POPULARITY
3 episodes with Timely Comics
4 episodes with Timely Comics
2 episodes with Timely Comics
2 episodes with Timely Comics
2 episodes with Timely Comics
2 episodes with Timely Comics
2 episodes with Timely Comics
2 episodes with Timely Comics
2 episodes with Timely Comics
In this special episode, Peter and Eddie are joined with comic book royalty Larry Lieber, co-creator of iconic Marvel heroes like Iron Man, Thor, and Ant-Man, and former Marvel Spider-Man group editor Danny Fingeroth. The duo dives into Lieber's illustrious 75-year career, from his early days at Timely Comics to his long tenure illustrating The Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip and his groundbreaking work at Marvel. They also explore Lieber's bold new venture, his debut prose novel Chirps, a departure from comics that showcases his storytelling versatility. Moderated by Fingeroth, who shares insights from his own Marvel journey and his work as a comics historian, this episode is packed with behind-the-scenes anecdotes, reflections on the Silver Age of comics, and a celebration of Lieber's enduring legacy. Tune in for an unforgettable conversation with two titans of the industry!
This week, the boys discuss the Ed Brubaker run on Captain America and do a birthday Q and A. Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely Comics, a corporate predecessor to Marvel. Like, comment, and subscribe for more content analyzing the greatest tales of DC and Marvel stories. Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTtjdjM7N8_PLprDIdMJCWQ/join#Marvel#CaptainAmericaBraveNewWorld#ChrisEvansFollow us on instagram: comicsleague2021Email us: comicsleague2020@gmail.comWebsite: https://comicsleague.com Subscribe to the Podcast on:Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyand many other platforms.Music provided by taketones.com: https://taketones.com/track/hero
This week, the boys discuss the MCU Captain America Trilogy, aka the best MCU trilogy. Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely Comics, a corporate predecessor to Marvel. Like, comment, and subscribe for more content analyzing the greatest tales of DC and Marvel stories. Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTtjdjM7N8_PLprDIdMJCWQ/join#Marvel#CaptainAmericaBraveNewWorld#ChrisEvansFollow us on instagram: comicsleague2021Email us: comicsleague2020@gmail.comWebsite: https://comicsleague.com Subscribe to the Podcast on:Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyand many other platforms.Music provided by taketones.com: https://taketones.com/track/hero
AKAPAD The Film continues his deep dive into all things Captain America, exploring key discussion points of his first-ever live-action appearance in the 1944 Republic serial.For more imformation on this serial.Before Chris Evans suited up, before the MCU was even a twinkle in Kevin Feige's eye, Republic Pictures gave us Captain America (1944), a 15-chapter serial that's as much a Captain America story as a grilled cheese is a cheeseburger.Forget Steve Rogers—this Cap is District Attorney Grant Gardner (played by Dick Purcell), who ditches the supersoldier serum and iconic shield for a standard-issue revolver. Instead of punching Nazis, he's going toe-to-toe with the Scarab, aka Dr. Cyrus Maldor, a museum curator with a grudge and a taste for mind-controlling gas called “Purple Death.”The plot? Scientists and businessmen keep turning up dead, all clutching a little scarab. Turns out they were part of an old Mayan expedition, and Maldor is knocking them off one by one for stealing his credit. He's after the "Dynamic Vibrator"—no, not that kind—an experimental mining device that doubles as a superweapon. Gardner suits up as Cap to stop him, cueing up a series of cliffhangers packed with fistfights, explosions, and daring rescues.Made on a (then) record-breaking budget of $222,906, Republic pulled out all the stops—except for, you know, making it anything like the comics. The costume? No wings, gray instead of blue, and pirate boots swapped for high-top shoes. No Bucky, no army setting, and absolutely no shield-throwing action. Why? Because Republic reportedly repurposed a script meant for another hero and slapped Cap's name on it. Timely Comics (pre-Marvel) wasn't thrilled, but Republic wasn't about to spend cash on rewrites.Despite the liberties, the serial was a hit, getting re-released in 1953 as Return of Captain America. Purcell, already in poor health, tragically died just weeks after filming wrapped, adding a real-life layer of melancholy to this slice of pulp cinema.Is it a faithful adaptation? Not even close. But as a relic of old-school action serials, it's a blast. It's Cap before Cap was Cap—Republic Pictures style.
AKAPAD The Film continues his deep dive into all things Captain America, exploring key discussion points of his first-ever live-action appearance in the 1944 Republic serial. For more imformation on this serial. Before Chris Evans suited up, before the MCU was even a twinkle in Kevin Feige's eye, Republic Pictures gave us Captain America (1944), a 15-chapter serial that's as much a Captain America story as a grilled cheese is a cheeseburger. Forget Steve Rogers—this Cap is District Attorney Grant Gardner (played by Dick Purcell), who ditches the supersoldier serum and iconic shield for a standard-issue revolver. Instead of punching Nazis, he's going toe-to-toe with the Scarab, aka Dr. Cyrus Maldor, a museum curator with a grudge and a taste for mind-controlling gas called “Purple Death.” The plot? Scientists and businessmen keep turning up dead, all clutching a little scarab. Turns out they were part of an old Mayan expedition, and Maldor is knocking them off one by one for stealing his credit. He's after the "Dynamic Vibrator"—no, not that kind—an experimental mining device that doubles as a superweapon. Gardner suits up as Cap to stop him, cueing up a series of cliffhangers packed with fistfights, explosions, and daring rescues. Made on a (then) record-breaking budget of $222,906, Republic pulled out all the stops—except for, you know, making it anything like the comics. The costume? No wings, gray instead of blue, and pirate boots swapped for high-top shoes. No Bucky, no army setting, and absolutely no shield-throwing action. Why? Because Republic reportedly repurposed a script meant for another hero and slapped Cap's name on it. Timely Comics (pre-Marvel) wasn't thrilled, but Republic wasn't about to spend cash on rewrites. Despite the liberties, the serial was a hit, getting re-released in 1953 as Return of Captain America. Purcell, already in poor health, tragically died just weeks after filming wrapped, adding a real-life layer of melancholy to this slice of pulp cinema. Is it a faithful adaptation? Not even close. But as a relic of old-school action serials, it's a blast. It's Cap before Cap was Cap—Republic Pictures style.
Was there a DC or Marvel animated series that you wish was discussed more like The Batman, Avengers Assembled? Well, then this is the stream for you! This week, the boys provide their lists of DC and Marvel animated series that don't get discussed enough DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book series first published in 1937. Marvel Comics is a New York City-based comic book publisher, a property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics,[3] and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and numerous others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand. Like, comment, and subscribe for more content analyzing the greatest tales of DC and Marvel stories. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTtjdjM7N8_PLprDIdMJCWQ/join #DC #Comics #Marvel #WonderWoman Follow us on instagram: comicsleague2021 Email us: comicsleague2020@gmail.com Website: https://comicsleague.com Subscribe to the Podcast on: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify and many other platforms. Music provided by taketones.com: https://taketones.com/track/hero
Have you ever wanted to get into comic books but were too intimidated to jump in? Well, then this is the stream for you This week, the boys provide strategies for new comic book readers to get into the hobby and thrive int he worlds of DC and Marvel. DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book series first published in 1937. Marvel Comics is a New York City-based comic book publisher, a property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics,[3] and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and numerous others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand. Like, comment, and subscribe for more content analyzing the greatest tales of DC and Marvel stories. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTtjdjM7N8_PLprDIdMJCWQ/join #DC #Comics #Marvel #WonderWoman Follow us on instagram: comicsleague2021 Email us: comicsleague2020@gmail.com Website: https://comicsleague.com Subscribe to the Podcast on: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify and many other platforms. Music provided by taketones.com: https://taketones.com/track/hero
Comic books and feedback on episode 337 of Soul Forge Podcast. A brief history of comics...the first modern American style comic book, Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics, was released in the U.S. in 1933. This was a reprinting of earlier newspaper humor comic strips, which had established many of the story-telling devices used in comics. The term comic book derives from American comic books once being a compilation of comic strips of a humorous tone. However, this practice was replaced by featuring stories of all genres, usually not humorous in tone. Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman. This is the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. The first printing was in October of 1939. Marvel has become the unquestionable king of the superhero and comic book industry. The company grew throughout the Golden Age and exploded into the mainstream throughout the Silver Age. Here, heroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor and the X-Men came to embody the company's colorful approach to heroes. Also in this episode: the different versions of characters and their time-lines, valuable comic books, and the on-screen versions. We also have feedback regarding episode 335. This week's podcast promo: Flopcast, ESO Patreon
David Armstrong interviewed Golden & Silver Age great, Jim Mooney in 1997 on set at San Diego Comic Con about his entry into pulp magazines like Weird Tales, meeting Julius Schwartz and Mort Weisinger, entering comic books in the early 1940s with Fiction House, Ace Magazines and Timely, meeting Golden Age publishers like Victor Fox, entering DC Comics under Whitney Ellsworth, his friendship with Stan Lee, working on Spider-Man, and independent comics of the 1990s. Armstrong also interviewed Golden Age great, Marv Levy in 1998 on set at Long Island, New York about his entry into comic books in the early 1940s while in high school, working for Harry Chesler, Leon Harvey at Harvey Comics, Lloyd Jacquet, Bernard Baily, analyzing the Lou Fine comics vs the Jack Kirby style, serving in the military and leaving comic books for newspaper comic strips and advertising. Interview conducted, recorded and copyrighted to David Armstrong. Remastered, edited, timestamped and postproduction by Alex Grand.Agency for Change : A Podcast from KidGlovStories of changemakers and how their actions are driving positive impact in the world.Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the Show.
With the Infinity Saga put to bed on MVM, we head back into the archives to uncover the true history of Marvel Comics. From the Great Depression of the 1930's through the Second World War and into the Swinging Sixties! How was the company founded? What was in the very first issue of Marvel Comics? Who were the first Marvel characters? How did they find success? From Timely Comics in the 1940's with Captain America, The Human Torch and Namor The Submariner, to Atlas Comics in the Fifties, before finally becoming Marvel Comics with the Fantastic Four in 1961. This clips is taken from our special 100th Episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/6YZwG7dkppWU7hBPT2SBkQ For awesome bonus episodes visit https://www.patreon.com/marvelversusmarvel marvelversusmarvel@gmail.com https://twitter.com/marvelversus https://twitter.com/robhalden https://robhalden.com https://will-preston.co.uk
DC and Marvel Comics have been struggling int he comic book market in recent years, but what caused that struggle and how can it be mitigated? Well, the boys go over how to fix the current woes of DC Comics and Marvel Comics. DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book series first published in 1937. Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. What do you think? How would you fix DC Comics? How would you fix Marvel Comics? Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTtjdjM7N8_PLprDIdMJCWQ/join Nick: Back 2100 Samurai Issue 4: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/2100-samurai-4-fall-of-a-friend/x/27943455#/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProjectAxis1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.phoenix.press/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI7a4sVPHLfyWEr2Vtal1NA Teladia Plays Twitter:https://twitter.com/TeladiaPlays Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/c/TeladiaPlays Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teladiaplays/ Discussed in this episode: 1. The Problems With DC Comics 2. The Problem With Marvel Comics Chapters: 0:00 Start 0:49 How To Fix DC Comics 0:26:03 How To Fix Marvel Comics 0:45:25 Wrap Up #DCComics #MarvelComics #Superman #WonderWoman Follow us on instagram: comicsleague2021 Email us: comicsleague2020@gmail.com Website: https://comicsleague.com Subscribe to the Podcast on: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify and many other platforms. Music provided by taketones.com: https://taketones.com/track/heros
L'Histoire de la bande dessinée américaine fourmille d'anecdotes plus ou moins inattendues, mais l'histoire que je vais vous raconter compte incontestablement parmi les plus bizarres qu'il m'ait été donné d'entendre. Aujourd'hui, on parle de Fletcher Hanks et de ses créations à la limite du surréalisme… Avec la sortie du premier numéro de Action Comics en 1938, la bande dessinée américaine connaît un véritable cataclysme. Superman, le premier super-héros moderne, est un succès éditorial instantané et le format comic book s'impose définitivement dans les kiosques. Si les créateurs de l'Homme d'Acier, Jerry Siegel et Joe Shuster, auront bien du mal à faire reconnaître leurs droits sur le personnage et la pléthore de produits dérivés qui en seront tirés, ils n'en sont pas moins à l'origine d'une tendance qui va faire des émules. Les gamins veulent des justiciers costumés dotés de super pouvoirs ? Et bien, on va leur en donner ! En l'espace de quelques semaines, tous les éditeurs ou presque se mettent à commander aux artistes qui travaillent pour eux des histoires de super-héros. Et si Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Captain Marvel ou Namor the Sub-Mariner sont parvenus jusqu'à nous, parfois au prix de changements drastiques, vous vous doutez bien qu'une bonne partie des créations de l'époque n'ont pas connu la même longévité. Si Black Cat, Green Lama, Doll Man, Black Terror ou Blue Bolt n'ont pas autant marqué l'histoire des comics que Captain America ou Green Lantern, et ce malgré quelques tentatives isolées de les réanimer, il existe d'autres personnages, bien plus exotiques encore, que le grand public a totalement oublié aujourd'hui. Parmi les proto-super-humains des comic books, la justicière Fantomah est tout à fait remarquable. Apparue dans Jungle Comics #2 en février 1940 sous la plume d'un dénommé Barclay Flagg, chez l'éditeur Fiction House, Fantomah est parfois considérée comme la véritable première super-héroïne, devançant ainsi la célèbre Wonder Woman de William Moulton Marston et Harry G. Peter, apparue dans All-Star Comics #8 en octobre 1941. Cette réputation reste largement sujette à débat, étant donné que Fantomah n'est ni la première protectrice de la jungle ; Rima the Jungle Girl étant apparue bien avant elle ; ni la première à posséder sa propre série, ce titre revenant à Sheena, Queen of the Jungle ; ni le premier personnage féminin à posséder un semblant de super pouvoirs, L'Oiselle du français René d'Anjou ayant pris son envol dès 1909. Si Fantomah peut prétendre à ce statut, c'est parce qu'elle est le premier personnage féminin apparu directement dans une bande dessinée américaine à englober plusieurs caractéristiques super-héroïques, comme des pouvoirs surhumains paranormaux ou une transformation physique comparable à une sorte d'identité secrète. Bien que ses aventures ne soient pas précisément localisées, l'héroïne défend son royaume, très largement fantasmé, de pilleurs occidentaux malintentionnés, abattant son courroux sur ceux qui voudraient profaner son sauvage sanctuaire. À la découverte des surprenantes aventures de Fantomah, on serait en droit de se demander pourquoi son créateur, Barclay Flagg, n'est pas resté dans l'histoire comme Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, ou Will Eisner. Et bien, tout simplement parce que Barclay Flagg n'existe pas. Il s'agit en fait de l'un des nombreux pseudonymes utilisés par l'un des plus mystérieux auteurs de comics du XXe siècle : Fletcher Hanks. Pendant des décennies, Fletcher Hanks est resté l'une des plus grandes énigmes de la bande dessinée américaine, jusqu'à ce que l'auteur Paul Karasik ne se lance dans une incroyable enquête qui l'a mené jusqu'à rencontrer le fils du dessinateur, Fletcher Hanks Jr., au début des années 2000. Ainsi, tout ce que l'on sait, ou presque, de Fletcher Hanks est issu du témoignage de son fils. Né en 1887, Fletcher Hanks grandit à Oxford, dans le Maryland, dans un environnement rude et violent. Gâté par sa mère, qui lui paie des cours de dessin par correspondance, Fletcher gagne sa vie en peignant des fresques chez de riches clients du coin, mais dépense tout son argent dans l'alcool, au détriment de sa famille, allant jusqu'à participer à des beuveries qui s'avérèrent mortelles pour certains de ses camarades de boisson ! Mari violent et père de quatre enfants, Hanks abandonne le domicile conjugal vers 1930, dérobant au passage les économies de son fils de 12 ans... Fletcher ne refait surface qu'en 1939, en tant que dessinateur de comic book et créateur de Stardust, chez Fox Features Syndicate. Stardust the Super Wizard, apparu dans Fantastic Comics #1 en décembre 1939, met à l'amende pratiquement tous les autres super-héros de la bande dessinée américaine. Personnage mesurant au moins deux mètres cinquante de haut, omniscient, omnipotent, invulnérable, et doté d'une interminable liste de super-pouvoirs défiants toutes les lois de la physique, s'allongeant au fil des épisodes selon les envie de Hanks, ce surhomme venu d'une lointaine planète apparaît dans le ciel pour venir faire triompher la justice dans un monde gangréné par la trahison et la corruption. Dès les premiers épisodes de Stardust, on voit en filigrane les différentes obsessions de Fletcher Hanks, à travers des thématiques qui reviendront inlassablement dans pratiquement chacune de ses histoires : sa véritable fixation autour de la figure du traître ; qui porte généralement ce vice jusque dans ses traits physiques, à la limite de la difformité ; mais aussi la punition impitoyable et systématique de ces derniers par un justicier tout-puissant. Les univers développés par Hanks, sous couvert de pas moins d'une dizaine de pseudonymes, sont un mélange d'extravagance régressive et de concepts pseudo-scientifiques paradoxalement en avance sur leur temps. Ainsi, son univers de science-fiction très pulp, ouvertement inspiré du Flash Gordon de Alex Raymond, présente autant d'appareils de télécommunication avant-gardistes que de martiens grotesques, tout droit sortis d'un cartoon. Ceci est particulièrement visible dans son autre création présente au sommaire du premier numéro Fantastic Comics, Space Smith, qu'il signe cette fois-ci sous le nom de Hank Christy. Un aventurier de l'espace, accompagné de son assistante Dianna, qui vit diverses aventures plus ou moins hallucinées dans un cosmos totalement chimérique. Il utilisera une recette très similaire pour son personnage de Whirlwind Carter, dans Daring Mystery #4, en mai 1940 chez Timely Comics, qui bien que n'ayant eu droit qu'à deux aventures, a tout de même la particularité d'être considéré comme un personnage de l'univers Marvel. Parmi les autres héros de Fletcher Hanks, on compte Big Red McLane, apparu dans Fight Comics #1 en janvier 1940, et dont il signe alternativement les épisodes Chris Fletcher ou Charles Netcher, une série mettant en scène des bagarres de bûcherons, sans doute assez proche de l'ambiance de sa vie à Oxford. Ici, il est de nouveau question de traîtrise et de brigandage, mais dans le monde du bûcheronnage qui, convenons-en, est assez inhabituel dans les comic books. Toujours en janvier 1940, Hanks, sous le pseudo de Henry Fletcher, dessine Tabu, Wizard of the Jungle, dans Jungle Comics #1, une sorte de proto-Animal Man, capable d'imiter les animaux. On retrouve plusieurs similitudes entre Tabu et Fantomah, dont la première aventure est publiée le mois suivant. Pinacle de l'exotisme : dans le deuxième numéro de Planet Comics, en février 1940, on découvre l'unique épisode de Tiger Hart, un guerrier vivant sur Saturne, une planète qui se révèle être similaire à la Terre au Moyen-Âge. Là encore, le décor est aussi fantastique que fantasmé, gloubi-boulga de mythes chevaleresques et de fantasy pulp. Parfois comparés à de l'art brut et empreints de surréalisme, sans pour autant pouvoir être rattachés à ce courant, mais aussi influencés par Chester Gould, le créateur de Dick Tracy, les travaux de Fletcher Hanks sont facilement reconnaissables grâce à son style graphique si particulier, ce qui aura justement permis de les regrouper, malgré ses multiples alias. Si son trait peut être jugé naïf et très cru, Hanks a pourtant suivi une formation au cours de laquelle il a démontré son talent pour le dessin. On peut donc supposer que le rendu visuel de ses productions n'a rien d'un hasard. Sans doute pensait-il, en partie à raison, que ces bandes dessinées s'adressaient aux enfants, et donc qu'elles devaient être simplistes pour être comprises par les plus jeunes. Il en va de même pour ses récits, souvent alambiqués, dans lesquels il expose une vision très personnelle des châtiments qui doivent être réservés à des malfaiteurs dont la fourberie n'a souvent d'égal qu'une manifeste débilité. Les méchants sont des traîtres perfides qui n'ont pour seule motivation que la destruction du monde ou l'enrichissement personnel, tandis que les héros sont des êtres supérieurs invincibles, quasi-divins, fléaux implacables anéantissant les scélérats, non sans les avoir humiliés au passage. Il est intéressant de souligner que Fletcher Hanks faisait tout lui-même, du scénario à la colorisation, avec un rythme de travail visiblement soutenu, et rendait ses travaux dans les temps, ce qui plaisait bien évidemment beaucoup aux éditeurs. On aurait pu croire que l'artiste derrière la première super-héroïne de la bande dessinée américaine était un homme conscient des problèmes de son temps, mais, à en croire le témoignage de son fils, Fletcher Hanks était un sale type. Après un dernier épisode de Stardust, dans Big Three Comics #2, paru durant l'hiver 1941, il disparaît du jour au lendemain de l'industrie des comic books, exactement comme quand il avait abandonné sa famille des années auparavant. S'il subsiste quelques traces de ses activités à Oxford à la fin des années 1950, on ne sait pratiquement rien du reste de la vie de Fletcher Hanks, retrouvé mort de froid en 1976 sur un banc public à New-York. Passé de vie à trépas dans la solitude et la misère, Hanks a peut-être finalement été lui-même victime de la fatalité qui s'abattait sur les crapules que combattaient ses héros. Considéré par certains comme le “Ed Wood des comics”, avec seulement une cinquantaine d'histoires à son actif, Fletcher Hanks, ou Barclay Flagg, ou Henry Fletcher, reste un artiste dont les travaux, remplis de colosses surpuissants et de vilains difformes, témoignent d'une époque où il n'existait aucune norme, ni pratiquement aucun code, pour les comics de super-héros. Il en résulte des illustrés primitifs, aussi cruels que candides. Le tardif regain d'intérêt pour ses travaux ; initié notamment par Jerry Moriarty, professeur à la School of Visual Arts de New-York et grand collectionneur, puis par Art Spiegelman, qui a réédité une histoire de Stardust the Super Wizard dans sa revue RAW en 1980 ; a mené l'artiste Paul Karasik à approfondir le parcours de Fletcher Hanks et à compiler son œuvre au cours d'un fastidieux travail de recherche. L'absence de témoins survivants de l'époque et la carrière éclair de Hanks, auxquels il faut ajouter le peu de souvenirs que Fletcher Hanks Jr. avait de son père, n'ont pas facilité sa démarche, mais Karasik est parvenu à publier plusieurs ouvrages chez Fantagraphics, en 2007 et en 2009, puis Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All ! The Complete Works of Fletcher Hanks en 2016, disponible en français aux éditions Actes Sud, qui m'a été très précieux pour vous raconter cette histoire. 