Tagged: Marvel

The ‘SHANG CHI’ Trailer From an Old School Fan’s Perspective!

Sometimes I feel like I’m just raining on everyone’s MCU parade! I really don’t want to be THAT guy. However as a fan of the comic book as a kid in the 1980’s I can say if you’d shown me the trailer with no mention of what I was seeing I’d probably wouldn’t have guessed it was Shang Chi “The Master of Kung Fu’ I’d grown up to love!

Comic Cover of the Week: The Original 80’s FLAG SMASHER!

So with all of the talking hype around the Falcon and the Winter Soldier series on Disney Plus, I thought it would be a good idea to post the cover from Captain America # 312, from 1985!

Here we get a good look at the original vision of the Flag Smasher, who now I guess represents some sort of terrorist organization instead of a all-out supervillain. This issue was actually a favorite of mine as a kid and of course I always love some Paul Neary artwork! I can’t lie, part of me really wishes that this guy would have been the one appearing on the new show!

 

1978, the Year of The Incredible Hulk’s Elastic RAGE?!!

I’m all about some Hulkin’ out retro style! So I ran across this awesome old 1987 Incredible Hulk “Rage Cage” toy commercial where you literally pump the Hulk up to get his aggression level maxed out so he can break himself out of damn cage. Like even the calmest Hulk would be able to bust those bars, but hey it’s the effort here by the toymaker here that’s so charming. They just don’t make em like this anymore true believers! Check it out!

Ok well still not satisfied? Let’s check out this one, where for some reason The Hulk & Spider-man are endowed with the elastic super power of Reed Richards?!! Ok well whatever-this commercial is what it’s all about when it comes to simpler times! Check THIS shit out!!

 

Comic Cover of the Week: Wisconsin’s Finest AVENGERS!

I’ve been saying it here literally for years, the MCU is missing the boat on one of their most outrageously hilarious superhero teams: The Great Lakes Avengers! Since the Avengers are still all the rage and essentially dismantled at the moment, it’d be the perfect time for the comedic gold of Wisconsin’s very own superhero team to get a series of their own on Disney Plus. The team was created way back in 1989 by none other than comic icon writer and artist John Byrne and their introduction back then meant a lot to me at the time being a Wisconsinite myself. Essentially a band of misfit z-grade superheroes who decide to start an Avengers team of their own to rep the Midwest, only problem is their crime fighting skills aren’t exactly “Avenger’s level”. Nope the team’s got A LOT of work to do-but none of that’s gonna stop em’ from tryin’ dammit!

Even at one point Hawkeye and Mockingbird attempt to train them, which of course proves to be quite challenging in itself. The team went on to later appear alongside Deadpool and also had a great 4-issue miniseries by Dan Slott that’s a must read. They more recently tried to give them their own monthly book, but it really lost the dark comedy angle and edge of their previous appearances and was cancelled. This great cover by John Byrne shows once again how effective simplicity can be as we got our very first look at the mighty Great Lakes Avengers!~

  

Spider-man and his Amazing 80s Hardee’s 3-D Happy Meal!

Ahhh the good old days where Happy meals  truly made people happy! Back in the 1980s you could score a Happy Meal that really had something to offer. You could also watch a commercial that was actually better than what you got inside of it. Check out this classic 1980s Happy Meal commercial featuring Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends along with  The Incredible Hulk! Back when I was a kid I would wake up early every Saturday morning  and watch Spider-Man and his amazing friends and then my favorite show The Incredible Hulk  part of the Marvel Comics Power Hour, then I begged my mom her one of these things- check it!! 

Comic Book Cover of the Week 1985: Before WandaVision!

WandaVision seems to be the talk of the town, whether you like it or not it’s Disney +’s MCU big kick off series and from what I’ve heard it’s quite daring in it’s storytelling. I still haven’t checked it out, something about it just hasn’t pulled me into setting aside time to give it a try. Maybe when all the episodes are out I’ll dive in. But before all this hype of WandaVision we had this nifty 12 part limed series with the famous superhero couple released waaay back in 1985. Maybe I’ll give this one a spin again before I dave into more Disney + schlock, I’ve got to admit the first issue sure did look promising from the cover alone don’t you think? If this was what had been marketed for the MCU series I’d be 100% down from the very damn start!

