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Kong the Untamed – DC Adventure Line

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kong

“Enter the Primitive World of … KONG the Untamed”

   SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES             Thus read the heading of DC’s Kong the Untamed. Not to be confused with the big gorilla from Skull Island. Now THAT would have made an interesting comic book.

                This Kong was interesting too. The text from the first issue’s letter page tells us the DC editors decided to try to revive the caveman again in comic book form. They tried some years back with Anthro. He debuted in Showcase and lasted six issues of his own comic in 1967.

                Not that these were bad issues. In fact, the series started out with quite a pedigree and lots of potential. Alcala’s art, a staple of horror comics from DC and Marvel, gave the series a dark and ominous feel – you never knew what was around the corner. In fact, the first two issues seemed to be an attack followed by a chase followed by an attack. It was of limited appeal and limited scope. Nowadays it would have made an award-winning 12-issue miniseries.

                Later issues lightened the look and the tone. Gerry Conway, fresh from his writing duties on Amazing Spider-Man, gave the book a “Lost World” tone by bringing in dinosaurs (something the letter columnists begged not to happen) and a Romeo-Juliet-like romance. After the dark and brooding first two issues, it turned into Kazar-lite.

***

                #1.  July 1975, “Kong the Untamed” by Jack Oleck ( w ), Alfred Alcala (a), Joe Orlando (e), cover by Bernie Wrightson. Born with blond hair to Attu, Kong is prophecy reborn! A mighty warrior and leader he shall be! Trog the One-Eyed, the tribal chieftan is jealous and fearful of the stripling and banished his mother and newborn child. As Kong grows on the outskirts of the tribe – he learns to hunt, forage and fight! When he asks to play with the children of his tribe, he is pelted with stones. When he is older, a teenager, he is attacked by a Beast Man (a Neanderthal – Kong and his tribe are Cro-Magnon). A capture/escape/chase commences between the tribe, the Beast Men and Kong and his mother. Eventually the tribe catches up with Attu and kills her. Kong vows revenge against Trog and the gods who cursed him with his blond hair!

                Wrightson’s dark cover set the tone for the issue maintained by the art of Alcala, known for his art in horror books for Marvel and DC. The writing and art show us a dark and cruel world at the dawn of man. Whether the comic would last for dozens or hundreds of issues is doubtful; but the debut showed great potential.

                #2. September 1975, “Blood Brother” by the same team. Cover by Wrightson. This comic features the full-page ad touting their Adventure Line!

                Kong is attacked by wolves. The rock he throws in defense causes a spark. When he is safe, he learns to make fire! Kong is captured by the same tribe of Beast Men from issue #1 but is rescued by Gurat – the Beast Man he bested last issue. Gurat respects the yellow-haired stripling! The two outcasts join together to fight off Gurat’s Beast Men tribe and a deer-hunting Cro-Magnon tribe and become as brothers. This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

                #3. November 1975. “The Caves of Doom” by the same team, but with scripts by Gerry Conway. Cover by Bill Draut.

                A cave provides shelter from a storm until Kong and Garut are captured by Kong’s former tribe! In escaping, they go deeper into the cave until they find a hidden valley of living dinosaurs and spear-toting humans! It is revealed that Trog is Kong’s father.

                Uber-fan the late Richard Morrisey has a letter in the letter column – the only one with negative things to say about the book. Although it is better than Tor, he says, he predicts a swift death due to its lack of scope. At least it doesn’t have men fighting dinosaurs. In this issue, Kong and Gurat fight a dinosaur…

                #4. January 1976, “Valley of Blood”, Gerry Conway ( w ), Tony Caravana (a), Jo Ingente (i), Joe Orlando (e), cover by Bill Draut.

                Kong and Gurat are attacked by a human in this valley of dinosaurs! A spear hits Gurat and is left for dead by a river as the stranger takes Kong to his village. Kong, after the required fistfight, eventually befriends his apologetic captor, named Rolan. This new village is led by Priestess Jelenna in a society ruled by women! Jelenna strikes Kong for his male-centric views and Kong swears revenge (after getting revenge on Trog of course. Kong is getting an enemy’s list as long as Nixon’s by now…). Kong helps Rolan kill a Spiketail (a dinosaur) to win the hand the priestess’ daughter Sharra. 

                #5. March 1976. “Bones of the Martyr”, Gerry Conway ( w ) David Wenzel (i), Bill Draut (i) – although comic lists both as illustrators and does not say who drew and who inked, Joe Orlando (e), cover by Bill Draut and David Wenzel.

                Rolan tries to foment a revolt of the village men against Jelenna. Sharra sides with her mother and the other women as Rolan is put to death. Meanwhile, Gurat is captured, and then befriends, by a pteradactile-riding tribe of Cro-Magnons. They attack their sworn enemies – Jelenna’s village – and rescue Kong. It doesn’t end in a cliffhanger, but I wonder where the series would have gone …

***

                Anthro outlasted Kong by one issue – two if you count his Showcase debut. So much for bringing back the caveman. Maybe they should have tried a comic starring a big gorilla instead…

Original Material Copyright 2014 Michael Curry

The DC Comics Adventure Line!

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The DC Comics Adventure Line!

DCfantasyadv

In late 1975 issues of DC comics had the following full-page house ad:

“First DC gave you the World’s Greatest Super-heroes” and a line-up of some of their most-popular characters: Flash, Black Canary (an odd choice, but the line-up needed a hot blonde), Captain Marvel (another odd choice since his comic was about to go on hiatus for 1976 – but would soon be revived as a Saturday morning cartoon, hence his inclusion), Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (another odd choice as at the time he was relegated to Flash as a back-up feature) and Deadman (perhaps the strangest choice of all – his solo feature, although legendary, was long-since cancelled by then).

“Then DC introduced top quality mystery tales” and a line-up of characters from their horror line – the one genre DC can truly say they did better than Marvel (perhaps war titles, too, but Marvel didn’t release many war or horror comics that weren’t reprint titles by this time and you will ALWAYS get an argument from the more ardent Marvel zom-er-fans about ANY genre): Abel of House of Secrets, Mordred of The Witching Hour, The Phantom Stranger, Cain of House of Mystery, the Spectre, Eve of Secrets of Sinister House and Swamp Thing.

“NOW DC presents fantasy at its best in our all-new ADVENTURE line” and a rendering from each of the seven new comics available: Justice Inc., Claw, Tor, Stalker, Warlord, Beowulf, and Kong. “Now on sale in their own ACTION-PACKED magazines!”

These comics were published under the DC banner and weren’t really part of a “line” or “imprint” – a unique subspecies of comic from the same publisher. That sort of branding wouldn’t become popular for many years to come – Milestone,  Epic, Vertigo, etc. Even the X-Men were given its own line of comics under the Marvel banner.

DC did do a branding of sorts in the next year or so with its DC/TV line – Superfriends, Isis, Shazam and Welcome Back Kotter all published with a variation of the DC logo in the upper left-hand corner to mark these comics as unique in the line-up. No such variation was seen in these so-called “Adventure Line” comics.

