Category Everything Else

Mar 10 2013

Iron Man’s Best Armor

iron gallery

This month marks the 50th birthday of everyone’s favorite Armored Avenger, Iron Man. One thing that made Shellhead so unique among the superheroes is that until recent years he was one of the very few superheroes to sport a new look.

Often, the change in suits was necessary since Iron Man faced constantly changing threats and situations. This upgrading of his armor is one way to showcase how Iron Man keeps up with technology and the times. It is hard to imagine Iron Man being the popular hero that he is if he still wore that clunky Mark II armor seen in the early Avengers comic books.

There are many variations of his armor, while some were best left forgotten, others were very captivating and quite cool.

stealthStealth Armor Mark I (Iron Man # 152, Vol. 1)

One thing that stood out about this armor was its jet black color scheme, which lent itself to its stealth capabilities that made Iron Man electronically invisible.

Hydro Armor (Iron Man # 218, Vol. 1)

As its name suggests, this particular oversized armor was used for underwater missions, namely deep-sea salvages.

Hulkbuster Armor (Iron Man # 304, Vol. 4)Hulk buster

This large-framed armor boosted Iron Man’s strength to allow hand-to-hand fighting with the powerful Hulk. This concept led to other variants like the Asgardian Armor for fighting Thor and Spider-Man’s Iron Spider suit seen in the Civil War mini-series. The Hulkbuster armor apparently makes an appearance in the new Iron Man 3 movie as seen at the end of the latest trailer.

 

extemisExtremis Armor (Iron Man #5, Vol. 4) & Bleeding Edge Armor (Iron Man # 25, Vol. 5)

What made this armor so radically different was that it was actually part of its wearer Tony Stark. He was critically ill and injected himself with a techno organic virus, which bonded the suit to his body. Stark was able to store the armor in his bones and controlled it with his brain impulses. For all intents and purposes, this armor turned Stark into a cyborg, a true Iron Man. This wasn’t a state-of-the art armor, it was simply futuristic. The next stage of his armor was the so-called Bleeding Edge Armor. However, Stark had the armor surgically removed later on.  

Mark I (Tales Of Suspense # 39) tales of suspense

Sometimes retro is the way to go. Yes, its clunky and not aesthetically pleasing but it did a most important thing. It was the first armor to save Tony Stark’s life. Using raw materials and under life-or-death pressure, Stark demonstrated his genius with this creation. While funky in its inelegant, steampunk-like design, the armor would be replaced in the next issue of Tales Of Suspense by a more advanced golden armor. The basic grey look made a comeback of sorts in Iron Man # 191 (Vol. I) when Stark was forced to cobble together a makeshift suit when his regular armor wasn’t available to him.

classic armorMark III (Tales Of Suspense # 48)

The iconic, modern look of the red-and-gold armor was introduced in this issue and it set the design template for all future Iron Man armor. The Mark III differed from the first two designs in that it had a sleeker look and was more versatile. The design became a mainstay for Iron Man’s look (except for bulky alternates like the Hulkbuster or his Space Armor). The armor looked even sleeker and more formidable with the debut of the more modern Mark IV (Tales Of Suspense # 66) with the famous repulsor rays and the Mark V (Iron Man # 85, Vol. 1). This two-color, dynamic motif culminated, with his current Black and Gold Armor (Iron Man # 1, Vol. 5), which is made of a fluidic “smart metal”, mentally controlled by Stark and is a testbed for new tech.

black and gold

*Note: The above art was done by John Romita, Jr., Bob Layton, Kevin Hopgood, Adi Granov, Jack Kirby, Don Heck and Greg Land

Waldermann Rivera

Special thanks to GEO

Mar 1 2013

Starloggers Asks Who Should Be In Star Wars Episode VII?

gang

The rumors about who will appear in the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII are swirling faster than an TIE fighter spinning to its doom on an asteroid field after chasing the Millennium Falcon. There are reports that Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford will reprise their roles of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo respectively in the new film to be directed by J.J. Abrams. Carrie Fisher can’t be far behind to complete the triad.

