Stan Lee 100

Stan Lee was my hero…

Begin Transmission..

When someone says the term Marvel Comics, my mind instantly goes to one name. Stan Lee. He was the ultimate pitchman. He made you believe that anyone could be a hero. When he spoke, people paid attention. His bombastic verbiage and his ability to speak were unmatched. His delivery was as masterful as any salesman, television.evangelist, or carnival barker. Anyone can sell a car, but when Stan Lee sold you something, you walked away believing that you had the best, most exciting car you ever drove. There is a section of comics culture that tries to dimisnish Stan’s contributions. Who created what? Was it all Jack Kirby? Was it Ditko? Fact is, no matter what the reality is, the single figure you associated with Marvel and their hero’s was Stan. He was the Walt Disney to the Disney company! The Steve Jobs to Apple. Stan made his characters much more than comic book fare.. he made them feel real.. he made them OUR heroes. Marvel with Stan at the helm was the peoples comics company, and our minds went to worlds we could not even imagine. This was the wonder of Stan Lee. His impact is as much alive today as ever before. His life’s work is on every TV, movies screen, toy shelf , video game, and merchandise stand you can see. Stan Lee created a cultural phenomenon, and his legacy is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Stan sowed the seeds of the biggest cinematic film series ever created, and it started as a result of Stan Lees’ masterful salesmanship. If you ever wondered how it began, pull up a seat as I tell you a tale of the beginnings of how we got here. 

Stan Lee was an aspiring writer who ended up working in the comics industry. Lee made his way from office flunky to editor in short order as his predasessors were either fired or quit leaving Stan the last man standing in the office, and he took his new position of authority dead serious. Stan found himself in a position where he was now dictating many creators who were many years his senior. The content produced was not creatively satisfying for Stan. As a writer himself, he knew the quality of output he was making was schlock, and his work doing romance or funny animal stories was leaving him creatively bankrupt. Stan was tired of working for Martin Goodmans comic book company and was planning his exit. As fate would have it Stan discussed his dismay with his wife Joan. She urged him to write one more story the way HE would have wanted to write it! 

Lee was open his entire career about wanting to be considered a serious author one who would write the next big American novel and comics were considered disposable entertainment, “kids stuff” that wasn’t considered high calibre professional works. When Joan suggested that he write a book “his” way …and…he did. 

Stan’s way…would become the Marvel Way, but no one knew it at the time. What even was the Marvel Way?  It didn’t exist, but Stan was about to make it up. Stan did something other companies at the time didn’t do. He grounded his heroes and stories with a sense of everyman reality. He just didn’t write a story of a man from another planet with unlimited powers and an indestructible perfect human. Stan saw fault in this. Superman, for example, was perfect. Many kids could never be Superman. Of course, with perfection comes story limitation. If you are writing about an invincible hero who is the strongest, fastest, and most good-looking guy out there, the story gets cold quickly. Where were the interesting flaws? Where were the real storytelling aspects real people could relate to?

Stan took the concept of the Everyman hero with real issues and problems and thrust them on paper as a dysfunctional four member super team where  nothing was perfect, but the stories were boundless. The team had relationship drama and infighting, and some characters battled with the idea of even being a hero in the first place. That creation was The Fantasic Four, and it was considered the day one creation point for modern Marvel writing and the launch pad for the Marvel Universe. His “last” comic book, written in collaboration with the brilliant co-creator Jack Kirby, was The Fantastic Four, which launched the Marvel Age of comics and sparked a steady stream of new concepts and characters, Thor, Black Panther, and The X-Men. Stan had a keen eye for the culture at the time and realized early on that they might translate easily to other media. Boy, would he be right! Stans vision for his heroes would be the starting point for how comic books’ transitioned from print to film and television, merchandise and beyond the scope of his wildest dreams but for our purposes we will focus on the very beginning of the tradition from the comics page to the small screen.

In 66, Lee contributed to Grantray-Lawrences The Marvel Super Heroes animated series while still working at Marvel in a multitude of roles such as editor, art director, and writer! Lees work on the shows was invaluable as he helped shape stories written ironically by him and authors and co creators  like Jack Kirby, Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko, and more. even though Goodman negotiated the deal with Grantray-Lawrence Lee would be the one moving the various parts to get the projects green lighted and Marvels Superhero’s would no longer be relegated to the comic book page but now for the first time would be seen in living color and action on our TV screens! The seeds of the MCU were planted here..

Heroes included Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and Namor as the main characters of the series. Each character had their own miniseries or show that repurposed stories from recent Marvel comics.Some would say the “animation” was crude.I always loved the show. The fact that the cartoon looked just like a comic book gave it the charm that I loved! The producers literally took comics panel directly from the comics and literally particularly animated portions of the picture to show motion or action. The closest thing I can compare it to would be a modern motion comic.In order to give the impression of animation and some lip-syncing, the animation typically consisted of photocopied images taken directly from recent issues of the comics featuring the different characters, or even from early issues of The Avengers. While not technically groundbreaking from an animation standpoint, the fact remained that Marvel now became part of homes all across the nation. The competition was paying attention and producing cartoon fare of their own, but something was different. The mood was changing. Marvel not surprisingly won over devoted followers with the television series and  its iconic catchy theme songs for Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man had all of us singing along. 

1967 gave us the FANTASTIC FOUR animated series from Hanna Barbera Which heavily adapted Lee and Kirby’s Fantastic Four work. 

Characters like The Mole Man and Galactus debuted!  If you haven’t seen the show It featured an amazing episode detailing Dr. Doom’s origin story. Hanna Barbera with master artist Alex Toth reimagined concepts like the Skrulls and the Silver Surfer but the fact remained despite Lee not being directly involved many of the stories were based on the early Lee and Kirby Fantastic Four issues. 

Stan knew he had something here. This is when Marvels ultimate pitch man went to work and chased further applications for his characters and pushed forward for more..

Although not directly involved, Lee’s influence on the 1967 Hanna-Barbera Fantastic Four animated series could still be felt because of the material the creators adapted. Key antagonists from the episodes included The Mole Man and Galactus and Dr. Doom’s origin story received an entire episode. While they were reimagined by Hanna-Barbera and comics legend Alex Toth, the Skrulls and the Silver Surfer also made appearances. Many of the stories were based on the early Lee and Kirby Fantastic Four issues. 

Of course, then there was the grand daddy of them all the legendary Spider-Man series from 1967. Produced by Gantray Lawrence and later Kratnz films Spider-Man is considered Marvels most iconic early animation achievement. This show was in constant rotation at my house. It aired practically every day. It was a fixture on Saturday mornings in key time slots on Canadian television. It was a staple of Canadian early weekday mornings before school!

Spider-Man’s adventures were comfort food for me, and any episodes featuring members of the Sinister Six were always my favorites. From the simply irresistible theme song of the series to the outlandish tone and scope of the 6 showed fans what made Marvel different from its distinguished competition. Peter Parker Spider-Man real life identity battled taking care of his aging Aunt May while trying to hold down a job as a photographer for the Daily Bugle, the pressures of school, women and everything a real life teen of the era would go through. It lasted three very distinct seasons, each one particularly the third season wildly different in tone and budget. Spider-Man became the beloved signature hero of Marvel comics at that point and forever linked to Stan Lees’ career from that moment forward. With minor success in the animation department, Lee had visions that Hollywood would be their next stop. 

THE INCREDIBLE HULK, SPIDER-MAN, AND DR. STRANGE APPEAR ON TV IN THE 1970S. 

Stan’s ambitions took him outside of the office on a tour circuit. Whether it was speaking engagements at university’s, publicity events Stan was in full steam pitchman mode. Lee’s personality was the reason why Marvel landed in areas where you would never see comic book related fare. Stan was THE living and breathing symbol of Marvel comics, and he loved and soaked up that attention in pursuit of making this company more than a magazine with cool colors and pictures. Marvel invaded toy shelves. Marvel Blacklight posters adorned many kids’ walls, and the Mighty Marvel Marching Society was even spinning on vinyl on record players of the time. 

When Lee took over as publisher of Marvel Comics in 1972, he largely delegated writing and creative work to a new group of authors, illustrators, and editors. Lee found himself guiding the Marvel heroes through Hollywood as the characters started to emerge in the uncharted territory of live action, even though he continued to be involved in some creative aspects of the business, such as the daily Spider-Man comic strip.

All roads led to the first live action show for Marvel comics. The genesis for the MCU was here. The beginning of a multi-billion dollar media franchise began unsuspecting one winter evening, and the world was ready.  The Incredible Hulk made its television debut in November of 1977 with a two hour pilot airing on CBS. The show featured Lou Ferigno as Hulk and the incredible Bill Bixby as his alter ego Bruce Banner. The show was a ratings success and aired from November 4, 1977 –May 12, 1982.

“In the TV series, Dr. David Banner, a widowed physician and scientist who is presumed dead, travels across America under assumed names and finds himself in positions where he helps others in need despite his terrible secret: Following an accident that altered his cells, in times of extreme anger or stress, he transforms into a huge, savage, incredibly strong green-skinned humanoid, who has been named “the Hulk”. In his travels, Banner earns money by working temporary jobs while searching for a way to either control or cure his condition. All the while, he is obsessively pursued by a tabloid newspaper reporter, Jack McGee, who is convinced that the Hulk is a deadly menace whose exposure would enhance his career.”

Stan Lee was elated about the Hulks’ success! Lee himself had become larger than life. He was now being recognized in places outside of the comics bubble and was comics’ first version of a rock star and became a traveling media liason! Lee was great at one thing, selling an audience on whatever he was selling. Bombastic, sweet, energetic. He always presented a fun, uplifting persona and was a person you wanted to be around.

 He also stood for something. He believed in inclusion and peoples rights. He championed the voices of the common man, and that appeal made him larger than life.

His voice for me is what always sets the tone. The cadence, the inflection, and the delivery. Hearing Stan’s voice open, many of my childhood cartoon shows or VHS tapes were always like comfort food. He treated his Mighty Marvel Marching Society like a club you HAD to be in with him. It was the cool place to be! Marvel was cool because of Stan. He spoke literally to kids and teens of all ages and put their stories on the page.

You related to Stan and his characters because they were based in reality. Peter Parker had girlfriend issues…didn’t we all at one point! The Hulks Bruce Banner had an inner monster he had to control….like many of us. The Fantastic Four were a family that fought, broke up, lived lost, and loved together. Stan made us believe, and for those few minutes reading those comic pages, we were along for the ride and part of something special. 

Does it matter who created what? Who’s name is ahead of another for creating part of a character? Sure it does for some reasons but no one can contest that the reason that Marvels characters live forever on screens, phones, merchandise and in the modern lexicon is because Stan Lee invited us into that house and we grew up there and never wanted to move out!

Thank you Stan Lee, for allowing me to be a kid no matter what my age. Thank you Stan Lee, for giving me a playbook on how to deliver motivating and powerful speeches. Funny enough, when I tell stories to my kids, there is a part of me that steals Stan’s delivery everytime!!

Thank You Stan for creating a world where my family and I can spend together and create memories because that’s what it’s all about. 

Raise a glass to Stan Lee on his birthday. You will always be “The Man”..

Here’s to Stan..

Excelsior!!

Hey… I usually wrap up a “Till next time Satellite Subscriber’s”… which, of course, is ripped off of Stan’s method of assigning his readership a tagline, but I had to share some personal Stan related fare!!

My wife took this picture for me on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during a recent trip. Stan was one of one of the very short lists that I requested a picture of his star!!

During that very same trip, my wife also snapped this wonderful plaque from Disney Land California, and the words say it all.

For Christmas, I also got a few Stan Lee related items!! I finally got a fresh copy of How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way!!

Okay… now you can go!! Till next time, True Believers!!

For more Stan Lee related content, check out a few pieces written and created by a few friends of mine!

Between The Pages Blog: https://www.betweenthepagesblog.com/2022/12/face-it-tiger-you-just-hit-the-jackpot.html

Dave’s Comic Heroes Blog: http://davescomicheroes.blogspot.com/2022/12/stan-lee-100.html?m=1

W2M Network Podcasts: https://w2mnet.com/remembering-stan-lee-1922-2018/

https://w2mnet.com/trio-of-stan-lee-tales/

End Transmission…

SuperHero Satellite Podcast: Super-Blog Team-Up Goes To Hell Edition. Spider-Ham and the Rise and Fall Of Star Comics

Hey Satellite Subscribers!! Here is some very special content for audiophiles out there! The Post Halloween edition of The Superhero Satellite Podcast is here!! While this is not officially the 4th episode this special episode is an information packed episode covering Marvel’s Ill fated STAR Comics Imprint! Plus we cover an issue of its single claim to fame..Peter Porker The Spectacular Spider-Ham!! All this and more right here on SHS!! Enjoy!

Listen to “Superhero Satellite Goes To Hell” on Spreaker.

While you are here…check out the rest of the Super-Blog Team-Up Goes To Hell event by checking out a blog or a podcast that may be new to you or maybe and d favorite!! Tell em Hero sent ya!

