Comic Musings – dtm666

McSon-In-Law Is Writing A “Spider-Man” Story

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/triple-h-amazing-spider-man-1000-writer-rob-fee-marvel/

Yes, this upcoming 1000th issue of Amazing Spider-Man, which features the exciting main story line of Aunt May suffering another goddamned stroke, will also include supplementary material that includes a wrestling related storyline written by ol’ HHH himself… and also WWE writer Rob Fee is involved in some capacity… but yes, McSon-In-Law has a wrestling story to tell you involving the ol’ wall crawler… which would have been a major deal if Johnny Polo didn’t beat him to it.

You should probably give it a read one of these days. Tangled Web #14. The Last Shoot. Pretty good shit from fucking Raven of all people.

The Lotus Is Rancid…

So someone made a Spider-Man fan film a couple years back that was supposed to be more comic accurate than any of the feature films. It covers a very familiar – and quite frankly, very tired – subject matter that has been touched on a couple times in these features. It’s perhaps one of the wall-crawler’s most famous moments… that eventually got undone, but that’s another story.

I never knew about this until I came across a couple Youtube things talking about how this is one of the worst Spider-Man things ever made… now think of the ground that covers.

After a while, I found the film in question. I sat down and watched the film. And for what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s the worst thing, or even ONE of the worst things to happen to Spider-Man. I could think of much, MUCH worse. And I don’t want to slag on this film too much because it is literally a bunch of amateur actors and filmmakers doing a movie based on a beloved superhero. Sometimes, you have to cut a little slack when it comes to these fan productions, especially considering the spoils of high-quality material that Trek fans were used to during the Golden/Silver/Bronze Age Of Star Trek Fan Films.

And in fairness, I didn’t completely hate this thing.

But instead, I was just really, REALLY bored.

I don’t want to turn this into a full review – I might save that for later down the road. But here’s what I want to know… a long time ago, a bunch of kids got together and planned to make their own secret Spider-Man movie. It’s something I’ve talked about in the old blog and will occasionally make mention of. To the best of my knowledge, nothing came of it and nobody made mention of it. It’s something that seems to have been completely and utterly forgotten.

So my question is this?

Is THIS Lotus thing the secret Spider-Man movie that’s been teased all this time? Is THIS what those folks who took shots at the Studi’HOS (their spelling, not mine) wanted to make all those years? I don’t know if that’s the case. Honestly, I’m not sure anyone even remember that to be a thing.

I can tell you one thing. If this was indeed the payoff to all that build and secret Spider-Man movie hype, then my only reaction would boil down to two words.

“That’s it?”

Anyway… just a random thought.

May Has A Stroke…

“Did you hear that Marvel gave Aunt May a stroke?” was what someone asked me.

To which I immediately replied with, “What? Again?”

So this is the hook for the 1000th overall issue of The Amazing Spider-Man… which promises to change things up FOREVER… which means it’ll last about six months before sales go to shit and we revert everything back to whatever stupid status quo we have going right now.

I feel compelled to remind people that 600 issues previous, Marvel actually had the balls to KILL OFF Aunt May by letting her die peacefully in her sleep. And you want to know something? Amazing Spider-Man #400 was a tremendous issue that grew a relationship and gave a character that has been around for decades a dignified road to the pearly gates, which rarely happens in comics… and then cops came around and arrested Peter for murder because Marvel can’t leave nice things alone.

By the way, Aunt May was eventually brought back to life… on account of the woman who died was an actress and the real May had been a prisoner of Norman Osborne, who also returned to life around that time, too… and she’d get shot and that became the impetus for One More Day… the less said, the better.

Look, I don’t know what becomes of May this time around. Maybe they finally found the balls to kill her off and we can all finally attempt to evolve whatever sad sack they’re calling Peter Parker these days into the next phase of his life. I’m not asking for them to bring back the marriage because I don’t trust these people to handle that piece of business without completely fucking it up per usual. Nor am I asking them to undo everything since One More Day because that would be a disservice to whatever following this thing has gained since that time. Just because I don’t care for what they’re doing with the Spider-Man character these days doesn’t mean others don’t. Nobody wants Marvel to pull a NEW 52 and alienate those who became fans outside of what veterans perceive as the “golden years” of the character or whatever term you wish to use.

All I’m asking is that if you’re going to change one thing – just ONE thing – it’s to overcome whatever aversion you have to character GROWTH and let the character GROW. Whatever excuse you have for not making this character grow beyond “that darn Parker luck” in an attempt to make him related no longer holds mustard. If you want to make Parker a loser because that’s how you see your audience, that’s your prerogative and the people who complain about this stuff and yet still continue to provide you business or defend your name being sullied probably deserve to be called losers as a result.

Not me, though; I haven’t bought a Spider-Man comic in years and the last one I did buy was a trade paperback collection for Maximum Carnage, which was a comic event from the 90s… though most people probably know it as the thing that inspired the video game.

On the bright side… I’ve heard good things about the new movie. Maybe I’ll give it a watch one of these days… once it’s on DVD.

Oh wait, Sony doesn’t do physical media any more…

Never mind.

Marvel And Star Wars Crossing Over In 2027… In Comics, At Least

Source: https://comicbook.com/comics/news/marvel-and-star-wars-crossover-confirmed-for-2027-combining-the-two-biggest-franchises/

If we’re going to be honest here, I’m genuinely surprised that this hasn’t happened sooner when Disney has had both brands under its claws for over a decade. Should be an interesting disaster if nothing else.

Delayed Reaction…

So a certain trailer dropped for a certain movie recently that’s coming up. A certain day of doom, apparently. I saw the trailer when I first got wind of it, which wouldn’t have been more than a day or two after it dropped. I saw it, shrugged, and moved on with my life.

