Even More Fund Comics

If you ever wanted a primer to Indy comics, creators and artists for the early 2000s, this is it! Dozens upon dozens of comic book talent came together to make this 2004 anthology benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Batton Lash's lawyers of Supernatural Law, The Cryptozoo Crew from Jerry Carr and Allan Gross, Mark McKenna's Banana Tail are just a few of the properties I've read and reviewed before. It was a lot of fun to get an all-new revisit to these characters that might not have gotten their due respect. 

There's also a slew of well known artists who contributed to the sketch book section of this book. Steve Rude, George Perez and Al Milgrom, along with Jim Lee, who drew to the Spider-Man/Green Goblin cover all make small donations of their time and God given gifts in this book. I'm thinking heavy hitters Marvel and DC weren't willing to let their superstars provide more than a single work of art least it interferes with their bottom line. But at least they were allowed to support the CBLDF!

There's at least one other volume out there similar to this. More Fund Comics, also by Sky Dog, benefits my favorite comic book charity. I'd assume with the title that there'd be a 'Fund Comics' out there too. Only, I can't find evidence of it. I'd like to read MFC. But if it's like this book, I'd probably sell it for something I really want. Thus, the first primer is something I will keep an eye out for but I'm not going to add it to my wish list.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Classic Toys from a Madman's Youth: Advent 2019 Day 17

Thinking about yesterday's featured toy reminded me of another all-inclusive toy from my youth that I really loved. You might be familiar with Colorforms. But have you ever visited Marvel World? Well for today's Advent, welcome one and all!

Marvel World was an all-in-one playset from Amsco. The set was made of heavy-duty cardboard featuring 360 degrees of full color graphics. With this material, you got to build the Baxter Building, Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorium, the Daily Bugle and other Marvel icons of the New York skyline. The sets even had a working elevator and other cool surprises for the kiddies to explore on the inside.

Along with the buildings, you got literally dozens of little stand-up figures of Marvel Universe greats including Spider-Man, Hawkeye, The Green Goblin and Shang-Chi, The Master of Kung-Fu. You even got a Galactus but unfortunately, he was the same size as the other characters. 

This toy debuted in 1975. That's 3 years before I was born. But I remember owning one of these. I wanna say that my grandparents found one of these at a yard sale. I'm not 100% certain if I had this for a Christmas gift or not. But man, did I have fun with these!

Marvel World is definitely one of those toys that I wish I still had. I really think I'd continue to have hours and hours of fun with this. Yet, I seriously doubt I'll ever get my hands on one of these. Individual figures without the plastic stands sell for upwards of $65 each!

Behold, I am the herald of ridiculous collectible prices!

Maybe Marvel would re-release this. I'd pay upwards of about $60 for a replica set. 

As my Advent present for you today, here's an unboxing video. Obviously somebody shelled out some big bucks. Lucky guy... Oh well. Enjoy!

The Pulse #5

 

    In the pages of New Avengers, Norman Osborn becomes quite the thorn in the team's side, particularly with Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. This issue is the birth of that feud. 

  If you've wanted to see Osborn get what's coming to him, this (and issue 4) are the issues you've been demanding. Of, course, being like the 3rd richest person in New York means that it won't be easy for the good guys to bring Osborn finally to justice as he'll hide behind lawyers, lackeys, and even his Green Goblin persona to save his slimy hide.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Amazing Spider-Man 2

              

   After missing it in theaters and then somehow passing it on HBO and OnDemand, I finally got my hands on a copy of Amazing Spider-Man 2. This action romp through the Big Apple on the web-swinging back of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man pits the hero against the armored Rhino, the electrifying Electro, and the creepy Green Goblin all the while balancing love and job in his civilian life as Peter Parker. On paper, this should be a slam dunk. But at almost two and a half hours long the film's momentum is paced sporadically as the plot gets really dragged out and then all of a sudden it gets jammed pack with a dizzying array action and adventure.