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In a rare 2-hour interview, delve into the enigmatic life and mind of the late Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, through the reminiscences of his brother Pat and nephew Patrick and never before seen photos and footage. Uncover the roots of Ditko's analytical and creative genius, beginning from his early years growing up in a hardworking immigrant family, to his intuitive yet analytical approach to art which later defined the iconic characters we love. Discover the blend of scientific curiosity, love for Batman and artistic passion in Ditko's youth, including his makeshift science lab and his early fascination with solving problems, which hinted at the iconic superhero worlds he would later create. Amidst the exploration of Ditko's youthful adventures, a nostalgic recall unveils his admiration for Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan and Charles Bronson's rugged charisma, embodying a blend of heroism and humble tenacity that subtly mirrored in Ditko's later creations. Explore how Steve's quiet but profound philosophical outlook, including his interactions with Ayn Rand's philosophy, shaped his work and relationships within the comic book industry, and despite being labeled as a recluse, was quite interactively funny. Gain insight into Ditko's personal and professional ethos of letting his work speak for itself, his aversion to the spotlight, and his enduring focus on the present and future over the past. Through a blend of heartwarming and insightful anecdotes, this interview not only sheds light on Ditko's complex persona and his journey through the comic book world, but also underscores the indelible legacy he left behind, as seen through the eyes of his family.#SpiderMan #Marvel #DCComics #StanLee #DrStrange #Batman #SteveDitko#ComicStrips #JackKirby #WW2©2023 Comic Book HistoriansSupport the show
Comment She-Hulk a-t-elle définitivement modifié la perception de la réalité dans l'univers Marvel à cause d'une publicité pour un parfum qui n'a jamais existé ? Aujourd'hui, je m'intéresse à une histoire que vous pensez sûrement connaître, mais qui vous réserve encore bien des surprises ! GIRLS GONE GREEN Nous sommes en 1979, et la série télévisée L'Incroyable Hulk, avec Lou Ferrigno et Bill Bixby, cartonne sur le petit écran. Le producteur Kenneth Johnson ; déjà derrière le spin-off de L'Homme qui valait Trois Milliards, Super Jaimie ; et Stan Lee, que l'on ne présente plus, ont alors la même idée : offrir à L'Incroyable Hulk une série dérivée mettant en scène un personnage féminin. Voulant assurer les arrières de Marvel Comics en matière de propriété intellectuelle, Stan Lee prend les devants et demande au dessinateur John Buscema de l'aider à créer une version féminine de Hulk. C'est ainsi que Jennifer Walters apparaît en novembre 1979 dans le premier numéro de The Savage She-Hulk. Bruce Banner, alias Hulk, fugitif traqué par toutes les polices, débarque à Los Angeles pour retrouver sa cousine Jennifer, devenue avocate, dans l'espoir d'obtenir son aide. Après lui avoir raconté comment il a été irradié par sa propre création, la bombe gamma, qui a fait de lui un monstre incontrôlable, Banner apprend que sa cousine défend un voyou mêlé malgré lui aux malversations du caïd Nicholas Trask. Or, ce fameux Trask compte bien faire taire la jeune avocate, et envoie ses hommes de main pour l'assassiner. Grièvement blessée par balle, Jennifer ne doit son salut qu'à une transfusion sanguine de fortune effectuée par son cousin Bruce, avec son propre sang radioactif. Ainsi, quand Trask envoie de nouveau ses larbins pour définitivement éliminer Jennifer en convalescence à l'hôpital, ces derniers ont la mauvaise surprise de la voir se transformer en géante musculeuse à la peau verte ! She-Hulk est née ! Désormais dotée d'une force colossale et d'une résistance à toute épreuve quand elle se transforme, tout en étant beaucoup moins bestiale que son cousin, Jennifer va prendre goût à cette nouvelle condition, si bien qu'elle restera sous sa forme de She-Hulk la majeure partie du temps. Utilisant ses pouvoirs pour combattre l'injustice et venir en aide aux plus faibles, elle va, sous la plume de David Anthony Kraft et le crayon Mike Vosburg, enchaîner les aventures super-héroïques, mais aussi sentimentales. Annulée après seulement vingt-cinq numéros, The Savage-Shulk est une série largement mésestimée, principalement en ce qui concerne le travail du scénariste David Anthony Kraft, qui adopte rapidement un ton très moderne dans le traitement de l'héroïne, en faisant un personnage qui assume sans complexe son statut hors-normes et ne manquant pas d'aplomb quand il s'agit d'imposer ses choix. De ce fait, bien que rarement cité, The Savage She-Hulk mérite que vous y jetiez un œil, car ce comic book a plutôt bien vieilli. C'est d'ailleurs au cours de ses premières tribulations que Jennifer Walters rencontre Ben Grimm, alias La Chose, des Fantastic Four, donnant naissance à une amitié qui mènera notre géante de jade à rejoindre l'équipe de Reed Richards en remplacement de Grimm après les événements du crossover Secret Wars en 1984. Et si l'hypothétique spin-off télévisé ne verra finalement jamais le jour, She-Hulk va faire son petit bonhomme de chemin dans l'univers Marvel, rejoignant notamment les Avengers et croisant régulièrement la route de son cousin Bruce. YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT ? Malgré cela, She-Hulk conserve pour beaucoup de lecteurs l'image d'une énième version féminine d'un héros masculin, comme Ms Marvel et Spider-Woman chez Marvel, ou Supergirl chez DC Comics. Mais tout cela va radicalement changer grâce à un artiste : John Byrne. Figure incontournable de la bande dessinée américaine, ayant œuvré sur les X-Men ou Alpha Flight chez Marvel, sur Superman et Wonder Woman chez DC, et à l'origine de créations originales comme les Next Men chez Dark Horse, John Byrne a littéralement transformé de nombreuses icônes des comics dans les années 1980 et 1990. Visionnaire, son travail est empreint de thématiques sociales, politiques et technologiques, précédant parfois de plusieurs années les tendances, sans oublier d'adjoindre un regard critique qui invite le lecteur à la réflexion. Aux commandes de la série Fantastic Four de 1981 à 1986, Byrne va y mettre en scène She-Hulk, et également lui consacrer un graphic novel en 1985, avant de prendre en main la série The Sensational She-Hulk à partir de 1989. Dès la couverture du premier numéro, Byrne annonce la couleur. Jennifer Walters s'y adresse directement au lecteur, menaçant de déchirer leur collection de comics X-Men s'ils n'achètent pas sa série. Le ton est donné : She-Hulk est devenu un personnage conscient de sa condition d'héroïne de comic book et elle va dorénavant régulièrement briser le quatrième mur. Le quatrième mur est une notion venant du théâtre, selon laquelle il existe un mur invisible séparant la fiction jouée sur scène et le public. Notamment théorisée par Denis Diderot en 1758 dans Le Discours sur la Poésie Dramatique, elle a ensuite été développée par de nombreux auteurs, principalement dans le théâtre réaliste, admettant qu'il est également possible aux personnages d'une pièce de passer outre ce quatrième mur pour s'adresser directement au spectateur, pour un aparté qui renforce l'aspect comique ou dramatique de la situation, par exemple. La notion de quatrième mur s'est ensuite élargie à d'autres supports, du cinéma au jeu vidéo en passant par la bande dessinée. L'un des premiers exemples concrets au cinéma est le film muet The Great Train Robbery, réalisé en 1903 par l'Américain Edwin S. Porter, se terminant par un plan extrêmement avant-gardiste dans lequel on peut voir un homme tirer en direction du public. Une scène qui a fait sensation lors des projections, effrayant même quelques spectateurs ! Parmi les nombreux personnages de film ou de série capables de briser ce quatrième mur, on pourra citer Néo dans Matrix ; Ferris Bueller, qui a ensuite inspiré la série télévisée Parker Lewis ne perd jamais ; mais aussi les Animaniacs ou encore Malcolm. Du côté des comics, on retrouve cette faculté à différents niveaux chez Howard the Duck, Deadpool, ou Animal Man. Bien entendu, l'objectif principal est de produire un effet sur le spectateur, généralement pour préciser un contexte, renforcer l'immersion, ou bien tout simplement pour le faire rire. Cette notion acquise d'être un personnage capable de passer outre le quatrième mur va permettre à peu près tout et n'importe quoi à Jennifer Walter au cours des soixante épisodes que compte The Sensational She-Hulk : interpeller les lecteurs, sauter de case en case et traverser les pages de publicités, menacer John Byrne lorsque les choix artistiques de ce dernier lui semblent mauvais pour les ventes de la série, et même assister au démontage du décor dans le tout dernier numéro, dont la couverture fait d'ailleurs écho à celle du premier. Un répertoire de gimmicks astucieux qui trouvent pour beaucoup leur source dans une rencontre que Jennifer va faire dans le quatrième numéro de The Sensational She-Hulk. GOLDEN AGE GUEST STAR Si les débuts de la série jouent gentiment avec le quatrième mur ; comme lorsque She-Hulk reproche à Byrne de lui faire affronter les Toad Men, référence méta au deuxième numéro de The Incredible Hulk paru en 1962 dont elle se moquait en couverture ; le quatrième épisode place un nouveau personnage inattendu sur la route de notre héroïne : Louise Grant Mason. Louise explique à Jennifer que dans les années 1940, elle était Blonde Phantom, une justicière costumée combattant le crime. Blonde Phantom est un vrai personnage de bande dessinée, dont les aventures ont été publiées par Timely Comics, l'ancêtre de Marvel, à partir de 1946. Créée par le scénariste Al Sulman et par le dessinateur Syd Shores à la demande de Stan Lee qui trouvait que les publications Timely manquaient de super-héroïnes, elle fait sa première apparition dans All Select Comics #11, un périodique qui sera d'ailleurs renommé Blonde Phantom dès le numéro suivant. Secrétaire du détective Mark Mason, Louise Grant revêt un loup et une robe de soirée rouge du meilleur effet pour devenir la justicière Blonde Phantom et ainsi aider son patron à résoudre les affaires les plus corsées. Bien que dépourvue de super-pouvoirs, elle combat tour à tour d'anciens nazis, un inventeur monté sur des chaussures à ressorts, un savant fou venu du futur, et même son sosie remodelé par un chirurgienne peu scrupuleuse ! Alors qu'elle en pince pour Mark, Louise est totalement invisible aux yeux de ce dernier qui, ignorant la double identité de son employée, lui préfère Blonde Phantom. Une romance largement inspirée de la relation entre Loïs Lane et Clark Kent, pour ne citer que l'exemple le plus célèbre, et qui aura tendance à largement minimiser le rôle de Louise, systématiquement ramenée à sa condition d'assistante dans un monde gouverné par les hommes. Le personnage va rencontrer un certain succès, s'exportant dans les pages de Marvel Mystery Comics aux côtés de Captain America, Namor ou de la première Torche Humaine, mais aussi dans les comic books mettant en scène d'autres super-héroïnes du Golden Age, comme Sun Girl ou Namora. Et, sans trop s'avancer, on peut affirmer que Blonde Phantom est un personnage plutôt populaire chez Timely Comics à l'époque. La série Blonde Phantom va durer jusqu'au vingt-deuxième numéro, en 1949, avant que la publication ne soit finalement renommée Lovers, manifestation de la fin de l'âge d'or des super-héros costumés, peu à peu remplacés par des genres comme la Romance, le Western ou l'Horreur après la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il faut donc finalement attendre 1989 pour revoir Louise Grant dans le quatrième numéro de The Sensational She-Hulk. Elle y apparaît plus âgée, et surtout, on apprend qu'elle s'est mariée avec Mark Mason en 1949, juste après l'arrêt de la publication de sa série, adoptant ainsi officiellement le nom de Louise Grant Mason. En discutant avec elle, Jennifer comprend qu'au fil du temps, Louise est devenue pleinement consciente d'être un personnage de bande dessinée et qu'elle est persuadée que si elle ne ressemble plus à la Blonde Phantom des années 1940, c'est parce que sa série a été annulée par l'éditeur. Oubliés du public, elle et Mark se sont alors mis à vieillir, jusqu'au moment où le décès de son mari l'a poussée à retrouver un emploi pour devenir un personnage secondaire de la série She-Hulk, et ainsi échapper au même destin funeste. On ne s'en rend pas forcément compte au premier abord, mais la théorie de Louise ; et donc, par extension, de John Byrne ; répond de façon assez brillante à la question récurrente du non-vieillissement des personnages de comics. Pour elle, les personnages ne vieillissent pas tant qu'ils apparaissent dans les comics, et cette explication très méta n'est finalement pas plus farfelue que celles qui se baseraient sur des temporalités plus ou moins compressées. Mais elle ouvre aussi la porte à une quantité infinie de mindfuck, car étant donné que Louise pense cela parce qu'elle a conscience d'être elle-même un personnage de comics, elle est peut-être finalement responsable de son propre vieillissement. Ça en devient vertigineux. SMELL LIKE BLONDE PHANTOM Mais notre histoire ne s'arrête pas là. Car Blonde Phantom elle-même possède une origine pour le moins étrange. En effet, si la super-héroïne apparaît bel et bien pour la première fois dans All Select Comics #11, un autre personnage a porté le même pseudonyme quelques semaines plus tôt dans un contexte totalement différent. Créée par Ruth Atkinson pour Timely Comics en 1945, Millicent Collins, alias Millie the Model, est un jeune mannequin dont les aventures, entre romance et humour, vont connaître une longévité assez exceptionnelle. Fruit des demandes de l'éditeur Martin Goodman, qui cherchait à surfer sur le succès des séries dérivées de l'univers de Archie publiées par son concurrent MLJ, Millie the Model va occuper les présentoirs des kiosques américains jusqu'en 1973, et va même connaître plusieurs spin-offs. Dans l'une des courtes histoires présentes au sommaire du deuxième numéro, paru en juillet 1946, Millie se voit confier la mission de poser pour une publicité vantant le mérite d'un tout nouveau parfum : le Blonde Phantom. Elle qui ne rêve que de gloire et de paillettes est alors totalement anonymisée derrière un masque et une robe noire à pois rouges, ne pouvant pas profiter des retombées du succès du fameux sent-bon pour faire décoller sa carrière ! Vous l'aurez compris, exception faite du cadre et des enjeux, cette Blonde Phantom ressemble drôlement à celle qui prendra conscience de son statut de personnage de comics quelques décennies plus tard. Qu'une justicière costumée apparue seulement à deux mois d'intervalle chez le même éditeur porte exactement le même nom et un costume vaguement ressemblant pourrait très bien être une amusante coïncidence, tout comme le fait que Millie et Louise partagent pas mal de points communs, dont celui d'être ignorées par un love interest qui est aussi leur supérieur hiérarchique. Mais les similitudes ne semblent plus si fortuites quand l'on découvre que Al Sulman, le co-créateur de la super-héroïne Louise Grant, relisait régulièrement de nombreux scripts pour Timely. Tandis que Ken Bald, dessinateur sur Millie the Model, comptait parmi les artistes au sommaire du numéro de All Select Comics où apparaît pour la première fois Blonde Phantom, cette fois au dessin des aventures de Miss America. Si l'on ne peut définitivement rien affirmer, on peut au moins supposer que l'idée d'une redresseuse de torts en tenue de gala traînait depuis quelque temps dans les cartons des équipes créatives de Timely Comics, et que la demande de Stan Lee a été l'opportunité de lui donner vie pour de bon. Une vie qui fut longue et bien remplie pour Louise Grant Mason, principalement parce que son retour dans les pages de She-Hulk va inspirer d'autres artistes. Car, comble du méta à la sauce Byrne : en sortant de sa retraite pour ne pas mourir oubliée du lectorat, Blonde Phantom est devenue elle-même responsable du renouveau de son statut au sein de l'univers Marvel et de l'enrichissement a posteriori de son background et de son passé de justicière. Steve Gerber et Buzz Dixon, remplaçant au pied levé John Byrne éjecté de The Sensational She-Hulk par un Tom DeFalco irascible, donneront à Louise une héritière costumée en la personne de sa fille Wanda, qui deviendra l'héroïne Phantom Blonde. Et la magie de la rétro-continuité lui permettra même de vivre des aventures à rebours, comme dans la mini-série Avengers 1959 de Howard Chaykin, parue en 2011. John Byrne reviendra finalement sur The Sensational She-Hulk, continuant de jouer avec les codes du comic book, comme le faisait Grant Morrison avec sa Doom Patrol à la même période, et livrant par la même occasion des couvertures désopilantes se rangeant parmi les meilleures de l'histoire de la bande dessinée américaine. Une bonne partie d'entre elles joue sur l'hypersexualisation de Jennifer qui, consciente de l'exploitation de son image par l'artiste, s'en plaint régulièrement. Une façon provocatrice de dénoncer ce phénomène particulièrement en vogue à partir des années 1980 et toutes les dérives autour du culte du corps qui l'accompagnent. Mais ceci est une tout autre histoire dont on reparlera peut-être une prochaine fois ! Personnage atypique dont le ton comique et introspectif est parfois mal compris, comptant parmi les dernières co-création de Stan Lee pour la Maison des Idées, imaginée avant tout à des fins mercantiles pour protéger les intérêts d'un éditeur dans une effervescence télévisuelle inachevée, puis redéfinie par un artiste précurseur qui a été jusqu'à donner un sens aux lois innées d'un genre, She-Hulk est un cas unique dans l'univers Marvel. Si les productions suivantes, comme les séries écrites par Dan Slott ou Charles Soule, ont souvent cherché à prolonger l'exercice initié par Byrne, le vent de fraîcheur apporté par The Sensational She-Hulk reste particulièrement osé et novateur de par ses possibles répercussions à grande échelle. Et quel que soit votre rapport à She-Hulk, le parcours de Jennifer Walters chez Marvel est à tout jamais le fruit d'un jeu d'influences au doux parfum d'imaginaire, auquel je vous recommande de jeter un œil ! N'hésitez pas à partager cet article sur les réseaux sociaux s'il vous a plu ! Recevez mes articles, podcasts et vidéos directement dans votre boîte mail, sans intermédiaire ni publicité, en vous abonnant gratuitement ! Retrouvez le podcast POP CULTURE & COMICS sur toutes les plateformes d'écoute en cliquant ici ! Get full access to CHRIS - POP CULTURE & COMICS at chrisstup.substack.com/subscribe
Esta semana, recibimos la visita de @moscacovalente, que comparte su conocimiento sobre el mundo de los cómics de Marvel. Junto a él, exploramos las diferentes etapas de la historia de los cómics en EE.UU. y las características de Marvel en cada una de ellas, desde sus inicios como Timely Comics en la década del 40, hasta la actualidad. Además, compartimos algunas recomendaciones para aquellas personas que quieran aventurarse en el mundo de los cómics por primera vez.
