Marvel Superhero

Comic Books - Antman

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:54:00 +0000

In this article we're going to briefly discuss one of the more obscure comic book characters ever to hit the medium, Antman.

Unless
you were a total comic book fanatic and bought everything that hit the
comic stands, and also unless you're pretty old too, you probably never
heard of Antman. He was as obscure as he was weird. Nevertheless, he
did exist.

Antman first saw life in Marvel Comic's "Tales To
Astonish" in 1961. He was created by the same person who gave us such
classic characters as Spiderman and the X-Men, Stan Lee. The artwork
was done by a gentleman named Jack Kirby.

Antman's beginnings
were actually quite low key. At first he was just a character in Tales,
which was a science fiction thriller. It was pretty typical of the kind
of stuff Marvel Comics churned out in those days. But the comic just
happened to be published at a time when super heroes were coming back
in style. Eight months after the release of Tales, Antman came back
wearing a skin tight costume with the ability to shrink to the size of
an ant. That was his big weapon against the war on crime.

Antman's
real name was Henry Pym, who was a scientist who created and used the
size changing ability. He also added a cybernetic helmet to his
arsenal. This helmet could communicate with ants. No, that isn't a
misprint. Okay, so it was a little corny. This is an ability he didn't
have in the first story. If he had, that story itself (especially the
part on the anthill) wouldn't have been as exciting.

As the
Antman he fought such evil villains as Egghead, The Scarlet Beetle, and
The Man with the Voice of Doom. He did this all on his own until
finally in June 1963 he teamed up with a female super hero called The
Wasp. Later that year they met some soon to be pretty famous characters
such as The Hulk, Iron Man and The Avengers.

Antman himself
didn't last very long. Later in his career Pym started to change his
size in reverse and became Giant Man. A couple of years later he lost
his spot in the Tales comic book to The Sub-Mariner. Since that time
Pym has used two other super hero names, Goliath and Yellowjacket. But
this was only as a supporting character to the Avengers. In 1969 he
married the Wasp but they have since divorced.

In 1979 however,
Antman tried to come back. Scott Lang, who was an employee of Pym's
borrowed the technology for the Antman costume for a personal
emergency. He then used it to become the new Antman. Pym eventually
gave him the costume to keep in order to keep the Antman legacy alive.
Unfortunately the resurrection of Antman lasted even shorter than the
original series. Today he is seen occasionally as a supporting
character to the Fantastic 4 and even became a temporary member of the
group when Mr. Fantastic was missing.

Antman never made a splash
outside of the comics. Quite honestly, the character would probably be
long forgotten if it weren't for his role in founding The Avengers and
his association with the Wasp who was a much stronger character. But
for those of us who do remember, he was certainly one of a kind.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Comic Books

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Fantastic Four Comic Book

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:53:00 +0000

There have been many, many comics with the X-men in
them as you mention. X-men, Alpha Flight, New Mutants, and X-Factor all
feature multiple mutants. Spin-offs featuring one or two characters
include Wolverine, Dazzler, and Cable. Then there were many issues
where some or all of the X-men made guest appearances in other titles,
such as the old X-men in Fantastic Four 28, Captain America 172-175,
Angel in Tales of Suspense 49 (with cameos by the other X-men),
Avengers 53, the intro of Wolverine in Incredible Hulk 180-182, new
X-men in Marvel Team-Up 53, Annual 1, New Mutants in Annual 6.

This
list could go on and on I think. And that's not even counting the many
appearances of mutant villains of the X-men like Magneto who fought
non-mutant superheroes. Or how about the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver,
mutants both who appeared as regulars for many issues of the Avengers?

Right
now the Surfer could not be any hotter due to his inclusion into the
new, Fantastic Four movie. History shows that a character that makes
it's way into the mainstream, a la movies or TV has an instant surge in
popularity which translates into a run on buying their books which
usually translate into big, inflated dollars for collectors and
vendors. If I understand your question, you want to know if these books
are worth anything, right?

Well, the obvious answer is, yes! Yes!
And Yes! I suspect you're really wanting to know: "What are they worth?
How can I sell them? The problem with selling/appraising an item that
fluctuates in value based on the wants of collectors is that it's only
worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. To get the flavors of
what your book is worth you should check out some price guides which
approximate their values based on a criteria of how your particular
book is selling in several parts of the country factored together with
the number of books available for sale, etc."

Wizard and
Overstreet both publish guides that will help you with this. You can
find these guides at a local Barnes and Noble. You can also check out a
more "real world" marketplace by plugging your book into some kind of
online auction or another auction sites and see what it's selling for
or if books like yours have sold. Next, you're going to want to
discover exactly what condition your books are in because the quality
of the book is the most important factor in determining what it's
worth. For this you can self grade or get a comic book store guy to do
it but be ready for a lot of slings and arrows from people that will
tell you that your grading skills stink and that your Near Mint is more
like a Very Fine, if you're lucky.

The industry has taken a turn
towards legitimizing its "grading with the establishment of
professional certification organizations that will professionally
certify your book for a fee. The book is graded by experts, sealed and
authenticated. I like this because it provides an unbiased 3rd party
evaluation and comes with the pedigree and paperwork that collectors
can trust when buying a book. The service is not new but it isn't
necessarily Lloyd's of London so it will take a while to eventually
become the industry standard but at some point it will. I liken it to
the idea of getting a complete history of a used car faxed to you from
a State Agency as opposed to just taking the word of the seller.

CGC
and PGX are two such book certification companies but I think you could
probably find a professional appraiser in any city. Again, you want the
appraiser to be an unbiased 3rd party who is making a living at this
and is willing to provide certification and pedigree. See some examples
of his previous work. There are several factors that have a direct
influence on the value of a book. Some of the ones I use are:
condition, print run, availability, scarcity, origin issue, major
storyline, new character, new developments, etc.

The Silver
Surfer is hot, hot, hot right now and it's probably the perfect time to
sell so it's up to you. As far as the cover being off the #1 issue you
can have it repaired by a restoration company but it must be identified
as repaired when listing the book for sale or having it appraised. A
lot of people out there would love to get there hands on this kind of
comic book make sure you keep a very close on the price range when you
have it up for sale.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for http://www.SellUsedComics.com/ Sell Used Comics is a community of used comics sellers from around the world. If you have used comics to sell, click here to create a Used Comics Account: http://www.SellUsedComics.com/merchant/signup.html

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What's in a Name - Marvel Super-Heroes vs Classic TV Shows

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:52:00 +0000

With the success of the X-Men and Spider-Man
franchises, it seems that every second Marvel Comics superhero has a
film in planning stages. However, Marvel's other superhero teams have a
slight hurdle: they share their names with another popular Hollywood
subject: fondly-remembered TV shows. Let's tell them apart...

THE
AVENGERS
On television: Quirky series from the sixties, in which the terribly
British John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and various offsiders, including
Cathy Gale (Honore Blackman) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), battled
various sci-fi goofballs. Best villains: the Cybernauts, a bunch of
homicidal robots.
In the comics: Superhero group, published since the sixties, most often
led by the proudly American Captain America. Every Marvel superhero
save the X-Men seems to have been an Avenger at some time. Best
villain: Ultron, a homicidal robot.
Prospects: The comic book was spun off into a popular animated TV
series, but since the awful 1998 movie (based on the TV show), the name
"Avengers" is probably box-office poison.

THE
DEFENDERS
On television: Riveting 1960s courtroom drama, featuring a father-son
defence team.
In the comics: Riveting 1970s and 1980s superhero comic, featuring a
bunch of guys who would hang out together, fighting mainly supernatural
bad guys.
Prospects: Some of the comic-book Defenders (including the Hulk and,
coming soon, the Sub-Mariner and the Silver Surfer) are already movie
heroes. If they are successful, a team-up is the logical next step.

THE
INVADERS
On television: Maximum paranoia, '60s style. David Vincent (Roy
Thinnes) had to run away from aliens who wanted to take over the world,
disguised as humans, while trying to warn a disbelieving Earth
population.
In the comics: Marvel's greatest heroes of World War II - namely
Captain America, the Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch. While
they were all popular back in the 1940s, they only worked together in a
nostalgic series, first published in the seventies.
Prospects: How about a crossover? Aliens invade Earth and battle
superheroes during World War II? Hey, it could work!

THE
CHAMPIONS
On television: Silly (but fun) British superhero series of the sixties.
In the comics: Los Angeles-based superhero series of the seventies. One
of the first teams to be led by a woman (the Black Widow, a defected
Russian spy), along with Ghost Rider, Iceman and others.
Prospects: Neither of them lasted long. If a successful TV series (like
The Avengers) or comic book (like Captain America) can bomb at the
movies, who'd want to film one of these also-rans?

