Sunday, November 23, 2014

Howard the Duck (1986)

The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast
Episode 021



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Face Front, True Believers! Mister Fixit, Illegal Machine and Diabolu Frank tackle the first ever major motion picture to star a Marvel Comics character, Howard the Duck! Conceived as an animated project, Universal Studios needed a live action summer release from Lucasfilm, so the film was converted without regard to propriety or technical difficulties on a tight schedule. The actual Howard suit/animatronics were a work in progress, with varied, obviously divergent stages/designs showing up throughout the film. Ed Gale primarily worked Howard's body, while Chip Zien provided the drake's voice. One of the major action set pieces, the Ultralight sequence, was designed by future Captain America: The First Avenger director Joe Johnston. Released on August 1, 1986, the film earned less than a million dollars over its reported production of $37M ($77m in adjusted dollars, relatively cheap by today's standards.) Despite its reputation as one of the biggest box office flops and "worst movies ever," the facts of the matter don't add up. Howard isn't even in the top 50 worst performers at the box office (it technically made money in the long run.) It isn't on IMDb's Bottom 100 (with its 4.5 rating) and there are many thousands of movies with lower Tomatometer readings than 14% (39% with audiences.) But we're not here to damn the movie with faint praise as only a middling disaster*. Howard the Duck scores 100% favorability among your trio of hosts, who are here to tell you why for a bit under an hour. Excelsior! Plus, the Mighty Marvel Mail Bag!



*Full Disclosure: Howard the Duck did put in a strong underperformance as the 1986 Razzie awards, tying for worst picture with Under the Cherry Moon and chosen as biggest loser for Worst Screenplay to Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, Worst Visual Effects to Industrial Light and Magic, and Worst New Star to "The Six Guys and Gals in The Duck Suit," plus nominations for Worst Supporting Actor Tim Robbins, Worst Director Willard Huyck, and Worst Original Song for "Howard The Duck" by Thomas Dolby, Allee Willis and George Clinton.



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Monday, November 17, 2014

Marvel/DC Movie Slate 2020: Ant-Man v Aquaman

The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast
Episode 020



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Note: We like our language NSFW salty, and there be spoilers here... Face Front, True Believers! Mister Fixit rejoins Illegal Machine and Diabolu Frank as they look book at the Captain Marvel v Wonder Woman movie debate, then forward to the cinematic Ant-Man v Namor the Sub-Mariner Aquaman the Barbarian! Plus, the Mighty Marvel Mail Bag!

*Batman Begins 2005 – 374,218,673
*Superman returns 2006 – 391,081,192
*Dark Knight 2008 – 1,004,558,444
Iron Man 2008 – 585,174,222
Incredible Hulk 2008 – 263,427,551
Watchmen 2009 – 185,258,983
Jonah Hex 2010 – 10,903,312
Iron Man 2 2010 – 623,933,331
Thor 2011 – 449,439,994
Captain America 2011 – 370,569,774
*Green Lantern 2011 – 219,851,172
*Dark Knight Rises 2012 – 1,084,439,099
Avengers 2012 – 1,518,594,910
Iron Man 3 2013 – 1,215,439,994
Thor: Dark World 2013 – 644,783,140
Man of Steel 2013 – 668,045,518
Captain America Winter Solider 2014 – 714,083,572
Guardians of the Galaxy 2014 – 768,009,017

2008- 2014 Marvel Total (estimated) = 7,157,455,505
2005 – 2014 DC Total (Estimated) = 6,478,068,491

*Not in the continuity with planned DC Cinaverse


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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The Slate 2020: Marvel Studios v Warner Brothers (Part One)

The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast
Episode 019




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Note: We like our language NSFW salty, and there be spoilers here... Face Front, True Believers! Illegal Machine and Diabolu Frank look at the Warner Brothers DC Comics projected movie slate through the year of our Lord (Pumpkin?) 2020, then contrast it against Marvel Studios' scheduled films through 2019 in flick-to-flick bouts.
  • 06:59 Captain Marvel v Wonder Woman
  • 20:31 Black Panther v Cyborg
  • 35:40 Guardians of the Galaxy 2 v Suicide Squad
  • 41:58 Mac & Frank v The Mighty Marvel Mail Bag: Row v Wade
  • 01:05:54 V v V: V


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Monday, November 3, 2014

Reintroducing Patsy Walker: 70 Years of Marvel's #1 Hellcat Heroine

The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast Episode 018

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Face Front, True Believers! This week Illegal Machine, Mister Fixit, and Diabolu Frank explore arguably the most successful female protagonist of Marvel/Timely's Golden/"Middle" Ages, Patsy Walker! "The Girl Who Could Be You" starred in the comics section of Miss America: Teen-Life Magazine, whose 1946 covers boasted it as the largest selling teen-age magazine at "More than 1 MILLION COPIES" (emphasis theirs.) Within months of her 1944 debut, "The Prettiest Gal in Town" gained her own eponymous comic book series, which led to a slew of spin-offs across 23 years of continuous publication from the end of World War II through The Human Be-In. Patsy's only rival for the #1 lady of Timely/Atlas spot was Millie the Model (1945-1973,) and the only hero to lay such a claim was Kid Colt (1948-1979.) However, of the three only Patsy found a second life in the mainstream Marvel Universe proper (just five years after her series ended,) first as a supporting character to The Beast, then as the costumed heroine Hellcat. We trace her tortured, byzantine, fabulous path through publication lo these past seven decades! In fact, we were so irrepressibly ecstatic, we ran longer than any previous episode and posted two tumblr galleries, here and here!


Patsy (seated at center) and Pals (clockwise from left) Nancy, Hedy, Ronnie, Buzz and Tubbs.

