Goings on across The Pond

Over at the Wait, What? blog, Graeme reviews the goofy charms of Captain Britain before he became a member of Excalibur. What's that you say, clueless Americans? You mean you never knew that Captain Britain had appeared anywhere before he guest-starred with Spidey in Marvel Team-Up? Well, he did! And Chris Claremont, scripter of these two issues of Marvel Team-Up, even wrote some of those original stories! The word (as my faulty memory reminds me) is that Stan Lee wanted to break into the British comics market with a weekly comic featuring the first British superhero (published by Marvel anyways). Chris Claremont was an Anglophile and used that as his in for getting the assignment. Which lasted only 10 issues before he was replaced by Gary Friedrich. Graeme goes over the details on the published comics end, and laments the loss of many of the ideas that Claremont first set up but which seem to have been forgotten in later eras.


Well worth a quick look.


I was a curious fan when Captain Britain first appeared in previews in old issues of F.O.O.M. Featuring preview art by Herb Trimpe (a favorite of mine at the time), it looked dynamic and exciting. And it introduced a new character, which was a special thing to me at the time. This was a time when the comics worlds seemed to be expanding all the time, unlike now when so few creators seem willing to sign away their creations to either of the Big Two companies. It was a time when new heroes and villains would appear to take their part in the fights between good and evil.

Ah, I'd better stop before I start sounding like some grumpy old fan...


Meanwhile, I'll make a point of searching out that old Trimpe art.

Whoops! Where has the time gone?!?

Whoops!

Time sure has a way of getting away from me during my various sojourns through time and space!

Best get back to what really matters in life: blogging about comics!

Grand Opening!!

In yet another attempt at bloggery, I've started a new blog called The Marvel Family Club House. There, I'll be covering all things geek and sundry about the original Captain Marvel and his Marvel Family. In addition to that, I'll also cover the many clones and characters inspired by Billy Batson and his family, including Captain Mar-Vell, Miracleman, Marvelman, Ms. Marvel, and a bunch of other surprises. I hope it'll be fun enough to keep my short attention span occupied for many years to come.

Join me won't you?

Tacos

Over at his blog, Slay (Monstrobot of the Deep), points to fun comics featuring tacos.
Go and enjoy, but make sure to follow his link to more taco related fun.

Wotan!

Who would have thought that this guy

 would look like the gent below

and be taken more seriously?

...well, me, to be honest. I always thought he'd be a cool bad guy if people could get past the bright red outfit. It looks like the folks behind Young Justice have done a nice job on him!

New Iron Man 3 villain revaled

News sources (including this one) report that Ashley Hamilton has been cast in "Iron Man 3" as the supervillain Firepower.

Based on this image, I suspect he'll be getting an upgrade for the movie.

I'd pay 12 cents for that!

Not sure who to credit this to (I found it here), but... wow.

Not dead yet...

...more like being in critical condition.

A little more than a year ago, my main hard drive crashed. I was able to retrieve most of my data, but I was faced with a bit of an existential crisis. "Why bother spending time on a goofy blog no one cares about anyway?"

I figured I'd just join the faceless masses and join Facebook. Content myself with playing Farmville and sharing pictures from George Takei...

Only I find that Facebook is a really weird place to get passionate about anything, whether it be family, hobbies, friends, whatever, because EVERYONE can see now. Even the casual acquaintances I meet at my kids' school, my old high school and college classmates, or past coworkers. Or even, GULP!, judgmental in-laws!

So, last night while undergoing a fitful night's sleep, the thought occurred: "Restart your blogs."

So here I am.

And I'm glad to be back.

Been playing around a bit...

...it might be easier to find me making an annoyance of myself at my Facebook page.

Still experimenting with this social networking stuff. I'm often on Facebook in my secret identity, but I like posting about current events without my comments being lost within a swarm of others. Perhaps once my sidekicks are back in school, I'll be able to concentrate better on my various blogs...

Feel free to join me there if you're already on Facebook. Maybe you'll even see something you like there!

Whoa!

Is this what the City of Heroes Spines powerset wishes it could grow up to look like?

Hector Hammond outed as GL movie villain

io9 reports that Tim Robbins has been added to the cast of the Green Lantern movie as the disapproving father of Hector Hammond. Details in the link as to how Hammond Senior and Junior figure into the plot. Let's just say it doesn't involve strange meteors with mutagenic powers.

Normally, I'd be glad to see Hammond get the big screen treatment. He has a classic sci-fi psionic villain look with his giant head and atrophied body. He's kind of like DC's MODOK, but less freakish and without the cool chair; Hammond also predates MODOK by about a decade or so. Hammond seemed to be severely under-utilized at DC for years, which always struck me as bizarre. Here was a natural diamond in the rough character, a character who could have been a serious threat but was instead stuck in a chair in prison for most of the 70s and 80s. Not the most visually dynamic character, I suppose. Still, I recall when the Superman animated series was in full swing, one of the writers (I think) said it was tough to get a decent rogues gallery for the Man of Steel. My first thought was that they should've borrowed Hector Hammond, and introduced him as a competitor of Lex Luthor who seemed to have a knack for developing tech which Luthor only had on his drawing boards. It would've been revealed later that he had a mutagenic meteor which gave him psychic powers which gave him an edge over Lex and Superman. Ah well. Maybe I'll use the idea as a story for some of my own characters...

Comics commentary by way of Jazz commentary...

If you read this article but substitute the word "comics" when she writes the word "jazz" or "jazz music", that's the kind of malaise I feel about the current superhero comic medium. I just ain't feelin' the love. I don't feel the commitment I used to feel about going to the shop every week to see what's come out. I have stacks and stacks of longboxes down in the basement and I'm this close to just chucking it all in the recycle truck.

How'd I get this way?

Maybe I should write it out, like the author of the above article. Maybe I'd be able to puzzle it out somehow...

Not dead yet... Not undead yet either...

Spent an interesting week in the Frozen South. Then I had to contend with indoor waterfalls. Or was that the other way around? Either way, I'm back and scurrying to catch up!

More to come...

Oooo... scary...

io9 is reporting that John Malkovich is in negotiations to play the Vulture, and that Anne Hathaway might be playing... the Vulturess? What the...?!!? Maybe she'll be playing the Vulture's daughter? That's what'd make sense to me, but then I don't work in Hollywood.

He'll be back... in April!!

Of course, he never really was gone. Just lost in time. But Bruce Wayne will be back in April thanks to Grant Morrison. I betcha it'll involve a couple of Lazarus Pits, and the odd result of creating the device by which Ra's al Ghul will have some semblance of immortality. It should be a fun ride!

Suddenly, things make sense...

Story via The Onion.

"To become whole, I must kill you all!"

If we follow this logic, characters like the Punisher must have a long way to go.

Come to think of it, Galactus might edge out the Punisher as far as body counts go...

Intriguing tho', that in Galactus' first appearance the Big G sends out a robot called The Punisher to deal with those pesky FF people. There was even an Iron Man story later on where Shellhead takes on Galactus' former servant. Now why isn't that robotic Punisher offered as an action figure or Heroclix miniature? He looks mighty cool!







....what was I talking about again?

HeroClix Returns!!

More news via Robot Viking!

Comics need more...

GIANT ANTS!! And more monster mash-ups! Frankenstein and Dracula meet the ants from THEM!!

Pokemon with a Gil Kane cover!

Eh. Not really. But I could tell The Master's style anywhere! Looks like he was channeling some Atom-sized goodness!