Medusa - Marvel Comics

Yes another gorgeous red haired superheroine.
The Queen of the Inhumans Medusa.
She may have started off as a bad guy, but she did alright for herself.

I always liked Medusa. Black Bolt's significant other, the Queen of the Inhumans, never had a bad hair day in her life..... It has nothing to do with the fact that she is a redhead. Nothing. Really.
Anyway, she first appeared in Fantastic Four #36 way back in 1965 and was created by the Marvel dream team, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. In Medusa's first appearance she had amnesia and was a member of the Frightful Four. She was a pretty darn good villain, going toe to toe with the then Invisible Girl and beating her several times. Medusa even took the Human Torch out once.

But Medusa finally got over her amnesia and regained her rightful place as a hero. Her catfights with Sue Storm ended and they became good friends, even subbing for Sue a few times in the Fantastic Four when Sue had family emergencies.

Medusa has a pretty unique power. It's her hair. Each strand is as strong as iron, her hair is over 6 feet in length and she can control it through psychokinetic ability. They use what I call "The Batman Rule" with her hair. Ever notice how sometimes Bats cape is 5 feet long and sometimes it's 20 feet or more? Same with her hair, they say she can stretch it to twelve feet.... She can even lift close to two tons with it. And she's not just limited to picking things up with her hair. She can snap it like a whip, spin it like a fan, shuffle cards (she did it with the Thing and company at one of the infamous Fantastic Four poker games), pick locks, squeeze someone with it like an anaconda and even control it if it is cut off!
This lady is multi-talented!

Invisible Woman - Marvel Comics

One of the most overlooked "heavy hitters" in the Marvel Universe, the Invisible Woman.
Hey...she went from "Girl" to "Woman".
How many other female superheroes have done that?

 

Susan "Sue" Storm Richards was created in 1961 with the rest of the Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. But while most people point to Wonder Woman as a role model for young girls in comics...you have to consider Sue.

She started out as the Invisible "Girl" and managed to make the name change to the Invisible "Woman".
Not that easy of a feat.
Look at Supergirl and Batgirl.

She is a superhero, the "mother" of the FF (and also second in command), a real mother to her own children, a "sister" to other superheroes (the Wasp, She-Hulk), a career woman and arguably one of the most power beings in the Marvel Universe. To qualify that last thing....Dr. Doom is wary of her and has said she was the most powerful member of the FF. When you can worry Victor Von Doom.....

Of course Sue can turn invisible. Not only herself, but also the area around her up to several miles. She can project forcefields that can withstand direct blows by Thor's hammer and the Hulk.
The "ugly things" she almost never does.... She could project a forcefield inside you (or armor) and quickly expand it causing you/it to explode. Sue can also encase your head in a forcefield and see how long you last without oxygen.

See? The Invisible Woman can mess you up.

So when people point out female role-models in comic books, don't forget the Invisible Woman.

Marvel Comics Movies - Fantastic Four

The first superhero team created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The Fantastic Four appeared in The Fantastic Four #1 November 1961.
As much of a family as they were a superhero team, the FF caught on fast and soon became one of Marvel Comic's top sellers.
Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben never went the secret identity route, but embraced their fame and celebrity status.
And their fame with readers sent The Fantastic Four, or "The Greatest Comics Magazine in the World!!" as Marvel said into all kinds of media, including movies.

The Fantastic Four (1994)
The first Fantastic Four movie as sadly just an exercise to allow the producers to secure the copyrights to the property.
It was The Fantastic Four, made in 1994.
The film was produced by B-Movie legend Roger Corman and Bernd Eichinger.
Even though the film was made just to hold onto the copyright and never intended for release, the actors and crew were never told that.
The film starred Alex Hyde-White as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic, Rebecca Staab as Sue Storm / The Invisible Woman, Michael Bailey Smith as Ben Grimm and Jay Underwood as Johnny Storm / The Human Torch. Although Michael Bailey Smith played Ben Grimm, Carl Ciarfalio was under the make-up as The Thing.
Corman made the film for under 2 million dollars.
As far as bad movies go, Wizard Magazine ranks this film as better (worse) than Batman & Robin, Steel, Virus and Red Sonja.
The best way to find this movie is bootleg copies.

