Doc Savage's 75th Anniversary Will Be Honored!

One of several milestones in pop culture history being reached this year will be honored at the upcoming SDCC  Comic Con  International 2008!

The Comic Con  runs in San Diego from July 24th through July 27th, (with a special preview night on the 23rd for 4-day badge holders only).

'Doc Savage' will be honored at the Con and in the Con's 2008 Program Book.

"The Man of Bronze" was actually first seen in the pages of pulp magazines back in 1933!

Doc was created by writer Lester Dent. He had the Doc, (who for those of you that don't know), portray a 'Heroic/Renaissance Man' with a team of adventurers by his side.

Doc Savage was published in 181 issues between 1933 and 1949!

My first personal knowledge of Doc Savage began in the 1960's when Bantam Books issued a series of reprint paperbacks with James Bama painted covers!

Of course after discovering these books, I picked up the Doc Savage tales in his Marvel Comics title! 

I do have to admit that although I read several of his reprinted adventures and checked out the comic book series, I wasn't a fanatic about the series. Not like I was about the Green Hornet when he came out on TV and the Comics. He too had a pulp magazine history. However Doc had several fans among my peers in High School at the time.

Doc later had a 1975 movie titled Doc Savage, The Man of Bronze, which was produced by the legendary George Pal and starred TV's Tarzan, Ron Ely. (See photo top right for a scene from that movie.)

Michael

The Dark Knight

Crusading against the crime syndicates terrorizing Gotham, Batman(Christian Bale) encounters a new enemy, a criminal mastermind - The Joker (Heath Ledger in his final role) in The Dark Knight opening July 18. 

Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman return while Maggy Gyllenhaal steps in to replace the woeful Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes.

Like most sequels, this second installment looks like it will explore its' hero's dark side.  How far is too far?  What if you're battling an evil like The Joker?  Hmmm. 

Sounds interesting, and Christian Bale is fabulous as Bruce Wayne.  But on the whole, the trailers look a little too dark for me.  Of course, that just may be Heath Ledger's makeup.  Like many women, I'm not much for the gore and this new Batman seems filled with it.

NOTE TO BATMAN FANS:  Check out our 100+ inventory of Batman comics - we even have some that feature The Joker. You get FREE shipping for each additional comic you purchase - raw, unslabbed books to USA addresses only please.

I admit, I'm not itching to see The Dark Knight - and I loved Batman Begins.

On the plus side, at least Katie Holmes is gone ...

Reserving judgement for now,

Tina

We have an ongoing Comic Con  and pop culture convention here at Make It So Marketing, what with our daily blog posts and listings of items for sale!

Thanks for reading Tina's post today and please join us again for more!

Michael

Well..... It's Out Today....

The New Incredible Hulk  Movie That Is!

So are we excited here at Make It So Marketing about the Opening Day???

Actually not really...

Tina already has blogged what her feelings about the newest Hulk Film  which can be seen at:  Click Here.

As for myself, I did the usual Comic Book Fan thing by wearing my Jack Kirby's version of the Incredible Hulk T-Shirt out today on my errands.

Got several looks at the t-shirt and a few comments at the Post Office, supermarket, and drugstore, but nothing like the questions I was asked about on the Marvel Comics film Iron Man Opening Day / Weekend!

Earlier this morning I did hear Mr. MovieFone's review of The Incredible Hulk movie when he was talking with Robin Meade on CNN Headline News.

Robin had said that she understood that the first film 'Wasn't so Hot' and asked if the 'remake' that opens today would be 'hot'...

Mr MovieFone stated that with new actors Ed Norton and Liv Tyler that the movie had a new look, but that the Hulk was 'still on the run'.

He also said that 'It ain't No Iron Man!'.

He added 'It's a whole lotter better than the first one'. And went on to add... Especially since he wasn't expecting much from this new film.

So... did Mr Movie Fone like it???  "I liked it" he said.

He added, "if you like comic book movies, you'll like this'.

Robin suggested the movie was more for 20 year old males and teenagers...

Mr MovieFone just said at the end of his short TV segment, (after reviewing one other film ), 'Go see the Hulk'. 'You'll like the Big Green Man'.

So... looks like I'll have to take this in after Opening Weekend by myself, as Tina doesn't want to see it, and we have several activities planned this weekend for Father's Day weekend, including having my own Father up here for a project and dinner! And the Hulk '"ain't" one of them!

We have an ongoing Comic Con  and pop culture convention here at Make It So Marketing, what with our daily blog posts and listings of items for sale!

Thanks for reading this post today and please join us again for more!

Michael

Personality Parade Jarred My Memories...

About the 1991 Captain America Movie!

Due to the new collection we just picked up, we have been busy grading / inventorying / and listing it in the eBay Featured Store, instead of checking out pop culture news...

So I'm personally a little behind in my reading! 

Last night before going to bed I started to read the Sunday newspaper. In the Parade Magazine, on the 'Personality Parade' page, it jumped out at me!

'It' was a photo of Matt Salinger who starred as 'Captain America' in the 1991 live action film of the same name.

I remember seeing this before it went straight to video at the Los Angeles Sci-Fi and Comic Book Convention.

It was so 'bad' that it was not released to theaters, and finally went 'straight' to video.

However, as 'bad' as it was, it is the most faithful representation of Captain America to date. 

As usual though, whenever Hollywood gets control of a Marvel Comics property, changes for the sake of changes had to be made.

Thus the 'Red Skull' was changed to an 'Italian' which made no sense whatever.

There were other story plotlines that just didn't do justice to such a great comic book Icon.

The only fun in seeing this film was seeing it with other comic book fans at the Comic Con. This is why I keep recommending those of you that like comics or other pop culture fare to take in a convention. It should and can be great fun for a week or a weekend!

There may be good news for 'Cap' fans. There is to be a new film, in 2011 titled 'The First Avenger: Captain America'.

Hopefully this won't be the 'turkey' that the 1991 film was!

We'll see....

Isn't it Great that superheroes are finally getting the 'respect' from the Mainstream Public?! (i.e. Iron Man!)

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Marvel's Greatest Battles?!

There are so many different ways that phrase could be explained by fans and non-fans alike...

One early explanation would be when Marvel Comics took on National DC Comics when it proclaimed the 1st Issue of the Fantastic Four as 'The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!'  way back in 1961!

Another would be when Marvel Comics expanded its' newstand distribution in 1968, when it had its' titles, Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, and Tales To Astonish split into two separate titles, with each of the main superheroes heading their own title.

Some of those superheroes like the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and Captain America went on for years... Others like Dr Strange and the Sub-Mariner have had their ups and downs in being published!

For later readers and / or investors, the battles within Marvel itself caused the implosion of the company, which found itself battling to get out of bankruptcy.

The newest battles are the successes finally of Marvel Superheroes on the Big Screen! Earlier the Captain America, the Punisher, the 1st Fantastic Four movie by Corman, etc., just were outclassed by the Superman and Batman movies by DC's efforts...

What brought this blog post about was my going through my personal collection of Marvel items and running across the book 'Marvel's Greatest Battles', which of course would feature the Incredible Hulk versus the Thing for one!

My love for this comic book industry's history is a large one, encompassing my earliest day's of reading Chilly Willy, Disney Comics, etc., but some like Fantastic Four #12 & #25 where the Hulk and the Thing tangled with each other will never be equaled in my humble opinion.

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