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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 8, 2020 18:46:44 GMT -5
Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction Special Cover by Don Newton, in one of his rare Marvel pieces. Newton did a few painted covers for Charlton, which looked great, but I don't recall him doing one for DC. Creative Teams: A Martian Odyssey-Don Glut & Reuben Yandoc (Stanley Weinbaum story); Journey's End-Bruce Jones and Alex Nino; Forest for the Trees-Bruce Jones & Vicente Alcazar; Clete-Bruce Jones; Preservation of the Species-Bruce Jones and Redondo; Sinner-Archie Goodwin; Arena-Gerry Conway, John Buscema & Dick Giordano (Frederic Brown story); Threads-Mal Warrick & Adrian Gonzales. Alan Brennert interviews Theodore Sturgeon, author of More Than Human, "It" (the granddaddy of swamp monsters) and Killdozer. Sturgeon was spoofed by Kurt Vonnegut as Kilgore Trout, in some of his writings. oh, those wacky prose authors! Synopsis: Editorial by Roy explains the death of the mag and confirms it won't be back. he also explains he is working on an adaptation of George Lucas' Star Wars, which came about because of UWOSF (plus Howard Chaykin's Cody Starbuck, which is definitely part of the template for Han Solo). Roy says they made a profit; but not a big enough one to justify continuing. never understand that logic. if it is earning money and the proceeds aren't declining, why stop? Greed. However, sales had been declining; so, you can see why the axe fell, if it looked like each issue would make less money (and I suspect they were afraid that sales would drop after Behold the Man, with potential outrage). ironic that Roy was working on a space opera adaptation, after poo-pooing its viability, in issue #1. I suspect a little space opera might have helped the magazine. Martian Odyssey-A expedition on Mars sends out a scout, who crashes on the planet and encounters a orstrich-like creature and saves it from some predatory vine creature. they make friends and learn to communicate via mathematics, after a fashion. They find pyramids, which are silicon-based automations, creating smaller forms. They also encounter some bucket creatures that can create things, but end up in a fight, before the human is rescued and the alien left behind. he does have a cure for cancer, though...  Journey's End-A rather cranky guy is at a commercial wish fulfillment place, looking to purchase a package to change the past. he goes back to childhood, for an encounter with a bukky and runs into another traveler and gets into a fight. It's the bully, looking to relive a cherished memory. He's pulled back out and offered another scenario, while he gripes about women dominating the world and potential repeal of the No-Dovorce Act, and his uppity wife. He gets his journey to accomplishment, survives a ship wreck, saves a scantily clad native from a iteral bug-eyed monster, then gets his reward from the alien chick. he thinks they are all robots, when the service communicates that he was really lost and they are rescuing him. he tells them to F-off and stays with his honey. it turns out that the whole thing was a scenario arranged by his wife to get rid of him, since they don't have the votes to repeal the No-Divorce Act.  Forest for the Trees-Exploration team, lots of bugs flying around, monster creeps up on them, ZAP! ZAP! and they escape. One of the crewmen has a phobia about losing his eyesight. So, of course, they encounter parasitic insects that bite him. they find it causes blindness, but only late in the game learn it's temporary, before they can get to their buddy, who in his terror is crashing their ship into the sun...  Clete-An alien, visits a seemingly derelict Kansas, which looks like a Flash Gordon city, finds museums and such, then a women in cryo-stasis. he disobeys orders to return home and hides out, trying to revive sleping beuty. his kind come after him and he kills to remain. Eventually he is captured, but allowed to go free.  Preservation of the Species-a chemical exposure causes mutations in the children of pregnant women, one of whom if beautiful, but her emotions are literally written on her face. She meats a bohunk, falls for him and he her, but he has no sex organs. he is about to leave when she declares her love and goes back home with him. Home has weird monsters that attack and he kills them. Then, he has a topless housegirl, who doesn't like the new wife. Well, there are shenanigans and murders and wifey imitates native girl and gets impregnated and it turns out bohunk had sex organs, but his children are the monsters.  Sinner-a church congregation gathers and a priest declares a singer to be a sinner and to be hung until dead. He asks for a divine sign, the singer asks if he can ask for one of his own and is denied. he's hung and buried, as singing, playing and reading are outlawed, lest the past be revived.  Arena-In the midst of a war, a human and an alien are locked in an environment, by a higher being and allowed to fight each other. the human tries to communicate and eventually figures out how to get past a barrier to get to the creature. He kills it and then wakes up on his ship, learning they have one the war, after one blast.  Threads-Um, threads of plague descend form the skies, killing people and everyone is doomed. Man-Gods was lost in the mail. Thoughts: meh....Lot of Bruce Jones stories, which kind of read the same, with some really nice art. Arena is a classic story that was sort of adapted by Star Trek (they wrote a story that was too close for legal, so brown got paid and got story credit). Archie Goodwin drew his own short iece, with some decent satire. To me, the reason this failed is obvious. The bulk of the features in Unknown Worlds were the same old comic book sci-fi, with pretty art and nothing really new. There also was little variation to the offerings. Hard sci-fi isn't really represented, nor is swashbuckling space opera. The pieces are to short for much characterization and you don't have a regular feature for continuity, apart from the slow glass framing device, which just reads like a Night Gallery rip-off. A single issue is fine, and things like repent Harlequin and Behold the Man adapt some real classics, with amazing art. However, other adaptations are lukewarm, including the Triffids opener. Visually, it was generic Marvel, when it required something more original. This is also why a lot of the Marvel literary adaptations were so dull. There were some good artists on particular issues; but, it just ended up looking like generic Marvel, doing a half-hearted attempt at adapting classic literature, because Roy had literary aspirations. So, that's the end of Unknown Worlds; so, now we move on to new magazine offerings, with the Marvel Super Special. We will journey through what started as real "special" magazines and grew into mostly movie adaptations. This will include things like KISS, with their blood allegedly mixed into the printing ink, as well as things like Star Trek and Star wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and even Sgt Pepper.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 8, 2020 19:20:37 GMT -5
