Static Thoughts - Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD

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As I write this, it’s the eve of Agents of SHIELD’s 4^th and possibly final season.  To celebrate, I’ve decided to look back on the first time SHIELD was ever adapted to the small screen; the 1998 made-for-TV movie Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD, starring David Hasselhoff.  It’s easy to forget this now because of how much Marvel has transformed the cultural landscape but before 1999 virtually ALL of Marvel’s live action output was on TV.  This mainly came from a series of failed pilots in the ‘70s and the Lou Ferrigno Incredible Hulk show. 

However, after the success of 1989’s Batman and the 1990 Flash TV series Marvel made another go of it on TV, first forming a lucrative deal with Fox for animation (which is where the Spider-Man and X-Men show come from) and then pivoting into a pair of TV movie pilots.  This was the second, basically making it the last Marvel live action TV show before Agents of SHIELD, let’s dive in. 

Week of Review - In Defense of Star Trek The Animated Series

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Edited by Robert Beach

For day two of my celebration of Star Trek, I thought I’d focus on an obscure and somewhat forgotten chapter in Trek’s history. In 1969, Star Trek concluded its three-season run after budgetary restrictions and dwindling audience interest forced it off the air. Even though the show was a prestigious series in its time, garnering a lot of admiration from doctors and scientist, the ‘60s just wasn’t the age of genre shows on TV. That all changed in the ‘70s when TV took over as the outlet for disposable, high-concept viewing. 

While movies spent the ‘70s getting more challenging and more adult, TV doubled down on the stranger genre elements, giving us major series like Wonder Woman, 6 Million Dollar Man, and The Incredible Hulk as well as forgotten gems like Logan’s Run and the Planet of the Apes series. Seeking to capitalize on this trend, Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry pushed for a new series, yet was met with some resistance due to the cost of creating sets and costumes. Given how much of this new genre television was aimed at younger audience, Rodenberry went to one of the biggest names in cheap, younger entertainment: Hanna-Barbera. Thus, Star Trek: the Animated Series was born. 

Panel Vision - Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect

Hello, my name is Lido, and I like ‘90s comics.  Now on the off chance you’re just some random citizen who knows nothing of comic book history that’s actually kind of a big thing to admit in the realms of comic fandom.  The generally accepted wisdom of comic books is that the ‘90s sucked for comics as a result of things like an emphasis on dark yet empty stories in the wake of books like Dark Knight Returns, the speculator bubble, and the rise of superstar artists and Image comics. 

However, I’m not here to explain why ‘90s comics suck, I’m here to talk about all the amazingly good ‘90s comics I think we’ve come to overlook while snarking about Youngblood or the Clone Saga.  The ‘90s comic that doesn't suck I’m focusing on today has actually returned to the public consciousness in recent times as part of the big push of ‘90s nostalgia gripping both DC and Marvel.  I’m referring to Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect, a 2-part prestige graphic novel by Peter David and George Perez from 1992/1993. 

 

Ant-Man Box Office, Small is Bountiful

Welcome to Would You Like To Know More, a new category of post where I deal with geek news.  In these articles I’ll be relaying news stories, expanding on announcements and events, explaining obscure nerdy news, and speculating on what’s to come.  With all that said let’s talk about Ant-Man’s box office returns. 

So, the opening returns are in on Ant-Man and while the film is making solid bank and managed to take the #1 spot from Minions it is coming in a bit bellow predictions and has had one of the weakest openings of any Marvel studios film.  Audience reaction seems to be pretty evenly spread across the spectrum with some people like myself really liking the film while others have at best found it forgettably enjoyable and at worst emblematic of Marvel’s bigger issues with diverse representation in their films.  However, Ant-Man’s role in the ongoing ‘Marvel Problem’ is a discussion for a different blog post, for right now I want to talk about the impact of Ant-Man’s more modest success might have on how Marvel produces films and the future of these characters. 

Future Imperfect #2 Review

Future Imperfect is a well remembered, earl '90s, Hulk prestige graphic novel set in an apocalyptic future.  Now, the original author Peter David, returns to pen a new mini-series set in his world as part of Marvel Comics' Secret Wars event.  Check out my review over on Front Towards Gamer. 

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/07/04/future-imperfect-2-review-comics/