoffman, and veteran comic movie writer David S. Goyer, wasn't very deep, but effective, capitalizing on many elements of the devil we've seen in both comics and film over the years. Little nods to the previous movie persisted, such as Blaze needing massive amounts of water after a transformation, keeping some sense of continuity within the franchise. There were semi-animated cut scenes here and there to help illustrate moments of exposition when Blaze narrated the backgrounds of certain things. While nicely rendered, they didn't really match the overall tone of the movie. Yes, it's a comic book movie, but comic book elements beyond characters and story are often unwelcomed additions. There were also moments of comedy in the film, some intentional, some not. The infamous "pissing fire" scene seen in most of the trailers makes the final cut of the film, but it's not as serious or gratuitous as most might believe. The other moments either had no place in the film, or were just hilariously bad.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theqit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Ghost-Rider-pissing-flames.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="378" src="http://theqit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Ghost-Rider-pissing-flames.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ghost Rider demonstrates the consequences of unsafe sex. No glove, no love!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.wikia.com/marvelmovies/images/1/1b/Blackout_SOV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images.wikia.com/marvelmovies/images/1/1b/Blackout_SOV.jpg" width="294" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The devil specializes in albinos.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Ghost Rider's main foe is Blackout, named Ray Carrigan and played by Johnny Whitworth, continuing the tradition of blending Blaze's story with that of his successor, Danny Ketch. While decent, Whitowrth's portrayal of Blackout lacked a little something, the threat not really accurately conveyed despite how bad ass he attempted to appear. But, his fight with Ghost Rider was much more well done compared to his battle with Wes Bentley's Blackheart in the first movie. Moreau, however, was nicely played as the gun-toting, wine-swilling priest and adviser to Blaze, replacing the Caretaker character played by Sam Elliott. The female lead, Nadya played by Violante Placido, also made up for the wooden performance of Eva Mendez as Roxanne Simpson. Hinds' devil, replacing Mephistopheles played by Peter Fonda, was also the perfect blend of calm ruthlessness, presenting a salesman's warm facade that lets you believe he can charm anyone into signing over their soul for the mere pittance he gives in return. Unfortunately, as with most movies featuring the devil, his active involvement was brief. The boy, Danny, wasn't given much to do beyond be the victim of the film, but did give his minor role the right amount of detachment to help sell his character.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">As for Nic Cage, he once again played Nic Cage playing another character. Cage reported added snake-like elements to his portrayal of the Rider this time. Why that was even necessary remains a mystery. Cage's shows that despite Blaze's promise to own the curse from the last film, the curse has won him over, leading to some random bursts of insanity from Blaze that only Cage can convey. Cage's performance is a double-edged sword, cutting both ways on the good and bad scale. At moments, his Cage-ness helps the character shine, while at others it holds the character back.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://nerdbastards.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Nicolas-Cage-in-Ghost-Rider-Spirit-of-Vengeance-2012-Movie-Image-e1325104638595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://nerdbastards.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Nicolas-Cage-in-Ghost-Rider-Spirit-of-Vengeance-2012-Movie-Image-e1325104638595.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Insane in the membrane.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Overall, the film was a slightly better attempt at capturing and depicting the character. The dark, gritty, horrific elements were welcomed additions, while some good elements from the first movie were left on the wayside, such as the penance stare and the demonic voice manipulation. The one failing in having a powerful supernatural character fighting against ordinary humans is there's very little leeway in how easily said character can take them out and how seriously they can hold said character at bay to keep the story going. The film attempts to provide a rationale for that, but getting to that point meant some contrivances. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">This was a fun popcorn flick, nothing more, nothing less. It won't reinvent the wheel or even hold much of a candle to some of the major blockbusters past or coming, but it will keep you entertained for its run. If you were among the few that liked the first movie, you're bound to like this one. If you're one of the many that hated the first, this may offer some redemption for the character and franchise for you.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://0.tqn.com/d/comicbooks/1/0/5/B/ghostrider-28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/comicbooks/1/0/5/B/ghostrider-28.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ghost Rider then.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Ghost-Rider_Spirit-of-Vengeance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="http://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Ghost-Rider_Spirit-of-Vengeance.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ghost Rider now.</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-33189267885578890712012-02-17T20:50:00.000-05:002012-02-17T20:50:49.163-05:00TIME WISE<div style="text-align: justify;">IDW and DC Comics have teamed up to produce the comic decades in the making: <i>Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes </i>by Chris Roberson and Jeffrey Moy<i>. </i>Given the time travel elements present in both the Legion and Star Trek universes, it's a wonder it took this long for this book to happen (especially since DC at one point had the Star Trek license). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The story so far is that while on respective missions, away teams of both groups wound up stranded in an alternate timeline that replaced both of theirs. They find themselves unlikely allies against a common threat, common in that both groups have a connection to the main villain of the tale. In the latest issue, #5, the villain shows our heroes that they're not the first time travelers to cross his path with a collection of their modes of transport. The result is a two-page spread chock full of Easter eggs for fans of Trek, DC and sci-fi in general. Take a gander:</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/6025/1329328748943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/6025/1329328748943.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Don't recognize them all? 4Chan helped you out there with this handy <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v441/majingojira/?action=view&current=CrossoverTimeMachinesLabaled-StarTrekandtheLegionofSuperHeroes5.jpg">cheat sheet</a>. Try to challenge yourself before you look!</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-1335257563677140122012-02-12T22:06:00.003-05:002012-02-17T22:34:26.645-05:00COMIC BOOK MEN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.undertheradarmag.com/uploads/review_images/comic_book_men.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://www.undertheradarmag.com/uploads/review_images/comic_book_men.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Following the season premier of <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead"><i>Walking Dead</i></a>, AMC launched the first of their 6-episode series <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/comic-book-men"><i>Comic Book Men</i></a>, which features the employees of Kevin Smith's comic book store, <a href="http://www.redbankstash.com/">Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash</a>, as they go about their daily business and their usual podcast. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120210064925-comic-book-men-story-top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120210064925-comic-book-men-story-top.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, what did we get? The entire hour was full of the guys ribbing on each other, and far-too-convenient moments of customers coming in to sell them high-end collectibles, including a Bob Kane original Batman sketch, a Jack Kirby Thor poster from the 60s, a "life-sized" Chucky doll, and movie production stills. Basically, the show played up to the speculator market that nearly killed the industry back in the 90s, while offering a very limited view of what actually goes on inside a comic shop. If you like <a href="http://www.history.com/shows/pawn-stars"><i>Pawn Stars</i></a> and Kevin Smith, this is the show for you. Otherwise, if you want to see what really goes on, head to your local comic book shop on Wednesday in the afternoons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">One fun thing to note is while watching the episode, when a guy came in trying to sell <i>Tomb of Dracula</i> #10 (the first appearance of Blade, of Wesley Snipes fame):</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n7lKN-JDmi8/TnszD60dbWI/AAAAAAAASPU/_4AiqcB7C2Q/s640/tomb+of+dracula+10+1976.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n7lKN-JDmi8/TnszD60dbWI/AAAAAAAASPU/_4AiqcB7C2Q/s640/tomb+of+dracula+10+1976.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I happened to be handling Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #6:</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.majorspoilers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/BTVS2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.majorspoilers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/BTVS2.jpg" width="411" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Just a funny coincidence I thought I'd share.</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-13741822820583446032012-01-11T19:37:00.003-05:002012-01-14T11:35:24.868-05:00CLONE WARS<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's amazing what a difference a decade makes. For all that time, Marvel treated the word "clone" as if it were an infectious disease, poking fun at one of their more controversial clone stories whenever it WAS actually brought up and referenced. However, in 2003, Wolverine's clone <a href="http://marvel.com/universe/X-23">X-23</a> made the jump from the <i>X-Men: Evolution </i>animated series into comics with <i>NYX </i>#1, and proceeded to have two minis and an ongoing series to her credit. In <i>Avengers: The Initiative Annual </i>#1 in 2008, it was revealed that <a href="http://marvel.com/universe/MVP">MVP</a> was cloned and turned into the three Scarlet Spiders, of which only one remains. And in 2012, a new Scarlet Spider returns in his own series, with a clone of Spider-Man once again behind the mask.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.spidervillain.com/SpiderManCovers/Amazing/ASM149/ASM149Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.spidervillain.com/SpiderManCovers/Amazing/ASM149/ASM149Cover.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original Clone Saga.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Back in the 90s, the latest rage was clones. <a href="http://estellabooks.blogspot.com/2008/10/back-to-90s-death-of-superman.html">Superman had two</a>, <a href="http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/spotlight/showquestion.asp?faq=10&fldAuto=65">Madelyne Pryor</a>, the Jean Grey clone from Chris Claremont's <i>Uncanny X-Men</i>, returned in the pages of <a href="http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/spotlight/showquestion.asp?faq=10&fldAuto=73"><i>X-Man</i></a>, and Spidey's clone returned. In 1975, Peter Parker's science teacher Professor Miles Warren became so infatuated with Gwen Stacy that upon her death in <i>Amazing Spider-Man </i>#121, he snapped and turned himself into the <a href="http://marvel.com/universe/Jackal">Jackal</a>. Using his knowledge of cloning, he discovered Peter was Spidey and made a clone, pitting them against each other to the death in <i>Amazing </i>#149. The clone appeared to have died, and all was well in the Spideyverse. However, there was the lingering question of whether the clone really died...or the original.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://furiousfanboys.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/629973-clones1_super.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://furiousfanboys.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/629973-clones1_super.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All in the clone family.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fast forward to 1995 and the clone returns, a concept previously visited in <i>What If? </i>vol. 1 #30, calling himself Ben Reilly after their shared aunt (maiden name) and uncle (first name). With him came the Jackal and two new clones: <a href="http://marvel.com/universe/Kaine">Kaine</a>, the first clone who had gained new and increased powers due to cellular degeneration and hated Ben for his perfection, and <a href="http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/spidercide.htm">Spidercide</a>, who could shapeshift and was a lethal killing machine. Ben came to adopt the identity Scarlet Spider and helped Peter face several challenges until the Jackal revealed that Ben was the real one, and Peter had been the clone all this time. After coming to terms with that drama, and with he and his <strike>wife</strike> <a href="http://estellabooks.blogspot.com/2008/02/one-more-day-one-world-changed.html">live-in lover</a> Mary Jane <strike>expecting a baby</strike> wanting a normal life, Peter decided to retire and Ben eventually took up the Spidey mantle (for more details, check out this <a href="http://estellabooks.blogspot.com/2008/12/back-to-90s-clone-saga.html">article</a>).