:: The Silver State Chronicles ::

The Power Cosmic - All In Color For A Quarter

I’ve been following the story of 20th Century Fox’s publicity stunt, in cahoots with The Franklin Mint, to put 40,000 altered quarters into the stream of commerce to promote the upcoming film “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.’

When I first read about this a few days ago, it struck me as strange since defacing US currency for such a stunt is a crime. I figured they weren’t real quarters but rather commemorative coins or something like that.

Turns out that they are real quarters that the grapchics wizards at The Franklin Mint doctored up. MSNBC reports…

The U.S. Mint said
in a news release Friday …

“The promotion is in no way approved, authorized, endorsed, or sponsored by
the United States Mint, nor is it in any way associated or affiliated with the United States Mint,” according to the release. The federal mint did not say whether the studio or the private Franklin Mint would face a penalty.

The altered coins are quarters honoring the state of California that entered circulation in 2005. They feature George Washington on the front, as usual, but a colorized version of the character on the back. All 40,000 are slated to be in circulation throughout the country by the end of Memorial Day weekend, and about 800 were released in each state.

The coins appear to be fetching a high price on ebay, with winning bids over $100 common. I’ll just be happy if the movie is good!

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…And Four will be Fantastic

Our friends at Apple have posted the new full-length trailer for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which is supposed to run with Spider-Man 3 this weekend! Some storyline elements are revealed in the trailer, some expected and some not. Read on, True Believer!

US Military satellites have captured images of a strange, silver skinned man riding a surfboard and causing all sorts of havoc around the Earth. The military honchos do exactly what we expect when confronted with something they know nothing about: seek out the expertise of Dr. Reed Richards and The Fantastic Four!

At some point, the mysterious Silver Surfer appears to have an appointment to meet with another Doctor we’re familiar with - Victor Von Doom, Lord of Latveria!

It also seems that Johnny Storm’s initial encounter with The Silver Surfer has had an unexpected effect - he can now temporarily ’swap’ superhuman powers with whoever he comes into physical contact with. Leave it to the ever lovin’ blue eyed Thing to test this out!

With the fate of the world in the balance, the only thing that stands in the way of planetary destruction at the hands of Galactus is The Fantastic Four!!!

* * * * *

Well, FF2 looks pretty good, though you can’t tell all that much from movie trailers these days! A little speculation:

1. Looks like this film borrows a bit from some classic FF storylines - the original Galactus Trilogy in FF 48-50, and I’d bet a slice of pizza that before the movie is over, Dr. Doom will wind up stealing The Silver Surfer’s Power Cosmic for a brief while, just as he has done in the comics. I hope we see ‘The Ultimate Nullifier,’ too!
2. The principals have assumed their familiar roles - Reed & Sue as paternal figures, and Ben & Johnny as combative siblings, all bound by loyalty and familial love. Good to see - the FF aren’t just a superhero team, exactly. I have always seen them as a group of adventurers and a family, who take on more science fiction themed adventures than simply traditional superhero antics. Of course, the FF have strong elements of the traditional superhero archetype, but their best and most memorable stories often have a broader scope and significance!
3. Looks like they are having some fun with the ‘power-swapping’ phenomenon. Works for me - very Kirby & Lee! Thing is, this pretty much is The Super Skrull’s gimmick, so since we will pretty much see it done in FF2, odds are that a Super Skrull FF movie won’t happen. I know, it was a long shot anyway!

Overall I get the sense that FF2 will be some cool, escapist fun with a sense of humor and a comic book & science fiction flavor - in other words, exactly what the FF should be!

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He’s fighting and smiting with repulsor rays!

Another peek at the armor for the 2008 Iron Man film. I can’t tell if this is a real pic or a computer generated image, but any way you cut it, I LIKE IT!

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