Poster-Size

This entry was inspired by a picture. Not just any picture, in fact. It was a movie poster. 

Movie posters aren't much to shout about really. They usually were character-less Hollywood mechanism that some times obscurely hinted a coming feature film, and then they were gone. Movie posters are still around but they pale in comparison to the tweets, rumors, forums, blogs and fan-sites around today that get movie news international faster than illegal migrant workers.

This blog entry was inspire by one of these movie posters. This movie poster was released in 1989 and wasn't just another PR plot - this one was simple, didn't have captions, no air-brush scenes and was the starting point for a fever that swept many nations, captured the imagination of superhero fans everywhere, and began a saga that promises (now) to carry on until The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. 

To quote an unknown (yet fellow) article writer, this was the one that started it all....

A Retro Spider

There were many close-to-feature Marvel characters that never really made it into the limelight as much as others had. Take, for example, Hawkeye, or Firestar, or the Sub-mariner (Namor). It a little like that situation when a friend ask you if you personally know that person walking in the distance, and you reply "I know 'em, but I don't really know 'em."

In the comics, Jessica Drew became Spider-Woman in 1977. She subsequently had her own cartoon show in 1979. And I'm sure, like myself, only a handful of Bruneians can remember it ! 

The series was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and Marvel Comics Animation, and aired until 1980 for only one season of sixteen episodes, on the ABC-TV network. It was DePatie-Freleng's final series before being reincorporation as Marvel Productions (info courtesy of Wikipedia)

According to the title sequence (of the cartoon), Jessica Drew was bitten by a poisonous spider as a child; her father (Alexander Drew) saved her life by injecting her with an experimental "spider serum," which also granted her superhuman powers. As an adult, Jessica is a magazine editor, but when trouble arises, Jessica slips away to change into Spider-Woman.

Pundits like to say that the Spider-Woman show was specifically created for the Spider-Man series (also of that era) to have a female / feminine-orientated counterpart - an idea formulated by Marvel long before any other comic companies thought of it. Just watching the title sequence is enough to give one the hint that the production of the show relates back to the Spider-Man ones.

Spider-Woman is yet another childhood cartoon show of the superhero vein that has come and gone so abruptly. I'm glad I got the chance to revisit the memory this sunny morning years down the line, especially when I should be working.

PS: Spider-Women is now a playable character in the Marvel Ultimate Alliance video game series.

In With The New...Review

Almost everyone in Brunei remembers the Thundercats - practically no other morning cartoons was nearly as popular as it. It was well written, had great villains and an even better band of heroes, an annoying comic relief character in the form of Snarf, and a line of action figures and play-sets that could complete an entire museum exhibit. God-forbid that the writers of 2011 would dare to re-version this landmark series. But they did.

And television is all the better for it !

The new series that fan-boys heard of and has now been running past the middle of it's first season aired on July 2011 (this year) re-vamped the entire mythology - the Thundercats we knew are no longer, instead, they all living in a thriving kingdom called Thundera (still on Third Earth).Where Lion-O was a bikini-bottom wearing young man with a Jew-fro, the 2011 version is an even young teenage ego-ass learning the swords abilities slowly and from scratch. Each episode of the 2011 series contains an element where the young Lion-O learning something new about how to word the sword and this own temperament.

Tygra is Lion-O's brother, Cheetara is a member of the speedy royal clerics (priests of Thundera) and still has an out-of-my-mind cleavage, Jaga is more ghostly but doesn't wail as much as he did in the 80s, all the voices have changed from what they once were and the supporting characters (the Berbils, Slithe, and even Driller) are as wild as ever, in their own fashion. The themes are darker and more mature with a very Japanese anime feel.

Going deeper into the production semantics, this reboot is executive produced by Sam Register; who was also executive producer or producer for such action themed shows such as Teen Titans, Ben 10 and Transformers: Animated.

While it may not sound so enticing up front when foreshadowed by the children-orientated Teen Titans and Ben 10, the Thundercats 2011 series is worthy of a chance to getting your attention. Reviews from IMBD lay claims to the shows worthiness:

"The idea to make a remake was based on the idea that at the core there was a lot the original show could have offered still and this is what the remake does. It goes further much further into detail."

"To really enjoy Thundercats 2011 most will have to put aside the cartoon they fell in love with. This is a darker distinctly styled incarnation yet thankfully it stays true to the original spirit of the Thundercats."

"The original series may have been cheesy, but I think the teachings they gave to us kids back then, were valuable ones, that in today's world, you just don't see anymore. They barely had violence, and they sure didn't have blood or something that could cause little kids to freak out."

(By the way, there is a little bit of bloodless yet shameless killing in the new series)

If you loved the Thundercats of the 80s, you won't see many hints of its elements in this 2011 re-version. And perhaps that's what made it more than what meets the eye. Wait ! That's a Transformers alliteration.

Power Collection

No one wanted to give away at the pedestrian crossing

In an earlier entry, we managed to have a look at the purchasing checklist for the ever-amazing Super Powers Collection that was produced right out of the 80's. It should be said, personally, that the Super Powers Collection is very close to my heart as I remember absolutely loving these figures when I had them.

The Super Powers Collection was obviously based on DC Comics superheroes and supervillains and was created by Kenner Products.