Marvel Graphic novel #35, Cloak & Dagger-Predator & Prey Creative Team: Bill Mantlo, Larry Stroman and Al Williamson,; Ken bruzenak-letters, John Wellington-colors, Carl Potts-editor I'm not gonna lie, this story didn't grab me, so this is going to be brief. Synopsis: Jack the Ripper comes to America, kills people, then is buried under a collapse of works, at the building site for a church. In the present, Cloak & Dagger stop a mugging...  Cloak envelops the muggers, who are actually undercover cops. Cloak runs away, Dagger goes to a priest at the church (site of the murder, burial) and things go pear shaped. cloak is torn with self-loathing, ends up under the sway of some monster, alien of evil spirit, gets freed, yadda yadda yadda. Thoughts: Cloak & Dagger never did much for me, and Mantlo's writing never wowed me, though I love that first year of Micronauts (mostly due to Michael Golden) and thought Rom had moments. I just can't get into this. Stroman's art is good, with the Williamson inks (which greatly helps the Victorian stuff); but, it wants to examine predators and victims but avoids looking at reality, which is the problem with Mantlo's writing, in my opinion. he didn't seem capable of dealing with the real world in his stories, without excessive superhero schtick for the metaphor, rather than dealing in real emotion and psychology. Better writers did better work, on better projects. This epitomizes, to me, why I wasn't reading Marvel at this time (apart from Classic X-Men). It's lesser writing, from a mid-grade talent, with a pension for ripping off better work, with some flashy art and characters I don't care about. I had seen that stuff, from better creative people. None of this is to say this is bad; far from it. It's just average and nothing new. Someone else may pick this up and enjoy it. Reading is a subjective experience. I'm not gonna lie; there aren't many works left in this series that I think are great works; but, there are many I have never even looked at. I will probably spend more time on what I think is good and breeze through the lesser stuff, until I get through this. I hope to be surprised. I didn't know about Wolfpack's swiping from Talbot Mundy; so, sometimes, even when you don't like the story, you can find something interesting to discuss.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 8, 2020 19:57:54 GMT -5
Marvel Graphic Novel #36, Willow Creative Team: Jo Duffy-adaptor, Bob Hall-pencils, Romeo Tanghal-inks, Joe Rosen-letters, Bob Sharen-colors, Bob Budiansky-editor This is basically the collected version of the adaptation. there was also a 3-issue serialized version. Original story is George Lucas (swiping from everyone) and screenplay by Bob Dolman, directed by Ron Howard. Synopsis: Evil sorceress/queen Bavmorda comes for a child that could have power over her to perform a ritual to prevent that, only to find a midwife has stolen the child away. She sicks her daughter, Sorsha on the trail. the midwife eludes wolf creatures and puts the baby in some reeds and floats her down a river (Where have I read that story before?), where she is found by two children, Ranon & Mims, who tell their father, Willow. he wants nothing to do with it, as it is Daikini, the "big people", not the people of Nelwyn. Willow is overruled by the kids and wife, Kiaya. They decide to bring the matter before the village council, at the gathering festival, where Willow will try to become an apprentice to the village wizard. Willow fails in his stage magic and fails in a test to pick the finger of true power. One of the wolf creatures ttacks and Willow tells the wizard and the elders about the child. A group is assembled to return the child, including Willow. Before they leave, the wizard asks Willow about the test and what his real impulse was and Willow says it was to choose his own finger, which was the right answer. The wizard says he has great potential, but needs to believe in himself. He gives him some magic acorns, which can turn things to stone. The group set off, avoid Sorsha's men and run into Madmartigan, a prisoner left to rot in a hanging cell. The rest of the party says mission accomplished and bugger off home, while Willow stays. A group of soldiers come along, led by Airik, who knows Madmartigan. He refuses to take the child and Willow is forced to release Madmartigan to help them. They give him the baby and depart, then see a crow fly off with the child. Willow chases it down and is captured by Brownies (tiny people, not junior girl scouts). he gets free, finds the baby and is visited by an ethereal creature, who says he is the protector of Elora Danan, who can stop Bavmorda. She gives him a wand to aid his quest. Willow moves on, after saying goodbye to his friend, Meegosh. He is reuninted with Madmartigan, fight some monsters and the Queen's troops, and save the child from bavmorda, with his own tricks, when the wand doesn't work. Madmartigan is put under a love spell and falls for Sorsha, which helps her do a babyface turn. They work together to fight Gen Kael, the Queen's muscle, but he gets the child, leading to a climcactic confrontation. Thoughts: Fairly by-the-numbers adaptation. Jo Duffy embraces the spirit of the work and hits the key elements; but, the visuals are seriously underwhelming. Bob Hall does nothing interesting with this and we get this...  ...when the film gave us this....  It's just generic stuff, not even up to Dell/Gold Key standards. Willow was a highly flawed film; but, it was still a pretty good fantasy/adventure, with some fine scenes and strong and memorable characters and this just doesn't do it justice. By this point, other companies were doing much better adaptations of entertainment properties, with top writers and artists. Marvel couldn't be bothered and Lucasfilm had stuck with them because of Star Wars and Indiana Jones (and/or possible long term contracts; I don't know). This is just going through the motions,, at least, visually. Jo Duffy does a decent job and she did the translation work on Epic's serialization of Akira. I suspect she had higher aspirations and Marvel just wanted the cash.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 15, 2020 17:29:15 GMT -5
Marvel Super Special #1 KISS!!!!!! Lock up your sons and daughters, parents; those evil rockers are coming for your children, through comic books! Creative Team: Steve Gerber-writer & editor, Alan Weiss-pencils & plot, John & Sal Buscema and Rich Buckler-add'l pencils; Al Milgrom-inks, John Costanza & Irv Watanabe-letters, Marie Severin-colors. Bunch of taks to various people, from the record company and management, to Marvel editorial and production people. Synopsis: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley walk the streets, while Gene complains that his father wants him to get rid of his comics (he is holding a Conan issue) and become an accountant...  They move along and encounter some wild looking blind guy, being attacked by goons, who tosses them a red box and says it holds their destiny. The beat feet, as the mob lays chase and we catch up with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, who are playing pinball. Gene & Paul run past, toss Ace the box, while they dive into a photo booth. Soon, goons with knives turn up at the arcade. Ace & Peter soon dive into the booth, where Ace opens the box (Remember Randora!) and they find totems inside. Well, guess who won the pony?  They are transformed into the Demon, Starchild, Spaceman and the Catman and now have super powers. they beat the goons, then Ace pops them away to the South Ferry. Fringe, leader of the mob, gets turned to dust! On the other side of town, the quartet ask a bunch of silly questions, when the moon drops to Earth and opens up, unloading gypsy women and Dr Doom.  