Only two characters that debuted under the Adventure Line had any staying power – that is, new adventures could still be found in comic books years after their debut: Warlord and Claw. The Avenger in Justice Inc is and always shall be a strange exception to the mix – his pulp adventures began when Superman was only “a year old” and Batman had only been around for four months (can you imagine if Batman only lasted for four issues as the Avenger did…). His comic book adventures have been published by various companies to this day (Dynamite’s Justice Inc is on the stands right now) and the odd inclusion of a gun-toting crime killer in a group of sword/spear/club-wielding Conan clones will be discussed in the blog reviewing those issues.

That’s not to put the line down. DC put their A-list talent on these comics. The credits read like a list of who’s who in comic-book-dom: Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert, David Michelinie, Ernie Chan, Alfred Alcala, Gerry Conway, Keith Giffen, and of course Mike Grell. The stories and art were well done!

Oh at times there was garbage too, particularly with the last few issues of a run, but overall the quality was good to fair (sometimes great!) compared to other comics released at the time.

I’ve loved all these comics since their debut and I hope you enjoy the next seven blog posts reviewing them!

Original Material copyright 2015 Michael G Curry

Dean Cain: a National Adoption Month Spotlight!

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November is National Adoption Month! Throughout the month I’ll feature famous folk who have been adopted!  

 

Today’s Spotlight: Dean Cain. Wait, didn’t you already do Superman? Shut up…

 DeanCain

Culled mostly from Wikipedia:

 

Dean Cain was born on July 31, 1966 as Dean George Tanaka in Mount Clemens, Michigan, the son of Sharon Thomas, an actress, and Roger Tanaka. In 1969, Cain’s mother married film directorChristopher Cain, who adopted Dean and his brother (musician Roger Cain); they became his sons and the family moved to Malibu, California.

 

Be sure to visit Abby’s Road on Facebook for more Spotlights!

 The cover of Abby's Road

The cover of Abby’s Road

 “Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and how Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped” leads a couple through their days of infertility treatments and adoption. It is told with gentle (and sometimes not-so-gentle) humor from the perspective of a nerdy father and his loving and understanding wife.

Join Mike and Esther as they go through IUIs and IFVs, as they search for an adoption agency, are selected by a birth mother, prepare their house, prepare their family, prepare themselves and wait for their daughter to be born a thousand miles from home.

 

Winner, Honorable Mention, 2014, Great Midwest Book Festival


Abby’s Road is available at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Abbys-Road-Long-Winding-Adoption/product-reviews/0692221530/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_recent?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending


at Barnes and Noble here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/abbys-road-the-long-and-winding-road-to-adoption-and-how-facebook-aquaman-and-theodore-roosevelt-helped-michael-curry/1119971924?ean=9780692221532


and at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457270

 

Copyright 2014 Michael Curry

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts on Guardians of the Galaxy…

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Guardians of the Galaxy: not a review, just some thoughts…

                 What gives, Mike? You boast that your blog is about comic books, science fiction, fantasy and all things nerdy and what have we gotten lately? Reviews of historical fiction, updates on your book Abby’s Road (now available as a Nook and in paperback from Amazon – gee, this corporate whore stuff is getting easier and easier!) and blogs about your health!! Where’s the nerdly goodness!?

                OK, OK, good point. This will make up for it. It has Marvel, Star Wars, Superman, lots of memes and links to websites – geeky enough for ya?

guardians2

                Along with .02% of the world’s population, I saw Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend. I enjoyed it very much – I will likely get the blu-ray when it comes out and will look forward to its inevitable sequels.

                The web is filled with reviews of the movie – Entertainment Weekly gave it a wonderful review and an A- rating. That’s the magazine’s highest rating possible for a non-Harry Potter or non-Tom Hanks movie. This blog review is probably the best and closest to the truth:

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/08/03/an-academic-critique-of-the-film-guardians-of-the-galaxy/

                (really captures the feeling while watching it, doesn’t it?)

                So I’m not going to review the film itself – there’s plenty of those out there. Instead I’ll share the thoughts that popped in my mind before and during the film whilst munching my popcorn.

                1) this is Marvel’s first foray into its current movie blitz with unknown characters. I’m a big comic book fan, but even I did not know much about these characters. My Marvel Universe knowledge is not as great as some, I will admit. And my knowledge of current comicdom (especially with the “Big 2”: Marvel and DC) is certainly lacking. But if you are stuck on a game show question regarding DC in the 1970s, phone-a-friend me.

                We’ve seen all the Marvel big guns lately from the various film companies that own the rights – X-Men, various Avengers (Thor, Captain America, Iron Man) and Spider-Man. (And I think it’s time – especially considering the success of Guardians – to give serious thought to a Fantastic Four redo).

                I wouldn’t put the Guardians even on Marvel’s second tier – they’re third or fourth-rate characters down there with the Squadron Supreme, Omega the Unknown and Night Nurse (don’t ask).

                “Horse Hockey!” you say. “I’m a huge fan of the Guardians! And they have a fan base that makes the Legion of Superheroes pale in comparison!” I’m glad you enjoy it; and no, they don’t.

                I barely knew most of the characters: Star Lord was more a science fiction than a superhero character from the Marvel magazine line. Gamora was a secondary character from Jim Starlin’s superb Warlock saga. Drax was a villain who fought Captain Marvel (Marvel’s Captain Marvel, not the Shazam guy), Rocket Raccoon came along during the 1980s when I stopped reading most “Big 2” comics who was in (I think) the Hulk comics. Groot was in a few Marvel horror comics in the 1950s and 1960s: one of a long line of atomic monsters with names akin to onomatopoeias of bowel movements (“Behold the Terror of Vluum!” or “And Now Comes Splart!”).

                And this is ME, who is a bit of a comics historian! I, along with most movie audiences, walked into this film with NO expectations or knowledge of the character’s history. Captain America these folks ain’t. No baggage or history to fume over. “But Bucky was a kid!” “Nick Fury’s BLACK!!??”

                THESE were my Guardians, published at the beginning of my comic book fandom:

guardians

                Recognize and remember any of them? Frankly, neither do I.

                So if the producers wanted to coast – they certainly could have. With expectations much lower than with the Avengers (expectations they met, by the way), there was no reason they needed to put on their A-game. Let’s have some fun, make a good story, use the budget we have and be satisfied with a job well done. The movie-goers would say, “It has a lot of heart and I liked it.”

                But they put on an A-game. They put as much time and consideration into all parts of the movie as they have with each of the Marvel franchise movies to date. Instead of making a movie that was good (“At least it was still better than the two Hulks”), they made a movie as good as Avengers or Winter Soldier.  They kept the fun in while telling a good story, too. The movie goers said, “It has a lot of heart and I LOVED it!”

                Putting humor in a science fiction movie is a dangerous thing to do. It could very quickly turn campy. But here (as with any good story) the humor was driven by the characters. The storyline was played straight – the humor came from the character’s reaction to their situation. This is where most humor works well and kept us riding along. It kept us connected in this alien setting.

