#839 The Fantastic Four on Film: “Rise of the Silver Surfer” (2007)

Rise of the Silver Surfer

This week we look at the movie that was based on the “Galactus Trilogy” of Fantastic Four #48-50, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. How does it stand up against the comics, and against the 2005 film? How do we feel about Galactus being a cloud of smoke? Does Doom finally have a real plan in this one? Once again, Tim is joined by Kumar and Jordan of the Comic Book Movie Oblivion podcast to dig into this film, as we count down to the upcoming MCU debut of the FF.

Brought to you by:

#838 The Fantastic Four on Film: The Galactus Trilogy

FF 50 cover

One of the most famous Fantastic Four stories is the “Galactus Trilogy” from Fantastic Four 48-50 in 1966. This story has been adopted more than once, including in the 1990s FF cartoon, and in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Leading into our discussion of that movie next week, this week Tim, Kumar, and Jordan, in another crossover with the Comic Book Movie Oblivion podcast, look at the original comics story. While it’s been quite lauded, and very influential, why can it also be considered flawed?

Brought to you by:

#704 “Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee”

Excelsior!
Continuing with “How Much Stan Can You Stand?”, this time Tim and Emmet take on Stan Lee’s 2002 memoir (with George Mair), Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee. How does it differ from his later memoir Amazing Fantastic Incredible?

Have you had all the Stan you can stand? Or should we review more books on The Man? Let us know in the comments!

Brought to you by:

#700 Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible….Nostalgic

Amazing Fantastic Incredible

“How much Stan can you stand?” Tim and Emmet’s look at books on Stan Lee continues with The Man’s graphic novel-memoir Amazing Fantastic Incredible, by Stan Lee, Peter David, and Colleen Doran. Can we recommend it?

Listen to the MMMS record

1:18:40 Also, Tim looks back at a few of the many high points in the history of Deconstructing Comics, complete with old show clips!

#224 Our Notes on “Death Note”

#165 Mo Willems’ Dirty Little Secret

#173 Diamond and the U.S. Comics Market

#595 Mulele and other DCP connections at TCAF

#564 T-Rex and CXC

#299 Detroit Metal City vs. Metalocalypse Dethklok

Brought to you by:

#694 “True Believer”

True Believer

How much Stan can you stand? That’s the question Emmet and Tim are asking as we review an undetermined number of Stan Lee biographies! In episode 692, we covered Spurgeon and Raphael’s 2004 entry; this time, it’s the most recent tome, True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee by Abraham Riesman. While some in the mainstream press may be stunned by this book’s revelations about Stan’s status as “creator” of the Marvel Comics pantheon, this is not news in comics circles. But why is a self-professed fan of Stan delivering so much negativity? Or, is Riesman being, rather than too harsh, not harsh enough?

Brought to you by our supporters on Patreon!

#692 “Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book”

Raphael/Spurgeon book on Stan Lee

Tim and Emmet begin a series on Stan Lee biographies with the 2003 book Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book by Jordan Raphael and the late, great Tom Spurgeon. What’s the tone of this book, and how does it portray Stan? How much of the Marvel Universe is he actually responsible for, and what were his motivations for taking more credit than he deserved? We discuss, and then Tim gets some background on the making of the book from co-author Jordan Raphael!

#627 Walt Simonson’s “Thor”

Thor and Beta Ray Bill

 

One of the most acclaimed Marvel runs of the 1980s was by Walt Simonson on The Mighty Thor. He began writing and drawing it with #337, continued through to #367 (with a quick break in the middle), then gave up art duties but continued writing through #382. This run set aside Dr. Don Blake, focused on mythical threats rather than earthly ones, and injected some humor into what had sometimes been a fairly dry, dour book. Tim and Kumar look back to assess this important run.

#612 RIP Stan Lee

Stan Lee

Stan Lee, Marvel Comics writer, art director, publisher, promoter, and icon, died November 12 at age 95. While he is loved by many, and undoubtedly had a hand in some of the greatest stories of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and more, he was also known to aggravate disputes over story credit and art ownership with the likes of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. In this episode, Tim, Kumar, and Tom Spurgeon wrestle with the legacy of Stan the Man.

#567 Paul Gravett

Koom with Paul Gravett

At London Super Comicon last month, Koom got to sit down with Paul Gravett, a comics journalist and exhibition curator. Gravett is currently preparing the touring Asian comics show Mangasia, which will debut in Rome next month. This is a guy who’s read a lot of comics; do they all become a blur after a while? Koom asks him about avoiding burnout, the amount of progress comics have (or haven’t) made toward being accepted by the “art world”, and much more.

#528 Lenny Schwartz: Comics and the Theatre, Act III

Co-Creator

While we’ve talked before with Austin Tichenor and John Roberson about adapting comics to the stage, we’ve never talked about (or even thought about!) adapting the lives of comics creators to that stage! But Lenny Schwartz has done it, and more than once, writing and directing “Co-Creator” (about Bill Finger and his claim to the Batman legacy) and “The Man Who Saw Snoopy” (about Charles Schulz, of course!). And he has another in the works on Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko.

This week Lenny tells Tim about writing these plays, just how much credit Bob Kane and Stan Lee may actually deserve, how Schulz used Peanuts as his diary, and much more.