The totems came from gypsy magic, which Doom controlled, an artifact from his gypsy mother. He demands it back and we get a fight. The gypsy women are robots and the boys trash them (ca't hit real girls) and then Doom takes a powder. Ace teleports the boys after him and end up in space. Well, better there than that stupid amusement park. Word of the fight emerges and J Jonah dispatches peter Parker to get photos, while the FF and Avengers hear and want to investigate. The Avengers consult with Dr Strange, who has Dizzy, they guy who had the box, by his side. We see the rest of the Defenders and Doc says they must stay out of things. The other groups sit around, too. The boys end up before a Heavenly Host, but Gene smells a rat and unleashes demon flame, which reveals other demons (though not Kirby's Demon). St Peter is revealed to be Mephisto and he and Gene battle. Gene reverse a quote by Milton and the boys are sent back home.  They end up in some space disco, with a bunch of "furries" and Peter runs into a cat in heat. She's the mate of Big Leo, which means a fight and faster than you can say "What were Judi Dench and Ian McKellen thinking?" we got cats everywhere and Peter takes down Big Leo and the boys disappear, again...  Finally, the boys end up in Latveria, where they meet up with Dizzy. he tells them that their little sidetrips were to teach them to use their abilities (rather than a lack of a coherent story) and now it is time to face Doom. They run into robot monks, a hunk of rock with Mick Jagger lips and Doom, himself, who has father issues. The boys make Doom see his past and Dizzy argues for their right to exist and be who they can, just as Doom became all he could. Doom can't kill Dizzy, as he spoke the eulogy over Doom's mother. He sends the boys back and they become KISS.  Thoughts: The story is silly, lightweight, vacuous fluff, in keeping with Gerber's work of the period; but, it is fun and it has enough satire to give it some credibility to anyone other than KISS fans. Ironically, Gerber makes fun of disco and one of KISS' biggest mainstream hits was a disco song ("I Was Made for Lovin' You") and they were on a disco label (Casablanca). KISS had already appeared in Howard the Duck #12, though that was sort of an unofficial appearance. They cut a special deal for this project, which, according to Gene Simmons, included ownership of the original art. Steve Gerber, in an editorial, says Stan and Marvel were looking at entering the rock magazine market, and this grew out of that idea and Gerber got the opportunity to edit it, despite not being into hard rock. he met with KISS' management and attended a concert and enjoyed the theatrics and the project built from there. Obviously, the band had editorial approval, via their management; so, like most licensed deals, compromises were made to produce something in keeping with the band's image. There is a history and discography of the band, by Michael Gross, a music journalist who wrote for the NME, Zoo, Circus and Swank, among others. There is also a feature on the alleged mixing of blood samples of the band in the printing ink...  The photos are obviously staged and you never see anything approaching blood in them; but, the band has always maintained (as has Marvel) that the stunt was real. I suspect it is mostly exaggeration, as you probably couldn't have drawn more than a vial each and it would be so diluted as to be minimal, for enough ink for the entire print run. Of course, decades later, Mark Gruenwald's ashes were allegedly mixed with printing ink for the first edition of the Squadron Supreme trade paperback. Again, it's possible; but, likely only trace particles, compared to what people imagine. The end papers give us behind the scenes photos, including Stan in his toupee, Marie Severin looking rather red (it's a B&W photo and is probably the shadows) and one of the artists' management guys, Sean Delaney (credited as special consultant), looking like he was the third member of the Blackjacks.   The basic premise of the power totems would be reused for the abomination which is KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. That, too, features the band as some kind of superhero rock group (and bad actors). The magazine sold huge numbers, as KISS was at its height of popularity and fans bought anything with their faces on it. It was part of a first wave of KISS merchandise, with t-shirts, posters and even Mego dolls........ahem..."action figures." KISS would return for a sequel, though sales weren't quite the same and we didn't get a similar PR stunt. Marvel Super Speciaal would return to that more familiar comic, which Gene tosses in the trash, featuring a familiar Cimmerian.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 15, 2020 20:55:30 GMT -5
Marvel Graphic Novel #37, Hercule: Full Circle Herc going with a skirt and leggings but he really needs to rethink his accessorizing. The bondage look is fine, though a little more subtlety to it would look more stylish. Creative Team: Bob Layton-story & art, John Workman-letters, George Roussos-colors, Gregory Wright-editor. Herc already had a couple of minis under his belt (both in his attire and as series) and this follows upon those, with Herc tooling around space. Synopsis: In the Andromeda Galaxy, on the planet Wilean (rather than Skyron, with the blancmange creatures), a drunken spy (not 007) relates to Emperor Arimathes (the guy with the Nathaniel Hawthorne shout out) the story of Hercules, as muddled up by Marvel's poor grasp of mythology and previous Bob Layton tales of Herc in space, with a Rigellian Recorder (robot, not an annoying musical instrument), gettin' into trouble and drinking Galactus under the table (along with Emmanuel Kant, Heidegger, Hume, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Wittgenstein, Schlegel, Nietzsche, Socrates, John Stuart Mill, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, and Descartes) . The Emperor is not amused and it is off with his head. The spy replies, "Blimey; I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!" when in comes Cardinals Jimenez, Biggles and Fang and lots of yackin' about no one expecting the Spanish Inquisition and their chief weapons, yadda, yadda yadda.... He then relates Zeus going on a killing spree and Herc having to face down Daddy and stopping short of killing him, and it was all a test (but not the Third Test) and Herc is sent off to create a new race of gods and goes on Galactic E-Harmony to find a mate (waste of money dude; they sucker you until you want to leave, then flood you with matches). So, he, the Recorder and a shapechanger named Skyppi (who may or may not morph into bush kangaroos; it isn't clearly stated, though he is a Skrull) are off on a search to find Mrs. Right The spy reveals (along with his lunch) that Herc is the dude who visited their planet some 30 years ago. Arimathes orders Herc to be brought to him in chains (and probably washed and oiled and....well, you know how it goes wit these types in government) and we're off.  Herc is busy partying with his Bros and an Essex Girl, when klaxons go off. Galactus' ship is spotted in the sky and everyone evacuates. Then, they all leave the club and run for the hills. Arimathes' guards turn up to arrest Herc, who orders them to stay while he faces down Galactus. They tell him to come back and put himself under arrest when he is done. He takes Skyppi and faces off with Galactus, who ignores him, which gets a ruddy bunch of fives!  