Between The Pages Blog – Hostess Comic Book Ads Were Hot Stuff

https://www.betweenthepagesblog.com/2022/10/hostess-comic-book-ads-were-hot-stuff.html

Magazines and Monsters Presents- Super Blog Team Up Special! The Son of Satan (Marvel Spotlight 12 and 13, 1973) with Charlton Hero!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/magazines-and-monsters-presents-super-blog-team-up/id1459643898?i=1000583919620

The Telltale Mind – Patsy Walker – To Hell and Back (and Back and Back…)

https://thetelltalemind.com/2022/10/26/patsy-walker-to-hell-and-back-and-back-and-back

Source Material Comics Podcast – Batman/Punisher “Lake of Fire” – Evan Bevins and Jesse Starcher –

https://www.spreaker.com/user/5870686/sm-batman-punisher-lake-of-fire

Mark Radulich : Alternative Commentary on Hell Comes to Frogtown

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/51571432

News Print Commando – Rex Zombie Killer

Rex Zombie Killer

Dave’s Comics Blog: Superman: The Blaze/ Satanus War

https://davescomicheroes.blogspot.com/2022/10/superman-goes-to-hell-blaze-satanus-war.html

In My Not So Humble Opinion – Savage Dragon Goes To Hell

https://benjaminherman.wordpress.com/2022/10/26/super-blog-team-up-savage-dragon-goes-to-hell/

Asterisk 51 Blog – Sunday school with… Hellboy?!?!?

https://asterisk51.blogspot.com/2022/10/sunday-school-with-hellboy.html

Comics Comics Comics Blog – The Son of Satan and the preacher’s kids – Will looks at Son of Satan and the Defenders. 

Superhero Satellite: Spider-Ham in the world of Licensing Hell! https://charltonhero.wordpress.com/2022/10/26/super-blog-team-up-goes-to-hell-spider-ham-in-the-world-of-licensing-hell/

Relatively Geeky Presents #43: Afterlife with Archie Issues 1 – 6. 

https://relativelygeekypodcast.blogspot.com/2022/10/rgp-043-super-blog-team-up-2022.html?m=1

Super-Blog Team-Up Goes To Hell! Spider-Ham In The World Of Licensing Hell!!

If you are a fan of this blog then it comes as no surprise that I love Marvel 1980 Star Comics imprint!! Well there is no better time than Super-Blog Team-Up month to talk all things STAR with a very special Halloween issue of Peter Porker The Spectacular Spider-Ham!!

Before we begin..for folks who are not readers..enjoy this episode via audio Podcast in the link below!!

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/51747949

For those who enjoy the written word..enjoy the blog!

The existence of STAR comics came out of almost nowhere due to a failed rights acquisition from Marvel comics! More on that later! First let discuss it’s origins!! The imprint began in 1984-and lasted until 1988 and was blatantly aimed at younger audience demographic. Star comics would only see the light of day due to a failed purchase of Harvey Comics famous for such characters as  Richie Rich, Hotstuff The Little Devil, Wendy The Witch, and of course Casper The Ghost. Marvel wanted in on the Childrens market which at this point was almost solely owned by Archie and Harvey (Gold Key and Charlton both had years of liscenced history too but we’re long gone at this point publishing wise) at the time almost exclusively. 

They had dipped their toes in the liscenced market a few times with projects like Smurfs and the A-Team with mixed success. Acquiring Harvey would fill that demographic hole in their print line up! It was not meant to be after months of what felt like a done deal between the two companies fell through when one of the Harvey brother pulled out and killed the Harvey sale to Marvel. Harvey as a company went on to fold as a publisher shortly after this but they did so while still maintaining their property rights!

Despite the loss Marvel decided to continue to create a new imprint in its place even going so far as to use now out of work former Harvey staffers and created a Harvey Adjacent line of original characters like Planet Terry, Wally The Wizard, Top Dog, Royal Roy. I loved the look and feel of these characters and if capturing the Harvey vibe was their goal than mission accomplished. These looked and felt like Harvey publications both in art style and reading!! all You didn’t have to look to deep under the surface to see these were Harvey clones.. too close actually because Harvey comics would sue Marvel over Royal Roy being too close to Richie Rich… and he was. Old Roy was a red haired version of everyone’s poor little rich kid and Harvey just knew that there wasn’t a court in the world that would not see that!!  In 1985 the lawsuit was brought forward forcing Marvel to the plug on Royal Roy after 6 issues. The problems were already creeping in and we were not off of the ground floor yet. 

Keep in mind the next big phase for STAR was literally to create a “STAR” studded line up of liscenced properties that were popular at the time boasting Masters Of The Universe, STAR WAR’S, The Muppetts, Thundercats and many many more!! You may ask yourself.. how could this fail!! Well it found a way!! 

STAR hung its hat on a multitude of pop culture liscenses from Toy and Cartoon related franchises!

Trivia question!! What title did STAR COMICS launch with? The answer would be the first book to arrive with official STAR Comics branding would be … drum roll please… The Muppets Take Manhattan movie adaptation!!

But there were many many many more! Here is a non comprehensive list of most of the STAR Comics imprint!!

Let start with their Original titles

Misty (six-issue limited series (1985–1986) this was a bizzare one! After acquiring the majority of the most popular franchises for children missing from the list curiously was Barbie (Which Marvel would get in the early 90s!!). Misty was the niece of Stan Lees favorite Marvel fashion plate Millie The Model and she was essentially… Barbie.. straight up. Can’t get the original… let’s make a clone.. or an echo as Rob Liefeld once coined! Misty was a strange comic filled with all things fashion and fame and even cut out doll clothes to lower the value of this 6 issue limited series which was already worthless so I assume they OWE me money maybe?

Anyways…back to our list..

Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham (1985–1987)

Planet Terry (1985–1986)

Royal Roy 1–6 (1985–1985)

Top Dog (1985–1987)

Wally the Wizard (1985–1986)

Licensed titles: just take a look at this list!!! 

Air Raiders (1987–1988; #1–2 under Star imprint, continued under Marvel imprint)

Animax (1986–1987)

ALF

Bullwinkle and Rocky (1987–1989; #1–2 under Star imprint)

Care Bears (1985–1989); #1–14 under Star imprint)

Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos #1–4 (1987)

Count Duckula (1988)

Defenders of the Earth (1987)

Ewoks (1985–1987)

The Flintstone Kids (1987–1989) #1–4 under Star imprint)

Foofur (1987–1988; #1–4 under Star imprint)

Fraggle Rock (volume 1: 1985–1986 under Star imprint; volume 2:1988 under Marvel)

The Get-Along Gang (1985–1986)

Heathcliff (1984–1991)#1–22 under Star imprint)

Heathcliff’s Funhouse (1987–1988) #1–5 under Star imprint)

Hugga Bunch (1986–1987)

Inhumanoids (1987)

Madballs (1986–1988; #1–8 under Star imprint)

Masters of the Universe (1986–1988)

Masters of the Universe: The Motion Picture (1987)

Muppet Babies (1985–1989) #1–17 under Star imprint)

The Muppets Take Manhattan 1–3 limited series (1984)

Popples (1986–1987)

Silverhawks (1987–1988; #1–5 under Star imprint, 6 & 7 under Marvel)

Star Comics Digest a.k.a. Star Comics Magazine (1986–1988)

Star Wars: Droids 1–8 (1986–1987) bi-monthly with four issues and issue 5’s cover of the series were drawn by John Romita, Sr.

Strawberry Shortcake (1985–1986)

ThunderCats (1985–1988; #1–24 under Star imprint)

Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light (1987; #1–6)

How did this fail?? How!!?? Marvel is a company that saved itself from Bankruptcy with Star Wars…a liscenced property that not only saved the company but gave new life to the industry. So using that logic.. if you own ALL the famous and popular IP’s then you will be set for life.. right? Well actually the answer would be no. Each liscence costs Marvel money in either straight up payouts to hold the license or an impact to bottom line profit. Keep in mind some of the rights holding companies who leased the property to Marvel gets a portion of the profit action.. and at times a significant portion of profits. To add to the debacle the rights holders also sometimes serious amounts of creative control. It’s possible to actually make zero dollars! In some instances that was indeed the case! For all the profits and losses the STAR comics line, though doomed from the get go legally, had such a vast array of titles it kept me coming back to the spinner rack for one or two new titles every month some I kept and others I abandoned quickly but I sure did enjoy the perks of seeing all the cool toys and cartoons in a comic book form!

But onto our story at hand… Spider-Ham the Halloween issue!!

Spiderman Vol. 1 13 January 1987

Old McDonalds House of Horrors 

Written : Mike Carlin (Somewhere Rob Liefeld is swearing and I was as well a little later.

Pencils: Joe Abelo (Spider-Ham 10-19, What If, 34 What If The Watcher was a Stand Up Comedian?) stumped? I was as well so I did my research and found that while not doing Spider Ham did indeed draw in What If number 34… for one… single… page!! Yes… and here it is! 

38. “WHAT IF TONY STARK HAD OWNED AN AUTO PLANT INSTEAD OF A WEAPONS FACTORY?”

39. “WHAT IF SUE STORM HAD BECOME THE THING?”

40. “WHAT IF MOON KNIGHT GOT ALL HIS IDENTITIES MIXED UP?”

Anyways back to our book!!

Editor Larry Hama GI Joe! 

Executive Editor Tom Defalco

EIC Jim Shooter

Now.. the character himself. For folks who didn’t read a single STAR comic or see the film Into The Spiderverse there is a chance you have never met Spider-Ham! Let’s catch you up!

Spider-Ham is the super hero alias of one Peter Porker a fictional superhero Marvel Comics. The character is .. get ready for this… an anthropomorphic pig and a cartoon animal parody version of the classic Marvel Spider-Man.Spider-Ham was created by Larry Hama, Tom DeFalco and Mark Armstrong respectively. Curiously he appeared in a comic BEFORE the launch of his own book.. he would debut in a special one shot called Marvel Tails Starring Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham from November 1983! Hunt this one down kids for us who love the first appearances!! Even get this slabbed!! Lol… don’t do that. Please. Read the book. That’s all I will say..

This one shot was then followed by an ongoing bi-monthly series, Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, in May 1985 under Marvel’s Star Comics imprint!! For continuity lovers Porker and his supporting cast exists on Earth-8311, a full  universe populated by anthropomorphic funny animal parody versions of then modern Marvel superheroes and villains. 

Now that you are armed with knowledge let’s dive into the book!

Peter Porker The Spectacular Spider-Ham Vol. 1 issue 13, dated January 1987 in a story titles

“Old McDonalds House of Horrors”

Yes… Old MacDonald .. because.. you know.. he has a farm! You remember the nursery rhyme right? I mean … let’s stop here. Yes, THIS is the type of low hanging fruit to expect from this Carlin led team. Lower your expectations kids.. after all these titles are aimed at children not 45 year old man babies.. like me. 

On to the story..

An innocent duck is putting up a billboard late at night when Quakula Scares him away.. we see that the billboard was all about a Mega Mall opening soon in 1986.. hmmmm. The 80s… a property in danger.. a large corporation going to shut down an old town favorite location to build its fancy new what ever!! It’s the plot lol heisted from every 80s kids film from the Goonies onwards.. again.. it’s a kids book. Bottom line.. someone doesn’t want to pave paradise and put up a parking lot!!

Later we see Peter Porker in his apartment watching an old Horror film and he is scared. He laments that despite being a Super powered hero he is still scared of a silly horror film. Outside his window he hears gun fire. He leaps into action changing into Spider -Ham to check it out! It’s the Pinhead of crime and the police are shooting at him. Pinhead is a Kingpin echo but is the size of a building and is a large white rat/mouse in a pin stripe Blue Suit and has a body shape like a bowling pin!! He is wreaking havok in the city but it’s because he wants something.. or someone!

He is calling out Spider-Ham and by for Porker in full spider regalia  answers the call. After a quick tussle Spidey hits Pinhead with a rolling web bowling ball knocking the giant on his ass as the police swarm him! An easy win for our porktacular hero!

With his heroing complete Peter makes it back in time to watch the last half of the horror film he was watching!! We see that Peter has an irrational fear of vampires and werewolves but then he sees a very scary Egyptian Cow Mummy and literally hits the roof when the phone rings!!

It’s J Jonah Jackel from the Daily Beagel with a late night assignment for Peter! After having his job threatened Peter is there.. Instantly before Jonah even hangs up the phone! Is this a statement on workplace culture? Does Peter not have a right to refuse work? Does he need a mental

Health break? Nope this pig goes to work!

Jonah is sending Peter to the Catskilled Mountains where there have been reports  of hysterical construction workers claiming to have seen monsters! Porker is scared.. of course he is. It’s the only plot thread that is consistent in this story!! He hates monsters if you dont remember and he tries to back outta this mission citing he has to alphabetize his Alvin and The Chipmunks record collection and offers up his office supporting cast for the job! Does anyone else find it fascinating that STAR Comics never featured Alvin and The Chipmunks yet we had two.. count them two Heathcliff comics! What’s up with that?

Bunson, Upton and Jeremiah are some seriously stereotypical characters.. we have time let’s review. Bunson is the super intelligent plaid shirt wearing nerd character who will come in handy building gadgets and explaining science at opportune times. This was a time prior to Big Bang Theory need acceptance. Next is Upton.. a jive talking black cat… I’ll leave that where it is. Last is Jeremiah the pink wearing roller skater who wears thigh high socks ..is a certainly a thinly veiled homosexual personality. So there you have it.. the 80s everyone!! Back to our story..

As a boss that would not be conducive to 2022 workplace sensibilities J Jonah Jackal ain’t buying it and demands Porker go alone! Peter has a bad feeling about this!

Porker drives to the Catskilled Mountains to a farm area hopefully he gets mileage but something tells me it’s on his own dime. He gets on the move investigating the place hoping these reports of folks seeing Monsters are all a hoax. He sees something that scares him ..and he rushes into a barn!! That’s what I always do when I am scared.. I find a deserted barn and run inside for safety! Once inside he encounters a scary figure with a pitch fork!! Suddenly from his travel bag leaps his co workers Bunsen, Upton and Jeremiah!! They begin snapping pictures trying to beat each other to the scoop. 

It’s nothing more than the farmer that owns the farm named conveniently Old MacDonald! He ain’t one for snoopers in his farm and his pitch fork Bessie likes em even less!! Peter pulls out his Press credentials and explains to Old MacDonald that he is there to investigate the reports of Monster sightings! Old MacDonald suddenly becomes interested that they are going to report on these monster sightings and to stay away from the farm as a result of this scary news! Hmmmmm…

The farmer is suddenly pleased that these kids will keep folks away from his farm and tells them they can stay as his personal guests and stay in the barn! Almost too easy…thinks Peter! He is right!

