The Watcher – Episode 41: Shawn Michaels, Comics, Games and More! – Marvel

Where Have All the Stories Gone?

The Superman Homepage is the finest, most comprehensive Superman site on the Web.  If you want to know anything Superman ever did or said the last seventy years; if you want to know anything done with or said about him in that time, you go to the Homepage.  If they ain’t got it, friends, it didn’t happen!   Not only does the SH chronicle the history of the Man of Steel, but it also presents up-to-the-minute news and views of the world of the world’s greatest hero.  Every day, a talented, dedicated crew of reporters, writers, and reviewers, led by Superman fan-extraordinaire, Steve Younis, bakes a fresh batch of goodies for the hungry fan.  I’m one of those and I go there often.

I also receive Steve’s weekly newsletter, The Big Blue Report, which contains information and commentary not found on the site itself.  The latest BBR contains Steve’s thoughts on the DC Relaunch, which I’ve mentioned a couple times in these pages.   I’ve taken the liberty of reprinting a bit of his editorial here:

“Actually, I think we place too much importance on “continuity” these days. Fans bemoan the fact that “their” version of Superman no longer exists, and complain about certain stories no longer being “in continuity”. The fact is, in many ways, we’re to blame. In my opinion, we as readers have become so hung up on trying to make every story fit in with those that came before it, that we’ve created this need for the writers/creators to hit the Reset button every ten years or so in order to be able to tell new stories that aren’t weighed down by such a convoluted history.”

“Today, the main audience for comic books are adults. Most comic books are no longer for children, and possibly not even for teenagers. Most of the people I know who read comic books are all older than twenty. I rarely see anyone younger than that in the comic book store. Therefore, as older readers, we’re more demanding, less forgiving, and have long memories. We want to know that the story we read two years ago still fits in with the book we’re reading today.”

I think Steve has put his finger squarely on a big problem.  I also think one reason for this insatiable desire for comics “continuity” is the desire fans have to immerse themselves in another world.  Remember when series TV used to be more episodic?  Kirk, Spock, and McCoy would beam down to the planet, get into trouble, get out of the trouble, and beam back home.  It was all done in one episode.  You didn’t have to know much about Kirk, Spock, and McCoy to enjoy watching them get into and out of their various predicaments.  You could come onboard the Enterprise any time and jump ship whenever you liked.   You can name your own favorite from the Sixties and Seventies (re-runs, of course, which you’ve seen on TV Land.  Perish the thought you should be so old as to remember what was on TV forty years ago!) and realize the same fact:  back then, dramatic television consisted of done-in-one episodes.

Then came such fare as Dallas and Hill Street Blues.  These shows invited us not just for a visit to J.R. Ewing’s ranch or to Captain Furillo’s police station but into the worlds these characters inhabited.  You couldn’t just stay an hour and walk away.  If you were at all interested in the goings-on at Southfork Ranch or the Hill Street precinct, you had to come back week after week, tune in episode after episode–and not miss any either.  That way, you kept up with all that was going on with Furillo’s private life as well as hefty Officer Renko’s battle with donuts and grouchy Belker’s odd-couple friendship with Captain Freedom, to name just a couple of the many subplots.

But I digress.  The point is, comic books, always doomed to play second fiddle to TV, quickly followed suit.  Superman comics became Dallas-style soap opera and, as the market shrank and the average age of comics readership increased, the desire not simply to read a story but to immerse oneself in a world grew.

I’m not sure, exactly, what feeds this desire.  Perhaps we fans don’t like the lives we’re living and want to escape, and keep on escaping, into other universe, another life and career (I suppose that’s what fed the once-popular roleplaying game phenomenon).   Perhaps for us, to use the title of a Bond movie, the world is not enough.   And perhaps, as William Shatner said in a Saturday Night Live sketch to a group of  costumed, made-up ST fans, we should get a life.

On the one hand, as a preacher, I can and must say that what we’re doing is idolatry: making a fictional world the measure of all things.   On the other hand, I truly believe that a lover of fantasy aches with a God-created ache for More Than This.  But that’s a discussion for another time.

At any rate, as an aging comic book fan, disappointed in and dispirited by much that passes for comics these days, I’m pining for story.   Pure and simple story.