MARVEL @ MY HIP HOP is a brand spankin' new segment of Hip Hop Marvels Podcast, featuring hosts Dub Floyd and E-Ray. They give you their takes on the latest current events in Hip-Hop in 30 minutes or less, bringing you Hip-Hop in a TIMELY manner! Breaking down Hip-Hop with wit, humor and insight, paying homage to Timely Comics, the precursor to Marvel Comics founded in 1939 by pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman.In this blazin' first edition, Dub and E-Ray discuss... - MF DOOM's wife speaking out against patient neglect from UK hospital in which DOOM was hospitalized. - Drake possibly taking shots at Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino on his "It's All A Blur" tour.- Rest In Peace to Black Liberation activist and step-father to 2pac, Mutulu Shakur.- Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan ties the knot.- more hot takes and banter!LISTEN-SHARE-RATE-SUBSCRIBE: Pandora, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Audible, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Stitcher, Podcast Addict & anywhere else you get your podcasts!Have a question, comment or suggestion? Email us: hiphopmarvels@gmail.comHIP HOP MARVELS is movement focusing on the impact Marvel Comics/Entertainment has on the culture of Hip Hop and vice-versa. Your friendly neighborhood plug for all things Hip Hop and Marvel! "WE GOT IT LOCKED FROM THE BLOCK TO THE COMIC SHOP!"Creator/Host/EP: DJ Dub Floyd (@djdubfloyd)Co-Host: Rick 0378 (@braille378)Co-Host: Eric Ray (@lionheadcircle)Co-Host: Terry Tolliver (@t91t91)Correspondent: Brandess Rice (@8tiesbaby82)Producer/Camera: Hasani Wiz (@dovestatus)HHMP Intro: Bash Brothers - Precyce Politix (@cyceboogie), Mallz (@mallzini), Sharp Cuts (@sharpcutsofficial)Music: Sharp Cuts (@sharpcutsofficial), Tecknowledgy (@teckbeats), Kreatev (@kreatev)www.hiphopmarvels.comTwitter: @hiphopmarvelsIG: @hiphopmarvelsFB: hiphopmarvels
Alex Grand interviews Jesse Simon, the grandson of Captain America creator, Joe Simon on his creative and influential grandfather and his family's new comic series, SHIELDMASTER found on Kickstarter. Jesse discusses his grandfather's career at Timely Comics with figures like Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Martin Goodman, DC Comics, Harvey Comics with Al Harvey, Crestwood, SICK magazine and more. You can get SHIELDMASTER at this link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/simonstudios/shieldmaster-3. Photo © Jesse Simon. Images used in artwork ©Their Respective Copyright holders, CBH Podcast ©Comic Book Historians, LLC. Thumbnail Artwork ©Comic Book Historians. Music ©Lost EuropeanSupport the show
Created by writer Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby in the eponymous Captain America Comics #1, the patriotic hero became a breakout star for Timely Comics. Written by R. Joseph Parrott. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Cody Patton, Laura Seeger, and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. A textual version of this video is available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/captain-america-changing-conscience-nation. This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.
We descend to the depths of Hell to talk Satan's Ambassador, the ORIGINAL Black Widow, CLAIRE VOYANT! Issue 170 - Claire Voyant Intro Mention Quantumania recap episode Background (2:15) Claire Voyant, the original Black Widow, created by George Kapitan & Harry Sahle in Mystic Comics #4 (August 1940) Not only is she the first Black Widow, decades before Natasha Romanoff, but she is the first costumed female superheroine in comic books Claire Voyant is a spirit who can communicate with the dead She is possessed by Satan to curse a family she is working with, but the husband survives the spell and kills her When she arrives in Hell, she is resurrected by Satan and sent back to Earth with the ability to kill evildoers with a single touch, so he can harvest their souls She also has the ability to fly and generate fire, she is superhumanly strong, and she has various psychic abilities Only makes five appearances between 1940-1943 Brought back in The Twelve by J. Michael Straczynski, alongside 11 other obscure Timely Comics characters Retconned history has her become the Black Widow in 1928 after her sister was murdered by her husband – as she stands over the grave, she wishes for the power to avenge her death, and Satan answers She and the other characters are knocked unconscious and put in suspended animation during WWII – awoken in 2008, she resumes serving Satan, while falling in love with the Phantom Reporter, Dick Jones Issues (8:24) Deal with Devil Distances herself from people because of her abilities Seems to have less difficulty adapting to modern culture, but only because she seeks out specific subgroups (goths) (19:54) Break (29:38) Plugs for Comic Book Keepers, Into the Knight, and Chris Claremont Treatment (31:26) In-universe - Connect her with souls she's impacted Out of universe (34:20) Skit (feat. Theo Kitsinger as Claire) (39:04) DOC: Hello Claire, I'm Doctor Issues. CLAIRE: Hello Doctor. DOC: I just want to let you know this is a judgment-free zone, and you can feel free to speak your mind. This is a safe space. CLAIRE: I appreciate your intention, Doctor, but unfortunately for me there is no such thing as a safe space. DOC: Oh, I am constantly updating various defenses and technology to help protect- CLAIRE: What I mean is there is nowhere I can go where my dark master cannot find me. No hole I can hide in to avoid him or his call. DOC: Oh, I see. And which dark master is that? CLAIRE: He goes by many names, but I believe you'd recognize the name Satan? DOC: Just so we're clear, your master is… the literal Devil? CLAIRE: Lucifer, Shaitan, the Fallen Angel, Beelzebub… again, many names. DOC: I see. And you serve him because… CLAIRE: I sold my soul in exchange for the ability to avenge my sister's killer. As decisions go, it was not my finest moment, but I am beholden nonetheless. DOC: OK. Is he in here with us now…? CLAIRE: Are you an agent of evil? DOC: Certainly hope not. CLAIRE: Then you have nothing to fear. DOC: So says YOU. CLAIRE: If you like, I can enter your mind and assuage your fears in another way. DOC: Thanks, but I don't care for anyone poking around upstairs. Plus it'd violate patient-client confidentiality in ways I don't even want to imagine. So let's just stick to chatting, and I'll do my best to ignore the presence of the literal devil. CLAIRE: So that's your solution? Pay no mind to the evil that surrounds us at all times? DOC: I never said that. Trust me, every day I go to work I'm confronted with the evils humanity is capable of. But one of the benefits of this job is the ability to do something about it, and to help people address some of their… less beneficial tendencies. CLAIRE: Interesting outlook. Do you fancy yourself a superhero? DOC: Goodness no. I simply try my best to be a net positive for good in the world. CLAIRE: Do you have any powers? DOC: I think that's enough questions about me for now. Let's refocus the discussion a bit. Do you struggle with having to serve the Devil? CLAIRE: *hesitates* No. DOC: Forgive me for not believing you entirely. CLAIRE: It's just… I was frozen in time for sixty years. When I awoke, I thought maybe… I would be free of my burden. But it seems that I will have to do this forever. DOC: And, at the risk of sounding cliché, how does that make you feel? CLAIRE: It's… complicated. I can rid the world of evil. I've avenged my sister's killer, and so many others who would do harm to the innocent. I have powers most would only dream of. My looks will never fade nor tarnish. And still… DOC: You question whether it was worth it. CLAIRE: Every day. DOC: What do you dream about? CLAIRE: I don't sleep. At least… not in the way normal people do. It's more of a recharge after using my abilities. DOC: On one hand, I'm tempted to go down the rabbit hole of how your lack of full sleep cycles can destroy you as a functioning person, but you're probably immortal so…um…I won't. Forget the literal. What are your wishes? What's your next goal? CLAIRE: I don't think I have any. There's not much room for that sort of thing. The next soul, I guess. DOC: And how do you build your life around that? CLAIRE: I kill them. *awkward pause* Is there supposed to be something else? DOC: *exasperated* ANYTHING else. Does your boss have a quota or something? CLAIRE: He keeps track, but I don't…not really, I had a gap of decades. DOC: Then there are no excuses. You're the ultimate freelance worker. Cater your time to your whims. Relationships, hobbies, I don't care. Experiment. CLAIRE: You can sit there with a straight face and tell a psychic succubus to get a life? DOC: *gulp* Well, I…um… CLAIRE: As if I could randomly find meaning in unimportant human things anymore. What, you're going to try and be a matchmaker, too? Tinder takes on a whole new meaning around me. DOC: I don't know about any of that, but is there anyone you're the least interested in? CLAIRE: No… maybe. It's complicated. DOC: You don't want that person to get hurt in the end. CLAIRE: *pause* So it's not so complicated. Stop shutting down everything I say! DOC: I'm not shutting anything down. You put barriers up the moment you sacrificed everything so long ago. That was a temporary view you decided to make permanent for whatever your reason, and I'm sure it was good at that point. You're beyond that now, but you're still trying to make everything in the world fit inside some tiny dark space in your mind. I can flip it around so your powerful mind can master what the world can offer. CLAIRE: So you'll turn me into the greatest supervillain ever… I think my boss already has that title. DOC: OF COURSE NOT! I'm saying…think Goth Influencer, or Demonic Consultant. You have so much to offer to society besides knocking off the next pedophile or mass murderer or whoever. CLAIRE: But what if I don't want that attention? I don't necessarily want to be publicly known as an agent of Satan. The internal pressure is bad enough. DOC: Then be in the background; just don't bury your talent because it's based in darkness instead of light. I don't have all of the answers, but I refuse to let you wither away like a soulless husk. Plus if I'm honest, you scare me. The patients I've had who didn't try something new, just…well, it wasn't good. CLAIRE: This whole time, I've been studying your mind. Your soul, even. I can't find a bit of insincerity in anything you say. I find your view to be naive…but I can work with that. DOC: Thanks…? So does this mean you're not going to send me to your boss? CLAIRE: You're safe. For the time being, anyway. Thank you Doctor, I look forward to a future discussion. DOC: Excellent. You can talk to my assistant and schedule your next session. CLAIRE: I think I'll just come find you if and when that moment arrives. Shall we shake on it? DOC: Y'know what, let's just wave and call it a day. Ending (46:48) Recommended reading: The Twelve Next episodes: Penguin, Shazam, Arcade Plugs for social & GonnaGeek Network References: Ghost Trick - Doc (33:48) Apple Podcasts: here Google Play: here Stitcher: here TuneIn: here iHeartRadio: here Twitter Facebook TikTok Patreon TeePublic Discord
Welcome to episode 64 of the official podcast of Your Unofficial Boys. Every week we review beers, talk sports and discuss funny current events. Please like and Subscribe! Episode Guide: Beers of the Week: Wernesgrüner Pils by Wernesgrüner Brauerei (Germany) - Rating: 4.00 Cerveza Para Los Bandidos by Lonerider Brewing Co (Raleigh, NC) - Rating: 4.00 Fact of the Week: Camels once roamed the Texas Plains. The Wild West was once part of Spain. About 1 in every 3 cowboys was black. One of the best poker players in the West may have been a woman. Alice Ivers became known as “Poker Alice” due to her skill with cards. The town of Delamar, Nevada was called the “Widowmaker.” Bloody business wasn't just limited to gunfights. This Week in History: On Feb. 28th, 1915 - WWI: After the French try to drive the Germans forces back into the Champagne region, they gain a few hundred yards - at the cost of 50,000 casualties On Feb. 28th, 1947 - February 28 Massacre: Anti-government uprising in Taiwan is violently put down by Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang-led Republic of China government with the loss of 18,000-28,000 lives. Marks the beginning of the White Terror. On February 29, 1960 - 1st Playboy Club, featuring bunnies, opens in Chicago On March 1st, 1780 - Pennsylvania becomes 1st US state to abolish slavery (for newborns only) On March 1, 1941 - Captain America created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby is first published by Timely Comics (premiere issue released on December 20, 1940) On March 1, 1854 - SS City of Glasgow leaves Liverpool harbor with approximately 480 passengers and crew; she was never seen again On March 3, 2013 - 2 year old US girl becomes the first child born with HIV to be cured On March 4, 1924 - "Happy Birthday To You" published by Claydon Sunny On February 27, 2014 - Chaos erupts after the Swedish Public Employment Service mistakenly invites 61,000 people to a job interview in Stockholm Your Unofficial News: Newlyweds, wedding party rescued from elevator in North Carolina. Crypto mining operation found in school crawl space. Police find 850 kilos of cocaine washed up on a French beach. A new device from China allows couples to simulate kissing over their phones. Unofficial Fanzone: Where should Aaron Rodgers go? Should the Ravens Franchise tag Lamar? MLB the Show Face Scan?! MLB Spring training NBA & NHL Conference Leaders Unofficial Thoughts: Would you rather eat ass or suck toes for the rest of your life as foreplay? Happy hour coming to NC soon!!!?? Please go follow us on our social media and subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast. Also check out our website www.yourunofficialboys.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/your-unofficial-boys/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/your-unofficial-boys/support
Movie Meltdown - Episode 597 This installment of The Super Series we discuss Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania as well as a lot of other topics along the way. And as we dig into our own mental Video Archives, we also cover… a retired Wolverine, Brian De Palma, Only Murders in the Building, Match Point, Jiminy Glick, Dressed to Kill, No Exit, Janet van Dyne, The Micronauts, Jonathan Majors, Ironheart, Mobius, Timely Comics, The Clone Wars, Kathryn Newton, Kraven the Hunter, Demonoid, The Approach, stand-up movies, MODOK, a wish version of Darth Vader, the internet brought consequences, Rick and Morty, Disney+, Taiwanese action, Veb, Peyton Reed, F. Murray Abraham, Loki, Blow Out, Night of the Ghoul, Identity, Michelle Pfeiffer, the butt shot, Bill Murray, The Council of Kangs, mythical monsters vs. dinosaurs, Hank Pym, Paul Rudd, John Wick: Chapter 4, David Dastmalchian, Scarlett Johansson, Speed, The One Armed Executioner, Tom Holland, influenced by Hong Kong cinema, the devil hates rock n roll, Evangeline Lilly, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Choose or Die, sitting next to people in a theater, The Exorcist, Michael Douglas, Blind Rage, it's too much awesome is what it is, gelatinous worms and a technocracy. Spoiler Alert: Major spoilers for “Blow Out” and “Dressed to Kill” are revealed in this episode. You have been warned! “Look out for the little guy… and don't be a dick. That's the things we've learned in this movie here.”
Here's a testament to Sy Barry's artistic longevity: he started his career as an inker for Timely Comics (before it became Marvel) and National Comics (before it became DC). That's right, he's been in the game since before Marvel and DC existed! Though he's worked on hundreds of comic books and comic strips, he's most well known for his three decades of work (1961 - 1994) on The Phantom strip. Talk about a lifetime achievement!Oren and guest bandit Bob Kroll dig into Sy's career with the wonder and reverence it deserves. _____________________________________________Check out a video version of this episode on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/dollarbinbandits.If you liked this podcast, please rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. And tell your friends!Looking for more ways to express your undying DBB love and devotion? Email us at dollarbinbandits@gmail.com. Follow us @dollarbinbandits on Facebook and Instagram, and @DBBandits on Twitter.