That night it rains.. like it does in every horror story and Peter is trying to get some sleep but his colleagues are not interested. They decide to investigate the barn that they discover has secrets of its own!! The gang discovers a secret laboratory with its own mad scientist! 

The time has come for Doctor Chickensteins greatest experiment!! The weather is perfect and all that remains is the doctor to pull the giant level! There is a body covered in a sheet on a operating room style table… the room is filled with computers and electrical gizmos..the level is pushed electricity goes everywhere!! The mad scientist marvels that the experiment is working … the doctor is about to unveil after years of experimenting …

Doctor Chickensteins monster!! It’s a huge fruit and vegetable based monster with a lettuce for a head, banana for a nose, watermelon torso, corn arms and zucchini legs, you get the idea. The monster rises from the table menacingly with its arms held high in triumph as the doctor rejoices as Peter’s colleagues snap up photos like crazy as Peter slumbers!!

The mad doctor hears the reporters camera clicks and sends the monster after Peters friends! Hearing the commotion in the next room Peter awakens and quickly suits up into Spider Ham to protect his friend and leaps into action!

The farm house becomes overtaken by monsters. Spidey faces off against the Mooomy…a cow like beast wrapped in bandages who looks VERY familiar.. almost like a farmer we know!

Overcoming his fear Ham drops the Cow Mummy with webbing around the legs and swings into the next room suddenly feeling heroic!!

Still trembling Spiderman faces off against Chickensteins monster and uses the old web bowling balll trick again and what do you know it works!! Ham is surrounded! The Moomy, Quakula , Chickenstein and the monster all converge on him and his friends but as Spiderham uses the bowling ball on the Monster his part fly everywhere revealing The Moomy as old MacDonald the farmer! The jig is up!!

Old MacDonald explains that he was upset that he was going to lose his farm as a result of the Mega Mall being built. He and his farm hands Dick and Rick concocted the whole monster story deal to scare off contractors in hope they would leave his farm alone! Spider Ham sympathizes with the old cow and has a solution!

Months later we see that Old MacDonalds Monster Fruit Stand is now inside the new mall selling the worlds biggest veggies and fruit fruit fruit!! The gang laments that Old MacDonald will be selling parts of his fruit monster for years to come! Another happy ending.. compliments of The Amazing Spider-Ham!!

It gets worse..

Back Up Story 

Nick Furry Agents of Sheep! The low hanging fruit like these funny animal titles keep the laughs going.. right?

We see Nick Furry and DoDo Duggan inside SHEEP HQ and we see that Deathsquak (Deathlok) is on the loose. Furry sends out an all points bulletin that the chicken cyborg must be taken down!

Despite great weaponry Deathsquak is a trouble soul desperately lamenting the meaning of his existence!! Deathsquak roams the countryside upset that he hasn’t discovered his reason to live while Furry and DoDo try to bring him down and he stops them at every turn all the while lamenting his flight! Maybe it was his childhood that made him this way? Maybe it was his teacher.. his parents… maybe kindergarten!!??

Furry has the last straw.. he pounces on Deathsquak and presents him with what he has always wanted.. his blueprints! Deathsquak finally has his answers.. his reason for being!! He pulls a plug in his side and … cooks himself. Yes.. he becomes a whole rotisserie cooked chicken..his insides were a microwave oven and he cooked himself! That’s the joke! Dodo falls over from

The revelation.. and so do we.. The Mericful end.

There is a letters page!

In summary…Folks are demanding that Peter Porker get his black suit!!

We also have someone ask when this comic will end to which they say there are no plans to cancel the book despite it ending several issues later!! 

One would like to see Peter Porker on TV like many other star comics! We may have to wait a few years but it will be worth it Christian D!! He also wants a Secret Furs cross over.. editorial suggests Secret Warts!! And we wonder why this thing didn’t last!! C,Mon!

Fan Ian Frater buries the book! He refused to buy issues 3 and 4 because it didn’t feature Mellors work!!? Called the art cheaply done and bland!! Seriously? This is what you print!? Marvel editorial always did these things to send messages and would openly allow criticism on certain creators to show their discontent with something happening inter office and these letters pages and info pages were often passive aggressive inter office memorandums 

Overall Thoughts

Art.. Perfect for its subject matter! I mean for funny animal fare it’s more than passable! In fact the Spider-Ham portion may simply be perfect for what it’s aiming for.  

Story : We have seen this plot line in movies a hundred times. Capitalizing on Halloween is cool but what about using the Marvel horror characters in anamorphic form to appear like Manthing? Morbius, Werewolf By Night! So much missed opportunity here. 

The story may be too juvenile and happily spent time simply enjoying the name puns on all the characters .

Cover is great! I would still have bought and did buy this upon release! 

That’s it.. and if you had any question how this post relates to the Super-Blog Team-Up Goes To Hell theme now you know!!

The Satellite will return again soon before Christmas!! Until then..

Transmission Ended..

 The fun keeps on rolling as The Mighty SBTU has many more entries for you to enjoy!! Thanks for joining us yet again and here are the links for the rest of the internets best blogging and podcasting contributors! 

Between The Pages Blog – Hostess Comic Book Ads Were Hot Stuff https://www.betweenthepagesblog.com/2022/10/hostess-comic-book-ads-were-hot-stuff.html

Magazines and Monsters: Bonus Episode! – Marvel Spotlight 12 & 13 (Damon Hellstrom)- with Charlton Hero! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/magazines-and-monsters/id1459643898?i=1000583919620

The Telltale Mind – The Ballad of Patsy Walker To Hell And Back And Back And Back https://thetelltalemind.com/2022/10/26/patsy-walker-to-hell-and-back-and-back-and-back

Source Material Comics Podcast – Batman/Punisher “Lake of Fire” – Evan Bevins and Jesse Starcher https://www.spreaker.com/user/5870686/sm-batman-punisher-lake-of-fire

Mark Radulich : Alternative Commentary on Hell Comes to Frogtown https://www.spreaker.com/episode/51571432

Ed Moore: News Print Commando Rex Zombie Killler from Bad Dog Ink/Panda Dog Press 2013 https://www.comicbooknoise.com/tnc/2022/10/26/rex-zombie-killer/

Dave’s Comics Blog: Superman: The Blaze/ Satanus War https://davescomicheroes.blogspot.com/2022/10/superman-goes-to-hell-blaze-satanus-war.html

In my Not So Humble Opinion: Savage Dragon Goes To Hell https://benjaminherman.wordpress.com/2022/10/26/super-blog-team-up-savage-dragon-goes-to-hell/

Asterisk 51 Blog – Sunday school with… Hellboy?!?!? https://asterisk51.blogspot.com/2022/10/sunday-school-with-hellboy.html

Comics Comics Comics Blog – The Son of Satan and the preacher’s kids – Will looks at Son of Satan and the Defenders https://comicscomicscomics.blog/

The Superhero Satellite: Spider-Ham in the world of Licensing Hell! https://charltonhero.wordpress.com/?p=6853

Relatively Geeky Presents #43: Afterlife with Archie Issues 1 – 6. https://relativelygeekypodcast.blogspot.com/2022/10/rgp-043-super-blog-team-up-2022.html?m=1

Super-Blog Team-Up: Image Comics: The Road To Revolution (SHS Episode 3)

Transmission Date: May 18th 2022

Hey Satellite Subscribers,

The long awaited Superhero Satellite Podcast Episode 3 has arrived! I feel this needs explaining. I promised 4 episodes of The Superhero Satellite would be produced and had a very specific set of guests lined up to participate. All of them relevant to my likes growing up. Industry people who really knew their area of expertise! Episode one I was honored to have one of my personal podcast mentors and blogging friend Peter Rios, he of Comic Geek Speak and The Daily Rios Podcast fame to join me for a discussion on Podcasting, comics and everything under the sun. Episode two was dedicated to my love of toys growing up. I was joined by supreme toy collector and Executive Producer Of Mark Hamill’s Pop Culture Quest Mr. Scott Kinney to go deep on the top 10 toys of our childhood and general industry talk!

Suddenly as I planned Episode 3 I had planned to discuss a childhood favorite Television series of mine and even lined up guests from that very show. If you follow me on Twitter you may take a guess on exactly what that show may be but for now we will leave it for another episode! The planning was fine, the scripts were done, intros and outros recorded and then we ran into our first delay. One individual had taken issue with the script and wanted a rewrite to which I happily agreed but this was the first delay of about three weeks. Finally the script came back with their proposed rewrites…it was a considerable difference but I was okay with it. I sent off a potential schedule times and was ghosted…again two more weeks of delays. I enquired and landed on tentative dates but again..more drama. At this point my point of contact went missing and was being shaky on a time frame so I aborted the show. It maybe something I will look at down the line but when something no longer becomes fun we step away. I promised myself I would NOT put out another single show unless it was special, had importance to myself based on one of my passions and was FUN! Well I found it! My Blogging squad the Super-Blog Team-Up are a group of like minded rock solid comic fans who love to produce content on the subject so we choose something that meant a great deal to yours truly growing up…The debut of Image Comics! We all know the deal. 7 of Marvels top artists leave in one mass exodus from the number one comics publisher to embark of the biggest single creator owner revolution the comics industry had ever seen taking a massive gamble by betting on themselves and creating Image Comics! The story of Image is an incredible one with amazing highs and deveastating lows that shook its foundations to the core! Alliances made, friendships broken, million dollar checks, and a brand new landscape of comics is born and we talk about it all!

Episode 3 is a super powered discussion on comics and more specifically the debut of Image comics! I am joined by the host of The Source Material Comics Podcast Jesse Starcher to discuss our thoughts on the launch of Image comics and when we discovered this hot new brand. We also break down the Image 7 founding fathers and give our score card on their history and the contribution to Images launch!! Its a fun discussion that you wont want to miss!! As a special bonus we will air a clip of a huge interview done by myself and Adam Pope for the Wizards Files show for The Wizards Podcast Guide To Comics by former Co-Founder and Publisher of Malibu Comics and an individual instrumental in the creation of the 90s super imprint the Ultraverse Mr. Dave Olbrich. The clip showcases the genesis of the meeting between himself and the Image team to start the revolution of the Image group!

Be sure to check out Mr.Olbrich’s amazing YouTube channel Geekview Tavern where our friend Dave talks comics shop with his guests and so much more! His shows are certainly a favorite of this author and he would enjoy having you visit the tavern and join the conversation! Click the link below to visit GeekView Tavern! Tell em Hero sent ya!

https://youtube.com/channel/UCs0Eu4M8eUMq-T1Sj38qh-Q

All this and more..its Superhero Satellite Episode 3 and it starts right now!!

Click The Link Below!

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/49837599

End Transmission.

Thank You for joining us for the show now check out the rest of our amazing team of super bloggers/podcasters!! Super-Blog Team-Up continues below with tons more Image Comics related content. Check out the rest of our amazing contributors by clicking the links below!! Check us out our back catalogue and past events on Twitter by using hashtag’s #SuperBlogTeamUp or #SBTU

Between The Pages Blog: Killer Walking Dead Cakes

https://www.betweenthepagesblog.com/2022/05/killer-walking-dead-cakes.html

Asterisk 51: Better Late Than Never: Spawn #1

https://asterisk51.blogspot.com/2022/05/better-late-than-never-spawn-1.html

Dave’s Comics Blog: Images Big Bang!!

http://davescomicheroes.blogspot.com/2022/05/images-big-bang-comics.html

Comics, Comics, Blog: Image Comics: Remembering my early days

https://comicscomicscomics.blog/?p=1845

Superhero Satellite : Image Comics: The Road To Revolution SHS Ep. 3 https://www.spreaker.com/episode/49837599

Comic Stripped: Term life https://w2mnet.com/comic-stripped-term-life-comic-and-movie-comparison/

In My Not So Humble Opinion: Astro City: That Was Then…

https://benjaminherman.wordpress.com/2022/05/18/astro-city-returns-to-image-comics/

The Source Material Comics Podcast- Darker Image!!! –

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/49802624

Cable Eats a Bagel: the de-imagification of Nathan Dayspring Askani’Son Summers

https://www.chrisisoninfiniteearths.com/?p=37220

Super-Blog Team-Up: PEREZ

**In DEEPEST SPACE lie’s the dormant Superhero Satellite, a hulking historical archive long abandoned by its crew sits in dark silence. A lone beacon light flashes to indicate functionality. A suddenly flicker illuminates the main monitor as the ships living computer for no apparent reason activates its internal systems. The hum of the onboard fans and motors whirl into almost life like a life support system kicks in. Yes despite its abandonment this Satellite is very much functional..very much still alive technologically speaking. The screens fill with images…comic panels of its former owners youth. Images of a Universe wide Crisis, others showcasing a female Amazon Warrior doing battle, Super Teams from different universes colliding, the birth of a universes most versatile villainous threat donning a fearsome gauntlet. As the screen toggle’s through thousands of images it lands on the image of their creator…a legend in our archives and this writers introduction to a life long hobby. That name is George Perez. Welcome home heroes this blog is back for a celebration…a celebration of artistic excellence. *

I was spoiled as a comic’s fan. My introduction to comics, I will argue, is a case of starting out on top and then everything else is a downhill situation. My first comic that I bought on my own free will was the George Perez/Marv Wolfman New Teen Titan’s number 1. I was absolutely hooked. It shined with brand new characters, plus my favorite DC character at the time was Robin, he of Batman fame! The book was electricity to this 6 year old’s eyes. I didn’t know it at the time but this was my gold standard that all else would be compared to. Perez was special..if there was such thing as a PERFECT draftsman it’s George. On December 7th George announced to the world he had terminal pancreatic cancer and had 6 months to a year to live. The outpouring of love for George on social media was nothing short of incredible and heartwarming. This article is not an obituary. It is not a career retrospective this is simply a note to George to thank him and tell him how much his work impacted me. So Mr. Perez.. this ones for you.

