Big Hasbro Marvel Announcement from Lucca!

Yesterday, we shared some Star Wars news that Hasbro announced at Lucca Comics & Games.  But you should know that they aren't done yet!  Next up, they are showing off two new additions to the Marvel Legends line!  

Toy Fair ‘18: Mezco Toyz Booth Sneak Peek Part 2!

Welcome to Part 2 of our sneak peek of Mezco Toyz upcoming One:12 figures.

Here we have the DC and Marvel figures to gush over. On the DC side, standouts include the Joker (comic book version), Darkseid, and Batman Beyond  Over on the Marvel side, you have 90's Cyclops, Spider-Man Homecoming, and a gorgeous Hela. Mezco has outdone themselves this year! Take a look, and be sure to tell us your must buys in the comments below!

[IGH] at the Movies: Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War opened on May 6th. After anxiously waiting and trying to free up my schedule, I was finally able to see it this past weekend. I can’t tell you what a relief that was. I’ve been avoiding all mentions of Civil War on my social media. It hasn’t been an easy task. I’m really proud of my friends for not spoiling the movie, because it was worth the wait.

There are a lot of reviews out there that can better dissect what works and doesn’t work, so I’m not going to dwell on that. Instead, I want to talk about some of the things that made an impression on me. 

Obviously, this post will contain spoilers

Marvel's Captain America: Civil War Trailer Gives Us Spider-Man

The new trailer for Marvel's Captain America: Civil War has finally arrived, and it packs a wallop! Not only do we get a better sense of how the story is going to unfold, but we also get a glimpse at how Spider-Man is going to fit into everything. Check it out below.

I'm excited to see Spidey, but I'm not sure how I feel about his suit. It leans a little too much towards the comic books. Normally, I'd be happy to see more comic book elements in the movies, but in this case, Spider-Man's vibrant red suit looks out of place. I hope it's just one awkward shot, and he looks fine for the rest of his appearance. But other than that, this trailer is making me wish May 6th would get here quickly. 

The official synopsis for the movie is "Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps—one led by Steve Rogers and his desire  for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability." 

What do you think about Spider-Man's appearance? And does this trailer make you more or less excited to see the movie? 

Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” opens in U.S. theaters on May 6, 2016

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Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Turns 1!

I never thought this would happen but Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is celebrating its anniversary... sort of. It's been one year since STOD opened on Broadway, but that was version 1.0. Version 2.0 premiered June 4th. Either way, congrats on making it this far.


I was fairly vocal about how flawed STOD was in its original incarnation, and I'm yet to see 2.0, but after sitting in on the STOD panel at NYCC, and reading many, MANY reviews from people I trust, I'm happy for the Spidey team. They took what had originally been a disaster and apparently fixed it. This kind of situation is so rare on Broadway, it's kind of amazing.


Thanks to the success of the show, the producers can make plans to recoup the investment and turn a profit. A recent New York Times article spoke with the producers of the show and a few of the ideas thrown around were adding new scenes and a new musical number each year and expanding their radio campaigns in all across the US. There are no plans to take the show overseas, but it is an eventual possibility. I don't know if I like these ideas, but I admire their willingness to be creative, and I think I've finally come on board the STOD train. I'm sincerely rooting for them. 



If you haven't seen it yet, give it shot. One of the people who told me he loved the show was Amazing Spider-Man writer, Dan Slott. I ran into him at the STOD panel, and he couldn't stop talking about how much he loved it. I believe he's seen it 4 times already. If you're going to take anyone's advice on seeing the show, take his.




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Midtown Book Club: Matters of Life & Death with Dan Slott

The last Friday of the month can mean only one thing: payday!  Whoo!  Let's party!  Hmm?  That's not it?  Oh... did you mean the book club thing?  I see.  There's that too.  So, it's also time for Midtown Comics monthly book club.  I was actually very psyched for this one because they were putting the spotlight on one of my current favorites: Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man.  The book we were discussing was the trade of Matters of Life & Death.  A very meaningful story that marked a turning point in Peter Parker's career as Spider-Man.

If you've ever been to a book club at this Midtown Comics before (or read one of our posts about them), then you know they have a particular format they usually stick to; however things didn't quite start out as they usually do this month.  To start, the special guest, Dan Slott, was stuck in traffic due to the protests currently happening on Wall St. and in an even more disturbing twist the Dunkin' Donuts they usually have refreshments from Ran Out of Donuts!  Don't ask me how a Dunkin' runs out of donuts, it's beyond me... maybe the protesters bought them out earlier.  Anyway, we started the evening a few minutes late.  Once Dan arrived, he made up for his tardiness in spades and literally jumped right into his presentation.


