A Message From Hellboy .....

Stan the Man?

With several artist co-creators, (most notably Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko), Stan Lee co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and many other iconic superheroes, introducing complex, naturalistic characterizations within a thoroughly shared universe into comic books. He led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small publishing house into a large multimedia corporation.
In response to DC Comics successful updating of their portfolio of original characters which had begun in the 1950’s, publisher Martin Goodman tasked Lee with creating a new superhero team to compete with DC’s Justice League of America. Lee's wife urged him to experiment with stories that he preferred, since he was considering on changing careers, leaving comics behind and at this point he really had nothing to lose. Jack Kirby also suggested creating flawed heroes, ones whose superpowers would not enable them to escape from personal problems such as relationships and money. Lee acted on their advice, giving his new superheroes a flawed humanity; at the time a huge change from the ideal archetypes that were typically written for pre-teen readers. These heroes had bad tempers, melancholy fits, vanity, greed, etc. They bickered amongst themselves, worried about paying their bills and impressing girlfriends, and were even sometimes physically ill. Before this “revolution”, most superheroes were idealistically perfect people with no serious, lasting problems: Superman was so powerful that nobody could harm him, and Batman was a billionaire in his secret identity.

The group that Lee and Kirby created became the first family of Marvel Comics - The Fantastic Four. Its instant popularity led Lee and the newly christened Marvel to produce a cavalcade of new titles. With Kirby, Lee also created the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, the Mighty Thor and the original X-Men; with Bill Everett, Daredevil; and with Steve Ditko, Doctor Strange and Marvel's most successful character, Spider-Man. Following up on DC's earlier reinvention of the superhero, Marvel’s pioneering new methods of comics storytelling and characterization, attracted a vast new readership by addressing more serious themes, and in the process keeping and retaining their growing audience. Among this new generation of readers were fans who wanted to write or draw comics themselves, within the new style that Marvel had pioneered, and to push the creative envelope even further.

Of course, Lee's Marvel revolution extended well beyond the characters themselves, by engaging the readership and building a sense of community between fans and creators. Lee introduced the practice of adding a credit panel on the splash page of each story, naming not just the writer and penciller - but also the inker, letterer and colorist. News about Marvel staff members and upcoming storylines was presented on the Bullpen Bulletins page, which was written in a friendly, chatty style. Throughout the 1960s, Lee scripted, art-directed, and edited most of Marvel's series; moderated the letters pages; wrote a monthly column called "Stan's Soapbox"; and produced endless promotional copy, often signing off with his trademark phrase, "Excelsior!" To handle such a massive workload and still meet deadlines, Lee used a system that was used previously by various comic-book studios, but which became known as the "Marvel Method" or "Marvel style" of comic-book creation. Lee would brainstorm a story with the assigned artist and then prepare a brief synopsis instead of a full script. Based on the synopsis, the designated artist would draw the allotted number of pages, determining the panel-to-panel storytelling on their own. After the penciled pages were turned in, Lee would write the word balloons and captions, and subsequently oversee the lettering and coloring. In effect, the artists became co-plotters, whose collaborations Lee built upon. In recent years however, and largely due to this system, the actual division of creative credits on his comics has been disputed, especially those drawn by either Kirby or Ditko. Although Lee has always praised the artists, some historians argue that their contribution was far greater than how they were credited. The dispute with Ditko over Spider-Man has often been acrimonious, although Ditko and Lee are both formally credited as co-creators in the credits of the three Spider-Man films.

Regardless of any criticism .Stan Lee's superheroes captured the imagination of teens and young adults who were part of the post World War II baby boom. Sales soared and Lee realized that he could have a meaningful and successful career in the medium after all. He even indirectly reformed the old Comics Code. In 1971, the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare asked Lee to write a story about the dangers of drug use and Lee wrote a story in which Spider-Man's best friend becomes addicted to pills. The three-part story was slated to be published in Amazing Spider-Man #96-98, but the Comics Code Authority rejected it because of its depiction of drug use; the CCA deemed the story context irrelevant. With his publisher's approval, Lee issued the comics without the CCA seal. When the comics sold well, Marvel won praise for its socially conscious efforts. This caused the CCA to loosen the Code to allow negative depictions of drugs, among other new freedoms.