First, an introduction to our Mighty Marching Super-Blog Team-Up (YES I KNOW it doesn’t rhyme work with me here!!) Super-Blog Team-Up is a collective effort that occurs quarterly and involves blogs, podcasts, YouTube networks and more to create content on a single theme and launch on one specific day. We all know the amount of content out there in 2022 in regards to podcasts and video platforms can be overwhelming and the blogging format often takes a back seat. The folks at the SBTU believe that great work should be shared and this is the heart and soul of our band of brothers (and Sister!) to keep the heart beat of bloggers and content creators alive and visible. If you enjoy this post the good news is there is much more to enjoy. At the bottom of these writings you will see a whole host of links for more Super-Blog Team-Up action. If you are a Twitter nerd like me why not use the hashtags #SuperBlogTeamUp or #SBTU for access to all of our past events! Now with formalities out of the way on to the reason we have all assembled to celebrate the works of one special artist in our industry Mr. George Perez.

I had read plenty of comics growing up. I was reading nearly everything on the rack and grocery cash lanes. The All-Star artist’s of my era were John Byrne, Frank Miller, Neal Adam’s, Jim Aparo, Gene Colan just to name a few..a heavyweight line up if there ever was one. Another “Hero fact” was that I was a tried and true DC Comic’s kid! Batman and Detective were my go-to books first every month. 



I had noticed George’s work on the Avengers but at that young age I did not have a discerning eye enough to say “that’s George Perez book!!”.. or “That’s a John Byrne book.!!” You just knew what felt right. You just knew that this was what the characters were meant to look and feel like. One of the biggest qualms I have with looking at a modern comic is that they simply didn’t feel like a comic. Digital artwork simply doesn’t look like pencil on paper. It just doesn’t. There is a defined rule set that makes great comic art for me. They are simple rules magnon

First it’s the visual. Do the characters look they way they should? Did the artist get Superman’s face right? Were Batman’s ears big enough? One of the biggest disappointments of my life was reading Jack Kirby do Super Powers. Superman just wasn’t right, Wonder Woman looked like a cro-magnon cross dresser. I realize now looking back the issue was not Kirby….it just wasn’t George.

Two. Is the artist able to convey realistic characters in not only action poses but just acting and living on the page like regular humans??

Three. Bombascity. Did the work jump off the page. Was it exciting? Visually challenging? 

Finally. The details!! A good artist can draw a solid character shape on the page. A great artist can design a living and breathing world for these characters to live in with great backgrounds, lush environments and mind blowing original sets that just send you deep into your imagination. 

For me Perez checks everyone of these boxes and in many cases wrote the book on them!! Character’s looked and felt alive inside the pages. He conveyed emotion in all the characters he created and drew and for that 15 minutes you held a Perez book in your hand you lived in his world because it was real! 

Back to New Teen Titans. Starting with just the cover alone this book was special. The covers made the books “MUST SEE” and it featured a toy box of new characters like Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg who were born under George’s pencil. Whether it was battling Deathstroke, or Brother Blood you had someone making these hero’s and villains live on the page. Robin a character decades old never looked so good and George matured him and it felt “right”. The New Teen Titans were my team!! 

As my exposure to comic’s advanced I was introduced to such Legends as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita Sr. , and John Buscema to name a few but none of them seemed in my young eyes to be on the level of Perez during this time. As I said at the start, I was spoiled out of the gate. Of course as years went by I learned to love all the aforementioned names but I also knew what outstanding pencil work looked like.

George who had cut his teeth on such books as the Avengers in the 1970s, as well on books such as Werewolf By Night, Fantastic Four and the InHumans…It would be the opportunities he received at DC that would propel him to superstardom. 

Perez was the man to call on when DC wanted to reset their entire run of books that they had published since 1937. Competition between Marvel and DC had heated up and the once mighty DC comics were now no longer the top dog in the industry as Marvel had found its way into the hearts and minds of comic readers. DC responded by buying up other companies such as a now defunct Charlton Comics and other existing properties in an attempt to realign their offerings. One massive problem DC thought they had was something that is very popular these days…the idea of the multiverse. The idea of multiple earth’s and realities was an issue creatively. The years of continuity was a creative hindrance for DC creative and the decision was made to wipe the slate clean with an all encompassing event known as Crisis On Infinite Earths. The idea was to streamline the years of muddled continuity into a clean linear singular universe. A massive undertaking to be sure but the question was who would bring this epic to life visually? George Perez was the man behind the 12 issue epic and it was incredible! It was here Perez showcased his magnum opus. 

All of George’s strengths were on display. Not only could George make magic in a multi person team book drawing multiple characters and scenes ..with Crisis On Infinite Earths he had to draw the entirety of the DC Universe. Every single character..drawn with style guide perfection. 

His mastery of scenery and intricate detail that was George’s signature. Every world, every space, scene, building , landscape all picture perfect. George Perez had arrived..and no one could touch him.

Every artist has their signature book..a signature Hero or maybe a team they hang their hat on. George had already made waves with epic runs on Avengers and The New Teen Titans. Now with DC rebooting its entire history it challenged it’s creative teams to re energize their core heroes to make them compelling to a very Marvel loving comics buying audience. Somewhere DC lost their “cool” factor and Marvel was the buzz at the comic shops. The first thing in DC’s plan was to inject the Trinity (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman- DC’s Big Three!) with life blood with big time creative engines. Miller revitalized Batman following the legendary Dark Knight Returns 4 issue Limited Series.  John Byrne re imagined Superman with Man Of Steel.  In 87 Perez took full creative reigns on Wonder Woman both writing and drawing the book for 24 issues but staying on the book until issue 61 after stepping away from his artistic duties For me it was the first time Wonder Woman had felt and looked significant in forever. George drew her as a strong and powerful female super heroine who didn’t play second fiddle to the boys. The books direction became grounded as Perez took steps to develop her supporting cast of Amazonian’s, and pulled deeply into her Greek god roots. It was a transformation. This version is the same model they use in her modern incarnations in comics and on the big Hollywood Screens.

Perez’s Wonder Woman is such a departure as he establishes her as a force to be reckoned with better than any arc prior to this. The third string, love sick girl running around in her underwear was replaced with a dead serious Amazonian warrior, a creation of the gods just as powerful and certainly a more experienced fighter than her trinity counterparts. Wonder Woman was finally a full fledged top shelf character in DC and the magic of this shift in narrative set the table for everything we know about Wonder Woman today.

Where does George Perez stand in the pantheon of comics greatest artists? I get that opinions are subjective. Every one has their favorite’s and have good reasons for them. I am a fan of “Comic Book” art. I know great pencils when I see them. I look for detail. I look for emotional resonance. I look for realistic character interactions and I would argue that George Perez has mastered every element of what I love in a comic. He was my introduction to the comics world and was an entry drug like no other. They say you always remember your first and as I said at the beginning I was spoiled out of the gate holding that issue of The New Teen Titans. I would love to think that George himself may some how stumble upon this blog and my words and if he does I want him to know that his work meant something. It inspired people to read and create inside this medium and future generations of artists at this very minute are trying to emulate the work that he has done. Super-Blog Team-Up was created out of love for the comics medium and I know I speak from every one of our team when I say THANK YOU George you are loved and appreciated.

This is only the beginning. The Mighty SBTU have so much more detailed analysis of the very best Perez work out there. I urge you to check out all the amazing talent that makes up the Super-Blog Team-Up and their incredible articles and podcasts all about the master of the pencil… Mr. George Perez!

Until next time Satellite Subscribers we will see you all again…after a while! For MORE Super-Blog Team-Up action you need to go right now and check out the work of my fellow collaborators by clicking the links as we continue to discuss the work of one George Perez!

END TRANSMISSION…

1. The Superhero Satellite: PEREZ

https://wp.me/p2N3Qb-1Lo

2. Between the Pages Blog: George Perez’s Uncanny X-Men

https://www.betweenthepagesblog.com/2022/01/george-perezs-uncanny-x-men.html

3. Source Material Comic Podcast: Brave and the Bold #1-6

https://www.spreaker.com/user/5870686/sm-perez-bandb-amped_7

4. The Telltale Mind: Hulk: Future Imperfect.

https://thetelltalemind.com/

5. In My Not So Humble Opinion: I-BOTS from Tekno Comix

https://benjaminherman.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/i-bots-from-tekno-comix/

6. Dave’s Comic Blog: Avengers #150, Fantastic Four #176, Justice League Of America #184, New Teen Titans #1 https://davescomicheroes.blogspot.com/2022/01/george-perezs-fantastic-titanic-firsts.html

7. Comics Comics Comics blog: JLA/Avengers: It Had to be George https://comicscomicscomics.blog/?p=1709

8. Chris Is On Infinite Earths: X-Lapsed

https://www.chrisisoninfiniteearths.com/

9. . The Daily Rios: A George Pérez Celebration #2

https://thedailyrios.com/

10. Radulich in Broadcasting Network: Comic Stripped: Logan’s Run

W2Mnet.com

The 1970s INCREDIBLE HULK SHOW Super-Blog Team-Up: “The Doctor Is In”

“The Lonely and Tragic Life Of Dr. David Banner”



Hey what’s going on Heroes, it’s your old pal Charlton Hero back at ya with another installment of the Mighty Marching Super-Blog Team-Up!! If this is your first time stopping by let me fill you in on what the mighty SBTU is all about! We are a collective of like minded bloggers, podcasters and content creators who come together 4 times a year to collaborate on a single topic event and put our own unique spin on the selected theme! Then we all release our content on one defined day and share in the community that is comics and pop culture. This time out our theme is “The Doctor Is In”. This event is a celebration of “The Doctor” characters in all forms throughout Pop Culture. From the Sci-Fi World of Doctor Who, The Mystical realms of Doctor Fate to the super badassery of Motley Crews Dr. Feelgood! Doctors have existed in multiple versions and personas and are a staple of any genre. We at Super-Blog Team-Up deep dive some of the most famous Doctors all the way to to the super obscure practitioners as we let the Blog-o-Sphere know that “The Doctor Is Indeed IN!!”

For this installment the Satellite has tracked activity in our veritable time scanning probe to the late 70s where we will encounter an old friend of ours working on an experiment on Gamma radiation that will not go particularly well for our subject today Dr. David Banner… aka The Incredible Hulk!! More specifically we are discussing the 1977 Television Series The Incredible Hulk!! We will deep dive this amazing series and walk through Dr. David Banners TV Origins, Its importance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its overall place in the lore of The Incredible Hulk story as a whole. At the end I will provide you with my top 5 recommendations of the very best “Bill Bixby-David Banner” episodes of the series!!  

Lets not wait anymore strap into the Satellite Heroes we have a Monster to catch!! 

Transmission Date : May 12th 2021

There are things in life that you can remember the exact time and date of where you were and who you were with and as we get older sometimes these memories fade into the time. Then there are those things are are as vibrant in your memory as the day you experienced it. This is my experience with the 70s Incredible Hulk TV Series. I stumbled upon the series as a child in the very early 80s staring at a 13” Black and White TV set or if I was lucky a nice color version at my Grandmother’s house. We had two glorious channels both amazingly 100% Canadian in CBC and our local network NTV. Its all I knew and my knowledge of pop culture was limited to this tiny box to view the world through. There was no on demand, heck there weren’t even any VCR’s to watch your recording later. You had to be there!! If not these shows existed only in conversation the next morning at school. 

The show was from the mind of Kenneth Johnson (yes he of “V” fame) and of course was based on The Marvel Comics Character created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee! He first appeared in the pages of his own title The Incredible Hulk in May 1962. His origin differs slightly than his Television Origins in that Robert Bruce Banner (Not his TV persona David Banner) is exposed to Gamma radiation while saving his best friend Rick Jones from the explosion of a Gamma Bomb. The effects of this exposure alters Bruce Banner’s life forever. When he is subjected to great amounts of stress or anger Bruce transforms into the Rampaging Hulk. As history had it Bruce is altered into the giant Grey monster The Hulk. Against his will when the moment strikes Bruce when triggered becomes the out of control rampaging monster who at times is part hero and part public menace. The Hulk was always a fixture of Stan Lee’s vision of Marvel and one of the top projects he pitched to studios around Hollywood. Spiderman and The Incredible Hulk began proceedings with their own televised series in 1977 but would be followed by an ill fated Doctor Strange TV Movie in September of 1978 on CBS followed by  two Captain America live action TV Movies The January 1979 self titled Captain America and its sequel in November of the same year Captain America 2: Death Too soon! None of the shows or movies listed had the impact or cultural importance of Johnson’s The Incredible Hulk TV Series. 

I recall being very unsettled by the opening scene of the TV Show as a kid at about the age of 7 or 8. Take a look at that opening and tell me this would not scare the living bejesus out of any kid seeing this for the first time. The rain, the dark, the car accident and that insidious transformation into the monster. This was a game changer for me. My childhood heroes were alive and on my screen and for once they were taken dead serious. Don’t take my word for it see for yourself! Satellite Initiate Viewing Screens for our Heroes:

The Opening:

https://youtu.be/M7Hh063ZtsA

“Dr. David Banner, Physician/Scientist,searching for a way to tap into the hidden strengths that all humans have.

Then an accidental overdose of gamma

radiation interacts with his unique

body chemistry.

And now, when David Banner grows angry

or outraged, a startling metamorphosis

occurs.

(HULK GROWL) RRRRRRRRAAAAAAA!

Narrator:The creature is driven by rage

and pursued by an investigative reporter.

BANNER: Mr. McGee, don’t

make me angry. You wouldn’t

like me when I’m angry.