Dan rushed in and was talking to the crowd before he even put his bag down.  Normally the hosts from Midtown, Zoe & Thor, are the ones who have questions prepared and will run the show for the evening, but in this case their guest was prepared with a special treat for everyone.  Rather than making it a question and answer session, Dan went right into an in-depth, behind the scenes look at his creative process.  In fact, he jumped right in before our two hosts even had a chance to introduce themselves.

He actually swung into the store this way.  It really does beat NYC traffic.

The book we were discussing is the collected trade of Amazing Spider-Man issues number 652 through 657, plus the special issue number 654.1.  The stories herein truly contain some of the most emotionally charged pages from the past year, but our discussion focused on one in particular.  "In Memory of Marla Jameson" was the issue immediately following the conclusion of Revenge of the Spider Slayer, in the climax Mayor J. Jonah Jameson's wife is killed saving his life.



Dan read through his original notes to artist Marcos Martin as we went through each page of the completely silent opening ten pages.  He shared his experiences between his initial impressions and what was actually interpreted by Martin.  Dan also shared with us that he still writes in a style called "The Marvel Way", which involves the writer only writing an overview or storyboard, but not actually scripting the book until the art is completed.  This used to be the way required by Marvel editors and that's how it was drilled into Dan's writing style, but since then this style has been largely abandoned even in Marvel's own offices.  Dan shared very high praise for the many "gifts" that Marcos delivered with his work.  


One page in particular was the one in which Peter is having a nightmare and reliving the fateful night his uncle Ben was killed.  While Dan's notes described the scene taking place in the hallway and being a rather basic re-telling of the scene, what was actually interpreted and delivered was a page truly out of a dream:

Dan went on to discuss his current cross-over event Spider Island and how his creative process started and has continued throughout.  There were lots of really interesting insights shared and we all got a great view into the mind and creative process.  All of this, plus he then went on to take questions from the audience!  I was really impressed with how much thought Dan had clearly put into this, and as a fan I felt that he really appreciated us.  It was a great night overall and a great addition to the Midtown Comics Book Club series.  Can't wait for the next one, see you next month!





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Spider Island Infests NYC!

This Wednesday, the web hits the fan as Spider Island overtakes NYC.  The summer of 2011 will be known as the summer of the Marvel cross-over events.  Marvel’s Fear Itself is kicking into high gear and the hammer-fest still has a ways to go before the grand finale.  There’s also the mutant version of a messy divorce that is Schism, happening on the west coast.  (From what I understand Wolverine & Cyclops go to war with each other over the decorative china).  Meanwhile on the East Coast our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man leaps right into Spider Island, one of the biggest Spidey-centric cross-overs in years.  In preparation for the event the Marvel Marketing Machine (alliteration!) has the web-head’s home town covered.  More on that in a bit.

He looks like Sesame Street's resident meth addict.

The thing that makes any super-hero “super” is that they’re one of a kind.  Someone with skills or abilities beyond normal people, and they use those abilities to be a symbol and a beacon for everyone else.  So... what happens when everyone else gets to have your super powers too?  It’s no secret that the Earth-shattering event that is the crux of Spider Island involves every man, woman, child & apparently some of the animals in New York City mysteriously gaining the powers of the Amazing Spider-Man.  The pieces have been falling into place for a few months now, first with teasers and rumors, then with the prologue “Infested: The Road to Spider Island”.  Manhattanites begin showing displays of spider-proportionate strength, sticking to walls that they shouldn’t, and other high flying acrobatics.  All the while watched by a menacing furry green figure that fans immediately will recognize as the Jackal.  The Jackal may be the most hated and despised villain of the whole spidey-verse; however that’s mostly because he was responsible for the never-ending clone saga.



While the mention of the Jackal may be enough to give fans who remember the clone saga a headache, I personally am psyched to see how Dan Slott treats the character.  The Amazing Spider-Man has been helmed by Slott since last November and in my opinion we’ve seen some of the best new stories in years.  He’s earned my trust and I am ready and raring to go for his latest tale. 


There are tons of rumors and spoilers circling the internet in the wake of San Diego Comiccon, but to be honest I hate spoilers.  I prefer to stay away from the message boards and let the story unfold.  I have however read some interviews and info that came about from the SDCC Spider-man panel and the things implied have me incredibly excited for the future.