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i53.tinypic.com/2ex9h92.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://i53.tinypic.com/2ex9h92.png" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Reilly's redesigned Spidey costume.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">During Ben's tenure, we were given an entirely new supporting cast at his job at the Daily Grind coffee shop, upgrades to some old foes like Hobgoblin and Mysterio, a slew of new foes both out front and clandestine, and some legacy characters in a new <a href="http://marvel.com/universe/Doctor_Octopus_%28Carolyn_Trainer%29">Doctor Octopus</a> to replace the one Kaine killed so the writers could boost his threat credibility. It was also the return to the single Spidey Marvel had been <a href="http://estellabooks.blogspot.com/2008/02/marvel-loathes-mary-jane.html">wanting for quite some time</a>. Despite all that, Marvel's marketing department had stretched the storylines farther than they were ever intended to go without much success in covering that fact up, and fans were not happy with having followed a fake Spidey for 30 years. So, in the specifically renamed <i>Peter Parker: Spider-Man </i>#75, Ben was killed off by the original <a href="http://www.thegreengoblinshideout.com/">Green Goblin</a>, Norman Osborn, whose power-granting goblin formula granted him a healing factor that allowed him to survive his death in <i>Amazing </i>#122. The final nail of the story was driven in by the humorous comic <i>101 Ways to End the Clone Saga</i>. Despite the initial fallout from Ben's revelation as the real deal, he had a slew of followers that continued to pine for his return.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq188/mrdamntn/6564-frank-cho-spider-man1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq188/mrdamntn/6564-frank-cho-spider-man1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.samruby.com/Series/Ultimate/Large/UltimateSpider-Man103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.samruby.com/Series/Ultimate/Large/UltimateSpider-Man103.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ultimate Clones.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Over the next decade, Marvel gradually distanced themselves from the storyline and clones in general in the main universe. Any mention that had come up were all done as jabs and jokes. Plot lines were left dangling and characters created in this period just disappeared. However, the Clone Saga did live on in comics in one form; <a href="http://marvel.com/universe/Spider-Girl"><i>Spider-Girl</i></a>, their longest-running female title and alternate universe daughter of Peter Parker, wore Ben's Spidey costume for the duration of her series, and Felicity Hardy, daughter of the Black Cat, made an appearance as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity_Hardy">Scarlet Spider</a>. In 2005, a much different jackal made an appearance as the villain of the mini-series <i>Daredevil vs. Punisher. </i>Also, in 2006, Brian Bendis launched <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clone_Saga#Ultimate_Spider-Man_Clone_Saga">his own Clone Saga</a> in <i>Ultimate Spider-Man </i>#97, a modern updating of the Spidey mythos and a universe all of its own. Gradually, Ben Reilly-themed figures began to find their way back into the toy lines.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5820/1299530-tasm_637051_super.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5820/1299530-tasm_637051_super.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Kaine...to Tarantula!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2009, Ben Reilly finally made a return to the <i>Amazing </i>book in a flashback sequence, and then had a flashback feature in the anthologized <i>Web of Spider-Man</i>. Kaine also made a return during the <i>Amazing </i>#608-610, and again in the Grim Hunt storyline where he was eventually killed off and briefly resurrected as the new more spider-esque Tarantula. The Jackal and several clones also returned as the antagonists of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_Island">Spider-Island</a> story under the leadership of the Spider Queen from <i>Spectacular Spider-Man </i>vol. 3 #15-20. To further drive it home, in 2010 Marvel began to collect the complete Clone Saga epic <a href="http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=19750838">in a series of trade paperbacks</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the conclusion of the Spider-Island story, Kaine was restored to normal, seemingly cured of his degeneration and more closely resembling Peter. Deciding to strike it out on his own and find his place in the world, and continued redemption for his time as effectively being a villain to live up to the Parker ideals. Launching out of <i>Marvel Point One</i>, Kaine heads to Houston to become the new Scarlet Spider in his own ongoing series by Chris Yost. Can the Marvel of today support two Spider-Men when the Marvel of yesteryear refused to? Time, and sales, will tell.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://forsakenllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/scarlet-spider-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://forsakenllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/scarlet-spider-1.jpg" width="419" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new Scarlet Spider.</td></tr>
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</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-73293776174969085172011-12-17T23:33:00.000-05:002012-01-14T23:34:44.538-05:00MY LITTLE BRONY<div style="text-align: justify;">In a surprise to everyone involved and the media, the cartoon <i>My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic </i>has gained a fanbase above and beyond the targeted demographic of little toy-purchasing girls. That fanbase is comprised of teenaged and adult males, affectionately dubbed by the media as "Bronies."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My Little Pony is a <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/?US">Hasbro</a> toy line that began in 1983 and are exactly as they sound: colorful ponies designed to entice young girls. Gaining in popularity, two movies were released, <i>Rescue from Midnight Castle </i>in 1984 and <i>Escape From Catrina </i>in 1985, before spawning an animated series from 1986-87. In 1992, a follow-up series, <i>My Little Pony</i> <i>Tales, </i>was produced but only lasted the year. In 1993, the toy line ceased regular production, with intermittent releases over the next two years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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1997 saw the return of the toys with a new, sleeker look called Friendship Gardens (or Generation 2). This run proved unsuccessful in America and was discontinued in 1999, though it continued to run overseas until 2003's Generation 3 began. These ponies were said to reside in Ponyville and often came with magnets in their feet designed to activate elements on playsets. Recognizing a growing adult fanbase, Hasbro made collectible ponies available only at different events and targeted at these collectors. Between 2003 and 2009, Generation 3's ponies were featured in a series of direct-to-video movies </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2009, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Faust">Lauren Faust</a> was approached to make a new show for Hasbro to premiere on their new network, <a href="http://www.hubworld.com/">The Hub</a>. Faust set out to steer the series beyond it's "girly" roots and make it something more than a 22 minute commercial for their toys. The result was Generation 4, <i>My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://coffeeandchopsticks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/12916302705671.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://coffeeandchopsticks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/12916302705671.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left to right from top: Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><i></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The show's initial focus was on Twilight Sparkle, a magical unicorn who is the student of Princess Celestia and overly dedicated to her studies. Sensing danger on the horizon, Celestia sent Twilight from the royal city of Canterlot to Ponyville to learn about friendship and make new friends in order to harness the elements of friendship and save Equestria. Initially reluctant, Twilight, along with her assistant, a baby dragon named Spike, managed to make five close friends: Fluttershy, a timid Pegasus who is responsible for all of Ponyville's various animals and whose friendship element is kindness; Rarity, another magical, and highly fashionable, unicorn who runs a fashion boutique and represents the element of generosity; Applejack, a hardworking farm gal who harvests apples on her family farm, Sweet Apple Acres, and represents honesty; Rainbow Dash, a boastful Pegasus who works in Cloudsdale controlling Equestria's weather while aspiring to become one of the high-flying Wonderbolts, and represents loyalty; and Pinkie Pie, a hyperactive pony who loves to party and partake of sweets from her job at Sugar Cube Corner, and represents laughter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Each episode of the first season had Twilight learning about friendship and writing a weekly report about it to Princess Celestia, to coincide with the moral eventually learned at the end. The second season expanded this concept during its third episode "Lesson Zero" to include reports from any of the "Mane 6" (as fans have dubbed the main pony cast) who learned anything at all about friendship. As a result, the second season focuses a lot less on the group dynamic of the 6 friends and more on individual character stories with lessons targeted towards them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, where do the Bronies come in? Faust managed to achieve her goal of making not just another toy tie-in cartoon and gave it an actual story and heart. With superb writing, well-developed characters and morals that aren't exactly forced into each story for the sake of being there, the show reached an unprecedented level of quality that managed to be noticed by a larger fanbase than anyone involved with the show ever expected. Not to be outdone, the series has also garnered loyalty from older female viewers dubbing themselves "Pegasisters." The show has also inspired countless of Youtube video remixes and parodies, fan art and internet memes (fanfiction and forums are pretty much standard and expected by this point).<br />
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Does it live up to the hype and attention it's gained? Doesn't hurt to give it a try, does it?<br />
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, airs Saturday mornings at 10 & 10:30 Eastern on The Hub. Check local listings.</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-75539729127097160252011-12-02T20:53:00.001-05:002011-12-16T18:29:39.181-05:00CLASSIC ENDINGSIn honor of Archie Comics' 70th anniversary, the company has been reprinting classic strips and covers on their entire main Archie line since October. A glimpse of what has been:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Life With Archie #51 meets Archie & Friends #157.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L2L2sGrgnbI/Ttl74lAP5gI/AAAAAAAAACs/I8Bp0EiSlzo/s1600/af159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="436" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L2L2sGrgnbI/Ttl74lAP5gI/AAAAAAAAACs/I8Bp0EiSlzo/s640/af159.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Life With Archie #56 meets Archie & Friends #159.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Life With Archie #54 meets Archie & Friends #158.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S1OHK3HX7do/Ttl77BCcz3I/AAAAAAAAADE/zQdOkAJKaVY/s1600/bvdd219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="408" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S1OHK3HX7do/Ttl77BCcz3I/AAAAAAAAADE/zQdOkAJKaVY/s640/bvdd219.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Archie Giant Series #168 meets B&V Friends Double Digest #219.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laugh #168 meets B&V Friends Double Digest #220.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Betty and Me #32 meets Betty #194.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xNV6NnIhBYM/Ttl75XiezfI/AAAAAAAAAC0/anAMmZ2GkEo/s1600/b194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Betty and Me #31 meets Betty #195.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">However, these are not all just mere tributes to Archie's past. For two of those books, these mark the end. Both <i>Betty</i> and <i>Archie & Friends</i> have been cancelled, and reprints were used to finish out their respective lines. Also cancelled is <i>Veronica</i>, whose final issues are currently the <i>Kevin Keller </i>mini-series. <i>Betty and Veronica </i>will continue for the girls, while Archie's friends still have the similarly-named double digest to play in. <i>Kevin Keller </i>also gets his own ongoing in 2012 after favorable reaction to both the character and the mini.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin Keller #4/Veronica #210 marks the final issue of the series.</td></tr>
