"Being a fink is fun!"
Okay, that’s not really Swings-Both-Ways-Man, as you may have guessed, but rather Stilt Man, who confronted both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman is issue #47 of Spidey Super Stories (July 1980). He doesn’t appear to have any formal connection to the regular Marvel Universe Stilt-Man we all know and love. However, the Spidey Super Stories version is a nattier dresser. Let’s compare:
Old, tired Stilt-Man – all hard lines and cold technology:
Spidey Super Stories Stilt Man – retro charm, fashionable top hat with affixed comic book logo:
And, I mean, c’mon…he’s committing crimes wearing these:
That’s gotta take some measure of guts. (And by “these” I mean the wooden stilts, not the blue shoes, the pinstriped pants, or the tails, smart guy.)
He also takes great joy in his work:
So, along with the The Queen of the Runners, that’s two, count ’em, two great Spidey Super Stories characters Marvel needs to revive. Surely these characters are more interesting than, say, Penance.
Sorry I’ve been sort of light on the content the last couple of days. I’ve not had much of a chance to do much computering at home lately…and the free time I did have, I was just too dog-tired to get anything together. Thanks for continuing to drop by and read and comment, anyway.
And I know I owe some folks some e-mails. They’re a’comin’, I promise.
NEW COMICS:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #3 – Liked the first issue, the second issue a little less so, and found the third issue to be…well, let’s be nice and call it “disjointed.” The art was a little shakier, the “cleverness” of the dialogue a little less clever and a little more grating…I mean, it wasn’t just me, was it?
You know, it’s a real tragedy every time a bad drawing of the Thing makes it to print. ‘Course, I don’t know if that’s really a bad drawing or just an example of “some characters don’t work when viewed from certain angles.”
I probably should say something about the last issue of DC’s weekly 52 series, but I don’t even know where to start. Short version: entertaining, mostly successful experiment. Kinda wish that the appearance of two certain dead characters at the end of the series didn’t have “ONE EDITORIAL EDICT AWAY FROM BEING REVIVED” sorta written all over them. And that whole World War III tie-in mini-series debacle was just unfortunate. Otherwise…yeah, I think I got my money’s worth out of it. And if the ultimate result of the series, as revealed in that last issue, is used wisely, I’ll be especially pleased…if not just outright surprised.
Incredible Hulk #106 and World War Hulk: Prologue kicks off the World War Hulk crossover, which I’ve been looking forward to for quite a while. The recent “Planet Hulk” storyline has been a real high point, and the set-up for the new storyline, giving Hulk plenty of reason to be even angrier with the people who exiled him into space, is rife with possibilities. Yeah, I know, I’ve got apple-pie-in-the-sky hopes for this, but let a boy have his dreams. Plus, it helps that the characters the Hulk most wants to lay a beatdown on are the people who, over the course of the Civil War brouhaha, have been twisted and arguably mischaracterized into folks that you want to see beaten. Anyway, two issues in, so far so good.
You know what was a nice little mini-series? Thunderbolts: Zemo – Born Better. Fairly simple storyline…Zemo is bouncing through time, following the trail of his bloodline and witnessing the shenanigans and goings-on in his family’s history, while in the present, someone with a nefarious purpose plots for his return. Straightforward old style Marvel comics, nice art by the always-welcome Tom Grummett…a good, solid read.
“ASYMMETRICAL LEG-LENGTH MAN! He leans…toward JUSTICE!”
I don’t know what pops up into my head, sometimes.
MOVIE NEWS:
I know it’s been everywhere already, but there’s a person or two I know (hi, Cully!) who read only my site on a regular basis, so this is for them:
Iron Man armor for film revealed.
I’ll be seeing the new Spider-Man 3 movie tonight, after an entire day of hearing customers ask me “So, did you see ‘it,’ yet?” My review of the film will hopefully follow shortly.
BLOG-O-RAMA-DING-DONG:
Big news is that Chris Sims guy finally weaned himself off the Blogspot teat and got himself some hot, registered domain action at The-Isb.com, AKA “Chris’s Invincible Super-Blog.” Adjust your stalking patterns accordingly.
Other big news is…well, I told you that pal Sean finally got off his hinder and started posting on his site again. Well, somehow he convinced the wife to jump into the deep end as well. I’ve known her longer than I’ve know pal Sean…since my long-ago BBS days, in fact…and she’s a smart and funny person and an entertaining writer.
I’m posting the link nice ‘n’ big, because if I don’t, she’ll kick me:
The Feminine Miss Geek
And if you don’t read her site, she’ll kick you, too. Consider yourself warned. (Pssst, Tellura…write another post!)
Also just added is GayProf’s Center of Gravitas, one of those sites I kept meaning to add. Well, there it is, finally. Good writer, smart guy, go check him out.
And another addition: the aptly-named Another Damn Comic Blog.
Another warning:
That’s TOMORROW, pals, so get yourself to your local comics emporium and grab some freebies.
Somehow I managed to talk pal Dorian into returning to the store to help us out just for that day. Yes, that’s right, we’re reunited, and it feels so good. Like Kirk and Spock, Han Solo and Chewbacca, Cagney and Lacey, Holmes and…er, Yo-yo, Dor and I are together again, behind the counter and drinking heavily fighting the good comics retail fight.
One more bit of business from Spidey Super Stories #47…the inside front cover origin of Giant-Man:
Dude, when Henry Pym “got old?” When he was, what, thirty? Man, that’s harsh.
