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How many films came out in September 1983?
Plenty.
I was going to say that, of those, the only one I've ever seen is Strange Invaders. However, having just watched the trailer for it, on YouTube, I've come to the conclusion that I've never seen it in my entire life and was, clearly, thinking of a totally different film. One that involved a couple of children finding themselves on board an alien spaceship.
It's good news for all fans of Quicksilver, Sunfire and Ronan the Accuser because the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe gives us brief profiles of the Marvel characters whose initials run from Q-S.
For anyone who missed the Kree/Skrull War the first time around, rejoice - because your suffering's finally over.
Hooray! Everyone's favourite bow-slinger's awarded his own limited series!
Bill Sienkiewicz's covers continue their brave battle to convince us the stories within this book are going to be better than they actually are.
It looks like the Thing's in a spot of bother.
All I know about this one is it gives relatively brief coverage to Cloak and Dagger and to Illyana and Storm. What exactly it says about them, I cannot say.
It's true. This very month, a brand new book's launched which reprints the whole thing, over the course of a two-issue mini-series.
Having said that, I notice it doesn't seem to include the Sal Buscema drawn, Antarctic-based, tale in which the war actually starts.
I must confess to having almost no knowledge of what happens in this one but it seems it involves Bobbi Morse of Ka-Zar and Man-Thing fame. And we get a reminder of Hawkeye's origin.
However, I can offer no insight into the contents of this one, as I've not read it. But I can confirm it's brought to us by the team of Frank Springer and Vince Colletta.
It's also brought to us by co-writer C. Tomlinson L.T. U.S.A.F. (Ret.) which is not the sort of co-writing credit you see every day in a super-hero comic.
It also looks like the Inhumans might be to blame.
For, it seems that Benjy helps Crystal prevent her human daughter from being exposed to the notorious Terragen Mist that grants the Inhumans their powers.
OK, I am having a little trouble believing that the queen of England was the subject of many men’s dreams in the United Kingdom. Perhaps, maybe The Invader’s union jack’s? But when did he pass away?
ReplyDeleteI have trouble understanding why anyone would even have a queen - or king - in this day and age. But it's a funny old world.
ReplyDeleteSteve, the Thing #3 is a pretty dumb comic. Basically, while Crystal wants her daughter to be 'normal', Quicksilver thinks the kid should be exposed to the Terrigen mists, and among the Inhumans the man gets to decide stuff. (Well, they're a bit backward as a society, aren't they? I mean, they have a monarch! Not only that, but its considered normal for the king to marry his sister - see FF #99)
Anyhow, in the end Quicksilver is convinced its better not to risk a transformation when - spoiler alert! - Lockjaw speaks up, saying that the kid could end up like him. Yep, you read that right. Turns out Lockjaw is actually just another Inhuman, only a bit more ****ed up looking than the rest. I guess for some reason he just liked being treated as a pet for how ever long it was?
One of John Byrne's more stupid stories.
-sean
Sean- very happy you described Thing 3. Ole Charlie always had it in his head that Lockjaw was “humanoid” but could not recall why.
ReplyDeleteOne might have thought this story, being rather canonical-ish, would be in the FF comic, not the side bar Thingaling.
And to think about 7-8 years ago that Terragen gas was released over the whole world in IIRC the Inhuman miniseries that Ikilled off their karate dude Karnak IIRC.
I do a lot of IIRCing because somehow karate dude Karnak is alive again.
I wonder if King Charles is anybody's sexual fantasy? Best not think about it!
ReplyDeleteBut who cares about British or Inhuman royalty when NASA has discovered life on another planet!!! OK, OK, at the moment NASA "might" have discovered life on another planet but apparently it's a planet covered by an ocean with molecules in the atmosphere that are produced only by life which sounds like proof of life to me!
"...it doesn't seem to include the Sal Buscema drawn, Antarctic-based, tale in which the war actually starts."
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, the Kree-Skrull War was considered to be the story contained within Avengers #93-97....then, somewhere along the line, someone decided that it also included #89-92, and no-one complained..it's a bit like how baby boomers were originally those born between 1946 and 1958, then somehow or other (I could hazard a guess) it extended to include the years up to 1964ish.
Steve, I wonder if the movie you thought was STRANGE INVADERS was actually Tobe Hooper’s remake of INVADERS FROM MARS, starring Karen Black as the kids’ Mom?