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</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-44996523588970287092011-11-18T19:43:00.004-05:002011-11-20T19:58:03.976-05:00THE BRAVE AND THE CANCELLED<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/18830/batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-batman-3822947-1280-1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/18830/batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-batman-3822947-1280-1024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tonight American audiences were finally graced with the final episode of <i>Batman: The Brave and the Bold</i>. Beginning in 2009 on Cartoon Network, TBATB was a dramatically different take on animated Batman than what has been seen since <i>The Animated Series </i>began in 1993. It was a tongue-in-cheek show designed to be a love letter to the often silly and outlandish comics of the Silver Age, particularly the covers which, produced before the actual book, very rarely matched the content and featured one-panel bizarre scenarios. Much like the comic the series took its name from, each episode featured Batman teamed-up with heroes from across the DC Universe, some never prominently featured in animation before, including the Metal Men (Lex Lang, Bill Fagerbakke, Hynden Walch, Corey Burton, Brian Bloom and Dee Bradley Baker respectively), the new Blue Beetle (voiced by <i>Batman Beyond</i> veteran Will Friedele), the Weeper (Tim Conway) and Doctor Double X (Ron Perlman).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blondesearch.ru/img/6b/6b3/Batman_The_Brave_and_The_Bold_with_Scooby_Doo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://blondesearch.ru/img/6b/6b3/Batman_The_Brave_and_The_Bold_with_Scooby_Doo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Like, hey, groovy tights, man."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The show featured many homages to the comics, particularly from the Silver Age, and previous television incarnations that came before. "Battle of the Superheroes" saw Superman, finally cleared for use on the show, infected by personality-altering Red Kryptonite, resulting in him pulling off many of the gags found on Superman-related covers such as <a href="http://images.wikia.com/marvel_dc/images/8/8b/Jimmy_Olsen_30.jpg"><i>Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen </i>#30</a>, <a href="http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/lois-lane/26-1.jpg"><i>Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane </i>#26</a> and <a href="http://images.wikia.com/marvel_dc/images/1/1b/Action_Comics_311.jpg"><i>Action Comics </i>#311</a>. "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!" recreated the <i><a href="http://www.dccomics.com/mad/">MAD Magazine</a> </i>parody <a href="http://ethunter1.blogspot.com/2009/10/sunday-funnies-mad-8-bat-boy.html">Bat Boy and Rubin</a>, featured Jiro Kuata's manga found in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bat-Manga-Secret-History-Batman-Japan/dp/0375714847"><i>Bat-Manga!: the Secret History of Batman in Japan</i></a>, and parodied <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Scooby-Doo-Meets-Batman/dp/B0000687FU/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1321806476&sr=1-1"><i>The New Scooby-Doo Movies </i>Batman team-up episodes</a>. "The Super-Batman of Planet X!" featured the <a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Tlano_%28Earth-One%29">Batman of Zur-En-Arrh</a> voiced by Batman veteran Kevin Conroy (Batman from TAS through <i>Justice League</i>), an alien that first appeared in 1958's <i>Batman </i>#113 and resurfaced in 2008 during Grant Morrison's run on <i>Batman</i> as a back-up personality for Bruce Wayne. "Chill of the Night," one of the most widely well-received episodes of the series, gives a retelling of Batman's origin inspired by <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Untold_Legend_of_the_Batman">Untold Legend of the Batman</a> </i>and features Batman veterans Adam West and Julie Newmar (Batman and Catwoman from the 1960s live-action series), Mark Hamil (the primary actor for the Joker from 1993-2011), Richard Moll (Two-Face from <i>TAS</i>), and Conroy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.avclub.com/images/articles/article/65/65378/someta_jpg_627x325_crop_upscale_q85.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://media.avclub.com/images/articles/article/65/65378/someta_jpg_627x325_crop_upscale_q85.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Never mind that I'm naked, stop your diminutive evil!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The final episode, titled "Mitefall" after the one-shot parodying the Knightfall storyline, features Bat-Mite (Paul Reubens) who is bored with the show as it is, feeling it has jumped the shark, and seeks to cancel it to allow a new, darker show to be produced. He does this by introducing every show-killing trope to Batman's world: giving him a family, creating a Scrappy-Doo-esque nephew for Batdog Ace, giving Batman toy manufacturer-inspired costumes and accessories, and replacing a long-standing voice with actor Ted McGinley (who is often credited with killing any show he's casted on, despite <i>Married...With Children</i> lasting an additional six years after). Ambush Bug, fittingly voiced by Henry Winkler (<a href="http://youtu.be/MDthMGtZKa4">who literally jumped a shark</a> on <i>Happy Days </i>as The Fonz), is aware of the plot and tries to save the show. Unfortunately, the network decides to cancel the show anyway, and Ambush Bug arranges for one final send-off from all the characters featured over the last three seasons. The episode was written by Paul Dini, one of the principals behind the DC Animated Universe, and of course featured some of the fourth-wall breaking situational commentary his Bat-Mite episodes have become known for.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://lugeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/mvbthumbs/img_391_batman-brave-and-the-bold-mitefall-to-the-bat-luge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://lugeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/mvbthumbs/img_391_batman-brave-and-the-bold-mitefall-to-the-bat-luge.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Let's go, Neon Talking Bat-Luge!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although the show stumbled a bit during the second season, it had often delivered classic characters in humorously enjoyable settings and stories. It managed to blend the sensibilities of the previous DC Animated Universe cartoons with that of the Adam West years, without often taking it too far into the camp and corn. Although not widely received by Batman purists, the show managed to find a strong enough following to last as long as it did. With 65 episodes, a video game, an ongoing comic series, and an outstanding voice cast to its credit, there's no doubt that TBATB will be fondly remembered in the annuls of the greater Batman mythos.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://comicsastonish.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/mitefall-group-photo.png?w=692&h=403" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="371" src="http://comicsastonish.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/mitefall-group-photo.png?w=692&h=403" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only the end of the world can bring evil and justice together in peace and harmony.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-1342454981469725572011-10-31T19:17:00.003-04:002011-11-03T22:40:07.539-04:00HALLOWEEN VIEWING<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs36/f/2008/266/d/7/Samhain_by_TristJones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs36/f/2008/266/d/7/Samhain_by_TristJones.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><br />
<br />
As the witching hour is upon us for one of the best nights of the year, I thought I'd take a moment to share with you some of my favorite Halloween viewing. Who knows, maybe some of them are yours too.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Garfield's Halloween Adventure </i>(1985) - Three years before the classic animated series <i>Garfield and Friends</i>, there was this great 30-minute short. It's Halloween and Garfield has one mission: get free candy! Heading out with his trusty fall-guy, Odie, the two end up in a heap of trouble when confronted by ghost pirates! Watching this as a kid, I'm man enough to admit that the ghost scenes, starting with the old man who told the tale of the pirates, really freaked me out. This was scary stuff when you're a youngster! Even in that period when I was growing up and slowly began to forget the thrills of my childhood, the one thing that always stuck with me was the signature crackle of the fire in the fireplace. I never forgot it, or this. And, much like the show that followed, watching it is still a treat nearly 30 years later.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/-JY5sxZWUck?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! </i>(1966) - The seminal Halloween classic based on Charles Schultz's <i>Peanuts </i>comic strip, we follow each of the Peanuts gang on their adventures one Halloween night. Linus and his quest to meet the Great Pumpkin. Charlie Brown getting nothing but rocks from houses. And, of course, Snoopy as the World War I flying ace fighting against the Red Baron. As one of only animated specials still played every year, this is a must-see. No matter how many times you may have already, it never gets old and never loses its magic. That's the power of the Peanuts, and why, years after the strip ended with Schultz's death, they still go as strong today.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/xiSIQzwIPzQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Evil Dead </i>(1981) - Tagged as "the ultimate in grueling terror," this film lives up to that distinction. Following five teens who head for a getaway in a mountain cabin, they end up finding an archaeologists things including the Necronomicon, aka the book of the dead. Playing a recording of the archaeologist translating text from the book, they awaken something evil in the woods that comes for them one by one. This is the film that launched the careers of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, and with good reason. On a budget a FRACTION of that of any other horror film you may have seen, it managed to accomplish the same effects in both visuals and storytelling. Sure, some of the more gruesome things don't hold up to scrutiny in today's CGI world, but guess what? Very few movies from the 80s do, so it's all good. A must for any true horror fan, especially on Halloween.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/wXpjFAisVvY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>The Monster Squad </i>(1987) - Take <i>The Goonies</i>, add monsters, and you've got <i>Monster Squad</i>. Several members of a monster club end up smack dab in the plans of Dracula's attempt to take over the world with the other Universal Monsters. Although far from cinematic gold, this movie is a fun romp from start to finish, showing kids taking the initiative where adults' common sense fails. This is also the movie that established the answer to the age old question: does wolfman have nards? Yes. Yes he does. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/4VAat7Q--wQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Ghostbusters </i>(1984) - No Halloween list is complete without this comedy classic. Three scientists believe in ghosts and discover a way to capture them. Forced to begin their own business, they end up in a fight for the world with a Sumerian demigod who takes the form of a giant marshmallow man! Unless you've been under a rock, you know what <i>Ghostbusters </i>is and what it's about. It's the movie that spawned two cartoons, hundreds of toys and a dozen different types of video games. Almost 30 years later, Ghost Fever is still in full-swing, and while they may not play the movie every year, you can still hear the classic Ray Parker, Jr. theme on the radio (at least here in New York, which is awesome).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/cyRqR56aCKc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<i>Lonesome Ghosts </i>(1937) - Disney's precursor to the Ghostbusters concept, Mickey, Donald and Goofy are ghost exterminators that are called to a haunted mansion by the bored ghosts looking for some victims to scare. This is the usual Disney short fare, full of slapstick and zany antics. Another one that creeped me out often as a kid, particularly because the older Disney cartoons had such moody background set pieces, and the hand-drawn animated had such an effect to it since it wasn't as smooth as today's computers. More personality.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZtVJOqRCZBE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-24832887547061799192011-10-27T19:17:00.000-04:002011-11-03T21:29:59.975-04:00GHOST TRAP REVIEW<div style="text-align: justify;">Since <a href="http://www.mattel.com/">Mattel</a> aquired the license to Ghostbusters back in 2009, they've been steadily putting out a stream of products. Managing where Neca failed in 2004, they've released the actual Ghostbusters and look to be going into the villains soon. Then they began to delve into the realm of prop replicas, releasing the PKE meter whose only flaw is the sound effects, which match an old Tiger handheld game more than the movie.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But, this month, Mattel's <a href="http://www.mattycollector.com/">Matty Collector</a> division outdid themselves with the release of the ghost trap. This thing is insane with the level of detail that went into it. Not long before or after it's release, the proppers in the Ghosthead community began doing side-by-side comparisons between the toy and the parts they used to build their own real traps. Let me tell ya, it's pretty damn close.