I’ve long maintained that fans are too worried about continuity.  Steve Younis’ response to the booting and rebooting, including DC’s latest, is quite logical–and quite sad. To me, what was lost long ago was Story.  Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are some of the greatest fictional characters ever conceived.  I therefore don’t think they need to be rebooted so much as the idea of writing good stories about them needs to be recovered. It’s no accident that some of the best Superman stories have taken place outside continuity–from Weisinger’s charmingly dubbed “Imaginary stories” to John Byrne’s Generations to Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman. They were page-turners.  You wanted to find out what was going to happen next. When you finished them, you wanted to tell somebody else the story.

I’ve said it before.  I’ve say it again.  Don’t change the characters; change the stories.  You can start, DC, by telling actual stories.

 

Credit: Gary Robinson – garydrobinson.com

Relativity Media to Produce Live-Action ‘Voltron’

Comic-Con News—At the Voltron panel Executive Producer of World Events Productions Bob Koplar announced that WEP had signed a deal with Relativity Media to create a live-action Voltron film.  The movie will be based on the 1984 cult-classic Voltron: Defender of the Universe animated series, which itself was crafted out of two anime series, Beast King Go-Lion, andKikou Kantai Dairugger XV.  Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer are writing the screenplay.

Relativity Media is a very active independent motion picture production and investment company, which began in 2005 has been involved in the production of a large number of movies including 3:10 to Yuma (2007),Hancock (2008), Zombieland (2009), The Social Network (2010), andCowboys & Aliens (2011).

Currently the Voltron property is undergoing a major revival. The newVoltron Force cartoon series is running on Nickelodeon.  Dynamite’s ongoingVoltron comic will debut before the end of the year, and Mattel is preparing to launch a new line of Voltron Force figures, which can be combined into a giant Voltron figure that will be 23 inches high.

Credit: atomiccomics.com

Captain America: The First Avenger Earns $4M In Midnight Screenings

Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger charged strong out of the gate last night, grossing $4 million in its midnight debut at 2,000 theaters.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, that’s the best midnight haul of any superhero movie this summer, placing director Joe Johnston’s action-adventure ahead of Fox’s X-Men: First Class ($3.4 million), Warner Bros.’ Green Lantern ($3.35 million) and Marvel’s Thor ($3.25 million).

Distributor Paramount Pictures projects Captain America will open somewhere between First Class‘ $55.1 million and Thor‘s $65 million.

The film, which received early screenings Thursday at Comic-Con International in San Diego, boasts a 71-percent “fresh” rating among critics at Rotten Tomatoes, and 86 percent among the website’s users. Comic Book Resources called Captain America “a fun, pleasant romp through the pulp world of the 1940s” that nonetheless “lacks the energetic spark that imbues the world of Thor and X-Men.”

Captain America: The First Avenger stars Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Sebastian Stan, Tommy Lee Jones, Dominic Cooper, Toby Jones, Stanley Tucci, Richard Armitage, Natalie Dormer, Neal McDonough and Samuel L. Jackson.

Credit: comicbookresources.com

The Watcher – Episode 31 – X Men Schism and Vengeance, Report from Utopia!

Incredible Hulk TV Revival Moving Ahead, Guillermo Del Toro Says

NBC may have rejected David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman pilot, the other television superhero revival, ABC’s slow-brewing Incredible Hulk, remains very much alive.

“We turned in the outline to ABC about four weeks ago,” filmmaker Guillermo del Torro, who’s developing the series with David Eick, tells FEARnet. “And then we did a rewrite for ABC on the outline, and now we are lining up the pages.”

Announced in October, just two weeks after Warner Bros. unveiled its Wonder Woman plans, theHulk revival is thought to be a priority for Marvel’s fledgling television division. The revival, which would mark the character’s first appearance on live-action television since 1982 1990, is reportedly being targeted for a fall 2012 premiere.

Eick, executive producer of the Battlestar Galactica remake, is working with del Toro on the pilot story and will write the script. Del Toro, meanwhile, will oversee the design of the Green Goliath,expected to be a blend of prosthetics, puppetry and computer animation. If he has time, he’ll also direct the pilot.

Asked by FEARnet whether this Hulk will be different from what we’ve seen before, del Torro replied, “I think so. Or we wouldn’t be trying it. Actually, one of the points of this project early on with Marvel, was ‘We’re going to do this thing different, and here’s how. Are you interested?’ And they were.”