The Fantastic Four (2005)
The franchise got a major reboot with The Fantastic Four (2005).
This movie was made for $100 million and grossed over $330 million worldwide.
It starred Ioan Gruffudd as Dr. Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic, Jessica Alba as Susan Storm / Invisible Woman, Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm / The Thing and Chris Evans as Johnny Storm / Human Torch.
Julian McMahon portrayed a sort of "Ultimates" version of Dr. Doom.
The critics didn't love this movie, but I liked it.
Except for the way they did Dr.Doom.
It wasn't the greatest superhero movie ever made by any means, but I still don't think it was the worst.
And the movie performed well enough for a sequel.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
The FF returned in 2007 with Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
The original cast returned with the addition of Doug Jones as the body of the Silver Surfer, and Laurence Fishburne as his voice.
Some critics liked the sequel better than the original.
But the film didn't pull in enough to go ahead and green light a third movie.
Fantastic Four Reboot?

Fantastic Four Reboot
20th Century Fox has announced plans to overhaul the Fantastic Four film franchise with a new movie produced by Akiva Goldsman and scripted by Michael Green.
This came right after the news of the proposed merger with Disney.
Akiva Goldsman won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the 2001 film, A Beautiful Mind.
But he also did Lost in Space, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.
He's currently working on Jonah Hex and the movie adaptation of Teen Titans.
Television and film writer, as well as a comic book scripter, Michael Green has worked on the upcoming Green Lantern movie, the NBC TV series Heroes, Everwood, Jack and Bobby, Smallville, Kings and Snoops.

Upcoming Comic Book Movies, Part 1

Since the hype over Wolverine has died down, I wonder how the mediocre performance of it and Watchmen will affect upcoming comic book movies?
Here is the current list of upcoming movies that are coming out.

First up, Marvel.....

Iron Man II (2010)
Expect more of the same as far as ticket sales go. I can't really see the second film flopping with all the hype the first one got.

Spider-Man 4 (2011)
Scares me.
After Spiderman 3, I'm afraid this film will have an uphill battle.

The First Avenger: Captain America (2011)
Can Marvel sustain two comic book movies in one year?
Hey, it IS Cap.

Thor (2011)
Okay, how about 3 movies in one year?
Will the public be "comic booked out"?

The Avengers (2012)
Okay, Marvel waits a year. Depending on how 2011 goes, this could be THE movie, or a big loss.

Deadpool (????)
It looks like the "Merc with a Mouth" is headed for the big screen.
As it stands right now, Ryan Reynolds is attached to the project.

Of course this isnt taking into account the alledged reboots of Daredevil, Fantastic Four and Blade.

One Extreme Or The Other.....

It doesn't have to go this far...

As I kinda feared, Watchmen opened well, but the box office dropped suddenly.
Is this the death knell of comic book movies?
Hardly.
You cannot compare Watchmen to say Batman or Iron Man or Spiderman.
I don't think you will see product tie-ins like with the "colorful" superheroes.
Can you imagine a Rorschach Happy Meal?
Or a Comedian dress up set?
Nope, kids aren't supposed to emulate the Watchmen.
It's an adult story.
But Batman, The Hulk, Wolverine, now there are your commercial tie ins.
I think the movie industry had better think twice before "darkening" the more popular heroes.
The Dark Knight was just about as far as Hollywood needs to go and stay profitable.

Actually I keep wondering if we may be looking at a backlash soon.
I watch "Batman: The Brave and The Bold" and I love it.
It's not the dark brooding Batman. It's the 50s and 60s detective with gadgets.
But he's still bad.
They show a lighter Batman, but I don't get it confused with the Dark Knight.
BTW, I absolutely loved Batman: The Animated Series and I think both cartoons work, just on different levels.

Maybe we are making our heroes too dark.
Some of course, it suits.
But a darker, edgier Fantastic Four?
Heck, lets just get Frank Miller to do the Power Puff Girls.
Lets make it all so dark and bloody and gory that you really can't tell the heroes from the bad guys without a scorecard.

We need the dark avengers like Bats and the Punisher.
But we also need the "boy scouts".
I know I seem to keep harping on this, but I feel pretty strongly about it.

Maybe I'm schizophrenic since I liked Watchmen and The Rocketeer.
I like Batman AND Superman.

But there has to be a middle ground.
And no it's not Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin.

