Let's Play Catch Up

This is going to be real quick, real short and real fun for me to do, because I wont be sat here for hours sorting out the finer details. Why? Because I just want to cover some stuff I've mentioned before along with  recent things I've been doing and also stuff you've probably already heard about. Let's jump in head first, shall we?

Television

Spider-Girl will not be appearing in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. Wait! Wait! That's not entirely accurate. May 'Mayday' Parker, the Spectacular, Amazing and Stunning Spider-Girl, daughter of the one true Spider-Man will not be appearing in this animated series during the third season, which is being marketed as Web-Warriors. Okay, yes it's called 'Web-Warriors' and not Web of Warriors or whatever the heck it was that I misinterpreted from that tiny pixelated logo from that tiny pixelated image that was slipped onto twitter. I screwed up. Anyway, back on point though, yeah. Mayday is a no-go, folks. Instead, the Spider-Girl appearing in the show will be Petra Parker, a gender-swapped analog of Peter Parker. This is a case of Spider-Man with boobs. Who'd of thought? I'm tempted to reference the Ultimate Universe comics version of the Clone Saga in which one of the teen Peter Parker clones is a female copy of him.

 Yeah. I'm really disappointed in this missed opportunity to represent Spider-Girl in other media. Alas. On the plus side, if things all go horribly wrong, Mayday's good name isn't besmirched for years to come.On a more positive note, I would like to congratulate Donald Glover (from the awesome comedy series Community) for being cast as the voice of the Miles Morales incarnation of Spider-Man. It's wonderful to see a fan ascend to playing their heroes. Next time though, cast him in a live-action film. He'd kick all sorts of butt.

In other, unrelated news I've begun watching Star Trek. Yes, I've finally crossed the threshold  I unconsciously avoided for years. It began sometime last year when a good friend selected what he identified as 'the good movies' to watch with me. It has since escalated. I've reached the forth disc of season one of The Original Series. It's better than I ever thought. It reminds me of classic Doctor Who in some respects, but with more shirt ripping and swagger. I'm gonna enjoy watching the rest of the series and who knows, maybe all the others?

Oh, and hey! Doctor Who is back on television. I'm very happy.

Film

So, Guardians of the Galaxy was a great fun film. My faith in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is completely reaffirmed. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a really wonderful film, Amazing Spider-Man 2 was...it's hard for me to give it a fair judgement. In some regards it was a great Spider-Man film with great characters and awesome quip-age, something I've really enjoyed about the reboot. On the flip side, it was a terribly paced film with multiple plot lines all slapped together to make a movie without a clear focus and a lot of narrative dead ends. Also, nobody cares about Richard and Mary Parker! I both like and dislike it. Garfield and Stone are brilliant (as is Sally Field) but I want a better plot. I love Spider-Man and I really want a great Spidey film. Better still, one with this cast because Andrew Gafield is a really watchable and entertaining Spider-Man.

Comics

I'm going to be cutting back on some titles in the coming months and years. Not because I'm not enjoying the stuff I'm reading (I've already dropped those titles) but because I'm going to attempt to transition further into trade-waiting and trade paperback purchases rather than picking up individual issues which should save some money. For me, this is going to be difficult change. Wish me luck.

Spider-Verse has begun, and so far, so good. Granted I've only read Superior Spider-Man #32 but I really enjoyed seeing SpOck (Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man's body, dontcha know?) being stranded in 2099 -if only for a short time- and voyaging across worlds. I love time travel and dimension hopping stories, so this opening 'Edge of Spider-Verse' tie-in was right up my alley. The one thing I'm really worried about is the willy-nilly death of so many alternate reality Spidey's. Are we going to see the wonton deaths of...oh, I dunno--fan-favorite characters like Spider-Girl or her family?! I'm hopeful but also very nervous. Dan Slott does enjoy teasing the imminent deaths of characters...he's so gleeful about! I'm concerned here, people.

It was announced that Tom Defalco will be returning to write his co-creation Spider-Girl in a 10-page story for the Spider-Verse Team-Up mini series. While his story hasn't been solicited yet, I do wonder if he's going to be teamed up with Ron Frenz or Pat Olliffe on art duties. I'd be kind of offended if either hadn't been approached, as they contributed so much towards developing Mayday throughout her various series. The mini series is only 3-issues so I expect the Spider-Girl story in either December or January. Which, looking at things from a publishing perspective, inclines me to think Mayday herself will be alive through the Spider-Verse event until at least December. Yes, I'm calculating in my head based on nothing more than solicitations, the survivability of my favorite character in all of comics.


Until  Marvel utterly guts me by killing a character who forever changed and influenced my entire life, I remain

frogoat

I Just Wanna Talk

I've not been giving much over to this blog lately. Life. That's my excuse, anyway. This post is gonna be a bunch of smaller topics that have been kicking around in my skull the past few days. Here goes nothing.

Thank you Emma Stone

I know! I know! Amazing Spider-Man 2 wasn't the best movie - or even the best Spider-Man movie - but you can't deny the sheer brilliance, wit and charm of Emma Stone's turn as Gwen Stacy. Gwen Stacy, the girl famous for dying. Really, that seems to be all she's known for, and looking back at her character in the original Lee/Ditko/Romita days, there isn't much to build a character from. In the early days as a character, she's very hell-hath-no-fury and soon after Romita shows up on pencils, Gwen becomes a bit of a crier and to be honest...an emotional wreck. Seriously love Bertone's work, by the way. He does great articles. Anyway, now we have a more well rounded character to refer to with Gwen Stacy. I know! I know! She's not the canon, Marvel 616, original 1960's character. I don't care. She's a better Gwen Stacy. For once, it's not just about how she died, though obviously there is that too. But now, we've got something more fleshed out and real. And that's fantastic! So thanks again, Emma Stone. Now I care about Gwen Stacy.

Guardians of the Galaxy

The second phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been somewhat strong. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's been as strong as I'd hoped, but after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, my confidence in the Studio to turn out quality, assured films his restored. But aside from all the sequels this time around, there's just one new property to test the cinema-goers tastes: Guardians of the Galaxy. This- to me- is the big one. If this film pulls it off and does not only well at the box office, but well in the critical arena then I will be a wholesale convert.This is an unknown property. I'm a big Marvel Comics fan and yet I know next to nothing about this iteration of the Guardians. Think about that. Marvel Studios is being pretty brave trying to make this film in the first place. Outside of a niche fan base, who has heard of these characters? Nobody. That's ballsy. Those trailers look amazing. I sincerely hope this film does exceptionally well and more unknown or risky properties get a chance to shine.

Well, I'd love to continue this post, but my darling partner is instructing me to get out more, so until I return, I remain

frogoat