This week, we talk about the 1980s Marvel Cinematic Universe that could have been, and eventually was. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the undisputed king of intellectual property in the entertainment industry. As of February 9th, 2023, the day I record this episode, there have been thirty full length motion pictures part of the MCU in the past fifteen years, with a combined global ticket sales of $28 billion, as well as twenty television shows that have been seen by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. It is a entertainment juggernaut that does not appear to be going away anytime soon. This comes as a total shock to many of us who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, who were witness of cheaply produced television shows featuring hokey special effects and a roster of has-beens and never weres in the cast. Superman was the king of superheroes at the movies, in large part because, believe it or not, there hadn't even been a movie based on a Marvel Comics character released into theatres until the summer of 1986. But not for lack of trying. And that's what we're going to talk about today. A brief history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 1980s. But first, as always, some backstory. Now, I am not approaching this as a comic fan. When I was growing up in the 80s, I collected comics, but my collection was limited to Marvel's Star Wars series, Marvel's ROM The SpaceKnight, and Marvel's two-issue Blade Runner comic adaptation in 1982. So I apologize to Marvel comics fans if I relay some of this information incorrectly. I have tried to do my due diligence when it comes to my research. Marvel Comics got its start as Timely Comics back in 1939. On August 31, 1939, Timely would release its first comic, titled Marvel Comics, which would feature a number of short stories featuring versions of characters that would become long-running staples of the eventual publishing house that would bear the comic's name, including The Angel, a version of The Human Torch who was actually an android hero, and Namor the Submariner, who was originally created for a unpublished comic that was supposed to be given to kids when they attended their local movie theatre during a Saturday matinee. That comic issue would quickly sell out its initial 80,000 print run, as well as its second run, which would put another 800,000 copies out to the marketplace. The Vision would be another character introduced on the pages of Marvel Comics, in November 1940. In December 1940, Timely would introduce their next big character, Captain America, who would find instant success thanks to its front cover depicting Cap punching Adolph Hitler square in the jaw, proving that Americans have loved seeing Nazis get punched in the face even a year before our country entered the World War II conflict. But there would be other popular characters created during this timeframe, including Black Widow, The Falcon, and The Invisible Man. In 1941, Timely Comics would lose two of its best collaborators, artists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, to rival company Detective Comics, and Timely owner Martin Goodman would promote one of his cousins, by marriage to his wife Jean no less, to become the interim editor of Timely Comics. A nineteen year old kid named Stanley Lieber, who would shorten his name to Stan Lee. In 1951, Timely Comics would be rebranded at Atlas Comics, and would expand past superhero titles to include tales of crime, drama, espionage, horror, science fiction, war, western, and even romance comics. Eventually, in 1961, Atlas Comics would rebrand once again as Marvel Comics, and would find great success by changing the focus of their stories from being aimed towards younger readers and towards a more sophisticated audience. It would be November 1961 when Marvel would introduce their first superhero team, The Fantastic Four, as well as a number of their most beloved characters including Black Panther, Carol Danvers, Iron Man, The Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, and Thor, as well as Professor X and many of the X-Men. And as would be expected, Hollywood would come knocking. Warner Brothers would be in the best position to make comic book movies, as both they and DC Comics were owned by the same company beginning in 1969. But for Marvel, they would not be able to enjoy that kind of symbiotic relationship. Regularly strapped for cash, Stan Lee would often sell movie and television rights to a variety of Marvel characters to whomever came calling. First, Marvel would team with a variety of producers to create a series of animated television shows, starting with The Marvel Super Heroes in 1966, two different series based on The Fantastic Four, and both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman series. But movies were a different matter. The rights to make a Spider-Man television show, for example, was sold off to a production company called Danchuck, who teamed with CBS-TV to start airing the show in September of 1977, but Danchuck was able to find a loophole in their contract that allowed them to release the two-hour pilot episode as a movie outside of the United States, which complicated the movie rights Marvel had already sold to another company. Because the “movie” was a success around the world, CBS and Danchuck would release two more Spider-Man “movies” in 1978 and 1981. Eventually, the company that owned the Spider-Man movie rights to sell them to another company in the early 1980s, the legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, New World Pictures, founded and operated by the legendary independent B-movie producer and director Roger Corman. But shortly after Corman acquired the film rights to Spider-Man, he went and almost immediately sold them to another legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, Cannon Films. Side note: Shortly after Corman sold the movie rights to Spider-Man to Cannon, Marvel Entertainment was sold to the company that also owned New World Pictures, although Corman himself had nothing to do with the deal itself. The owners of New World were hoping to merge the Marvel comic book characters with the studio's television and motion picture department, to create a sort of shared universe. But since so many of the better known characters like Spider-Man and Captain America had their movie and television rights sold off to the competition, it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon, but again, I'm getting ahead of myself. So for now, we're going to settle on May 1st, 1985. Cannon Films, who loved to spend money to make money, made a big statement in the pages of the industry trade publication Variety, when they bought nine full pages of advertising in the Cannes Market preview issue to announce that buyers around the world needed to get ready, because he was coming. Spider-Man. A live-action motion picture event, to be directed by Tobe Hooper, whose last movie, Poltergeist, re-ignited his directing career, that would be arriving in theatres for Christmas 1986. Cannon had made a name for themselves making cheapie teen comedies in their native Israel in the 1970s, and then brought that formula to America with films like The Last American Virgin, a remake of the first Lemon Popsicle movie that made them a success back home. Cannon would swerve into cheapie action movies with fallen stars like Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson, and would prop up a new action star in Chuck Norris, as well as cheapie trend-chasing movies like Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. They had seen enough success in America where they could start spending even bigger, and Spider-Man was supposed to be their first big splash into the superhero movie genre. With that, they would hire Leslie Stevens, the creator of the cult TV series The Outer Limits, to write the screenplay. There was just one small problem. Neither Stevens nor Cannon head honcho Menachem Golan understood the Spider-Man character. Golan thought Spider-Man was a half-spider/half-man creature, not unlike The Wolf Man, and instructed Stevens to follow that concept. Stevens' script would not really borrow from any of the comics' twenty plus year history. Peter Parker, who in this story is a twenty-something ID photographer for a corporation that probably would have been Oscorp if it were written by anyone else who had at least some familiarity with the comics, who becomes intentionally bombarded with gamma radiation by one of the scientists in one of the laboratories, turning Bruce Banner… I mean, Peter Parker, into a hairy eight-armed… yes, eight armed… hybrid human/spider monster. At first suicidal, Bruce… I mean, Peter, refuses to join forces with the scientist's other master race of mutants, forcing Peter to battle these other mutants in a basement lab to the death. To say Stan Lee hated it would be an understatement. Lee schooled Golan and Golan's partner at Cannon, cousin Yoram Globus, on what Spider-Man was supposed to be, demanded a new screenplay. Wanting to keep the head of Marvel Comics happy, because they had big plans not only for Spider-Man but a number of other Marvel characters, they would hire the screenwriting team of Ted Newsom and John Brancato, who had written a screenplay adaptation for Lee of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, to come up with a new script for Spider-Man. Newsom and Brancato would write an origin story, featuring a teenage Peter Parker who must deal with his newfound powers while trying to maintain a regular high school existence, while going up against an evil scientist, Otto Octavius. But we'll come back to that later. In that same May 1985 issue of Variety, amongst dozens of pages of ads for movies both completed and in development, including three other movies from Tobe Hooper, was a one-page ad for Captain America. No director or actor was attached to the project yet, but comic book writer James L. Silke, who had written the scripts for four other Cannon movies in the previous two years, was listed as the screenwriter. By October 1985, Cannon was again trying to pre-sell foreign rights to make a Spider-Man movie, this time at the MIFED Film Market in Milan, Italy. Gone were Leslie Stevens and Tobe Hooper. Newsom and Brancato were the new credited writers, and Joseph Tito, the director of the Chuck Norris/Cannon movies Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A., was the new director. In a two-page ad for Captain America, the film would acquire a new director in Michael Winner, the director of the first three Death Wish movies. And the pattern would continue every few months, from Cannes to MIFED to the American Film Market, and back to Cannes. A new writer would be attached. A new director. A new release date. By October 1987, after the twin failures of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Masters of the Universe, Cannon had all but given up on a Captain America movie, and downshifted the budget on their proposed Spider-Man movie. Albert Pyun, whose ability to make any movie in any genre look far better than its budget should have allowed, was brought in to be the director of Spider-Man, from a new script written by Shepard Goldman. Who? Shepard Goldman, whose one and only credit on any motion picture was as one of three screenwriters on the 1988 Cannon movie Salsa. Don't remember Salsa? That's okay. Neither does anyone else. But we'll talk a lot more about Cannon Films down the road, because there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Cannon Films, although I will leave you with two related tidbits… Do you remember the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Cyborg? Post-apocalyptic cyberpunk martial-arts action film where JCVD and everyone else in the movie have names like Gibson Rickenbacker, Fender Tremolo, Marshall Strat and Pearl Prophet for no damn good reason? Stupid movie, lots of fun. Anyway, Albert Pyun was supposed to shoot two movies back to back for Cannon Films in 1988, a sequel to Masters of the Universe, and Spider-Man. To save money, both movies would use many of the same sets and costumes, and Cannon had spent more than $2m building the sets and costumes at the old Dino DeLaurentiis Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, where David Lynch had shot Blue Velvet. But then Cannon ran into some cash flow issues, and lost the rights to both the He-Man toy line from Mattel and the Spider-Man characters they had licensed from Marvel. But ever the astute businessman, Cannon Films chairman Menahem Golan offered Pyun $500,000 to shoot any movie he wanted using the costumes and sets already created and paid for, provided Pyun could come up with a movie idea in a week. Pyun wrote the script to Cyborg in five days, and outside of some on-set alterations, that first draft would be the shooting script. The film would open in theatres in April 1989, and gross more than $10m in the United States alone. A few months later, Golan would gone from Cannon Films. As part of his severance package, he would take one of the company's acquisitions, 21st Century Films, with him, as well as several projects, including Captain America. Albert Pyun never got to make his Spider-Man movie, but he would go into production on his Captain America in August 1989. But since the movie didn't get released in any form until it came out direct to video and cable in 1992, I'll leave it to podcasts devoted to 90s movies to tell you more about it. I've seen it. It's super easy to find on YouTube. It really sucks, although not as much as that 1994 version of The Fantastic Four that still hasn't been officially released nearly thirty years later. There would also be attempts throughout the decade to make movies from the aforementioned Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer and Iron Man, from companies like New Line, 20th Century-Fox and Universal, but none of those would ever come to fruition in the 1980s. But the one that would stick? Of the more than 1,000 characters that had been featured in the pages of Marvel Comics over the course of forty years? The one that would become the star of the first ever theatrically released motion picture based on a Marvel character? Howard the Duck. Howard the Duck was not your average Marvel superhero. Howard the Duck wasn't even a superhero. He was just some wise crackin', ill-tempered, anthropomorphic water fowl that was abducted away from his home on Duckworld and forced against his will to live with humans on Earth. Or, more specifically, first with the dirty humans of the Florida Everglades, and then Cleveland, and finally New York City. Howard the Duck was metafiction and existentialist when neither of these things were in the zeitgeist. He smoked cigars, wore a suit and tie, and enjoy drinking a variety of libations and getting it on with the women, mostly his sometimes girlfriend Beverly. The perfect character to be the subject of the very first Marvel movie. A PG-rated movie. Enter George Lucas. In 1973, George Lucas had hit it big with his second film as a director, American Graffiti. Lucas had written the screenplay, based in part on his life as an eighteen year old car enthusiast about to graduate high school, with the help of a friend from his days at USC Film School, Willard Huyck, and Huyck's wife, Gloria Katz. Lucas wanted to show his appreciation for their help by producing a movie for them. Although there are variations to the story of how this came about, most sources say it was Huyck who would tell Lucas about this new comic book character, Howard the Duck, who piqued his classmate's interest by describing the comic as having elements of film noir and absurdism. Because Universal dragged their feet on American Graffiti, not promoting it as well as they could have upon its initial release and only embracing the film when the public embraced its retro soundtrack, Lucas was not too keen on working with Universal again on his next project, a sci-fi movie he was calling The Journal of the Whills. And while they saw some potential in what they considered to be some minor kiddie movie, they didn't think Lucas could pull it off the way he was describing it for the budget he was asking for. “What else you got, kid?” they'd ask. Lucas had Huyck and Katz, and an idea for a live-action comic book movie about a talking duck. Surprisingly, Universal did not slam the door shut in Lucas's face. They actually went for the idea, and worked with Lucas, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics and Howard's creator, Steve Gerber, to put a deal together to make it happen. Almost right away, Gerber and the screenwriters, Huyck and Katz, would butt heads on practically every aspect of the movie's storyline. Katz just thought it was some funny story about a duck from outer space and his wacky adventures on Earth, Gerber was adamant that Howard the Duck was an existential joke, that the difference between life's most serious moments and its most incredibly dumb moments were only distinguishable by a moment's point of view. Huyck wanted to make a big special effects movie, while Katz thought it would be fun to set the story in Hawaii so she and her husband could have some fun while shooting there. The writers would spend years on their script, removing most everything that made the Howard the Duck comic book so enjoyable to its readers. Howard and his story would be played completely straight in the movie, leaning on subtle gags not unlike a Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker movie, instead of embracing the surreal ridiculousness of the comics. They would write humongous effects-heavy set pieces, knowing they would have access to their producer's in-house special effects team, Industrial Light and Magic, instead of the comics' more cerebral endings. And they'd tone down the more risqué aspects of Howard's personality, figuring a more family-friendly movie would bring in more money at the box office. It would take nearly twelve years for all the pieces to fall into place for Howard the Duck to begin filming. But in the spring of 1985, Universal finally gave the green light for Lucas and his tea to finally make the first live-action feature film based on a Marvel Comics character. For Beverly, the filmmakers claimed to have looked at every young actress in Hollywood before deciding on twenty-four year old Lea Thompson, who after years of supporting roles in movies like Jaws 3-D, All the Right Moves and Red Dawn, had found success playing Michael J. Fox's mother in Back to the Future. Twenty-six year old Tim Robbins had only made two movies up to this point, at one of the frat boys in Fraternity Vacation and as one of the fighter pilots in Top Gun, and this was his first chance to play a leading role in a major motion picture. And Jeffrey Jones would be cast as the bad guy, the Dark Overlord, based upon his work in the 1984 Best Picture winner Amadeus, although he would be coming to the set of Howard the Duck straight off of working on a John Hughes movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Howard the Duck would begin shooting on the Universal Studios lot of November 11th, 1985, and on the very first day of production, the duck puppet being used to film would have a major mechanical failure, not unlike the mechanical failure of the shark in Jaws that would force Steven Spielberg to become more creative with how he shot that character. George Lucas, who would be a hands-on producer, would suggest that maybe they could shoot other scenes not involving the duck, while his crew at ILM created a fully functional, life-sized animatronic duck costume for a little actor to wear on set. At first, the lead actor in the duck suit was a twelve-year old boy, but within days of his start on the film, he would develop a severe case of claustrophobia inside the costume. Ed Gale, originally hired to be the stuntman in the duck costume, would quickly take over the role. Since Gale could work longer hours than the child, due to the very restrictive laws surrounding child actors on movie and television sets, this would help keep the movie on a good production schedule, and make shooting the questionable love scenes between Howard and Beverly easier for Ms. Thompson, who was creeped out at the thought of seducing a pre-teen for a scene. To keep the shoot on schedule, not only would the filmmakers employ a second shooting unit to shoot the scenes not involving the main actors, which is standard operating procedure on most movies, Lucas would supervise a third shooting unit that would shoot Robbins and Gale in one of the film's more climactic moments, when Howard and Phil are trying to escape being captured by the authorities by flying off on an ultralight plane. Most of this sequence would be shot in the town of Petaluma, California, on the same streets where Lucas had shot American Graffiti's iconic cruising scenes thirteen years earlier. After a month-long shoot of the film's climax at a naval station in San Francisco, the film would end production on March 26th, 1986, leaving the $36m film barely four months to be put together in order to make its already set in stone August 1st, 1986, release date. Being used to quick turnaround times, the effects teams working on the film would get all their shots completed with time to spare, not only because they were good at their jobs but they had the ability to start work before the film went into production. For the end sequence, when Jones' character had fully transformed into the Dark Overlord, master stop motion animator Phil Tippett, who had left ILM in 1984 to start his own effects studio specializing in that style of animation, had nearly a year to put together what would ultimately be less than two minutes of actual screen time. As Beverly was a musician, Lucas would hire English musician and composer Thomas Dolby, whose 1982 single She Blinded Me With Science became a global smash hit, to write the songs for Cherry Bomb, the all-girl rock group lead by Lea Thompson's Beverly. Playing KC, the keyboardist for Cherry Bomb, Holly Robinson would book her first major acting role. For the music, Dolby would collaborate with Allee Willis, the co-writer of Earth Wind and Fire's September and Boogie Wonderland, and funk legend George Clinton. But despite this powerhouse musical trio, the songs for the band were not very good, and, with all due respect to Lea Thompson, not very well sung. By August 1986, Universal Studios needed a hit. Despite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture in March with Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa, the first six films they released for the year were all disappointments at the box office and/or with the critics. The Best of Times, a comedy featuring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as two friends who try to recreate a high school football game which changed the direction of both their lives. Despite a script written by Ron Shelton, who would be nominated for an Oscar for his next screenplay, Bull Durham, and Robin Williams, the $12m film would gross less than $8m. The Money Pit, a comedy with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, would end up grossing $37m against a $10m budget, but the movie was so bad, its first appearance on DVD wouldn't come until 2011, and only as part of a Tom Hanks Comedy Favorites Collection along with The ‘Burbs and Dragnet. Legend, a dark fantasy film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, was supposed to be one of the biggest hits… of 1985. But Scott and the studio would fight over the film, with the director wanting them to release a two hour and five minute long version with a classical movie score by Jerry Goldsmith, while the studio eventually cut the film down an hour and twenty-nine minutes with a techno score by Tangerine Dream. Despite an amazing makeup job transforming Tim Curry into the Lord of Darkness as well as sumptuous costumes and cinematography, the $24.5m film would just miss recouping its production budget back in ticket sales. Tom Cruise would become a superstar not three weeks later, when Paramount Pictures released Top Gun, directed by Ridley's little brother Tony Scott. Sweet Liberty should have been a solid performer for the studio. Alan Alda, in his first movie since the end of MASH three years earlier, would write, direct and star in this comedy about a college history professor who must watch in disbelief as a Hollywood production comes to his small town to film the movie version of one of the books. The movie, which also starred Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Michelle Pfieffer and screen legend Lillian Gish, would get lost in the shuffle of other comedies that were already playing in theatres like Ferris Bueller and Short Circuit. Legal Eagles was the movie to beat for the summer of 1986… at least on paper. Ivan Reitman's follow-up film to Ghostbusters would feature a cast that included Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah, along with Brian Denny, Terence Stamp, and Brian Doyle-Murray, and was perhaps too much movie, being a legal romantic comedy mystery crime thriller. Phew. If I were to do an episode about agency packaging in the 1980s, the process when a talent agency like Creative Artists Agency, or CAA, put two or more of their clients together in a project not because it might be best for the movie but best for the agency that will collect a 10% commission from each client attached to the project, Legal Eagles would be the example of packaging gone too far. Ivan Reitman was a client of CAA. As were Redford, and Winger, and Hannah. As was Bill Murray, who was originally cast in the Redford role. As were Jim Cash and Jack Epps, the screenwriters for the film. As was Tom Mankewicz, the co-writer of Superman and three Bond films, who was brought in to rewrite the script when Murray left and Redford came in. As was Frank Price, the chairman of Universal Pictures when the project was put together. All told, CAA would book more than $1.5m in commissions for themselves from all their clients working on the film. And it sucked. Despite the fact that it had almost no special effects, Legal Eagles would cost $40m to produce, one of the most expensive movies ever made to that point, nearly one and a half times the cost of Ghostbusters. The film would gross nearly $50m in the US, which would make it only the 14th highest grossing film of the year. Less than Stand By Me. Less than The Color of Money. Less than Down and Out in Beverly Hills. And then there was Psycho III, the Anthony Perkins-directed slasher film that brought good old Norman Bates out of mothballs once again. An almost direct follow-up to Psycho II from 1983, the film neither embraced by horror film fans or critics, the film would only open in eighth place, despite the fact there hadn't been a horror movie in theatres for months, and its $14m gross would kill off any chance for a Psycho IV in theatres. In late June, Universal would hold a series of test screenings for Howard the Duck. Depending on who you talk to, the test screenings either went really well, or went so bad that one of the writers would tear up negative response cards before they could be given to the score compilers, to goose the numbers up, pun only somewhat intended. I tend to believe the latter story, as it was fairly well reported at the time that the test screenings went so bad, Sid Sheinberg, the CEO of Universal, and Frank Price, the President of the studio, got into a fist fight in the lobby of one of the theatres running one of the test screenings, over who was to blame for this impending debacle. And a debacle it was. But just how bad? So bad, copywriters from across the nation reveled in giddy glee over the chances to have a headline that read “‘Howard the Duck' Lays an Egg!” And it did. Well, sort of. When it opened in 1554 theatres on August 1st, the film would gross $5.07m, the second best opener of the weekend, behind the sixth Friday the 13th entry, and above other new movies like the Tom Hanks/Jackie Gleason dramedy Nothing in Common and the cult film in the making Flight of the Navigator. And $5m in 1986 was a fairly decent if unspectacular opening weekend gross. The Fly was considered a massive success when it opened to $7m just two weeks later. Short Circuit, which had opened to $5.3m in May, was also lauded as being a hit right out of the gate. And the reviews were pretty lousy. Gene Siskel gave the film only one star, calling it a stupid film with an unlikeable lead in the duck and special effects that were less impressive than a sparkler shoved into a birthday cake. Both Siskel and Ebert would give it the dreaded two thumbs down on their show. Leonard Maltin called the film hopeless. Today, the film only has a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 81 reviews. But despite the shellacking the film took, it wouldn't be all bad for several of the people involved in the making of the film. Lea Thompson was so worried her career might be over after the opening weekend of the film, she accepted a role in the John Hughes movie Some Kind of Wonderful that she had turned down multiple times before. As I stated in our March 2021 episode about that movie, it's my favorite of all John Hughes movies, and it would lead to a happy ending for Thompson as well. Although the film was not a massive success, Thompson and the film's director, Howard Deutch, would fall in love during the making of the film. They would marry in 1989, have two daughters together, and as of the writing of this episode, they are still happily married. For Tim Robbins, it showed filmmakers that he could handle a leading role in a movie. Within two years, he would be starring alongside Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham, and he career would soar for the next three decades. And for Ed Gale, his being able to act while in a full-body duck suit would lead him to be cast to play Chucky in the first two Child's Play movies as well as Bride of Chucky. Years later, Entertainment Weekly would name Howard the Duck as the biggest pop culture failure of all time, ahead of such turkeys as NBC's wonderfully ridiculous 1979 show Supertrain, the infamous 1980 Western Heaven's Gate, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman's Ishtar, and the truly wretched 1978 Bee Gees movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. But Howard the Duck, the character, not the movie, would enjoy a renaissance in 2014, when James Gunn included a CG-animated version of the character in the post-credit sequence for Guardians of the Galaxy. The character would show up again in the Disney animated Guardians television series, and in the 2021 Disney+ anthology series Marvel's What If… There technically would be one other 1980s movie based on a Marvel character, Mark Goldblatt's version of The Punisher, featuring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle. Shot in Australia in 1988, the film was supposed to be released by New World Pictures in August of 1989. The company even sent out trailers to theatres that summer to help build awareness for the film, but New World's continued financial issues would put the film on hold until April 1991, when it was released directly to video by Live Entertainment. It wouldn't be until the 1998 release of Blade, featuring Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire, that movies based on Marvel Comics characters would finally be accepted by movie-going audiences. That would soon be followed by Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000, and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002, the success of both prompting Marvel to start putting together the team that would eventually give birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe we all know and love today. Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again soon, when Episode 102, the first of two episodes about the 1980s distribution company Vestron Pictures, is released. Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about Howard the Duck, and the other movies, both existing and non-existent, we covered this episode. The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment. Thank you again. Good night.