With that, here at Starloggers, our contributors were asked which characters they  would like to return in Star Wars Episode VII. These are their replies…

m. falcon cockpit

José Soto: Luke Skywalker and Han Solo are excellent choices, but you need Leia too so that the baton can be effectively handed off to the new generation of characters. While they’re at it, throw in Chewbacca, Admiral Ackbar and a force ghost appearance by Yoda. Oh, and don’t forget the droids!

fettC.S. Link: The droids, of course, you can’t have a Star Wars film without C-3P0 whining away and R2-D2 being the heroic droid/mobile Swiss army knife. Boba Fett would be nice, as well as Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca. They’re cool.

GEO: I would like J.J. Abrams to recast Luke, Han and Leia, just like he did with the Star Trek reboot. But at the end of the day, the must-have character to appear in Star Wars Episode VII should be Luke.

Jennifer Drucker: I’d love to see Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian again. Also, it would be great if the people making the upcoming film were to include Qui-Gon Jinn and Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi as blue Jedi ghosts.

qui gon 2

Annette DeForrester:  Yoda’s my favorite Star Wars character of all time. Even though he died in Return Of The Jedi, Yoda can appear as a ghost. For the villains, Boba can stay in the sarlaac pit, but they should bring back the sith villains as evil ghosts.

droids 3Jim McLernon: They should include the droids, R2-D2 and C-3P0 since they appeared in all six Star Wars films. The rest doesn’t matter to me, but J.J. Abrams should just make sure the characters are well developed no matter who appears in the film.

Lewis T. Grove: Like everyone else I think the droids R2-D2 and C-3P0 must be part of Star Wars Episode VII. Just have them appear more worn and beat up, it would be a realistic touch. Also they should consider Obi-Wan Kenobi. Like the droids, he appeared in all six films and can provide a sense of continuity.

Feb 25 2013

Argo’s Sci-Fi Connection

Argo producer

One thing not really being talked about in the movie trades and news regarding the movie Argo winning the Oscar for Best Picture is Argo’s sci-fi angle. It’s the first time this has happened with a Best Picture winner.

For the unaware reader, the movie is about the CIA’s efforts during the Iran Hostage Crisis to rescue six Americans hiding in a Canadian embassy in Tehran. A crucial sub-plot in Argo has to do with Ben Affleck’s character of CIA operative Tony Mendez coming up with the off-the-wall idea of entering Iran to rescue the American hostages by posing as a film producer. This scheme involves him supposedly producing a fake “science fantasy adventure” movie called Argo and he wants to film the project in Iran because of its exotic location. Unbelievably this scheme works as Mendez is given permission by Iran to enter the hostile country for location scouting.

Actually Argo the fake movie was based on a never-made sci-fi movie called Lord Of Light (based on a book of the same name). Lord Of Light went far enough into pre-production that legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby was commissioned to draw some concept art for the film project.

kirby argo 2

The whole thing with the fictitious movie is just a gimmick while Argo is devoted to the efforts to smuggle out the Americans. The movie cannot be considered sci-fi at all, yet it has a sliver of a sci-fi connection. This is the closest that the disrespected genre (in Hollywood’s eyes) has come to date for being part of a movie that is a Best Picture winner. Not much, but it’s a first step.

Perhaps one day a genuine sci-fi movie will earn that Best Picture honor on Oscar night.

Lewis T. Grove

Feb 23 2013

The Non-minees For Best Picture Oscar

2001 empire

Traditionally, genre films have been snubbed by the Oscars, that is a given. But in recent years, such films have snuck into the list of nominees. A few years back Avatar, Inception, District 9  and the film versions of The Lord Of The Rings received Best Picture nominations. Most know that the fantasy epic The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King actually won for Best Picture in 2003.

While that is all well and good, there are numerous worthwhile sci-fi, fantasy, animated and horror films that were ignored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at least when it comes to the most valued prize, the Best Picture pick. The following are notable genre classics throughout the decades that should’ve at least received a nomination for Best Picture.

1930s-1940s: Frankenstein (1931) is still revered today as a genuine horror and sci-fi masterpiece with Boris kongKarloff’s iconic performance as the Creature. King Kong (1933) was a groundbreaking film that influenced many generations of filmmakers to this day with its unforgettable, dreamlike scenes that transported viewers into a lost world filled with a giant gorilla and dangerous dinosaurs.

