Dec 01 2016

Marvel Cartoons Even I Haven’t Heard Of

As a Geek Gold Gold member and Marvel dork, I was surprised to find out that there are Marvel cartoons even I haven’t heard of. Note that I didn’t say Marvel cartoons I haven’t seen. I haven’t seen every animated work the House of Ideas has produced (usually with partners). That said, I figured I had heard of all of them.

I was wrong. Wrong! So very wrong.

Below is a link to a fun article from CBR, aka Comic Book Resources, discussing 15 “forgotten” Marvel cartoons. (Not to split hairs, but they clearly aren’t forgotten if you wrote an article about them!)

Since I love me some superhero animation, and I know you do too, here is a quick rundown of the shows I’ve seen and the ones I haven’t.

SEEN BY ME

Spider-Man Unlimited: Very odd show. Spidey goes to “Counter-Earth” to save John Jameson and winds up staying there because reasons. Kind of hard to search for because there is now a game with the same title. Here’s the series on Amazon.

Silver Surfer: The animation in this series is absolutely beautiful, and the rest of it is good too. Very epic and features a clever mix of traditional and computer animation. Worth seeking out. Here’s episode 1 on YouTube.

Black Panther: Very very good series that probably was doomed from the start because it’s a “motion comic”. However, as the CBR article points out, the voice talent is stellar (Djimon Hounsou, Kerry Washington, and Alfre freaking Woodard, along with a very dramatic Stan Lee cameo), and the material (based on Reginald Hudlin and John Romita Jr.’s excellent comics) is strong enough that it worked for me. Check it out on Amazon.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series: I have a soft spot for this 2003 series because it aired just after the 2002 Spider-Man movie and was kindasorta a continuation of it. Also, here’s your main cast: Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker, Lisa Loeb as Mary Jane Watson, and Ian Ziering as Harry Osborn. Name another cartoon with Lisa Loeb. You can’t. (That doesn’t mean she’s never done another cartoon, it just means you can’t name one.) And Ian Ziering? Is this “Spider-Man: 90210”? It was 2003, we wore onions on our belts, and the writing was pretty good. Free on Amazon with a Prime Subscription, which you can try for 30 days FREE right here.

Fred And Barney Meet The Thing: Apparently there is an episode where The Thing meets Bigfoot. I need to see that. Thing Ring, do your thing!

Iron Man: Armored Adventures: Solid story-telling overcomes a premise that shouldn’t work but totally does, which is Iron Man as a teenager. Amazon link here.

Spider-Woman: I’ve seen a couple of episodes of this series. I think the same creative team moved on to do a Spider-Man series which eventually became the ever-awesome Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Don’t quote me on that, though. The animation style and overall look/feel are very similar.

Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes: Not good. Just didn’t work.

Avengers: United They Stand: Very odd series. Most of the better known characters (Iron Man, et al) aren’t there. As for oddness, all of the characters have “Avengers flight belts”… including Falcon. Falcon’s whole thing is that HE CAN FLY. Why does he need a flight belt? Not one of the better Marvel cartoons. Of course, I watched it anyway.

UNSEEN BY ME:

Dracula: Sovereign Of The Damned: Sounds weird enough that I might check it out. I also really like Marvel’s version of Dracula.

Marvel Anime: Not my thing. All I can find online are clips here.

Monster Of Frankenstein: Doesn’t sound much like a Marvel movie but as with Dracula above, it sounds entertainingly weird.

Pryde Of The X-Men: How I’ve never seen this, I have no idea. I’ve heard so much about it that I feel like I’ve seen it. Wolverine is inexplicably Australian. Someone told me that they kept airing the pilot over and over again, teasing viewers that a series would eventually show up. Technically it did — X-Men: The Animated Series. Can we get an Honest Trailer? We can!

 

Solarman: Who?

Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers: Apparently this was some unholy mashup of Avengers and Pokemon. Sure, why not.

Everybody remembers the ’90s X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons, but do you remember these ones?

Source: Marvel Superheroes: The Most Forgotten Comics Cartoons (CBR)


Aug 23 2016

Warning: More Superhero Posts To Come (But It’ll Be About Parenting Too)

I know this is DaddyTips.com, but I think there are going to be more superhero posts to come. You have been warned.

Danger Will Robinson

This will not come as a surprise to anyone who knows me or anyone who reads this site with even moderate regularity. I mean… well, I’ll let the picture say a thousand words.

Me and The Avengers movie.

Personally I prefer The Avengers. Have I mentioned that lately?

In case anyone is wondering, the phrase “Me and The Avengers DVD Combo Pack = happy dad” is still true. I could watch that movie almost any time. Luckily there is a steady supply of other stuff to watch, some that even doesn’t have superheroes in it like Stranger Things. (Stranger Things is all the things, by the way. I’ve already watched it twice. It’s good the second time around, in case you were on the fence about watching it again.)

Deutsch: Zentrale Heterochromie: Grüne Iris, u...

Deutsch: Zentrale Heterochromie: Grüne Iris, um die Pupille herum jedoch ein braun-gelber Ring (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(The image above is totally unrelated and is included just to freak you out a little.)

I will be doing a better job of tying the superhero stuff into parenting and related topics. Not that this is necessary. To paraphrase Whit Honea from way back when we both blogged for Babble.com, superhero movies are relevant to a parenting blog because I’m a parent and I like superhero movies. (Whit’s kind of awesome; check him out here, and also everywhere.) I also watch them with my kids. The values they impart are important. Not that it’s all about values. It’s also about fun, and sharing something fun. The world is a rough place. There’s a reason it’s called “escapism.” But while escaping, it is worth noting that sometimes there are good values being imparted. Acceptance of others (Vision and Scarlet Witch). The complications of friendships (Captain America: Civil War). How awesome and weird it would be to have super-powers at age 15 (Spider-Man). OK, that last one isn’t really a value. But those three are all from the same movie. I’ve got more than that, trust me. Because with great power, there must also come great responsibility. (Ahem.)