ReplyDeleteI paid to see both of them in the theatre (and tbh they were both crap).
Come to think of it, sounds like it could have been Joe Dante’s EXPLORERS (which wasn’t any good either).
b.t.
Not sure I'd call that Thing story 'canonical' Charlie, as I don't think it's had much impact on how Lockjaw has been treated since. But fwiw The Things did seem like a second FF title - at least, thats how John Byrne seemed to treat it in the issues I read - an adjunct to the main series in a way that Marvel Two-in-One hadn't been.
ReplyDeleteMarvel Team-Up was a bit like that too, in that there rarely (ever?) seemed to be much tie-in with the regular Spidey titles. Not that I'm especially knowledgeable about Spider-Man, but I don't think there was much thought given to how, say, having him go to the future to fight the Martians with Killraven one month might fit in with any on-going storylines in AMS.
-sean
No-one into 'Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence's then? It was quite good. Probably being a co-production with a Japanese writer/director helped with that a lot.
ReplyDeleteGreat soundtrack too, by Ryuichi Sakamoto (who sadly passed away earlier this year).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF9_9MZyQGo
-sean
Sean, I think you’re right about MARVEL TEAM-UP and AMAZING SPIDEY not having much continuity overlap. Spidey’s supporting cast were mostly MIA in MTU. Even things like Gwen’s death weren’t mentioned in MTU in the months immediately after, IIRC.
ReplyDeleteBut Peter did take MJ to see Johnny Blaze’s stunt show in MTU 15, so… I dunno.
b.t.
Sean - Conversely, 'Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man' often seemed to 'tie in', with Marvel Team-up's universe, in that Spidey often featured in double-headers, with other super heroes - e.g. the Torch, White Tiger, Daredevil, Dagger, Angel & Iceman, etc. In fact, I occasionally preferred it to Amazing Spidey's fallow periods.
ReplyDeletePhillip
I can honest say I've never heard any human being ever express feelings of lust for Elizabeth II.
ReplyDeleteSean, I must confess I've always been put off watching Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence by the presence of David Bowie. Whatever his achievements as a musician, I do find his acting "style" instantly snaps me straight out of a movie.
Bt, thanks for the film ID suggestions. The film I was thinking of definitely wasn't the Invaders from Mars remake but I've just watched the trailer for The Explorers and that might be the one I was vaguely recalling.
Come to think of it b.t., MJ also turned up in that MTU story with Red Sonja.
ReplyDeleteBut afterwards did she ever recall briefly being a Hyborian Age she-devil with a sword? Or, coming at it from the other angle, did Sonja ever remember meeting Spidey in the 20th century? Often team-ups didn't relate much to the continuity of the other character(s) either. Unless some cancelled storyline was being wound up.
Phillip, I'm not up on consistency between AMS and PPSSM (sounds like a medical condition, doesn't it?) but in general, I'd say a team-up in a regular title - as opposed to a, er...Team-Up one - tended to be more thought through in continuity terms.
So for example The Thing #3 is more consistent with the contemporary FF than earlier Two-in-Ones with an Inhuman co-star would have been (I wish I could think of a specific story to back that up!)
-sean
I know what you mean about Bowie's 'acting', Steve, but even so 'Merry Crimbo Mr L' is still ok.
ReplyDelete-sean
Another notable Bowie Christmas performance is in 'The Snowman': "This attic's full of memories for me!" I think he said.
ReplyDeletePhillip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54MEWWIiIk8
ReplyDeletePhillip
I liked Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence Sean, then again I'm a bit of a Bowie "Zombie". I know what some folk mean about his acting ( at times) as sometimes his acting was like David Jones acting as David Bowie first. Saying that i liked Bowies acting in "Labyrinth" and "The Man who fell to Earth."
ReplyDelete'The Man Who Fell to Earth' is a good one too, Paul. It probably helped that Bowie wasn't supposed to be like a regular human in it. His acting skills could definitely manage that.
ReplyDeleteCan't go with you on 'Labyrinth' though (;
-sean
I thought Bowie was pretty good as Pontius Pilate in THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST.
ReplyDeleteb.t.
Everyone was going to look good in that film compared to Harvey Keitel as Judas, b.t.
ReplyDelete-sean