The fallout of Spider Island will be truly epic and the possibilities for some amazing storytelling seems boundless.  Millions of normal people swinging around Manhattan?  Crazy.  All the other super-hero denizens of Manhattan also getting spider-powers?  Wild!  What about the villains, them too?  Holy Web-shooters Batman!  Ready for the big one?  J Jonah Jameson, spiderfied.  ::mind ‘splode::

The Amazing Brush-Head

The idea of not only seeing my favorite super-heroes slug it out, but the entire ASM supporting cast fighting alongside them is something that, as a  fan, I honestly would never have even thought of as a possibility.  The other twist will be that Peter Parker will get to swing mask-free without fear of exposure for the first time since Civil War.  In fact, Dan Slott has said this will be a Peter Parker story. 


And who better to save the day?  As a fan I’ve always identified with Peter Parker on a very personal level.  The struggles he’s gone through as Peter, especially in the past few years have really struck home and solidified my connection to the character.

It begs the question: Where did MJ's shirt go?

If your excited as I am, then you wanna celebrate the kicking off of this event.  Maybe even get the down-low from the creators?  Well, Dan Slott and crew are obliging in a big way this week.  First, there’s "Spider Island in the Club" at the People's Improv Theatre tonight 7/26 at 8pm. Tickets are a mere $5 and you'll get to hear it straight from the man himself. Sponsored partly by Midtown Comics you can also count on plenty of great prizes and giveaways. Then Wednesday night to celebrate the release of the aptly numbered issue #666 Dan Slott, Fred Van Lente & Joe Caramanga will be doing a signing from 6 - 7pm at MidTown Comics downtown store. I'm going to do everything I can to get to both, so check it out and keep an eye out for us!

This post was brought to you by the letter "Ooooooooo"

Video Friday! 4/8/11

It's Friday and this week had a lot of great videos. From Team Unicorn to George Takei to Batman, this week was chock full of win!

Let's begin with Team Unicorn. Remember their superHarmony video? Wildly popular and hilarious? They just released the outtakes and they are just as good or even a little better than the finished product. Who doesn't love outtakes?

As many of you know, I have been vocal in my opinion of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. It's a show that needs a lot of work if it wants to last. Star Trek's George Takei has decided he is the answer to the troubled Broadway production, and I think I agree. After all, it's not like he could make it any worse. Al he has to do is say, "Oh my" and the crowds will come a-runnin'. Here is his audition tape.

It's Lego Batman with not one but two Jokers! That's right, the past and the present team up in this awesome vid.

And finally, I'd like to give a special shout out to one of my friends. Today is her birthday and she's a WoW player. So in honor of that, I give you this oldie but oh so goodie...

Happy Birthday H!

And that concludes this week's Video Friday. If you come across anything you want me to feature send it to me at insertgeekhere@gmail.com. Have a great weekend folks!

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Review: Wolverine #5.1

WARNING:

This post contains face-melting spoilers.

Read at your face’s risk.

If symptoms continue for more than 4 hours, contact [insertgeekhere].

I'm continuing my Marvel Point One journey this week with Wolverine. Yes, I know that Wolverine wasn't on my original plan, but after last week's disappointing Iron Man, I decided to expand my search. I plan on reading all of the Point One issues and then making a judgment call.


Wolverine #5.1, written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Jefte Palo, jumps off a lot differently than Iron Man did. We get to see Wolverine heading to someone's house, with flowers, when he sees an abandoned truck. He jumps into action, ready to save the innocent. Then we see his girlfriend, Melita, hosting a birthday party in his honor with all of the superhero elite and Deadpool. He crashed....with cheese dip. We also see that Spider-man was left behind at the Avengers mansion. Meanwhile, Wolverine gets caught by some cannibals, brothers called Buford and Boyd, and while they try to decide how to cook him (anyone else flash back to the Hobbit here?), he cuts off one of their hands. Despite his desire to kill them, Logan just rescues the trucker, drops the cannibals off at the police station and gets to Melita just in time to miss his party. We do find out that Logan has been celebrating the wrong birthday all this time. Meanwhile, our cannibals get rescued by a interesting group called The Hand. A fun cliffhanger for the baddies, and Wolverine gets some at the end.