Herc and Skyppi take their chariot (only two horsepower!) up to Galactus' ship and find out it is a fake, with two crooks, Alpo and Clyde, inside. Herc and Skyppi know these fools and subdue them for the police. Herc then goes with "the Plod" to see the head man. Herc tells him to hurry up, he's a busy man and some hooded person whispers in Arimathes ear. He confirms that Herc is from the third planet in the Sol System, that he visited Wilean 30 years before and I smell Maury Povich about to walk in with some DNA results. The guards blast Herc unconscious, take the recorder away, and it becomes time for a father and son chat. We cut to Herc's new room, where he and Skyppi are held prisoner on some neutralizing tables, where Mallax Fortnite, ex-military governor of a conquered planet relates how Arimathes is planning on a little lebensraum action on the Omacron system, when the robed figure comes in. It's the Queen Mum. She trashes Herc for skirt-chasing and says he's in for it. Herc tells the others that the Queen was a liar who tried to con him before and he discovered the truth. Arimathes and Mom are doing a Palpatine-style inspection when assassins try to take him out and get smooshed. Back in the palace, the former Lord Igwanas (a noble dude who Queen Layana lied about) is now blind and broken and serving the royal dudes. He feeds Herc, then they catch up and Herc gets released. He is then joined by a hot babe pirate, named Lucynda Thrust (probably her porn name) and the Wilean People's Front, which is much better than working with the People's Front of Wilea (or the Popular Front, who is sitting just over there....Splitter!!) Skyppi makes like Queen Layana (she of the butch hairdo) and they head off for some mayhem. They bluff their way through the palace to an elevator, when an uppity Jamaican control system won't let them through. He reconsiders when he see Herc and hears of the possibility of ending up as the remains of an old set of Meccano (that's an Erector set, for the Muricans in the audience). Up they go and they sneak onto some ships. Arimathes does more Palpatine and the ships launch, though Herc and his friends trash the soldiers who board them. they look to be free; but, Herc wants to stop the armada. they con communications codes out of their prisoners and Skyppi makes like Arimathes and calls the armada to a halt. herc then makes a phone call to his son and challenges him to an Olympus Death Match, on a nearby planet. Arimathes accepts and tickets are available at the box office or call Ticketmaestro. Herc waits for Arimathes and Igwanas gives him some advice. Single A shows up and the ref calls for the bell, as Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse "The Body" call the action. Herc blindfolds himself but still takes the early fight to Single A, with some fast punches, shoulder blocks and a dropkick off the ropes. Single A makes the comeback and hits Herc with a few foreign objects (boulders), but, as Jesse reminds us, this is legal. He hits a Spinebuster on Herc and punches him while Monsoon worries about the champ. Jesse cackles. Betting is starting to switch to Herc and Single A is unable to finish Herc. he hits him with a bodyslam and a pair of Bionic Elbows and Herc is down for the count.  Herc makes the Superman Comeback and knocks out Single A. The ref counts him out and all cheer. Herc denies the throne and tries to reclaim his boy. He is able to persuade the kid to turn babyface and they banish mom to exile, in her room, forever. Arimathes appoints the gang ashis new advisors and Herc and Lucynda go off to live up to her surname. Bob Layton tells us that is the end of the story of Herc. Thoughts: Fun tale, but it is pretty much a one-shot stretched out to an album length, with a lot of recapping of the two hercules mini-series, from Layton. This is set in the 24th Century (100 years before Buck Rogers would meet Herc  ), which explains why no other Marvel dudes are around. Layton has a lot of fun with Herc and his minis and this are a pretty good template for doing potential herc movies, if Marvel ever desires (and you know Disney will, eventually, if only to revive their animated one), Arimathes' guards all look like Crimson Dynamo rejects, which shows that Layton had no imagination for new armor, after so long on Iron Man. He changed it up a bit by the time Valiant came along. His future is all bland techno architecture and spaceships, with blocky everything, but women in mini-skirts and heels, or big earrings and boots. It was the 80s. The female characters are pretty thin and are either beyotches or party girls, so not much depth there. Not that too many other works at Marvel were striking a blow for feminism, apart from Claremont, and his perspective was about as skewed as William Marston. Layton continued on Iron Man for a bit longer, before (according to Shooter) burning some bridges at Marvel and joining him at Valiant (where Shooter also claims he stabbed him in the back, which is pretty much how Shooter describes a great many of his colleagues). As these things go, this is a bit of a weak graphic novel, with all of the recap to link it to the Herc minis; but, it is an entertaining enough story to put it ahead of many of the other entries in the line.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 15, 2020 21:33:06 GMT -5
For the benefit of the wrestling-challenged: "Double A" Arn Anderson (Marty Lunde)...  (as opposed to "Single A" Arimathes) Wrestler, announcer, promoter Gorilla Monsoon (Robert Morella)..  Jesse "the Body" Ventura...  Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura were often paired together for announcing, with Gorilla doing the play-by-play and Ventura doing the heel color commentary. Monsoon also worked with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Ventura was paired with Vince McMahon. A Texas Death Match was a special match where falls counted anywhere, there was no disqualification, and the match went until one man couldn't answer the bell. In the old days, they could run to 90 minutes (and a few went two hours). So, an Olympus Death Match is the Greek mythological equivalent. However, Marvel thinks Hades is a place, not the God of the Underworld, and that he is Hercules, not Herakles; so, you know.... Double A, executing a Spinebuster...  Dusty Rhodes executing the Bionic Elbow...  Turning babyface-when the heel (bad guy) sees the error of his ways and becomes a babyface (hero). The opposite is to Turn Heel, when the babyface turns on a friend and sucker punches them. The Superman Comeback was the point in a Hulk Hogan match where the heel's punches and kicks would no longer affect Hogan, his eyes would bulge, he would shake off the effect, then snap his head up and wave a finger at the heel and proceed to hit him with punches and kicks, hit the clothesline off the rope, then go into the legdrop off the rope and pin his opponent. Usually around the 14 minute mark of the match as he didn't have the stamina for 30 minute or longer matches. The Ultimate Warrior didn't have the stamina for a 5 minute match, after his ring entrance. Roids are bad, M'kay? |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 15, 2020 21:52:12 GMT -5