Credit: comicbookresources.com

DC Relaunch: Justice League – The Full Lineup

And there we go. The full line up for the new Justice League. Aquaman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Flash and Cyborg we knew.

But it also seems we have Deadman, Atom, Element Woman, Firestorm, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Power Girl and Mera.

Power Girl certainly seems to be wrapping herself up. Unless it’s Zealot. Or Black Canary. Or someone else. And maybe that Firestorm is Union.

What do you think?

Credit: comicbookresources.com

Flashpoint Preview: Project Superman #1

 

Credit: newsarama.com

Transformers Vault: Treasures from Cybertron

Slipcover image: Abrams, Inc.

Pushing 30 years old, the Transformers franchise has seen so many incarnations and storylines and characters that some aspect is sure to have ticked off or been ridiculed by or flat-out alienated even the most die-hard fan at some point.

I can’t imagine a Transformers fan so jaded, though, that they wouldn’t love the newly-releasedTransformers Vault: The Complete Transformers Universe / Showcasing Rare Collectibles and Memorabilia.

Seriously — I’ll bet this book could even make GeekDad Z. forgive the creators of Ratbat. It’s that cool.

Written by Pablo Hidalgo – who’s also one of the authors of Star Wars: Year By Year – and published byAbrams, Transformers Vault is 159 pages of Cybertronian mecha-goodness, from the embossed slipcase and rich cover art to the detailed history which unfolds in the text.

Organized into five chapters, the book tracks the development and storylines of the Autobots and Decepticons as they played out in toys, comic books, television and on the big screen. It also includes a relatively brief look into the future of the franchise.

Fittingly, the chapter titled “The Toys That Started It All” accounts for more than a quarter of the book’s pages. Hidalgo’s description of the line’s evolution is fascinating and memory-jogging, accompanied by a slew of nifty prototype photos, early packaging examples, patent diagrams and concept drawings.

Front cover image: Abrams, Inc.

With so much material to work with, every chapter is similarly well-packed with that neat-but-not-overwhelming balance of intriguing backstory and eye-popping visuals. It’s not a completist’s toy-by-toy cataloguing of the lines, nor an encyclopedia of character biographies and storylines – and that makes it much more a good read than a resource.

And while Transformers Vault is coming out just as the hype machine is peaking for the Transfomers:Dark of the Moon, it’s a great reminder that there’s far more to these characters and their history than the latest Michael Bay interpretation. The live-action big-screen incarnations don’t get their chapter until 129 pages in, and even then, it’s a relatively light twenty-page inclusion.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sunstreaker But Were Afraid to Ask. Materials: Abrams, Inc.

Tucked within the Vault’s pages are seven pullout reproductions of memorabilia and artwork, including a miniature animation-style cel, a Rodimus Prime character reference sheet, and my favorite – a page of the red-and-blue “tech specs” graphs from the back of the old toy packaging, complete with a band of red acetate for “decoding” purposes.

On the whole, it’s a gloriously packaged and assembled book that makes fantastic use of the Transformers franchise’s incredible art. I do wonder, though, how the cover imagery, slipcase and some of the interior pages will hold up over time as those pullout extras are removed and re-inserted repeatedly.

There it is, though: worrying about whether a book will physically wear out due to overuse probably says a lot about the quality of its contents.

Wired: Stunning art, exhaustively researched text, and a projection map of Cybertron. What more could a Transformers fan want?

Tired: Wear and tear could be a problem for some of the flimsier pull-out pieces and their pocketed pages.

Credit: wired.com

The Secret World of WWE Figure Collecting

It was 1984. Hulk Hogan had won the WWE Championship from The Iron Sheik, Rowdy Roddy Piper smashed a coconut over Jimmy Snuka’s head and Captain Lou Albano’s appearance in Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was hitting the airwaves.

Fans around the world couldn’t wait get their hands on toy company LJN’s first line of WWE action figures. Sure, these tiny wrestlers were made of hard plastic and had zero moveable joints, but these were WWE action figures. Children wanted to play with the heroes and villains they saw on TV each week.

“I can remember asking my mom and dad for LJN figures straight off the shelves when I was about 8 or so,” said Daniel Epps, a 34-year old, decades-long fan of WWE figures from Gloversville, New York.

Fast forward 27 years and Mattel’s collection of WWE figures is light years away from LJN’s stiff Hulk Hogan figures. Today, Mattel’s Randy Orton figure has 27 points of articulation, highly detailed tattoos and real fabric clothing that makes it the spitting image of the 6-foot-4, 245-pound superstar. The improvements are irresistible for fans.