                2) Comparisons to DC comics movies.

rocket

                I hate to join in on all the DC comics bashing, but dammit DC deserves it. I saw Guardians with a friend who saw the movie earlier that weekend. He commented that when he left Man of Steel, the audience was still woeful during the “happy” ending and bloggers argued over the movie’s merits and controversial ending (the destruction porn, Superman doesn’t take a life, etc.). People left Guardians smiling and the blogs continued the raves. You leave Guardians feeling good – you just spent a fun two-plus hours enjoying yourself. No one left Man of Steel feeling good.

                3) A peaceful world attacked by a brutal and near-omnipotent overlord and his powerful minions. Spaceship dogfight battles! Swordfights! Blasters blasting! Wretched hives of scum and villainy!

star wars

                The producers of the new Star Wars movie are tugging at their collars right now. “Eep.” Stop production right now, take pad and pencil and everyone – that means you, too, Hamill, Fisher and Ford (someone may have to help Harrison limp along) – go see it and take notes. And don’t sit near the producers of the upcoming Superman vs Batman movie – you’re there to learn how it’s done, not to listen to them mope about “but at least we have a built-in audience of basement-dwellers …”

                4) There are lots of 1970s tunes on the soundtrack. I didn’t like that too much when I first heard about it – it would lend to camp – but it fit. It gave us a connection to the main character (the only earthling) and linked us normal earthlings to the story. It was also cannily explained in the movie too. I liked that – too many movies forget about things like that!

                But it got me thinking about creator’s rights. During the movie and afterward I said how ironic that David Bowie and Eric Carmen will probably make more money from this film than Jim Starlin (who created Thanos and Gamora) and Bill Mantlo (Rocket Raccoon) will.

                This story is making the rounds:

http://io9.com/marvel-screened-guardians-of-the-galaxy-for-the-co-crea-1615584469?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

                The brother sounds a bit too satisfied, doesn’t he? He was likely blinking “SOS” into the camera.

                Go see it. Enjoy yourself during a movie. That will make for a nice change, won’t it? Go home and read about the actors and the history of the characters and the movie. Give Bill Mantlo the exact amount you spent on admission and snacks as a donation. He needs it. http://gregpak.com/love-rocket-raccoon-please-consider-donating-to-writer-bill-mantlos-ongoing-care/

                Then eagerly await the sequel. I’ll be in line with you.

                 One final thought: 

firefly

 

 

Original Material 2014 Michael Curry

 

Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier and Agents of Shield Cause and Effect, Part Two

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Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier and Agents of Shield
Cause and Effect, Part Two
            Agents of Shield has two more episodes to go before its season finale as of this blog post. The last few episodes have gained a lot of buzz among the nerdy types – more buzz than it had since before the first episode aired.
            All because of the events of Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier that opened last month to good-to-great reviews.  Here is my blog about the movie: http://michaelgcurry.blogspot.com/2014/05/captain-america-2-winter-soldier-and.html
            I was unaware of the events of the Captain America movie and was as stunned as the characters from Agents of Shield about its effect on the show. It was a complete game-changer. The show had to adjust accordingly and move into a completely different direction. I wonder when the producers were told. I wonder how the writers and other cast and staff reacted.
            I can’t recall any television program in which such a change to its very premise happened mid-season. A few Doctor Whos have changed Doctors mid-series, but the show was still about a time lord fighting bad guys. Characters move or change jobs at the beginning of a new season all the time; and Bob Hartley awoke in his apartment in Chicago after a long dream about running a New England motel; but that doesn’t count. What if Hawaii-Five-Oh decided to move the show to Seattle and they become private detectives? What if they followed George Clooney’s character when he left ER instead of staying with the … er … ER? What if the war REALLY ended in the middle of season one of Hogan’s Heroes (they had that hilarious show where they fooled the Nazis into thinking the war had ended, but you get my point)?
            Back to Agents of Shield; honestly, Hydra’s take-over was a good thing. Agents of Shield has finally achieved the glowing reviews most shows only dream of getting – including (except for the awe-inducing first episode) Agents of Shield. The reviews before that were fair at best; even from Marvel front-facers (that’s what we old folks used to call fanboys). Since Winter Soldier, the internet is lit up with gleeful fanboys, fangirls and professional gushing about the show. For example: http://observationdeck.io9.com/agents-of-shield-huh-1569666169
            The ratings are still in question – although it is #3 for the year with young adults and one of the top shows with men 18-49; overall it is not doing well – the last episode as of this writing came in fourth of six with its lowest ratings to date.
            Is all the hoopla too little, too late? One thinks if it were not for the Marvel connection the show would not have made it past Christmas. ABC has not (to date) announced the renewal of ANY of its shows.  Whether Agents of Shield will see a second season is up for grabs. And I can see arguments for both. Current events would make a canny place to finish the series. Then again, a group of loose-cannon-former-agents working outside of the law without a strong backing has worked in the past. As long as one of the Agents doesn’t grow a Mohawk and starts saying, “No way you getting’ me on no plane!” “Drink this, Fitz…”
            But I’m getting ahead of myself…
            When the new shows for the 2013 television season were announced – only two shows intrigued me. Among the shows glorifying gore-porn, bad singing and white trash were Sleepy Hollow and Agents of Shield. I thought I would enjoy Sleepy Hollow for the three weeks it would air before cancellation; but it ended up being a hit and was already renewed by October. I like it; didn’t love it. Its premise intrigued me but by the last show I was a bit lost in the huge back story it developed (I missed an episode, god help me).
            Agents of Shield started with a bang and lots of buzz in its first episode. Then the fans sat back down as their eyes started to glaze. The show was created as a spin-off of The Avengers movie. The shows main character is Phil Coulson – who Loki killed in the movie. Now he was feeling much better and assembled a team to help find and fight trouble through-out the world. Fans were ecstatic! Non-fans rolled their eyes.
            The producers made a wise choice – they DIDN’T appeal to the fans. Remember Enterprise? When it debuted the producers said if they came out as a straight Star Trek show only Star Trek fans would watch it. If they keep it quiet it will build up a larger base and by the time the non-fans realize their watching a Star Trek show it will be too late! Mwhah-hah-hah!  It worked, a little. It gained the fanboys as well as non-fans.
            Same with Agents of Shield. Didn’t work, though. Fanboys were alienated and non-fans still didn’t buy it. A cameo by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and name-drops of our favorite Avengers didn’t help.
            But they weren’t BAD stories. I enjoyed Agents of Shield more than Sleep Hollow. I see the detractors point, though: by the Christmas break, the shows were suffering with a villain-of-the-week syndrome (being comic book-y that made sense to me…) OR we wallowed in a character’s dark, hidden past. Meh. The show tried to intrigue us with a secret organization determined to ferret out Shield’s secrets. It started as “The Centipede” but then we discover it was run by a mysterious super-villain called “The Clairvoyant”. I hate continued stories like that. I enjoy story progression; I’m old fashioned that way: give me a beginning, middle and an end, please. I usually don’t return to TV shows that provide no resolution. Soap operas are for afternoon TV viewers…
            The agents themselves were a pretty canny mix: Coulson – the fan favorite from Avengers, two typical brooding loners with deep, dark secrets, two young social-skill-less techies and a non-agent who starts out bad but we quickly find out has a heart of gold and joins the good guys.
            In an early episode, we call into question her (Skye’s) real loyalty (boy, would they come to visit THAT plotline again in the future); but she’s solidly in Shield’s corner.
            As were the others; although the two brooders (and Coulson) had pasts they didn’t discuss. Those were eventually revealed. Meh.
            Coulson’s secret was he was resurrected through alien technology.
            May’s secret was she suffers PTSD of a sort after killing an entire warehouse of bad guys (I think). She kept another secret revealed later.
            Ward’s deep, dark secret …
            And here where the fun begins.
            As discussed in my previous blog, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldierreveals that Hydra had infiltrated Shield since the beginning. The rot was so bad Shield was dissolved until Hydra could be put down once and for all.
            Who was good? Who was evil? A great scene in the movie shows agents of both stripes holding guns on one another in a control room. “You shoot him, I’ll shoot you.” “Oh yeah? I’m evil too! You shoot him and I’ll shoot YOU!”
            It reminded me of those great paranoia films from the 50s. Who is a body snatcher? Is your wife really your wife or a commie spy – er – alien?
            Bill Paxton had a recurring role as an agent on equal level to Coulson named John Garrett. He was once Ward’s commanding officer. Paxton played the role well – eschewing his usual method of acting-through-lethargy.  After Winter Soldier he reveals himself as Hydra. Ward and Coulson’s higher-up Agent Hand personally escort Garrett to lock-up.
            But wait! Ward kills Hand! He rescues his former boss and they join other Hydra minions to raid a Shield prison and weapons cache – releasing all the bad guys (including some villains from previous episodes). Hail Hydra!
            Ward returns to his buddies. Skye finds out about his Hydra-ness and tries to coax him back to the good guys based on their growing relationship.
            So all this time we are wondering – is Ward a triple agent? Is he really Shield pretending to be Hydra after being Hydra pretending to be Shield? He’s killed Shield agents, sure, but he’s also killed Hydra agents. He’s hurt his fellow co-stars but caused no real permanent damage. How will it go?
            Will his love for Skye change him back? “My mind says Hydra, but my heart and dick say Shield!”
            In the meantime, Coulson discovers May has been spying on him all along (her second deep dark secret much more interesting than her first deep dark secret) – to make sure his alien-aided resurrection had no quirky side-effects. She was working for Nick Fury. “Yeah right!” Coulson says. And for a time we weren’t sure where she stood. She may have even been Hydra; but that plot was laid to rest.
            It brings another interesting sub-plot in the show: knowledge of Fury being alive or dead. Agent Maria Hill from Winter Soldier appeared in this last episode. She tells Coulson that Fury is dead. Coulson was told Fury is alive. I watched Soldier to see if Maria Hill knew Fury was still alive and it was left unclear.
            The pause when Maria told Coulson Fury was dead was well done. Was he going to tell her? Did she know? Did she not know Coulson knew? We are still left wondering.
            We have two more episodes to go before the season (series?) finale. We will probably get plenty more surprises.
            The back and forth of who is Hydra and who is Shield may still surprise me. But there are times – especially trying to guess the outcome of Ward’s alliances – which I feel like Wallace Shawn in The Princess Bride. Which glass has the poison – yours or mine?
             