(HULK GROWL) RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAA!

Narrator: An accidental explosion

took the life of a fellow scientist

and supposedly David Banner

as well. The reporter thinks

the creature was responsible.

McGee: “I gave a description to all

the law enforcement agencies. They got

a warrant for murder out of it.“

Narrator: A murder which David Banner

can never prove he or the creature

didn’t commit. So he must let the world

go on thinking that he too is dead,

until he can find a way to control the

raging spirit that dwells within him.

(HULK ROAR) RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

The TV Origin!

Dr. David Bruce Banner your lead character in the show was played by the incredible (Pardon the pun!) Bill Bixby. Bixby appears in 82 episodes of the show. After the shows cancellation Bixby would even reprise his roll of the nomadic Doctor/ Monster for three made for Television movies with the 1988 “The Incredible Hulk Returns” followed the next year by “The Trial Of The Incredible Hulk” wrapping the trilogy with the 1990 The Death Of The Incredible. The following is as much as I could gather from various sources detailing the origin of our TV David Bruce Banner!

Dr. David Bruce Banner was born in Trevorton, Colorado, in the first half of the 1940s. His father, D.W. Banner wanted David to stay on the family farm and take it over from him someday—D.W. went so far as to tell David that he would pay his son’s entire way through any agricultural college of his choice. David, the son of a farmer ,had always wanted to be a doctor, as young as the age of 5 years old. For background it was noted that David’s sister, Helen, walked in on him performing a play surgical procedure on one of her dolls. David suffered trauma early in life after discovering his mother dead in her bed as a child. He harbored a sharp resentment for his Father whom he placed blame for the death of his Mom which made him want to leave his hometown to make it on his own and live his dream as a Doctor David eventually did attend medical school. It was here he met his future colleague and fellow classmate  Elaina Marks. Following school David would go on to marry Laura Banner who horrifically perished on a cold rainy night during an electrical storm. The story originates when Dr. David Banner and his wife Laura are riding in their car when a tire blows out. The car rolls over. David gets thrown out, but his wife does not. He tries to save her by lifting the car to get her out, but was unsuccessful. 

David’s grief and loss was overwhelming  years later Elaina went on to become his colleague at The Culver Institute of California. They were working on intense research around  the mystery of the enormous physical strength that all humans possess when under stress or extreme circumstances.. The loss of Laura and his inability to alter her fate changed David’s daily existence. He became motivated to discover the secret of superhuman feats of strength that the body has the ability to access and the interviews he conducted with Elaina of people who also had had loved ones in as much life-threatening jeopardy as Laura had been in, but were able to tap into that well of enormous strength to save, accomplished little more than to make grief, resentment and frustration a major part of David’s everyday existence.

During David’s case study he concluded that the cause of accessing  super human strength was in an elevated adenine-thymine level of a person’s  DNA. This was not possible organically so David concluded there was some other force at work, some external factor introduced into these humans to get this elevation in strength namely Gamma Rays! Dr. Banner predicted that bursts of gamma-radiation on the surface of the sun were able to reproduce the exact effect of enhanced human strength ability in a laboratory setting!  Banner went as far as to  strap himself into the Institutes  radiation emitter and subjected  himself to Gamma Radiation for 15 seconds. Unbeknownst to Banner the device had been updated to emit up to 6 times the amount of Gamma rays beyond what is considered the maximum exposure a human was said to be able to endure!! 

With this extreme exposure Banners level of adenine-thymine was elevated beyond any normal means which as a result caused a massive transformation into the huge musclebound Monster, The Incredible Hulk which in the future would be triggered at moments of great stress or anger. 

Wow…that’s a lot to take in right? The show was actually a simple concept. Dr. David Banner on his search for a cure to his inner monster In each individual episode, Banner wanders from town to city, using false aliases  and getting by doing odd jobs to stay afloat and to continue funding his research. Each episode he is faced with a dilemma where he feels compelled to help the people he meets get out of some sort of predicament . It’s the old monster of the week design that we all know and love and with the exception of a couple of two part episodes, each show can be considered a one and done and viewed on its own merits. Of course as David attempts to help out folks many times he is triggered with anger or intense situations and metamorphosizes into the Hulk. These Monster sightings have gained the attention of Investigative Reporter and TV show bad guy, Jack McGee who is Banner’s foil for nearly the entirety of the series.The Hulk usually rages on the side of good and generally helps out those in need yet at the end of each episode he is forced to hit the road to the ominous tones of the song “Lonely man” to move on to the next town in search of one day finding a way to silence the Monster. 

This show was staggering to me as a kid. Not only was it an opportunity to see my heroes on the small screen every week in my living room but it was a different time. Super Hero fare was not the norm like it is in 2021 where the amount of comic book related shows and movies often outweigh regular shows on every network. It was scary and electric. It was also tragic. Bixby as David Banner was a revelation. Outside of all the “Green Monster” fun and the “Hulk Smash” moments the story of Dr. David Banner trying to find himself always spoke to me. The plight of the lonely man misunderstood by society and battling his own large green skinned demon who in the end only wants to make things right speaks to me personally. Despite its differences to the source material this show is well above the grade of what was being aired at the time. These days the Marvel Cinematic Universe is hitting us on all levels with big budget blockbusters like Avengers: Endgame which broke records all over the world, to Netflix producing gritty street level beat cop style shows with Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, the Punisher and more. Don’t forget DisneyPlus giving us cinematic quality series such as Wanda Vision, The Falcon and Winter Soldier, and Loki! We are spoiled as an audience. Picture yourself in 1977 with NOTHING else to judge it against and then you were given The Hulk!! It would be a Loooong time before Marvel would even come close to the hemisphere of beating the sheer quality of the show. 

Let’s be fair..it debuted in the pre-CGI era and kids watching today may think that old “Big Green’ may look a little cheesy but it was the actual writing on the show that made this thing more than a show about a big green monster. You got to know the MAN…David Banner. There were many episodes that held off on the Monster side of things and dealt with Banner himself and really built the human element of the show which really spoke to me as a kid viewer who tuned in for the “Hulk Smash” but stayed for the human element. 

First we can start with just the amazing casting Bixby and the Hulk himself. Lou Ferrigno evolved into their characters to the point I could not see anyone else in their roles. Lou was perfect as the Hulk. As said before there was no CGI but Lou a world class bodybuilder didn’t need computers to be larger than life on screen as he was an absolutely immense man of size and muscle. With a questionable wig and green oil paint Ferrigno WAS The Hulk and no one questioned his legitimacy in that role.Now that you casted the Monster now you had to find the MAN! None better than the very first choice for the role Bill Bixby who was already an accomplished actor in such roles in My Favorite Martian , Rich Man Poor Man, The Twilight Zone, Fantasy Island, The Magician and many many more. Bixby WAS Bruce Banner!! They needed someone who could project as an actor to show intensity, torment and rage but yet be likeable. I am sure if you watched the show its hard to argue that Bixby didn’t pull off everyone of those criteria! He was the everyman that you could relate to and that is what made this show sing to TV audiences all over the world.

If you were a kid in that era you always did “The Quote” you know the one… “Don’t Make me Angry..You Wont Like Me When I’m Angry”. Seriously if you were a kid of the 80s and into comic books someone at some point got levied that particular ditty their way! 

All you had to do was watch the opening and closing of the show and you “Got” what the show was. There does not exist a more appropriate intro and outro for a show that sets you up with all you need to know from drama and intensity. The outro in particular always stuck with me with a song titled “The Lonely Man Theme” as a song that nearly netted an Emmy award for the Incredible Hulk in 82!. If you listen carefully they even do a variation on that in the Hulks 2008 Cinematic entry!!

The Incredible Hulk show was also unique from everything else at the time in that Marvels iconic Figurehead Stan Lee who was trumpeting Marvel in Live Action as hard as he possibly could was said to have only liked the Hulk outside of the other Marvel small screen adaptations up to that point namely The infamous Dr. Strange Movie and The Amazing Spider Man show. Calling the productions a Nightmare he was all in on the Hulk fortunately!

 Interviews of the day saw Lee boldly and giddy expound his appreciation for the show as well! Heck as famous as the “Stan Lee’ cameos were in the MCU it was the Trial Of The INcredible Hulk TV Movie that featured his first onscreen movie cameo!! Keep in mind Lee would be waiting a LOOOONG time following the Hulk and its follow up movies before Marvel would give us another attempt at cinema in the 1990 Captain America basically direct to video release which Lee considered a step backwards again and a disappointment! 

The show itself would be considered a big hit in the ratings for Marvel in the ONLY hit it would see until the  X-men Trilogy would release many moons later. We can argue that “Blade” was a hit but when you consider the criteria of a Superhero film Blade falls in the category of a stand alone horror film which in my mind disqualifies it as the “First SuperHero” film to be a “hit” for Marvel. 

The Incredible Hulk Tv Series and its three follow up Made For Tv movies would begin the idea of Superhero crossovers on screen! Now we had seen shows cross over in the past but minds were blow when the likes of Thor and Daredevil made their appearances with Bixby and Ferrigno further cementing the franchise as a historically significant happening for Marvel in a time they were trying to find their way along the path to what would become the Box Office Juggernaut known as the Mighty MCU!

Consider what Superheroes graced the screen in the past. Yes the serials produced excellent fare such as TVs Superman starring George Reeves, The Green Hornet, Flash Gordon, Batman, and  we also got Shazam and not to mention Isis on Saturday mornings! Of course the pinnace of all Super-Hero television was the 1966 Batman live action show starring Adam West and Burt Ward which up to that point was the measuring stick for comic book onscreen success! The issue was most of these were popcorn fillers and not particularly taken serious. A serial in the theaters was not considered high theater at the time, and certainly West’s Batman was intended to be tongue and cheek. The Incredible Hulk was the first show to be taken seriously and when you stack up all the others our show stands like a giant above all the others.

Now that we get the big picture on how this show was received we need to get into our theme this time round for Super-Blog Team -Up and that being “The Doctor Is In”. With all that said these are what I consider the best “Dr. David Banner episodes of The Incredible Hulk. These shows are lighter than normal on the “Big Green Monster” aspect of the show and more character pieces that flesh out the struggle of our good Doctor as he attempts to shed his Inner monster.

Top 5 Doctor David Banner Episodes Of The Incredible Hulk

5. “Married” Our good Doctor finds himself  in the warmth and sun filled beaches of Honolulu where he goes in search of someone who may be able to “Cure” him or at least let him control his inner  Monster, a one Dr. Caroline Fields. Fields struggles with a life threatening disease of her own and David sees an opportunity to help her as he knows he possesses a healing factor that exists when he transforms into The Hulk. It’s a very touching episode as it allows Banner to have a very rare few minutes of actual happiness as he is able to fall in love again and even remarry!!. Not to spoil things but this one ends tragically. This is the one episode where David nearly gets a chance at happiness in his life again and can almost forget about the big green monster inside him. Heartwarming and tragic.

4. “Pilot”: No better beginning than the first episode. We get everything we need to understand the tragic existence of one Dr. David Banner. Banner is grieving after the loss of his wife Laura whom he did not have the strength to save from a terrible car accident. He sets out to find out the secret to unlocking hidden human strength and decides to experiment on himself with Gamma rays…which of course is the beginnings of his eventual tragic transformation into the monster that would haunt his life forever afterwards. If you are just starting the Hulk series this is your starting point! You can mix and match episodes afterwards but this one is your base!

3.”The First” (Parts 1 and 2). This is cheating because this is actually a two part episode but this is my blog and ill include both because I can! Deal with it!! Doctor Banner stumbles upon the news that there were “Hulk” sightings that are happening around a small town years BEFORE Banner became the Hulk!. Is it possible that there is ANOTHER Hulk on the loose?? David is determined to find out! He sets out to the small town to find out that a scientist who embarked on a similar road as David has passed away leaving an incomplete set of notes leaving his trail empty…until we meet town local Dell Frye who catches Banner transforming exposing his secret!! Frye swears himself to secret but is interested in helping David find the previous scientists notes to assist him in finding his cure. What a nice guy right!! WRONG. No deep spoilers here but Frye has his own agenda and all I will tell you is that this episode features the first Hulk vs Hulk battle ever put to film!! Go out of your way to see this one!!

2. “Homecoming” This season 3, episode 8 show was a “Special” Thanksgiving Episode! Remember when we had “Special ” Holiday episodes!! Well Hulk fans who were expecting a super sized Green Monster episode would be disappointed as this is one that deals with most David “Going Home”. He stops , for the moment anyways, his journey and visits his Father and Sister! It’s here we see the effect his mothers death has had on him and how that fractured his relationship with his father. This one really gives us that background into who David Banner was Pre- Green Monster era took control of his existence.

1.”Prometheus” (Season 4 Episodes 1-2).This episode opens season 4 and is another 2 parter!! See I am cheating again but these are two of my absolute favorites and very Dr. Banner heavy episodes. In this set of episodes David meets a blind woman just before a meteor strikes the location where they are at. This situation nearly triggers a Hulk transformation however something unique happens here as Banner’s transformation into the Hulk stalls midway leaving him as half man and half monster!! (Basically bulkier with green eyes!!) He is later tracked down and captured by the government who are convinced this “Man-Monster” is born of Area 51 and an alien!! Of course eventually David is able to complete his transformation, escape and disappear into the world again to start the 4th season. This set of episodes hit at the outright tragedy of the character. Instead of trying to control the rage monster inside him now the Doctor was stuck in physical limbo as he is even more tragically now part monster on the outside and tracked down like an animal. This ones hits at the heart of the Hulk character.

The Incredible Hulks Television Shows Place in Marvel History.

The Television series swings away from the established continuity set up by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in the 60s but offers its own important contributions to the Incredible Hulk Mythos.