This week, we talk about the 1980s Marvel Cinematic Universe that could have been, and eventually was. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the undisputed king of intellectual property in the entertainment industry. As of February 9th, 2023, the day I record this episode, there have been thirty full length motion pictures part of the MCU in the past fifteen years, with a combined global ticket sales of $28 billion, as well as twenty television shows that have been seen by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. It is a entertainment juggernaut that does not appear to be going away anytime soon. This comes as a total shock to many of us who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, who were witness of cheaply produced television shows featuring hokey special effects and a roster of has-beens and never weres in the cast. Superman was the king of superheroes at the movies, in large part because, believe it or not, there hadn't even been a movie based on a Marvel Comics character released into theatres until the summer of 1986. But not for lack of trying. And that's what we're going to talk about today. A brief history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 1980s. But first, as always, some backstory. Now, I am not approaching this as a comic fan. When I was growing up in the 80s, I collected comics, but my collection was limited to Marvel's Star Wars series, Marvel's ROM The SpaceKnight, and Marvel's two-issue Blade Runner comic adaptation in 1982. So I apologize to Marvel comics fans if I relay some of this information incorrectly. I have tried to do my due diligence when it comes to my research. Marvel Comics got its start as Timely Comics back in 1939. On August 31, 1939, Timely would release its first comic, titled Marvel Comics, which would feature a number of short stories featuring versions of characters that would become long-running staples of the eventual publishing house that would bear the comic's name, including The Angel, a version of The Human Torch who was actually an android hero, and Namor the Submariner, who was originally created for a unpublished comic that was supposed to be given to kids when they attended their local movie theatre during a Saturday matinee. That comic issue would quickly sell out its initial 80,000 print run, as well as its second run, which would put another 800,000 copies out to the marketplace. The Vision would be another character introduced on the pages of Marvel Comics, in November 1940. In December 1940, Timely would introduce their next big character, Captain America, who would find instant success thanks to its front cover depicting Cap punching Adolph Hitler square in the jaw, proving that Americans have loved seeing Nazis get punched in the face even a year before our country entered the World War II conflict. But there would be other popular characters created during this timeframe, including Black Widow, The Falcon, and The Invisible Man. In 1941, Timely Comics would lose two of its best collaborators, artists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, to rival company Detective Comics, and Timely owner Martin Goodman would promote one of his cousins, by marriage to his wife Jean no less, to become the interim editor of Timely Comics. A nineteen year old kid named Stanley Lieber, who would shorten his name to Stan Lee. In 1951, Timely Comics would be rebranded at Atlas Comics, and would expand past superhero titles to include tales of crime, drama, espionage, horror, science fiction, war, western, and even romance comics. Eventually, in 1961, Atlas Comics would rebrand once again as Marvel Comics, and would find great success by changing the focus of their stories from being aimed towards younger readers and towards a more sophisticated audience. It would be November 1961 when Marvel would introduce their first superhero team, The Fantastic Four, as well as a number of their most beloved characters including Black Panther, Carol Danvers, Iron Man, The Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, and Thor, as well as Professor X and many of the X-Men. And as would be expected, Hollywood would come knocking. Warner Brothers would be in the best position to make comic book movies, as both they and DC Comics were owned by the same company beginning in 1969. But for Marvel, they would not be able to enjoy that kind of symbiotic relationship. Regularly strapped for cash, Stan Lee would often sell movie and television rights to a variety of Marvel characters to whomever came calling. First, Marvel would team with a variety of producers to create a series of animated television shows, starting with The Marvel Super Heroes in 1966, two different series based on The Fantastic Four, and both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman series. But movies were a different matter. The rights to make a Spider-Man television show, for example, was sold off to a production company called Danchuck, who teamed with CBS-TV to start airing the show in September of 1977, but Danchuck was able to find a loophole in their contract that allowed them to release the two-hour pilot episode as a movie outside of the United States, which complicated the movie rights Marvel had already sold to another company. Because the “movie” was a success around the world, CBS and Danchuck would release two more Spider-Man “movies” in 1978 and 1981. Eventually, the company that owned the Spider-Man movie rights to sell them to another company in the early 1980s, the legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, New World Pictures, founded and operated by the legendary independent B-movie producer and director Roger Corman. But shortly after Corman acquired the film rights to Spider-Man, he went and almost immediately sold them to another legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, Cannon Films. Side note: Shortly after Corman sold the movie rights to Spider-Man to Cannon, Marvel Entertainment was sold to the company that also owned New World Pictures, although Corman himself had nothing to do with the deal itself. The owners of New World were hoping to merge the Marvel comic book characters with the studio's television and motion picture department, to create a sort of shared universe. But since so many of the better known characters like Spider-Man and Captain America had their movie and television rights sold off to the competition, it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon, but again, I'm getting ahead of myself. So for now, we're going to settle on May 1st, 1985. Cannon Films, who loved to spend money to make money, made a big statement in the pages of the industry trade publication Variety, when they bought nine full pages of advertising in the Cannes Market preview issue to announce that buyers around the world needed to get ready, because he was coming. Spider-Man. A live-action motion picture event, to be directed by Tobe Hooper, whose last movie, Poltergeist, re-ignited his directing career, that would be arriving in theatres for Christmas 1986. Cannon had made a name for themselves making cheapie teen comedies in their native Israel in the 1970s, and then brought that formula to America with films like The Last American Virgin, a remake of the first Lemon Popsicle movie that made them a success back home. Cannon would swerve into cheapie action movies with fallen stars like Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson, and would prop up a new action star in Chuck Norris, as well as cheapie trend-chasing movies like Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. They had seen enough success in America where they could start spending even bigger, and Spider-Man was supposed to be their first big splash into the superhero movie genre. With that, they would hire Leslie Stevens, the creator of the cult TV series The Outer Limits, to write the screenplay. There was just one small problem. Neither Stevens nor Cannon head honcho Menachem Golan understood the Spider-Man character. Golan thought Spider-Man was a half-spider/half-man creature, not unlike The Wolf Man, and instructed Stevens to follow that concept. Stevens' script would not really borrow from any of the comics' twenty plus year history. Peter Parker, who in this story is a twenty-something ID photographer for a corporation that probably would have been Oscorp if it were written by anyone else who had at least some familiarity with the comics, who becomes intentionally bombarded with gamma radiation by one of the scientists in one of the laboratories, turning Bruce Banner… I mean, Peter Parker, into a hairy eight-armed… yes, eight armed… hybrid human/spider monster. At first suicidal, Bruce… I mean, Peter, refuses to join forces with the scientist's other master race of mutants, forcing Peter to battle these other mutants in a basement lab to the death. To say Stan Lee hated it would be an understatement. Lee schooled Golan and Golan's partner at Cannon, cousin Yoram Globus, on what Spider-Man was supposed to be, demanded a new screenplay. Wanting to keep the head of Marvel Comics happy, because they had big plans not only for Spider-Man but a number of other Marvel characters, they would hire the screenwriting team of Ted Newsom and John Brancato, who had written a screenplay adaptation for Lee of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, to come up with a new script for Spider-Man. Newsom and Brancato would write an origin story, featuring a teenage Peter Parker who must deal with his newfound powers while trying to maintain a regular high school existence, while going up against an evil scientist, Otto Octavius. But we'll come back to that later. In that same May 1985 issue of Variety, amongst dozens of pages of ads for movies both completed and in development, including three other movies from Tobe Hooper, was a one-page ad for Captain America. No director or actor was attached to the project yet, but comic book writer James L. Silke, who had written the scripts for four other Cannon movies in the previous two years, was listed as the screenwriter. By October 1985, Cannon was again trying to pre-sell foreign rights to make a Spider-Man movie, this time at the MIFED Film Market in Milan, Italy. Gone were Leslie Stevens and Tobe Hooper. Newsom and Brancato were the new credited writers, and Joseph Tito, the director of the Chuck Norris/Cannon movies Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A., was the new director. In a two-page ad for Captain America, the film would acquire a new director in Michael Winner, the director of the first three Death Wish movies. And the pattern would continue every few months, from Cannes to MIFED to the American Film Market, and back to Cannes. A new writer would be attached. A new director. A new release date. By October 1987, after the twin failures of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Masters of the Universe, Cannon had all but given up on a Captain America movie, and downshifted the budget on their proposed Spider-Man movie. Albert Pyun, whose ability to make any movie in any genre look far better than its budget should have allowed, was brought in to be the director of Spider-Man, from a new script written by Shepard Goldman. Who? Shepard Goldman, whose one and only credit on any motion picture was as one of three screenwriters on the 1988 Cannon movie Salsa. Don't remember Salsa? That's okay. Neither does anyone else. But we'll talk a lot more about Cannon Films down the road, because there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Cannon Films, although I will leave you with two related tidbits… Do you remember the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Cyborg? Post-apocalyptic cyberpunk martial-arts action film where JCVD and everyone else in the movie have names like Gibson Rickenbacker, Fender Tremolo, Marshall Strat and Pearl Prophet for no damn good reason? Stupid movie, lots of fun. Anyway, Albert Pyun was supposed to shoot two movies back to back for Cannon Films in 1988, a sequel to Masters of the Universe, and Spider-Man. To save money, both movies would use many of the same sets and costumes, and Cannon had spent more than $2m building the sets and costumes at the old Dino DeLaurentiis Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, where David Lynch had shot Blue Velvet. But then Cannon ran into some cash flow issues, and lost the rights to both the He-Man toy line from Mattel and the Spider-Man characters they had licensed from Marvel. But ever the astute businessman, Cannon Films chairman Menahem Golan offered Pyun $500,000 to shoot any movie he wanted using the costumes and sets already created and paid for, provided Pyun could come up with a movie idea in a week. Pyun wrote the script to Cyborg in five days, and outside of some on-set alterations, that first draft would be the shooting script. The film would open in theatres in April 1989, and gross more than $10m in the United States alone. A few months later, Golan would gone from Cannon Films. As part of his severance package, he would take one of the company's acquisitions, 21st Century Films, with him, as well as several projects, including Captain America. Albert Pyun never got to make his Spider-Man movie, but he would go into production on his Captain America in August 1989. But since the movie didn't get released in any form until it came out direct to video and cable in 1992, I'll leave it to podcasts devoted to 90s movies to tell you more about it. I've seen it. It's super easy to find on YouTube. It really sucks, although not as much as that 1994 version of The Fantastic Four that still hasn't been officially released nearly thirty years later. There would also be attempts throughout the decade to make movies from the aforementioned Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer and Iron Man, from companies like New Line, 20th Century-Fox and Universal, but none of those would ever come to fruition in the 1980s. But the one that would stick? Of the more than 1,000 characters that had been featured in the pages of Marvel Comics over the course of forty years? The one that would become the star of the first ever theatrically released motion picture based on a Marvel character? Howard the Duck. Howard the Duck was not your average Marvel superhero. Howard the Duck wasn't even a superhero. He was just some wise crackin', ill-tempered, anthropomorphic water fowl that was abducted away from his home on Duckworld and forced against his will to live with humans on Earth. Or, more specifically, first with the dirty humans of the Florida Everglades, and then Cleveland, and finally New York City. Howard the Duck was metafiction and existentialist when neither of these things were in the zeitgeist. He smoked cigars, wore a suit and tie, and enjoy drinking a variety of libations and getting it on with the women, mostly his sometimes girlfriend Beverly. The perfect character to be the subject of the very first Marvel movie. A PG-rated movie. Enter George Lucas. In 1973, George Lucas had hit it big with his second film as a director, American Graffiti. Lucas had written the screenplay, based in part on his life as an eighteen year old car enthusiast about to graduate high school, with the help of a friend from his days at USC Film School, Willard Huyck, and Huyck's wife, Gloria Katz. Lucas wanted to show his appreciation for their help by producing a movie for them. Although there are variations to the story of how this came about, most sources say it was Huyck who would tell Lucas about this new comic book character, Howard the Duck, who piqued his classmate's interest by describing the comic as having elements of film noir and absurdism. Because Universal dragged their feet on American Graffiti, not promoting it as well as they could have upon its initial release and only embracing the film when the public embraced its retro soundtrack, Lucas was not too keen on working with Universal again on his next project, a sci-fi movie he was calling The Journal of the Whills. And while they saw some potential in what they considered to be some minor kiddie movie, they didn't think Lucas could pull it off the way he was describing it for the budget he was asking for. “What else you got, kid?” they'd ask. Lucas had Huyck and Katz, and an idea for a live-action comic book movie about a talking duck. Surprisingly, Universal did not slam the door shut in Lucas's face. They actually went for the idea, and worked with Lucas, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics and Howard's creator, Steve Gerber, to put a deal together to make it happen. Almost right away, Gerber and the screenwriters, Huyck and Katz, would butt heads on practically every aspect of the movie's storyline. Katz just thought it was some funny story about a duck from outer space and his wacky adventures on Earth, Gerber was adamant that Howard the Duck was an existential joke, that the difference between life's most serious moments and its most incredibly dumb moments were only distinguishable by a moment's point of view. Huyck wanted to make a big special effects movie, while Katz thought it would be fun to set the story in Hawaii so she and her husband could have some fun while shooting there. The writers would spend years on their script, removing most everything that made the Howard the Duck comic book so enjoyable to its readers. Howard and his story would be played completely straight in the movie, leaning on subtle gags not unlike a Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker movie, instead of embracing the surreal ridiculousness of the comics. They would write humongous effects-heavy set pieces, knowing they would have access to their producer's in-house special effects team, Industrial Light and Magic, instead of the comics' more cerebral endings. And they'd tone down the more risqué aspects of Howard's personality, figuring a more family-friendly movie would bring in more money at the box office. It would take nearly twelve years for all the pieces to fall into place for Howard the Duck to begin filming. But in the spring of 1985, Universal finally gave the green light for Lucas and his tea to finally make the first live-action feature film based on a Marvel Comics character. For Beverly, the filmmakers claimed to have looked at every young actress in Hollywood before deciding on twenty-four year old Lea Thompson, who after years of supporting roles in movies like Jaws 3-D, All the Right Moves and Red Dawn, had found success playing Michael J. Fox's mother in Back to the Future. Twenty-six year old Tim Robbins had only made two movies up to this point, at one of the frat boys in Fraternity Vacation and as one of the fighter pilots in Top Gun, and this was his first chance to play a leading role in a major motion picture. And Jeffrey Jones would be cast as the bad guy, the Dark Overlord, based upon his work in the 1984 Best Picture winner Amadeus, although he would be coming to the set of Howard the Duck straight off of working on a John Hughes movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Howard the Duck would begin shooting on the Universal Studios lot of November 11th, 1985, and on the very first day of production, the duck puppet being used to film would have a major mechanical failure, not unlike the mechanical failure of the shark in Jaws that would force Steven Spielberg to become more creative with how he shot that character. George Lucas, who would be a hands-on producer, would suggest that maybe they could shoot other scenes not involving the duck, while his crew at ILM created a fully functional, life-sized animatronic duck costume for a little actor to wear on set. At first, the lead actor in the duck suit was a twelve-year old boy, but within days of his start on the film, he would develop a severe case of claustrophobia inside the costume. Ed Gale, originally hired to be the stuntman in the duck costume, would quickly take over the role. Since Gale could work longer hours than the child, due to the very restrictive laws surrounding child actors on movie and television sets, this would help keep the movie on a good production schedule, and make shooting the questionable love scenes between Howard and Beverly easier for Ms. Thompson, who was creeped out at the thought of seducing a pre-teen for a scene. To keep the shoot on schedule, not only would the filmmakers employ a second shooting unit to shoot the scenes not involving the main actors, which is standard operating procedure on most movies, Lucas would supervise a third shooting unit that would shoot Robbins and Gale in one of the film's more climactic moments, when Howard and Phil are trying to escape being captured by the authorities by flying off on an ultralight plane. Most of this sequence would be shot in the town of Petaluma, California, on the same streets where Lucas had shot American Graffiti's iconic cruising scenes thirteen years earlier. After a month-long shoot of the film's climax at a naval station in San Francisco, the film would end production on March 26th, 1986, leaving the $36m film barely four months to be put together in order to make its already set in stone August 1st, 1986, release date. Being used to quick turnaround times, the effects teams working on the film would get all their shots completed with time to spare, not only because they were good at their jobs but they had the ability to start work before the film went into production. For the end sequence, when Jones' character had fully transformed into the Dark Overlord, master stop motion animator Phil Tippett, who had left ILM in 1984 to start his own effects studio specializing in that style of animation, had nearly a year to put together what would ultimately be less than two minutes of actual screen time. As Beverly was a musician, Lucas would hire English musician and composer Thomas Dolby, whose 1982 single She Blinded Me With Science became a global smash hit, to write the songs for Cherry Bomb, the all-girl rock group lead by Lea Thompson's Beverly. Playing KC, the keyboardist for Cherry Bomb, Holly Robinson would book her first major acting role. For the music, Dolby would collaborate with Allee Willis, the co-writer of Earth Wind and Fire's September and Boogie Wonderland, and funk legend George Clinton. But despite this powerhouse musical trio, the songs for the band were not very good, and, with all due respect to Lea Thompson, not very well sung. By August 1986, Universal Studios needed a hit. Despite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture in March with Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa, the first six films they released for the year were all disappointments at the box office and/or with the critics. The Best of Times, a comedy featuring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as two friends who try to recreate a high school football game which changed the direction of both their lives. Despite a script written by Ron Shelton, who would be nominated for an Oscar for his next screenplay, Bull Durham, and Robin Williams, the $12m film would gross less than $8m. The Money Pit, a comedy with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, would end up grossing $37m against a $10m budget, but the movie was so bad, its first appearance on DVD wouldn't come until 2011, and only as part of a Tom Hanks Comedy Favorites Collection along with The ‘Burbs and Dragnet. Legend, a dark fantasy film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, was supposed to be one of the biggest hits… of 1985. But Scott and the studio would fight over the film, with the director wanting them to release a two hour and five minute long version with a classical movie score by Jerry Goldsmith, while the studio eventually cut the film down an hour and twenty-nine minutes with a techno score by Tangerine Dream. Despite an amazing makeup job transforming Tim Curry into the Lord of Darkness as well as sumptuous costumes and cinematography, the $24.5m film would just miss recouping its production budget back in ticket sales. Tom Cruise would become a superstar not three weeks later, when Paramount Pictures released Top Gun, directed by Ridley's little brother Tony Scott. Sweet Liberty should have been a solid performer for the studio. Alan Alda, in his first movie since the end of MASH three years earlier, would write, direct and star in this comedy about a college history professor who must watch in disbelief as a Hollywood production comes to his small town to film the movie version of one of the books. The movie, which also starred Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Michelle Pfieffer and screen legend Lillian Gish, would get lost in the shuffle of other comedies that were already playing in theatres like Ferris Bueller and Short Circuit. Legal Eagles was the movie to beat for the summer of 1986… at least on paper. Ivan Reitman's follow-up film to Ghostbusters would feature a cast that included Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah, along with Brian Denny, Terence Stamp, and Brian Doyle-Murray, and was perhaps too much movie, being a legal romantic comedy mystery crime thriller. Phew. If I were to do an episode about agency packaging in the 1980s, the process when a talent agency like Creative Artists Agency, or CAA, put two or more of their clients together in a project not because it might be best for the movie but best for the agency that will collect a 10% commission from each client attached to the project, Legal Eagles would be the example of packaging gone too far. Ivan Reitman was a client of CAA. As were Redford, and Winger, and Hannah. As was Bill Murray, who was originally cast in the Redford role. As were Jim Cash and Jack Epps, the screenwriters for the film. As was Tom Mankewicz, the co-writer of Superman and three Bond films, who was brought in to rewrite the script when Murray left and Redford came in. As was Frank Price, the chairman of Universal Pictures when the project was put together. All told, CAA would book more than $1.5m in commissions for themselves from all their clients working on the film. And it sucked. Despite the fact that it had almost no special effects, Legal Eagles would cost $40m to produce, one of the most expensive movies ever made to that point, nearly one and a half times the cost of Ghostbusters. The film would gross nearly $50m in the US, which would make it only the 14th highest grossing film of the year. Less than Stand By Me. Less than The Color of Money. Less than Down and Out in Beverly Hills. And then there was Psycho III, the Anthony Perkins-directed slasher film that brought good old Norman Bates out of mothballs once again. An almost direct follow-up to Psycho II from 1983, the film neither embraced by horror film fans or critics, the film would only open in eighth place, despite the fact there hadn't been a horror movie in theatres for months, and its $14m gross would kill off any chance for a Psycho IV in theatres. In late June, Universal would hold a series of test screenings for Howard the Duck. Depending on who you talk to, the test screenings either went really well, or went so bad that one of the writers would tear up negative response cards before they could be given to the score compilers, to goose the numbers up, pun only somewhat intended. I tend to believe the latter story, as it was fairly well reported at the time that the test screenings went so bad, Sid Sheinberg, the CEO of Universal, and Frank Price, the President of the studio, got into a fist fight in the lobby of one of the theatres running one of the test screenings, over who was to blame for this impending debacle. And a debacle it was. But just how bad? So bad, copywriters from across the nation reveled in giddy glee over the chances to have a headline that read “‘Howard the Duck' Lays an Egg!” And it did. Well, sort of. When it opened in 1554 theatres on August 1st, the film would gross $5.07m, the second best opener of the weekend, behind the sixth Friday the 13th entry, and above other new movies like the Tom Hanks/Jackie Gleason dramedy Nothing in Common and the cult film in the making Flight of the Navigator. And $5m in 1986 was a fairly decent if unspectacular opening weekend gross. The Fly was considered a massive success when it opened to $7m just two weeks later. Short Circuit, which had opened to $5.3m in May, was also lauded as being a hit right out of the gate. And the reviews were pretty lousy. Gene Siskel gave the film only one star, calling it a stupid film with an unlikeable lead in the duck and special effects that were less impressive than a sparkler shoved into a birthday cake. Both Siskel and Ebert would give it the dreaded two thumbs down on their show. Leonard Maltin called the film hopeless. Today, the film only has a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 81 reviews. But despite the shellacking the film took, it wouldn't be all bad for several of the people involved in the making of the film. Lea Thompson was so worried her career might be over after the opening weekend of the film, she accepted a role in the John Hughes movie Some Kind of Wonderful that she had turned down multiple times before. As I stated in our March 2021 episode about that movie, it's my favorite of all John Hughes movies, and it would lead to a happy ending for Thompson as well. Although the film was not a massive success, Thompson and the film's director, Howard Deutch, would fall in love during the making of the film. They would marry in 1989, have two daughters together, and as of the writing of this episode, they are still happily married. For Tim Robbins, it showed filmmakers that he could handle a leading role in a movie. Within two years, he would be starring alongside Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham, and he career would soar for the next three decades. And for Ed Gale, his being able to act while in a full-body duck suit would lead him to be cast to play Chucky in the first two Child's Play movies as well as Bride of Chucky. Years later, Entertainment Weekly would name Howard the Duck as the biggest pop culture failure of all time, ahead of such turkeys as NBC's wonderfully ridiculous 1979 show Supertrain, the infamous 1980 Western Heaven's Gate, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman's Ishtar, and the truly wretched 1978 Bee Gees movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. But Howard the Duck, the character, not the movie, would enjoy a renaissance in 2014, when James Gunn included a CG-animated version of the character in the post-credit sequence for Guardians of the Galaxy. The character would show up again in the Disney animated Guardians television series, and in the 2021 Disney+ anthology series Marvel's What If… There technically would be one other 1980s movie based on a Marvel character, Mark Goldblatt's version of The Punisher, featuring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle. Shot in Australia in 1988, the film was supposed to be released by New World Pictures in August of 1989. The company even sent out trailers to theatres that summer to help build awareness for the film, but New World's continued financial issues would put the film on hold until April 1991, when it was released directly to video by Live Entertainment. It wouldn't be until the 1998 release of Blade, featuring Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire, that movies based on Marvel Comics characters would finally be accepted by movie-going audiences. That would soon be followed by Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000, and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002, the success of both prompting Marvel to start putting together the team that would eventually give birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe we all know and love today. Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again soon, when Episode 102, the first of two episodes about the 1980s distribution company Vestron Pictures, is released. Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about Howard the Duck, and the other movies, both existing and non-existent, we covered this episode. The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment. Thank you again. Good night.
HAPPY NEW YEAR Y'ALL! We're still taking some time off to make sure we come back correct for the new year but we're almost there! Until then here is another re-release! Marvel's (Timely Comics if you really want to be correct) first event! In the first Crossover Event by Marvel Comics, we see Namor go head to head with the Human Torch. Join us as we give you a rundown of the lead-up and the event itself! Craziness and destruction are the 2 words of the week to describe this episode. Below is a list of the comics leading up to this event and the comics from the event itself. The lead-up to the event: Marvel Mystery Comics #1-7 Main Event: Marvel Mystery Comics #8-10 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/web-heads/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/web-heads/support
It all began here in 1939, the issue that launched the company that would become Marvel Comics. In this issue we meet the first two stars of Timely Comics, the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner! It's a run through of the issue as Classic Comics looks at this historic issue from the Golden Age of Comics. You can follow the show @ComicsLloyd on Twitter or send an email to ClassicComicsMBL@gmail.com. You can find me on Twitter @MattB_Lloyd and at www.dccomicsnews.com where I write reviews and edit news stories. You can also check out my chapter in “Politics in Gotham: The Batman Universe and Political Thought.” https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Gotham-Universe-Political-Thought/dp/3030057755 And: “Black Panther and Philosophy: What Can Wakanda Offer the World?” https://www.amazon.com/Black-Panther-Philosophy-Blackwell-Culture/dp/1119635845/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2F69N3WJBZMF3&keywords=what+can+wakanda&qid=1642053514&sprefix=what+can+wakanda%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-1 Links Marvel Comics #1 https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/10008/marvel_comics_1939_1 Marvel Comics #1000 https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/75125/marvel_comics_2019_1000 Timely Comics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timely_Comics Funnies, Inc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funnies_Inc. Martin Goodman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Goodman_(publisher) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/comics-in-motion-podcast/message
Hot on the heels of his big screen debut, Tommy & Mike D. discuss the Marvel Comics debut of Bill Everett's 1940s Timely Comics' hero NAMOR! We explore the Sub-Mariner's first encounter with the Fantastic Four in issue 4 of the World's Greatest Comic Magazine from February 1962! For links to listen AND our social media pages, visit: www.flow.page/jackedkirby And if you're listening on Apple, please rate and review the show! And if you like the show, please spread the word! Tag a friend, share a link, & share the flyer!
With Namor appearing in the movies soon for the first time in Black Panther, we go waaaaay back in the past to 1939 to read the first appearance of the Sub-Mariner in Marvel Comics #1, published back when they were called Timely Comics. Then we read the Namor stories from Marvel Mystery Comics #7-10 to see him attack New York and fight the Human Torch and basically be the biggest a-hole of all time. It's very entertaining! Then we finish our tour through the life of Earth-2's Batman with Brave and the Bold #197, in which Batman recalls the way he and Catwoman fell in love. Next Time: We go back to the Age of Apocalypse with X-Calibre We start our next long-read, Batman: Knightfall, with Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1
As we approach the release of Black Panther 2, we are joined by Matt B Lloyd to cover Namor the Submariner for dummies! First appearing as a character for Timely Comics (the precursor to Marvel) in 1939, Namor is arguably the longest-running Marvel Superhero. Created by Bill Everett, Matt takes us through some of his crucial moments to bring everyone up to speed. We explore his origins, superpowers, team-ups, and motivations. We also look forward to explore what we might be able to expect from Namors appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the changes they seem to have made. Find more from Matt on his Twitter: https://twitter.com/MattB_Lloyd His podcast shows "Classic Comics with Matt B Lloyd" and "Earth-Two in the Bronze Age" are available on the Comics In Motion podcast feed https://anchor.fm/comics-in-motion-podcast/ He is also a contributor to two books "Politics in Gotham: The Batman Universe and Political Thought" and "Black Panther and Philosophy: What Can Wakanda Offer the World?" both available now from amazon. Find more from the show, including how you can send in suggestions and questions, at: https://superdummy.co.uk/geekguide --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/comics-in-motion-podcast/message
All Winners 007 - All Winners This episode is a winner for sure. We're discussing the epic team-up of all of Timely Comics' most beloved heroes in ‘All-Winners Comics #1'. But that's not all! We're also looking at the origin of Toro, Human Torch's young fiery ally. And after that, we're talking more comics. This episode is a bit of a grab-bag look at what else was going on in Timely Comics in 1941. In this episode we look at: All-Winners Comics #1 Human Torch Comics #2 & More We'd love to know your thoughts on this event over in the MET Facebook Group: Baxter Building Breakroom. As mentioned in this episode: cokeandcomics.com Follow MET on Instagram and Twitter @MarvelEventsPod Music by Scott Tofte and Voiceover by Johnie Powers Check out the hosts other shows! Travis - Reel Comic Heroes and Bryon - Marine Corps Movie Minute Find out more at https://marvel-events-timeline.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.
006 - The Red Skull Every great hero needs a great villain. With the creation of Captain America came The Red Skull! But this gruesome monster may not always be quite the same arch-foe the star spangled avenger tussles with today. Listen to us talk about the creation of the Red Skull and a few of his first stories in Timely Comics. In this episode we look at: Captain America Comics #1 - Case 4 Captain America Comics #3 - Case 1 Captain America Comics #7 - Case 1 We'd love to know your thoughts on this event over in the MET Facebook Group: Baxter Building Breakroom. As mentioned in this episode: cokeandcomics.com Follow MET on Instagram and Twitter @MarvelEventsPod Music by Scott Tofte and Voiceover by Johnie Powers Check out the hosts other shows! Travis - Reel Comic Heroes and Bryon - Marine Corps Movie Minute Find out more at https://marvel-events-timeline.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.
005 - Captain America - The Sentinel of Our Shores In this episode we continue our discussion of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon and the events that led them to join forces and create the character of Captain America. We crack open Captain America Comics #1 and pour over the origin story of “98lb weakling” Steve Rogers. We wrap up the episode with a reading of a prose story contained in the issue. We recruited Tom Taylor from Indiana Jones Minute to tackle the narration. We hope you enjoy. We'd love to know your thoughts on this event over in the MET Facebook Group: Baxter Building Breakroom. Timestamps: 00:00 - 35:10 - Simon and Kirby 35:10 - 1:30:30 - Captain America Comics #1 1:30:30 - 1:36:45 - Captain America and the Soldier's Soup - Read by Tom Taylor with additional vocals by Dave Pallas. 1:36:45 - End - Wrap Up Stay tuned for our next episode in which we discuss Timely Comics' first recurring villain - The Red Skull! Follow MET on Instagram and Twitter @MarvelEventsPod Music by Scott Tofte and Voiceover by Johnie Powers Check out the hosts other shows! Travis - Reel Comic Heroes and Bryon - Marine Corps Movie Minute Find out more at https://marvel-events-timeline.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.
Ulie and panelists Roberto Ortiz, Drew Bittner and Julian Lytle discuss the publication of Timely Comics' Marvel Comics #1 with the first appearances of Namor, the Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch that began Marvel's Golden Age. Featuring the official, spoiler-free FF review of, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings."
001 - The Original Two We're back and we're taking a look at Marvel Comics #1 from 1939 by Timely Comics. Specifically, we're taking a close look at the introduction of The Human Torch by Carl Burgos and Namor the Submariner by Bill Everett. If you want in on the conversation join our Facebook group: Baxter Building Breakroom. Next Time! Fire & Water - More about The Human Torch and Namor the Sub-Mariner in Marvel Mystery Comics 2-7 We're on Twitter and Instagram @MarvelEventsPod Music by Scott Tofte Intro/Outro voiceover by Johnie Powers Check out the hosts other shows! Travis - Reel Comic Heroes Bryon - Marine Corps Movie Minute Find out more at https://marvel-events-timeline.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.
Greetings Citizens! Travis here, interrupting your podcast feed to share the pilot episode of my new podcast: Marvel Events Timeline. You can subscribe to MET with this link, or search 'Marvel Events Timeline' in most podcast apps. Marvel Events Timeline: Episode 000 - Secret Origins Welcome to Marvel Events Timeline. Travis and Bryon are thrilled to be your guides through the Timely, Atlas and Marvel Comics universe. This is our pilot episode, and it's an introduction to who we are as podcasters and comic book readers. We hope you enjoy this episode and come back for more! If you want in on the conversation join our Facebook group: Baxter Building Breakroom. Next Time! The Original Two - The Human Torch and Namor the Sub-Mariner We're on Twitter and Instagram @MarvelEventsPod Music by Scott Tofte Intro/Outro voiceover by Johnie Powers Check out the hosts other shows! Travis - Reel Comic Heroes Bryon - Marine Corps Movie Minute
Tales from the Flipside: Comics, Collectibles and Pop Culture
Deno and James talk with the @knights_of_old about Timely comics on the new show Old School Comics. Follow knights_of_old on youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrLp... Follow us on IG @dscomicspch @talesfromtheflipsideCEO Tales From The Flipside is your source for quality content within the Pop Culture community. We talk comics, cards, toys, movies, and more. Just about everything is collectible these days and we love to talk about them. We have a large line-up of shows that cover topics such as Comic Speculation, Comic Collecting, Star Wars Theory Crafting, Women in Comics, Lists and much more! Please Like and subscribe and click here to follow us all! https://linktr.ee/talesfromtheflipside https://tales-from-the-flipside.creat... #OldSchoolComics #TalesfromtheFlipside #ComicBookShow #ComicBookPodcast #comicbookcollecting #comics #comicbooks #Flipside #honestyincomics #Vintagecomics #goldenagecomics #cgc #comicbook #marketplace
Neste episódio, Fabiano “Prof. Nerd” Silveira, Daniel HDR, Rogério DeSouza e Rafael “Algures” Rodrigues (MDM & Uarevaaa) comentam sobre os 90 anos safados que o mítico STAN “THE MAN” LEE completa neste mês de Dezembro! Um retrospecto de seu histórico profissional, como jovem editor na Timely Comics, seus tempos de roteirista na Atlas Comics, passando a elaborar o que todos conheceriam como Marvel Comics. Porém, a Marvel não surgira sozinha: este episódio mais do que nunca procura não esquecer quem ajudou à construir o Universo Marvel: conheça mais sobre as parcerias de Stan Lee com JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, JOHN BUSCEMA, JOHN ROMITA Sr., DON HECK e tantos outros que foram co-criadores dos celebrados personagens que os leigos teimam em creditar somente à Mr. Lieber.
Marvel’s predecessor Timely Comics was founded in 1939, the same year World War II began. From the earliest days, our creators were thinking about battles overseas and close to home. With artists, writers, and editors experiencing the war, sometimes on the frontlines, the pages flooded with patriotism, heroes, and horrors. With World War II and the Vietnam War as benchmarks, Lorraine and Evan look at how Marvel has responded to military conflict on its pages. Along the way, they explore the relationship between art and propaganda, and how a good idea can be used for both good and evil. Archival clip of the 1939 Nazi rally courtesy New York Public Radio.Archival clip of “This Is Our Enemy” courtesy Municipal Archives, City of New York. Paul S. Hirsch’s upcoming book, Pulp Empire: The Secret History of Comic Book Imperialism, will be available in February 2021 from the University of Chicago Press. The book is available for preorder on Amazon here, and more information is available via his website.
Eighty years ago a man named Martin Goodman founded Timely Comics, and the world would never be the same. We discuss the history of Marvel, starting with its founding in 1939 as Timely Comics. We discuss the name changes to Atlas and eventually Marvel. We talk about the major characters of the golden, silver, and … The 42cast Episode 104: Make Mine Marvel Read More » The post The 42cast Episode 104: Make Mine Marvel appeared first on The ESO Network.
Eighty years ago a man named Martin Goodman founded Timely Comics, and the world would never be the same. We discuss the history of Marvel, starting with its founding in 1939 as Timely Comics. We discuss the name changes to Atlas and eventually Marvel. We talk about the major characters of the golden, silver, and... The post The 42cast Episode 104: Make Mine Marvel appeared first on The 42cast.
by Molly Jane Kremer and Jarrod Jones. This is CASUAL WEDNESDAYS, the official podcast of DoomRocket.com and your one-stop shop for comics and comics-adjacent chatter. This week, instead of doing some dopey Valentine’s Day episode, MJ & Jones are cracking an unsung and short-lived superhero title from Marvel that is more relevant today than it was when it was published just […] The post ‘Nighthawk’: Serious, Timely Comics — CASUAL WEDNESDAYS appeared first on DoomRocket.