ALIAS
On television: The adventures of Sydney Bristow, high-school student cum superspy. First shown in 2001; cancelled 2006.
In the comics: The adventures of Jessica Jones, superhero cum detective. First published in 2000; she retired in 2005.
Prospects: Either would make a good starring role for Jennifer Garner. Time to get started!

The History of The Avengers Comic Books

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:50:00 +0000

The Avengers debuted as a comic book series in 1963.
The original lineup of this comic book superhero team consisted of
Ant-Man, Wasp, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk.

However, one of the
hallmarks of the Avengers as a group is the fact that its membership
changes. Very quickly, the Hulk left the Avengers, and was replaced by
Captain America.

The Avengers were created as an answer to
competing DC Comic’s superhero team, the Justice League of America.
Originally, the lineup of the Avengers was made up of the current most
popular heroes in Marvel comics, other than Spider-Man. It was felt
that this character would not be inclined to work with other heroes,
and to have him do so would be out of character.

The Avengers
have been relaunched on several different occasions as part of special
promotions. First, in 1996, the main title was recreated to be part of
a multi-studio crossover project called Heroes Reborn. The next year,
it returned to its original Avengers Comic Book continuity with another
version of the origin comic. In 2005, the Avengers were relaunched yet
again with the New Avengers.

The original issue of the Avengers features the Norse god Loki, who attempts to start a battle between Thor and the Hulk.

However, the diverted radio call meant to start this fight is also answered by the other soon-to-be members of the Avengers.

After
the heroes defeat the trickster, Ant-man suggests that they form a
team, since they have worked so well together. By issue two, Ant-man
has changed to Giant-man, and the Hulk leaves, to be replaced by
Captain America, who becomes the field leader of the group.

Eventually,
the majority of the group were replaced by three former villains. These
characters were Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver. Some
members of the original group were re-added to the Avengers after this
occurred. The Avengers series ran in more or less this format, adding
and removing members variously, until the 1990s.

In the 1990s,
Marvel Comics began adopting a number of new and unusual strategies to
sell more books. The company adopted an aggressive business model tied
into increased publication.

A short boom was followed by a slump
across the comics industry. Over the course of this period, moral
quandaries regarding the group’s rule against killing villains are
introduced, as the Avengers' enemies grow more murderous.

This is
in keeping with the general darkening of tone across the comics
industry during the 1990s. These darker toned storylines culminated in
one which split the team. Since then, there have been a number of
different "rebirths" of the Avengers in different, unconnected
universes.

The most recent team of Avengers, the Mighty Avengers,
is a new group formed by Iron Man. This series deals with the events of
a Marvel Universe Civil War between super powers.

Over the period
of the existence of the Avengers, there have also been a number of
alternate Avengers lines that do not connect with the main storyline.

Gavin Roberts has grown up with comic books and has compiled a massive comic book collection. He has also created an Online Comic Book Store that showcases thousands of constantly updated comic books. Check out some Avengers Comics or any other of your favorite comics at his website http://onlinecomicbookstore.net

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Comic Books - The Incredible Hulk History

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:49:00 +0000

In this article we're going to cover the history of
one of the most changing comic books and characters ever - The
Incredible Hulk.

The Incredible Hulk was another Marvel creation
from the genius mind of Stan Lee. The character debuted in 1962 and
thus began a strange evolution of a character that was probably the
most tormented in comic book history.

The Incredible Hulk was Dr.
Bruce Banner. He was a scientist experimenting with gamma rays. Well,
one of this experiments went haywire and Banner was exposed to the
gamma rays himself. He was close to death and miraculously survived,
but not without paying a huge price. It seems that whenever Banner
became angry he would transform into this hideous green creature who
became known as The Hulk.

Unlike most other super heroes, The
Hulk was not good. He wasn't entirely bad either. He would come to the
aid of the underdog and saved many an innocent person in his day. But
he had very little affection for law and order. Maybe it had something
to do with the fact that they were trying to kill him all the time. The
Hulk consequently inflicted as much harm on the upholders of justice as
he would do to the criminals. He was an odd bird all right.

Oddly,
the first comic with the green Hulk lasted only 6 issues when the
appearance of the Grey Hulk hit the stands. In this incarnation Banner
would transform into the Grey Hulk at night and then back to himself
when dawn came. The reason for this was because Banner could not live
with what he had become. So he transformed into his darker side at
night to let out his ugly side, since Banner was afraid of the dark.
This was done without him knowing it. In later issues however, it was
done consciously.

In 1964, two years after the first appearance
of The Hulk, there was an issue of Tales To Astonish featuring Giant
Man where he ended up meeting and fighting The Hulk. In the next issue
of that book it would split into two sections. The first section would
feature Giant Man and the second section would feature the Hulk.
Finally in issue number 70, The Sub-Mariner took over Giant-Man's place
in the book.

It wasn't until 1968 that The Hulk took over the
whole book. It was at this time that Tales To Astonish was dropped and
the new title for the book was The Incredible Hulk. This is the reason
why you never find issues 7 through 101 of the Incredible Hulk, the
only comic book hero to suffer this comic numbering fate.

The
Hulk basically ran this way until 1998 when a book came out called "The
Rampaging Hulk" which tells of the early history of The Hulk before
anybody knew Bruce Banner was The Hulk. It lasted six issues.

Finally,
in 1999 The Incredible Hulk ended its run with issue number 474. But it
didn't stay dead. After the new comic titled simply "The Hulk" hit the
stands, 12 issues in, the word Incredible was added back to the title.
The Incredible Hulk had returned.

The Hulk was such a popular
character it saw its way into cartoons and a feature movie, which
unfortunately was not true to the comic and quite awful according to
critics.

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The Incredible Hulk's Powers

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:48:00 +0000

Don't mess with the Hulk

The Incredible Hulk is incredibly strong, tough, and pretty much
impossible to beat. He's widely considered one of the most powerful
forces in the Marvel universe, and there aren't many that can stand
against him. He derives his powers from an accident that resulted in a
tremendous amount of gamma radiation exposure, and now the angrier he
gets, the stronger he gets.

Strength

Hulk is strong. Very strong. He has, at one point, lifted an entire
mountain range on his back (one hundred and fifty billion tons). He can
also jump into low-Earth orbit, shatter asteroids twice the size of the
Earth, beat nearly ever other Marvel superhero one-on-one, and move the
Blob. He's pulled continents together, destroyed small universes, and
thrown 20-ton objects to the moon. In short, you don't want to
arm-wrestle with him.

Resilience

Strength isn't the Hulk's only strong point. His skin can deflect any
conventional weapon, and he's been known to withstand ground-zero
nuclear explosions. He can withstand the heat of a planet's core and
the icy depths of space. At one point, he withstood a 1,000,000 degree
energy blast from another superhero. He can regenerate lost tissue on
par with Wolverine. There's not much that can harm him.

Fights with Heroes and Villains

Hulk has fought and defeated all of the following:

Iron Man
Thor
The Silver Surfer
The Blob
Nearly all of the X-Men
The Fantastic Four
Many others

Don't Make Him Angry

You wouldn't like the Hulk when he's angry. Play is safe, and you won't get flung into orbit.

Alex is a huge fan of the Hulk. He enjoys Hulk Comics and Hulk Toys, and runs a website dedicated to Hulk auctions

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Marvel Action Figure Review - She-Hulk Action Figure

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:47:00 +0000

Jennier Walters wasn't a typical comicbook woman -
one of those impossibly perfect and perky folks who only exist in
fiction. Nor did she fall into the "totally hot but totally unaware of
it category." No, Jen really was a mousy little frump. It was only when
she got an emergency blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce (yes, that
Bruce) that anything interesting happened to her. But while Bruce's
alter ego was driven by rage, Jen's was driven by... well, mainly she
seemed horny - just ask Juggernaut. No longer quiet and reserved, Jen
revelled in her new outgoing personality, and was hardly heartbroken
when she found she couldn't change back.

She-hulk marvel action
figure Caught in the crossfire of a criminal conspiracy, victim of a
tainted blood transfusion, lawyer Jennifer Walters found herself
transformed into the uninhibited personification of her repressed
longing for a life of adventure. The most powerful woman ever to walk
the face of the Earth, she-hulk marvel action figure retains her normal
intelligence and personality. she-hulk marvel action figure possesses
superhuman strength and can press at least 75 tons. By and large,
she-hulk marvel action figure is impervious to injury, pain and
disease: her skin is able to withstand extremes of temperature, as well
as tremendous stresses and impacts without puncture wounds or
acerations. she-hulk marvel action figure's highly efficient physiology
renders her immune to all terrestrial diseases.

She-hulk marvel
action figure has an interesting history. Like Batgirl or Superboy, she
was created mainly to protect a potentially copyrightable name, but
she's gone on to better things. She was also the last major marvel
action figure character created by Stan Lee before his position became
more of a ceremonial one.