            We have two possibilities regardless – what will the show do if it continues to a second season and what if it ends next week?
            I vote for letting the show end this spring. Kill off Ward and Garrett and let the troupe go their separate ways. Everyone is happy where they end up except Coulson – doing security for Stark Industries or some such. Perhaps at the end Samuel L. Jackson will approach Coulson in the same way he did at the end of the various Marvel superhero movies over the past several years. “We’re getting the band back together…” A cliffhanger worthy of the Marvel movies.
            If it continues we are faced with, as I said, an A-Team-like show of people not-necessarily on the run but still fighting bad guys –whether or not that includes Garrett and Ward. I have a feeling that, even if done well, since Agents started off on the wrong foot in the ratings at inception, it will not carry over into a full second season. But then I thought Sleepy Hollowwould flop. And if Ward ends up being a bad guy after all, or even killed at the season finale – we have a dandy replacement in Agent Sitwell, Wade’s equal and another Garrett protégé.
            Unless he is a Hydra double-agent as well. Vizinni’s voice is in my head again: If he IS I fell victim to one of the classic blunders – the most famous of which is “never get involved in a land war in Asia” – but only slightly less well-known is this: “Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line”.  And even less well-known: “Never second guess the producers of a low-rated show when a billion dollar franchise is involved”.
            Hail Hydra.
Copyright 2014 Michael G Curry
             


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Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier and Agents of Shield Cause and Effect, Part One