However, if you want me to say something nice… that Lanterns show looks mildly interesting.

The first two teasers didn’t show you much… and that’s fine. They’re teasers; they’re supposed to tease you with something bigger, not blow their wad from the start. Nonetheless, initial reactions were mixed and people assumed the worst… and that’s without getting into potential rumors of the spoilery kind.

Then the actual trailer hits and there’s more to be excited about. There are Manhunters, there is a potential mystery, there’s Sinestro, there’s the looming specter (no pun intended) of Hal Jordan eventually being replaced by John Stewart. While the show is still largely grounded on Earth, there is promise of Green Lantern action. There needs to be. And if the show does well… maybe they lean more into the sci-fi stuff in a potential second season. Assuming they get one, of course.

So yeah… looking forward to Lanterns… Clayface, not so much… not my cup of tea, but hope it turns out well for those who are interested in this one.

Ambivalently Forgetting Supergirl

Yes, it took me over a month to gather some thoughts on James Gunn’s latest contribution to the DC Universe in the form of the Craig Gillespie-helmed Supergirl. And the reason for that was because it took me a while to get around to seeing this thing in theaters.

What happened was that a friend had some tickets that they got on special and invited me along with a couple others in exchange for food and drink (elsewhere; movie goods are too bloody expensive for what little you get these days.) I figured why not and then we went and saw the film… and then we promptly forgot about it.

And that is not a good sign when this is supposed to be one of your tentpole features in your whole Gods And Monsters story arc that may or may not get a Chapter Two.

Continue reading “Ambivalently Forgetting Supergirl”

THE BITE COMMENTARY #19 – The (Not So) New 52!

Next month – August 31st, to be precise – will mark the 15th anniversary of The New 52!

The 2011 attempt by DC Comics to reboot their entire universe, kicked off by the five-issue event comic Flashpoint – which would be used as the basis for the Ezra Miller Flash movie that James Gunn declared “the greatest superhero film ever made” or something – which was done in a rush and without any prior warning ahead of time to give creators time to flesh out their plans, save for a select few involved who got to keep their continuities going despite the whole thing being a “clean slate” for all.

Five years later, the New 52 would slowly be phased in favor of a “Rebirth” that restored elements of pre-New 52 continuity.

There are a lot of pieces and articles out there that can dive into the whole history of The New 52 – here’s one example here – but this commentary is less about how the world viewed The New 52, but rather my own reaction to the whole deal… or perhaps a lack thereof.

Continue reading “THE BITE COMMENTARY #19 – The (Not So) New 52!”

Since We’re Having That Talk…

Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/article/in-blow-to-dc-studios-supergirl-is-no-match-for-toy-story-5-at-box-office/

For the record, I haven’t seen Supergirl yet. I’d imagine it’ll be on streaming in a couple months or so, which is probably the most likely time I’ll catch it unless, so I can’t tell you whether the movie is good or not. I’ve mentioned my lack of enthusiasm for this thing last week and that’s about the extent of my opinion on this thing. That having been, regardless of whether you liked the film or not, you have to agree that whoever made the decision to open it on the same weekend as TOY STORY 5 needs to go home and rethink their life.

I’m not saying that to deflect any failings, but I’d imagine more people would be excited for another round with Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang than they would a largely untested property. And no, six years on the CW doesn’t equal box office success. The Flash on TV was a fun ride (at first) while the Flash movie was… a thing that exists.

And I can say that because I did, for some reason that escaped me, saw that movie.

Anyway, if I get a chance to watch Supergirl – at some point – I’ll post some thoughts on here. Not sure when that’s going to be, though.

Speaking of R.I.P…

Now that we’re past the fun stuff, let’s talk about something actually is R.I.P. and nobody quite knows it yet.

The above image is a John Romita Jr. illustrated cover for the 1000th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man – a number they like to pull out of their ass after rebooting the series number half a dozen times – featuring someone in a Spider-Man costume (okay, let’s be fair here for once and assume it’s the real deal) doing his web-slinging thing… but apparently, according to some stupid people online, he might be shrugging. I think ol’ Web-Head is flexible enough that he can probably do both at the same time and make it look cool. (Apparently, this cover’s being replaced with some other cover that’s not quite as cool… or all that great, for that matter. Par for the course at the one-time Mighty Marvel.)

Honestly, I like this cover. Cool angle. People turning this into a meme are kinda stupid, but they kept this thing going for a long time and the stories have gone to complete and utter dogshit… so I guess it fits.

I suppose congratulations are in order for reaching this massive, massive milestone. Unfortunately, you kinda ruined it by promising that Peter Parker’s life would change forever… because you seem to do that on a regular basis and it often means going back to the same tired status quo that you like to go back to because you’re all a bunch of uncreative hacks.

I don’t know… maybe Marvel should shitcan the entire creative staff and let AI handle all the writing going forward. If anything, that would actually be an improvement over the hot garbage you’ve been putting out lately. Put these humans out of their misery, please!

Or… you know… write better stories. As much as it sucks to see anyone lose jobs, it’s hard to be sympathetic to people who are just bad at doing them.

Later.

Brand New Day… The Movie

I am conflicted. On the one hand, it looks like a promising flick. It hits all the right notes. And it feels like the first time that Todd Holland gets to play in an old-school, back to basics Spider-Man flick.

On the other hand, though… knowing how often the Marvel train derailed itself so many times with empty promises and lackluster returns…

I don’t know… I want to give this thing a chance because it looks like a fun time, but I’m weary of another theatrical letdown…

I don’t know, kids… we’ll see.