It was so in 1984 that DC Comics awarded the toy license of their characters to Kenner Products, following in the steps of Mattel's popular He-Man toy line. Winning the license away from Mego Corporation and Mattel, Kenner devised hidden mechanisms within the figures that would trigger an action when the figures legs or arms were squeezed. This emphasis on each figure's super power led to the naming of the line - The Super Powers Collection.

Brand from the past

When Marvel's Secret Wars toyline by Mattel came onto the retail toy scene, it was set up as direct competition for the Kenner line. These figures, similar in scale to the Super Powers Collection, introduced a competing marketing strategy between manufacturers of Marvel and DC action figures. This started the trend of Marvel and DC using competing toy manufacturers to produce their toys—a trend that continues to this day.

Superman is really this old !

Each figure in the first two series of The Super Powers Collection were also packaged with a mini-comic featuring that character's adventures.

Once the line was produced and shipping, DC Comics and Kenner went forward with a large merchandising campaign which included; DC Comics producing three comic book mini-series featuring characters from the toy-line, Hanna Barbera also produced two animated series, called Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians.

Our standards were lower when we were kids - but our imagination was better.

In all, three series of figures and accessories were released (in 1984, 1985, and 1986), but after three years of production the line collapsed. Coincidentally, Kenner's Star Wars line stopped shipping to stores the same year the Super Powers line ended.

Comic creator Jack Kirby received some of the only royalties of his long career for redesigning his characters for Kenner. Artist George Pérez also received royalties for his design of Cyborg and redesign of Lex Luthor and Brainiac. Most all other designs (and much of the packaging artwork) were based on José Luis García-López's classic DC Style Guides.

Needless to say, the collection is highly prized today. Certain figures such as Cyborg, Golden Pharaoh, and Plastic Man remain rare to this day while the Flash and Superman are easily found. Another reason the Super Powers Collection is so highly sought after is the inclusion of both popular and little-known characters throughout the line.

While the First Series featured well-known characters, the Second Series concentrated on figures from Kirby's New Gods Saga, and the Third Series mixed both DC Comics acquisitions from other companies and figures created solely for the line. Foreign cards, figures, and even characters add to the collectible appeal of the line.

Kenner's Super Powers Collection eventually released 34 figures, eight vehicles, one playset, and one carrying case.

Today, the Super Powers Collection is available from private collector-level resellers and can be found from time to time as vintage action figures. Mattel's current DC Universe Classics line draws inspiration from the Super Powers figures, with figures such as Mantis and Steppenwolf being re-cast in this line.

Classic Gets A New Look

Change is a good thing !

I look a long hard look at the Classic Articulation site and one of the first things that popped into my mind was the A-Team and the 2010 remake of this classic television series. I though to myself, if Hannibal and his team of intrepid, colorful do-gooders could be remade in the image of a 2000 Hollywood blockbuster, then Classic Articulation could do with a change as well.

So we said goodbye to the format that we loved so well and decided to embrace the 2010 with a retro mod look that you just can't miss !

Have a great week in preparation for the fasting season.

Comic-Con Floor 2010

[The roadie decided to pull the mysterious switch rather than move those damn boxes]

Do you know what the one thing that I really and very truly hate the most about Comic-Con 2010? I'm not there.

Friends Chart

[The ultimate find-a-date in the DC Universe]

I love the whole Super Powers Collection and the cartoons that inspired them; as I was surfing around and reminiscing on this awesome line, I stumbled upon this checklist that shows how diverse and cool the line really was.

Rolling Out Again

[Prime was searching New York for Dunkin Donuts]

Just when you thought the past was dead and gone, things start making heavy comebacks: G. I. Joe becomes a summer tent flick, writers and gamers starting remembering the original Ghostbusters quartet, TMNT commemorative figures are on the shelves - overall, life is good.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the sequel to the 2007 film, made its debut in theaters on June 24, 2009.

Consequently, Paramount and Dreamworks announced a July 1, 2011 release date for a third Transformers film before completion of Revenge of the Fallen.

On October 1, 2009, Michael Bay revealed that Transformers 3 had already gone into pre-production, and its planned release was back to its original date of July 1, 2011 instead of 2012. It was said that Shia LaBeouf would reprise his role as Sam.

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, having written the first two movies, will not return for the third installment in the series.

Teddy

[That's MISTER Ruxpin to you]

Murder, murder, death, death, kill, kill, kill...

Fine Art

[Epic Cringer]

Everyone appreciates art that they can understand: some stray to impressionist art sometimes looks like kindergarten creations, others go European and tea-and-crumpets; whatever your fancy; art is purely up to the individual (read: always go with what you like).

Artist, Robert Burden, has been into pop-culture for a while.

His paintings are epic "portraits" of the small action figures from his boy-hood. He portrays the magnificence of these figures from the eyes of a child and a retro-fan - representing power, beauty, good and evil, and imagination.

If you were to read into it, Burden's paintings also represent more tangible ideals such as the nostalgia that many of us link to action figures of the classic era as well as the semblance of a a free childhood - "free from the politics of race and religion. It was free from the burdens of history. It was free from rhetoric and paranoia, bitterness and regret, cynicism and despair". I guess that's what the 80's was all about.

Burden's works include Mattel's Battle Cat Limited Edition Print (US$225) measuring 16" x 20" and limited to only 100 prints. In addition to Cringer, there's also a Hasbro's Serpentor Limited Edition Print and Toybiz' The Riddler Limited Edition Print.

Robert Burden's Toybox can be found here.