7 inches of HOT marvel action figure,
and a little taller if you count her hair...HOT. I think this is one of
the best marvel action figure out there, The detail on the suit, face,
hair and shoes is perfect, the paint job is flawless, and she's also
pretty to boot. The suit is painted with dirty-white (slighty dark
white) and metallic-lavender, complimented with stitches and seams and
wrinkles and a great pair of legs.

There's really no major flaw
in this marvel action figure, the body-sculpt is awesome, the scale
perfect, and she's got a great smile! The green eyes and painted lips
are neatly done. The hands are in a "ready" or "catching" position. If
you put she-hulk marvel action figure's arms up, the hands look like
they're carrying something large like car, etc. It's odd that she
doesn't have a fisted hand. She's a Hulk character, shouldn't she be
able to punch things? If Hasbro is going make the hand so static then
we should at least get inter-changeable hands in the package, like
SOTA's Street Fighter marvel action figures.

No
problems with articulation, she's been able to stand in any pose so
far. But once the ankles get loose...No, the waist isn't swiveled, done
to perserve sleekness. The mid-section hinge is a click-joint, it can
hold she-hulk marvel action figure's weight well. The elbows do NOT
bend all the way, she can't touch her chest (may sound wierd that I
know that but that's just one of the tests I conduct, hah) and the arms
don't turn, but the elbows can, solving this problem; the shoulders are
normal. The fingers and toes don't move. Hinged-toes would be useless
due to the size and weight of the marvel action figure and hinged
fingers would ruin the natural look. The feet are hinged AND they turn!
(just like the elbows and wrists, it's the same type of joint and looks
decently natural), but they don't rock side-to-side. The hair limits
lead-movement, but I think she looks better with big obstructive hair
than no hair at all.

She-hulk marvel action figure is the only
marvel action figure actually worth the money you'll plop down for
Hasbro's marvel action figure Legends (maybe Thor too). She also comes
packaged along with The Upper Torso of Exodia...uh, the upper torso of
Blob. But really, with how hard these darn things are to find in
stores, you might as well be trying to assemble the fat wrinkly parts
of an ancient Egyptian god.

There were a couple of things about
this Shulkie that I was a little disappointed in though: the lack of a
shoulder/bicep articulation and the way the hip joints were
articulated. Hasbro could take some notes from Jakks Pacific on how to
articulate hips. True, you can just about move she-hulk marvel action
figure's into any pose, but you have to make sure that the ball joints
are turned the right way. Yes, the elbow joints ind of solve the lack
of shoulder/bicep joint, but this marvel action figure would have been
so much more awesome with the added articulation!

Oh, Yeah, I'm
not too fond of the "Barbie" hands either. Like you said, an extra
closed fist/s would have been a great accessory for this marvel action
figure. Overall, a great, sexy, Shulkie, and this is the first female
face that Hasbro has done in this series that did not look like some
kind of butt-ugly alien or something. Like Dr. Nightmare, I think
Shulkie and Thor are the only ones worth getting. Sadly, Thor is the
only one I have not been able to find.

I like the look of
she-hulk marvel action figure's - but wouldve liked a little chunkier
mucles on the calves, thighs and arms - even on uscular women this is
their best feature if done correctly, A recent Wonderwoman I seen from
DC direct had better thighs than this. I must say that I think the loss
of articulation in the hips to make a much more appealing womanly
marvel action figure is a good move on Hasbros part.

Yet shes as
white as Weird Al Yankovich. The joints that they have been using
lately are just copied Sigma 6 joints. In some cases it works out OK
but thay can be slightly tedious to get them in the poses you want.

She-hulk
marvel action figure looks great. The marvel action figure is based on
Adi Granov's cover artwork for her new series, art that quite possibly
gives us the sexiest she-hulk marvel action figure ever. She's
muscular, but not one of those roided-out freakshows you see posing on
ESPN; she manages to be strong and feminine in a way possible only in
comics. She's wearing a purple and white leotard, black gloves and
black boots with silver buckles.

While the sculpt is excellent,
the paint isn't quite up to snuff. The highlights and shadows on Jen's
exposed green skin are quite nice, but the apps on she-hulk marvel
action figure's costume are pretty bad - the purple spills onto the
white, the white overlaps the purple and the entire edge where the suit
meets skin is a sloppy mess. You'd think a limited-production marvel
action figure would garner some extra attention, but apparently not.

Karnandi is the owner of a
Marvel Action Figure site. For more information on Marvel Action Figures
check out
http://www.marvel-action-figure.com

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A Review of the Iron Man Movie

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:46:00 +0000

I really like the Iron man super hero. He is like the
ultimate creation by human technology. Even the newest military stealth
fighters are no match for the hypersonic & virtually invincible
flying suit of armor. Tony Stark has got all sorts of high tech
weaponry in his Iron man suit like plasma rays & etc. Bound to
survive by an advanced mechanical heart, Tony Stark becomes the Iron
man to battle any form of terrorism which had caused him to lose his
natural heart in the first place.

I thought I would shed some
light on the origin of the Iron Man character played by Robert Downey
Junior in the movie Iron man . Anthony "Tony" Stark was born on Long
Island, New York which obviously made him a citizen of the United
States. He is a genius inventor & the son of industrialist, Howard
Stark. Tony Stark enrolled in college electrical engineering program at
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) at age 15. With his father
& mother being deceased, his only known relative is Morgan, his
cousin.

Tony Stark then inherited his father's business, Stark
Industries at age 21 & made it into a multi million-dollar company
after a few years whose chief contracts were weaponry & munitions
for the U.S. government. Iron man s first appearance was in the comic
Tales of Suspense #39. The movie by Paramount Pictures & Marvel
Enterntainment released 2008 next year is different than the original
comic book regarding the location where the first Iron man was built
(Vietnam) in order to reflect contemporary world issues. I reckon it is
a good idea because viewers are able to relate to the present reality
& make the Iron man movie more realistic.

Iron man does a
sonic boom! Robert Downey Junior suits up to be the first Iron man in
the movies. Samuel L. Jackson as an African American version of Nick
Fury may not be such a bad idea after all. I mean he is the Samuel L.
Jackson who does federal characters extremely well. I mean Iron man is
about Robert Downey Junior. He is good at comedies & drama but as
an action hero, we will have to wait & see. Also in the foray are
the sweet Gwyneth Paltrow & Jim Rhodes which makes the Iron man
movie an anticipated star studded blockbuster film next year.

The
Iron man armor worn by Robert Downey Junior looks more realistic than
the comic book version. In the Iron man movie, the armor looks like a
full body casing with advanced hinges at the joints, rivets & the
works. The armor of Iron man in the comics looks as though it is a
shiny layer of metallic cloth donned over human muscle. A state of the
art, magnetic molecular metal binding technology that makes the armor
looks like cloth seems to far fetched idea at present. It is good that
the costume designers had a more realistic looking suit of armor
specially made for the Iron man movie.

I write on movies, celebrities, & traveling. Visit http://voyage.aimvotal.com

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Cast Iron Profits From Iron Man?

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:44:00 +0000

May 2008 sees the latest blockbusting adaptation of a
Marvel comic, so let's look at ways you can profit from the film 'Iron
Man'...

One way to do it is to set up your own movie site.

It could either be a general movie site, or it could focus on a genre like comic book films.

Or it could even be a site *just* about Iron Man, a mini site.

However you go about it, you will have to set up and run your site, and generate traffic to it.

Both can be done fairly easily and cheaply, but I prefer another method...

If you go for the idea of being an affiliate for other websites, then you don't even need your own site.

You can send traffic to their sites, and the software tracks any sales as sent by you and you get a commission.

Believe it or not, there are affiliates for posters who can make 4 figure sums per month, because film fans love their posters!

Also,
the sites have worked hard on the design of their sites, including
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A third method to profit from Iron Man, and indeed any blockbuster movie, is to provide information.

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Gordon
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Iron Man Movie is a HUGE HIT!

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:43:00 +0000

Iron Man: 8.5 out of 10!

With the summer release of "Iron Man", the screen adaptation of the Iron Man comics,
director Jon Favreau brings to us yet another incarnation of a
superhero from the Marvel Comics fraternity. However, in the wake of
already existing 'onscreen marvel superheroes' like Spider-Man, X-Men,
The Hulk, Daredevil, etc. the Iron Man movie manages to create quite a
following among fans and critics alike. The movie manages to gather its
strength mainly due to a matured treatment of a script which is both
strong and tight, if not multi-layered.

The story revolves around
a wealthy businessman and techie genius Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)
running a modern warfare conglomerate in partnership with the malicious
Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Stark, in a business trip to Afghanistan,
is compelled to construct a "Jericho Missile" for a group of
terrorists. When he finally manages to elude them and escape back home,
he decides to utilize the idea with the objective of launching a moral
crusade against all evil and crime and finally vanquishes his nemesis,
the wicked Iron Monger, an alter ego of Stane.