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Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier and Agents of Shield
Cause and Effect, Part One
            This little review contains lots of SPOILERS – not just for the movie but for the ABC television program Agents of Shield, which, since the release of Cap 2, has continued the story.
            But the movie has been out now for several weeks, and its events have rippled – more like ripped – through Agents of Shieldever since. So I’m not revealing anything you could not find out elsewhere. If you REALLY want to wait to know what is going to happen until you see the movie and TV show during your own time … frankly I think it is past your being able to do that by now. But go back to your sensory deprivation tank and you can come back and read this afterward.
            I enjoyed the first Captain Americamovie. I saw it when it came out on DVD and thought it similar to The Rocketeer – another World War II-based superhero movie. I mentioned that to my friend and fellow comic-book enthusiast Clyde and he told me they were both directed by the same man. This would explain why they both had the same hue. They would make a fun double-bill on a cold Saturday night with friends.
            The story is well-known in comicdom: weakling Steve Rogers wanted to fight for his country during WWII-the-Big-One, but was labeled forever 4F. He volunteered to take an injection of an experimental super-soldier formula. It worked: he grew ten inches and gained a hundred pounds of pure muscle. He also developed beyond-Olympic level strength, endurance and athletic (fighting) ability as well as supreme mental/tactical abilities. The inventor of the formula was killed by Nazi spies and the secret died with him.
            Captain Americaand his best friend Bucky (and an elite troop called the Howling Commandoes) fought the Axis Powers. Bucky died in a fall and Cap crashed in an experimental Nazi bomber in the Arctic.
            The bomber was found 70 years later. Cap’s super-soldier-infused metabolism left him alive but frozen. He was thawed and found himself in modern Manhattan. That’s where the first movie ended. A deleted scene from The Avengers shows Cap wanting to call his still-alive girlfriend Peggy Carter, but that was the only non-action character-development he had in that tremendous film. His character development in that movie was showing the audience his leadership and tactical abilities were enough to impress a Norse god and a narcissistic genius).
            Captain America 2 opens with Steve Rogers meeting Sam Wilson as they jog. Sam recommends a great Marvin Gaye song to help Rogerslearn about modern times. Steve adds it to his list – a very brief shot of the list reveals, for example, “Star Trek/Wars”. I only caught a few more: Steve Jobs/Apple, Thai food, disco, etc. This was the movies only nod to the “man out of time” aspect of Steve’s character. It had bigger plots to move …
            True to the Mighty Marvel Way there are co-stars from the Marvel Universe: Black Widow and Nick Fury are given more than cameos but less than equal roles to Cap – it’s his movie after all. Name drops abound: Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, even Stephen Strange – the yet-to-be-seen Dr. Strange!
            Cap, Black Widow and an elite Shield troop fly to a research ship hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean. The pirates are led by Batroc – one of Cap’s earlier and sillier villains. In the movie he was a terrorist and expert martial artist; enough to take on Cap one-on-one for several minutes. As with the recent spate of Marvel movies – Batroc was taken seriously – hee wuss meeseeing hees seelee cahstoom, narrow moostash-eh and out-ray-jee-uhs aksent!  
            During the battle, Black Widow was downloading files onto a flash drive. In a confrontation with her and later Nick Fury, Cap expresses his outrage at someone under his command having alternate orders of which he knew nothing. Nick explains compartmentalization – a concept alien to Cap. No one under his command should have alternative agendas other than the task at hand. That’s the (Captain) American way!
            And it was … in the 1940s. Times change.
            Nick Fury learns of something incoherent going on in the Shield hierarchy. So much so he sees his superior – played by Robert Redford – and asks him and the international Shield council to delay deployment of three helicarriers armed with the latest weaponry and technology. “You don’t want those things in the air if this is as bad as I think it is.”
            It is. Nick Fury is attacked by an unknown organized group of terrorists. He escapes to tell Cap what he knows (well, he gives Cap the flashdrive and warns him to trust no one) and is shot by the Winter Soldier. Cap gives chase but fails to catch him. Black Widow recognized the Soldier’s m.o. and tells us and Cap what she knows about this 70-year-old-Soviet assassin.
            Nick Fury dies of his wounds on the operating table while Cap, Black Widow and Maria Hill watch. We later learn he faked his death to allow him to ferret out who is infiltrating Shield.
            It is Hydra! Hydra was an eeeee-vil organization formed by the Red Skull in the first movie.  But it eeled it’s way into Shield and penetrated into it’s every level. Who is a good guy? Who is a bad guy? Cap and Black Widow high-tail it out of HQ with the bad guys armed to the teeth with Shield goodies!
            Through information on the flash-drive, they discover a hidden Shield/Hydra base in which hides Arnim Zola!
            Zola (who was also featured in the first movie) is one of comic-book-Captain-America’s stranger villains. His rendering in the comics is quintessential Jack Kirby – looking something like a malignant Teletubbie.  
            But in this movie Zola moved his mental essence into a bank of computers. He explains Hydra’s motives and how they manipulated their way into Shield. Anyone who could have (or did) discover their presence was eliminated – it is implied that Tony Stark’s father was killed for that reason.
            Anrim Zola created an algorithmic program that found the perfect recruits – family history, emotional and genetic outlook and attitudes are evaluated. To paraphrase a line in the movie: it uses your past to accurately predict your future. They pick recruits who will NOT say no to joining them.
            Hydra spent the next 70 years creating terror. I expected to see the Cigarette Smoking Man from the X-Files in the montage. And now finally, America, nay, the world, is ready to embrace Hydra – happily giving up their freedom in exchange for safety. If you think the anal-cavity searches of the TSA in airports is bad … mwhah-hah-hah!!!
            Hydra will launch the three helicarriers, but will use Zola’s algorithmic program to find not bad guys, but good guys.  People genetically inclined to fight them. The helicarriers will take them out. Thousands at a time. Hydra will kill millions to “save” billions.
            Cap, Widow and Fury have a plan: switch around the hard drives of the carriers and their plan is forever foiled!
            Boy, is that a simplistic way of putting it!
            Cap and Widow are aided by their only friend – the only one they can trust: Sam Wilson (from the jogging scene, remember?). Sam digs out his old uniform – by the way, he wasn’t just a soldier, he had a flying suit! Enter the Falcon – who was Cap’s partner in the 1970s comic.
            This is all done better than it sounds, by the way.
            Meantime, the chief bad-guy is revealed (this isn’t ALL spoilers, you know) and the Winter Soldier attacks! Cap discovers the Soldier is … Bucky? How is that possible? How can Bucky still be Cap’s age unless … Zola!!!
            This leads to the climactic fight in Shield HQ and a helicarrier.
            The movie was comic-book fun with the action and effects on par with previous Disney/Marvel productions. If you liked the previous Thor, Iron Man and Avengers movies, you’ll like this one, too. The special effect and CGIare top-of-the-line.
            Characterization is lacking – except for Captain America’s outrage as to the assault on his black-and-white sense of good and justice in a grey world. But you take his side and in the end believe him – right is right, wrong is wrong.
            Still, the movie poses some interesting questions: if a terrorist is going to kidnap your family tomorrow and you could stop him today, would you? If you could stop him before he even formulates his plan? It goes back to the old question of would you kill Hitler’s parents?
            The small attempts of characterization are brief but well done. Widow niggles Cap about asking staff-members of Shield out on dates (the nurse-neighbor Widow frequently mentions ends up being Sharon Carter – Caps’ girlfriend in the comics … and when I say comics I mean the 1960s and 1970s, god knows what Sharon Carter is now; if she’s even in the current canon).
            Steve Rogers finally meeting up with Peggy Carter after 70 years was moving and sad.  I would have liked more of this, but in a movie of this type I knew it wasn’t possible. Ordinary People this isn’t, Redford’s presence aside…
            I came away from the movie enjoying it. If you are a huge fan of the Marvel movie/TV franchise, go see it (if you are huge fan you already have). Wait to see it on DVD otherwise, it’s a great popcorn movie.
            I may be alone in this criticism – and it’s not really a criticism – but I had one nagging problem with the movie.
            Calling Captain America 2’s subtitle “The Winter Soldier” was, to me, akin to subtitling Lord of the Rings with “A Trip to the Prancing Pony”. The titular villain of the movie was an incidental character. They played on his Bucky-ness: provided an origin, showed a bit of his mental anguish and sowed the seeds of his reformation – particularly at the end saving Cap and the now-mandatory after-credit tease.
            But for me the fall of Shield and the rise of Hydra were the focus of my attention; particularly because of the effect of this story-line on Agents of Shield.  I will discuss that in my next blog …
            To be continued!
                       
Original Material Copyright 2014 Michael G Curry
             


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A Visit to Wizard World 2014 Comic Con St.Louis Part Two

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A Visit to Wizard World 2014 Comic Con St.Louis
Part Two
                I, my sister, her husband and their son went to Wizard Con on April 5, 2014 in St. Louis. By early afternoon I got all the autographs I wanted and had some comics and album covers signed by two of my favorite artists: Neal Adams and Mike Grell. I could not think of any other comic book artists still alive that I would like to meet. Maybe Joe Staton.
                Well, Steve Ditko of course. And Murphy Anderson. And Jim Steranko. And George Perez. And Jose Luis-Garcia Lopez. Okay, there are LOTS of artists I would still like to meet. 
                Were I able to go back in time the list of artists I would love to meet is quite long: Jim Aparo, Gene Colon, Curt Swan, Dick Giordano, Dick Dillon – all gone now.
                And I’m not talking writers – just artists here.
                But anyway, back to Wizard Con. When we last left our adventurers…
***
                My brother-in-law met, bought a print from, and got the autograph of The Crow creator James O’Barr.
                My sister got the autographs of various guests of the con:  John Bernthal (Shane from Walking Dead), Summer Glau and Alan Tudyk. Sean Astin said she looked like Juliette Lewis.
                My nephew is the only boy in a Tae Kwon Do class of adult men. They call him “Daniel-san”. Ralph Macchio was tickled to hear this and posed for a photo.
                Most thrilling of all for him was meeting Jason David Frank (a Power Ranger). My nephew did some moves for him and Jason put it on his Facebook page as one of the highlights of the Con.
                Adam Baldwin made my sister cry – in a nice way. She was (and is still) a big fan of “My Bodyguard” and Adam was so touched by her story he autographed a headshot from the movie for her at no cost.
                All of them were very kind and courteous to my sister and her son. Good for them.
                Some sad news though – the autograph tickets for Nathan Fillion and Bruce Campbell were already sold out. If they wanted to wait at the end of the line and there was still time they could ask for autographs. My family decided it was easier to wait and come back the next day. Maybe they should put this photo on some nice cardstock and have Nathan and Bruce sign it together.
 
