Then vs. Now

 

While researching Marvel Comics bankruptcy filing from over 20 years ago, I found this archived article from E! News. It talks about how Marvel’s sales had plummeted, driving the company into debt; owing $1.2 billion when they were only worth $1.3 billion.

What I found funny about this is that the article mentions their plan to develop Marvel Studios & this archived website features an ad for Spider-Man: Homecoming, which opens next Friday. Homecoming is the newest offering from Marvel Studios, which has brought in nearly $12 billion dollars since 2008.

The Early Art of Joe St. Pierre

So I’m reading some Spider-Man comics from the mid 90’s and stumbled across the the 1995 mini-series “Planet of the Symbiotes”. In this story, Eddie Brock tries to separate himself from the Venom symbiote, which causes it to freak out & send a telepathic distress message into space, which brings a whole mess of symbiotes to Earth. Turns out that there’s an entire race of the things that travels the galaxy and bonds with different lifeforms, consuming their energy until they’re dead & then moving onto the next planet. The Venom symbiote we all know and love was actually exiled from their society for wanting to permanently bond with a host & actually live with it rather than just use it up as fast as possible and leave behind a dead husk. What a loser, right?! It was marooned on Battleworld until Spider-Man found it during Secret Wars. Anyway, Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, and Venom team up to fight off the symbiotes & save the day.

The point I should be getting to here is that issue two of this series, Spider-Man Super Special #1 (it ran in “super specials” off all the Spider titles at the time; Amazing, Spectacular, Web of, etc.) was drawn buy a guy named Joe St. Pierre.  St. Pierre hadn’t been in the business that long, having gotten his start in 1992. His art style…I can only describe it like this: It’s like somebody got Todd McFarlane good & hammered drunk and had him pencil a Spider-Man book.  Take a look for yourself.

Joe St. Pierre is still working today and he did go on to get a lot better. Just goes to show you that any artist would most likely be better served cultivating their own style instead of trying to mimic someone else’s.

 

Whump! (There it Sputs)

So this is the way the Green Goblin ends.
Now with a bang but with a SPUT.

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, my little brother Sean died tragically last Wednesday. He was just 24 years old. The circumstances aren’t exactly clear, but I don’t want to focus on the way he died. I want to remember the way he lived.

Sean was brilliant, curious, adventurous, and hilarious. Even though I was the older brother by seven years, I could always learn new things from him. Being nearly a decade apart, we didn’t have a lot of common ground when we were kids; but we always had the bond of family. We grew up in Portland, in a shabby house with not a lot of money. Things got better, but we always remembered the tough times & the good times alike, and how all of it made us who we were. It was relying on each other that kept us going. Now that we were both on the common ground of adulthood, we were relating on a new level with new experiences. I was looking forward to many more years of it. We should have been old men, complaining about robot maids & these damn kids with their rocket boots.

Sean had moved to Texas nearly two years ago with his fiance so they could be closer to her family. Though we were several states apart, we were still close. On the few occasions a year which we’d see each other, it was as if we hadn’t been apart for a day. I could always count on Sean, wether it was to lend a helping hand, give some advice, or just to make me laugh.

I want to thank everyone who’s reached out to me & my family over the last week. The donations, assistance, and kind words have meant more than I can say. For the short time that Sean was here, he left a lasting impact on a lot of people. I’ve felt kind of empty these last few days, and I don’t know if that’s a feeling that’ll ever go away. Sean was always there to encourage me. He had more faith in me than I ever had in myself. I know my brother wouldn’t want me to sit around feeling sad for too long. There’s life to be lived, and I owe it to him to make it the best life possible.

I love you, brother. And I will miss you everyday for the rest of my life.

The Walking Dead – “30 Days Without an Accident”

The fourth season of AMC’s The Walking Dead kicked off last night, drawing in over 16 million viewers and dominating the ratings for everything not football related. The episode drew more than six million viewers than the season three premiere, and nearly four million more than the season three finale, continuing the trend of The Walking Dead being the highest rated show on cable. Scott Gimple takes the series’ helm starting with this season. He’s the third show runner for the series; replacing Glen Mazzara, who’d just taken over for Frank Darabont after season two. Gimple was responsible for writing some of the best episodes of season three, which managed to find a nice balance of emotional, character driven stories and gory zombie goodness. If this episode is any indication of how season four will play out we’re in for some good times. Now, with a healthy dose of spoilers both television and comic book related, let’s get into the story…

Maximum Linkage: Comic Related Stuff From Around the Interwebs

It Stinks!

25 Superman and Batman comics that should be considered for the Man of Steel sequel. (Film Drunk)

Whoever plays the next Batman, at least it’s not this asshole. (E! Online)

Southie Batman is my new favorite thing. (Film Drunk)

Was Ben Affleck’s Daredevil really that bad? (Gamma Squad)

Richard Dreyfuss would’ve been the best Batman. (Twitter)

DC vs. Marvel, all time domestic box office earnings, adjusted for inflation. (Geeks Are Sexy)

A much more detailed breakdown of Marvel vs. DC at the movies. (Congerson Movie Score)

Just in case you’ve started to take for granted how good comic book movies have gotten, here’s the trailer for Howard the Duck. (YouTube)

The Five Best (and Five Worst) Status Quo Changes in Superhero Comics (Topless Robot)

“My name’s Electric Nachos.” A supercut of superheroes introducing themselves. (Screen Junkies)

Maximum Linkage: Comic Related Stuff From Around the Interwebs

  – Do you like comics? Since you’re reading this blog, I’d say you do. Do you like the  Muppets? Of course you do. They you’ll love these Muppet/comic mash-ups. (CBR)

  – Who would win in a fight: Marvel or DC? (Slate)

  – The Daily Show’s John Oliver has a moment of nerd rage when a 42 year old inventor is  called the inspiration for the 50 year old Tony Stark character”. (The Daily Show)

  – How Superman vs. Batman would really go down. (Imgur)

  – The cast & crew of Kick-Ass 2 responds to Jim Carrey distancing himself from the movie for being too violent. (Digital Spy)

– Writer and podcast host Brett White has an interesting comment about Marvel & DC’s approach to movies. (Twitter)

  – Antboy is kind of like what would’ve happened had Peter Parker become Spider-Man when he were much younger. Also, you know, bitten by a radioactive ant. (YouTube)

– Goodbye, My Brothers: Probably the saddest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themed thing you’ll ever see. (deviantART)

– Some people bought a “furnished” house, found a whole lot of collectibles inside. (Reddit)

– If you ever wanted workout advice from Ghost Rider, here’s your chance. (Imgur)