I loved this issue. It gave hints at Wolverine's background but not a crazy amount of detail. It also didn't feel like it was someone writing out a background and forming a story around it. This is a story that new and old readers could enjoy. This truly felt like a jumping on point, which was missing from Iron Man. I started at the beginning of the new story, with some background to catch me up. Now, I want to know who/what The Hand is, and if Logan tangles with them sooner rather than later. Will the cannibals return for vengeance? I want to know about his relationship with Melita. They seem to have a good thing going, which means trouble for them. This story drew me in to this world and connected me with the characters.


Based on Marvel's Point One initiative, I call this a win. I would definitely buy this book again.


My Point One Journey so far:

* Review: The Invincible Iron Man
* My Point One Plan
* The info about the Point One Initiative


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Musical Friday - Make Mine Marvel

If you haven't heard, there have been some exciting developments at Marvel this week - Tom Brevoort was promoted to Senior Vice President of Publishing and Axel Alonso was named Editor-in-Chief. With Joe Quesada moving up to Chief Creative Officer, this is going to bring forth a new age of Marvel (cue dramatic music). Completing the trifecta of Marvel family news, Stan "The Man" Lee received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. To celebrate, we're dedicating this week to all things Marvel.


For Major Brevoort -





What I like about this video is that it manages to capture the intensity and scope of the story in just a few minutes while leaving you wanting more.


For Colonel Alonso -





 Who would have thought Wolverine's Theme to be so mellow and Jewel-like?


And for Generalissimo Lee - 





I think Spider-Man's animated evolution coupled with The Ramones is a wonderful way to illustrate the long journey Monsieur Lee has been on. He keeps getting bigger and better and rocks hard!


Congratulations everyone! You deserve it and we can't wait to see what you do next. 

Review: Broadway's Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

About two weeks ago, Getsuyobi and I saw the Spider-Man musical. Since then I have been struggling with writing this review. Part of me feels uncomfortable writing about a show that is in previews and obviously incomplete, but the rest of me feels that given what's been happening with the show, that maybe it's time to suck it up and write.

Most people know the show has been plagued with problems since the beginning. For those who don't, the brief recap is big names actors were hired then dropped out, funding was lost then found, opening night has been moved around repeatedly, the very first preview ran nearly four hours due to technical difficulties including the actors being suspended over the audience, and the most distressing problem has been the actors keep getting hurt. These are not minor injuries. Before previews, two actors were injured doing the same stunt; one broke his toe, the other, both of his wrists. During the first preview, one of the leads, Natalie Mendoza, suffered a concussion and her understudy, America Olivo, took over the role for a few weeks, and finally, three nights ago, Spider-Man stunt double, Christopher Tierney, fell from a platform and into a pit in the stage. While reports have been conflicting as to how serious his injuries are (he's listed in stable but serious condition), but I think it is safe to say something is very wrong with the production. Well, a lot of things are wrong with the production.

The stunt that got Christopher Tierney hurt as well as one of the strangest slo-mo walks I've ever seen.

 

Spoilers!!! 

Let's start with the basics - the music and the book.

The music - It's bland. It's unmemorable and completely unworthy of being on a Broadway stage. There were maybe three songs that could be considered worthy, and of those, one of them, "Pull the Trigger," is included only because it had the best dance number, otherwise it was a meh song. It is apparent that Bono and the Edge are unfamiliar with writing songs for more than one character, though every now and then, they got something right like with the song "If the World Should End."

The book - It is a complete mess. Act One focuses on the origin story and all the basic components are there - Peter is bullied & wants Mary Jane, gets bitten by a radioactive spider, Uncle Ben dies, etc. However, and maybe I'm being a bit of a purest, but I have a problem with how Uncle Ben's death is handled. Flash Thompson, previously established as the d-bag that he is, accidentally hits Ben when he loses control of his car. Now, from a theatrical point of view, this works for the story. It doesn't add unnecessary people and it quickly move the story along, but as a Spider-Man fan, I feel it diminished his journey. Uncle Ben's death has played such a pivotal role in Peter's life because of the guilt he felt, that to take that away, makes him and the story weaker.

Act One also gives us Arachne, the weaver who bested Athena in a weaving contest and was ultimately cursed and turned into the first spider, and the Green Goblin. Arachne is featured more prominently in Act Two so I'll discuss her there, but the Green Goblin decently developed. I thoroughly enjoyed what was done with him. Instead of including Harry Osborn into the story, Norman and his wife, Emily Osborn, work together, playing with cutting edge technology and trying to manipulate DNA to create super beings. Norman decides to try some of this out on himself and when if goes horribly wrong, he's super powerful and his wife is dead, leading to him going nuts. What makes this work is there is an emotional connection with his transformation.