 
                (This is a Wizard World photo taken during of of their photo ops.)
                While I waited for my family to get Sean Astin’s autograph a familiar face approached – it was my cousin from Peoria and his brother. Let me explain: my cousin is actually his father-in-law. My cousin’s daughter married JP. So he is my first-cousin-once-removed-in-law. But he’s still my cousin. And his son and my daughter are nearly the same age and like to play at family reunions. Yes, my cousin’s grandson and my daughter are only six months apart. The age-span between my oldest and youngest cousin is 33 years. My oldest cousin had two children before I was born. A long-lived family are we.
                His brother is no blood relation to me whatsoever, but I remember him from the wedding. It was fun to talk to them for a few hours.
                They got some photos taken with Sean Astin and William Shatner. I was very disappointed in the photos – Shatner’s especially. You can tell it was done in a rush and it could have been a cardboard cut-out as un-animated as it looked.
                Now granted Shatner is in his 80s and sat on a stool for an hour as a parade of fans stood next to him for a photo. I’d be a little weary, too. But if it were my picture I would hope for a smile or something…
                But then again, when are you ever going to get your picture taken with Bill Shatner? I really am torn between saying this is quite cool and being aggravated at his lethargy!
                My family and I walked through the artists’ alley. This was when my brother-in-law got his print from James O’Day. We found ourselves at Mike Grell’s booth (my second visit with him). He was drawing a commission and my nephew and I discussed his technique as we did with Neal Adams.
                Mike said, “The most important tool you have is the eraser!” He held up a well-used piece of rubber. “Not just for mistakes! Look…” Mike opened up his portfolio and showed my nephew eraser marks made to look like speed lines and clouds and leaves.
                “He uses the side of his pencil and the eraser to create the illusion of texture,” I said. I used to draw a comic strip … so I know of these things, you see…  Thanks again Mike Grell, for your time and patience encouraging a young child to practice the art!
                We met more friends before we left: the local comic store (Fantasy Books – their wepage is (http://fantasybooksinc.com/) had a booth and one of the workers recognized me. I’m either very recognizable or I buy too many comics there.
                As with last year, the Best in Show for Cosplay went to my friend who does a pitch-perfect Captain Jack Sparrow. He NEVER breaks character, but his smile when he saw me was heartening. My nephew (who had never met him and didn’t know I knew “Jack”) wanted a picture and Jack grabbed my sleeve and pulled me into the picture. Great fella – he deserved to win.
                My nephew turned 10 this past autumn and I wanted to hire Jack (I hesitate to use his real name without his permission) to entertain at the birthday party. He agreed, but we cancelled when my brother-in-law hired his co-worker Chadto entertain.
                Chadis a member of the 501st Legion Midwest Garrison www.501stsithlords.comand does cosplay all around the mid-west. He does a great Darth Maul and let my nephew pose with him in battle-ready stance! When we left there were other youngsters waiting for their pic with the evil Sith Lord!
                Here is a photo I found on “Jack’s” Facebook page of him and Chris together. I would have loved to have been there. I wonder if they know each other?
 
                Cosplayers abounded at the Con – of course that night was the contest, so everyone was parading around the booths. Were there that many players on Friday and Sunday?
                Lots of Doctor Whos in fezzes and lots of Star Trek, Star Wars and comic book characters. There were also lots of people dressed in costumes from video games. Even my sister had to ask what some of them were dressed as.
                One delight was watching two little girls taking their picture with Batman. “Thank you Batman,” one of them said and hugged the solemn dark knight. Both of the girls had “Hello Kitty” backpacks. Were my daughter there she would have been more interested in the backpacks.
                My wife asked if she would have found anything interesting there. Probably not, unfortunately. There was not much in the way of musicians performing and the panels probably weren’t to her liking. She doesn’t shop nor cares much for autograph-hunting.
                I would love to take my daughter to “meet” Batman and others. But not now. There were other children at the con – four years old and younger – but my daughter doesn’t like scary costumes. Hopefully by the time she is old enough to enjoy watching the cosplayers the zombie fad will have passed and there won’t be too many people drenched in blood with axes sticking out of their faces.
                One of my complaints from last year was my having no knowledge of even the existenceof panels during the con! I assume that is because it was the Con’s first year in St. Louis and it was not well organized. Not so this year. Although their website still did not mention panels, they were included in the program booklets. And another change this year was that we attendees were provided program booklets with which we may peruse the various panels. See how such little details like that can escape a Con organizer?
                Clydeattended some panels and so did JP; and they enjoyed them. I did not attend any panels. Most of the guests had Q&A sessions, there were movie previews and panels celebrating the anniversary of the Voltron franchise. None of this was my cup of tea. Not that I have anything against panels – I spent the first two days of Gen Con doing nothing BUT panels. See my blogs on Gen Con for details: http://michaelgcurry.blogspot.com/2013/08/prose-and-cons-agencon-2013-report-day.html
                But the panels at Wizard Con … meh. If the panels were subjects you enjoyed – I hope you enjoyed them! One I did not attend that piqued my interest was one featuring Bill Finger’s granddaughter. It would have been nice to meet her.
                St. Louis Wizard Con 2014 was more of a success than in 2013 – which in itself was very successful! Will there be one next year? I’d bet so.
                Will I go? Probably. It’s a good place to find old and rare comics. Expensive, but I can’t find them anywhere else – even online. If Neal Adams and other comic artists are there I will get their signatures on my favorite comics. I might even pay to commission some original artwork.
                If there are no big stars that make me ooo and aah; that’s okay.
                This year was much more fun than last year – probably because I met more friends there and knew more people as guests, artists, cosplayers and even exhibitors. Here’s hoping for many more successful years for Wizard Con!
                I’ll see you next year!
Copyright 2014 Michael G Curry