Though the story
may sound familiar, director Jon Favreau manages to attract the
audience equipped mainly with a bevy of special effects which was
chiefly done by ILM of the "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
fame. It can be said that they have done a commendable job especially
in the transitions between the real and the CG costumes. However, it is
the directorial skills that one has to watch out for. It can be easily
said that Favreau has come a long way from his "Zathura", "Elf" or
"Made" days. As for the soundtrack, Tom Morello's (Rage Against The
Machine) guitar section deserves special mention.

The acting
performances, though often sidelined in these kinds of ventures, have
still contributed to the success of Iron Man. Among the main characters
Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard are all quite
convincing. However the real treat in the movie comes from the veteran
Jeff Bridges. Delivering an almost deliciously evil performance,
Bridges has done everything that Kevin Spacey couldn't do in the 2006
Superman venture.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Mallett

Download Iron Man Full Movie - Download and Watch Iron Man Now!

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:42:00 +0000

Want to download Iron Man full movie online? Iron Man
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Friday 02 May, and $37.5 million on Sat 03 May. This comes up to a
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movie and where to download Iron Man.

Directed by Jon Favreau and
released by Paramount Pictures in over 4,105 theaters, this is slated
to be an international box office hit as it is screened in 57
territories worldwide. Combined global box office earnings for this
Marvel Studios' Iron Man movie was last estimated at over $200 million.

Iron Man - The Plot

Based
on Marvel Studios' iconic Super Hero, Iron Man, the story revolves
around Tony Stark played by Robert Downey Jr, a wealthy industrialist.
Tony was forced to build a devastating weapon after being kidnapped.
However, using his intelligence, he built a high-tech armour suit
instead and escapes. Back in America, Tony Stark aka Iron Man struggles
to face his past. As he discovers a nefarious plot with immense global
implications, he decided to don his armour suit and fight the villains
a Iron Man.

Heroes aren't Born. They're Built - the favorite
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Ironman's Armor and Abilities

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:17:00 +0000

Armor

Iron Man possesses powered armor that gives him superhuman strength and durability, flight, and an array of weapons. The armor is invented and, with occasional short-term exceptions, worn by Stark. Other people who have assumed the Iron Man identity include long time partner and best friend James Rhodes, close associates Harold "Happy" Hogan, Eddie March, and (briefly) Michael O'Brien.

The weapons systems of the suit have evolved over the years, but Iron Man's standard offensive weapons have always been the repulsor rays that are fired from the palms of his gauntlets. Other weapons built into various incarnations of the armor include the uni-beam projector in its chest; pulse bolts that pick up kinetic energy, but not solar energy, along the way, so that they hit harder the farther they have to travel; an electromagnetic pulse generator and an energy shield. Other capabilities include generation of ultra-freon, creating and manipulating magnetic fields, sonic blasts and a holographic generator to create decoys. In the 2008 movie, the suit has what appears to be a single fire arm-launched missile and a multi-targeting ballistic weapon that pops up from the shoulder blades. It is also equipped with flares, as heat-seaking missile counter measures; although they are used as an offensive attack in the final fight with the Iron Monger.

In addition to the general-purpose model he wears, Stark has developed several specialized suits for space travel, deep-sea diving, stealth and other situations. Stark has modified suits like the Hulkbuster heavy armor, composed of add-ons to his so-called modular armor, designed to enhance its strength and durability to allow it to take on the Incredible Hulk. A later model designed for use against Thor is modeled on the Destroyer and uses a mystical power source. Stark also develops an electronics pack during the Armor Wars that, when attached to armors that use Stark technology, will burn out those components and render the suit useless. This pack is ineffective on later models, however.

Powers

For a time, due to an artificial nervous system installed after he suffered extensive damage to his nervous system, Stark had superhumanly acute sensory perceptions as well as extraordinary awareness of the physical processes within his own body. This is no longer a part of the character's powers.

After being critically injured during a battle with the Extremis-enhanced Mallen, Stark injects his nervous system with a modified techno-organic virus (the Extremis process) that not only saves his life, it gives him the ability to store the inner layers of the Iron Man armor in the hollows of his bones as well as control it through direct brain impulses. Stark can control the layer of the armor underneath his skin and make it emerge from numerous exit points around his limbs as a gold-colored neural interface under-sheath. While in this form, Stark has technopathic control of the armor and can suit up at any time, calling the larger components to him. Furthermore, the Extremis process has increased his body's recuperative and healing abilities. He is also able to connect remotely to external communications systems such as satellites, cellular phones, and computers throughout the world. Because the armor's operating system is now directly connected to Stark's nervous system, its response time has been significantly improved.

Skills

Tony Stark is a genius, with an advanced degree in mechanical engineering. He has shown great business acumen, regaining control of his companies after losing them multiple times, and building the holdings of his companies, increasing his personal wealth. When Stark was unable to use his armor for a period of time, he asked Captain America for training in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat and has become physically formidable on his own.

Source : WikiPedia

Ironman Biography

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:50:00 +0000

Origins

Anthony Stark was born on Long Island, the son of Howard Stark, a wealthy industrialist and head of Stark Industries, and Maria Stark. Tony is a boy genius, entering MIT at the age of 15 to study electrical engineering, and graduating summa cum laude. After his parents' accidental deaths in a car crash, he inherits his father's company.

While observing the effects of his experimental technologies on the American war effort, Stark is injured by a booby trap and captured by the enemy, who then orders him to design weapons for them. However, Stark's injuries are dire and shrapnel in his chest threatens to pierce his heart. His fellow prisoner, Ho Yinsen, a physicist whose work Stark had greatly admired during college, constructs a magnetic chest plate to keep the shrapnel from reaching Stark's heart, keeping him alive. Stark uses the workshop to design and construct in secret a suit of powered armor. Stark uses the armor to escape, although Yinsen dies during the attempt. Stark takes revenge on his kidnappers, then heads back to rejoin the American forces. Along the way he meets a wounded American Marine Corps helicopter pilot, James "Rhodey" Rhodes.

Back home, Stark discovers the shrapnel lodged in his chest cannot be removed without killing him, and he is forced to wear the armor's chestplate beneath his clothes to act as a regulator for his heart. He must also recharge the chestplate every day or else risk the shrapnel killing him. The cover for Iron Man is that he is Stark's bodyguard and corporate mascot. To that end, Iron Man fights threats to his company, Communist opponents such as the Black Widow, the Crimson Dynamo and the Titanium Man as well as independent villains like the Mandarin.

No one suspects Stark of being Iron Man as he cultivates an image as a rich playboy and industrialist. Two notable members of Stark's supporting cast at this point are his personal chauffeur Harold "Happy" Hogan and secretary Virginia "Pepper" Potts, to both of whom he eventually reveals his dual identity. Meanwhile, Jim Rhodes would find his own niche as Stark's personal pilot of extraordinary skill and daring. The comic took an anti-Communist stance in its early years, which was softened as opposition rose to the Vietnam War^[3]^[8]. This change evolved in a series of stories with Stark profoundly reconsidering his political opinions and the morality of manufacturing weapons for the military. Stark, however, often shows himself to be
occasionally arrogant and willing to let the ends justify the means^[11]^[12]. This leads to personal conflicts with the people around him, both in his civilian and superhero identities. Stark uses his personal fortune not only to outfit his own armor but to develop weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D. and other technologies such as the Quinjets used by the Avengers, and the image inducers used by the X-Men.

Eventually, Stark's heart condition is discovered by the public and cured with an artificial heart transplant. However, Stark also develops a serious dependency on alcohol. The first time it becomes a problem is when Stark discovers that the national security agency S.H.I.E.L.D. has been buying a controlling interest in his company in order to ensure Stark's continued weapons development for them. At the same time, Stark's business rival Justin Hammer hires several supervillains to attack Stark. At one point, the Iron Man armor is even taken over and used to murder a diplomat. Although Iron Man is not immediately under suspicion, Stark is forced to hand the armor over to the authorities. Eventually Stark and Rhodes, who is now his personal pilot and confidant, track down and defeat those responsible, although Hammer would return to bedevil Stark again. With the support of his then-girlfriend, Bethany Cabe, his friends and his employees, Stark pulls through these crises and overcomes his dependency on alcohol.