Lee used comic books to provide social commentary about the real world issues like racism and bigotry. "Stan's Soapbox," besides promoting upcoming comic book projects, also addressed issues of discrimination, intolerance or prejudice. Stan Lee took pride in using sophisticated vocabulary for stories' dialogue to encourage young readers to learn new words. In later years, following Marvel’s ascension to the number one comic book publisher, Lee became the beloved figurehead and public face for Marvel Comics.

DVD Review: Planet Terror

Planet Terror is a a film tribute to the zombie genre about a group of people who are attempting to survive an onslaught of zombie-like creatures, as they also feud with a military unit. Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The new to DVD movie stars Rose McGowan, Josh Brolin and Bruce Willis. Planet Terror was released theatrically as part of a double feature with Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof under the title Grindhouse in order to replicate the experience of viewing earlier exploitation-style films in a "grindhouse" theater.

Grindhouse was released in April 2007, but despite mostly positive reviews, the film vastly underperformed at the box office. Tarantino & Rodriguez reproduced the "grindhouse" look of damaged film reels by editing the movie with real film damage, plug-ins, and stock footage. They also experimented with this technique by inserting "missing reels" into the film.

For horror addicts, Planet Terror has plenty of gory fun moments, special digital effects (check out McGowan's rifle prosthetic), and also features other genre stars such as Tom Savini, Michael Beihn, Jeff Fahey and Lost’s Naveen Andrews.

Worth checking out ..... Silver Comics!

I just love the world wide web, you never know what kind of cool things you're gonna find there and being a life-long fan of comics, its always nice to find some new stuff that hearkens back to the "good old days" (they really were) of comics silver age.

Picking up the mantle of the original golden age comic book legacy, the silver age of comics that began in the mid-1950's, really hit its stride in the long-haired hippie-type, pinko-fag era of the 1960's with the emergence of Marvel Comics and the transformation of staid rival DC Comics that occurred near the end of the freelove decade in response to Marvel's incredible publishing surge.

Cut to today, where established artist Juan "Johnny" Ortiz and several of his talented cronies have quietly been issuing a title known simply as Silver Comics. Both an homage to the classic age of the same name and a refreshing alternative to the grim & gritty, entirely-too-adult-themed shee-ite that DC and Marvel dump in mass quantities on the stands these days, Silver Comics President & Publisher Ortiz and Vince Musacchia (Dr. Monster), Dan Beltran (Capt. Rescue), Ruben Procopio (Chameleon Man), Chris Roberts (the Silver Comics logo), Bryan Mon (Sea-Bolt/Tuff-Girl), Merrill Hagan and Dennis Rau offer something that may be more suitable for "true" fans of the comic art form like me who've become jaded by the darkening of the comics genre. Aiding this wonderful gang of miscreants on covers and interior pin-ups are some very well known comics icons such as: Frank Brunner, Nick Cardy, George Tuska, Dick Giordano, Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Alex Toth, Russ Heath, George Perez and Steve Rude. Other fun characters that you'll meet within the pages of various issues of Silver Comics are Cloud Buster, The Man Called Santa, Man-Star and The End.

Based on the photo (above) of noted motion picture critic Leonard Maltin, he certainly appreciates Silver Comics efforts, so please give 'em a read, will ya'!

1970's Flashback: Skull the Slayer

Created by Marv Wolfman and Steve Gan, Skull the Slayer debuted in his own Marvel Comics series in August, 1975. Jim Skully was an adventurer whose plane went through a time warp in the Bermuda Triangle, marooning him and three companions on an alternate Earth where dinosaurs, primitives, and even aliens co-existed. After eight published issues chronicling his adventures, Skully and his three companions were eventually rescued and returned to their own world by the Thing of the Fantastic Four.

