Once Upon a Geek

Siege will be over before we know it.  With it brings the cancellation of all the current Avengers titles.  Beginning in May, Marvel will relaunch the entire Avengers franchise with some big shake-ups.  There will be several one-shots and mini-series, along with four ongoing books.  I’ve outlined below what we know so far about the ongoing series.

Avengers – Starting in May, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by John Romita Jr.  Members revealed so far: Captain America (Bucky), Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, and Spider-Woman.  The traditional Avengers line-up is seven members, so it’s likely we’ll have at least two more surprise members on this team.  I’m thinking we might see Vision or Wasp (Hank Pym) on this team.  This will be the flagship Avengers title.

Secret Avengers – Starting in May, written by Ed Brubaker with art by Mike Deodato.  The team members are still a secret for now (go figure), but according to Brubaker the book is, “definitely going to have a lot of the espionage plots and the Steranko influence, and the crazy Kirby technology, but I don’t think there’s going to be much soap opera.  I hope it feels different than any Avengers team, ever.”  For more of Ed Brubaker on the Secret Avengers, click here.

Below is a teaser image of the Secret Avengers members.  Each character had their own quote when presented individually.  Here are the quotes and some speculation working left to right:

• “I lead by example.”   Some believe this may be Steve Rogers.
• “I am in control of my life.”  Some believe this may be Valkyrie or Scarlet Witch.  Personally I think you gotta consider Black Widow, Ms. Marvel, or Moonstone as well.
• “I act on my convictions regardless of personal consequences.”  Some believe this may be War Machine.
• “I focus on the solution, not the problem.”  Some believe this may be the Beast or Gorilla-Man.  I’m hoping for Beast.
• “I excel through adversity.”  Some believe this may be Nova.
• “I strive for redemption.”  Some believe this may be Moon Knight or The Hood.

New Avengers – Starting in June, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Stuart Immonen.  Members revealed so far: Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Jewel, and The Thing.  Personally this is the book I’m most excited about.  It’s got a really interesting line-up.  Like the main Avengers book, I imagine there will be at least two more surprise team members once the series hits the stands.  I’m thinking we might see Iron Fist and Mockingbird on this team.

Avengers Academy – Starting in June, written by Christos Gage with art by Mike McKone. Members revealed so far: Veil & Striker (both new characters), as well as Reptil.  This book was only recently announced.  Newsarama is running teaser images all this week on Avengers Academy.  Click here for the latest character reveals.  The members and flavor of this book is likely to be a mix of Young Avengers, New Warriors, and Avengers: The Initiative.  That seems likely given that Christos Gage is just coming off writing Avengers: The Initiative.

The information and images above came from Newsarama.  Be sure to head over there for the latest comic news.

While it may seem overkill to launch four new Avengers ongoing series, they are really just starting over books they are canceling.  There are four ongoing Avengers titles right now all about to be cancelled: New Avengers, Dark Avengers, Mighty Avengers, and Avengers: The Initiative.  So don’t think of it as launching four new ongoing series, just think of it as Marvel starting the numbering over in order to sell lots of #1 issues.

From Funny or Die, here is Stan Lee’s bid for the Oscars…

Just thought I would share some of the geeky Christmas ornaments that adorn our tree.

I love the Spider-Man ornament below.  It’s got great detailing and the webs in each hand are cool!

Below is a cute Santa-Spidey!

You can find a nice Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine below, complete with rolling wheels, Christmas tree on top, and Scooby in bas-relief.

Scooby-Doo the reindeer.

Scooby baking Christmas cookies in the shape of himself and Shaggy!

Below is a miniaturized replica of a Scooby-Doo metal lunchbox.  Unfortunately, my three year old daughter has pilfered the thermos that went with it.

Below is an interesting Batman and Robin pairing.  Robin is clearly the Tim Drake Robin, but Batman isn’t wearing blue trunks.  That suggests this is the Batman from shortly after the Troika storyline in 1995.  … Wow, it’s scary I know things like that.

Here is a genuine E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial ornament from 1982.  Somehow I’ve managed to hang on to it all this time.

Here is another E.T. ornament from 1982 I’ve somehow managed not to lose.  This one is handmade.  I believe my mother bought it at a craft show in 1982.

Below is another miniaturized replica metal lunchbox.  This time it’s from the Super Friends, including images of Flash, Batgirl, Green Arrow, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin, Hawkman, and Green Lantern.  The thermos features Catwoman, the Joker, and the Riddler.  Oddly enough I don’t believe Batgirl or Green Arrow ever appeared on the Super Friends show, and yet they made the lunch box.  Weird.

