Toyfair 2012: Hasbro’s New Marvel Movie Toys!

With big Marvel movies hitting the multiplexes this summer, Hasbro is jumping on the bandwagon, releasing new lines of Spiderman (above)  and Avengers (below) toys.

The Spiderman figures will be hitting store shelves on May 28th.  The range with include 3.75″, 2″ and a special 13″ figure.  The Avengers figures will appearing sooner, staring on March first.  All the figures in this line will be 3.75″ will offer movie versions of Captain American, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Hawkeye and others.  The line will also feature a nifty 3′ version of the S.H.E.I.L.D. Helicarrier.  Who doesn’t want that?

Jim Shooter Joins the Blogosphere!

Jim Shooter, one of the most interesting figures in comicdom, now has a blog.  As a writer he’s been hugely influential.  (He started writing Legion of Superheroes for DC Comics while still in High School.) As editor-in-chief of Marvel he became notorious.  And as the creator o f superhero universes for independent companies ( e.g. Valiant, Defiant and Broadway Comics) he was ahead of his time.

On his blog, he answers questions on a wide range of subjects, and offers information on his latest projects.  If you’re a Shooter fan (we are!) or just want learn more about the man, this blog is a treasure trove.  Visit it here.

Doctor Strange First Marvel Superhero to Carry Disney Logo?

By the dread dormammu!  Deadline offers this exclusive bit of news:

Marvel Studios has hired Conan scribes Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to write Dr. Strange, marking forward progress on a long-gestating superhero property which will likely be among the first Marvel films generated under the Disney banner.  Aside from Conan–the Marcus Nispel-directed Lionsgate film that stars Jason Momoa–Donnelly and Oppenheimer also scripted a live action adaptation of the vidgame Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune for Sony and producer Chuck Roven, and they wrote a draft of the Jon Favreau-directed Cowboys and Aliens for DreamWorks/Universal.

Doctor Strange, a character steep in psychedelia and mysticism, seems an odd choice for the first official Marvel/Disney collaboration.

Is he really blockbuster material?

We love Doctor Strange, especially the Ditko era, and would like to think he is.  But we have our doubts.

Iger Knows Comics!

One fact lost on most people covering the Disney/Marvel acquisition:  Bob Iger (currently Disney CEO) is the descendant of a comic book pioneer.

His great uncle was Jerry Iger an important player at the ground floor of the comic book industry, and a very smart business man.  Iger began producing comic books in the thirties with his company Universal Phoenix Features.  His titles mainly reprinted material from daily comic strips, as did most early comic books.   But they also included some originals.  One of the artists he found for that task was future legend Will Eisner.

Looking at the quality of Eisner’s work, the number of comics on the newstands, and the limited amount of reprint material, Iger guessed that comic book publishers would soon run out of strips to reprint.  So he came up with an idea, if he created a studio of artists he could produce material and sell it to the comic book companies at a profit.

Thus, in 1936, the Eisner and Iger Studio ( a.k.a. Syndicate Features Corp.) was born.  One of the first “comic book packagers”.  The studio was not only successful, making Iger and the young Eisner wealthy men, but it introduced many fine artists to the industry.  In addition to Eisner, the studio also employed Mort Meskin, Lou Fine, Wally Wood, Bob Kane and Jules Fieffer.  And the studio created a lot of characters.  Probably it’s most lasting creations was “Sheena, Queen of the Jungle”.   Eisner would leave the studio in 1940 to create “The Spirit,” but the studio continued under various names until 1955.

With this kind of person in Bob Iger’s family tree, we think the he has a better handle on this business than many may think.

Spidey and Mickey are Family Now!

A Better Way of Looking at the Disney’s Acquisition of Marvel Comics

You’ve probably already heard the news that Disney bought Marvel Comics.  But if you haven’t, you can read about it here.  And you can find all kinds of deadly serious discussion of this strategic acquisition all over the net.

But there’s another question dancing ’round our heads:

What would this mean for the characters if they were real?

Would Mickey have a “there goes the neighborhood” attitude?  Would Johnny Storm consider dating the Little Mermaid?  Would the X-Men breath a sigh of relief as they saw the horribly mutated creatures in the Disney stable.  All those big-headed, large eyed, four fingered critters.  They just aren’t normal.  Even Wolverine might shed a tear.  And what would happen when Donald the Duck met Howard the Duck?  A cage match to the death?

So everyone else can pretend they understand high level business matters.  We prefer viewing this as the “blended marriage” from hell?  Sure, it may be a hopelessly geeky thing to do.  But it beats talking about licensing agreements.

If you have any idea how these historic meetings might play out, share them in the comments section.

Tom Hiddleston Rumored for THOR Movie!

Tom Hiddleston

Since Kenneth Branaugh was announced as director of the Marvel Comics Thor film,  people began to suggest his “Wallander” co-star Tom Hiddleston for the lead.  In an interview with IGN, Branaugh pushes this out of the realm of speculation:

Tom Hiddleston is a great actor and he, amongst a number of others, has been part of the group we’ve spoken to and all that’s still a work in progress.

Not a resounding endorsement.  But it’s sure to give Hiddleston fans something to chew on.