A Visit to Wizard World 2014 Comic Con St. Louis Part One

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A Visit to Wizard World 2014 Comic Con St. Louis
Part One
                In April St. Louis held its second Wizard World Comic Con. For a refresher – here is the site to my blog describing last year’s experience. http://michaelgcurry.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-pros-and-cons-inapril-st.html
                This year I went with my sister, brother-in-law and their ten-year-old son. I ran into them last year and this year we decided to go together. They are regular attendees of CONtamination each year also in St. Louis, but it was cancelled for 2014. So they decided to take their money to the Wizards this year. They weren’t disappointed.
                I have concluded that Wizard World Comic Con is the world’s most expensive flea market. They had a lot of great stuff there, don’t get me wrong. But most of it was eeeeeeex-pensive! I found a few great posters and some fairly-priced comics. I also found a bin of the original Kenner Star Wars action figures from the 1970s and 1980s. The figures from the “Return of the Jedi” used to be rare and worth a bit. But here they were for $5.00 – about what they sold for 30 years ago. Maybe next year I’ll buy up the ones I didn’t get then. By the third movie I was 20-years-old and not too interested in buying them. Thirty years later it is a different story. I was more interested in buying the small display cases for the figures.
                My sister, bro and nephew were very excited about the guest list. Most of them were available not only for autographs but photo ops. There was an additional fee for those. Last year the list of stars didn’t thrill me; probably because it was Wizard World Comic Con’s first year in a new town and no one knew how successful it would be. They needn’t have worried.
                It was an equal smash this year, so the roster was a little better. Lou Ferrigno, according to my sister, is a frequent guest of these things. Bruce Campbell was a huge draw. Half the cast of Firefly was there: Adam Baldwin, Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau and Alan Tudyk. Wrestler Chris Jericho, Ralph Macchio, Sean Patrick Flanery and Sean Astin were all there for autographs, panels and photos. 
                And this time there were guests that excited me! William Shatner, Adam West and Burt Ward. Woot!
                There was also a Doctor – Matt Smith (the 11th? I’ve lost track) and Karen Gillan (who played his companion Amy) were there for panels, autographs and photo ops. They were the most popular guests with the longest lines. When their autograph times were announced, the noise level of the crowded auditorium rose as people raced to the autograph booths.
                I decided not to ask for Smith’s and Gillan’s autographs – my money was budgeted for Shatner, Ward and West.
                When my family and I first arrived we did some comic book shopping. I helped my nephew find some old cheap comics that were age appropriate. Most comics from my era – the 1970s – were age appropriate of course, but finding stories that was done in one issue was harder. My nephew is a Batman fan, though, so finding cheap Batman comics from the 1970s or before can be tricky. You gotta know where to look. Brave & Bold and World’s Finest are fine choices. I also found him some Justice League of America and I decided to get him hooked on Legion of Super-Heroes. I found plenty of those in the cheaper bins.
                During the long day I also found some reasonably priced silver-age Green Lanternand Legion comics. I found a good golden age World’s Finest and an unbelievably cheap Feature Comics in nice shape. At the Graham Cracker comics kiosk I pointed out the first X-Men comic to my nephew, the first Spider-Man (Amazing Fantasy as well as Spider-Man #1), the first Thor (Journey into Mystery) and my sister was thrilled when I showed her the first appearance of Swamp Thing (in House of Secrets) all on display along with many others.
                While comic hunting, I groused many times at seeing comics I paid full price on in the dollar bins. Later I said I was equally pleased to see comics I paid full price on selling for $70.00 or more!
                We were there about fifteen minutes still digging through bins when I heard a familiar voice. It was by very dear friend Clyde and his wife and adult daughter – also doing some shopping. His daughter mentioned on Facebook that they bought many a fun item and her photos showed many a cosplayer and panels they enjoyed that day. Clyde has yet to write about Wizard World Comic Con, but he has a wonderful series of blogs on comics and related topics here:  http://playmst3kforme.blogspot.com/2013/06/weve-got-you-covered-10-great-comic.html
                Because of our work schedules I have not been able to chat with Clyde for some months. It was nice to catch up!
                After a bit more shopping we decided to get the autographs we wanted done.
                We were near the booths for Adam West and Burt Ward and began there. My sister told me she was bringing her DVD of their Batman movie from 1966. I thought that was a great idea and brought mine too.
                Burt Ward was a friendly and chatty gentleman. He showed us pictures of his dogs and explained how he cared for them and fed them the proper food so that some of them, at 25, play as actively as dogs half their age. His web site is here: http://www.gentlegiantsrescue.com/
                He autographed and personalized our DVDs. My nephew was so nervous he hardly said a word. I told Burt how much I enjoyed his work as Robin (other than some voice work he has done little other acting).
                Adam West was also just as kind and, although they made us rush along, we had enough time to shake his hand. I told him how much I enjoyed his pilot Lookwelland he appreciated that. When he shook my nephew’s hand I said to my nephew, “You realize you are shaking the hand of a man who acted with the Three Stooges.” Whether Adam West was playing me or not when I said they he leaned back in his chair and offered me his hand again. “The Outlaws is Coming, that’s right!” he said, sounding amazed. Hey, I’m a fan of both him and the Stooges, what can I say? It was the Traveling Wilburys of film!
                William Shatner was another matter. He, Nathan Fillion, Bruce Campbell and Matt Smith required queuing in feeder lines long before the autograph schedule. You had to buy the tickets ahead of time. I didn’t know that and luckily Shatner was not sold out. I waited much longer in line that I usually have the patience for. “How long were you in line?” My sister asked later. “I got in line in 2014; I got out in Stardate 3097.4.” Once the autograph session started it went pretty quickly – not a lot of time to gush. I shook his hand and told him I loved his work. He thanked me while autographing a photo I selected from those offered. Surprisingly I didn’t have a lot of Shatner books or pictures. I had a commemorative magazine from Star Trek II with a nice pin-up of him, but decided not to hunt for it. I mentioned I was an attorney and his Danny Crain was a very realistic portrayal and he thanked me. By this time he was signing the lady behind me (her name was Tracy – we got to talk a lot during our months in line) and I was being herded out.
                That finished the autograph-hunting of Wizard World Comic Con for me. My family wanted to get into a few other lines so I said I would meet them back “here” and went to the artists’ alley.
                I found artist/writer Neal Adams’ kiosk earlier to sign two Power Records for which he did the cover – one of Batman and one of Superman. “Do you still have the records?” “Yes, home safe and sound,” I said. My nephew is a budding artist (another nephew Dirk is a professional comic book artist) and we stood and watched Neal draw. I told my nephew I thought Neal was one of the greatest comic artists ever – he drew a head-shot of Batman (a commission for that day, no doubt) while we watched. I told my nephew to watch how he draws lines and circles. My nephew was just as thrilled to look at all the posters and other artwork surrounding Adams. My sister had a cell phone photo of a sketch my nephew did and proudly showed it to Neal (there was no one in line at the time). I asked Neal when he started drawing. “Four,” he said. I told my nephew he had six years to catch up. Thank you, Neal, for allowing a ten-year-old to watch you make your art!
                But Neal Adams had his own kiosk away from the artist alley. There I met Mike Grell – an artist whose style very much compares with Neal Adams. In fact, Grell took over the art chores of Green Lantern after they brought back that title after its run with … Neal Adams. Neal Adams and Denny O’Neil produced a now-legendary story arc, but not enough to revive slagging sales. The title was cancelled and brought back a few years later with O’Neil writing, but now with Grell drawing.
                No one was in line at Grell’s booth so I introduced myself and shook his hand. “When I started reading comics, I read your Green Lantern and your Legion and Warlord. When I moved to Batman, you moved too. You drew every comic I loved as a kid. Thank you.” He thanked me and held his hand out again. I gave him my Green Lantern #90 (his first) and First Issue Special #8 (first appearance of his Warlord) to sign. He only charged me a dollar. Considering what I paid before that for signatures (including $40.00 for Neal Adams), I almost kissed the guy.
                Both Mike Grell and Neal Adams were very friendly and happy to talk to me. They were both very courteous and appreciative of this fan-boy. Meeting them was the highlight of the Con for me.
                I was torn as to what to bring from Grell to sign. I wanted to bring a Legion comic; then a Sable. I wanted to bring his first professional work (an Aquaman back-up in Adventure) – it would have been cool to ask him what he remembered of it. But I am glad I took what I did.
                Next was the kiosk of Ethan Van Sciver, who (among other works) drew Green Lantern Rebirth (don’t ask). He signed it graciously.
                I walked along the other artists displaying their work. I took a few cards – I am always on the lookout for artists to do covers for my novels. There weren’t a lot of science fiction-y art unfortunately. There were darn few fantasy artists, either. I did enjoy the fantasy art of h-eri (like her Facebook page at IvoryDragonStudios) and I think she could design a great cover should I flesh out the fantasy novel I have outlined. 
               Most of the other artists were comic-book oriented. Good stuff throughout!
                So I accomplished all my goals for the Con! I met who I wanted to meet and got some nice swag!
                In the meantime, my sister’s family was having the times of their lives…
                To be continued …
Copyright 2014 Michael G Curry