Below the likeness of Barry Allen, The Flash, is captured between the seconds as he races to beat 20 years of continuity and come back from the dead.

Superman from the Animated Series is delivering Christmas toys in this cool ornament below.

Another miniature replica metal lunchbox below.  This time it’s a Superman lunchbox paying homage to the cover of Action Comics #1.

Below is a clever Clark Kent ornament.  Notice the detail of the coat hanger and the jacket.  Nicely done!

Finally, my favorite geek ornament… Super Santa!  Another gift from my mother from my childhood.  I like the crossover between Superman and Santa Claus.

Happy Holidays!

I stumbled across a few more Saturday Morning Cartoon advertisements in some old comics.  Below are ads that ran in DC comics in the fall of 1983.  At the time, they were promoting the upcoming fall line-up of Saturday morning cartoons on ABC and NBC.  Oddly enough I didn’t see an ad for CBS.   Click the NBC  image for a larger view.

Dude… for me personally, NBC rocked in comparison to ABC in 1983.  Thundarr the Barbarian, Spider-Man & his Amazing Friends, Incredible Hulk, Mr. T, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Shirt Tales… NBC had some good stuff!  I do recall enjoying ABC’s Puppy’s Further Adventures and the Littles, but no matter how much I tried I couldn’t get excited about Pac-Man or Rubik the Amazing Cube.

Click here for a previous post about NBC’s 1985 Saturday Morning Cartoon line-up.  For that post I included some general commentary about Saturday Morning Cartoons and what the current generation of kids are missing.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you geeks here in the United States! For my international readers… sorry, our country is closed today for parade watching, massive turkey consumption, and tryptophan-induced comas. Come back tomorrow for the craziest shopping day of the year.

I’m closing out my DragonCon 2009 coverage with my favorite costume photos. Some have been shown here previously, but they bear repeating. To see all of my DragonCon photos, be sure to visit my Flickr page. If you have a favorite costume that I left out, be sure to mention it in the comments. A small handful of these photos were taken by folks other than me. In those cases, I’ve linked to their original photo.

A really great Bumblebee from “Transformers”

These ladies were having a blast in their gender-bender “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” costumes.  They were totally in character and so were the screaming fans!

Cookie Monster Michael Jackson.  Really funny, but is it too soon?

The Convention Vixens return to DragonCon.  You can find more on the ConVixens by clicking here.

Star Wars Jedi impaling a Clone Trooper.  This was a really neat and creative costume.  The lightsaber was connected to the trooper on both sides and was lit up.  Impressive, most impressive.

A really good Snake Eyes from “GI Joe”

Is this the future of Marvel Comics now that they’ve been bought by Disney?

The Ghostbusters!  This group won the Hall Costume Contest for Best Movie Group.  The detail on their costumes is amazing!

The popularity of the new “Star Trek” film inspired quite a few simple, yet effective costumes.

The most in character group at the convention! Tony Stark (from “Iron Man”), his assistant Pepper, and his security guards.  Tony was dead-on and never broke character. The security guards actually frisked anyone who wanted their picture with Tony.  Pepper was sure to inquire if you had an appointment.  Brilliant!

The most creative costume at the convention in my opinion.  The two-person AT-AT from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”!

With the popularity of the “Blackest Night” comic book this year, there were quite a few different Lantern Corps represented.  Here is a member of the Sinestro Corps…

… and here is a member of the Red Lantern Corps.

A really great Supergirl!

The second most creative costume at the convention in my opinion.  He perfectly captured Peter Parker’s Spider-Sense tingling from the comics.

An astonishing “Doctor Who” look-a-like.  Several people were doing double-takes to ensure it wasn’t really David Tennant.

An impressive Catwoman from the “Batman Returns” film.

Spaceman Spiff from “Calvin & Hobbes”.  Notice the stuffed tiger on his shoulder!

“Watchmen” – Thankfully Doctor Manhattan went for the briefs, rather than what was shown in the movie.

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld

An impressive Silver Surfer from “Fantastic Four 2″

A really well done “Barbarella”

If you’ve never seen “Logan’s Run”, then go rent it right now.

A recreation of the famous picture taken in Times Square at the end of World War II

Really clever way to represent the video game “Mario Cart”

The Harry Potter/Hogwarts bad-girl thing continues to be popular.  Understandably.

Remember, the Visitors are our friends.