For those in the audience who haven't spent 40 years of their lives watching British television programs on PBS and home video: Andromeda Galaxy, planet Skyron, blancmange creatures-Monty Python sci-fi sketch where everyone is being turned into Scottsmen, so the blancmange creatures (from Skyron, in the Andromeda Galaxy) can win Wimbledon (as Scottsmen are the worst tennis players in the world). Drinking Galactus and Kant, et al, under the table-refers to the Philosopher's Song, from the Python albums, about the drinking proclivities of various philosophers, according to the Philosophy Department Faculty of the University of Walamaloo. "Immanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable; Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy begger who could drink you under the table...etc, etc... " Spanish Inquisition-Python sketch involving surprise appearances by the three members: Cardinals Jimenez, Biggles and Fang...  Third Test-cricket reference, used in Python cricket sketches, including one where the BBC is operating out of a small flat, trying to keep up the rent. Bush Kangaroo-reference to the Australian children's television series, Skippy, The Bush Kangaroo, about, what else, a kangaroo. Broadcast on British television, as well as other Commonwealth countries. Essex Girl-follow the link for a full explanation; in short, a blond bimbo. Bunch of Fives-a punch (five fingers bunched into a fist). Plod-The Old Bill, aka uniformed police constables (who plod away). See also Dixon of Dock Green (tv series about a uniformed police constable, played by Jack Hawkins) Wilean People's Front, People's Front of Wilea-reference to Monty Python's The Life of brian, which features Judean revolutionary groups The People's Front of Judea and the Judean People's Front (as well as the Popular Front)-joke about Left-wing groups splintering off, as well as the various Palestinian groups of the era. Meccano-as explained, the original version of the American Erector set. The Meccano people own both, now. |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Jan 16, 2020 13:46:50 GMT -5
KISS would return for a sequel, though sales weren't quite the same and we didn't get a similar PR stunt. Marvel Super Speciaal would return to that more familiar comic, which Gene tosses in the trash, featuring a familiar Cimmerian.
I have very fond memories of this story (I liked KISS briefly when I was in my early teens, although even then more for their superhero imagery than their actual music). Gerber's silliness was a good match for the group. Unfortunately he didn't get to write the sequel, so it was bland in comparison.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 16, 2020 17:16:48 GMT -5
Marvel Super Special #2, Savage Sword of Conan Hey, a Conan movie! I wonder who they will get to play him? He needs to be a big, muscular guy. Maybe if they put a dark wig on Superstar Billy Graham.  No idea who that other musclehead is. Earl Norem cover. Creative Team: Roy Thomas-writer/editor and slayer of dragons, John Buscema-pencils and conqueror of Aquilonia, Alfredo Alcala-inker and lord of Khitai, Joe Rosen-calligrapher and usurper of Kush, Marie Severin-colorist and Witch Queen of Zamora Since Robert E Howard was s@#$-kicker from Texas, Conan herein shall be portrayed by Stone Cold Steve Austin. Conan 3:16 says I just cleaved your ass! By Crom! Synopsis: Conan is hanging out with pirates and has popped back a few cold ones. The bodies litter the decks, a combination of beers and Stone Conan Stunners. After wetting his whistle, Conan finds no one is at the wheel. Hell, son, there's a Zingaran man o' war of the starboard quarter. Conan's tag-team partners are out cold and the Zingaran captain calls for Conan to strike colors and surrender. Conan flips him the bird and proceeds to stomp a mudhole into the boarders as the come across, until some jack@$$ hits him from behind, with a club...  He's dragged before the Zingaran captain, who he recognizes as Dom Castillius, aka Basqus the Butcher, a pirate in service to the Zingaran king. He relates how he knows he's nothing but a lowdown, yellowbelly sidewinder and killer of children. The pirate captain offers him his life, as part of the crew, as they go treasure hunting. Conan answers, "Hell, son, I know where there is a bigger treasure, in the jungle, with jewels and big as eggs. Castillus agrees, though he plans to double cross Conan later. He must be Vince McMahon. They land and start hunting for the temple. Conan leads them into an ambush by the natives and uses the distraction to roll out of the ring and grab a chair. Castillus and his men fight, but only Castillus escapes, following the path Conan called the road to hell. He is visited by terrors, in his dreams, as he sleeps in a hiding place. He awakens, heads out and runs into Conan. Coan cuts a promo about wanting to see him die and he snatches a locket and Castillus whines about a wife and brat. Conan lets him go, when the natives turn up for a battle royal. They dive out of the ring and Castillus ends up in a snakepit and Conan has to rescue him from some big friends of Jake "the Snake" Roberts. They end up back in the fight with the natives, then sucker them into the snakepit. Conan swipes a gold necklace from an idol and cuts it in half, giving part to Castillus. They part company when they reach the sea. Thoughts: Not a particularly memorable tale, but a good adventure, with great art. Pretty much a pirate story/treasure hunt, with a proto-Spaniard. A text feature at the end gives bios for Howard, Thomas, Buscema, Alcala and Severin. Joe Rosen doesn't even warrant a footnote. That is followed by an update on a Conan film, from producer Ed Pressman. Roy is involved in the screenplay and the actor picked is some body builder with the unlikely name of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He'll never get anywhere in Hollywood with a name like that. He should call himself Arnold Strong, or something. Never have a long career; probably a Hercules film and maybe a couple of low budget things, then oblivion. They mention potential directors as Richard Fleischer and John Milius. Milius would end up as director of the first one and Fleischer would helm the sequel, Conan the Destroyer. This magazine was published in 1977 and they had already been in development for a year. The actual film wouldn't come out until 1982. In between, Oliver Stone would write a script and Milius would write his own. Thomas and Gerry Conway would get screen credit for the sequel, though their work was heavily revised.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 16, 2020 17:46:06 GMT -5
Marvel Graphic novel #38, Silver Surfer: Judgement Day Hmmmm............Stan & Big John.............. Creative Team: Stan Lee-script, John Buscema-art & plot, Phil Felix-letters, Christie Scheele-colors, Ralph Macchio-editor, Tom DeFalco-EIC & plot. Art assist by Vincent Mielcarek. Synopsis: Surfer flies through space and avoids a trap set by mephisto. he meets up with Nova, Galactus' herald and they heang out, before she goes back to her master. She falls prey to Mephisto's trap and she calls Galactus to consume a populated world. It's destroyed, Surfer hears of it from refugees and goes to stop Nova and Galactus. the heralds fight and Galactus smooshes Surfer and he ends up in hell, with mephisto, where he makes a bargain of his soul to stop Nova and Galactus. FNova is drawn in, figures out she has been tricked, Galactus shows up, consumes Hell and Mephisto releases the heralds.  Thoughts: This is the thinnest of plots. Buscema wanted to do his own Surfer story, with single panel pages illustrating it. He and De Falco conjured up what threads there are and John drew it. Stan was asked to script it and try to make sense out of this. Buscema's art looks nice; but, this is little more than a glorified poster book. The original Stan & Jack Surfer graphic novel had more story than this. In his intro, Stan calls it the first of its kind, which it isn't, as any picture storybook would tell you. $10.95 seems like a hefty price for so little. I think Marvel hoped that putting Stan's name on it would draw collectors; but, I'm not aware that it did, to any significant degree. Like much of Marvel, by this point, the graphic novel line lacks any direction.