“Now I collect as a hobby. I tried to quit buying last year when Mattel took over the WWE license, but the figures are so incredible I just couldn’t stop,” Epps said.

Another WWE figurine collector, Artur Queiroga, 20, agrees. “Mattel’s WWE action figures possesses superior articulation and bear a greater likeness to the superstars than the figures of past lines.

“The different classes of action figures are executed excellently, with different accessories and ranges of articulation, making a figure of the more expensive class truly seem worth it.”

Hasbro took over production of the WWE figures in 1990, adding moving arms and spring loaded movements. In 1996, Jakks Pacific added 15 points of articulation, moving legs, heads and a level of detail not seen up until this time. Mattel is the fourth company to produce WWE figures starting in January 2010.

Mattel’s signature take on the figures is to scale them in the most life-like fashion to-date. All previous figures by the other companies were the same standard size. It didn’t matter if you were 5’9″ or 7’6″; your action figure was the same height as all the others.

Now, WWE Superstar Kane, who is 7 feet tall in real life, has his action figure stand at 7.5 inches while someone like Rey Mysterio, who is 5’6,” has his action figure stand a little over 6 inches.

“It is the coolest thing having your own action figure,” said former World Heavyweight Champion Christian Cage. “It is hard to describe to go into a store and see yourself there on the shelf. It is kind of a surreal thing. You kind of know you have arrived when you get an action figure.”

The process of turning a WWE Superstar or Diva into an amazingly real looking figure begins with putting the real superstars under a laser.

“A four-head body scanner sits on four posts that is lowered from the ceiling,” said Derek Handy, a senior designer from Mattel. “A laser beam bounces back and forth off the Superstar that then creates a 3-D image. The head scanner rotates around the Superstar’s head 360 degrees and picks up the depth.”

Nabil Carrillo, a 19-year old from Orlando, Florida, who collects WWE, Star Wars, Marvel Universe and other action figures, believes that the WWE figures by Mattel can’t be compared with any other figure when it comes to detail.

“The details on these figures are superb, and they look realistic,” Carrillo said. “That’s what makes them popular.”

These figures are played with by kids, kept in their boxes by the adults and often set up in elaborate scenes by both. To the WWE fan, the wrestlers that they see on TV each week are their superheroes.

“Right now I have loose LJNs and Hasbros displayed on the ledges above my doors and windows of our living room and bedroom,” Epps said. “I also have some signed figures hanging up on our dining room wall.”

Fans enjoy creating dream matchups that they never thought were possible such as Ravishing Rick Rude from the 1980s and ’90s vs. current WWE SmackDown wrestler Randy Orton. For the football fan, this is like seeing the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers taking on the 1995 Dallas Cowboys.

Online communities at wrestlingfigs.com, ringsidecollectibles.com and wrestlingsuperstore.com are the places where fans can discuss new and older figures.

These websites also sell exclusive WWE figures that aren’t available in traditional stores such as Walmart and Target. International buyers turn to these websites to find the figures that they can’t find in stores in their own countries.

“We support each other in our hobby, from congratulating on recent purchases, to posting what series is out on store shelves, to advising about making custom figures,” Epps said.

Many collectors hope their investments in these figures will one day pay them back and then some.

Several LJN figures are eBay are selling from $500 to $1,000. And while the current Mattel figures are not selling for that much more than their purchase price, they are expected to follow the upward price trend of the LJN and Hasbro figures.

Movie and comic treasures go for big bucks

One of today’s most popular activities in the WWE figurine collector community is creating customized action figures. For instance, WWE’s newest acquisition from Mexico, Sin Cara, doesn’t have an action figure out yet. Sellers on eBay take the time to design and hand-paint Sin Cara figures that are one-of-a-kind collector items.

Even though Queiroga is a collector of all these figures, as far as selling his figures goes, he has no plans for that anytime soon.

“I’ve collected action figures for a very long time and they mean a lot to me. I couldn’t part with them,” he said.

Epps used to buy every figure made, but now since he has a family, his spending habits have changed.

“My main goal is to have one figure of every wrestler,” he said.

“Now I average about one figure every other week. I plan to some day give the collection to one of my kids, whichever shows the most interest in wrestling.”

Credit: cnn.com