Saturday, August 24, 2013

Thor and More!


Karen: For this Saturday, just a collection of odds and ends:

My husband stumbled across a collection of videos on YouTube from a group called Bat in the Sun titled Super-Power Beat Down. I think there are eight cross-company match-ups so far, but the most spectacular was this one featuring Superman vs. Thor:


Karen: We could debate the result all day (and I thought Thor was out of character) but it's amazingly well done for a non-professional effort.

Karen: How about the latest trailer for the real Thor film, Thor: The Dark World? What do you think?


Doug:  And just yesterday, I saw a series of stills from the new Thor film.  You can check them out over at MarvelousNews.com.

Karen: Speaking of Marvel movies, here's a new picture from X-Men: Days of Future Past, with some very 70s versions of Wolverine, Prof. X, and Hank McCoy. Love those lapels!


Karen: Tom Scioli at Comics Alliance recently posted an interesting article about Barry Smith and his influence on comics artists. Particularly fascinating to me was the section comparing coloring in the original Conan comics to the Dark Horse reprints. You can find the article at:   http://comicsalliance.com/whatever-happened-to-barry-windsor-smith-in-the-comics-conversation/

Karen: Late-breaking news; Not a hoax! Not an imaginary story! Ben Affleck to play Batman in the Batman-Superman movie! http://variety.com/2013/film/news/ben-affleck-is-the-new-batman-1200586881/ Holy lame casting!

21 comments:

Rip Jagger said...

The Thor movie looks pretty entertaining. I'd like to see at least a glimpse of the helmet, but otherwise it's pretty spot on. Asgard looks more impressive to me, as it was a bit too sci-fi last time.

As for Thor versus Superman, I'm surprised so many folks seem tuned into Thor. I'm old school so it's pretty much always Superman who comes out on top in these match ups. He's the king of the hill.

The 70's X-Men look great. What's wrong with that fashion? Some of my best photos feature that gear, and I might even still have a few rags in the back of the closet.

And finally the general disdain that old Ben has been getting for the casting decision puts me on the wrong side of the consensus, but on the right side of history I'm sure. Daredevil was not as bad a movie as folks seem to imagine, just another example of a filmmaker putting the comic book on the screen and folks not liking what they always say they wanted. Jennifer Garner might've been a bit too non-ethnic for Elektra, but she was certainly fit enough. Ben looked like Matt Murdock and I thought he did a great job. I'm less certain about him as Batman, but then I'm always skeptical about these Bat choices. They seem to work out most the time, and as one person noted, he has the right chin.

Rip Off

Edo Bosnar said...

The new Thor film looks pretty good, although my one gripe would be - as someone who started reading Marvel's Thor in the '70s - Jane Foster. C'mon, Thor's true love is supposed to be Sif!

That Supes v. Thor video was amusing and yes, well made, although I agree with Karen: Thor was out of character, kind of a like sneering bar-room brawler. I found really hilarious that guy who said Supes would win because Thor doesn't have Krytonite (???).

And thanks for the link to that article. I just skimmed over it, but I thoroughly agree with his comments about the coloring in the DH reprints. At one point I was all set to buy those, but after flipping through them and seeing that coloring, I just said no. Same with the Thor Omnibus.

Anonymous said...

The original 1980 " Days Of Future Past " had Kitty Pryde as the central character but the new movie will have Wolverine going back in time instead - what a surprise !!! Those Marvel/DC mash-ups were ridiculous - if the Marvel and DC characters existed in the same world why wasn't Superman in the Avengers ?

Anonymous said...

I meant the '70s Superman/Spidey type of thing not those Youtube videos mentioned above. The first Conan story I ever read was " Lair Of The Beast Men" in 1975 ( Marvel UK ) drawn by Barry Smith, I was a massive Planet Of The Apes fan and that Conan story had a similar feel, I loved the Beast Men's underground city. I wonder why he calls himself Barry WINDSOR Smith these days or if that's his name why he didn't use it to begin with.

Murray said...

All these superhero fantasy matchups have lost their cleancut fun they had in the Bronze Age. Back then, to say "Superman" meant one concept-character-hero. To say "Thor" meant one concept-character-hero. Begin debate.

Nowadays...well, it was obvious in the convention interviews. Some were visualizing the movie versions. Others were thinking of a different reboot or re-imagining or re-start or re-re-reboot.

Any debate has to state: "Thor vs Superman as printed in comics in 2001" or 1979, or in the movies of the last two years. Otherwise, it all bogs down in confusion and sobbing.

Garett said...

Nice Thor vs Superman! They could've come up with a better reason to battle, and I disagree with the final result, but fun to watch and well done. I wonder if we'll ever see Marvel and DC heroes together on the screen? It seemed impossible in comics, and then it happened.

Garett said...

Great article on coloring in comics and Barry Smith's work, Karen! Love to see this analysis side-by-side. I also thought of picking up the new volumes of Conan reprints, and decided against it because of the terrible coloring that takes away the atmosphere of these stories.

Anonymous said...

Rip, Thor would definitely clobber Superman in a fight! Can't we all agree? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here, people.

Garett said...