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Post by berkley on Jan 17, 2020 1:42:11 GMT -5
Interesting that Buscema wanted to do his own Surfer story - I remember reading that he didn't really like superhero comics that much and would have assumed that extended to the Surfer and Galactus, though I suppose you could say that those characters are more science/fantasy in general and don't have to be written as superheroes/villains. But I thought Buscema's preferred fantasy was more Tarzan, Conan, Prince Valiant, etc, that kind of thing.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2020 12:51:37 GMT -5
I think that's the first time I've ever seen a picture of John Buscema - he's not at all how I pictured him |
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Post by berkley on Jan 17, 2020 22:04:07 GMT -5
I used to picture Steve Gerber looking something like characters such as Richard Rory in Man-Thing or the guy with the sleep disorder in Howard the Duck #4 (I think it was), and that's kind of how Jim Mooney drew him, Gerber, in the last issue of Man-Thing, but none of the photos I've seen look very much like those comics characters, the one above being a good example.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 21, 2020 17:25:15 GMT -5
Marvel Super Special #3, Close Encounters of the Third Kind Oh, geez; not another stupid UFO film. I sthis another of those ridiculous Sun Classic pictures, with conspiracy theories about Bigfoot and aliens building the Incan and Egyptian cities? What, the Jaws guy? Really? Columbia Pictures? TAnd that French New Wave director that did Fahrenheit 451 is acting in it? Hunh........... The original release poster....  Bob Larkin presents us with the iconic elements: spaceships, humans running after them, and Devil's Tower, Wyoming. Creative Team: Archie Goodwin-writer/editor, Walt Simonson-pencils, Klaus Janson-inks, Gaspar Saladino-letters, Marie Severin-colors The credits page includes the movie credits, which state "Written and directed by Stephen Spielberg." That was the credit; but, the script was also written by Paul Schrader, John Hill, David Giler, Hal Barwood, Matthew Robbins and Jerry Belson. Synopsis: In the Senora region of Mexico, a team examines the sight of several US Navy planes, from WW2. A Frenchman asks questions of an old man and a cartographer, on the team, translates. The man says a bright light appeared in the sky and the planes appeared. The man has a curious sunburn on his face...  An air traffic controller in Indianapolis gets strange blips on his radar and there is chatter between several planes about strange objects. Neither wish to file a UFO report. In Muncie, IN, a bot is awakened by battery powered toys coming to life and runs outside, laughing. His mother is awakened and chases out after him. Roy Neary, a utility worker, is arguing with his wife and kids when he gets a call to head out for emergency work, due to heavy power drains. He goes off to Crystal Lake and other crews tell him about the disappearance of 2 miles of cable. He then hears about lightning in another area, which was the first to go dark. He goes chasing after it; but, doesn't know the area and gets lost and tries to figure things out on a map...  He nearly runs into the young boy, Barry Guiler and his mother, Jillian. There are others sitting on the side of the road, watching the skies. He makes sure the boy is all right, when bright lights come swarming through the area, soon pursued by local police. They chase the lights and a squad car crashes through a road barrier and goes down a hill. Roy rushes home and wakes his wife and kids and drags them out to see, but they don't find anything further. The next morning, Roy is shaving and notices the burn on his face, which is only on the side that was exposed to the lights in the sky. He starts staring at the mound of shave cream in his hand. He receives a phone call that he has been fired for abandoning his job to chase the lights. In India, the survey team from Mexico move through a large crowd, with microphones, recording the chanting going on. An older man is interviewed and speaks of lights in the skies. They isolate the chants to 5 musical notes. Later, those notes are broadcast into space. meanwhile, Roy goes back to the scene of his encounter and finds Jillian and others. Jillian also has a burn, around her face and next and exposed cleavage. Bary is playing in the dirt, building a hill. Roy becomes entranced and starts adding detail, then Jillian brushes off the top and flattens it. Lights appear again; but, this time, it is a group of helicopters, dispersing the crowd. Later, at home, Jillian carries out chores, while Barry plays the same 5 notes on a toy xylophone. Lights appear and Jillian runs into the house and locks the doors and windows. Doors and windows shake. Barry goes over and opens a door and is bathed in light and Jillian snatches him back. She hides and appliances come to life, heating duct grills shake and light pours through. She is overwhelmed by noise, until it suddenly stops, and Barry is gone. The survey team is broadcasting the musical notes into space and are receiving a sequence of numbers, repeated over and over. The cartographer/translator identifies them as latitude and longitude coordinates and the area is identified as Wyoming. Next, Roy appears before an Air Force investigation panel and testifies to what he saw; but, is mocked. His wife berates him for how he sounds. He sees Jillian and calls to her, which angers his wife more. reporters badger Jillian about the disappearance of her son.  Roy's behavior becomes increasingly distracted and obsessive. While spooning mashed potatoes, he becomes mesmerized and piles on more, then starts carving lines into it, with a fork. He wakes up his wife as he tears out shrubs and throws them through a window. He drags in chicken wire and his wife grabs the kids and piles them into the car and takes off, leaving Roy. he builds a model of a mountain, on his train table, to exacting detail. Jillian paints and both see news reports about a rain derailment near Devil's Tower, WY. They see the rock formation in the distance of the shot. It matches Roy's model and Jillian's paintings.  The news reports suggest a leak of nerve gas and dead animals seem to confirm this. Roy and Jillian travel in a rented car, with gas masks. They are run down by Air Force helicopters and arrested for violating the quarantine. They are interrogated and Roy meets the mysterious Frenchman. Later, the Frenchman argues with a military officer about the various people who have been drawn to the site. He refuses to allow them to stay and Roy and Jillian, and others, are packed into a helicopter. Roy doesn't buy the cover story and pulls off his mask and breathes in the air. Jillian does the same and they take off into the bushes. They climb the mountain, along with a third man. Roy knows the terrain, due to his model. helicopters search for them. Roy and Jillian reach the top to find a field camp set up, with larger searchlights, cameras and trailers. Music is played and a board of lights translates the notes into flashes. Soon, lights come over the summit and a ship appears...  