Thor and Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes -- Trailers

Doug: I saw this over at Rob Allstetter's Comics Continuum yesterday. If you click below the photo, you'll be taken to the page where Rob's posted a 2-minute trailer to the new Disney XD Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon. That show will debut this fall. It looks pretty good -- lots of super-baddies that you'll recognize. I do wish, however, that they could have gotten a differnt voice actor for Iron Man. Ol' IM just doesn't sound like I "hear" him. But that's a small complaint. Enjoy!

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/1007/28/avengers.htm

NOTE: At 3:45 this afternoon, I saw the trailer for the May 2011 Thor movie, as was shown at Comicon International this past weekend over at http://thefilmstage.com/2010/07/29/thor-trailer/?utm_source=wordtwit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wordtwit. Enjoy! Double NOTE -- The trailer is a bit over five minutes in length; depending on your connection speed, wireless gremlins, etc. it may take awhile to download.

Running the Gauntlet?

Karen: I thought this was a rather tantalizing picture from the Marvel display at Comic Con:


Karen: What the heck is the Infinity Gauntlet doing there? The speculation has been wild -everything from Thanos showing up in the Thor or Avengers movies to someone else -Loki possibly -using the Gauntlet. Of course it could just be prop that might be in the background of one of the films. Or a complete McGuffin! What do you think?

Captain America and Thor Movie Posters!

Doug: Courtesy of Yahoo, and seen by me on Tuesday (7/20/2010) evening, you'll find below two posters that will be distributed to attendees at this weekend's Comicon International in San Diego, California. Both are artists' renderings, but both show in detail the costumes that will be worn in next summer's Marvel blockbusters. Drool, my friends!

I Have Died and Gone to Avengers Heaven...

Doug: I will probably never own this, and I will confess that when I saw this image I got all giddy. I am certain I must have some stupid grin on my face even as I type this. Wow. Just WOW!!! Here is a link to text that was attached to it. Wow... By the way, look closely to see the Wasp -- and did you notice (I did not at first) that the backdrop is really Goliath's visor and mask?

Bronze Age Babies Bulletins

Doug: Happy Tuesday, everyone. Today we have three items to toss your way -- a newsflash, an opinion, and a conundrum. In that order...

Doug: I don't really buy action figures anymore. The increased price of oil a couple of years ago that seemingly pushed the price of new figures out of my budget range, coupled with the switch by Hasbro to the 3 3/4" line ended my love affair with Marvel Legends. And although I really like what Mattel is doing with DC's 6-inch line, I just didn't want to jump into that with the (again) higher prices. However, having seen what Mattel has been doing as exclusives for Comicon International has me itching. Last year it was the Wonder Twins; this summer it's Plastic Man.

Now I'm no Plastic Man fan, but this package/figure/presentation is just incredible. You can read the full review at Action Figure Times.

Doug: I was at a comic shop yesterday and spied Avengers #1 on the shelves. I took a gander at it and put it back after only a few page turns. I have long argued that since comics are a visual medium, it's the art that grabs a potential buyer. Yes, story is important, and perhaps good art doesn't save a bad story (I'll say that a good story can be killed by bad art!), but if the reader/buyer doesn't feel an excitement upon laying eyes on the printed page then a potential sale may be lost. That being said, I've long held a disdain for the artwork of one John Romita, Jr. and his work on Avengers #1 didn't change that opinion. I just find his work unreadable -- it's so scratchy at times, so unrealistic (yeah, Gil Kane was unrealisitc, but the guy could move a story with dynamic camera angles and emotional characters). So even as a longtime Avengers fan, I'll continue to pass on my favorite title, which has turned into the exact thing I despised about the X-plosion of titles and characters that drove me away from the once-merry mutants.

Oh, and speaking of mutants, could someone please inform the powers-that-be that Mr. Wolverine is not an Avenger? I'll thank you for doing so...

Doug: Which brings us to our last point of interest today. Allow me to reprint a brief e-mail exchange Karen and I shared this morning:

(Doug) Good morning -

Boy, was I disappointed when I went to the comic shop yesterday. It was part of a chain that has about 1/2 dozen stores around the south suburbs. The oldest issue I saw in the longboxes was from the late 1980's, so it was a total strike-out in terms of finding any Bronze Age reader copies.

(Karen) Isn't it sad when an 'old' back issue is from the 1980s? There are four stores in our area and the one nearest us is the smallest. They have about as many boxes of comics as I do, and like the store you mentioned, most of their books are from the last two decades. Fortunately they have a much larger store about 20 miles south of us that has back issues from the 70's (wow, ancient history!), but the selection is spotty.

(Doug) Yep -- I must be a dope, because I thought I was going to march right into that store and snag 5-10 unbagged ratty-looking reader copies of Bronze Age glory for around $10. Didn't happen.

Doug: So, what's a Bronze Age enthusiast to do? If you want long runs of a title, there are always the Essentials or Showcase Presents -- these are great, cheap, etc. But if you want some color in your four-color fun, then you are looking at trade paperbacks, and I don't always like the color reproduction in those (too bright and glossy). Do any of you face these problems with your local comic shops? Seriously, I just wanted some musty, dog-eared reader copies. That's not so hard, is it?