Fantastic Four Reboot

I heard about this in a really cool way.....
Jessica Alba told me.....LOL
No.
Really.
She did.

Exclusive: Fantastic Four is Getting the Boot...a Reboot that is

IESB's has heard word around town is Fantastic Four over at 20th Century Fox is gearing up for a reboot.
With Daredevil already getting the once over and Planet of the Apes also in the running for a new start with a prequel in the works Fantastic Four is joining the reboot gang.
The two films previously released never really caught on with the fans and the studio is reportedly looking to completely retool, recast and recrew the franchise. This means no Tim Story, no Iaon, no Julian (thank the maker, he never sat well with me as Dr. Doom), no Chris, no Chiklis and no Jessica.
You can read the full article here

Of course I'm sad Jessica won't be in it.
But I had already read that Chris Evans said there wouldn't be a sequel.
At least with him in it.

But how is rebooting a movie that soon after the original gonna work out?
Fantastic Four came out in 2005.
4: Rise of the Silver Surfer came out in 2007.

The Hulk came out in 2003, but it was a single movie with no sequel and they didnt release the "reboot" till 2008.
I don't know, maybe they waited long enough.
I wish them luck.
Even though I really didn't have a problem with the first two movies other than the way they did Doom

The Superhero as Society’s Mirror, From World War II to Iraq

The Superhero as Society’s Mirror, From World War II to Iraq
By GEORGE GENE GUSTINES
Published: July 14, 2007

MONTCLAIR, N.J., July 11 — Michael E. Uslan is a lifelong comic-book fan, but “crusader” might be more accurate. For years, Mr. Uslan, a film producer (“Batman Begins,” among others), has collected comics and original art, written books about the industry and produced movies about his muscled and macabre childhood heroes.

full story here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/arts/design/14comi.html?ref=design


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Jessica Alba, The Invisible Woman

The visibile woman

James Wigney
June 10, 2007 12:00am

Like all good superheroes, Jessica Alba leads a double life. There's Jessica Alba the actor: star of TV series Dark Angel and the smash-hit movies Sin City, Fantastic Four and its coming sequel in which she reprises her role as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman.

Then there's Jessica Alba the sex goddess, who features prominently in magazine polls judging her among the sexiest women alive, put on the cover of Playboy magazine against her wishes and whose bikini-clad body was strategically enhanced on the posters for the dopey sunken treasure yarn Into the Blue.

full article at:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21871877-5006023,00.html

Fantastic Four 'Rise Of The Silver Surfer' Coin Is Illegal !!

Fantastic Four 'Rise Of The Silver Surfer' Coin Is Illegal
By Staff
Jun 1, 2007

A promotional Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer coin to celebrate the movie's release has been deemed illegal.
Marketing bosses collaborated with Franklin Mint to create 40,000 new coins featuring the Silver Surfer's image on one side and George Washington's face on the other, but the commemorative item contravenes tough U.S. laws on producing money.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Mint says, "The promotion is in no way approved, authorised, endorsed or sponsored by the United States Mint, nor is it in any way associated with the United States Mint."

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_21283938.shtml

Well the Surfer always was kind of an Anti-Hero.......

technorati tags: silver surfer, fantastic four, fantastic four 2, fantastic four rise silver surfer, film,

The Silver Surfer

The Silver Surfer is a Marvel Comics superhero. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, he first appeared in the comic book Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966).

The Surfer was originally Norrin Radd, a young astronomer of the planet Zenn-La. He agreed to serve as herald to the god-like entity, Galactus, in order to save Zenn-La from the world devourer's insatiable hunger. Granted enormous powers (he wields a small portion of Galactus' Power Cosmic), a silvery appearance and a surfboard-like vehicle — all of which were modeled after a childhood fantasy of Radd — the Silver Surfer roamed the cosmos, searching for new planets for Galactus to consume.

In the story arc fans and historians call the "Galactus Trilogy", in Fantastic Four #48-50 (March-May 1966), the Silver Surfer encountered the Earth superhero team the Fantastic Four and betrayed Galactus, who doomed him to exile on Earth. Influenced by the counterculture of the 1960s, Lee scripted a philosophical spin-off series wherein the Surfer explored his new home planet. Another, more cosmically themed series with a freed Surfer was published from 1987 until 1998. A third series followed in 2003, lasting only a year.