Face front True Believers! Welcome to the DaddyTips age of Superhero Parenting! Trust me, it’ll be a fun ride.


Jul 13 2016

Yeah, I Want To Read This

There’s a new artist’s rendering of the Star Wars land being built at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The 14-acre addition (similar to the one being built at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida) will be the biggest single-theme expansion at the parks in history. Obviously this concept image tilts toward the fantastical. Still, Disney has said it does represent some of the attractions that will be included. Let’s fly a little closer and see what we can find ….

Source: – Star Wars Land – Disneyland releases new images – EW.com


Dec 18 2015

Star Wars Stuff To 3D Print

Remember when you had to go out and actually buy Star Wars toys? (Or any toys for that matter?) No more! Now you can 3D print all sorts of Star Wars stuff at home.

Provided you have a 3D printer of course.

ZDNet has a list of 20 Star Wars trinkets you can download and 3D print now. As in NOW. Immediately. (Again, assuming you have a 3D printer. If you don’t, you can’t.)

This one is our favorite.

Luke come over to the dual side. Together we will fill the universe with two colored objects.

Heh. It’s funny cuz it’s true.

I don’t know where this stuff falls in the realm of copyright, since these are all items that I could see being sold at ThinkGeek or any number of similar retailers. But that is not for us to decide. The full list has a bunch of extremely nifty items, so if you’ve got a 3D printer, odds are good that you’ll find something there that you want. With the new Star Wars movie now in theaters, it’d be fun to surprise the kids with something special that they can’t get in stores, like the Luke/Vader switch plate pictured above.

And of course, may the force be with you. Always.

Source: Star Wars Switch Cover Plate Episode 2: Attack of the Dual Extruders by Shapespeare – Thingiverse

H/T ZDNet


Nov 10 2015

A Classic Couple

Is it Droid Love? I never thought of them like that, but I guess it could be.


Nov 09 2015

Crazy Cute Rocket And Groot Halloween Costumes

From James Gunn‘s Instagram page, here are two crazy cute Rocket and Groot Halloween costumes.

Many awesome Guardian costumes this year! Here are a couple of my favorites!

A photo posted by James Gunn (@jamesgunn) on

I mean, c’mon. That baby in the flower pot? How adorable is that? I also love that people are still thinking about Guardians of the Galaxy because it was great and I can’t wait for the next one. I mean, I can wait. I will wait. I’m just looking forward to seeing more of what James Gunn and company come up with. Luckily there are other Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to keep me satisfied while I wait.

As for whoever made these incredible costumes, Geek Gold Cards all around.


Oct 10 2015

Marvel Unlimited NYCC 2015 Deal

You’ve only got a couple more days for this deal but you know what a fan I am of Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, which is kind of a Netflix for comics — you pay a fee (monthly or yearly) which grants you access to a library of Marvel comic books. Is it EVERY Marvel comic book? No. Is it over 13,000 Marvel comic books? Yes. Is it worth it? By Odin’s smelly sweat socks, of course it is. And this deal makes it even better.

Preview tons of digital comics for free, search back issues, and enjoy with Marvel.com’s special online reader.

Marvel is offering some free stuff if you get a subscription during New York Comic Con. Hit the link for details.

To clarify what’s in the digital library: old stuff and new stuff. There are some gaps. You might be reading a series and suddenly an issue is missing. But they do a pretty good job of adding newly published issues a few months after they come out. Mostly, though, you can read some really great comic books going all the way back to the 1940s. Recently examples of stuff I’ve read include:

The Man In The Ant Hill” from Tales to Astonish #27: The first appearance of Hank Pym, who would later become Ant-Man (and Giant-Man, Yellowjacket, and, weirdly, the Wasp).

Captain America: this particular collection of comics came out in the 80s and is very, very awesome. Steve Rogers is told by the U.S. Government that he can’t be Captain America anymore unless he does something that I can’t remember but would go against his beliefs. So he says “bite me”, gets a new costume, and the government finds someone else to be Cap. Worth getting the trade paperback even if you don’t get a Marvel Unlimited subscription. Also awesome are the early Captain American & The Falcon books. These comics deal with race in a way that is rare for the medium, and the comics were coming out during a time when racial tensions were high — and they talk about that. Falc is never Cap’s sidekick, and his first appearance (sans wings) features one of my all-time favorite costumes. It’s so cool it hurts.

Civil War: You know that upcoming Marvel movie? You can read all of the comics that inspired it. In this case, I actually think you’re better off reading it digitally as opposed to getting the trade paperback, because the tie-ins are very important and one of the things you can do with the Unlimited subscription is read by “Comic Event”. That either makes sense to you or you checked out a long time ago.

X-Factor: Peter David is one of my favorite comic book writers. He wrote my all-time favorite Hulk line, “Best way to make people of one mind is to bash their heads together. You can read his “Incredible Hulk” run, which is awesome. But his work on “X-Factor” is arguably even better because he takes less well-known characters and makes them interesting, funny, and he makes you care what happens to them. I’m talking about characters like Madrox The Multiple Man and Pip The Troll. There are lines that I’ve quoted to my wife and kids totally out of context that they agreed were hilarious.

Anyway, if you were thinking of getting a Marvel Unlimited subscription, you can get one now and also get some free stuff. Who doesn’t like free stuff?

Source: Marvel Unlimited NYCC 2015 | Marvel Unlimited NYCC 2015 | Comics | Marvel.com