  

The MCU Meets The DCEU: The TRUE Secret of the Multiverse Movies?!

I’ve got a prediction here, and remember peeps you heard it HERE first at my measly little “hobby blog” (as John Campea would call it), that it’s no coincidence that BOTH the MCU & The DCEU’s new agenda seems to be the “multiverse” idea. I mean the MCU casting supposedly three different Spider-man actors from the past movies (Toby, Andrew and Tom Holland) & then hearing the news of The Flash going to the multiverse where we have at least Affleck and most exciting Michael Keaton BOTH as Batman sounds suspicious. I’m calling it here, the MCU & the DCEU are going to meet in the finale film’s after credits scene of all this multiverse stuff. Sound crazy? Well maybe you forgot THIS classic comic back from 1981?

Well if it does sound crazy, THAT’s exactly why I think it’s going to happen and think about it, what kind of after credits scene would shock every one after the big ass CGI finale. Think about this- The Flash and the multiple Batmans meeting the Peter Parkers at the end of this phase, or even some of the DCEU’s villains meeting an MCU villain from another dimension? How much hype would the next phase generate? I remember a couple crossovers a couple times back in the 80’s or maybe you’ve forgotten ‘DC Versus MARVEL’ in 1996? That shit was a big damn deal and I’m betting high on something like that taking place cinematically sooner than later. Think of the $$$$$ potential here-there’d be nothing bigger.

This multiverse plot line put forward at the same time by both studios is either the most lame copy cat cinema plan or it’s the event that blows the lid of of both franchises. I think there’s really no other event that could top this idea and for the studios to NOT take advantage of this with some secret back door deals would be actually ludicrous. Something is cooking true believers and remember you heard it at U-Dork first! Count on it! MCU Meets DCEU-suck it Campea!!!

Happy Thanksgiving: Cooking in the 1970’s with the Marvel Superheroes?!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all Universal Dorks out there!! Today hopefully people will be able to at least cook up some good food to take the edge off of the pandemic worries we’ve all felt lately? Well if that’s the case perhaps you’d consider a few recipes straight from the classic Marvel superheroes themselves! Yes in 1977 Marvel released the ‘Mighty Marvel Superheroes Cook Book’!!

This was way back when things were a bit simpler and people had more of a sense of humor about stuff in a way that people of the Earth in 2020 can’t quite seem to comprehend. Now I’m not quite sure just how tasty these recipes actually are but they’re certainly fun to check out. It’s got the art of Joe Giella who also did the Marvel fitness book which is awesome too. Anyway take a gander at some of these hilarious recipes when superheroes were still full of wonder and just plain fun..

Comic Cover of Week: Charles Vess’ Web of Spider-Man!!

I never could get enough of the classic black Spider-man suit! Back in the 1980’s it was quite a controversy to give Peter Parker some new duds especially something as bold as the black costume! I loved it and it’s no wonder it was brought back several times through the years despite it becoming one of his most famous villians, Venom! Anyway here’s a favorite cover of mine from Web of Spider-man Annual #2 way back in 1986!! Charles Vess has done some truly stunning work and anytime he tackled Spider-man you knew you were in for a treat! Check it out!

Comic Cover of the Week: Bill Sienkiewicz’s RETURN OF THE JEDI!!

One of the true all time greats as far as comic book artists go is most definitely Bill Sienkiewicz! His style is like none other and as far as comic book covers go, he is one the BEST! Anytime you’d get a cover from Bill you knew you were in for something several notches above what was normally brought to the table. Here are 5 covers he did for the Marvel 1983 adaptation of Return of the Jedi, a bit different from his normal output in being they’re much more simplistic than what he’s normally known for. However his final painting for the trade paperback (the last image) showcases his epic classic style, this all brings me back to a time when Star Wars had limitless potential. Oh what could have been…..