It answers the notes back and continues to transmit, until it transmits a basic alphabet for communication. Eventually, the ship draws towards the ground and "lands." A piece opens up and bright light emerges. Soon, out of the blinding light come people. There are military pilots, in WW2-era flight suits. Barry emerges and Jillian runs to him. Eventually, strange creatures with large heads emerge. They beckon to Roy and he goes with them, inside...  The ship closes and flies away. Thoughts: If you want to adapt a story from one medium to another, especially a visual medium, the person you want is Archie Goodwin. Roy Thomas got the plum assignment to adapt Star Wars, after Gerry Conway kept Logan's Run for himself. Roy did a fine job; but, Archie brought the series to life and would also bring life to the syndicated newspaper strip, along with collaborators Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon. Here, he is working with old friend Walt Simonson and, as with Manhunter, they create an exercise in storytelling. Look at the page above, as Roy checks his map and the lights come up the highway. Archie and Walt use a similar panel progression to those in manhunter to convey a rhythm to the scene, as we get the heightened feelings as the light approaches, until they overwhelm. Archie and Walt know when to pull in and pan out, making it about the characters or the visual. They pare the story down to the essential plot points, while still recreating the visuals of the film, in a 2-D form. The adaptation is based on the original film release, before a Special Edition was released, with 7 minutes of new footage (and trims of existing footage, which actually reduced the overall run time). We see that a deleted scene (or unfilmed) one is provided, as Roy takes part in an Air Force panel, and Jillian is hounded by reporters and Roy's wife sees Jillian. I suspect this was in the script and Archie included it, because they hadn't seen a finished cut of the film, as these adaptations were timed to coincide with the film release. This happened in the Star Wars adaptation, as Vader is seen holding a beverage and Roy included deleted scenes on Tatooine. Quite often, the adaptors only had the film script and production stills and drawings from which to work. They have to fill in the gaps. When Western/Gold Key did Star Trek, the series hadn't been shown in Italy and Italian artist, Alberto Giolitti, had not seen an episode and had to work with a few publicity photos of the cast and the Enterprise model. He featured rocket exhaust coming out of the engine nacelles, as he didn't know better. The likenesses aren't particularly close and most seem very generic, though of the type of the actors. Either Marvel was not given cast photos; or (more likely), Marvel did not have the rights to use the actors' likenesses. In such instances, they do the best they can to match the basic appearance, in the film. Star Wars also featured somewhat generic looks, though when they did Empire, Al Williamson made it very close to the actors (and in the comic strip, as well). Lucas held the rights from the beginning; but, Marvel may not have had enough visual references. With Close Encounters, the script changed multiple times and new pieces were constantly being added, right up to release. Spielberg and producer Julia Phillips got into fights over his eprfectionism, though she did also have a cocaine problem. Release was pushed back from summer to November, though Spielberg had wanted to wait until the summer of 1978. Columbia was overspent on the film and in financial peril and needed the box office they perceived to save the studio and wouldn't budge on the November date. When it was a hit, they allowed Spielberg to put together the Special Edition, which was the cut he wanted, though they demanded seeing inside the ship, which he had wanted to remain in the mind of the audience. The comic can't convey some of the most iconic scenes, since it can't replicate sound and motion. Most strikingly is the musical communication with the alien mothership..  The book ends with an essay by Archie, about the process of adapting the film, talking about using the film script, some photo references, and a trailer. They were working before the film was completed. he explains about the storytelling mechanics, how some scenes required more time on the comic page, since the actor couldn't convey the same emotion, on the page.  He also confirms that they did not have likeness rights and were barred from showing the aliens, in detail. They got a rough cut screening and tweaked smom things, but that was it. Archie and Walt would go on to do probably the best adaptation of a film, with the Heavy Metal graphic novel adaptation of Ridley Scott's Alien, two years later. It may be hard for younger members to understand; but, Star Wars and Close Encounters were released at the dawn of home video. Players were the toys of wealthy tech geeks and there was little commercial product available for home viewing. offsetting that was a longer run in theaters. Opening weekend was not the end-all, be-all of commercial films. Releases often started small and grew by word of mouth a good press. Popular films would be held over in theaters, for longer engagements. Star Wars remained in some theaters for over a year, or came back to them a few months later. Close Encounters got to enjoy the increased demand for sci-fi that Star Wars generated and did massive box office and was also in theaters for extended periods. The Special Edition release brought it back for more. Leaving aside multiple trips to the theater, the other ways you could relive a film is through adaptations, in other media. The main source of this was the novelizations that were done. The novelization of Close Encounters was done by Leslie Walters, though, like George Lucas, Spielberg got credit on the book cover (Alan Dean Foster wrote the Star wars novelization). An emerging source, for sci-fi films, were "photonovels" where stills from the film are used to create fumetti (photo comics, named after the Italian term for comics, meaning puffs of smoke, referring to word and thought balloons). The other was the comic book. Western, both in the partnership with Dell and on their own, as Gold key and Whitman, were the kings of the film adaptation. Apart from a select few, with people like Dan Spiegle, those tended to be rather spare and visually staid. Marvel was heavily moving into this territory, with previous adaptations of Sinbad, Killdozer and Logan's Run, and the massive hit of Star Wars. Star Wars was making more money than the rest of the Marvel line and Marvel aggressively pursued film licenses, particularly sci-fi and fantasy. Marvel Super Special would soon become the vehicle for many of these adaptations, delivering them in a single format, while the regular comics might serialize the story over several issues. We used to pour over these comics and novels to relive the thrills of the films, until we had our own VCRs and tapes (or, if you had money, like my cousins, on Video Disc or the later laserdisc). Then, films could be rented or purchased and studied frame by frame, again and again. Barring that, you waited for the network premiere or the debut on HBO (which really wasn't a major thing until the 80s) and Cinemax.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 21, 2020 18:32:42 GMT -5