Skull the Slayer was a trained soldier turned superhero who wore a Scorpian powerbelt that enhanced his strength and durability. The belt also had preservative effects on his body's metabolism. On one occasion, Scully was able to funnel this energy into an explosive force. The full capabilities of the belt are unknown ...

Donna Feldman ... mercy, mercy me!

I happened upon this stunning photo of the vivacious Donna Feldman while casting about for something to profile on the blog a few days ago.

It was a painful moment (in a good way), so I trolled the web and found out that she is a model based out of California. She was one of the briefcase-wielding ladies on the hit NBC game show "Deal Or No Deal" during its maiden season, before she bailed to pursue other opportunities. There are many more delectable images of Donna out there, for those stout-hearted among you who wish to make this pleasant voyage.

1970's Flashback: Star*Reach

Star*Reach was a science fiction and fantasy comics anthology published by Mike Friedrich and sold though those few comic shops around in the early 70’s, as well as head shops (think druggie paraphernalia), or via subscriptions and mail order.

Star Reach was truly one of the first mainstream independent comic books, and being the first with any significant distribution, it bridged the gap between the countercultural underground comix and more traditional news stand fare, providing mature genre stories that were intended for an adult audience. Along with Flo Steinberg's Big Apple Comix, published in 1975, and Harvey Pekar's naturalistic Everyman series American Splendor, which was first published in 1976, Star*Reach was an important forerunner to the late-1970s rise of the modern graphic novel, and a real precursor of the 1980s' independent comics boom.

Eighteen issues were released between 1974 and 1979. Contributors included such notable Marvel and DC writers and artists as Howard Chaykin, Jim Starlin, and Barry Windsor-Smith. Respected author Roger Zelazny, wrote the 13-page prose story "The Doors Of His Face, The Lamps Of His Mouth", with illustrations by Gray Morrow, in issue #12 (March 1978). A veritable “who’s who” of the decade provided work to the magazine during it’s heyday: Neal Adams, Frank Brunner, Gene Day, Steve Englehart, Michael Gilbert, Dick Giordano, Al Milgrom, Dean Motter, P. Craig Russell, Dave Sim, Walt, Simonson, Joe Staton, Len Wein and John Workman (whose “Key Club” tale from issue #2, remains a favorite of mine to this day). The company ceased publishing in 1979.

Doc Samson? Superman?? What the ... ????

I missed this piece of superhero casting news, but actor Ty Burrell (2004 Dawn of the Dead remake) has been cast as Doc Samson in the upcoming "The Incredible Hulk" movie starring Edward Norton & Liv Tyler. No I don't get it either!

That's sort of like casting the weenie sidekick from the Hellboy flick as, oh say Superman in the upcoming Justice League movie.

What? You're kidding me .......

You haven't heard this other piece of Hollywood lunacy. Rupert Evans = Superman? Well, check 'em out for yourselves:

DVD Review: Transformers

"Robots in Disguise!"

Originally a popular 1980's childrens cartoon show about robots who physically shape-shifted themselves into cars, planes, tanks, etc., Transformers has grossed $701.6 million worldwide this year, including $318.3 million in the United States alone, becoming director Michael Bay's highest grossing film to date. Detailing a war between alien robots called Autobots (the good guys) and Decepticons (the bad guys), Transfomers starred Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and melt-in-your-mouth, hottie ... Megan Fox. A plus for fans of the old cartoon series was the return of voice actor Peter Cullen, reprising his original role of heroic Autobot leader, Optimus Prime.

The film is loaded with awesome special effects (particularly Megan Fox) and has action, humor, tension and, did I mention Megan Fox. Whether such fare is your cup of tea or not, check out these photos of Ms. Fox and go rent this damn dvd ... asap.

1970's Flashback: Hercules Unbound

Since Halloween is this month, I've tried to skew close to a theme with my 70's Flashbacks. Swamp Monsters, 3-D Men, sci-fi heroes, etc. (The hot chicks that were profiled this month were a bonus.)

