How To Write Spider-Man

Just replace Gwen’s name with MJ and you’re good to go!

But Where’s HERBIE?

According to Comic Book Resources, a new FF series will soon appear on Cartoon Network.

Executive Producer Craig Kyle and Story Editor/Head Writer Chris Yost promise the show will feature both action and comedy, which signifies a shift from the earnest GI Joe template past Marvel toons relied upon.

According to Kyle:

What was really important for us is when you look at the Fantastic Four it’s a fun world - these guys are celebrities. They do their job, they’re out in the sun and the fun, they’ve got fans, they don’t hide and they’re not in a world that fears and hates them. They’re the biggest heroes in the world and they are a family at the same time, so they have all the problems, situations, arguments and craziness that happens in a family.

I think a lot of what people loved from even the more recent work in the Fantastic Four - whether it be the “Ultimate Fantastic Four” or the stuff that Mark Waid was doing -  we just love when they’re fun and they can break up the intense moments with a joke or Ben and Johnny end up fighting each other more than they do the villain at hand.

You mean people don’t love Reed Richards building prisons for fellow super-heroes while Sue weighs philosophical issues and Ben high-tails it to Canada?

Shocking.

At any rate, it’ll be interesting to see if FF takes any cues from the recently concluded Teen Titans series - which was faithful to the Haney/Cardy team as well as the more heralded Wolfman/Perez.

Whatever the case, the Keeper always welcomes a fun iteration of the FF. Here’s hoping the quality equals the hype.

The Brave & The Old

It’s always interesting to cruise around the blogoverse and absorb other views regarding comics.

From Scipio’s DC-centric worldview to Ragnell’s advocacy of feminist principles and Green Lantern posteriors to Chris Sims‘ love of all things awesome, a wide spectrum of four-color facts, trivia, enthusiasm and indignation can be found on the Web.

While fascinating, the overwhelming blaze of information and opinion often leaves your humble Fortress Keeper feeling quite old.

As much as we try to roll with the trends (Another DC reboot? *Sigh* Ok…), often the Keeper feels like the Golden Age Superman circa Infinite Crisis: a cranky codger longing for the good old days.

Call your hoary host old-fashioned, but we can’t help but feel a little sad over Dick Grayson’s increasing irrelevance or Reed Richards’ hardened heart.

Our latest bout with antiquity surfaced while reading Net critiques of Brad Meltzer’s Justice League of America. While opinions were predictably varied, a number of bloggers expressed one common sentiment - a surprising (to this reader, at least) disdain for Red Tornado.

In the past week, poor John Smith has been called “pathetic,” “emo,” a “Marvel rip-off” and a “desecration of a great Golden Age character.”

But how do you people really feel?

Maybe we’re just not as “hep” as you youngsters, but the Keeper has always looked upon the Tornado more favorably.

It may stem from the simple fact that JLA # 106, which featured the android’s initial return from the dead, was the first “team” comic ever purchased by your rose-tinted host.

Aside from the fact that his outfit and powers looked pretty cool, the Keeper was mainly attracted to the character’s intense need to belong.

While the other inhabitants of the DC - and heck, even Marvel - universe were hyper-competent and generally respected by their peers, the Tornado struggled to just be considered a sentient being.

(Talk about getting dissed by the cool kids …)

Like a needy child - which he essentially was, given the Tornado’s date of “birth” - he tried his best to fit in and generally fell a bit short, garnering praise only when he inevitably sacrificed his existence to save the world.

Minus the world-saving bit, the Tornado’s story is essentially the tale of a youthful misfit trying to make friends - a condition that holds at least some resonance for this comic-book geek. Although we empathize with fearless test pilots or butt-breaking vigilantes, in all likelihood Red Tornado is the hero that most reflects our lives.

At the risk of enraging Ma Hunkel’s growing fan base, we daresay the Tornado is a better heir to the Golden Age heroine’s legacy than commonly thought.

Even though she was one of the first women to don long-johns and pummel crooks, the Golden Age Tornado was essentially a comedic figure who was laughed out of JSA headquarters after accidentally splitting her pants.

(As if Ma couldn’t have kicked Johnny Thunder’s scrawny little butt around the block a few times …)

Is that really so different from the modern Tornado, who was considered more an appliance than an actual teammate by the Silver Age JSA? We think not.

(Although, in retrospect the Earth-2 heroes sure act like smug, patronizing dicks. They really needed Power Girl to check their obnoxious egos … )

So take it from an old comix codger; it’s time to cut the Red Tornado a little slack. He’s a good family man, and Meltzer probably has some terrible fate cooked up for the poor slob anyway.

Uh-Oh …

If this is true, the Internet is going to break in half….

Again!

Gigantic Spider-spoiler ahead …

The King Of Comics

Today is the anniversary of Jack Kirby’s birth.

Your humble host could go on and on about the King’s achievements, but his pivotal role in the industry (alone and with such collaborators as Joe Simon and Stan Lee) is not disputed.

Co-creating Captain America alone would be enough for many (see Todd McFarlane re. Spawn, or better yet don’t), but the King produced a staggering amount of work in nearly every genre of comics.

Even subtracting his most famous work with Marvel and DC, the man left a huge mark.

With Joe Simon, he launched the first romance comic.  He wrote and/or drew scores of memorable crime, horror, western and science-fiction stories - each of which contained the drama, action and power that influences creators to this very day.

The most amazing aspect of Kirby’s career - to this reader, at least  - is the sheer amount of ideas the man expressed on the printed page. These days (*bitter old fart alert! *), comic-book publishers pat themselves on the back for shooting a longtime hero in the head or throwing spandex wonders into a playground dispute and calling it relevant.

Kirby, though, would toss a guy with a flying surfboard into a story without a thought. Nearly 40 years later, the Silver Surfer is the feature attraction in the next Fantastic Four movie.

Kirby didn’t tear characters or concepts down to enhance his own star power. He built universes from the ground up, providing fertile breeding grounds for subsequent generations of creators. 

Whoops. Looks like we did go on and on about his achievements!

For the best summation of Kirby’s career - he did work in a visual medium, after all - here’s a random assortment of classic covers that hopefully illustrate the unlimited imagination that permeated all his work.

For good measure, here’s a page of Cap doing what he does best - kicking neo-fascist butt!

All hail the King!