Although Walt Disney received a special Oscar for Snow White And The Seven Dwarves (1937), the film failed to be nominated for Best Picture. What was nominated instead of the groundbreaking first full-length animated film? Such well-regarded classics like Test Pilot and Alexander’s Ragtime Band–note the sarcasm. Disney’s followup animated masterpieces Pinocchio (1940) and Bambi (1942) were also ignored by the Academy when it came to announcing the Best Picture nominations.

bambi

But the Academy wasn’t too dense, in this time period a few fantasy films received Best Picture nominations starting with Lost Horizon (1937), The Wizard Of Oz (1939) and It’s A Wonderful Life (1946).

1950s-1960s: Many nominated films in these two day earth stilldecades were either musicals or dramas. Unlike the previous decades there weren’t any genre films recognized with the exceptions of Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins, Doctor Doolittle (both of which are really musicals) and Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb. Horror and animated films were for the virtually absent among the list of Oscar nominees. Sci-fi films in this time period began to grow out their zero-budget, infantile trappings. There was an explosion of sci-fi films in the 1950s, many of them worthy of recognition by the Academy like The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), War Of The Worlds (1953), Forbidden Planet (1956) and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). But the Academy members failed to see the merit of these films, which are still fondly revered.

planet of apesKubrick’s next film after Dr. Strangelove is considered by most people as the greatest sci-fi film ever made. Yet 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) was largely ignored by the Oscars. The other important sci-fi masterpiece that came out in the same year Planet Of The Apes was also snubbed by the Oscars except for a special makeup Oscar. By the way, does anyone know what won that year for Best Picture? Oliver! Another musical snoozefest and films that were nominated included Rachel, Rachel and The Lion In Winter. Are any of these films venerated by film lovers today? Thought not. Continue reading →

Feb 11 2013

Star Wars Standalone Films On Their Way

Ever since the announcement of new standalone Star Wars films there has been much speculation as to what characters will see their own movie. Aside from which characters these films would cover, there have been musings as to when these Star Wars standalone films take place. In between the trilogies? After Return Of The Jedi?

yoda badassYoda will have one made, and hopefully it will focus on his younger days hundreds of years before the two trilogies, perhaps similar to the Knights Of The Old Republic series of comic books and games. Seeing him in his youthful prime, perhaps like Luke Skywalker was in A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back should be a treat and fun to watch. Imagine him not being so wise or powerful, it would be a new way of presenting Yoda before he became a Jedi Master.

han solo

It was announced that Han Solo will also be getting his own Star Wars standalone movie. It will probably focus on his younger days and maybe show how he got his ship the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian. Perhaps the movie will show how he met up with Chewbacca, as well as his early run ins with Jabba the Hutt and the Empire. This sounds like an interesting film and could be based on the series of novels that focused on this time period. Those include han solo booksA.C. Crispin’s Han Solo trilogy (The Paradise Snare, The Hutt Gambit and Rebel Dawn) and the first Han Solo books written in the late ’70s/early ’80s by Brian Daley (Han Solo At Stars’ End, Han Solo’s Revenge and Han Solo And The Lost Legacy).

Boba Fett will also be starring in a Star Wars standalone film, for all we know Joe Johnston will get his wish and be picked as the director. I think it should take place after Return Of the Jedi and show how he survived falling into the sarlaac pit.  This would alleviate many upset fans that were unhappy to see their favorite bounty hunter so carelessly killed off. One possibility is it could flashback to his early days after Attack Of The Clones and show how he became such a feared bounty hunter.

maulI am hoping that Darth Maul gets his own film as well and it could show he became such a ferocious fighter and sith lord. Maybe the story of the novel Shadow Hunter where he takes down the Black Sun crime syndicate could be used. His early interactions with Darth Sidious would be interesting to see.

The droids R2-D2 and C3PO could have their own film as well, as there is a precedence with the Droids animated series. Seeing how they managed to survive from Revenge Of The Sith to A New Hope could have them going across the galaxy and interacting with all sorts of characters from this era could be neat.

Finally, another no brainer is a Star Wars standalone film for fan favorite Jar Jar Binks–just kidding! 🙂

C.S. Link