Hercules Unbound #1 was published by DC Comics in October 1975. The series created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, featured the adventures of Hercules in a post-apocalyptic future. Hercules Unbound lasted 12 issues and during its year-long run made use of several existing [but on hiatus] company characters and concepts such as The Atomic Knights and the intelligent animals from Jack Kirby's Kamandi series in an effort to tie some of these future series into a cohesive part of the vast DC Universe. It was later hinted that this version of Hercules was actually part of a dream suffered by Atomic Knights lead Gardner Grayle, but this Hercules was later shown to have actually existed somewhere in the Multiverse; however he was later eliminated during the Crisis on Infinite Earths event. Other talented artists that worked on the book were Bill Everett (on a few early issues), Walt Simonson and Wallace Wood even inked some of them towards the end of his career.

1970's Flashback: Shade, the Changing Man

Shade, the Changing Man #1 was created by Steve Ditko for DC Comics in 1977.

Shade, the Changing Man told the story of a fugitive (whose full name is Rac Shade) from the militant planet Meta in another dimension. Rac Shade, was a secret agent in the Meta-Zone, a dimension near that of Earth, who had been framed for treason and sentenced to death. Shade was powered by a stolen "M-vest" (the Miraco-Vest) which enabled him to project the illusion of becoming a large grotesque version of himself. Through various events, Shade spent some time on Earth trying to clear his name, and using the retrieved M-Vest in the process, but he encountered resistance from the Meta-Zone authorities at every turn. Shade was attempting to clear his name bit by bit, but he remained a wanted fugitive, and he continued to use the M-Vest. The M-Vest creates a strong force-field that repels weaponry, allows a degree of flight and distorts Shade's appearance dependent on the viewer's mental state or his own.

The character was the first that Ditko had created for a mainstream publisher for many years. Prior to joining DC Comics, Ditko had worked on characters such as his Mr. A. Shade was Ditko’s return to mainstream superheroics, although Shade was set outside the DC Universe. The series ran for eight bi-monthly issues in 1978 before its untimely cancellation in the wake of the notorious "DC Implosion" event, when the company dramatically slashed their output.

Whatever happened to Dave Stevens?

During the early 1980's independent comics explosion, a wonderful artist by the name of Dave Stevens introduced his cool, retro character, The Rocketeer, at Pacific Comics.

The Rocketeer was actually 1930's aviator Cliff Secord, who discovered a futuristic jet pack and then launched his high-flying career as the heroic Rocketeer - all the while being chased by various crooks, federal agents and even the very mysterious creator of the jet pack (who bore a small resemblance to a certain "Man of Bronze" from the era of the pulps). Secord seldom had two nickles to rub together and this made his efforts to woo his hot-as-a-pistol model/girlfriend Betty a bit problematic. The character jumped to another publisher (or two) when Pacific folded, but then he got the public's attention by scoring his own Walt Disney produced motion picture in 1991.

Creator Dave Stevens was a like a breath of fresh air to the comics industry, hitting fandom just as hard as Adam Hughes would almost at the same time. But Stevens, other than producing some truly beautiful covers for several publishers, pretty much dropped out of comics for good in the wake of the Rocketeer movie.

He regularly works in the film industry as a storyboard artist and also - if rumors be true - makes a living doing advertising work and limited commissions. Stevens himself is an affable sort. I met him once, around the time the Rocketeer was filming, when he took a break to appear at a Parts Unknown weekend convention in Greensboro, NC.

The world of comics really lost a potential giant {though some would argue that his limited comics work grants him such status} when Dave Stevens flew the coop. I think that his last published work was issue #3 of the Rocketeer Adventure Magazine from Dark Horse, which was released in 1995 [later collected with a new cover in '96]. The issue itself required several artists assistance to complete as Stevens had pretty much "left the building" and was struggling to finish Cliff Secord's swan song. Artists Art Adams & Jaime Hernandez, at least, helped out on the last hurrah of the Rocketeer.