Some time later, a ruthless rival, Obadiah Stane, manipulates Stark emotionally into a serious relapse. As a result, Stark loses control of Stark International, becomes a homeless alcoholic vagrant and gives up his armored identity to Rhodes, who becomes the new Iron Man for a lengthy period of time. Eventually, Stark recovers and starts a new company, Circuits Maximus. Stark concentrates on new technological designs, including building a new set of armor as part of his recuperative therapy. Rhodes continues to act as Iron Man but steadily grows more aggressive and paranoid, due to the armor not being calibrated properly for his use. Eventually Rhodes goes on a rampage, and Stark has to don the prototype suit to stop him. When Circuits Maximus comes under assault from Stane, Stark uses the completed next-generation armor to confront Stane in personal combat. Stark's skill proves superior over Stane's unpracticed use of his own variant suit (known as the Iron Monger) and Stark regains his company when Stane commits suicide rather than be captured.

Late 1980s and 1990s

In an attempt to stop other people from misusing his designs, Stark goes about disabling other armored heroes and villains who are using suits based on the Iron Man technology, the designs of which were stolen by his enemy Spymaster. His quest to destroy all instances of the stolen technology severely hurts his reputation as Iron Man. After attacking and disabling a series of minor villains such as Stilt-Man, he attacks and defeats the government operative known as Stingray. The situation is worsened when Stark realizes that Stingray's armor does not incorporate any of his designs. He publicly "fires" Iron Man while covertly pursuing his agenda. He uses the cover story of wanting to help disable the rogue Iron Man to infiltrate and disable the armor of the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives known as the Mandroids, and disabling the armor of the Guardsmen, in the process allowing some of the villains that they guard to escape. This leads the United States government to declare Iron Man a danger and an outlaw. Iron Man then travels to Russia where he inadvertently causes the death of the Soviet Titanium Man during a fight. Returning to the U.S he faces an enemy commissioned by the government named Firepower.

Unable to defeat him head on, Stark fakes Iron Man's demise, intending to retire the suit forever. When Firepower goes rogue, Stark creates a new suit, claiming that a new person is in the armor.

Stark's health continues to deteriorate, and he discovers the armor's cybernetic interface is causing irreversible damage to his nervous system. His condition is aggravated by a failed attempt on his life by a mentally unbalanced former lover which injures his spine, paralyzing him. Stark has a nerve chip implanted into his spine to regain his mobility. Still, Stark's nervous system continues its slide towards failure, and he constructs a "skin" made up of artificial nerve circuitry to assist it. Stark also begins to pilot a remote-controlled Iron Man armor, but when faced with the Masters of Silence, the telepresence suit proves inadequate. Stark then designs a more heavily armed version of the suit to wear, the "Variable Threat Response Battle Suit", which becomes known as the War Machine armor. Ultimately, the damage to his nervous system becomes too extensive. Faking his death, Stark places himself in suspended animation to heal as Rhodes takes over the running of Stark Enterprises and the mantle of Iron Man using the War Machine armor. Stark ultimately makes a full recovery by using a chip to reprogram himself and reassumes the Iron Man identity. When Rhodes learns that Stark has manipulated his friends by faking his own death, he becomes enraged and the two friends part ways, Rhodes continuing as War Machine in a solo career.

The story arc "The Crossing" reveals Iron Man as a traitor among the Avengers' ranks, due to his having been manipulated for years and used as a sleeper agent by the time-traveling dictator Kang the Conqueror. Stark, in Kang's thrall, kills Marilla, the nanny of Crystal and Quicksilver's daughter Luna, as well as Rita DeMara, the female Yellowjacket, then an ally of the Avengers. (The miniseries Avengers Forever later retcons these events as having been due to the machinations of a disguised Immortus, not Kang, and that the mental control had gone back only a few months).

Needing help to defeat both Stark and the ostensible Kang, the team travels back in time to recruit a teenaged Tony Stark from an alternate timeline to assist them. The young Stark steals an Iron Man suit in order to aid the Avengers against his older self. The sight of his younger self shocks the older Stark enough for him to regain momentary control of his actions, and he sacrifices his life to stop Kang. The young Stark later builds his own suit to become the new Iron Man, and, remaining in the present day, gains legal control of "his" company.

During the battle with the creature called Onslaught, the teenaged Stark dies, along with many other superheroes. However, Franklin Richards preserves these "dead" heroes in the "Heroes Reborn" pocket universe, in which Tony Stark is once again an adult hero; Franklin recreates the heroes in the pocket universe in the forms he is most familiar with rather than what they are at the present. The reborn adult Stark, upon returning to the normal Marvel Universe, merges with the original Stark, who had died during "The Crossing," but was resurrected by Franklin Richards. This new Tony Stark possesses the memories of both the original and teenage Tony Starks, and thus considers himself to be essentially both of them. With the aid of the law firm Nelson & Murdock, he successfully regains his fortune and- what with Stark Enterprises having been sold to the Fujikawa Corporation following Stark's death-sets up a new company, Stark Solutions. He also returns from the pocket universe with a restored and healthy heart. After the Avengers reform, Stark demands a hearing be convened to look into his actions just prior to the Onslaught incident. Cleared of wrongdoing, he rejoins the Avengers.

2000s

At one point, Stark's armor itself becomes sentient, despite fail-safes to prevent its increasingly sophisticated computer systems from doing so. Initially, Stark welcomes this "living" armor, as it has improved tactical abilities, but soon the armor's behavior begins to grow more aggressive, and it even kills. Eventually, the armor reaches the point where it wants to join with Stark and eventually replace him. Stark finds he cannot defeat the armor, but in the final confrontation on a desert island, Stark suffers another heart attack. To save its creator's life, the armor gives up part of its components to give Stark a new, artificial heart, sacrificing its own existence. The new heart solves Stark's health problems, but it does not have an internal power supply, so Stark becomes once again dependent on periodic recharging. The sentient armor incident so disturbs Stark that he goes back to using an early model version of his armor for a while, lacking the sophistication of the sentient version and thus unlikely to result in a repeat of the same problem. He also dabbles with using liquid metal circuitry known as S.K.I.N. that will form itself into a protective shell around his body, but eventually returns to more conventional hard metal armors.

During this time, Stark engages in a romance with Rumiko Fujikawa, (first appearance in Iron Man vol. 3, #4), a wealthy heiress and daughter of the man who had taken over his company during the "Heroes Reborn" period. An intelligent and resourceful woman, she nonetheless begins the relationship in part to rebel against her stern father, who disapproves of Stark. Her relationship with Stark endures many highs and lows, including an infidelity with Stark's rival, Tiberius Stone, in part because the fun-loving Rumiko believes that Stark is too serious and dull. Their relationship ends with Rumiko's death at the hands of an Iron Man impostor in Vol. 3, #87.

In Iron Man vol. 3, #55 (July 2002), Stark publicly reveals his dual identity as Iron Man, not realizing that by doing so, he has invalidated the agreements protecting his armor from government duplication (since those contracts state that the Iron Man armor would be used by an employee of Tony Stark, not by Stark himself). When he discovers that the United States military is again using his technology, Stark, rather than confront them as before, accepts a Presidential appointment as Secretary of Defense. In this way, he hopes to monitor and direct how his designs are used. He is forced to resign after launching into a tirade against the Latverian ambassador at the United Nations, being manipulated by the mentally imbalanced Scarlet Witch. Following this, the Scarlet Witch causes the destruction of the Avengers mansion and the death of several Avengers; Stark claims publicly that he will stand down as Iron Man. The "new" Iron Man remains Stark; however, the catastrophic events that preceded this, combined with Stark's assertion, convinces the public that Iron Man and Stark are now different people. Stark leaves the wreckage of Avengers Mansion as it is, and unveils Stark Tower, a state-of-the-art office building that becomes headquarters for the New Avengers team, of which he is a member.

The miniseries Iron Man: The Inevitable reintroduces the Ghost, the Living Laser and Spymaster. Presenting the change in status quo — the focus of Iron Man stories shifting from superhero-ism to political and industrial tales — as Iron Man having elevated himself to a new place in his life where he is "beyond" apprehending supervillains, the miniseries sees a resentful Spymaster conspire to drag Iron Man back to that plebeian level.

New Avengers: Illuminati #1 (June 2006) reveals that years before, in the wake of the Kree-Skrull War, Stark initiates a meeting at the palace of the Black Panther in Wakanda with Professor X, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Namor to form a clandestine, unnamed group (dubbed the "Illuminati" by Marvel) to devise strategy and policy regarding overarching menaces (Black Panther rejects membership and derides the other heroes for joining). Stark's original goal is to create a governing body for all superheroes in the world to answer to. However, the different beliefs and philosophies, besides the fact that many heroes choose to conceal their real identities, makes Stark's plan impractical. Despite this, the group agrees to share vital information.