How much was Patsy Walker influenced by Archie Andrews? The cover of Patsy Walker #7 even references a "Riverdale Charity Drive." It took a while to settle on her red hair though. She's a brunette on her first eponymous cover, then again for #9-13. She transitioned to auburn on #2-5, strawberry blond on #5-6, and blond on #7-8. Auburn returned from #14, with varying shades thereafter, and she didn't commit to being a proper ginger until 1950. A possible contributing factor was that her first regular gig was in Miss America Magazine, which routinely featured photo covers of blond and brunette young women. It was only after they switched to illustrated Patsy Walker covers that both series consistently featured her as a redhead. Even when they went back to photo covers, the models' hair shifted spectrum.



According to Marvel Masterworks Resource Page, the earliest Patsy Walker stories were "written by Stuart Little (the husband of 'Miss America's editor for volumes 1-4, Bessie Little)." Their message board has a post featuring sample scans from issues of Miss America Magazine you might like to give a look. It appears that the very first Patsy story page is offered, introducing Buzz Baxter and the Walker family featuring Stanley, Mary, & Mickey. In the postcast, we identified the mother as "Betty," though we don't know if that's an error or just another indication of inconsistency in the parents' names. Also notice a mention of shopping in Farmdale that makes us wonder if that was Walker's first hometown name or perhaps a neighbor city to Centerville. 1947's Miss America Magazine #37 was the first issue to feature Patsy Walker's name (in the form of her enduring logo) prominently as a sales draw, where it would remain for most of the rest of the run.



Comichron.com reports that in 1962 Patsy & Hedy ranked #45 in all comics sales for that year with an average reported sell through of 139,855 copies, marking it as Atlas/Marvel's #2 title behind Modeling with Millie's 143,476. Tales to Astonish, Strange Tales and Journey into Mystery were relatively close behind. The Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor and Ant-Man were all active that year, but the sales numbers for many of them are unknown in their early years. Comichron's 1963 rank saw Patsy Walker rise to #29 overall at 174,375 copies on average, though she fell in rank within the Marvel family behind Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt Outlaw, Tales to Astonish, Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense and Journey into Mystery as super-heroes like Iron Man, Human Torch, Wasp and the X-Men ascended, though Patsy did nudge Millie the Model out of the top girls' humor spot. Comichron 1964 is especially spotty in its reportage, as most super-hero titles remain absent. Strange Tales reported 215,090 for top spot of those listed. Not on the list was Patsy Walker, but our copy of #115 offers sales of 174,300, placing it in the top 50 of books with available numbers. 1965's Patsy Walker #120 listed average circulation of 195,000, though the issue nearest to filing date sold 211,400, likely due to the course change toward romantic drama. The similarly revised Patsy & Hedy: Career Girls #99 rose from an annual 199,765 to 229,400. That would place them in the bottom third of the top 100 per Comichron, and quite a bit lower than Millie the Model's 219,427. Patsy Walker was cancelled by 1966, though Patsy & Hedy: Career Girls #105 posted 199,826 average with a nearest issue surge to 245,175. Well within the top 100, it still wasn't enough to save the book from the ax in 1967.



The Patsy Walker Baxter Hellstrom Reading List (1944-1989)
  • Miss America Magazine #2-83 (November 1944-March 1953) which was reprinted in Canada by Superior Publishers Limited
  • Patsy Walker #1-124 (Summer 1945-December 1965) which was reprinted in Canada by Bell Features
  • Georgie Comics #8 (November 1946)
  • All Teen #20 #20 (January 1947)
  • Teen Comics #21-35 (April 1947-May 1950)
  • Cindy Comics #30, 34, 36 (August 1948, April & August 1949)
  • Patsy and Hedy #1-110 (February 1952-February 1967)
  • Patsy and Her Pals #1-29 (May 1953-August 1957)
  • Wendy Parker Comics #1-8 (July 1953-July 1954)
  • Girls' Life #1-6 (January 1954-November 1954)
  • Hedy Wolfe #1 (August 1957)
  • A Date With Patsy #1 (September 1957)
  • Millie the Model Comics #103 (July 1961)
  • Millie the Model Comics #107 (March 1962)
  • Patsy and Hedy Annual #1 (1963)
  • Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965)
  • Modeling with Millie #43 (November 1965)
  • Patsy Walker's Fashion Parade #1 (1966)
  • Amazing Adventures #13-15 (July-November 1972)
  • The Avengers #139-144 (September 1975-February 1976)
  • The Avengers #147-151 (May 1976-September 1976)
  • The Defenders #44-57 (February 1977-March 1978)
  • Spidey Super Stories #39 (March 1979)
  • The Defenders #59-81 (May 1978-March 1980)
  • The Defenders #83-101 (May 1980-November 1981)
  • The Savage She-Hulk #12-14 (January-March 1981)
  • Spidey Super Stories #53 (July 1981)
  • The Defenders #103-104 (January-February 1982)
  • Captain America #268 (April 1982)
  • Fantastic Four Roast #1 (May 1982)
  • The Defenders #106-111 (April-September 1982)
  • The Defenders #116-122 (February-August 1983)
  • The Defenders #125 (November 1983)
  • The Defenders #148 (October 1985)
  • The Incredible Hulk #277-279 (November 1982-January 1983)
  • The West Coast Avengers Annual #1 (1986)
  • West Coast Avengers #14-16 (November 1986-January 1987)
  • Solo Avengers #9 (August 1988)
  • The Avengers #305 (July 1989)
  • Marvel Comics Presents #36 (December 1989)
  • Avengers Spotlight #27 (Mid-December 1989)


Read Siskoid's take on RAMPAGING HULK #7, Marvel Comics, February 1978!

As you can tell, we love a fierce conversation and a pretty picture, so why don't you socialize with us, either by leaving a comment on this page or...