 

             


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A review of “Thor – the Dark World” (no spoilers edition)

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A review of “Thor – the Dark World” (no spoilers edition)

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});             The movie starts with a voice-over recounting an epic battle from ages past. The Lord of all things evil wants to take the world back to the darkness over which he rules. He takes a part of his dark essence and creates a tangible symbol of his power.
            Eventually he is defeated by the powers of good and his symbol is hidden through the ages.
            The symbol is found by a citizen of Middle Earth; a citizen who appears to be one of its weakest members but contains hidden strength. 
            The re-discovery of his symbol awakens the Dark Lord, who again masses all things evil into another pitched battle against the forces of good. Should good fail, the entire universe will be taken over by darkness… 
            But enough about “Lord of the Rings”, this is a review of “Thor, the Dark World”.
            Oh, wait, they both start out like that.
            In “Thor…” Sauron is called Malekith, played by former Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston, whose make-up is reminiscent of 2009’s “Star Trek” baddie Nero.  For a time during the show I thought it may have been the same actor. I doubted the producers would have been that dumb to cast the same actor in a similar role with identical make-up, though.
            Malekith the Accursed was created by the superb comic book writer/artist Walter Simonson. He received a byline deep into the closing credits. I hope Marvel managed to pry open its billion-dollar coffer to give him his complementary free ticket as thanks for the millions of dollars this movie will rake in with the help of his creation.
            The movie picks up where the last “Thor” movie and “The Avengers” left off. As is and will be the routine for these Marvel movies (and for Marvel Comics as well), these are shared-world movies – it is all interconnected. Events from one movie spill into the other movies. There is even a cameo/crossover to wonderful affect with a certain shield-slinging Avenger.
            The plot – after the battle at the end of the Second Age – er – the battle with Malekith, the One Ring – er – the Aether is discovered by Deagol – er – Jane Foster. It takes over her body and will eventually destroy her if a cure is not found.
            Just as had happened five thousand years ago during the first battle with Malekith, the Nine Worlds are converging. Physics will go awry and it will be easy to travel amongst the worlds.
            So Thor finds Jane and takes her to Asgard. Not coincidentally, Malekith invades Asgard to get back the Aether out of Miss Jane. Chaos ensues.
            Beating back the invasion is costly and Thor wants to take the battle to Malekith. Odin forbids it. So Thor, as any son would, sneaks behind his father’s back with the help of his friends and his imprisoned brother Loki.
            Meanwhile, Malekith travels to earth to begin the process that will envelope the universe in darkness. The Convergence will make this easier since, from Midgard, he will have access to all realms.
            Thor, Jane and her seemingly incompetent scientific team are all that stand in the way of the coming darkness.
           
            Chris Hemsworth does an excellent job in his third go-round as the Thunder God. I like him better here than in the first movie. It is nice seeing Thor at full power.
            Anthony Hopkins returns as the scene-chewing Odin –ever barking and snapping at his lines with his usual gusto. I love him as Odin and hoped he would have a bigger role in the battle scenes. Alas.
            We DO get to see Rene Russo as Thor’s mother Frigga kick some ass though.
            Idris Elba as Heimdall also as a bigger role here. I hope to see more of him in future movies.
            The aforesaid Eccleston as Malekith makes a very good villain, but there’s not much else for him to do other than thrust the Aether at Thor time and again. There’s not much motivation for him in this movie other than to “destroy the universe”. Yeah, get in line. There is a small bit about his wanting to avenge his people, but, ye gods (pardon the pun), his people started it. This isn’t about revenge – this is just a second go-round. Perhaps if we were to feel more empathy for a dying race Malekith would have been a bit more well-rounded as a villain.
            Jane’s compatriots return in this movie – Dr. Selvig still recovering from his role in helping Loki in “The Avengers” and Jane’s intern, the annoying Darcy (her comic relief is unnecessary; this is meant as to the character not the actress portraying her). And now Darcy has her own intern, an equally annoying and incompetent Britisher. Of course after all this comic relief we then have to take them seriously during the final battle. It baffles me that filmmakers think after two hours of laughing at these dolts we will suddenly accept their sudden conversion to adequacy.
            Loki is again played by Tom Hiddleston and as with both “Thor” and “The Avengers” he steals every scene his is in. Here is a villain whose motivations are as clear as they are complex – unlike Sauron or Malekith.  Throughout the film, until its very end, you have no idea whose side he is on.  Well, that’s not true – you know he is always on HIS side, but his alliances have so many twists and turns it keeps your attention during the movie.  Oh, and the aforementioned “get in line”? One of Loki’s best cracks in the film…
            And the movie keeps your attention. It’s not a great film – not as jaw-dropping as Thor’s last film appearance, but on par with the other Marvel movies to date (only the first “Iron Man” has yet to raise the same goose bumps as “The Avengers” did).
            The effects are smashing, pun intended. The faux-Shakespearian dialogue is still a hoot and Thor is easy to cheer on as he battles to save us all.
            It is worth waiting until after the first few minutes of credits (after an excellently-done cast roll call) to watch a set-up of either a future Thor or Avengers movie plot. The final scene after the rolling credits – where we learn the names of the grips and gaffers – is not as satisfying and is worth waiting until it is out of DVD or on-line viewing. It is not worth the dirty looks from the theater crew waiting for you to leave so they can sweep up your popcorn. There’s no Nick Fury asking Thor to join the Avengers; there’s no surprise guest-hero or guest-villain – the bit after the casting credits takes care of that.
            Good movie. Go see it in the theaters to get the whole effect of the vastness of the subject. Enjoy.
Copyright 2013 Michael G Curry