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/iZEi_PvT1Pk/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iZEi_PvT1Pk&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iZEi_PvT1Pk&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Functionality wise, they went all out. The trap comes with two modes: prop and movie. Movie mode, you press the pedal once to open the trap, and again to close it. Once the "ghost" is trapped, the LEDs come on complete with sounds from the movie and "electric jolts." After a while, the "ghost" attempts to escape from the trap, causing it to jump. Prop mode allows you the same functions, but without the sound effects for display purposes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is a pretty impressive item. It puts the Kenner toy from the 80s to shame by far. Imagine growing up with this thing instead of that! If you're a Ghostbusters fan without the time or talent to build your own, getting your hands on this is the next best thing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/kfOTLpHyVM0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-20888211179599924212011-10-26T06:44:00.004-04:002011-10-27T07:17:58.223-04:00POST-NYCC REPORT<div style="text-align: justify;">New York Comic Con may only be four days (up from three, by the way), but it sure as hell takes up my entire month, which is why this entry is so delinquent since the con has been over about two weeks now.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anyway, the show was decidedly bigger with the usual assortment of fanfare. Hasbro had a nice set-up with a giant Optimus Prime statue, a life-size Amazing Spider-Man statue, and all their Marvel figures duking it out in a diorama. Marvel and DC had the biggest booths with their characters prominently displayed. The toy booths looked like miniature flea markets with all the stuff crowded together. And, as usual, the Anime show was shoved off in a far removed corner. Although, instead of the basement, they got a subdivision of the second floor with massive windows and balconies. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And there was the CAG booth, sitting just below Artists Alley between a book about Jaws and some web sitcom. We got a lot of attention during the show, filling up three pages of the mailing list with hopefully future productive members of the group. We also moved quite a few Iconics, albeit at the educator discounted price. The other members who manned the table made some sales with their own stuff. My stuff, though, still going nowhere. Got a ton of Marvel Indexes nobody wants to buy, and Worst Case Scenario moved off the GWP table better than it did on ours. Weird. At least I was able to get around and see some friends and colleagues alike.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The crowds were immense. You could barely move Friday through most of Sunday. Hell, most of the panels I wanted to go to ended up shut out, especially the Archie one. There was the usual assortment of booth babes and girls in costume who probably don't want anything to do with our world for the rest of the year. Then there were the fan costumes, some that were as extravagant as they always are. If I had space to get a clear view I would have taken more costume pictures than I did. Think next year I'll do all my exploring early on Thursday while it's being set up.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We had some fun gatherings after the show, holding an altered drink and draw (our intended model bailed at the last minute, resulting in a shared drawing being passed around between artists over dinner) and then just going to dinner on Saturday. It was relaxing, and it was fun, and a nice break from being jammed in a sardine can.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">One thing to note this time was the extreme LACK of discount comic bins. The only places that had them were the Midtown Comics booth and the Captain Action booth. A colleague was inclined to tell me that's a good sign, meaning the books have more worth than before now. I suppose that's true. Although, really, what you mostly find in those bins are books from the 90s, which is decidedly regarded as the worst period for comics. But, I guess the other good part of it is I didn't walk out with three longboxes of comics. But, I did get some awesome art, some books signed, and good deals on trades.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall, good show. Hopefully at lot of positive fallout comes from it. Next: Boston!</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-22753297693447976112011-09-13T19:35:00.000-04:002011-09-13T19:35:39.836-04:00SATURDAY MORNING TRIBUTE: NBCAs part of the <a href="http://quartercomics.blogspot.com/2011/09/25-years-ago-on-saturday-morning.html">25th anniversary celebratio</a>n of <i>The Real Ghostbusters</i>, and Saturday morning in general, here are the shows that aired on rival network <a href="http://www.nbc.com/">NBC</a> back in the fall of 1986. Enjoy the little trip down memory lane!<br />
<br />
<i>8:00 - Kissyfur (1986-90)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/sivKUzpPpjo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>8:30 - Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1985-89, on ABC from 89-90)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/g2z8V2yL5P0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>9:00-10:00 - The Smurfs (1981-89)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/1665x6fyva0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>10:30 - Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983-90)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/80eb_aNaSm8/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/80eb_aNaSm8&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/80eb_aNaSm8&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><i> </i><br />
<i>11:00 - Foofur (1986-88)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/zhuBecvpLYA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>11:30 - Punky Brewster (1984-88)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/IBL7JggnSg8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>12:00 - Lazer Tag Academy (1986-87)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/MFWXQLg1Tf4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><i> </i><br />
<i>12:30 - Kidd Video (1984-87, reruns)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/9YzChZTqxDU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><i> </i>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-46928822625601267072011-09-13T19:17:00.001-04:002011-09-13T19:19:04.710-04:00SATURDAY MORNING TRIBUTE: CBSAs part of the <a href="http://quartercomics.blogspot.com/2011/09/25-years-ago-on-saturday-morning.html">25th anniversary celebration</a> of <i>The Real Ghostbusters</i>, and Saturday morning in general, here are the shows that aired on rival network <a href="http://www.cbs.com/">CBS</a> back in the fall of 1986. Enjoy the little trip down memory lane!<br />
<br />
<i>8:00 - The Berenstain Bears (1985-87)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/oJKpcfm1qD4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>8:30 - Wildfire (1986)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/6jn6BqCDoME?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>9:00-9:30 - The Muppet Babies (1984-91)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/XR_hpdVuEug/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XR_hpdVuEug&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XR_hpdVuEug&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />
<i>10:00 - Galaxy High School (1986)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/n-Squ_PgDxw/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/n-Squ_PgDxw&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/n-Squ_PgDxw&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><i> </i><i> </i> <br />
<i>10:30 - Teen Wolf (1986-87)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/stzaO6agaaQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>11:00 - Pee Wee's Playhouse (1986-90)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/c0bHUtpXI3o?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><i> </i><br />
<i>11:30 - CBS Storybreak (1985-87)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/AOI5g8jWjd0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>12:00-12:30 - Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling (1985-86)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/jPSra3AccE0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><i> </i>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-48231913398578113962011-09-13T00:00:00.041-04:002011-09-13T00:00:00.802-04:00WHO YA GONNA CALL?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">23 years ago, one of the most recognizable 80s franchises made their leap to comics. <i>Transformers</i>? Nope. <i>G.I. Joe</i>? Hardly. <i>Fraggle Rock</i>? Close. Weâre talking about the professionals in paranormal investigation and elimination: Ghostbusters.<br />
<br />
BUSTINâ MAKES ME FEEL GOOD<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMs2p8pn4I/AAAAAAAAA_o/F1sdq3o6NUg/s1600-h/gb.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243083708674187138" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMs2p8pn4I/AAAAAAAAA_o/F1sdq3o6NUg/s400/gb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" width="276" /></a>Ghostbusters was originally conceived as a vehicle by comedian Dan Aykroyd for himself and his friend, fellow Saturday Night Live alum, band mate and friend John Belushi, as a follow-up to their hit movie <i>The Blues Brothers</i>. It was inspired by Aykroydâs own interest in the paranormal, and was intended to be about a group of men in SWAT-style uniforms that traveled through time, space and other dimensions while using specialized wands to take on a horde of giant ghosts (of which The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man would have been a member of). When brought to the attention of director and producer Ivan Reitman, he liked the concept but felt the story, as it was, would cost far too much to make (remember, there was no CGI as we know it in the early 1980s, so many of the special effects and creatures would have to be practical effects). Reitman would pair Aykroyd up with Harold Ramis to fine tune the idea to more realistic proportions, or the version we all know and love today.<br />
<br />
In 1984, Aykroyd and Ramis as Doctors Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler, alongside Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson as Dr. Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore (Belushi had died during the screenwriting process from a drug overdose), led Ghostbusters to become the most successful comedies of the 80s. That success would be translated into an animated series by DiC Entertainment called <i>The Real Ghostbusters</i> in 1986 (<i>The Real</i> was added to the title by Columbia Pictures to snub Filmation, who was banking on the movieâs success with their own <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH8yd2xLL8s">spin-off cartoon</a> of their 1975 live-action <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4-Io8xMHL4"><i>Ghost Busters</i></a> TV show starring Larry Storch and Forest Tucker). The show was just as successful as the movie, thanks in large part to the earlier seasons being headed-up by renowned comic writer J. Michael Straczynski who helped give it a dark tone that even adults could enjoy. Ghost Fever was in full swing, with toys, games, and even a movie sequel. But thereâs one aspect in particular weâre here to talk about today.</div><br />
<img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243083830554515298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMs9v_L12I/AAAAAAAAA_w/gepshdEG6MM/s400/rgb.jpg" width="292" /><br />
<div><div><div><div><div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">THE FRANCHISE RIGHTS</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