Stan Lee was born Stanley Martin Lieberman on December 28th, 1922 in New York City, New York. His father, Jack Lieber, originally named Hyman, trained as a tailor and dress cutter. Celia Lieber, his mother, was a housewife. Both of Stan’s parents were Romanian and part of the 2.7 million Jews who fled to America from Europe between 1876 and 1924. Stan’s father Jack lost his job as a tailor during the Great Depression and he used the family savings to open up a diner that ultimately failed. In 1939, a family friend get him a job at Timely Comics, which later would become Marvel Comics. The company's main bread and butter were in the publication of pulp fiction and adult magazines but when these fell out of popularity the company switched to comic books. In October of 1939 Timely Comics was always trailing National Comics which would later become DC. They had their Superman and Aquaman so Timely came up with the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner introduced in the first issue of Marvel Mystery Comics. Their next big star was Captain America making his debut in March of 1941. Stan got his first chance to write for the company in Captain America’s third issue. The boss liked what he read and Stan was then given the opportunity to write a script for the comic a few issues later. Find out more in this video...
Now on to the Marvel side with the first appearance of Captain America in Captain America Comics #1. We see the first Avenger get his abilities, fight Nazi's, and go up against the first Red Skull! Do you have a story arc you'd like us to cover? Send us your ideas. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirt at https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover dated March 1941) from Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics. Captain America was designed as a patriotic supersoldier who often fought the Axis powers of World War II and was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. The popularity of superheroes waned following the war, and the Captain America comic book was discontinued in 1950, with a short-lived revival in 1953. Since Marvel Comics revived the character in 1964, Captain America has remained in publication.
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover dated March 1941) from Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics. Captain America was designed as a patriotic supersoldier who often fought the Axis powers of World War II and was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. The popularity of superheroes waned following the war, and the Captain America comic book was discontinued in 1950, with a short-lived revival in 1953. Since Marvel Comics revived the character in 1964, Captain America has remained in publication.
Bonus Phase. Episode 1. Pat and Mike take a break from the MCU to bring you the first of many bonus episodes. First up: The History of Marvel Comics. They go back in time when Martin Goodman launched Timely Comics, as they dive into the history of Marvel Comics. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby weren't too far behind as they came to Timely Comics and created Captain America. We'll also learn about a little unknown member of Marvel Comics...Stan Lee. They go through the beginning of it all in the late 1930s/early 1940s to the 1950s when Timely Comics were temporarily cancelled and ultimately the 1960s when Marvel officially is born. But don't despair...this isn't a deep dive. That would probably take four hours and let's be honest, no one wants to hear Pat and Mike talking for four hours. Find us on https://yet-another-mcu-podcast.captivate.fm/ (Captivate). Find us on https://www.instagram.com/yetanothermcupodcast/ (Instagram)! Find us on https://twitter.com/McuYet (Twitter)! Just find us!
Geekorama is Produced by Superhero-Fiction.comhttps://www.superhero-fiction.com For this week’s episode of Geekorama, we’re talking about the man himself: Jeremy Flagg! Pop-Culture Trivia - Dorothy Woolfolk-First Female Comic WriterShe served from 1942 to 1944 as an editor at All-American Publications, one of the three companies that would merge to form the present-day DC, then spent the next two years at Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor to Marvel Comics, and in 1948 was an editor at EC Comics. She died at Mary Immaculate Hospital in that city on November 27, 2000. Woolfolk won the 2018 Bill Finger Award from San Diego Comic-Con International.GEEK OUTSTrish - Bill & Ted Face the Music. This movie is sweet, fun and just all around what we need in a year like this. I’m a big Bill and Ted fan and was afraid this movie would blow. But I was so very pleasantly surprised! Check it out on Amazon for a ninety-minute escape from reality.Jeremy - Okay, we’re going to get into some weird level geek. I’m a tech nerd and early adopter of new gadgets. Being a teacher, I’m preparing to teach remotely and I’ve been spending all my time learning new gadgets and gizmos to help students be successful. It’s not comics and superheroes, but I have to say, I squeal a bit when I find a new piece of software (even more when it does what it’s supposed to!) Deep Dive - All about JeremyThis week Trish interviews Jeremy about all things zombies and superheroes. We talk about how he got into writing, what has worked and hasn’t worked, and why his superheroes are a little different from other superhero novels. QotW: Ask him ANYTHING!Visit Superhero-Fiction to Discover Uncanny Superhero Stories Subscribe to Geekorama to Stay Up-to-Date on All Things SuperheroiTunes | Spotify | Podbean | Youtube Follow Superhero-Fiction on Social MediaSuperhero-Fiction Facebook Page | Superhero-Fiction Facebook Group Trish Heinrich – Facebook | InstagramJeremy Flagg - Facebook | Instagram
In the 1990s, Megan Margulies’s Upper West Side neighborhood was marked by addicts shooting up in subway stations, frequent burglaries, and the “Wild Man of 96th Street,” who set fires under cars and heaved rocks through stained glass church windows. The world inside her parents’ tiny one-bedroom apartment was hardly a respite, with a family of five—including some loud personalities—eventually occupying the 550-square-foot space.Salvation arrived in the form of her spirited grandfather, Daddy Joe, whose midtown studio became a second home to Megan. There, he listened to her woes, fed her Hungry Man frozen dinners, and simply let her be. His living room may have been dominated by the drawing table, notes, and doodles that marked him as Joe Simon the cartoonist. But for Megan, he was always Daddy Joe: an escape from her increasingly hectic home, a nonjudgmental voice whose sense of humor was as dry as his farfel, and a steady presence in a world that felt off balance.Evoking New York City both in the 1980s and ’90s and during the Golden Age of comics in the 1930s and ’40s, My Captain America flashes back from Megan’s story to chart the life and career of Rochester-native Joe Simon, from his early days retouching publicity photos and doing spot art for magazines, to his partnership with Jack Kirby at Timely Comics (the forerunner of Marvel Comics), which resulted in the creation of beloved characters like Captain America, the Boy Commandos, and Fighting American. Margulies is in conversation with Eva Hagberg, author of How to Be Loved. _______________________________________________ Produced by Maddie Gobbo & Michael Kowaleski Theme: "I Love All My Friends," a new, unreleased demo by Fragile Gang. Visit https://www.skylightbooks.com/event for future offerings from the Skylight Books Events team
For this week’s episode of Geekorama, we’re discussing the role that propaganda has played in the history of superheroes.Pop-Culture Trivia- Batwoman: Kathy KaneJuly 1956 Batwoman aka Kathy Kane made her debut. Here’s a little trivia about this interesting addition to the Bat-family: There are really two different women who have worn the moniker of Batwoman, the first was Kathy Kane who was introduced as a potential love interest for Batman to help combat accusations that Batman was gay propaganda. In spite of the fact that she became quite popular with readers, in 1964 the character was shelved and Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl took over as the female counterpart to Batman. In 1977, thanks to pressure from fans, Batwoman was brought back to assist Batgirl with defeating Killer Moth and Cavalier. Soon after she was killed off by the Bronze Tiger. Finally, in 2011 she was returned to the original continuity of the comics, revealed to be Bruce’s aunt who fought crime by his side after she was widowed and that they had become lovers before it appeared she was killed offGEEK OUTSTrish - A Blade so Black by L.L. McKinney. It’s like Buffy and Alice in Wonderland had a baby. SO good, world-building that is vibrant but not overdone in exposition. A female protagonist that is three dimensional and avoids the ‘strong female character’ tropes. LOVED IT, going to buy the sequel.Jeremy - I’ve been binging the latest season of the 100 on the CW. It marries some of my favorite things: regressed society with advanced technologies, tribalism, and a whole lot of bad decision making. It’s been a great show and really delved into the brutal nature of survival, however, the newest season is struggling. Really, you’re trying to work in a Back to the Future plot?Deep Dive -Superheroes in the Propaganda MachineIn recent years we’ve heard the ongoing criticism, “Keep politics out of comic books,” and the people shouting that, you’re incredibly stupid and seem to forget that the very nature of comics is rooted in political propaganda. However, let’s start this dive into history with an English lesson:Propagandanoun : the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person WWII (The Obvious Starting Point for Many of our Modern Heroes)Superman - Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (both Jewish) met at Glenville High School in Cleveland Ohio and in March 1938, Captain America - Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (both Jewish) through Timely Comics. While Simon created the identity of “Super American,” later changed to “Captain America”, Utilized in other forms of PropagandaWonder Woman - The engine of American ideology drives Wonder Woman, which is in the end a movie about violence...And so the surreality at the heart of American identity gets recycled, producing comic book movies to feed our least noble hungers. https://newrepublic.com/article/143100/wonder-woman-propagandaWonder Woman & Superman - In Deadly Legacy, DC joins forces with UNICEF to create a story line that specifically addresses “landmine awareness” for children. She along with Superman step outside their patriotic roots to delve into a much different message than national pride.Green Arrow & Green Lantern (Drug Addiction) - Written by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams, the story line focuses on the duo combatting muggers who are robbing to score money for drugs. Amongst them, Green Arrow’s sidekick and now heroin addict, Speedy. HIV/AIDS AwarenessSuperman / Wonder Woman - The French organization AIDES created two images depicting Superman and Wonder Woman with AIDS and the caption of, “Protect Yourself.” X-Men - 1993 during X-Cutioner’s Song, Stryfe unleashes a virus that infects mutants at random. This runs parallel to the mounting worry surrounding HIV and comes to a culmination when it kills Illyana Rasputin on the page in Uncanny X-Men 303. QotW: What superhero do you love who also has a problematic origin story? Visit Superhero-Fiction to Discover Uncanny Superhero StoriesSubscribe to Geekorama to Stay Up-to-Date on All Things SuperheroiTunes | Spotify | Podbean | YoutubeFollow Superhero-Fiction on Social MediaSuperhero-Fiction Facebook Page | Superhero-Fiction Facebook GroupTrish Heinrich – Facebook | InstagramJeremy Flagg - Facebook | Instagram
Jack "King" Kirby and Joe Simon left Timely Comics after this blazing trio of adventures starring Cap and Bucky. They made every panel count!
Today, the Hangin With Web Show Radio Hour is remembering Allen Bellman, a true Marvel comics SuperHero legend, who helped bring Captain America into all the hearts of America! Come help us honor the memory of Allen as we talk with Comic Legend Athena Finger and Rusty Gilligan and share our own memories of conlife that we had with Allen.... Who are YOU Hangin With?Find our panelists on the web: Rusty Gilligan On The Web:Web: https://www.rusty.threadless.comFaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Mac-and-Trouble-172873849398956/Athena Finger On The Web:Twitter: https://twitter.com/AthenaFingerFaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/AthenaandBillFinger/Hangin With Web Show On The Web:Web: https://www.hanginwithshow.com FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/hanginwithwebshowYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_C2z2k60d6lOj8DFMWDGEA **Find Hangin With Web Show T-shirts, Coffee Mugs and more at https://www.cafepress.com/hanginwithwebshow*** Tonight’s Hangin With Web Show Radio Hour is brought to you by:Jeremy Mosby’s ICoinAmazon: https://amzn.to/2u5g5d7Joanne Fisher's Devil of St. Gabriel:Amazon: https://amzn.to/32LI7LdWilliam G Collins' Star Fall:Amazon: https://amzn.to/32Kx2KwMichael J Allen's Scion of Conquered EarthAmazon: https://amzn.to/2XPruzeGary Zeiger's Stingray: You Can't Hide ForeverAmazon: https://amzn.to/2TyaDLSEric Kapitan's A Love Not Deceased:Amazon: https://amzn.to/2UpB3BZEmbellish FX/Cosplay Michael:Web: https://www.embellishFX.comFaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/CosplayMichael Paul D Smith's Jason & The Draconauts:Amazon: https://amzn.to/39k4tWBMackenzie Flohr’s Rite of Wands:LINK : https://amzn.to/2SNzydkAce Wellness:Web: https://acewellness.co/FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Ace-Wellness-LTD-100902984712477/
Today, the Hangin With Web Show Radio Hour is remembering Allen Bellman, a true Marvel comics SuperHero legend, who helped bring Captain America into all the hearts of America! Come help us honor the memory of Allen as we talk with Comic Legend Athena Finger and Rusty Gilligan and share our own memories of conlife that we had with Allen.... Who are YOU Hangin With?Find our panelists on the web: Rusty Gilligan On The Web:Web: https://www.rusty.threadless.comFaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Mac-and-Trouble-172873849398956/Athena Finger On The Web:Twitter: https://twitter.com/AthenaFingerFaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/AthenaandBillFinger/Hangin With Web Show On The Web:Web: https://www.hanginwithshow.com FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/hanginwithwebshowYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_C2z2k60d6lOj8DFMWDGEA **Find Hangin With Web Show T-shirts, Coffee Mugs and more at https://www.cafepress.com/hanginwithwebshow*** Tonight’s Hangin With Web Show Radio Hour is brought to you by:Jeremy Mosby’s ICoinAmazon: https://amzn.to/2u5g5d7Joanne Fisher's Devil of St. Gabriel:Amazon: https://amzn.to/32LI7LdWilliam G Collins' Star Fall:Amazon: https://amzn.to/32Kx2KwMichael J Allen's Scion of Conquered EarthAmazon: https://amzn.to/2XPruzeGary Zeiger's Stingray: You Can't Hide ForeverAmazon: https://amzn.to/2TyaDLSEric Kapitan's A Love Not Deceased:Amazon: https://amzn.to/2UpB3BZEmbellish FX/Cosplay Michael:Web: https://www.embellishFX.comFaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/CosplayMichael Paul D Smith's Jason & The Draconauts:Amazon: https://amzn.to/39k4tWBMackenzie Flohr’s Rite of Wands:LINK : https://amzn.to/2SNzydkAce Wellness:Web: https://acewellness.co/FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Ace-Wellness-LTD-100902984712477/
Today in Geek History: March 1st 1941 Captain America debuts in Timely ComicsThis Week in Geek: Chris Evans in talk to be in Little Shop of Horrors remake, Tom Holland confirms Back to the Future remake talks have happened, Parasite being adapted to a graphic novel, Mandalorian season 2 will have epic light saber fight, dog collar that makes your dog cuss when they bark, new Disney CEO has been announced, new Uncharted game possible.Revs and Recs: Men of Wrath graphic novel, we are watching The Office again
This week Billy and Herman take a look at THE INVADERS, featuring the Golden Age Marvel Heroes from the Timely Comics era, specifically INVADERS #31 (Aug. 1978). Basically, NAZIS DIE. So a good time is had by all. Except for the Nazis. They thought it sucked. We also ascribe a Bronze Age Alter Ego to Ryan Daly aka Count Drunkula, who left us a 5 star iTunes review. Thanks, Ryan. You rock! Feedback can be sent to sinkintotheweird@gmail.com. Check out our blog and podcast addendum post at www.sinkintotheweird.com/2020/03/04 or follow us on twitter @IntoWeird. Stay Weird, Weird Ones!
Travis, James and Kevin are talking about the top auction records of 2019 and what leads to these record breaking auctions. Learn more about some of the stunning record breakers in modern art and pop culture. ALSO: - Jeff Koons and his highest earning record set for a living artist - Claude Monet and his record breaking cumulative total - The Banana and The Duct Tape - Self-Shredding Banksy - Timely Comics #1 - Investing in Men's Wristwatches - Volatility of the Star Wars market - Pokemon Illustrator Card - Biscuits from The Titanic Hosted by Travis Landry, James Supp and Kevin Bruneau
Mike and Kane cover the Movies, TV and Comic Books. Join and Celebrate the Asylums 50th show and look back at the year. With this Double Feature Issue. Get to the Asylum!!! Heroesasylum.com Correction - Shazam was from Fawcett Comics not Timely Comics.
Mike and Kane cover the Movies, TV and Comic Books. Join and Celebrate the Asylums 50th show and look back at the year. With this Double Feature Issue. Get to the Asylum!!! Heroesasylum.com Correction - Shazam was from Fawcett Comics not Timely Comics.
Two companies stand at the forefront of comics book publishing. While this is common knowledge, a good majority of readers may not have experienced the seminal issues that laid so much of the groundwork for what would come in the 80+ years that were to follow. This time on The Cape Gauntlet we'll be going back to the late 1930's. We'll be taking a look at Action Comics #1 from National Allied Publications and Marvel Comics #1 from Timely Comics. While Action Comics debuted Superman, Marvel Comics debuted the concept of the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner; both of which would become staples in each company's future. Action Comics #1 The cover of Superman's first appearance in Action Comics #1. As we touched on in the last episode of The Cape Gauntlet, National Allied Publications released Action Comics #1 in 1938. It tells the story most of us know, about a baby being rocketed from his dying planet to Earth, where he is adopted, becomes Clark Kent and Superman, and saves the day. While the story is familiar to many of us, there are some differences that are the basis of what the character would become as more writers and artists got involved in fleshing him out. For instance, Superman's power set isn't as wide-ranging as more recent iterations. We see that he can leap 1/8 of a mile, hurdle 20-story buildings, "raise tremendous weights", outrun a train, and "that nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin". We also don't see any mention of kryptonite. We do, however, see the first appearance of Lois Lane, who would become the love interest for Clark Kent and Superman as more stories were published. One interesting fact is that Action Comics wasn't just about Superman, as most readers might think, given the current run, in which he is the main focus. No, in 1938, the book was an anthology and Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster was just the first story. While most of the other stories never grew to be much more than a strip in this series of comics, a closer look shows the roots of another character: Zatara, the father of current DC Comics magic-user Zatanna, who would become an ally of Batman, a hero we'll touch on in a future episode. Marvel Comics #1 Human Torch debuts on the cover of Timely Comics' Marvel Comics #1. Timely Publications released their first book, Marvel Comics #1 in 1939. In it, they debuted the Human Torch. He was created by Carl Burgos, but he wasn't the smart-Alec kid brother, Johnny Storm, when he made his first appearance. In fact, he wasn't human at all; he was a "synthetic man" built by Professor Horton, who is worried he's created a monster. Once a couple of press members see the android burst into flames after being exposed to oxygen, they demand the professor destroy it or face "the power of the press". After receiving a second opinion from the Scientists' Guild, Horton realizes he has no control over the Human Torch and decides to "entomb him in a concrete block". This is supposed to buy him more time so he can find a way to fix the Torch and not destroy his creation. As time passes, however, the concrete block explodes caused by an ever-so-slight leak that gave the Torch oxygen. As the Torch runs through the town, we see that he is much more human than the professor first let on, as he asks himself, "Why must everything I touch turn into flame?" Firefighters attempt to extinguish him, but to no avail. The Torch runs off to put himself out in a nearby pool which happens to belong to Sardo, a bad guy who decides to use the android's ability to commit insurance fraud. The Human Torch misunderstands Sardo's intentions and, after being set free, goes after the crook. During the fight, a canister of nitrogen extinguishes the flames and proves the android is invincible after he's shot in the head and the bullet melts upon contact. Sardo, as a last-ditch effort, tries to throw a vat of acid on the Torch, only to kill himself in the process as it reacts to t...
