Marvel Podcasts
June 5, 2006 | 3 Comments
I am silly amounts of addicted to the Marvel Universe. As part of that I was pretty excited in January when I first discovered Marvel’s podcasts. Since then I have found myself waiting less than patiently for the semi-monthly or so releases. The insight into the authors, artists, and overall creative teams at Marvel has engrossed me even further into the Marvel Universe and the many exciting events that are currently taking place there.
The first one of these I casually listened to was with Damon Lindelof talking about Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk. Of course I have been rabidly following that series, at least for the first two issues. Where’s issue #3 Lindelof/Marvel?!?
Next, I heard Joss Whedon talk about his Astonishing X-Men series, which I immediately sought out the trades and am now following monthly. In fact, if you want to get in on a modern X-Men title, this is the one to read. The team consists of Cyclops, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Wolverine, Colossus, and Beast. The series has dealt with some fantastic plot twists and events, including a story line about a mutant cure whihc is eerily familiar to X-Men 3’s major plot line. Understanding Whedon’s reasoning for building the team he did and why he is playing with the stories he is made the whole experience that much richer.
Craig Kyle was interviewed about the Ultimate Avengers movie. After listening I of course bought the DVD on launch day. If I hadn’t heard him explain in great detail about why he had changed many of the major story elements, I may have been annoyed at the film. Instead I enjoyed every minute of it and again found insights into the changed characterizations.
I was surprised to find Keith Giffen and editor Andy Schmidt raising my interests for Annihilation and all the cosmic Marvel heroes featured there. I had previously had every intention of being blissfully ignorant of this major event which follows primarily characters I find out of place and uninteresting in Marvel. Instead, Silver Surfer, Drax the Destroyer, and Nova have all captivated me into this major event. In fact I’m trying to find back issues of Drax the Destroyer which are proving to be as elusive as honest politicians… Granted, I still find Ronan and Super Skrull about as boring as anything ever written… but you can’t win them all.
The X-Office episode was an amazing amount of fun to listen to, but I haven’t been able to find much that is too interesting in most the X-Men comics these days. The exception is of course Joss Whedon’s previously mentioned Astonishing X-Men. The banter between the many editors, writers, and artists who participated in this episode made for the occasional laugh out loud moment and definitely made a flight from Orlando to Manchester entirely more tolerable.
The two Civil War episodes added to my already frothing excitement for this event. In fact, I’m not sure anyone has ever felt so giddy about an upcoming set of comics as I do about Civil War. I just wish I could sit down and read the 30+ comics that will make up this massive event in one long binge. Alas, I will have to wait for Mark Millar to layout his tale slowly over the next six months…
I could go on, because there are more great episodes to highlight (Neil Gaiman on Moon Night, Ed Brubaker on Daredevil, Daniel Knauf on Iron Man, etc). However, I just need to say thanks to Marvel and hopefully encourage at least one person to listen to these amazing podcasts. I’m certain they will continue, especially if the marketing team learns how addictive they may prove to be.
I will warn you though, listening to the Marvel podcast will be hazardous to your wallet! You’ve been warned, now go listen and spend money on comics.
RSS feed of the Marvel Podcasts
Tags: "astonishing x-men", "Damon Lindelof", "ultimate avengers", Andy Schmidt, Beast, civil war, colossus, comic books, comics, Cyclops, Daniel Knauf, daredevil, Drax the Destroyer, ed brubaker, emma frost, hulk, iron man, joss whedon, Keith Giffen, Kitty Pryde, mark millar, marvel, marvel universe, moon knight, Neil Gaiman, Nova, podcast, podcasts, ronan, rss, Silver Surfer, super skrull, ultimate hulk, ultimate wolverine, Wolverine, x-men
Cyclops Kitten
January 22, 2006 | 55 Comments
I’ve been shown this poor little kitten a couple times now, so after feeling confident about it’s validity, I figured I should blog it…
According to some sources, the shortly lived kitten suffered from Cyclopia, a medical disorder characterized by the fusion of the orbits into a single cavity containing one eye.
Other places report that the cause was Holoprosencephaly, which causes facial deformities, according to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health. In the worst cases, a single eye is located where the nose should be, according to the institute’s Web site.
Anyway, the common report from the AP provided by Yahoo news:
Cy, short for Cyclopes, a kitten born with only one eye and no nose, is shown in this photo provided by its owner in Redmond, Oregon, on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005. The kitten, a ragdoll breed, which died after living for one day, was one of two in the litter. Its sibling was born normal and healthy.
Traci Allen is keeping the kitten’s corpse in case science wants to research it. I wish they would so I could feel even more confident this poor thing is real… If so, maybe it would qualify as world’s ugliest cat!
Tags: animal, bizarre, cat, cy, cyclopes, cyclopia, Cyclops, cyclops kitten, eye, holoprosencephaly, kitten, kittens, oddity, one eye, pet, photo, ugly, ugly cat, weird
X-Men 3: Trailer and New Pics
December 5, 2005 | 13 Comments
The trailer is out! I just watched it. Twice. Then frame by frame. I think this is going to rule. Wolverine, Magneto, Professor X, Rogue, Iceman, Mystique, Storm, Cyclops, and Pyro are all back. Notably absent are Nightcrawler, Sabretooth, and Toad. New to the scene are Angel, Beast, Kitty Pryde, Juggernaut, Callisto, and the reborn Jean Grey as Pheonix!
The director has changed from Bryan Singer to Brett Ratner (Rush Hour 1 and 2, The Family Man, Red Dragon) which is of slight concern, but I still have great faith. I refuse to be a pessimist about this film.
Anyway, there were more pictures released at USA Today today as well.
In sadder news, Jackman has announced that he is unlikely to return for a fourth film, but the positive side of that is his intention to do a Wolverine spin-off movie due in 2007.
Tags: angel, Beast, brett ratner, bryan singer, Callisto, comic, comic books, comics, Cyclops, Fun Whatnot, Iceman, Jean Grey, Juggernaut, Kitty Pryde, Magneto, movie, movies, Mystique, Nightcrawler, Pheonix, Professor X, Pyro, Rogue, Sabretooth, Storm, Toad, Wolverine, x-men, X-Men 3, X3, XMen, XMen 3