Honoring a comics legend!

Excelsior!

Stan Lee Tribute Weekend honors the comics creator’s seven decades of bringing entertainment to the world

One lucky winner will win exclusive VIP Passes for Stan Lee Tribute Weekend May 6-8, 2010

On Thursday, May 6, the N9NE Group with Brenden Theatres and the Palms Casino Resort will present Iron Man 2 Launch Party at the MOON Nightclub. MOON opens to the public at 10:30 p.m. and will feature an “Iron Man” themed night with appearances by Stan Lee and other celebrity guests. General admission applies.

Stan Lee’s Brenden Celebrity Star presentation will take place on Friday, May 7, 2010, the opening day of the new Paramount Pictures “Iron Man 2” film starring Robert Downey, Jr. which Lee served as an executive producer. The ceremony to be hosted by Celebrity Journalist Robin Leach will take place in the Brenden Theaters at the Palms lobby at 7:30 p.m. The Brenden Celebrity Star presentation is co-sponsored by Derrick Taylor’s Comic Oasis.

The weekend wraps with an invited guest tribute reception and dinner May 8, 2010 hosted by the Walt Disney Company and featuring Stan Lee’s Time Jumper. Red carpet arrivals begin at 6:00 p.m. with celebrity appearances. Guests will also preview clips from Stan Lee’s documentary “With Great Power – The Stan Lee Story.” Celebrities from all of Lee’s films and creations have been invited to attend this special event.

To have a chance at winning the VIP passes, visit http://starsamongtheangelsonlineauction.afrogs.org/.

A Look at The Comic Book Icon

Action is his reward!

They must be nervous

Looks like the movie execs are getting a little antsy bout their upcoming Incredible Hulk film. After all, their first Hulk film a few years ago was decidedly underwhelming. A very forgettable film. Well, the sequel/reboot has a new cast and new creative people behind it.

And this Summer’s big movie hero, Iron Man himself Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)

I got the impression that they were keeping the cameo appearance of Tony Stark in The Incredible Hulk a bit on the QT. And why not -- a neat crossover appearance by Marvel’s other Summer 2008 hero was just the thing to get the oldschool fans excited, and get everyone ready for The Avengers movie in 2011.

So they decided to let Tony Stark’s cameo appearance slip in the TV ads. So I’m not giving anything away! Still, I wonder if there will be anything after The Incredible Hulk’s end credits. Hmmmm…

Iron Man – $104 Million USA, $97 Million International

Nikki Finke’s excellent Deadline Hollywood Daily reports the great news:

SUNDAY AM: Here are the official blockbuster numbers — Paramount Pictures release of Marvel Entertainment’s Iron Man, in 4,105 theaters, made an estimated $35,125,000 on Friday 5/2, an estimated $37,500,000 on Saturday 5/3, for an estimated 3-day weekend box office of $100,750,000.

Advance screenings in select locations, about 2,500 venues, from 8:00 PM to midnight on Thursday 5/1 contributed an additional $3,500,000. With this addition, the total estimated box office is $104,250,000.

The estimated international box office for the weekend is $96,750,000 from 57 territories.

The total combined estimated global box office for Marvel Entertainment’s IRON MAN is $201,000,000.

Amazing Armor, It’s Iron Man

Back in the early 1960s, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others were blazing new trails in comic history as they were ushering in what would be known as The Marvel Age of Comics. Their creativity and output was at a peak, and numerous classic characters broke onto the scene, changing comic books forever!

At the time, Marvel published several weird tales/fantasy/science fiction comics. Among those titles was Tales of Suspense, an anthology series comprised of short stories usually dealing with a monster or other supernatural theme. Well, with great characters like The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man forming the cornerstone of the Marvel Universe, the wizards at Marvel decided to create a new hero for Tales of Suspense – The Invincible Iron Man!

So since Iron Man will enjoy a major movie release in just a few weeks on May 2nd, I decided to feature Tales of Suspense #39 in the Greatest Comic Covers series. That’s the origin and 1st appearance of Iron Man!

Swiping The Amazing Spider-Man #50

Just saw the neat poster for the upcoming Incredible Hulk film, which I hear will be more of a reboot than a sequel to the underwhelming, ponderous Ang Lee Hulk film. When I saw the poster, I knew it reminded me of something I had seen before – something classic, iconic, and oldschool.

Well, it didn’t take long for me to remember the classic cover of The Amazing Spider-Man #50, by the talented hand of Jazzy Johnny Romita, Sr!

Now, that’s close! Nice to see the suits in Hollywood can swipe a Classic Comic Cover now and then for a major motion picture!

The Incredible Hulk will be released on June 13, 2008.

Spider-Man 3 Out on DVD Today!

Well, of course I was one of the first kids on my block to run out and get a copy of Spider-Man 3 on DVD! I believe the DVD has about six hours of additional features, which really shows how ridiculous these things are getting. The 2 1/2 hour movie was long enough -- who needs another six hours of introspection and behind the scenes stuff?

This of course leads me to the meat of the matter: Spider-Man 3 was very good, but it wasn’t great and it is widely acknowledged as the weakest of the Spider-Man film series. Too long and too much nonsense were common criticisms, and while I liked it I can’t help but agree.

Well, kick back and enjoy this great animated video I found on YouTube that pokes some well-deserved fun at Spider-Man 3.

Does Whatever A Spider Can

Marvel Comics was building a creative, dynamic universe in the early 60s, with innovations on many fronts. One of the most popular titles of that era was, of course, The Amazing Spider-Man. Under the talented hand of Steve Ditko and the creative force of Stan Lee, Spider-Man captured fans’ imagination and crafted an unusual super hero for that era.

But some changes were in the works. After just over a three year run, the art duties of Spider-Man would be transferred to the talented John Romita, Sr. Under his art direction, Spider-Man would truly come into his own and that particular vision of the hero remained the dominant image for decades.

The switch was to coincide with a big turning point in Spider-Man’s life. The Amazing Spider-Man #39 would be Romita’s first issue, and it would also culminate a story line involving The Green Goblin, Spider-Man’s arch foe. The cover tells it all – The Goblin is seemingly victorious, and has evidently discovered Spider-Man’s secret identity!

This is pretty heavy stuff for the mid 1960s! In any event, it’s one of the greatest comic stories of all time, and easily one of the greatest comic book covers of all time! Enjoy!

Everything but the kitchen sink?

Just got word that actor Ty Burrell will portray Doc Samson in the upcoming ‘Incredible Hulk’ film. The Mail Tribune up in the pacific northwest reports…

He managed to get time away from the show recently for shooting on Louis Leterrier’s upcoming movie “The Incredible Hulk,” with Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and Tim Roth. Burrell plays Doc Sampson. The picture is due for release in June.

I’m starting to think the production is being dominated by fanboys who want to shoehorn as much of the Hulk mythos as they can into a 2 hour film.

Ty Burrell	Doc Samson

I just don’t see it, sorry.