Learning of the government's plans to instigate a Superhuman Registration Act that would force costumed, super-powered individuals to reveal their identities to the government and sign on as licensed agents, Iron Man at first seeks to defeat the proposal, even going to such lengths as to hire the Titanium Man to attack the hearing on the act as he testifies in order to manipulate opinion in his favor. However, at some point, Tony Stark's opinion of the Act changes, seeing it as a new means to achieve the goal that he had sought in forming the "Illuminati", and to tie the knots of friendship between ordinary humans and superheroes. He attempts to convince the other members of the clandestine group to support the new Act, stating that their input could prevent the Act from becoming too restrictive of superhuman activities, but all except Mr. Fantastic and Black Bolt reject the idea of registration. Stark becomes the figurehead of the Registration Act in the following Civil War storyline; Iron Man's forces and resistance led by Captain America clash in a climatic battle until Captain America, dismayed with the collateral damage and realizing his actions weren't bringing the end to the act any closer, stands down. Stark is then appointed the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D.^[13] He also revives the Avengers.

Shortly after the events of Civil War, Captain America is killed on the steps of the courthouse for his trial. Despite his fervent belief in the registration act, Tony Stark looks down on the body of Captain America stating that most of what he had done in the name of the law "wasn't worth it" stating later at Captain America's funeral that "it wasn't supposed to be this way".

After Tony Stark survives an encounter with Ultron taking over his body, he is confronted in the hospital by Spider-Woman, holding the corpse of a Skrull posing as Elektra. Becoming keenly aware of the upcoming invasion of the Skrulls, Tony gathers the Illuminati and reveals the corpse to them, declaring they're at war. After Black Bolt reveals himself as a Skrull and is killed by Namor, a squadron of Skrulls attack, forcing Tony to evacuate the other Illuminati members and destroy the area, killing all the Skrulls. Realizing they're incapable of trusting each other, the members all separate to form individual plans for the oncoming invasion.

Soon after, a "Venom virus" hits New York, causing New York citizens and superheroes to be covered in symbiotes. After the battle, Iron Man learns the virus came from Latveria and launches a full-scale assault on its monarch, Doctor Doom. During the battle, Doom, Iron Man, and the Sentry are transported through time via Doom's broken time platform. Doom and Stark form an alliance in an attempt to return to the proper time without being seen or causing any actions that could alter their future and try to find a way to get a hold of the time platform at the Fantastic Four's headquarters. Thanks to the Sentry's memory spell, which erased knowledge of his existence from the minds of the public, they are able to return to the present. Recently, all of Stark's technology was compromised by the Skrull empire as a part of their invasion causing Stark to rebuild his armor from scratch to fight back.

Source : WikiPedia

Ironman - Premiere

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:48:00 +0000

Iron Man's premiere was a collaboration among editor and story-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, story-artist Don Heck, and Jack Kirby. In 1963, Lee had been toying with the idea of a businessman superhero.^[3] He set out to make the new character a rich, glamorous ladies' man, but one with a secret that would plague and torment him as well.^[4] Lee based this playboy's personality on Howard Hughes,^[5] explaining, "Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies' man and finally a nutcase";^[6] While Lee intended to write the story himself, he eventually handed the premier issue over to Lieber, who fleshed out the story.^[4] The art, meanwhile, was split between Kirby and Heck. "He designed the costume", Heck said of Kirby, "because he was doing the cover. The covers were always done first. But I created the look of the characters, like Tony Stark and his secretary Pepper Potts".^[5] ^[7]

Iron Man first appeared in 13- to 18-page stories in Tales of Suspense, which featured anthology science fiction and supernatural stories. The character's original costume was a bulky grey armor, which later turned golden in his second story (issue #40, April 1963), and then redesigned again as a sleeker red-and-golden armor starting in issue #48 (Dec. 1963), drawn by Steve Ditko. In his premiere, Iron Man was an anti-communist hero, defeating various Vietnamese agents; Lee later regretted this early focus.^[3]^[8] Throughout the character’s comic book series, technological advancement and national defense were constant themes for Iron Man, but later issues developed Stark into a more complex and vulnerable character as they depicted his battle with alcoholism and other personal difficulties.

From issue #59 (Nov. 1964) to its final issue #99 (March 1968), the anthological science-fiction backup stories in Tales of Suspense were replaced by a feature starring the superhero Captain America. After issue #99 (March 1968), the book's title was changed to Captain America. Iron Man stories moved to the title Iron Man and Sub-Mariner in April 1968, before the "Golden Avenger"^[9] made his solo debut with The Invincible Iron Man #1 (May 1968).

Writers have updated the war in which Stark is injured. In the original 1963 story, it was Vietnam. Later, in the 1990s, it was updated to be the first Gulf War,^[10] and then updated again to be Afghanistan. However, his time with the Asian scientist Yin Sen is consistent through nearly all incarnations of the Iron Man origin, depicting Stark and Yin Sen building the original armor together. One exception is the direct-to-DVD animated feature film The Invincible Iron Man, in which the first armor Stark uses is not the first Iron Man suit.

Source : WikiPedia

About Ironman

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:47:00 +0000

Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in publications from Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, Iron Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963). Tony Stark, after suffering a severe heart injury and being kidnapped, was forced to build a devastating weapon. He instead created a suit of power armor to save his life and help protect the world as Iron Man. He is a wealthy industrialist and genius inventor that created military weapons and whose metal suit is laden with technological devices that enable him to fight crime.

Throughout most of his career, Iron Man has been a member of the superhero team the Avengers and has been featured in several incarnations of his own various comic book series. He has been adapted into several animated TV shows, as well as the 2008 film Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Forbes has ranked Iron Man among the wealthiest fictional characters on their annual ranking.^[1] BusinessWeek has also ranked Iron Man as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics.^[2]

source : WikiPedia

Editors-in-chief

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:44:00 +0000

The Marvel editor-in-chief oversees the largest-scale creative decisions taken within the company. While the fabled Stan Lee held great authority during the decades when publisher Martin Goodman privately held his company, of which the comics division was a relatively small part, his successors have been to greater and lesser extents subject to corporate management.

The position evolved sporadically. In the earliest years, the company had a single editor overseeing the entire line. As the company grew, it became increasingly common for individual titles to be overseen separately. The concept of the "writer-editor" evolved, stemming from when Lee wrote and managed most of the line's output. Overseeing the line in the 1970s was a series of chief editors, though the titles were used intermittently. Confusing matters further, some appear to have been appointed merely by extending their existing editorial duties. By the time Jim Shooter took the post in 1978, the position of editor-in-chief was clearly defined.

In 1994, Marvel briefly abolished the position, replacing Tom DeFalco with five "group editors", though each held the title "editor-in-chief" and had some editors underneath them. It reinstated the overall editor-in-chief position in 1995, installing Bob Harras. Joe Quesada became editor-in-chief in 2000.

Joe Simon (1939-1941)
Stan Lee (1941-1942)
Vincent Fago (acting editor during Lee's military service) (1942-1945)
Stan Lee (1945-1972)
Roy Thomas (1972-1974)
Len Wein (1974-1975)
Marv Wolfman (black-and-white magazines 1974-1975, entire line 1975-1976)
Gerry Conway (1976)
Archie Goodwin (1976-1978)
Jim Shooter (1978-1987)
Tom DeFalco (1987-1994)
No overall editor-in-chief (1994-1995)
Bob Harras (1995-2000)
Joe Quesada (2000-present)

Marvel History - 2000

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:43:00 +0000

With the new millennium, Marvel Comics escaped from bankruptcy and again began diversifying its offerings. In 2001, Marvel withdrew from the Comics Code Authority and established its own Marvel Rating System for comics. The first title from the era to not have the code was X-Force #119 (Oct. 2001). It also created new imprints, such as MAX, a line intended for mature readers, and Marvel Age, developed for younger audiences. In addition to this is the highly successful Ultimate Marvel imprint, which allowed Marvel to reboot their major titles by deconstructing and updating its major superhero and villain characters to introduce to a new generation. This imprint exists in a universe parallel to mainstream Marvel continuity, allowing writers and artists freedom from the characters' convoluted history and the ability to redesign them, and to maintain their other ongoing series without replacing the established continuity. This also allowed Marvel to capitalize on an influx of new readers unfamiliar with comics but familiar with the characters through the film and TV franchises. The company has also revamped its graphic novel division, establishing a bigger presence in the bookstore market. As of 2007, Marvel remains a key comics publisher, even as the industry has
dwindled to a fraction of its peak size decades earlier.^{[citation needed]}

Stan Lee, no longer officially connected to the company save for the title of "Chairman Emeritus", remains a visible face in the industry. In 2002, he sued successfully for a share of income related to movies and merchandising of Marvel characters, based on a contract between Lee and Marvel from the late 1990s; according to court documents, Marvel had used "Hollywood accounting" to claim that those projects' "earnings" were not profits. Marvel Comics' parent company Marvel Entertainment continues to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange as MVL. Some of its characters have been turned into successful film franchises, the highest-grossing being the X-Men film series, starting in 2000, and the Spider-Man series, beginning in 2002^[19]

In 2006, Marvel's fictional crossover event "Civil War" established federal superhero registration in the Marvel universe, creating a political and ethical schism throughout it. Also that year, Marvel created its own wiki.^[20]

The company launched a major online initiative late in 2007, announcing Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, a digital archive of 2,500 back issues available for viewing, for a monthly or annual subscription fee.^[21]

In November of 2007, Marvel contacted the popular comic book bittorrent site, Z-Cult FM, and gave it three days to remove illegal scans of Marvel comic books before Marvel pressed charges. Z-Cult contacted Marvel and negotiated that it would remove all Marvel comics from its site within seven days.^[22]

Source : WikiPedia

Marvel History - 1990

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:14:00 +0000

Marvel earned a great deal of money and recognition during the early decade's comic-book boom, launching the highly successful 2099 line of comics set in the future (Spider-Man 2099, etc.) and the creatively daring though commercially unsuccessful Razorline imprint of superhero comics created by novelist and filmmaker Clive Barker. Yet by the middle of the decade, the industry had slumped and Marvel filed for bankruptcy amidst investigations of Perelman's financial activities regarding the company.^{[citation needed]}

In 1990, Marvel began selling Marvel Universe Cards with trading card maker Impel. These were collectible trading cards that featured the characters and events of the Marvel Universe.