In 1988, The Real Ghostbusters made their foray into the four-colored world by both <a href="http://www.marvel.com/">Marvelâs</a> United Kingdom office and Tony Caputoâs <a href="http://www.nowcomics.com/">NOW Comics</a>. The UK run, which lasted 193 weekly issues (monthly with the final few), 4 hardcover annuals, and multiple reprint collections put out as specials and their own monthly title, came out a few months before the NOW run. The book was published in magazine format with anywhere from two to three comic stories (depending on their length, sometimes extra one-pagers were added), a prose story which alternated monthly from a standard adventure to an entry in Winston Zeddemoreâs diary, a prose spirit guide entry by Egon Spengler that would discuss something supernatural related to a story in that issue, and even a strip featuring their resident ghost, Slimer, primarily written and drawn by Bambos.</div><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMtFSYUPrI/AAAAAAAAA_4/A60-jwuNe8E/s1600-h/rgbuk.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243083960045813426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMtFSYUPrI/AAAAAAAAA_4/A60-jwuNe8E/s400/rgbuk.jpg" width="272" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">These comics were decidedly kid-friendly; the plots never being too deep and loaded with pun-laden dialogue. It featured a large rotating roster of creative talent, including names such as Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (<i>Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy</i>) and Richard Starkings (founder of lettering house <a href="http://comicraft.com/">Comicraft</a> and creator of <i>Elephantmen</i>). The series also tended to introduce designs seen within the toy lines, rather than exclusively from the cartoon.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Late in the run, the books began to reprint stories from the NOW series, but because the length of the stories differed between the two comics they were usually broken up into multiple parts over the course of several issues. Stories previously published in the book itself were also sometimes reused. By issue 173, original stories ceased to be produced, and by #186 the book would finish out its run in a larger monthly format, but still using reprints.</div><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMtMBnQMEI/AAAAAAAABAA/9aQSa5106Kc/s1600-h/rgb1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243084075804143682" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMtMBnQMEI/AAAAAAAABAA/9aQSa5106Kc/s400/rgb1.jpg" width="258" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">NOW Comics, known as NOW Entertainment and NOW 3.0 in future incarnations, was founded by Tony Caputo and grew from a one man operation to publishing many titles in various countries. NOWâs biggest draw included licensed properties such as <i>MarriedâŠWith Children, The Green Hornet, Speed Racer</i> and, of course, <i>The Real Ghostbusters</i>. The book ran for 28 issues before NOW filed for bankruptcy in late 1990. They were primarily written by James Van Hise, except for two issues, and drawn by John Tobias, who would later create the Mortal Kombat video game series with Ed Boon.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Their run also included a 3-issue limited series adapting the script from Ghostbusters II, but using the cartoon characters rather than trying to go for the actorsâ likenesses. The series is most notable for introducing the cartoon version of Dana Barrett, absent from any episode delving into their origin and receiving only mentions in the UK books. It was also the only run collected into a trade paperback, limited to 3,000 copies and usually found on eBay for sale by writer Van Hise. Marvel, who ran the series as part of their reprints, also released their own version of the trade.</div><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMtSAQ6rMI/AAAAAAAABAI/1Y9ZhUMZGbQ/s1600-h/gb2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243084178521238722" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMtSAQ6rMI/AAAAAAAABAI/1Y9ZhUMZGbQ/s400/gb2.jpg" width="260" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">NOW made a brief comeback and resumed publishing. A second series was attempted later in 1991 and ran for 4 issues, with a 3-D special issue kicking off the main story than ran through all of them and often being considered the same as a #0 issue because of it. Two annuals were produced, one of them also being a 3-D issue. These issues would not only feature the original story, but a back-up reprint of a story from the UK series. This wouldnât be the first time the main series had borrowed from the Marvel run. Issue 21 of the first volume was composed of 3 UK stories due to a production delay, splitting a two-part story in half. A few of the covers in volume 1 and all the main covers in volume 2 also ran with covers used in the UK series, but modified to normal comic size.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">HEâS AN UGLY LITTLE SPUD</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">With the growing popularity of Slimer on the cartoon and the growing concerns of parents that the subject matter thus far was too dark for kids, the focused was shifted to make him a central character and the show as a whole more kid-friendly. Slimer was given his own spin-off cartoon with more stylized animation and paired up with the regular cartoon, creating the new hour-long <i>Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters</i>. Following suit, both companies began publishing a Slimer comic.</div><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMtZoqvw9I/AAAAAAAABAQ/Cqvo-yc4hJU/s1600-h/slimer.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243084309626078162" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMtZoqvw9I/AAAAAAAABAQ/Cqvo-yc4hJU/s400/slimer.jpg" width="274" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">NOWâs <i> Slimer!</i> ran for 19 issues featuring stories done in a similar style to his cartoon as well as the various characters from it. Marvelâs Slimer! ran monthly for about 12 issues in 1990, featuring longer versions of the strips found every month in the main book and reprints of NOW material. The <i>Slimer! </i>book was merged into the main book with #121, his name added to the title. Conversely, NOW did a similar move adding the Ghostbustersâ name to their <i>Slimer!</i> book with #12, featuring UK reprints until the bookâs cancellation. It was also the only other Ghostbusters book to be collected in a trade; specifically the first three issues.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">MY DAD SAYS YOUâRE FULL OF CRAP</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">In 1991, almost prophesized by the beginning of <i>Ghostbusters II, </i>Ghostbusters began to fall out of the public eye and the animated series eventually came to an end. The comic held on a little longer, though; the final issue produced in the 20th Century was 1993âs <i>Slimer! 3-D Special</i>.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">As 80s nostalgia began to grow once again after the millennium, older properties started to find themselves with new life. Ghostbusters was experiencing its own resurgence with a brand-new release of the DVDs, a die-cast model from Ertl, a re-release of Ecto-1A from Johnny Lightning, action figures of the first movie villains by Neca (they could not secure Bill Murrayâs likeness rights, so the actual Ghostbusters were never released until Mattel acquired the license in 2010), and the long-awaited commercial release of Elmer Bernsteinâs score from the first movie.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">WEâRE BACK<br />
<br />
In 2002, a mysterious user calling himself Red Ketchup appeared on the forums at Ghostbusters.net, one of many Ghostbusters fan sites on the web, dropping vague hints about something Ghostbusters related on the horizon. Concept artwork featuring characters heavily influenced by the animated series, but in movie gear, appeared by someone called El Diablo. After more dropped hints and a lot of questions directed to fans, the identities of these two individuals were revealed to be Sebastien Clavet, owner and publisher of Canada-based 88MPH Studios, and Mark Brooks (<i>Ultimate X-Men, Avengers: The Initiative</i>). Brooks, it should be noted, was not the intended regular artist for the series nor were his designs the ones used.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Clavet had announced that, beginning in 2004, his company would produce a 4-issue mini-series called âLegionâ that would lead into a new ongoing series. What set this series apart from the comics that came before was it took place in the movie universe, and that it featured a sliding timeline that placed the events of the first movie in the present, rather than 20 years prior. That meant internet, cell phones and modern pop culture references galore. It also completely disregarded <i>Ghostbusters II</i>, and paid homage to the animated series.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Billy Dallas Patton (<i>Zoom Suit</i>) was the intended artist for the series, but medical problems forced him to drop out after only doing a promotional picture of the characters and a #0 black and white issue called âThe Zeddemore Factor,â which was given out at San Diego Comic Con that year to promote the series. Steve Kurth replaced him on the main title, with writer Andrew Dabb (<i>Happydale: Devils in the Desert, Atomika</i>), inker Serge LaPointe (<i>Star Wars Tales</i>), colorist Blond (<i>War of the Supermen, Adventure Comics</i>)<i>, </i> and letterer Ed Dukeshire (<i>Farscape, Shadowhawk</i>). Despite the impressive overall presentation of the series, and the tremendous hype surrounding it, the series was plagued with numerous problems and controversy.</div><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMty8YT7oI/AAAAAAAABAY/Ww8PzIcjWII/s1600-h/gbl1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243084744414195330" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMty8YT7oI/AAAAAAAABAY/Ww8PzIcjWII/s400/gbl1.jpg" width="390" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">THESE MEN ARE CONSUMMATE SNOWBALL ARTISTS</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">One of the biggest fan contentions came from the numerous amounts of variant covers for the four issues. Each issue had a cover by the series regulars as well as a painted cover of the main characters by Dan Brereton (<i>Nocturnals</i>). Issue one, however, had four additional covers; one exclusive to retailer Graham Crackers Comics, one exclusive to toy retailer <a href="http://toyzz.com/">Toyzz.com</a>, a retailer incentive cover of just the logo made with ultraviolet inks that shipped in sparse numbers depending on how many copies were ordered, and a second printing with a Christine inspired Ecto-1. Issue four had an additional cover exclusive to <a href="http://www.bulldogcollectibles.com/">Bulldog Collectibles</a>. Small publishers often rely on variant covers to bolster sales of a book to keep cover prices low and compete with the bigger companies.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The cover complaints, though, were quickly overshadowed by increasing delays between issues. The mini was intended to run from February to May 2004, with an ongoing series beginning immediately in June, the 20th anniversary of the first movie. However, the first issue didnât hit stores until that April, with the final issue coming out the following January. This resulted in a dip in sales with each successive release, as well as aggravation amongst regular Ghostbusters fans.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Clavet tried to combat this by keeping the hype alive, promoting that the series will happen and, in the meantime, a special hardcover of the mini would be released to tide fans over. Enticements included concept art, informational âEcto-Logs,â a colorized version of âThe Zeddemore Factor,â a foreword by Dan Aykroyd and an afterword by an unidentified actor related to the movies (popular speculation was this actor would be Bill Murray). The deadline for the pre-orders of the book were extended several times, causing concern over whether or not the book would actually come out, despite Clavetâs assurances to the positive. To date, however, only a soft cover version featuring just a cover gallery as an extra was released in the UK by <a href="http://www.titanbooks.com/">Titan Books</a>.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Rumors had begun circulating that 88MPH was experiencing some financial difficulties, which may or may not have been a direct cause of the increased delays of the book. Co-inker Chuck Gibson (<i>Silken Ghost, Backlash</i>) and âZeddemore Factorâ colorist Adam Nichols reportedly experienced a massive delay in receiving payment for their work. Clavet made an attempt to raise money to publish the hardcover by offering an Ecto-1 and Peter Venkman lithograph for sale. He also considered cutting costs by replacing their trademark vehicle as he had to pay General Motors a fee for using the Cadillac ambulance as the base. That announcement drew a mixed reaction from fans, some not wanting it to happen while others just wanting the book to be made.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">With the ongoing postponed indefinitely and the hardcover missing in action with most attempts at refunds futile, it seemed like this was the Ghostbustersâ last foray into comics for a long time. However, Titan Books stepped up once again to fill the void by releasing four digest-sized collections of the Marvel UK stories. Between 2005 and 2006, they released <i>A Hard Dayâs Fright, Who You Gonna Call?, Which Witch is Which?</i> and <i>This Ghost is Toast</i>, three of them named for a story that appeared within.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">THE BOYS IN GRAY ARE AT IT AGAIN<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.ghostbusters.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ghostbusters-the-other-side-issue-2-idw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://blog.ghostbusters.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ghostbusters-the-other-side-issue-2-idw.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>Then, at San Diego Comic Con 2008, <a href="http://www.idwpublishing.com/">IDW</a> announced they had acquired the rights to the franchise, as did Manga publisher <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TOKYOPOP">Tokyopop</a>. IDW's first salvo was <i>The Other Side </i>by Keith Champagne (<i>Green Lantern Corps, The Flash</i>) and Tom Nguyen (<i>Army of Darkness</i>) set in the movie universe but after the second movie. The series was met with mixed reviews for both the story and artwork. Tokyopop's <i>Ghost Busted </i>was a a 192-page one-shot, featuring the talents of Nathan Johnson, Matt Yamashita, Maximo V. Lorenzo, Hanzo Steinbach, Chrissy Delk, Michael Shelfner and Nate Watson. It incorporated six different adventures of the Ghostbusters with one unifying subplot. </div></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMuTPX41NI/AAAAAAAABAg/qnXWCs1Evkk/s1600-h/gbmang.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243085299268506834" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nfaaz-63Ypw/SMMuTPX41NI/AAAAAAAABAg/qnXWCs1Evkk/s400/gbmang.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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Although Tokypop never released another book, IDW continued on. IDW's next mini, <i>Displaced Aggression </i>by Jeph Loeb (<i>Superman/Batman</i>), was viewed more favorably. Following several one-shots, each one received more positively than the last, plus an appearance in IDW's crossover event <i>Infestation</i>, IDW announced that a new ongoing series would begin in September of 2011 with artwork by known Ghostbusters fan artist Dan Schoening.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn1.sciencefiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ghostbuster-1-Cover-A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://cdn1.sciencefiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ghostbuster-1-Cover-A.jpg" width="262" /></a></div><br />