The character was featured in adaptations of “The Coming of Galactus” in both the 1967 and 1994 TV adaptations of Fantastic Four. He starred in a short-lived solo animated series in 1998, which blended cel and computer animation.

A sequel to the 2005 Fantastic Four film, scheduled for 2007, will be called Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Early promotional materials indicate it will be a loose adaptation of "The Coming of Galactus" with the Surfer more of a central villain. He will be physically portrayed by Doug Jones, with Laurence Fishburne providing his voice.

A Silver Surfer mini-series entitled Requiem is slated for release on May 30, 2007 written by J. Michael Straczynski.


technorati tags: silver surfer,galactus, fantastic four, movie, marvel, fantastic four 2

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a 2007 superhero film which is the sequel to the 2005 film Fantastic Four and based upon the comic of the same name.
Tim Story returns to direct Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer with Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, Chris Evans, Ioan Gruffudd, Julian McMahon and Kerry Washington reprising their roles.
Doug Jones and Beau Garrett appear in the sequel as the Silver Surfer and Frankie Raye, respectively, along with Laurence Fishburne as the voice of the Surfer.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer has a target release date of June 15, 2007. Mark Frost, co-writer of the first film, provided a treatment from which Don Payne wrote the screenplay.

technorati tags: silver surfer,galactus, fantastic four, movie, fantastic four 2, marvel,movies, comics, jessica alba, movie, film

Spiderman/Spiderman 3

Well since the Spiderman 3 publicity machine is getting really cranked up now, I thought I'd devote a little time to the character and the movie.
CAUTION!
There may be SPOILERS when I get to the movie, so dont read that part if you dont wanna know.......

Spider-Man (Peter Benjamin Parker) is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Since his incarnation and first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962), he has become one of the world's most popular, enduring and commercially successful superheroes.
When Spider-Man first saw print in the 1960s, teenage characters in superhero comic books were usually sidekicks. The Spider-Man series broke ground by featuring a hero who himself was an adolescent, to whose "self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" young readers could relate. Spider-Man has since appeared in various media including several animated and live-action television series, syndicated newspaper comic strips and a successful series of films.

Marvel has published several Spider-Man comic book series, the first being The Amazing Spider-Man. Over the years, the Peter Parker character has developed from shy high school student to troubled college student to a married teacher and a member of the superhero team the Avengers.

By 1962, with the success of the Fantastic Four and other characters, Marvel editor and head writer Stan Lee was casting about for a new superhero idea. He said that the idea for Spider-Man arose from a surge in teenage demand for comic books, and the desire to create a character with which teens could identify. In his autobiography, Lee cites the non-superhuman pulp magazine crime fighter The Spider as an influence and both there and in a multitude of print and video interviews said he was inspired by seeing a fly climb up a wall — adding in his autobiography that he has told that story so often he has become unsure of whether or not it is true. Artist Ditko, in a 1990 article by himself, gave a more prosaic origin story for the name:

“ "In a discussion with me about Spider-Man, Stan said he liked the name Hawkman but DC had the name and character. Marvel would add Ant-Man [and the Wasp] so it would have the insect category. (Technically a spider is not an insect). From that I believed Stan had named the character. ”

Lee approached Marvel publisher Martin Goodman to seek approval for the character. In a 1986 interview, he described in detail his arguments to overcome Goodman's objections. Goodman agreed to let Lee try out Spider-Man in the upcoming final issue of the canceled science-fiction/supernatural anthology series Amazing Adult Fantasy, which was renamed Amazing Fantasy for that single issue, #15 (Aug. 1962).

Jack Kirby, in a 1982 interview, claimed Lee had minimal involvement in the character's creation, and that it had originated with Kirby and Joe Simon, who in the 1950s had proposed a character called The Silver Spider for the Crestwood comic Black Magic until the publisher went out of business.

Simon, in his 1990 autobiography, disputes Kirby's account, asserting that the supernatural anthology Black Magic was not a factor, and that he (Simon) devised the name "Spiderman" (later changed to "The Silver Spider"), while Kirby outlined the character's story and powers. Simon later elaborated that his and Kirby's character conception became the basis for Simon's Archie Comics superhero The Fly, introduced in early 1959.

technorati tags: spider man,spider man 3,comic book,fantastic four ,marvel comic ,dc comic