Marvel in 1992 acquired Fleer Corporation, known primarily for its trading cards, and shortly thereafter created Marvel Studios, devoted to film and TV projects. Avi Arad became director of that division in 1993, with production accelerating in 1998 following the success of the film Blade.^{[citation needed]}

In 1994, Marvel acquired the comic book distributor Heroes World to
use as its own exclusive distributor. As the industry's other major
publishers made exclusive distribution deals with other companies, the
ripple effect resulted in the survival of only one other major
distributor in North America, Diamond Comic Distributors Inc.^[17] Creatively and commercially, the '90s were dominated by the use of gimmickry to boost sales, such as variant covers, cover enhancements, regular company-wide crossovers that threw the universe's continuity into disarray, and even special swimsuit issues. In 1996, Marvel had almost all its titles participate in the Onslaught Saga, a crossover that allowed Marvel to relaunch some of its flagship characters, such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, in the Heroes Reborn universe, in which Marvel defectors Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld
were given permission to revamp the properties from scratch. After an
initial sales bump, sales quickly declined below expected levels, and
Marvel discontinued the experiment after a one-year run; the characters
returned to the Marvel Universe proper. In 1998, the company launched the imprint Marvel Knights, taking place within Marvel continuity; helmed by soon-to-become editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, and featuring tough, gritty stories showcasing such characters as the Inhumans, Black Panther and Daredevil, it achieved substantial success.^{[citation needed]}

Marvel History - 1980

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:12:00 +0000

By the 1980s, one-time DC wunderkind Jim Shooter
was Marvel's editor-in-chief. Although a controversial personality,
Shooter cured many of the procedural ills at Marvel (including
repeatedly missed deadlines) and oversaw a creative renaissance at the
company. This renaissance included institutionalizing creator
royalties, starting the Epic imprint for creator-owned material in 1982, and launching a brand-new (albeit ultimately unsuccessful) line named New Universe,
to commemorate Marvel's 25th anniversary, in 1986. However, Shooter was
responsible for the introduction of the company-wide crossover (Contest of Champions, Secret Wars)
and was accused by many creators, especially near the end of his
tenure, of exercising his job in a draconian manner and interfering
with the writers' creative process.^{[citation needed]} . In 1981 Marvel purchased the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises animation studio from famed Looney Tunes director Friz Freleng and his business partner David H. DePatie. The company was renamed Marvel Productions and it produced well-known animated TV series and movies featuring such characters as G.I. Joe, The Transformers, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, and such TV series as Dungeons & Dragons, as well as cartoons based on Marvel characters, including Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

In 1986, Marvel was sold to New World Entertainment, which within three years sold it to MacAndrews and Forbes, owned by Revlon executive Ronald Perelman. Perelman took the company public on the New York Stock Exchange
and oversaw a great increase in the number of titles Marvel published.
As part of the process, Marvel Productions sold its back catalog to Saban Entertainment (acquired in 2001 by Disney), and Marvel management closed the animation studio, opting to outsource.^{[citation needed]}

Marvel History - 1970s

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:11:00 +0000

In October 1976, Marvel, which already licensed reprints in different countries, including the UK, created a superhero specifically for the British market. Captain Britain debuted exclusively in the UK, and later appeared in American comics.

In 1971, Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee was approached by the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to do a comic book story about drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. However, the industry's self-censorship board, the Comics Code Authority,
refused to approve the story because of the presence of narcotics,
deeming the context of the story irrelevant. Lee, with Goodman's
approval, published the story regardless in The Amazing Spider-Man
#96-98 (May-July 1971), without the Comics Code seal. The storyline was
well-received and the Code was subsequently revised the same year.^[14]

Goodman retired as publisher in 1972 and was succeeded by Lee, who
stepped aside from running day-to-day operations at Marvel. A series of
new editors-in-chief oversaw the company during another slow time for
the industry. Once again, Marvel attempted to diversify, and with the
updating of the Comics Code achieved moderate success with titles
themed to horror (Tomb of Dracula), martial arts, (Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu), sword-and-sorcery (Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja), satire (Howard the Duck) and science fiction ("Killraven" in Amazing Adventures).
Some of these were published in larger-sized black-and-white magazines,
targeted for mature readers. Marvel was able to capitalize on its
successful superhero comics of the previous decade by acquiring a new
newsstand distributor and greatly expanding its comics line. Marvel
pulled ahead of rival DC Comics
in 1972, during a time when the price and format of the standard
newsstand comic were in flux. Goodman increase the price and size of
Marvel's November 1971 cover-dated comics from 15 cents for 36 pages
total to 25 cents for 52 pages. DC followed suit, but Marvel the
following month dropped its comics to 20 cents for 36 pages, offering a
lower-priced product with a higher distributor discount.^[15]

In 1973, Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation changed its name to Cadence Industries, which in turn renamed Magazine Management Co. as Marvel Comics Group. Goodman, now completely disconnected from Marvel, created a new company called Atlas/Seaboard Comics in 1974, reviving Marvel's old Atlas name, but this project lasted only a year-and-a-half.^[16]

In the mid-1970s, Marvel was affected by a decline of the newsstand distribution network. Cult hits such as Howard the Duck
were the victims of the distribution problems, with some titles
reporting low sales when in fact they were being resold at a later date
in the first specialty comic-book stores.^{[citation needed]} But by the end of the decade, Marvel's fortunes were reviving, thanks to the rise of direct market distribution — selling through those same comics-specialty stores instead of newsstands.

Marvel History - 1960s

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:10:00 +0000

n the wake of DC Comics' success reviving superheroes in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly with The Justice League of America, Marvel followed suit.^[8]

Editor/writer Stan Lee and freelance artist Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four, reminiscent of the non-superpowered adventuring quartet the Challengers of the Unknown
that Kirby had created for DC in 1957. Living in a Cold War culture,
the Marvel creators sought to deconstruct the superhero conventions of
previous eras to better reflect the psychological spirit of their age.^[9]
Eschewing such comic-book tropes as secret identities and even costumes
at first, having a monster as one of the heroes, and having its
characters bicker and complain in what was later called a "superheroes
in the real world" approach, the series represented a change that
proved to be a great success.^[10] Marvel began publishing further superhero titles featuring such heroes and antiheroes as the Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Iron Man, the X-Men and Daredevil, and such memorable antagonists as Doctor Doom, Magneto, Galactus, the Green Goblin, and Doctor Octopus. The most successful new series was The Amazing Spider-Man, by Lee and Ditko. Marvel even lampooned itself and other comics companies in a parody comic, Not Brand Echh (a play on Marvel's dubbing of other companies as "Brand Echh", a la the then-common phrase "Brand X").^[11]

Marvel's comics were noted for focusing on characterization to a
greater extent than most superhero comics before them. This was true of
The Amazing Spider-Man, in particular. Its young hero suffered
from self-doubt and mundane problems like any other teenager. Marvel
superheroes are often flawed, freaks, and misfits, unlike the perfect,
handsome, athletic heroes found in previous traditional comic books.
Some Marvel heroes looked like villains and monsters. In time, this
non-traditional approach would revolutionize comic books.