<br />
After many starts and stops, and the debacle of 88MPH, it looks like the franchise has found a viable home intent on keeping it going.<br />
<br />
Ask your local retailer about the new Ghostbusters books this September. To find a comic shop, call <span class="skype_pnh_container" dir="ltr" tabindex="-1"><span class="skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_common" dir="ltr" title="Call this phone number in United States of America with Skype: +18882664226"><span class="skype_pnh_textarea_span"><span class="skype_pnh_text_span">1-888-COMIC-BOOK</span></span><span class="skype_pnh_right_span"> </span></span></span>or go to <a href="http://csls.diamondcomics.com/">http://csls.diamondcomics.com/</a>. </div></div></div></div></div></div><br />
<div></div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-69613523762764690212011-09-13T00:00:00.040-04:002011-09-13T00:00:02.368-04:0025 YEARS AGO, ON SATURDAY MORNINGTo help celebrate the 25th anniversary of <i>The Real Ghostbusters</i>, the Quarter Bin presents the <a href="http://abc.go.com/">ABC</a> Saturday Morning line-up that debut season!<br />
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<i>8:00 - The Wuzzles (1985-87)</i> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/c82cAG6dOtE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>8:30 - The Care Bears (1985-88)</i> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/wfsrjGb7LcE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>9-9:30 - The Flintstone Kids (1986-88)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QYUvUJbJ8Pg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>10:00 - The Real Ghostbusters (1986-91)</i> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/X8eLP4Bgsuo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>10:30 - The Pound Puppies (1986-89)</i> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/CWsXWzIf6QM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>11:00 - The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show (1985-2000)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/Oy8dVZ5r_kU/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Oy8dVZ5r_kU&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Oy8dVZ5r_kU&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />
<i>11:30 - Star Wars: Ewoks</i> <i>(1985-86)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/J0c_yo7Mwrw/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/J0c_yo7Mwrw&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/J0c_yo7Mwrw&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />
<i>12:00 - ABC Weekend Special (1977-97)</i> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/AnxCrFYviGM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<i>12:30 - The Littles (1983-85, reruns)</i> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/6HAn4fByVb8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-87839352647544579512011-09-04T12:01:00.002-04:002011-09-04T15:12:40.725-04:00REVIEW: SUPERMAN BEYOND<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.newsarama.com/images/smbey_cv0_ds_copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i.newsarama.com/images/smbey_cv0_ds_copy.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><b>SUPERMAN BEYOND #0</b><br />
<b>Writer: Tom DeFalco</b><br />
<b>Pencils: Ron Frenz</b><br />
<b>Inks: Sal Buscema</b><br />
<b>Colors: Chris Beckett</b><br />
<b>Letters: Dave Sharpe</b><br />
<b>Cover: Dustin Nguyen</b><br />
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<b> </b> <br />
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Released in August by <a href="http://www.dccomics.com/">DC Comics</a>, <i>Superman Beyond </i>#0 features the Batman Beyond version of Superman first seen in the episode "The Call."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VCkPoPOR5b4/TAmYJuCOrqI/AAAAAAAAAOA/uou_mLlbRH4/s1600/SupermanBatman+Annual+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VCkPoPOR5b4/TAmYJuCOrqI/AAAAAAAAAOA/uou_mLlbRH4/s320/SupermanBatman+Annual+4.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Superman/Batman Annual #4</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Written by Tom DeFalco with his <i>Spider-Girl </i>cohorts Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema on art, the book presents the old-school, yet entertaining flair, they've brought readers for 10 years on <i>Spider-Girl</i>. Superman, gradually losing strength, decides to end his sabbatical in space since <i>Superman/Batman Annual #4 </i>and return to Earth. There, a new foe, Armorgeddon, arises from a series of unfortunate personal circumstances. Add a little Kryptonite solution into the mix that made him what he is, and the already diminished Superman has his hands full.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The magic in the story is that DeFalco makes you want to care about the villain. Armorgeddon isn't a villain for evil's sake. There's a real human motivation behind what makes him the way he is. And, the strength in the story is, that Superman eventually recognizes the humanity behind his actions and tries to figure out a way to stop him without hurting him too much. This creates an interesting conflict, and plays to the strengths of Superman's character. The fact that he manages to accomplish all this in a mere 30 pages, where most writers take 6 issues to tell as much, and is able to interweave previous continuity without bogging down the reader is a testament to DeFalco's tried and true skills. Frenz and Buscema continue to compliment each other as the pages dance out and pop; from the soft moments to the heavy action scenes. Chris Beckett's vibrant colors also contribute to the flair on the page, giving readers a nice taste of the glory days of comics.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The most interesting thing to note is that the comic itself seems more directly tied into the cartoon than DC's recent <i>Batman Beyond </i>series. The character designs, specifically for old Bruce Wayne, seem directly pulled from the show whereas <i>Beyond </i>the comic made some tweaks to the models. Although, while art on <i>Beyond </i>has generally been good, if Frenz ever gets offered the regular penciling chores on the book I hope he takes it. And, despite an uncertainty expressed in interviews of dedicating their time to another ongoing, if DC decides on a <i>Superman Beyond </i>ongoing I hope these guys are on board.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The verdict: if you love old school comics, they don't get much better today than DeFalco and company. They present the stuff that made comics what they are without it seeming too tired and dull. And, if you love Superman, you can't do much better than the characterization in this book.</div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-77580798325508557032011-08-28T13:52:00.000-04:002011-08-28T13:52:56.367-04:00DC NEW UNIVERSE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.newsarama.com/images/dc_retailer_promos_pdfs_july11_dcn52-2-3_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://i.newsarama.com/images/dc_retailer_promos_pdfs_july11_dcn52-2-3_02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br />
This Wednesday, the <a href="http://dccomics.com/dccomics/">DC Comics</a>' "New 52" begins with the launch of <i>Justice League </i>#1. The New 52, named after the 52 alternate universes said to comprise the DC universe, is a line-wide relaunch of all of DC's primary books with brand new #1s and continuity stemming from their Flashpoint event of the last 5 months. However, with the exception of <i>Action Comics </i>which will focus on Superman's early years, the books will not all be starting from the beginning. They will all continue on as if things had been going for quite some time, but the DC universe will have only aged 5 comic-years (as per the sliding timescale that allows characters to remain young despite existing for many years in real time).<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9npsW_PneHQ/TjW1hFslUSI/AAAAAAAAH5Q/6M6mU-JCgws/s1600/dc_retailer_promos_pdfs_july11_dcn52_wonder_1_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9npsW_PneHQ/TjW1hFslUSI/AAAAAAAAH5Q/6M6mU-JCgws/s320/dc_retailer_promos_pdfs_july11_dcn52_wonder_1_02.jpg" width="210" /></a>This is DC's most radical relaunch since <i>Crisis on Infinite Earths</i>, in which a great deal of Silver Age continuity was either eliminated or revamped for the purposes of streamlining and unifying things. The decision is also most likely a hasty one in the face of dwindling sales, as indicated by an interview with Grant Morrison about being approached by DC to work on <i>Action </i>back in March. An issue of a comic usually has at least 3 months of lead-in time from production to publication. The result was many of the ongoing DC books had to have their stories modified in order to wrap-up by August, leading to some obviously rushed or disjointed conclusions. Other books, such as <i>Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors </i>were left to flounder with nothing but fill-in stories to wrap up their runs with the inability to do anything meaningful. New books just started, like <i>Xombi</i>, had to conclude after their first story arc. And series that are under a decade old, like <i>Blue Beetle</i>, are getting a new start. Then there were those few books who were able to adapt to the shift and go buck-wild, like <i>Teen Titans, </i>who had a massive Superboy battle that destroyed much of their base, Titan's Tower.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.newsarama.com/images/DC_New52_logos_introx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i.newsarama.com/images/DC_New52_logos_introx.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>The question on most reader's minds is what counts and what doesn't? What is the same and what is totally different? For instance, both the Justice League and the Teen Titans are said to be the first incarnations of those teams, effectively eliminating the prior membership of any character from their continuities and histories. It has already been revealed that Superman's human parents, Jon and Martha Kent, will have both died early on in his life, leaving him more of an alien outsider than an adjusted human. Supergirl will also be playing the alien card, having a huge chip on her shoulder in regards to the Earth. And Lois Lane? Unmarried and not even dating Clark Kent. Bruce Wayne is back to being the only Batman, which will be interesting to see considering <i>Batman: Incorporated </i>is still said to exist. Dick Grayson, after a two-year stint as Batman, will be returning to his Nightwing persona, while Tim Drake will be keeping his Red Robin identity and Damian Wayne will be staying on as Batman's Robin. Batgirl will also once again be Barbara Gordon, who has been Oracle since she was crippled in 1988's <i>The Killing Joke</i>.<br />
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Success or failure? The coming months will decide.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqhn7lQn5j1qao7jyo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqhn7lQn5j1qao7jyo1_500.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><br />
WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-71025139451816393952011-08-05T21:28:00.003-04:002011-08-12T21:56:22.828-04:00THUNDERCATS, HO!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://mimg.ugo.com/201103/4/3/8/183834/tundercats-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://mimg.ugo.com/201103/4/3/8/183834/tundercats-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wildstorm's ThunderCats update.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Continuing the wave of recent nostalgia and reboots comes ThunderCats, Cartoon Network's latest series that provides an update to the original from 1985-90. As with most reboots, significant changes were made to the characters and settings in order to make it more appealing to modern audiences while also providing reminiscent fun for older fans. A previous attempt at resurrecting the franchise was done in 2003 by <a href="http://www.dccomics.com/dccomics/">DC Comics</a>' Wildstorm imprint. They launched several mini-series and one-shots taking place both during and after the run of the show, the latter complete with updated looks for the 'Cats.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1980s.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.animeultima.tv/uploads/anime_photo/watch-Thundercats-2011-episodes-online-english-sub-thumbnailpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://www.animeultima.tv/uploads/anime_photo/watch-Thundercats-2011-episodes-online-english-sub-thumbnailpic.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2011.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The show is set on Third Earth, where Thundera is now a kingdom on the planet rather than a separate world the ThunderCats have to escape from. The ThunderCats cling tightly to the old ways, only prince Lion-O (Will Fridele) acknowledging the existence of technology (unlike the original series where, in a Star Wars-esque fashion, technology co-existed alongside medieval weaponry and battle tactics). That ultimately proves their undoing when the ThunderCats are betrayed by one of their own, who leads their enemies, Mumm-Ra (Robin Atkin Dowens), Slithe (Dee Bradley Baker) and his Lizardmen, to the destruction of Thundera using technology. Only Lion-O, Tygra (Matthew Mercer), Cheetara (Emmanuelle Chirqui), WilyKit & Kat (Eamon Pirrucello & Madeleine Hall) and Snarf (Satomi KÅrogi) survive and are sent after the Book of Omens by Jaga (Corey Burton), basically turning this into a quest show.<br />
