Originally published October 6, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1403
It was the moment I nearly resigned from The Incredible Hulk.
I had embarked upon a storyline in which Betty Banner was pregnant. Several issues had already come out, and suddenly I was informed by the powers that be that the storyline was to be—you should pardon the expression—aborted.
Originally published September 29, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1402
The release of the “Ultimate Marvel” line, the first of which launches this week (as of this writing) with Spider-Man, serves several purposes. The first, of course, is that it downgrades the previous forty years of Marvel tales by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, et al, into merely a Penultimate Marvel line, leading up to the overwhelming greatness represented in the new series. A sizable legacy to live up to, indeed. However, it also seeks to address a genuine problem facing many potential new readers: Where to start?
Continue Reading “Ultimate Marvel and redefining comics for adults”
Originally published September 22, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1401
Two without-warnings in the past few days…
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The story has it that, at an auction house where a Carl Barks “Scrooge” painting was going up, Steve Geppi of Diamond stood the moment the bidding commenced and raised his bidding paddle. He held it out and up in a manner no less determined than Van Helsing defiantly holding a crucifix in the face of an advancing Count Dracula, and not once did Geppi lower it. So determined was he to get it that he kept the paddle up there, automatically jumping over every would-be competitor until the bidding was all done and he was the owner of it. Such is the determination and passion that the work of the masterful Barks inspired in some folks.
Continue Reading “Remembering Carl Barks’ work & Marvel editorial changes”
Seriously. I’m wondering what the hëll people want from films anymore.
Remember Nicholas Hammond? That was my first live action Spider-Man, and the TV was ghastly from the top down. Bad stories, bad acting, bad effects, just bad.
And now we have the current sequel to “The Amazing Spider-Man” that is, to my mind, 110% better than the previous entry. I found it to be a compelling combination of genuine drama, beautifully played by Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone (not to mention Oscar Winner Sally Fields) and thrilling action sequences that seemed, in the way they were portrayed and Spidey quipped his way through them, to be lifted directly from the pages of the comic.
Jamie Foxx was a marvelous Max Dillon. So he was a classic geek: so what? It provided a nice contrast to what he eventually became. And Dane Dehaan was marvelously creepy as Harry Osborn. And sure, the Rhino was only in for a few minutes, but so what? Gives the third film somewhere to start from.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and I just don’t understand why I’m seeing reviewers bìŧçhìņg about it.
PAD
Originally published September 8, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1399
Spider-Man Fans Up In Arms Over What’s Up with Spider-Man’s arms! Film at 2001!
I have learned to take, with a massive helping of salt, fan angst over news related to upcoming superhero films. My baptism of fire, so to speak, in that arena came at a convention when I was on a general Q&A panel with several other pros. We were asked, as a group, what we thought of the (then) news that director Tim Burton had cast Michael Keaton as Batman.
Others on the panel made it clear that, as far as they were concerned, any thoughts that Burton would produce a “serious” treatment of Batman had now fallen by the wayside. Not only was it bad enough that the film was in the hands of the director of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, but it was going to star Mr. Mom. We were going to see another camp treatment. It was inevitable, a sure thing, take it to the bank. Throughout the room, fan heads bobbed in agreement.
And I said, “Uhm… I have no intrinsic problem with either Burton or Keaton. Just because Burton’s known primarily for comedy doesn’t mean he can’t do a serious take on Batman. And Keaton’s an actor. A comic actor can play something straight. The film might actually be pretty good because they’re both talented guys…”
It was the nearest I’ve ever come to being booed off a panel. I’ve never been barraged with that much hostility. Even some of the pros were looking at me as if I’d advocated using a dead baby seal to bludgeon the Pope.
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