Its the first introduction to the Green Eyes during the transformation into the Hulk. This was the audiences cue that s*** was about to get real! The show used this to its absolute perfection. Horrifying and effective when David turns to the camera the start of the epic transformation into the Monster was on!! No matter how old I get I always LOVE this part of the transformation!

It’s also introduced us to the Hulks antagonist ace reporter Jack McGee!! The ever present McGee would track Banner’s Hulk throughout the series and appears in 56 of the series 82 episode run and eventually makes his return in 1988s Return of the Incredible Hulk where he relents on his chase of the Hulk finally and begins chasing Thor appearances!! The name Jack McGee would resurface once again in the 2008 Hulk movie as a character of the same name is introduced as a student at a school. A nice wink and a nod there!!

One would be remiss that this show also is the official introduction to the name “David” being added to the Bruce Banner name. Mythos has it that show producers thought the name Bruce was too closely associated with the gay community which sadly in the late 70s was still struggling for acceptance and as a result those with say fought to have it changed and were successful and thus was born the new and improved (??) “David” Bruce Banner was born. Sigh…a real sign of the times with that one. I could not find official confirmation of this but this has been the lore forever. I’ll give the showrunners the benefit of the doubt and leave this one as a myth for the benefit of all involved. Origins aside I did dig the name David being added to his name especially when he needed to disguise himself in the show. 

As you can see this show not only had a huge impact on me but definitely made its mark in the eyes of the fandom and was an early brightspot for Marvel in the infancy of the live action genre. With that said this draws our discussion to a conclusion 

Well that’s all Satellite fans!! I truly hope you have enjoyed our visit to the late 70’s rediscovering the magic and vision of Bill Bixby’s Incredible Hulk show I know I have but wait…we have plenty of more Pop Culture Doctors to discover as Super-Blog Team Up keeps on rolling with “The Doctor Is In!!” Check out all of our amazing contributors below.Till next time Satellite Subscribers..

Transmission Ended…

VISIT THE REST OF OUR AMAZING TEAM!! “THE DOCTOR IS IN” Continues BELOW!!

Between The Pages Blog: The World’s Most Popular Football Holder & Psychiatrist – Lucy van Pelt https://www.betweenthepagesblog.com/2021/05/the-worlds-most-popular-psychiatrist-lucy-van-pelt.html

Daves Comics Blog – The Immortal Dr. Fate https://davescomicheroes.blogspot.com/2021/05/immortal-doctor-fate.html 

Magazines and Monsters: Doctor Voodoo  https://magazinesandmonsters.com

Comics Comics Comics -The Power Of Podcasting and Doctor Who https://comicscomicscomics.blog/2021/05/12/super-blog-team-up-the-power-of-podcasting-and-doctor-who/

Radulich in Broadcasting Network – Doctor Doolittle 1998 & 2001 https://www.spreaker.com/user/wrestling2themax/long-road-to-ruin-sbtu-edition-dr-dolitt

Metal Hammer Of Doom: Motley Crew: Doctor Feelgood https://www.spreaker.com/user/wrestling2themax/metal-hammer-of-doom-sbtu-edition-moetle

SuperHero Satellite-  The 1970s Incredible Hulk Television Series: The Lonely and Tragic Life Of Doctor David Banner https://charltonhero.wordpress.com/2021/05/12/the-1970s-incredible-hulk-show-super-blog-team-up-the-doctor-is-in/

Asterisk51- Doctor Bong: For Whom the Bell Tolls https://asterisk51.blogspot.com/2021/05/doctor-bong-for-whom-bell-tolls.html

Pop Culture Retrorama- Dr Thirteen The Ghost Breaker. https://popcultureretrorama.com/2021/05/12/super-blog-team-up-doctor-thirteen-the-ghost-breaker/?fbclid=IwAR0xoP8ZxP1bCNzb48N-46ghO0iLqSkiAJnxJ5jh9hzl1JeDXOH6qeDfZ4A

Superhero Satellite Podcast Episode 2: Toys (Featuring Scott Kinney)

Welcome Back Heroes!!

Its another installment of the SHS Podcast and this is one you are NOT gonna want to miss!! Click the link below and start listening but check out this blog post first for plenty of visual eye candy!! If you are a toy collector look no further than this action packed episode!!

Begin Transmission: 1/28/2021

Super-Hero Satellite Podcast Episode 2 is HERE!! In this episode we deep dive into vintage toy collecting. I share my memories of growing up a Toy Collector and all the memories around Christmas toy hauls and random stories of how I came upon some of the most classic toys there ever existed! I also brought in an expert to provide professional analysis as Mr. Scott Kinney, who happens to be the executive producer of The Game Chasers Motion Picture as well as the Executive Producer for Mark Hamill’s Pop Culture Quest Youtube Steaming Series joins me in the conversation!! Hang with us as we discuss our favorite childhood toy lines, collecting stories and plenty of industry discussion.

Scott has been a long time collector and has amassed an amazing collection of some of the greatest and rarest toy-lines out there!! Our discussion goes deep into his passion for collecting and many of the stories attached to finding some of the essential key collectors toys in the wild. Scott is no stranger to selling vintage toys and always finds himself at Flea Markets and conventions buying and selling some of the worlds most coveted collectibles. Dont believe me? Check out the proof below!! You may need to sit down as this collection is staggering!!

You are not a true Toy collector without showcasing Kenner’s Super Powers collection!! A key collection featuring the best DC Superheroes and villains all on display right here. For those with a kean eye..yes that is the mega rare Cyborg figure behind Clark Kent in that picture!! Dont forget one of my favorite pieces as well that Super Powers Hall Of Justice!! Just a beautiful set right here!!

Serious Toy collectors know the value of the next set of toys the Super Elusive Shogun Warrior figures, but not just the Shogun warriors but BOTH versions of Godzilla from that line. These are considered the crown jewel of that collection and the Godzilla variant is on the very top of Vintage Collectors checklists of holy grails!

Possibly the most incredible collection of Shogun Warriors I have ever seen. Do a careful scan of this picture and just see the deep cuts that exist in this wall of toys. A true collector knows that when it comes to vintage hot toys there is nothing as pure as what is on this photo. We cover all the details of Shogun Warriors in the show so be sure to check out the stories associated with acquiring this giant collection.

One of my favorite Toy lines is one that many times gets lost in the conversation and that is Sectaur’s. Sectaurs: Warriors of Symbion was a line of action figures released by Coleco in 1985 and were a deluxe and often time very expensive toy-line that I ate up as a kid. The central collectible of the collection is The Hyve Action Play-set. A super rare massive play set that is highly sought after by collectors that finds its home in the incredible Kinney Collection! (Super jealous Scott!! LOL)

Scott’s collection has also been highlighted by the amazing Netflix series dedicated to Toy Collecting called “The Toys That Made Us” As you can see in this picture the incredible vintage 12″ Star Wars figures as well as a load of vintage Boba Fett figures THE hottest Star Wars toy burning up collectible websites everywhere these days hot off the heels of Disney’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian! You gotta hear our reflections on the Star Wars figures and that incredible Kenner line of amazing collectibles in the show!!

Find Scott on Twitter at @kidkosmic and as well at @Popculturequest and enjoy all of his tweets which happens to be heavy with amazing pics of collectibles and other super nerdy and fun stuff!! One would be remiss to not tell you of Scott’s own attempt at making his OWN Toy!! I present to you Brogun Warriors! Yeah they look a little familiar but that’s the point!! The first toy was commissioned by http://toyworth.com as an NYCC exclusive. The first pic was a mock up Scott put on Instagram and was then contacted and asked to produce a limited number for NYCC!!. The toy was even bought by Robert Bruce while at the con and was showcased online!

Making our own toys is what dreams are made of!! If you ever wanted to make your own toy what would you make?? Let us know we would love to hear! In the meantime thanks for checking out the blog and I hope you all dig the show…its a real labor of love for me! If you are a visual person and a Youtube only type of person you can see the completely unedited discussion right here as well!! Now that’s being SUPER SERVED!!

Drop us a comment here on the blog or on my Twitter @Charlton_Hero or on email at charltonhero@gmail.com! We would love to hear from you! Come on back in February for the 3rd of 4 episodes of The SuperHero Satellite Podcast as we tackle Sci-Fi Television…and a little thing called “V”…Oh yeah!!

Till Next Time Heroes!!

Transmission Ended..

SuperHero Satellite Podcast Episode 1: Origins

Hey gang!!

Look what blog just got it’s very own podcast!!! Today marks the long lamented debut of The SuperHero Satellite Podcast! Blog fans can now listen to me as we cover all the great retro things we enjoy right here on this blog! Today we chat with the inspiration for my podcasting venture Comic Geek Speak and The Daily Rios own Peter Rios joins the show to discuss our comic book origins!

Keep in mind this will NOT replace the regular blog posts but will be an addition to this site as additional content! Strap in heroes..SuperHero Satellite Podcast begins NOW!

https://podcast.app/shs-ep-the-origin-story-e126091867/?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=share

SUPER BOOK CLUB TEAM UP: Preview The Fade Out

Hey Satellite Subscribers!

Myself and a curated selection of fellow bloggers and podcasts joined up for a new project called Super Book Club Team Up where we discuss a Book, Series or what ever else can be consumed reading the English language and this is our first effort as we dissected The Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips Book The Fade Out.

Check out content creators Mark Radulich on Twitter for his many many hours of podcast content! Find him on Twitter @markradulich and on the W2M podcast network for all his amazing content! Last but not least Super Blog Team Ups JJ Goldstein can be found @bigox737 and on his blog https://comicscomicscomics.blog/

Now.. enjoy this preview! Feel free to leave a comment! Tell em Hero sent ya!

https://superblogteamup.wordpress.com/2020/08/26/super-book-club-team-up-vol-1-the-fade-out/?fbclid=IwAR0z8SN76dlFplyE3nC2t7iQDIS8jRWJocsba4EYZ1YnLgnY2i4CI2exGas

Below is a sample of the Teams analysis! For the COMPLETE article you have to click the above link! For now enjoy!!

Posted: August 26, 2020 in Uncategorized

Super-Book Club Team-Up: Vol. 1

The Fade Out:

Plot:

Charlie Parish, a Hollywood screenwriter suffering from PTSD, is fronting for his blacklisted best friend, Gil. When Charlie wakes from a blackout in the same room as a murdered starlet, he and Gil set out to bring her killer to justice. As they follow leads trying to piece together the night leading up to the murder, cooperative witnesses are punished by the studio’s fixer. Charlie is prepared to quit when Gil tries to blackmail the head of the studio by anonymously claiming he “knows what happened” with the starlet. 

Misunderstanding the threat, the studio head tries to destroy evidence that he had sexually abused her when she was a child actor. Charlie and Gil are able to retrieve a folder of photographs and decide to keep fighting for justice. They plan to kidnap the other studio co-founder, who is now suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and will freely admit to the past sins. They arrive at the co-founder’s mansion at the same time the fixers are murdering him to prevent him from talking. As the two friends are escaping from the fixers, Gil is shot and killed. When Charlie resigns himself to working in the corrupt culture, the fixer reveals the actress was murdered by an undercover FBI agent who was looking for communists in Hollywood.

Creative Team:

Ed Brubaker: Writer

Sean Phillips: Artist

Elizabeth Breitweiser: Colors

“The Fade Out is a crime comics series created by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips with the help of colorist Elizabeth Breitweiser and research assistant Amy Condit. Twelve issues were published by Image Comics between August 2014 and January 2016. The story has been collected into three trade paperback volumes and a single hardcover collection.The story, partly inspired by the life of Brubaker’s uncle, is set in 1948 and stars Charlie Parish, a Hollywood screenwritersuffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and fronting for his blacklisted best friend, Gil. When Charlie wakes from a blackout in the same room as a murdered starlet, he and Gil set out to bring her killer to justice. As they learn more about her troubled past, they find themselves up against powerful Hollywood elites who do not want to upset the status quo.Although Brubaker had been concerned the premise was not commercial enough to have wide appeal, The Fade Outsold better than any of the authors’ previous collaborations, and early issues went through several printings. The series received positive reviews from critics.”Credit Wikipedia

The Score Card:

Take the survey below.https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7C2KNH5

The Art

:Charlton Hero: The art was incredible. It 100% captured early Hollywood and the period it was intended for. Rich detail which was obviously well studied as I did no at anypoint feel I was not immersed in this world. The visuals on the characters all inspired by real Hollywood actors and that as well added to the authenticity of the book. Sean Philips details on the architecture, vehicles and dress was carefully studied and the noir style coloring of the book really added to an old school cinematic effect they were clearly striving for. In the letters pages it was noted that the creative team scoured photos, magazines and what ever else hey could find from the period to make each detail authentic. You didnt see cars or technology that didnt belong from that year or earlier. This was well studied and a joy to look at. The character renderings which is the most important of all were perfect and life like. I fully bought the characters of Charlie,Maya, Gil and Brodsky as full fleshed out real people. The aer was VERY strong in this area. There are really no flaws at all that I can point to art wise that is of any value to write here. It was as perfect of a reflection of the time and period as you can hope for. Perfect.Mark Radulich: This isn’t my favorite style of art but it matches the setting and prose style. It’s clear enough to understand what’s happening. It looked like there was use of water colors in some panels, which I enjoyed.

Jeremiah Jones-Goldstein: At first I was not enjoying the art. I felt like it was trying a little too hard to look moody and ape Frank Miller’s work on early Sin City. After I got into the story though I really started to appreciate it. I got into the mood of the story and references to real world people, just slightly off, worked well. Like Hero said, the details in buildings, costume and cars made for an immersive experience. I did feel like the art was reminiscent of Tim Sale, Howard Chyakin, and Frank Miller. And that is a compliment. Stories like “The Long Halloween”, “Black Kiss” and “Sin City” are modern classics (and in the case of Black Kiss infamous classics). Phillips’ work on this series deserves to be in the same discussion with these stories.