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The series is now two episodes in. After a solid and engaging premier episode, the follow-up felt like a filler story thrown in where Lion-O's quest for revenge against Mumm-Ra is called into question after meeting Captain Tunar and taking part in his obsession to kill the creature that stole his people's water (ala <i>Moby Dick</i>, or <i>Jaws </i>for you non-literary types). Of course, that makes Lion-O realize he was behaving foolishly and resumes his quest for the Book of Omens.<br />
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Some other things to note: Larry Kenney, the original voice of Lion-O, rejoins the franchise as Lion-O's father, King Claudius. Snarf, a cowardly nursemaid to Lion-O, is reduced to just a pet. Panthro has yet to be featured in an episode, appearing only as an illusion in the pilot so far (but, considering he's got an action figure based on the new design one can assume he'll pop up eventually). Also, like many shows these days, there's no proper intro beyond a brief title graphic and a few notes of the original theme song ending with the episode title (much the same way as Friedele's previous series, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVdTbiLku48"><i>Batman Beyond</i></a>). One also needs to wonder what the deal is with the blank orbs on their clothing, besides eventually (hopefully) bearing the ThunderCats logo.<br />
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How will the new ThunderCats ultimately compare to the old? We'll just have to wait and see.<br />
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<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Na8ThDftsKk?fs=1" width="425"></iframe></center>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-42526545888811071232011-07-23T17:07:00.001-04:002011-07-23T17:09:13.158-04:00THE FIRST AVENGER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://wallpapers.oneindia.in/d/311325-2/Captain+America+The+First+Avenger+1024x768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://wallpapers.oneindia.in/d/311325-2/Captain+America+The+First+Avenger+1024x768.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
It took 70 years and four tries, but Captain America finally made it to the big screen. So, did the good captain deliver? I thought so. Potential spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Agent Peggy Carter escorts Pvt. Steve Rogers to his future.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Red Skull.</td></tr>
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<i>Captain America: The First Avenger </i>shows the transformation of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a kid from Brooklyn, from a 98 pound weakling into America's ultimate super-soldier. The process is developed by Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) under the supervision of General Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Steve was meant to be the first of a line dedicated to combating Hydra, Hitler's science research division, led by the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) -- the first recipient of Erskine's formula. However, Erskine is killed leaving Steve the only one of his kind: Captain America.<br />
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Evans proved to have deserved the role and the three attempts the producers made to convince him to take it. He delivered a well-ranged performance and managed to nail the little comedic moments peppered throughout the script. Weaving proved a true threat as the Red Skull, and the make-up department did spectacular work on his "skinless" face. Jones redeems himself for his last comic-based outing as Two-Face in <i>Batman Forever</i> with an excellent performance as the hard-as-nails commanding officer, while Atwell was able to achieve the strong independence the producers went for with her character.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.starpulse.com/news/bloggers/6/blog_images/captain-america-the-first-avenger-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://images.starpulse.com/news/bloggers/6/blog_images/captain-america-the-first-avenger-5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original shield.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The costume was nicely designed, combining practical elements with the design from the <i>Ultimates </i>comics. However, they also found a way to utilize Cap's original spandex suit AND triangle shield within a context so as to provide a treat for comic fans and yet not hurt the overall tone of the movie. A nice touch with Cap's round shield was the "battle damage" to the paint job it received as the movie went on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/8073/Captain-America-The-First-Avenger-Still1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="322" src="http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/8073/Captain-America-The-First-Avenger-Still1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cap suit version 2.0.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>With Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) relegated to being a present-time secret agent (the original Fury in the comics served in WWII and was given a formula that slowed his aging), Cap took over leadership of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Fury_and_his_Howling_Commandos">Howling Commandos</a> after having rescued them from the Skull's clutches. Unfortunately, while the group does get to participate in some humorous and action-packed scenes, their development is left on the back burner. While comic audiences will know and appreciate who they are, general audiences are afforded no such resonance. Marvel's tie-in prequel, <i>Captain America: First Vengeance </i>actually gave the characters a decent introduction that could have been utilized here.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://files.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/277266_S/Captain-America--Howling-Commandos-Fight-HYDRA-On-Set-Pics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="http://files.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/277266_S/Captain-America--Howling-Commandos-Fight-HYDRA-On-Set-Pics.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Howling Commandos.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The character of Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) makes a return to film as the US Army's go-to technology guy, who has several roles instrumental in helping Cap in his battles. His presence also helped tie the movie into both <i>Iron Man </i>films, including the Stark Expo location from <i>Iron Man 2 </i>and the presence of an incomplete version of the shield seen briefly in <i>Iron Man </i>and utilized in a fashion in <i>Iron Man 2</i>. Also featured in the film were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnim_Zola">Arnim Zola</a> (Toby Jones), a research scientist working with Hydra, and <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1993996952">Bucky Barne</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucky_Barnes">s</a> (Sebastian Stan), Cap's best friend and sidekick, and a cameo from Stan Lee, who brought Cap into the Avengers in the 1960s. Not to mention a couple of Easter eggs these movies have become known for (hint: keep on the lookout for the namesake of a prior Chris Evans role).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SHIELD Agent Caulson holds an incomplete replica of the shield in <i>Iron Man 2</i>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/176/3/4/the_avengers_by_tiranos-d3jzi9m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/176/3/4/the_avengers_by_tiranos-d3jzi9m.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Avengers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Overall, the movie was well done and well-paced. The only place that really suffered was the ending, which felt a bit awkward in order to leave it tied-in and open for next year's <i>The Avengers</i>. And while the extra ending scene was also underwhelming,<i> The Avengers </i>promo after it did its job and built up some excitement for the upcoming film. <i>Captain America: The First Avenger </i>is definitely worth a look in theaters, and, if you're willing to shell out for it, makes the most effective use of 3-D technology yet.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://splashpage.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/101308_captainhulk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://splashpage.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/101308_captainhulk.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cap buried in the ice in <i>The Incredible Hulk.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Bonus Fact: Captain America made his first appearance in the combined Marvel Movie Universe in <i>The Incredible Hulk</i>. The original arctic opening cut from the theatrical release has a brief shot of a red, white and blue figure in the ice after an avalanche. However, it's a good thing this scene was cut as Cap's icy discovery was made a bit more complex in <i>The First Avenger. </i>This scene is can be viewed on the DVD special features of the movie.WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-5722873427883597802011-07-19T23:35:00.003-04:002011-07-21T15:06:09.942-04:00CAPTAINS AMERICA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.all-free-download.com/images/graphiclarge/scifi_channel_logo_30595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" src="http://images.all-free-download.com/images/graphiclarge/scifi_channel_logo_30595.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Many moons ago, when <a href="http://www.syfy.com/">Syfy</a> was known unapologetically as the Sci-Fi Channel, they would run what they dubbed the Mighty Marvel Movie Marathon every Thanksgiving (and some other holidays here and there). So while you watch the Spider-Man balloon go down Broadway on NBC, you could watch Spidey taking down bad guys over on basic cable.<br />
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The usual line-up included all three <i>Incredible Hulk </i>movies (spawned from the TV series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno), the <i>Doctor Strange </i>movie, the three "feature-length" <i>Spider-Man </i>episodes (from the TV series starring Nicholas Hammond), and, what they'll be playing this Thursday in a mini-marathon harkening back to those old days, the three <i>Captain America </i>movies.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://myjestikblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/captain-america-2011-e1295037556830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="http://myjestikblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/captain-america-2011-e1295037556830.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Many of you may know that <i>Captain America: The First Avenger </i>isn't the first foray into live-action for ol' Cap, but it's possible you may only be familiar with the 1990s attempt starring Matt Salinger. Yes, there were two other Cap movies (not counting the 1944 serial, which I'll get to later). Let's take a little look at the past of Cap on film in preparation for the marathon and the movie.<br />
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<b>CAPTAIN AMERICA (1979)</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://captain-america.us/gallery/data/media/1/1979_cap_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="http://captain-america.us/gallery/data/media/1/1979_cap_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big pimpin', red, whte and blue style!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Steve Rogers, played by Reb Brown, was a modern day former Marine-turned-cartoonist whose father was a government agent in the 40s, dubbed "Captain America" for his patriotic attitude. After his father was murdered, Rogers drew a super hero based on the stories of him before being caught in a near-fatal accident. Dr. Simon Mills saved his life by administering FLAG (Full Latent Ability Gain), a "super-steroid" that brings Rogers to peak physical prowess. Given the costume he designed, Roger becomes Captain America with a tricked-out van and a motorcycle with a detachable windshield that serves as his shield (with transparent parts replacing the classic white). He picks up where his father left off and tries to live up to the example he set. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/L8N8pssV0Bc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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<b>CAPTAIN AMERICA II: DEATH TOO SOON (1979)</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always wear a helmet!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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Brown returns as Cap, with a costume closer to that of the comics. This time, Cap goes up against a revolutionary named General Miguel (Christopher Lee) who uncovers the secret of rapid aging. He threatens to hold Portland, Oregon, hostage until Cap stops him by accidentally causing the serum to burst onto Miguel.<br />
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<b>CAPTAIN AMERICA (1990)</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://content6.flixster.com/photo/54/91/96/5491960_gal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://content6.flixster.com/photo/54/91/96/5491960_gal.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No mask is complete without rubber ears.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Matt Salinger is Steve Rogers, a boy with polio who volunteers to submit to Dr. Vaselli's (Carla Cassola) Super Soldier process, which the Italians used to created the Red Skull (Scott Paulin) out of an abducted young prodigy. After the process, Vaselli is killed leaving Cap the only one of his kind. Cap faces off against the Red Skull, but loses and is strapped to a missile aimed for the White House. Cap diverts the missile and ends up frozen until a team of archaeologists find him in the present day. After coming to grips with losing all that time, Cap teams up with the daughter of his 1940s sweetheart, Sharon (both played by Kim Gillingham), to stop the Skull's plans for world domination and rescue the President of the United States.<br />