Act Two - Spider-Man has defeated Green Goblin, he's supposedly dead, and Peter has decided to hang up his Spidey shoes so he can have a real life. Enter Arachne, who freaks out over this because she has decided Spider-Man is the one to help release her from her curse and let her die. Yeah, there was a lot of head scratching done at this point. Her way of getting Peter to put the uniform back on was to, apparently, create illusions of the Green Goblin and Sinister Six, have them terrorize New York, and of course, kidnap Mary Jane, but before she does this, I think she tries to have astral plane sex with Peter. I'm still not sure how that all worked out.

If Arachne had been a better developed character, then having her pull everybody's strings might have made sense but she wasn't and most of the time, when she spoke, it just sounded like melodramatic whining. Her singing voice was outstanding but I just wanted to help kill her when she talked. The end also felt tacked on. I had read another review that said the ending left far too many plot threads dangling, so I'm guessing this was their way of fixing it, but it felt too hurried and just wrong. Then again, this is also the act that brought us an evil catwalk featuring the Sinister Six and "Deeply Furious," a song about shoes. You heard me. Shoes. I'm still not convinced they weren't pumping something in the air.

You have to see it to believe it!

Next - The actors and choreography

Overall, the actors were trying their damnedest to make the show work. It wasn't their fault they had such weak material to work with. One thing that was very noticeable was many of them sounded like they were straining their voice, Reeve Carney, who plays Peter, in particular, was struggling towards the end.

The bullies didn't work for me. I don't know if it was the writing, the direction, or the acting choices, but they were too stereotypical and too over the top, and whenever Flash talked, I was taken out of the story because the actor looked too old for the role and all I could think about was the original cast of 90210.

The outstanding performances were Jennifer Damiano, who captured Mary Jane's strong spirit while showing her vulnerabilities, Michael Mulheren as J. Jonah Jameson, who was perfect as the fast talking, stubborn, and Spidey slandering editor in chief of The Daily Bugle, and Patrick Page as the Green Goblin. Page gave the Goblin depth and humor and chock full of crazy. Scene chewing doesn't even describe what this man did. It was great.

The choreography - For the dance numbers, it was weak. Other than during "Pull the Trigger," it was lackluster. There was nothing spectacular about it. I was very disappointed by it.

Now the technical choreography is a different story. The performance we saw did not appear to have any technical problems and the stunts were outstanding. I don't know if I need it in a show, but the fangirl in me squeed a little when Spider-Man and Green Goblin flew over us. I counted ten different Spider-Mans, not counting Reeve Carney, and they rocked. The stunts are so complicated. I have to give Julie Taymor credit; she used as much space as she could to bring her vision to life. Speaking of her vision...

Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man

The sets - This is where Julie Taymor excels. Some people have called her sets too cartoony, I agree with some of it (using POW! & BAM! was too much), but it felt like she was going for a surreal type of universe. All of her masks were over the top, but I felt it worked with the mostly muted tones of set.

My absolute favorite set piece was the Chrysler Building. The top expanded from beneath the stage so the Green Goblin and Spider-Man could "chat," and then it inverts as Spider-Man falls to the ground. There are tiny taxis to help give the illusion of depth and it's just wonderful.

Reeve Carney and the deliciously wonderful Patrick Page

Finally - The direction - I love Julie Taymor's work. I think she is a brilliant director and her visuals are out of this world. However, I do not believe she was the right person for this or maybe she could have been the right director, if she had not also co-written the book. It feels as if she took most her source material from the Spider-Man movies, not the comics and that makes a big difference. This isn't a story she can just come in to and do whatever she wants. There is a very rich history to consider. She created a new character, Swiss Miss, who did nothing other than get her butt kicked by Spider-Man. She could have been interesting, if she actually did something and hadn't looked like the mutated lovechild of the Tin Man and Dot Matrix from Spaceballs.

I could go on and on about the strange spectacle that is Spider-Man, but I think I've said more than enough. As of now, the opening date has once again been pushed back, and it's scheduled to open in February. The reason given for this is they want to retool the show, particularly the second act. This will also allow them to get the tech in order. The other night's accident has been deemed human error so the show will go on. It is my sincere hope that they focus on strengthening the book and the songs and find a way to attract new fans while satisfying the old fans. And yes, if they ever make it to opening night, it will seen again.

 Pictures courtesy of Sara Krulwich / Redux Pictures and Jacob Cohl