Captain Universe: Power Unimaginable

Collecting the almost very first adventures of Captain Universe- the superhero who could be you! 

This volume features the Bill Mantlo/Steve Ditko creation that debuted in the pages of Micronauts. Since Marvel no longer owns the rights to that property, the first storyline is missing from this book. It seems really weird to me. The Micronauts are referred to several times in the stories collected and in at least one of them, there are characters from the Micronauts seen in panels recalling Captain Universe's origin. Surely, Marvel could have worked out some sort of licensing agreement to have had those books added to this assemblage.

I bought this book because of the reprinted stories from Marvel Spotlight. I figured paying less than $7.00 cover price (Check your local Ollie's for this book!) was going to be cheaper than finding those 3 issues from the early 70s. It was a very good gamble as I enjoyed almost the entire book.

The concept behind Captain Universe was that there's the sentient power called the Unipower. It bestows itself upon random people in need of superhero assistance. From a small child to a pair of twins, the Unipower wasn't prejudiced. The best story involves Bruce Banner being stripped from his Hulk persona and becoming Captain Universe. While fighting his mean green alter-ego, Banner must also stop a nuclear missile from being launched on the Soviet Union!

My least favorite story was the last one. It sorta reboots the character and ends on a cliffhanger. I wouldn't mind either if Marvel ever published a second volume. As this book debuted in 2005 and a quick Amazon search doesn't show a sequel, I ended this amazing read a little unfulfilled. 

Another thing that might make you feel like you are missing something is that some of these stories are from Web of Spider-Man. Other than an off-panel cameo of Peter Parker, the wall-crawler is absent from this book. Do not expect this book to be the jewel of your Spidey collection.

But for someone like myself who didn't any of the books or stories reprinted (except for the Marvel Fanfare beauty), this is a great collection of adventures. I love the Steve Ditko art and it's kinda fitting to read this now as he passed away earlier this year. Plus it features work from the great Bill Mantlo whose career, but not life, was cut way too short by a hit-and-run driver.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Aw Yeah! A Hasbro Action Figure Jam

Who says that the adults get to have all the fun?

 In honor of the epic IDW Hasbro crossover Revolution, the publishing company decided to make an all-ages version! Bringing together Rom: Spaceknight, GI Joe, Transformers and the Micronauts, Aw Yeah! A Hasbro Action Figure Jam crafts a story that will delight fans of all-ages of any or all of these franchises. 

However, I felt that a little something was missing to this book by Art Baltazar (Tiny Titans). I think it's that his long-time art and story partner, Franco isn't involved in this miniseries. Normally in an Art Baltazar and Franco adventure has tons of inside jokes, Easter eggs and is fun, fun, fun. This  yarn was missing at least one of the funs and a bunch of the hidden treasures. 

I enjoyed a large majority of this story. Having a very popular good guy changed into a member of COBRA was awesome! Seeing the Micronauts and Snake Eyes fighting together was epic! And anything with ROM is just pure old school fun!

But I hated the ending. It was ambiguous and stories without definitive endings are a huge pet peeve of mine. However, if you are a grown-up or parent who is looking to share over 35 years of Hasbro toy history, this is a very good place to start.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 54

  The other day, I saw that there was a novelty comic book cover in which readers got to decorate it with removable stickers.

The Superman: The Man of Steel Colorform cover
that inspired this article.

    Colorforms!!!

    So for today's Madman Turns 40 article, I thought it would be fun to take a look at the Colorforms sets that say on store shelves in 1977...

  Donnie And Marie

   With this set, kids could dress up the brother and sister pop duo, Donnie & Marie. You could dress Marie up a little bit country and Donnie could be dolled up a little bit rock n' roll!

   Sesame Street

   
    Every year it seemed that Sesame Street came up with a different Colorforms set. This one seems to be based on the colors of the rainbow from the organization of each hue.

     Pete's Dragon

       
      This set was based on the live-action/ animated Disney musical Pete's Dragon. Elliot, the Dragon was cartoon. Pete was played by a human actor. Yet, it worked quite seamlessly.

       Micronauts

        Micronauts was a cult classic toy series made by Mego. Mego Toys had the chance to obtain the Star Wars license but turned it down, thinking the film was going to be a flop. Unfortunately, it was Micronauts that was a dud and Mego closed doors by 1980. A near perfect set of Micronauts is worth a nice chunk of change.

        Ballerina Barbie

        Playing dress-up was a very popular 'activity' with Colorforms. I know that I already posted a dress-up set in this article but I thought this was note-worth because of the girl on the box. It's a then unknown Brooke Shields. Because of this, Ballerina Barbie is a much sought after set among film and Barbie collectors alike.

         Space Warriors

       

     Not every set made by Colorforms was based on a licensed product. The Space Warriors Adventure Set was an attempt by the company to cash in on the Star Wars craze. Kenner refused to allow Colorforms to make a set based on the George Lucas film. So, the toy maker created their own set along with a series of jigsaw puzzles. While the array of characters looks quite impressive, it didn't move off the shelves. Nope, not one little bit.

     Well, that's a look at one of my favorite toys during my favorite year. Come back tomorrow, who knows where I'll show up next...

Revolution #1

      Transformers... G.I. Joe... Action Man... The Adventure Team... Rom: Space Knight, The Micronauts... M.A.S.K.- fighting either altogether or against one another. This is the type of team-up that any boy (and occasion girl) that grew-up in the 1980s wished would happen and if you happened to have all of these toys- it actually did. This is Revolution and it's the newest team-up from IDW.
  
     British operative Action Man has uncovered a plot in Greece that suggests someone on the G.I. Joe's has gone rouge. However, this plot, in the bowels of Mount Olympus, involves a rare mineral called Ore-13; the main power source of the Autobots and Decepticons. This suggests that the Transformers may have something to with the death of several Joes. It doesn't help that Optimus Prime recently made intergalactic strides at peace with the earth that sound an awful lot like a dictator settling claim to his newest territory. Thus, tensions between the governments of earth and the Cybertronians is at an all-time high. 
     The POTUS orders the Joe team to confront the Transformers in Portland as they attempt to save the city from a massive flood. But when Rom, the Space Knight appears on the scene, is he on the side of the Transformers or does he have an agenda of his own? One thing is for certain, by the end of this issue, a legend will die. 

Subscription Cover B by John Byrne, style
similar to the Marvel Handbook Covers.

     It was announced a few months ago that many of the HASBRO licensed toys were going to be contained within their own universe. Eventually, properties like G.I. Joe and Transformers are going to be appearing in live-action films together but those projects are a few years down the road. Revolution is the first step in achieving that goal and since IDW Publishing owns the rights to most of those properties, it makes sense that they are in a sense leading the HASBRO revolution.
     This first issue was a bit confusing to me. There's quite a bit of storyline that's taken place in previous issues of Joe, Transformers, Rom, and others that I haven't read. Thankfully, this book includes a refresher but it was put at the end of the book instead of the beginning. But once I read it, a lot of things fell into place. 
      This book wasn't on my radar. In fact, it wasn't until yesterday that I even knew that this series existed. The first issue, which I reviewed here, dropped today and I am so thankful that my favorite LCS was willing to hold a copy until I was able to get off work. I definitely want to read more and I think I will at least go one or two more issues before deciding whether to wait until later to complete the series from raiding the bargain bin or not. However, it's going to be tricky as IDW has it set up where you have to buy a series of one-shots along with the 5 issues of Revolution to get the whole story. But for now, I'm waiting on the edge of my seat to see what happens next.

    Worth Consuming
     
    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.