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Intended for a theatrical release, the film underwent reshoots to add more stunts after a poor test screening. It was set to be released in 1990 to coincide with Cap's 50th anniversary, but it ended up shelved until it was released on video and cable in 1992.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/E7PxoOPvEuM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<b>CAPTAIN AMERICA (1944)</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/c/captainamericaserial1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/c/captainamericaserial1.jpg" width="206" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Captain America wields his mighty...gun?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><i>Captain America </i>was a 15-chapter serial by Republic. The series is noted for it's drastic changes of the character, including Cap being District Attorney Grant Gardner (Dick Purcell, who died shortly after filming from the strain) who carried a gun instead of a shield and had numerous costume alterations, and the elimination of the army background, Bucky, Nazis and the Super Soldier serum.<b> </b>The serials show Cap and his sidekick, secretary Gail Richards (Lorna Gray) try to stop museum curator gone bad The Scarab (Lionel Atwill) from obtaining two devices that could be used as super-weapons. Unlike other Republic serials, the villain was revealed from the onset, whereas they usually preferred to leave their identity a mystery until the final act.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xl24n8jUr3A?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-3651428506432649412011-07-16T12:40:00.000-04:002011-07-16T12:40:06.244-04:00THE AMAZING (?) SPIDER-MAN<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/27306/SPIDER-MAN_hammond_031911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/27306/SPIDER-MAN_hammond_031911.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 1970s Spider-Man.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As most of us know, there's a new Spider-Man swinging to town next year. Marvel Studios and Columbia Pictures have decided to reboot their 5-year old franchise with an all-new movie with an all-new cast and all-new touches. The biggest touch of all: the costume. While Sam Raimi, director of the last three films, and company decided to keep as much of the traditional look as possible without making the suit seem silly on screen (such as in the 1970s American and Japanese interpretations), the crew behind <i>The Amazing Spider-Man </i>have decided to completely reinvent the character inside and out.<br />
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The Results? Well, see for yourself from these pictures from Entrainment Weekly:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.geekrest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ew_spiderman1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.geekrest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ew_spiderman1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.geekrest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ew_spiderman2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.geekrest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ew_spiderman2.jpg" width="460" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.geekrest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ew_spiderman4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.geekrest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ew_spiderman4.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><br />
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Seen enough? So have I. Matt Murdock, the blind lawyer that becomes Daredevil for the uninitiated, could have designed a better costume...and he spent his debut swinging around in THIS:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://retrocrush.com/archive2003/badcostumes/daredevil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://retrocrush.com/archive2003/badcostumes/daredevil.jpg" /></a></div><br />
So, let's compare. Here's Sam Raimi's Spider-Man:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://collider.com/wp-content/image-base/Movies/S/SpiderMan_4/stock_spidey_images/spider-man_movie_image_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="http://collider.com/wp-content/image-base/Movies/S/SpiderMan_4/stock_spidey_images/spider-man_movie_image_02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> And here's the Amazing Spider-Man:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.geekrest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ew_spiderman_11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.geekrest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ew_spiderman_11.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>Which do you think is better?WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-20664174775903321952011-07-12T11:18:00.000-04:002011-07-12T11:18:22.215-04:00THE RETURN OF DALLAS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images-mediawiki-sites.thefullwiki.org/07/3/4/0/62687551949113834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images-mediawiki-sites.thefullwiki.org/07/3/4/0/62687551949113834.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://www.tnt.tv/">TNT</a>, current owners of the former prime time soap opera <i>Dallas</i>, have optioned a new series of the show featuring the children of the original characters (essentially <i>Dallas: The Next Generation</i>). Originally starting as a mini-series in 1978, it ran for 13 seasons until its final episode in 1991. The show was about greedy oil baron JR Ewing (played by Larry Hagman of <i>I Dream of Jeannie</i>) and followed all the scandal and intrigue of his schemes and the people in his life closest to him. As a result, we received such memorable moments as the year-long mystery of who shot JR (which also led to the concept of ending seasons on a cliffhanger) and the infamous "dream season" (Bobby Ewing, played by Patrick Duffy, was killed in season 7 and brought back at the end of season 8 by saying the entire season was his wife's dream).<br />
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Now, the series is back 13 years later (the show is slated to premier in 2012) and is just the latest in a long line of resurrected franchises over the last few years. It does pose an interesting question: does this trend signify that nothing new is good so they need to bring back all the old stuff, or that they are literally finally out of new and original ideas in Hollywood? Share your thoughts on this!WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790539829926708707.post-10603064673752283442011-07-10T20:24:00.000-04:002011-07-10T20:24:30.563-04:00JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9vHC4WHfWxc/R9K1kxh318I/AAAAAAAAArQ/_w79L94hl3s/s320/wjemlogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9vHC4WHfWxc/R9K1kxh318I/AAAAAAAAArQ/_w79L94hl3s/s400/wjemlogo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dollyconfessions.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/jem-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://dollyconfessions.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/jem-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Holograms and the Misfits from the Jem board game.</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn2.iofferphoto.com/img/wantad/814/051/Jem_Jerrica_Doll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://cdn2.iofferphoto.com/img/wantad/814/051/Jem_Jerrica_Doll.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jem the doll.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>About a month ago, <a href="http://www.hubworld.com/http://www.hubworld.com/">The Hub</a>, the children's networked owned by <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/">Hasbro</a> toys, resurrected another toy-based property, <a href="http://www.hubworld.com/jem-and-the-holograms/shows/jem-and-the-holograms"><i>Jem and the Holograms</i></a> (1985-88). Based on a doll line of the same name and designed to be one long commercial for them (just like <a href="http://www.hubworld.com/gi-joe/shows/renegades"><i>G.I. Joe</i></a>, <i><a href="http://www.hubworld.com/transformers/shows/prime">Transformer</a>s</i>, <i><a href="http://www.hubworld.com/my-little-pony/shows/friendship-is-magic">My Little Pony</a> </i>and <a href="http://www.he-man.org/"><i>He-Man</i></a> at the <a href="http://www.mattel.com/">Mattel</a> camp), head writer <a href="http://www.christymarx.com/">Christy Marx</a> took the task of fleshing out the characters and making them viable enough to sustain a half hour weekly program. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hubworld.com/hubworld/img/shows/jem-and-the-holograms/jem-character-synergy-large-570x420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="http://www.hubworld.com/hubworld/img/shows/jem-and-the-holograms/jem-character-synergy-large-570x420.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jerrica and Synergy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The result was the story about a girl named Jerrica who inherits her father's music company, Starlight Music, and control of their live-in orphanage, Starlight House. However, Starlight's now co-owner, Eric Raymond, has his own ambitions and complete cuts Jerrica out of Starlight in order to promote his new band, the Misfits, who go against everything Starlight stood for. All seems hopeless until Jerrica receives special earrings that served as micro projectors for a computer her father made, Synergy: a hologram generating A.I. devised to put on the ultimate show. Using it to disguise herself as Jem, Jerrica and her band the Holograms step up to battle Eric and the Misfits at every turn and save Starlight Music.<br />
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Since I didn't have the memory capacity I do now, the most I remembered from this show after having not seen it for over 20 years was the intro and the commercial bumpers. Ordinarily, with some exceptions, seeing an 80s show after all this time usually makes me cringe. Two prime examples are <i>G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero</i> and <i>Transformers</i> (now called Generation 1). But this show actually held up in the sense it had me hooked from the first episode. A few things that helped:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Holograms and Misfit Pizazz.</td></tr>
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-The animation: Despite how choppy or stiff the 80s toons tend to be in comparison to today's toons, the simple fact is they were all done in the style I like...which is to say comic book style. Every cartoon from the decade starring real people looked like it jumped off the page of an old comic. I will take that over anything new Cartoon Network puts out now.<br />
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-The characters: Marx did an excellent job taking a 2-dimensional gimmick and giving the characters depth, making them compelling and interesting.<br />
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-The music: The songs are done as little music video interludes that relate to a situation going on in the main plot, resulting in usually three per episode, plus a repeat or two if the overall episode ran short. Despite the fact the songs are only a minute or so, they are wonderfully done. They're good enough to make you wish there were full-length versions available somewhere. Not to mention Britta Philips, the singing voice of Jem, whose beautiful vocals brought many of them to life.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/10Ow0zAOHhY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rio and Jerrica.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>However, the show is not without its flaws. The episodes apart from the ones done by Marx do fall into 80s tropes of campiness and contrived situations. The perils the Misfits get the Holograms into sometimes border on downright felonious, making one wonder how they never saw any jail time. Also, the only good male character (in season 1), Jem/Jerica's boyfriend Rio, only serves to be a sounding board of reassurance for Jem/Jerrica, leaving him without much of a personality all his own.<br />
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Along with the return of the show are talks about either a resurrection, a movie, or an all-new toy line. With the success of the Transformers, and to a lesser extent G.I. Joe, franchise, the possibility doesn't seem so far-fetched., especially with <a href="http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Jem-early-word/15159">Shout Factory announcing the new Jem DVD collection</a> they're working on. Hopefully, any attempt to resurrect the franchise will fare much better than some other property's attempts in recent years. But, in the meantime, check out the show on The Hub every weekday and Saturday and relive some childhood memories. Or, maybe make some new ones for the kids in your life now. Guaranteed this is better than anything they're currently watching now.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/20BZID081Vk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>WOLVERINEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330916393850341529noreply@blogger.com1