   Amazing Spider-Man left me pleasantly disappointed. It has some very good acting. With the exception of Heath Ledger's Joker, that's not really what superhero films are known for. There were some very fun scenes that succeed thanks to the great acting. But overall the film feel flat in areas that comic based films are praised for, especially plot and SFX.

Andrew Garfield's timing and poise as Spider-Man/ Peter Parker is excellent. The way he makes Spider-Man a thriving part of New York and his scenes with everyday people and the real heroes of the city, the NYPD and NYFD, while in costume were perfect.
 
   Then you got Jamie Fox who played a nerdy uberfan of Spidey's named Max Dillon, who is turned into the misunderstood Electro was fantastic as well. There was a real character progression to Dillon that made him a sympathetic foe. Plus there was great chemistry between Garfield and Fox in their few scenes together.

   Speaking of chemistry, Andrew Garfield's Peter and Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy got it! Maybe it;s because the two are lovers in real life, but they made ASM2 a kind of romantic comedy in the vein of Tracy and Hepburn. Even Paul Giamatti as Rhino was good though I think his Russian accent needed work because I couldn't understand a word he was saying. (OKAY- maybe it was too good!)

    If this was the only dynamic of Amazing Spider-Man 2 then the film would be an instant classic. But the writers, producers, and director decided to add Norman and Harry Osborn into the mix. Norman, played by Chris Cooper, has some sort of terrible auto-immune disease. His search for a cure is what leads to OsCorp conducting its research with spiders that ultimately bite Parker and give him his powers. With Norman's death, his company is handed over to his son, Harry. When Peter tries to reach out to his old friend, the film spirals into about 45 minutes of Harry trying to find a cure for the genetic condition he inherited from his father. It may be important to understanding Harry's character and motivation, but it really slows the film to a snails pace.

   Harry's search for a cure winds up taking on the mystery behind the death of Peter's folks. Peter finds a satchel that belonged to his father and that spins the film off into yet another tangent. Sure, Peter's search does provide some much needed scientific jargon as to why that spider's bite gave him special powers but that's about all it does to benefit the film.

   Ideally with all of the tangents and sprawling plotlines, this film should have been cut into two movies and Amazing Spider-Man turned into a trilogy. But with a major deal struck between Marvel Studios and Sony to add Spidey to the official Marvel movie universe,  I think the plans to make this film series into a trilogy were scrapped in order to get Spider-Man into 'Captain America: Civil War' as soon as possible. (It's rumored that this is the movie in which Spidey will be introduced to the MMU.)

   Sadly, Andrew Garfield will not be portraying the wall-crawler in the forthcoming Captain America flick. In fact the Peter Parker Spider-Man might not even be featured in the forthcoming Spider-Man cinematic reboot scheduled for release around 2019. ( In an effort for a more diverse Marvel film universe, rumor has it that the half black, half Latino Miles Morales Spider-Man will appear in Civil War.)

  Yes- the Spider-Man franchise is going to get a second reboot in less than 5 years time! And for that reason alone, I feel that that this film tries to do too much because there won't be an Amazing Spider-Man 3 to round out the unanswered questions of the first film. One such question is still unanswered- just who is the guy in the shadows at the prison for bad guys? He pops up again in this film and I still don't know who the heck he is.

   Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a rare type of superhero film. It's acting was far better than the story and don't get me started on the special effects. Maybe it's because I watched this film on DVD but the action scenes involving Spidey were so fake looking. But during Stan Lee's tenure are the mastermind behind the Marvel Age of Comics, his stories were known for being heavy on character and drama and that's what happens here. I just hope Marvel Studios allows Andrew Garfield a much-needed swan song before the pass on the mantle of Spider-Man to whoever is cast as the Miles Morales Spidey.

   Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Spider-Man: The Death of Gwen Stacy

WORTH CONSUMING!

You never think of Peter Parker without Mary Jane Watson. See what life for him was like and why Spiderman I & II did not fudge with the Spidey love triangle mythos quite the way you thought they did. And the Green Goblin art is great….Except what is wrong with Norman and Harry Osborn’s hair???