Story:

Charlton Hero: The overall story of Hollywood corruption and illusion was captured perfectly here. The goal of the author to portray the bright lights and pearly whites of the Hollywood illusion was perfectly detailed by Brubaker. The story of the seedy under belly of celebrity is on full display. The illusion of perfection in stardom, the abuses actresses took from producers and co stars, the fake celebrity relationships, the seedy corrupt movie politics and of course the mob like dumping of the bodies gave you a real eye opener to how dark this business actually is.The who dunnit style mystery kept me intrigued and on a rollercoaster that felt genuine and not conjured up but rather something very plausible and legit. Seeing the lengths the studios went through to make and break stars as well as control the overall scene was a great sneak behind the shady curtain. The deplorable treatment of women and writers was very well written as well and documented in the legit history of Hollywood in the 40s. Seeing the two worlds on display of celebrity and reality is very much illustrated by Maya and Vals characters who are two high society actresses who appear happy onscreen but their off screen personas are tormented and much different, The character of Dotty is also an interesting focal point who created the illusion of celebrity for these characters. The idea of a secret closed society with a specific agenda to promote a certain persona was rather fun. Mark Radulich: The story feels very LA Confidential to me. That’s a compliment. There’s also elements of Sunset Boulevard in there. Overall it’s a fun Hollywood Noir story.

Jeremiah Jones-Goldstein: This comic was an excellent case of Hollywood Noir. The movie that came to mind for me was Chinatown. For me that is because the more Charlie and Gil dig, the worse things get. They cannot help themselves though. They have a need for resolution. Charlie and Gil are characters, that as the reader, I am rooting for right from the beginning. Their lives are complicated with PTSD, Alcoholism, and infidelity but somehow these things are not entirely their fault.Charlie has suffered in the war in the European theater. Gil is a talented writer who was run over by Hollywood culture. Neither character can get out of their own way. And even at the end of the story while there is resolution, neither is much better off than when the story started. The character development for all the characters is wonderful. As the story progresses we learn more about each of them, Phil, Maya, Val and Malba are more than just props in the mystery that Charlie is trying to solve. Phil really stands out for me as the guy you want to hate, and should hate but by the ned of the story we realize he is just a pawn who is trying to survive in this horrible world.

Favorite Moments:

Charlton Hero: Easily the Charlie and Maya moments are the high point of the story for me. It feels organic and something that would play very well on screen. The relationship served as the perfect separation between what we see on camera and reality. Maya and Charlie were two broken souls making a living in a bankrupt moraless business. Maya was literally a second tier actress plunged into the spotlight to take the place of super star Val Sommers following her death. She is self conscious and feeling undeserving of the spot but trying with help from her PR girl Dotty to play a role steps above her actual status yet struggling to still be herself.Charlie is much the same. He could be a major writer with many credits but his obligation to Gil holds him back. He can’t relish in his wins because he knows that it affects Gil his Blacklisted friend. Charlie our up with tons of abuse from studio reps despite his ideas being better than anything they can come up with. He holds back because he has a friend he has to support and Ghost write in Gil and his wife but also because of his secret that he was there the night Val Sommers died and trying to piece together that mystery. Together him and Maya work. Two cogs in the wheel of a much bigger and phony corrupt business that pays their bills and they it it as much as the business needs them. Charlie and Amaya’s weekend getaway was my favorite part of the entire book.

Mark Radulich: My favorite moment is Brodsky explaining what happened. I know I was questioning things about the plot until the end. Brodsky shows a bit of humanity and vulnerability. I liked the exchange, “Don’t be an asshole!!” “I’m not, I just telling you how it is.”

Jeremiah Jones-Goldstein: I have to agree with CH on Charlie and Maya. The part of the story with their weekend getaway is one of the most tender and natural feeling parts of the story. It comes at a point where we are really looking for the story to move forward and figure out who ‘dunit but then this issue comes along and gives us some real emotion and relief from the seriousness of what we know happened to Val as a child and how horrible the heads of the studio really are. I also really loved the part where Gil and Charlie get into the big fight and we get the rest of their back story. Learning more about Charlie’s PTSD, about what happened between him and Malba, it all just made me like these characters so much more. I was also pleased, like Mark was, with the end of the story where we learn what happened from Phil. I had the thought that the story might end without getting the explanation and that would have worked for me as well it was better with it than without. I was very well done with Phil only suggesting what might have happened inside or just flat out spoon feeding it to the reader. There is still some room for the reader to question what happened and add their own thoughts to it.

The Characters:

Charlton Hero: The characters of Charlie and Gil as two writers trying to make it in a corrupt landscape was a great backdrop to the entire story. Charlie a genius writer covering for his buddy who was blackballed by the industry was a great central story. We get to see much more than surface level relationships. We see Charlie and Gil as reluctant friends that depended on each other for basic survival. Charlie Ghost writing for Gil so he could provide for his family was a great element. Gil knowing that Charlie had a relationship with his wife and not acknowledging it out of obligation to Charlies work was a pivotal moment as well. The Maya and Charlie relationship was truly my favorite part of the book. Mayas persona as a Hollywood Starlett and then a self conscious regular girlfriend to Charlie. Their getaways and secret relationship away from the eyes of the Hollywood Press was a fun part of the story. The fact that she stays with Charlie and doesnt succumb to the virtues of being a “Star” was a great piece of character. Gil was also a favorite of mine. A blackballed writer who has a shaky marriage where he knows that his wife has been sneaking around on him and he feels to be a disappointment to his family. He is dependant on Charlie who he knows has slept with his wife yet needs him to make a living. When Gil goes rogue and wants to blow the lid off of the secrets within the studios of Hollywood is where his character really shines. Desperate and broken but wanting to do the right thing. The characters of Dotty and Brodsky were well done as well. Dotty is a seasoned PR person who KNOWS what is really happening behind the scenes and is fully aware of the abuses and corruption but her job as a spin queen is handled really well as she weaves her magic setting up phony camera friendly scenarios and romances for her onscreen talent to create the illusion of the Hollywood Icons she is in charge of creating. Dotty is a powerful character in that in her position she can skyrocket someone to stardom or tear them down with her position. Then we have Brodsky who looks to be a character straight from Sin City. A tough as nails brooding studio henchmen who keeps folks in line and knows exactly what form of scum he is working for and loves it. We get to see an interesting dichotomy with Brodsky as he appears as a pure villain at first who is out to get our main protagonist but just turns out to be a guy who doesnt take anything personal and just doing a job he knows is shady.

Mark Radulich: There was a lot to keep track of here. I think the artist did a fair job of keeping the men distinct enough but the women sometimes blended together.

Jeremiah Jones-Goldstein: The characters were very well developed. I’ve already mentioned how much I liked Charlie and Gil. The women of the story really shine though. Val is incredibly complex I thought. We learn new things about her all the way through the story. I really figured that she a Charlie would get together at the end but that would have been too “Hollywood”. It was much better that she continues to climb the Hollywood ladder with her marriage to star Tyler Graves.Melba, Gil’s unhappy wife, though was a great foil for Charlie. She pushes him because she knows that he’s really a good guy. That is not to say that Gil wasn’t, after all he was the father of her children. No, think that she knew she couldn’t save Gil from himself. Her comments to Charlie at the end of the story really were sweet and the patience and room she was giving him were touching.

End of preview

And that’s the end of the preview!! If you want the FULL post click below for our criticisms and overall score of the book

Our goal is to get these out on a quarterly basis if not more in between Super Blog Team Up Events! I hope you enjoy this and follow any updates on our Facebook group Super Book Club Team Up!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SuperBookClubTeamUp/

Be safe be well and behave!

Super-Blog Team-Up GOLD: What If Peter Parker Had Become Speed Ball Instead Of SpiderMan!

Hey Heroes Welcome back!! The Superhero Satellite has been reawakened by the one event that brings me back to my blogging roots, The Super-Blog Team Up!! If you are unfamiliar with the Mighty Marching SBTU we are a group of like minded Bloggers and Podcasters who get together 3 to 4 times a year to blog on a singular theme!! This month marks our first ever dual branded installment where we have divided the team into not one but two factions, kSBTU RED and SBTU GOLD!! If you have already checked out SBTU Red that team tackled the topic of CREATOR where the discussion centered around the creators who make the magic in the pages of the medium that we all enjoy called comics! Now if you are on Team GOLD then you are entering the world of one of my favorite topics “WHAT IF!!” The concept takes a classic storyline or character and puts a new spin on a familiar topic and takes it in wild new areas of possibility…like we will do today!! So if you ever wondered “What If??” then you have come to the right place!! Strap In tight Heroes this Satellite is going to take you back in time to ponder the question…WHAT IF PETER PARKER HAD BECOME SPEEDBALL?

Begin Transmission: 12/16/2020

I held in my hands The Amazing Spiderman Annual number 22 as I perused the comic racks in my local pharmacy. The cover showcased a brand new character that caught my eye..and now that I think of it it literally may have been ONLY my eye but never the less the tagline “Move Over Spidey Enter: Speedball” captured my imagination. The character was emblazoned with an old school vibe and a vintage style costume that hooked me right away!! I wanted to know more about this character so I laid down my coins for the book and Speedball came home with me.

I had been a Spiderman fan in the 80s and had amassed a prized run of the Amazing Spiderman of about a hundred and fifty issues!! I was especially fond of the original exploits of Spiderman that I rediscovered in the pages of Marvel Tales the reprint book which gave you the original Spidey stories with an updated cover! Much of the early art of course was handled by the legendary Steve Ditko! Many can argue that it was Ditko whom created Spiderman all by himself but the truth seems to lie in the middle with the disputed claim that Stan Lee created our friend Spidey but that’s an argument for another day. Ditko was disenfranchised by the way Marvel and Stan in particular had treated his work by changing portions of his creative stories or characters with out his knowledge. Steve was an Objectivist had a very staunch belief system in the manner justice was handled in society and those views often crept into his stories with our wall crawler. Stan and Steve were very much at odds and eventually it was too much for Ditko to bear so he walked away from Marvel a bitter creator

Ditko was a loner in the comics world in part do to his beliefs in Objectivism. He lived and breathed the teachings of philosopher Ayn Rand and much of his work was heavy handed in the way he approached a character and how were portrayed in the comics. Ditko passed over many jobs and as a result was turned down for several other opportunities for he was garnering a reputation as being hard to deal with. Spiderman and Doctor Strange were Steve Ditko’s masterworks that he was most famously known for but now Ditko chose to search out work elsewhere namely in DC comics and Charlton comics as well.

Ditko created a host of characters for DC including The Creeper and Captain Atom and Blue Beetle for Charlton. These creations kept Ditko working at least. His days at Marvel were not officially in the rear view window as he would be contracted to do odd jobs on titles like Rom SpaceKnight and dubious titles such as Marvels Star Imprints Chuck Norris and The Karate Kommandos. Ditko had seemingly run out of gas. He had become something of a Pariah in the industry. He was viewed as being a little “too weird”, and his art style had not updated with the times which would be a criticism of his latter day career.

As it would happen Marvel happened to be experimenting with a new concept about a new set of characters living in a stand alone Universe outside of the Marvel Continuity dubbed the New Universe. It created a host of new characters such as Star Brand, DP7, and Nightmask, to name a few. The New Universe however did not make it due to creative issues and lack of interest in the product. The Speedball concept was originally created by Ditko as a New Universe character but the imprint became extinct before the character could see the light of day. Ditko was struggling to get any sustained contract work and as a favor to a friend editor Tom Defalco went to bat for Ditko and the Speedball concept at Marvel resulting in getting the green light as a regular ongoing series. Steve Ditko was about to get the chance that had eluded him in recent times. As it would come to pass Speedball made his debut in The Amazing Spiderman Annual #22 and as I I stated above grabbed it off the rack immediately. I loved this new character. He had a vintage look, cool powers and was a perfect fit in the classic Marvel Universe and was to be penciled by the man who brought Spiderman and Doctor Strange to life. It was a sure fire hit….right? Well as with hindsight in mind this book was doomed to failure as Steve Ditko was almost set up to fail.

My time with Speedball was a treasured childhood memory of mine. It is a strange story because during hot summers myself and my friend John would make our weekly walk to our local drug store, pick up a cold Slush Puppy ice drink a bag of Hostess chips and of course a bag of comics!! We LOVED our comics and it was the center pin of our universe. Every conversation was about comics, we consumed them every minute we could. We had an odd ritual especially when it was hot or rainy. We had a huge drain pipe that was in a river alongside the stadium next to our mall that we would walk through in the dark almost like a game of dare for each other. At the end of the tunnel the pipe dropped off into a small river and we liked to sit at the pipes end and get comfy and read our comics. It was strange but it was part of growing up!! I sat in a water tunnel next to our stadium and I held Speedball #1. As we sat that day and studied these colorful tabloids I wanted so bad for this book to be the next big thing. I felt like I was on the ground floor of the next generation of Marvel heroes. Honestly the cover to issue one was a let down. Where as the cover to his first appearance in ASM Annual #22 was everything I looked for in a comic book, his debut issue one looked like a panel you may find in the middle of a comic as a part of a sequence of action but not a cover shot for an #1 issue? This was a bad Omen. Instead it showed the character battling a group of mono colored generic bad guys back on? The main character of the title was not really featured prominently on the cover of his own book? His design was not visible as he was depicted back on?? and this cover was an epic failure in one mans opinion. The interior story inside gave me hope. We met Robbie Baldwin and his family. Robbie, aka Speedball, acquired his powers the old fashioned Marvel way through a laboratory accident. Hammond Research Facility had been playing with the idea of Interdimensional energy sources which of course is never a good thing. Robbie ends up smack dab in the middle of a lab accident but finds himself surviving the incident but suddenly surrounded by Kinetic Energy Bubbles and dressed in a super cool blue and yellow costume. As with classic Marvel his pet cat Niels, is also affected by this incident and adds a comedic element to the issues. The Cat even adopts the name Hairball as a play on the name Speedball. This was the last stand for Steve Ditko at Marvel and Speedball The Masked Marvel lasted only 10 issues. The title was like a property out of time. There was little support from Marvel either. Historically when a title is struggling for sales Marvel would usually go for a final Hail Mary to save the title by bringing in Co Stars from other books. Where were the “HOT” appearances of Wolverine, The Punisher or even Spidey himself? Where were the Superhero team ups? Where were the wars against established super bads? Speedball was given no form of life support and it was obvious by all who were on the pulse of comics at that time that this title was given the death sentence from issue one. This was the brain child of one of the founding fathers of the Marvel Universe, but the publishers, the company, the industry, and the fans had given up on Speedball and more importantly Steve Ditko.