Marvel Graphic Novel #39, The Inhumans Creative Team: Ann Nocenti-writer, Bret Blevins-pencils, Al Williamson-inks, Jim Novak & Gaspar Saladino-letters, Michael Higgins-colors, Bob Harras-editor Synopsis: in the Blue Area of the moon lies the hidden city of Attilan, home of the Inhumans....  They are the end result of genetic experiments carried out by ancient Kree explorers, on Earth. The group originally lived, hidden, in the Himalayas, before, eventually, relocating to the moon. A new bride is on a balcony and trows off a tiara, then jumps after it, falling to her death, which is witnessed by Gorgon, of the Royal Family. She was intended to one man, but loved another. Weddings are rare and require official sanctioning. Mixing of bloodlines can have extreme results, due to their volatile DNA and the mutagenic terrigan mists. We see that there is unrest in the populace, as they wish the freedom to marry those they choose. The elders resist. the debate is carried out by Gorgon, who supports the council and Karnak, who supports the young protesters. Only the intervention of Triton prevents them from coming to blows. Meanwhile, in chambers, Medusa tells her husband, the king, Black Bolt, that she is pregnant. She promises a son and heir. Later, they preside over a council meeting as the populace demands action on the suicides and the question of free marriage. medusa speaks for Black Bolt and tables talk of the topic and announces the impending birth. her joy is short-lived, as the council forbids the birth, for fear of a cursed child, like the insane brother Maximus or Black Bolt, himself, whose tiniest whisper unleashes tremendous destruction. Medusa argues that they won't subject the child to the mists and the council points to Karnak, who wasn't, yet his abilities emerged anyway. They fear that the mists are no longer necessary for the mutations to emerge. They rule that the child should be destroyed (Nocenti avoids the word "aborted")  Black Bolt stands with the council and Medusa flees to Earth, with the help of the teleporting Lockjaw. Crystal talks to Lockjaw and convinces him to take her to Medusa. She appeals to the others to join her. Quicksilver alerts Black Bolt, who does nothing. Medusa hides in a junkyard, on Earth, with a handmaiden (a shapeshifter) and the baby starts kicking. Maximus goes to Earth to search for Medusa to take her back, in another plot to destroy his brother. The others find Medusa and Crystal says she can purify the environment, despite the council denying such actions as unnatural. Gorgon is torn between tradition and the new reality. Medusa misses her husband. Crystal purifies the area. The handmaiden knows this is wrong and seeks to gain an ally in Gorgon. Black Bolt transmits thoughts to his unborn child to remain silent.  We see the Earth begin to react to Crystal's actions. Gravity is disrupted, winds are cold, water flows wrong. The birth nears and Black Bolt appears to Medusa, but it is Maximus, using an illusion. he comes to claim his original intended, before he was deposed. He disappears, as the fetus reacts. A storm brews and an unnatural sight attacks the Inhumans. They fight and Medusa goes into labor. The child is born and the others dread its first cry, but it makes no sound...  Medusa sleeps, her child in a crib, when the elemental figure appears again. All hell breaks loose, until the babe utters a cry, destroying it. He is then silent and even Medusa can see in his eyes that he is changed. Black Bolt comes and all return with him, but he allows the council to take away the child, for study. Medusa is heartbroken and their marriage will never be the same...  Maximus is returned to prison, where he schemes again. The future is unknown. Thoughts: This gets pretty heavy handed and dire, as it progresses and it begins with a suicide! It whirls in themes of fear of a child with a "deformity" and the right to decide for oneself whether to bring the child into the world. Essentially, Nocenti is carrying out the abortion debate; but centering around the idea of birth defects; or, in this case, dangerous mutations. The Inhumans are the byproducts of genetic experiments, whose results are further enhanced by the mutagenic terrigan mists. Their society is rigidly controlled, lest haphazard mingling of bloodlines create their own destruction. However, we see that their actions bring their destruction, even with good intentions. Crystal's altering the balance of nature creates chaos, as every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Black Bolt is a ruler and must uphold law, even for his own family. Medusa wants to bring a child into their lives, for them to grow. The rest take sides in the debate. Nocenti's ambitions are high, but she is hindered by a tendency to over-write and by the editorial restrictions in place, due to subject matter. She tries to handle things metaphorically; but, superoes are not necessarily the best vessel for this metaphor. One wonders if this wasn't intended to be an X-Men peice but was shot down, so it was retooled for the Inhumans. Also inhibiting the metaphor is the rubbery art of Bret Blevins. Many of his figures and panels cross into cartoon and it alters the tone of things. In some cases, it adds the intended feeling of horror, in others, it is off-putting and takes one out of the story. Al Williamson does not pull Blevins into a more solid reality. I recall looking at this in the comic shop but putting it down. It is filled with excessive text and imagery that didn't really inspire me. it just felt like too much, which was a shame, as I liked the Inhumans, from the first time I saw them in a Hulk story (possibly one of the annuals). Marvel dabbled with them; but, in the absence of Kirby or Roy Thomas, seemed oblivious as to what to do with them. Nocenti treats them like the X-Men, which might be the origin of the trend which got accelerated, in the 90s, to where Marvel used them to substitute for mutants, due to film rights issues with Fox. Really, little would succeed in selling, until the Marvel Knights series, several years later, with special praise going to Jae Lee's art. That series would win an Eisner Award. Again, we see how the graphic novel is being used for stories that don't transcend normal formats. This seems rather like New Mutants, where they wanted to introduce a new series. Little came of it, other than a one-shot and Nocenti using Gorgon and Karnak in Daredevil. Nothing more would happen until the Marvel Knights series. Next time, we get a Punisher graphic novel, which thrills me to no end. Inhumans disappointed me, which makes reviewing it hard. I loathe the Punisher. Can it change my mind?
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), which explains why no other Marvel dudes are around. Layton has a lot of fun with Herc and his minis and this are a pretty good template for doing potential herc movies, if Marvel ever desires (and you know Disney will, eventually, if only to revive their animated one),