Comics historian Peter Sanderson wrote that in the 1960s,

“

DC was the equivalent of the big Hollywood
studios: After the brilliance of DC's reinvention of the superhero ...
in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it had run into a creative drought
by the decade's end. There was a new audience for comics now, and it
wasn't just the little kids that traditionally had read the books. The
Marvel of the 1960s was in its own way the counterpart of the French New Wave....
Marvel was pioneering new methods of comics storytelling and
characterization, addressing more serious themes, and in the process
keeping and attracting readers in their teens and beyond. Moreover,
among this new generation of readers were people who wanted to write or
draw comics themselves, within the new style that Marvel had pioneered,
and push the creative envelope still further.^[12]

”

Lee became one of the best-known names in comics, with his charming
personality and relentless salesmanship of the company. His sense of
humor and generally lighthearted manner became the "voice" that
permeated the stories, the letters and news pages, and the hyperbolic
house ads of that era's Marvel Comics, and fostered a clubby
fan-following with Lee's exaggerated depiction of the Bullpen (Lee's
name for the staff) as one big, happy family. This included printed
kudos to the artists, who eventually co-plotted the stories based on
the busy Lee's rough synopses or even simple spoken concepts, in what
became known as the Marvel Method,
and contributed greatly to Marvel's product and success. Kirby in
particular is generally credited for many of the cosmic ideas and
characters of Fantastic Four and The Mighty Thor, such as the Watcher, the Silver Surfer and Ego the Living Planet, while Steve Ditko is recognized as the driving artistic force behind the moody atmosphere and street-level naturalism of Spider-Man and the surreal atmosphere of Dr. Strange.
Lee, however, continues to receive credit for his well-honed skills at
dialogue and story sense, for his keen hand at choosing and motivating
artists and assembling creative teams, and for his uncanny ability to
connect with the readers — not least through the nickname endearments
he bestowed in the credits and the monthly "Bullpen Bulletins" and
letters pages, giving readers humanizing hype about the likes of "Jolly
Jack Kirby", "Rascally Roy Thomas", "Jazzy Johnny Romita" and others, right down to letterers "Swingin' Sammy Rosen" and "Adorable Artie Simek".

Lesser-known staffers during the company's industry-changing growth
in the 1960s (some of whom worked primarily for Marvel publisher Martin Goodman's
umbrella magazine corporation) included circulation manager Johnny
Hayes, subscriptions person Nancy Murphy, bookkeeper Doris Siegler,
merchandising person Chip Goodman (son of publisher Martin) and Arthur
Jeffrey, described in the December 1966 "Bullpen Bulletin" as "keeper
of our MMMS [Merry Marvel Marching Society] files, guardian of our club coupons and defender of the faith".

In the fall of 1968, company founder Goodman sold Marvel Comics and his other publishing businesses to the Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation. It grouped these businesses in a subsidiary called Magazine Management Co. Goodman remained as publisher.^[13]

Marvel History - Atlas

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:03:00 +0000

Sales of all comic books declined drastically in the post-war era as the superheroic übermensch archetype popular during the Depression and the war years went out of fashion. Like other comics companies, Timely — generally known as Atlas Comics in the 1950s — followed pop-cultural trends with a variety of genres, including funny animals, Western, horror, war, crime, humor, romance, spy fiction and fantasy, all with varying degrees of success. An attempted superhero revival with the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner and Captain America lasted only from late 1953 to mid-1954.

From 1952 to late 1956, Goodman distributed his comics to newsstands through his self-owned distributor, Atlas. He then switched to American News Company, the nation's largest distributor and a virtual monopoly — which shortly afterward lost a Justice Department lawsuit and discontinued the business. As historian and author Gerard Jones explains, the company in 1956

source : wiki

Marvel History - Timely

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:01:00 +0000

Marvel Comics was founded as Timely Publications in 1939, and is now the largest comic company in the world. It was founded by Martin Goodman, a pulp-magazine publisher whose first publication was a Western pulp in 1933. Expanding into the emerging and by then already highly popular new medium of comic books, Goodman began his new line at his existing company at 330 West 42nd Street, New York City, New York. His official titles were editor, managing editor, and business manager, with Abraham Goodman officially listed as publisher.^[1]

Timely's first publication was Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), containing the first appearance of Carl Burgos' android superhero, the Human Torch, and the first generally available appearance of Bill Everett's anti-hero Namor the Sub-Mariner, among other features. The contents of that sales blockbuster^[2] were supplied by an outside packager, Funnies, Inc., but by the following year Timely had a staff in place. With the second issue the series title changed to Marvel Mystery Comics.

The company's first true editor, writer-artist Joe Simon, teamed with soon-to-be industry legend Jack Kirby to create one of the first patriotically themed superheroes, Captain America, in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). It, too, proved a major sales hit, with a circulation of nearly one million.^[2]

While no other Timely character would be as successful as these "big three", some notable heroes — many continuing to appear in modern-day retcon appearances and flashbacks — include the Whizzer, Miss America, the Destroyer, the original Vision, and Paul Gustavson's Angel. Timely also published one of humor cartoonist Basil Wolverton's best-known features, "Powerhouse Pepper",^[3]^[4] as well as a children's funny animal line whose most popular characters were Super Rabbit and the duo Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal.

Goodman hired a teenaged relative, Stanley Lieber, as a general office assistant in 1939. When editor Simon left the company in late 1941, Goodman made Lieber — by then writing pseudonymously as "Stan Lee" — interim editor of the comics line, a position Lee kept for decades except for three years during World War II military service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Comics

Marvel Comics

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:59:00 +0000

Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing, Inc., a division of Marvel Entertainment, Inc.

Marvel counts among its characters such well-known properties as Spider-Man, the X-Men and their member Wolverine, the Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, the Punisher, Daredevil, Ghost Rider and many others. Most of Marvel's fictional characters are depicted as inhabitants of a single shared reality; this continuity is known as the Marvel Universe.

The comic book arm of the company was founded in 1939 as Timely Publications^[1] and was generally known as Atlas Comics in the 1950s. Marvel's modern incarnation dates from the early 1960s, with the launching of Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and others. Marvel has since become one of the largest American comics companies, along with DC Comics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Comics

Spidey's Spectacular Summer: Wacker Q&A

noreply@blogger.com (leolintang) — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:49:00 +0000

By Ben Morse

He's nearly six months into his "Brand New Day," but if Spider-Man had designs on things settling down for a nice quiet summer, well, sorry Spidey.

Beginning in August, writer Dan Slott welcomes legendary artist John Romita Jr. back to the pages of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN for "New Ways to Die," a six-part story that unfolds over two months, bringing familiar faces like Venom, Norman Osborn and Mary Jane Watson back into the Webslinger's world, while also introducing the new menace of Anti-Venom.

We caught up with Spidey editor supreme Steve Wacker to make sense of the excitement.

Marvel.com: Why do you feel you've reached the point in this new Spider-Man direction where you can start bringing back familiar antagonists like Norman Osborn and Venom?

Steve Wacker: As a group we all agreed going into this book that for the first six to eight months we wanted to keep the familiar antagonists off the table so that we didn't use them as a crutch. Without the classic Spidey rogues gallery to draw from for the first few months, it made everyone involved work harder to make sure we came away with some intriguing enemies to go up against Spidey.And this won't mark the end of the new bad guys being created, but we'll be mixing it up starting in August and even watching the classic villains interacting with the new crew.

Marvel.com: This six-part arc will mark the biggest story told in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN since the new direction—again, why do you feel the time is right for something like this?

Steve Wacker: Editorially, I've had my [eye] on Johnny Romita coming back and I knew I wanted it to be a big deal when he did, so in that respect this is a "creator-driven" event. But we also had several story threads ready to pop and Slott—with some brainstorming help from [Spidey braintrust members and writers] Zeb [Wells], Bob [Gale] and Marc [Guggenheim]—had come up with intriguing way to pull them all together into our first epic. The best of these kinds of stories just happen organically and that's what happened here.

Marvel.com: What does it mean to have John Romita Jr. returning for this story?

Steve Wacker: I had a realization a few weeks back that I like JR Jr. on this book so much because it's rare in life that you see someone in any field simply doing the thing they were born to do—and it's beautiful when it happens. It's like watching Michael Jordan play basketball or [Executive Editor Tom] Brevoort work his way into a cheeseburger.
Marvel.com: Where does Norman Osborn fit into the current landscape Peter Parker is living in as far as how he relates to the other characters, in particular his son, Harry?

Steve Wacker: Norman and Harry are at the center of Peter's world and we're going to see that in the story. Plus, Peter has to deal with Norman as Spider-Man since he's unregistered and Norman leads the Thunderbolts.
The T-Bolts play the role of "people who want to hit Spider-Man." Several others are cast in this role [as well].
Marvel.com: Where has Eddie Brock, the original Venom, been and where is his head at as he re-enters the world of Spider-Man?

Steve Wacker: Eddie was last seen in an arc in SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN last year bed-ridden with cancer. He's still sick when we see him in ["New Ways to Die"].

Marvel.com: Who—or what—is Anti-Venom and what does it mean for Spidey as well as the current Venom?

Steve Wacker: I don't want to give away anything, but to put it in '80s movie speak: If poisonous venom makes you sick...an anti-venom is the cure.

www.marvel.com