Ever wonder why Timely Comics became Marvel Comics? The answer may surprise you. Allen Bellman preaches tolerance and peace just like the comic he used to work on, Captain America. HELP US MAKE THIS PODCAST HERE! https://www.patreon.com/dreamercomicspodcast Sign Up for Emails HERE http://dreamercomicspodcast.com/ Youtube Highlights Channel https://www.youtube.com/dreamercomicshighlights Youtube Full Episodes https://www.youtube.com/c/DreamerComicsPodcast
Character Corner - A Podcast on Your favorite Comic Book Characters
The first Character Corner of 2019 is here! For this episode Kriss and Dpalm do something a little different and instead of focus on a particular character, they're breaking down the history of comic books starting with the Golden and Silver Ages. For this episode Kriss used two audible books for sources (both are also available on Kindle or Paperback: Superheroes! Capes, Cowls and the Creation of Comic Book Culture Marvel Comics: The Untold Story Using those two sources, Kriss and Dpalm go through what lead up to the first superhero comic of the Golden Age (Action Comics #1) through the evolution of Timely Comics to Marvel Comics and the world of Stan Lee. Pre-Golden Age Pulp magazines & Comic Strips Golden Age (1938 - 1950) Detective Comics Incorporated Jerry Siegel & Joe Schuster Action Comics/Superman Bob Kane & Bob Finger Batman Jerry Robinson and how Robin appealed to kids Wonder Woman Superman & the media (radio, movie serials, etc) Fawcett Comics & Captain Marvel The Superman/Captain Marvel lawsuit Timely Comics Martin Goodman Joe Simon & Jack Kirby Human Torch Namor Captain America Comic Code Authority & End of Golden Age Silver Age (1956 - 1970) DC Comics Revives characters The Flash reboot (barry allen) Justice League of America Stan Lee and Marvel Comics The Characters The Marvel Method Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode! Follow us on Twitter: @Dpalm66 @InsanityReport @TheMTRNetwork Want more podcast greatness? Sign up for a MTR Premium Account!
Hosts Mat Bradley-Tschirgi and William Thrasher discuss the career of comic book writer, editor, and publisher Stan Lee. After a stint writing training films in the United States Army during World War II, Stan Lee returned to working for Timely Comics as a writer; in 1961, Timely Comics officially changed their name to Marvel Comics. That same year, at the tender age of 39, Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby created The Fantastic Four. The first of several well known comic books Lee would co-create (Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer, The X-Men), The Fantastic Four helped Marvel Comics grow in success and stature. And yet, Stan Lee was not without controversy. He was a bit of a publicity whore, taking sole credit for comics artists helped create. Much like Batman co-creator Bob Kane, Stan Lee wanted to, and became, a celebrity. Stan Lee continued writing comics until the end. Some of his more notable late works include the miniseries Just Imagine Stan Lee for DC Comics (Stan's spin on their roster of heroes (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.)) and God Woke for Shatner Singularity (an adaptation of a poem about the creation of the universe and God's reaction to it). Mat and Thrasher discuss Stan Lee's career and some of his more memorable cameos in TV and film. Thrasher shares a touching story of how he met Stan Lee in person outside of a convention and got to shake his hand. The next few movie series we'll be covering are: Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) Follow the show on Twitter @Sequelcast2 Like our Sequelcast 2 Facebook Page The theme song to the Sequelcast is written and performed by Marc with a C. Sequelcast 2 is delighted to be a member of The Batman Podcast Network. Hear more great podcasts here! Watch Thrasher's tabletop RPG YouTube show d-infinity Live!. Listen to Marc with a C's music podcast Discography. Buy One Starry Night, a Cthulhu Live scenario Thrasher contributed to, from DriveThruRPG!
This week I talk about the life and tough on the impact of Stan Lee. From a simple editor at Timely Comics to the iconic symbol of the Marvel Universe, his work has touched millions. Be sure to share, rate, and subscribe to the show. What is your favorite character that Stan Lee help create? Let us know on the social: Facebook (www.facebook.com/DisneyMarvelsPodcast ) or on Twitter @DisneyMarvels. You can also email the show at DisneyMarvels@gmail.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/disneymarvels/message
We honor the legacy of Stan "The Man" Lee and all that he did by reading and talking about Stan Lee Meets... With such as much as Stan Lee has created and influenced it's hard not to be impacted when we lose such talent and inspiration. But worry not true believer, Dane has some wisdom about continuing on despite the challenge. Follow us for more on Twitter @comictradespod Music: "Adventure Meme" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Stan Lee rose through the ranks of Marvel Comics (then known as Timely Comics) starting as a lowly assistant before becoming a writer, editor and ulimately becoming the driving force behind some of the most well known and beloved comic characters of all-time. Superheroes were always seen as untouchable and Stan successfully broke that mould by making his characters seem more human by giving them obvious character flaws, making them younger and shattering the idea that all heroes were untouchable. He (sometimes in collaboration with others) created the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, Iron Man, the X-Men, Daredevil, The Avengers and Dr. Strange. It's hard to imagine that the comic industry would exist in the way it does today - with so many associated TV shows and movies - were in not for the way Stan Lee completely overhauled the way things worked. Thanks for the memories, Stan. Excelsior!
The Nerds of the Roundtable delves into everything that made Stan “The Man” Lee the greatest creator, writer, editor and publisher…EVER!!!
***The Following Contains Explicit Language and Adult Content*** AJ OUM Episode 62 - Excelsior! A Stan Lee Tribute Monday, November 12, 2018 on Veteran’s Day the world lost a great man. Stan Lee, one of the great comic book writers of all time and the face of Marvel Comics passed away at the age of 95. He became an editor at Timely Comics in 1941. Timely Comics would eventually be renamed “Atlas Comics” in the 1950s and was re-branded again as “Marvel Comics” in 1961. He has had a hand in creating some of comics most popular characters like Spider Man, Hulk, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four, Iron, Daredevil, Thor, The X-Men and so many more. I sit down with “The Authentic” Brandon Lewis and we talk the life and trials of the late, great Stan Lee. If you have a Stan Lee story and how he influenced your life, feel free to let us know! As always, any comments, suggestions or conversation starters for the host to read on the show email me at: ajorsini96host@gmail.com Thank you to the good folks over at Lower Track Productions for the Orsini's Uncensored Mind Opening Theme Songhttps://www.facebook.com/LowerTracks-Productions-367972864014/ You can follow me on here: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Wordpress & Youtube You can follow Brandon Lewis here: FB.com/LuiBTorres Twitter: @Mr_BrandonLewis IG: @mr_luis_brandon All new Episodes of OUM on ajoum.podbean.com every Saturday at 9pm! You can also catch the show on: ITunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music, Tune In Radio, Castbox.FM & Listen Notes! Want to support the show? Check out the Orsini’s Uncensored Mind T Shirt!!www.prowrestlingtees.com/ajoum
We discuss The Golden Age & Captain America w/ Timely Comics artist Allen Bellman! Then we talk about the Season 4 premiere of 'iZombie' w/ actor Rahul Kohli!! Finally we talk about the upcoming STLComics Show w/ 2-time Eisner Award winning artist Rick Burchett & con-owner Eric Meyer!!
We discuss The Golden Age & Captain America w/ Timely Comics artist Allen Bellman! Then we talk about the Season 4 premiere of 'iZombie' w/ actor Rahul Kohli!! Finally we talk about the upcoming STLComics Show w/ 2-time Eisner Award winning artist Rick Burchett & con-owner Eric Meyer!! Support the show by clicking through to Amazon via our affiliate link and then shop like you normally would bit.ly/geektome
In celebration of his 95th birthday Tejas and Jishnu deep dive into the life and times of Stan Lee. This is not the Stan Lee your mother remembers. Follow Geek Fruit on Facebook: https://goo.gl/1eXcpR You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/
Atlas Comics era la editora de historietas que luego se transformaría en Marvel Comics. Atlas era previamente Timely Comics. Su editor, Martin Goodman, utilizó el nombre de Atlas para su división de Comic-Books durante los años 50's. Pero... ¿porqué fue la época más difícil para los dibujantes de superhéroes?
Atlas Comics era la editora de historietas que luego se transformaría en Marvel Comics. Atlas era previamente Timely Comics. Su editor, Martin Goodman, utilizó el nombre de Atlas para su división de Comic-Books durante los años 50's. Pero... ¿porqué fue la época más difícil para los dibujantes de superhéroes? La entrada 56 – Marvel, la era Atlas Comics se publicó primero en Gcomics.
On this edition of Destination Earth X, we discuss the first issue of the new Fighting American series by Timely Comics and the state of comic book based TV shows in the start of the 2017-2018 season, plus a quick review of Terry Brooks' latest novel The Fall of Shannara: The Black Elfstone.
On this edition of Destination Earth X, we discuss the first issue of the new Fighting American series by Timely Comics and the state of comic book based TV shows in the start of the 2017-2018 season, plus a quick review of Terry Brooks' latest novel The Fall of Shannara: The Black Elfstone.
In this week's episode Raven tries to not space out as Kejax and Fyrewulf geeks out about the mega comic book giant Marvel comics. Superheroes are a major part of everyone's childhood and even into adulthood and Marvel is responsible for blasting out some iconic ones. Please send comments, corrections, questions, show topics and more to OutofTouchNerds@gmail.com Thanks for listening! @OutofTouchNerds on Twitter www.facebook.com/OutofTouchNerds Fantasic Four, Spiderman, X-men, Wolvrine, Captain America, Iron Man, Black Window, Daredevil, Doctor Doom, Venom, Magneto, Avengers, Marvel, Timely Comics, Comic books
El primer episodio Especial de Tocala de Oído, hacemos un exhaustivo análisis de Marvel. Pasando por su prehistoria como Timely Comics, sus mas prestigiosas personalidades, su universo cinematográfico con comentarios de casi todas sus películas. Y para hacerlo mas especial, nos damos el lujo de tener a un invitado, Ivan C. Todo esto atendido como siempre por Agus B. y Pato S. #Marvel #Comic #Cine #Peliculas
Jeff runs a solo extrasode to gush about a kneejerk reactive, wildy speculatory theory. Singling out specific words in phrases and reaching deep into Marvel comics history are nothing for this dynamic and timely theory about a new addition to the cast of Agents of SHIELD.
This week your podcasters talk some comic book news including Marvel Comics bringing back Timely Comics, Poe Dameron Day, Upstairs/Downstairs, and Moms against Lucifer. Also a special X-Treat from Uncanny
Reviews: Haunted Love #1, Gingerdead Man #1, Wynonna Earp Vol 2 #1, Gotham mid-season premiere, X-Files season finale Jimmy returns to Gotham and gets Emmy Potter to come co-host again. Jimmy talks about his time away, the alien bug bite and seeing Michonne. Plus, Emmy reveals her new alter ego! News includes: George RR Martin will have a twist in his next book that wont appear on the TV show, Marvel is relaunching Timely Comics, Maisie Williams will NOT be returning to Doctor Who, the live action Archie TV show has cast most of the leads including Luke Perry as Fred Andrews (Archie's father), the original anime series Perfect Bones will premiere on Netflix, and Tank Girl returns with a new series at Titan Comics this May. Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us! Thanks for listening!
Brubaker's Cap, Worst X-Man Ever 1, Favorite Superhero Runs, Kickstarters (Alter-Life, Morgan's Organs), Snarl by Kelly Bender, Salvagers by Bob Salley, Timely Comics, Iron Fist Casting, Extraordinary X-Men by Lemire, X-Line in general and the Comics Countdown 24 Feb 2016. Favorite Runs: Uncanny X-Men by Claremont/Byrne, FF by Stan/Jack, Avengers by Busiek/Perez, Green Lantern by Johns, FF by Hickman, Batman by Snyder, JLI by Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire. Honorable Mentions: Black Panther by Priest, Spidey by JMS/Romita Jr, FF by Waid/Ringo, DD by Frank Miller, Dini Detective, Flash and JSA by Johns, Alias by Bendis, DD by Bendis Comics Countdown for 24 Feb 2016: 10. New Avengers 7 by Al Ewing, Joshua Cassara, Rachelle Rosenberg 9. X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever 1 by Max Bemis, Michael Walsh, Ruth Redmond 8. Wild's End: The Enemy Within 6 by Dan Abnett, Nik Abnett, Ian Culbard 7. Batman and Robin Eternal 21 by James Tynion IV, Scott Synder, Tony Daniel, Sandu Florea, Tomeu Morey 6. TMNT 55 by Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Michael Dialynas, Ronda Pattison 5. Superman: Lois and Clark 5 by Dan Jurgens, Neil Edwards, Scott Hanna, Jeromy Cox 4. Goddamned 3 by Jason Aaron, R.M. Guera, Giulia Brusco 3. Bloodshot Reborn 11 by Jeff Lemire, Lewis LaRosa, Brian Reber 2. Art Ops 5 by Shaun Simon, Mike Allred, Laura Allred, Matt Brundage, Rob Davis 1. Cry Havoc 2 by Simon Spurrier, Ryan Kelly, Barbara Guttman, Nick Filardi, Lee Loughridge, Matt Wilson
I serien The Twelve vendte Babylon 5-forfatteren Michael J. Straczynski blikket mod nogle af de allertidligste helte fra forlaget Timely Comics, som senere skulle blive kendt som Marvel Comics. Kim Helt har aldrig læst serien. Marvel-Morten er helt vild med den. Kan han overbevise Kim om, at The Twelve er det rene guld?
Golden Age artist, Allen Bellman was there before even Marvel, which at the time was Timely Comics. He was working on Captain America in the actual 1940’s. Join us in a discussion spotlighting Allen Bellman’s golden career in comics.
Troldspejlet præsenterer: Supersnak med Kim Helt og Marvel-Morten
I serien The Twelve vendte Babylon 5-forfatteren Michael J. Straczynski blikket mod nogle af de allertidligste helte fra forlaget Timely Comics, som senere skulle blive kendt som Marvel Comics. Kim Helt har aldrig læst serien. Marvel-Morten er helt vild med den. Kan han overbevise Kim om, at The Twelve er det rene guld?
Face Front, True Believers! We're setting the Time Platform back to the dawn of Timely Comics with the Golden Age Ka-Zar and the Masked Raider! Also, the biggest, fattest Marvel Mail Bag ever! Episode art tumblr here.Note: We like our language NSFW salty, and there be spoilers... 01:10 A look at the predecessors of the comic book, pulp fiction.02:45 The origin of David Rand, better known as the original Ka-Zar.07:35 Comments on The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast Episodes #1-2, Namor the First Marvel and Marvel Cosmics & Warlock14:28 The continuing adventures of Ka-Zar, spanning through Marvel Mystery Comics #15 and notes on his final appearances.20:23 Comments on The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast Episode 003, SDCC 2014 FYI.43:10 The Masked Raider's entire Golden Age career gets our jaundiced gaze.51:15 Oh, we're still not done with the mail, but at least Mr. Fixit retroactively contributes to the SDCC episode.The Holloway Pages text reproduction of "King of Fang and Claw" by Bob Byrd complete with chapter breaks & illustrations.Project Gutenberg Australia version, pure text on a single web page.
Happy 4th of July! What better way to celebrate with @HeroHeads then talking about Captain America! The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover-dated March 1941) from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. As of 2007, an estimated 210 million copies of "Captain America" comic books had been sold in 75 countries. For nearly all of the character's publication history, Captain America has been the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a frail young man who was enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum, in order to aid the United States government's imminent efforts in World War II. Captain America wears a costume that bears an American flag motif, and is armed with a nearly indestructible shield that can be used for defense and can also be thrown as a weapon.--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/southarcadia/messageSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/southarcadia/support
Marvel historian Peter Sanderson joins Ben and Ryan to discuss the Golden Age of Timely Comics, including the birth of Captain America, obscure early heroes, Stan Lee’s first job and much, much more!
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover dated March 1941) from Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics. Captain America was designed as a patriotic supersoldier who often fought the Axis powers of World War II and was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. The popularity of superheroes waned following the war, and the Captain America comic book was discontinued in 1950, with a short-lived revival in 1953. Since Marvel Comics revived the character in 1964, Captain America has remained in publication.
Neste episódio, Fabiano "Prof. Nerd" Silveira, Daniel HDR, Rogério DeSouza e Rafael "Algures" Rodrigues (MDM & Uarevaaa) comentam sobre os 90 anos safados que o mítico STAN "THE MAN" LEE completa neste mês de Dezembro! Um retrospecto de seu histórico profissional, como jovem editor na Timely Comics, seus tempos de roteirista na Atlas Comics, passando a elaborar o que todos conheceriam como Marvel Comics. Porém, a Marvel não surgira sozinha: este episódio mais do que nunca procura não esquecer quem ajudou à construir o Universo Marvel: conheça mais sobre as parcerias de Stan Lee com JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, JOHN BUSCEMA, JOHN ROMITA Sr., DON HECK e tantos outros que foram co-criadores dos celebrados personagens que os leigos teimam em creditar somente à Mr. Lieber. Links Relacionados: O pequenino Stanley Martin Lieber; Stan Lee em serviço militar, e já como jovem editor na Timely Comics, nos anos 1940; A dupla Joe Simon e Jack Kirby desenvolvendo Captain America; Fighting America, criado por Simon e Kirby ao sairem da Timely; Destroyer, primeiro personagem de Lee nos comics; Lee, nos anos 1950; Lee e Kirby em Happy Hour (provavelmente da Atlas Comics) nos anos 1950; Strange Tales, uma das revistas Terror/Ficção da Atlas (ex-Timely) anos 1950; Lee cria a linha editorial da Marvel Comics; O Surfista Prateado nos traços de Jack Kirby e John Buscema; John Buscema e Stan Lee na vídeoaula "HOW TO DRAW COMICS IN MARVEL WAY"; O verdadeiro Peter Parker, Steve Ditko (no colegial, em 1944); Versão inicial de Jack Kirby para Spider-Man; Flo Steinberg, secretaria de Lee, paixão secreta de Steve Ditko; Betty Brant, secretaria de J.J.Jameson em Spider-Man, igual a Flo; Desabafo gráfico feito por Ditko sobre o não credito na criação de Spider-Man; "In Search Of Steve Ditko": ótimo documentário sobre o recluso co-criador do Aranha; Stan Lee e John Romita Sr. trabalhando nos anos 1960 e nos dias de hoje; Stan Lee vira o "garoto propaganda" da Marvel; Dá-lhe pílula azul: Stan Lee e Adrianne Curry de Slave Leia; ArgCast #71 - A Era de Ouro; Este episódio é a Parte 1 de um crossover especial com os praças do website Melhores Do Mundo, e parte de um grande PodCast Mob idealizado pelo Quadrim, onde os amigos do EnxutoCast , ComicPod , Inominata 616, Podcast MDM , Mutação em Debate , Ovos Zumbis , Paranerdia , Pipoca & Nanquim , Quadrimcast , Transmissão Fantasma , Uarevaa também farão podcasts sobre co-criações e trabalhos desta Lenda Viva dos comics! E NÃO PERCA O RASTRO DO ARGCAST na INTERNET! SIGA-NOS no TWITTER: @cursodehq ou @Argcast CURTA NOSSA PÁGINA no FACEBOOK Baixe AQUI o Episódio 106, ou escute no nosso player abaixo!
Conversamos sobre a vida de Stan Lee, sua entrada para a Timely Comics (pré-Marvel), a revolução desencadeada por ele e Jack Kirby, suas aventuras pós Marvel e por ai vai, muita coisa bacana sobre a... Clique no título para ver o conteúdo completo no site do Pipoca e Nanquim - www.pipocaenanquim.com.br
Conversamos sobre a vida de Stan Lee, sua entrada para a Timely Comics (pré-Marvel), a revolução desencadeada por ele e Jack Kirby, suas aventuras pós Marvel e por ai vai, muita coisa bacana sobre a... Clique no título para ver o conteúdo completo no site do Pipoca e Nanquim - www.pipocaenanquim.com.br
The Golden Age of Comic Books Podcast is back with a celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Marvel Comics! Marvel Comics (known as Timely Comics then) got its start with the publication of Marvel Comics #1 (October-November 1939) and quickly … Continue reading →
Collected Comics Library Podcast #80 - The eightieth podcast! Hot, Hot, Heat!; Two new .mp3 links; EC Archives Question of the Week; New Releases of the Week; Timely Comics or The Golden Age of Marvel Comics; Superman Returns trade giveaway; Running time: 17m 26s
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