Affleck is an odd choice. He was good in Argo, with some seriousness that could help as Batman.

Anonymous said...

I'm not too impressed by the Thor trailer. It seems like they're running on a formula here, and I can't really put my finger on it. A lot of characters talking smack to each other, the occasional goofy monster and some weird vague world-ending threat. It's kind of like my brother said when he saw The Avengers, "It ain't bad, but it ain't great."

mr. oyola said...

I think Thor would only win if it were the Silver Age Superman with his vulnerability to magic.

Otherwise, I am pretty sure that Superman would wipe the floor with him.

Though in true comic fashion the fight would only last as long as narratively mandated until they figure out the misunderstanding and then team up to fight the Loki-Luthor team-up that led to the whole thing happening.

I liked the Thor movie and am looking forward to the sequel.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I'm not sure about Affleck. But the cajones on that guy, huh?

Anonymous said...

I'm quite surprised at the mostly negative reactions on social media to the selection of Ben Affleck as the new Batman in the upcoming Superman/Batman movie. Isn't this the same guy who won a Best Picture Oscar for Argo? While everyone mentions Daredevil and Gigli to back up their argument, I'm one of those who says give the guy a break. They haven't even started preproduction yet but everyone's saying he's a bad choice. I distinctly remember similar reactions when Michael Keaton was chosen for the 1989 Batman flick yet most critics said he did a good job.

Of course, if he delivers a bad performance when the film is released, I'll be the first one to say so. My reaction is - let's see how he plays the characters of Bruce Wayne and Batman and only afterwards I'll judge his performance.


- Mike 'more interested in seeing who will play Alfred' from Trinidad & Tobago.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I suppose any established actor playing a major superhero is gonna catch some grief. Maybe that's why they pick relative unknowns or forign actors. One thing for sure, Affleck is a great actor. He was brilliant in Hollywoodland, playing a guy playing a superhero. Batman would be a challenge for any actor, but I'm sure it'll be interesting.

William said...

The Thor vs. Superman thing was awesome.

I watched some of the other videos in that series "Super Power Beat Down" and they are all incredibly cool. I wish the director of those shorts, Aaron Schoenke, could direct some of the big budget live action flicks. He seems to understand the characters better than the people who have been doing them. Especially Batman.

Edo Bosnar said...

Oh, yeah: the Ben Affleck thing. My whole initial response to this was basically that I just don't care, because:
1. I have virtually zero interest in the movie;
2. it's not like Bale set the world on fire (well, he didn't set my world on fire - I still think Keaton was the best post-West Batman).
So I have to agree with Mike from T&T. Everybody seriously needs to lighten up. I mean really: is this truly something that merits a petition? Holy misplaced outrage, Batman!

Anonymous said...

When I watched the 2011 Thor movie I naively assumed Volstagg would be shown as grossly obese via a 'fat suit' or CGI. Of course it turned out that Volstagg and Hogun the Grim were both unrecognisable. Movies taking liberties with characters again, although the Thor movie was quite enjoyable overall.

Anonymous said...

Now that I think about it , " Lair Of The Beast Men " wasn't just similar to Planet Of The Apes - much of it was the same story. It's taken me nearly 40 years to notice !

William said...

I don't mind Ben Affleck as Batman. Mainly because, iMO, he couldn't possibly be worse than Christian Bale. I could just never get over Bale's phony gravely Bat-voice. Uhg!

Also, if no one remembers, when Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker, people went nuts and said it would ruin the movie, and the character for all time, etc. etc. And we all know how that turned out. So everyone really needs to lighten up and give the guy a chance. He will probably surprise the people who care about these new takes on Batman and Superman. (I'm not one of those people, so it really doesn't matter to me one way or another).

But for those who do like these new movies. Mark my words, Affleck will probably end up getting an Oscar nomination for the role.

david_b said...

Much like Edo, Matt and others here, I have ZERO interest in the current Batman franchise, Ledger or Bale. It's not 'Batman' as I envision it.

I'm sure many see this as such, but I'm pondering whether DC's got Affleck positioned as the new Downey Jr for a future Justice League movie. As a see it, a likeable, bankable movie star like Affleck anchoring an eventual JLA movie, with others brought in as supporting team characters..

(Kinda sounds like a page out of Josh Whedon/Avengers's flightplan, doesn't it..?)

As Mike mentioned here, having Keaton picked as Batman was pretty suspect until we actually saw him on screen. Not sure if Affleck's the right choice either, but minds destined to make a lot more money than us will determine that..

Doc Savage said...

I'm old and Superman is invulnerable to all but Kryptonite in the version I know, so nothing Thor can do would hurt Superman. Meanwhile Superman could crush Thor's bones into powder and fling him about like a ragdoll. But Superman wouldn't be so mean and petty.

Affleck as Batman, I really don't care, I just hope they stop these dreary grim-gritty Batman Dark Knight movies. Though I doubt it since now Superman apparently kills people and acts like an a-hole in general. Won't be spending any $€£¥ on any DC movies. After Adam West, it's Michael Keaton for me. He seemed to get Bruce Wayne. christian bale seems so adenoidal adolescent in comparison.

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