A really obscure Boba Fett costume from Star Wars.  This particular version of the costume was only used in his first appearance in the animated portion of the 1978 televised “Star Wars Holiday Special”.  Like I said… really obscure, but also really neat that someone took the time to make this particular variation.

An eight-foot Sasquatch from the Alpha Flight comic book!

A fun Stormtrooper variant in the parade – the Indianapolis Colts Trooper!

And finally Max from “Where the Wild Things Are”.  This young lady was having a blast hopping around as Max!  She mentioned that lots of people didn’t know what her costume was supposed to be.  That surprised me, but I guess they’ll all figure it out next year after the movie comes out.

Saturday Morning Cartoons… aaaahhhh, a magical weekly event for us growing up.  Sadly, the current generation of children will never know the joy of Saturday morning cartoons.  They’re spoiled by 24-hour access to cartoons on television and DVD.  They don’t understand how limited our cartoon options were back then.   They’ll never appreciate the excitement and anticipation we felt going to bed on Friday night, knowing that the next morning the television BELONGED TO US!  No parental news programs, no cooking shows, and no The Joy of Painting.  From dawn ’til noon, it was bright colors, zany music, and moral lessons every 30 minutes.  It was OUR TIME!

Below is an advertisement that ran in DC comic books in the fall of 1985.  It’s promoting the upcoming fall line-up of Saturday morning cartoons on NBC.  Click the image for a larger view.

Advertisements like this were common in comic books.  You could usually find an ad from each network sometime in the late-summer or early-fall.  It was really the only place we got a sneak peek at the upcoming cartoons.  I remember pouring over these ads, studying the new cartoons, trying to figure out the time slots for each show, and planning my Saturday mornings accordingly.

It was the mid-1980’s when the magic of Saturday morning cartoons began to fade.  It was a combination of factors that really impacted them: the advent of first-run syndicated cartoons on weekdays (such as GI Joe and Transformers), the rise of children-targeted cable networks (such as Nickelodeon), the spread of home videos, and the success of Saturday morning live-action programs (such as Saved by the Bell).  By the early 1990’s, Saturday morning cartoons had lost their special place in most children’s hearts.

Dear Saturday Morning Cartoons… there are those of us who still remember you, still miss you, and still love you… Sincerely, My Geek-Generation.

This plush black costume Spider-Man resides in my home office.

Over the years, I’ve collected lots of geek related odds-and-ends which somehow find their way into my home office.  I think this one is particularly cute, especially since I really liked the black costume Spider-Man era.  However, I’m always careful to keep an eye on this plush.  The last thing I need is for the costume to ooze off this plush doll and onto one of my daughter’s stuffed animals.  I don’t relish the idea of a symbiote-possessed Strawberry Shortcake.  A pink “Venom” just wouldn’t sit well in my world.

I got a couple new comic book t-shirts recently.  My local comic book shop (Cosmic Cat Comics, Games & Anime) had a New Years Day sale – all t-shirts only $6.  So I couldn’t resist these two.

Here is an inspiring Aquaman image by the fantastic Alex Ross.

Here is a bold shirt based on Spider-Man’s black costume.  I’m not really a big fan of Venom, but I love the black costume Spider-Man wore.  The white image on this shirt is made of really thick material and is featured on both sides.  It looks really cool.

If you’re a geek and haven’t heard about this already, then you live under a rock (probably a rock in your parents basement).  On January 14, President-Elect Obama makes his nationwide comic book debut in the Marvel Universe in a special bonus story in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #583.

From Marvel’s press release for the issue:

“This all new story written by Zeb Wells and art by Todd Nauck and Frank D’Armata takes place in Washington, D.C. on Inauguration Day and finds one of Spider-Man’s oldest foes attempting to thwart the swearing in ceremony of the 44th President of the United States. The story will be featured as a bonus story in Marvel Comic’s Amazing Spider-Man #583, available in comic book shops nation-wide on January 14th, 2009. A special variant cover by artist Phil Jimenez featuring the President-Elect and Spider-Man will be available for this issue.”

“When we heard that President-Elect Obama is a collector of Spider-Man comics, we knew that these two historic figures had to meet in our comics’ Marvel Universe,” Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada said in the release. “Historic moments such as this one can be reflected in our comics because the Marvel Universe is set in the real world. A Spider-Man fan moving into the Oval Office is an event that must be commemorated in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man.”

If you can’t read what Spider-Man is saying on the cover, here you go…  “Hey, if you get to be on my cover, can I be on the dollar bill?”

Read more at Marvel Comics and Newsarama.