I always wondered What If Speedball had been the character that Ditko created in the 60s…What If Peter Parker had become Speedball instead of Spiderman!!?? What would that have looked like? Well in classic What If? form we take a look at a reality where Peter was never became your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man but instead became the Bouncing Marvel known as Speedball. Word of warning readers…this one does not end well folks…enjoy…

What if Peter Parker became Speedball!!

We all know the story. Peter Parker was your typical social outcast, unpopular with the ladies but a genius in the Labratory. As the story goes Peter is bitten by a radioactive spider which of course gives him heightened Spidey senses and other spider like abilities. But WHAT IF that the Spider that bit Peter Parker was irradiated with the kinetic energy that makes up our favorite bouncing ball! Your friendly Neighborhood… Speedball!!??We begin on college campus laboratory which is occupied by a young Peter Parker who has been working on a synthetic bond which allows molecular bonds to expand and retract like a rubber. Peter and his fellow student Gwen Stacy have formulated a rubber like substance and are putting it through a series of tests with light radiation testing. After hours Parker continues to play with his discovery alone in his lab. A spider gets trapped in the light beam and causes a disruption in the experiment. Peter notices the Spider and attempts to brush it away which he does only to knock over the beam and rubber like specimen to the floor. Peter is trapped as he struggles to get out of harms way as he is infused with the rubber like properties and radiation as the Spider he tried to swipe away bites him for his efforts! Peter, after his recovery discovers he now has enhanced abilities and is able to bounce and kinetically alter his body in ways not seen before. He keeps this ability a secret but knows he has uncovered a major scientific breakthrough. He now has the ability to create a kinetic energy field around him which is about to come in VERY handy soon as his life is about to take a BIG turn.

Peter presents his discovery to Hammond Research Laboratories in Springfield Connecticut who immediately wants the patent. While striking a lucrative deal with HRL Peter instead opts to take his discovery back home so he can be with his new love interest Gwen Stacy and instead sells the discovery to his childhood best friends father one Norman Osborn of Oscorp industries. Norman is a staunch business man who has been perfecting military grade flight devices on a contract for the U.S Military but has yet to be able to master his creation of a weaponized glider and protective warfare Armor suit. Osborn eyes Peters discovery and pays off Peter and his family handsomely for the rights to the experimental kinetic shield. Unbeknownst to Peter, Osborn stumbles upon a way to weaponize the shield powers for his glider craft and his own body Armor that he has been secretly working on. Going against protocols Osborn’s lucrative contact is cut off pending a very serious security breach leaving him bankrupt. This drives Norman to the brink of insanity and he does not cope well with losing his life’s work.

Peter on the other hand is living his best life. Now rich beyond his means Peter and Gwen have become engaged and has moved out of his Aunt May and Uncle Bens home to become a successful publisher as he has purchased the rights to buy the Daily Bugle outright. Peter has begun selling photos there only months before working as an intern selling photos of a bouncing crime fighter making waves in New York The Amazing Speedball!! Peter proudly has set his Aunt and Uncle up in a rich estate paying off their home and bills so they can retire. His Uncle Ben has a conversation with Peter whom he feels is losing sight of his self and getting a bit of a big head on his shoulders. Ben warns Peter about staying grounded and being careful with his newfound power and fame. He tells him that “With Great Wealth Comes Great Accountability” something that sticks with Peter forever. Peter however feels Ben is being ungrateful and alienates himself from Ben and May feeling that despite raising him they need to be grateful happy with the new found wealth he has accumulated and shared with them.

The Daily Bugle is another source of stress for Peter. His staff namely one trouble maker and former editor J Jonah Jameson has been giving Peter and his office huge problems since his termination and trying to spin a bad reputation for fake news on The Bugle. Peter in hast ups the anty buy delivering stories that only he as Speedball can! However as we find out someone knows his secret that individual being one Eddie Brock. Brock was a young reporter that in one of his first acts as Editor In Chief Peter fires him in a tantrum something that burns Eddie to his core! Eddie takes a dark turn and decides to keep a close watch on his rival and lurks around Peter’s house and lab to get to the bottom of this Speedball deal. While alone one night after breaking into the lab, Eddie unlocks a sealed locker. Inside is the irradiated Speed putty. It shockingly leaps and attaches itself to Brock!!! Brocks new symbiotic kinetic Symbiote is a force to be reckoned with as he can now deflect his body off of any object without harm and deflect any attack. V-Ball is born and he is out to seek redemption on Parker aka Speedball. Peter however is too busy to notice and is consumed with his celebrity as the publisher of the biggest circulating news media outlet in the city. He ends his relationship with Gwen after she is sick of his new arrogant public persona and rejection of her. Peter has begun spiralling in his personal life drinking his sorrows away but manages to find the very public glance of actress Mary Jane Watson who is a media darling in her own right.

Peter continues to work on the Speedball formula in his lab discovering it has been tampered with. Peter is met with the scary reality that the formula has been stolen and has fallen in the hands of V-Ball, the very man he fired..Eddie Brock. Brock is being spotted all over the city causing disruptions as Peter decides he needs to stop his former co worker who is dragging his name and new Super hero persona through the mud. Unlike his other Rogues Gallery V Ball is not easily silenced and leaves Peter fearfull for his life after Brock with his new powers and symbiotic kinetic powers has Speedballs number each time. Peter goes to Gwen Stacy whom he had left behind in their relationship to reveal his identity and asks her to help him find a vulnerability in the Speedball powers. Upon their research Mary Jane shows up to find the two together and promptly storms off slapping Peter in the face. Peter is distraught as his supposed perfect life , despite his money and powers are tearing him apart! There is little time to worry about that as he knows he has to deal with Brock first for everyone’s safety. Brock and Parker meet again for the final time as Eddie attempts to seize control of the Hammond labs. Using a new injection that Peter and Gwen had worked on Peters powers as Speedball are amplified as his Speedball costume is now a Black symbiotic suit in its own right as he overwhelms V-Ball neutralizing the Symbiote as Brock goes to jail. The media embraces the story as Speedball is heralded as a hero. With positivity goes his way Peter decides to make things right with MJ buying her flowers and rides to her Apartment in his Limo to take her out on the town. When he arrives he notices her apartment has been vandalized and MJ is gone. Upon inspection he find a note from Norman Osborn who threatens Peter who he knows is now Speedball to surrender his Speedball secrets or MJ dies! The new formula Peter has injected causes rages and a vengeful viscious Speedball in a all new black suit born out of an emotional reaction with Peter and his powers.

Peter bounces to the location a high atop Osborn industries when Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin holds MJ hostage. The media has been alerted to this encounter as J Jonah Jameson was given the right to the exclusive story of Speedball finally taking on his nemesis the Goblin. The building is surrounded by media and onlookers and it is somewhat of a media storm. Peter sees MJ who yells at him NOT to engage with all she is worth but Peter is seeing what he always sees in times like these an opportunity to save the day and get noticed! He bounces into motion sailing right towards a waiting Goblin who not only threatens Peter but teases that he will throw MJ to her death.. then he does. Just like in another place in time whete Gwen Stacey falls to her death at the hands of the Goblin this reality has MJ about to suffer the same fate as the onlookers watch on. Peter takes his attention off of the Goblin and dives off the roof of Osborn industries to save his girl. Before she can hit the ground Peter cushions her fall acting as a human crash pad to the excitement of the crowd and flash bulbs of the media. Speedball embraces Mary Jane as she awakens kissing him as the crowd cheers…but this celebration would end ABRUPTLY. This was all a carefully designed trap by Norman Osborn who has now been exposed to the media as the Green Goblin and with nothing left to lose he had a diabolical plan…Oscorp has been loaded with detonators designed to go off at this very minute. The building erupts into a masssive city level concussion blast…Peter is propelled out of the explosion as his powers manage to shield him from the blast as he deflects off of buildings and cars , through glass before finally careening through the side of a building trapped beneath rubble momentarily. Once Peter regains his senses he stands obviously critically injured overlooking his city. Mary Jane runs towards him and she is alive but injured herself however was sealed off from the blast as Peters speedball powers diverted the explosion outwards saving her. Peter knows the death toll is massive as he breaks down…Mary Jane leans in to him weeping but manages to utter the devastating words that his Aunt and Uncle May and Ben Parker were in the crowd as well and didnt make it…Peter collapses to his knees in distraught as his whole world has come undone as he sees The Goblin hovering over the fallen taking in the scene..

This is the last straw…Mary Jane tries to hold Peter back but his rage is too strong as he rockets off towards the Goblin soaring in the air towards his enemy strikes him with a percision blow knocking him off his glider. Peters rage over comes him as he batters Osborn stripping him of the Goblin mask. The Goblin is thrown into buildings , slammed into the road and harshly battered. Osborn is broken and battered and is kneeling up with blood pouring from every pore. Osborn yells at Peter to finish him as he manouvers his weaponized glider behind Speedball who is unaware due to his lack of senses. The Glider takes flight flying directly at the head of Peter…but Speedball knowing every move the Goblin typically makes spins and grabs the front of the glider and rides it directly into a shocked Normal Osborn Peter delivers a fatal head shot to the shock of the few remaining bystanders. The Goblin falls over…very much dead and Peter stands over the fallen foe trembling with rage and overwhelming grief from the loss of Aunt May AND Uncle Ben as his Uncles words “With Great Wealth Comes Great Accountability” echos through his mind. He sees flashbulbs go off and waiting like a vulture in the lurch is J Jonah Jameson who takes a picture of a maskless Speedball standing over the Goblin as he yells “Murderer” while capturing the scene for prosperity on behalf of his new Newspaper company. The area promptly fills with squad cars and ambulances as Jameson stands with an accusatory finger waving it at Peter shouting MURDERER as the police move in. Mary Jane tells Peter to run as he looks at her for the last time with fear in his eyes for what he has caused and glares at Jameson before bouncing off into the night as police bullets fill the air deflecting off the injured soul of Peter Parker …fugitive. We wrap up this tale with a cautionary message wealth and its corruption of the best of humankind. Do not trade your morals and good will towards others for wealth it ALWAYS ends up bad…. as with the sad story of Peter Parker…Speedball.

Well….thats certainly NOT what you expected now is it?? Well that wraps up our journey to the sometimes disturbing world of What If? If that didnt satisfy your blog hunger I assure you my team of Super-Bloggers will surely scratch that itch!! Check out all the links below of both groups of topics from our Red and Gold groups this round!! I wish you all a Happy Holidays and thanks for joining me on another fun ride through comics.

End Transmission

Looking for more? Check out the rest of The Super-Blog Team_Up Gang by clicking the links below!! Happy Holidays everyone!!

A love letter to the folks who blazed the trails for the medium we so dearly love. SBTU Creator examines the folks behind the curtain, the genesis of a character, or concept and the rollercoaster of creating worlds, stories or events. Ideas are born of the hearts and minds of people who changed the business. Unforgettable characters and happenings that keep us coming back to the medium we know as comic books. It began with a brush stroke or a tap of a typewriter and changed our culture forever. Bear witness to the Creator!

Between The Pages Blog – Scrooge McDuckTales Woo-oo!

Scrooge McDuckTales Woo-oo!

Daves Comics Blog – Blue Devil Creation

https://davescomicheroes.blogspot.com/2020/12/blue-devil-creation.html

Magazines and Monsters – Comic Book’s Unsung Heroes! Steve Gerber!

Comic Book’s Unsung Heroes! Steve Gerber!

In My Not So Humble Opinion – Kurt Schaffenberger, The Definitive Lois Lane Artist of the Silver Age

https://benjaminherman.wordpress.com/2020/12/15/kurt-schaffenberger/

Comics Comics Comics… – Sergio Argones

Super Blog Team-Up: Red

Ever wonder “What If” your favorite Character or story went in another direction? Based on the long running classic Marvel title “What If” SBTU Explores new spin, concepts or realities on our chosen topic as we come up with our own alternate perspective and all the consequences and fall-out that result.Join us on a brand new look at an old concept where the team takes you along for the ride on a brand new never seen before reality where possibilities are just the beginning!

The Telltale Mind: Arak Son Of Thunder: A Lost Adventure. https://thetelltalemind.com/2020/12/16/arak-son-of-thunder-a-lost-adventure/

Pop Culture Retrorama – What If The Sinister Dr. Phibes Had Been Produced!

https://popcultureretrorama.com/2020/12/10/super-blog-team-up-what-if-the-sinister-dr-phibes-had-been-produced/

Source Material – What If Captain Confederacy

https://www.spreaker.com/user/5870686/sm-sbtu-cpt-confed-1

Comic Reviews by Walt – What if the Ultraverse Had Continued?

https://comicreviewsbywalt.com/2020/12/16/sbtu-gold-what-if-the-ultraverse-had-continued/

SuperHero Satellite – What If Peter Parker became Speedball instead of Spider-Man?

Hey you are already here!!