I’ve known Ian since high school and I probably consider him one of the better sounding boards when it comes to comic books (we got into comics around the same time and read the same Marvel books for a while). Â He is one of the few people that I know online that hasn’t succumbed to starting a blog
Favourite regular series right now? Right now, It’s Avengers: The Initiative. Â I really wanted to say Ghost Rider but it’s been pipped at the post the last few months. Â Danny Ketch is making a comeback so I hope this launches the book back into my #1 spot.
Comic book character you only recently discovered/started reading?
I recently started reading Angel: After the Fall as it’s set shortly after the end of the TV series. Â I don’t think I’ll continue with it though as I’m not that fussed with the writing or the art.Â
If you could draw/write one character who would it be?
The Danny Ketch Ghost Rider!
Are you a fan of the big multi issue crossover extravaganzas?
No! Â I’d be OK with them if there was a break between them, but one starts just as one stops and I just don’t have the cash to keep buying every title in the particular comic book universe indefinitely. Â What I really don’t like is that the events in the crossovers become ingrained in the continuum and only partially referred to after the event, so if you didn’t read what happened, you keep thinking ‘why are they feeling/looking like/doing that’. Â Annoying, very annoying.
Last comic book series that you dropped and why?
Heroes for Hire. Â I started reading after it launched dung one of the many crossover sagas but I dropped it after 5 issues because the characters weren’t focussed and the story’s were pretty weak.
Favourite character?
Ghost Rider!
Are you a DC or a Marvel?
Definitely Marvel.
Do you remember your first comic/series?
Absolutely. Â The first comic I bought was Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) #20 when I was 14.
Is Watchmen the movie going to be as good as the comic book?
I have no idea, I’ve never read Watchmen.
Favourite comic book movie?
The Dark Knight. Â That move blew me away.
Worst comic book movie?
Hulk. Â Arthouse? Â Really?
Character you’d like to see in a movie?
The Sentry. Â A guy with the power of a million exploding suns (or something like that) who is extremely mentally unstable could make for a really good movie.
I don’t think I’m giving anything away by confirming that Captain America does not make an appearance in the new Hulk film.
But just because we don’t see him he’s not completely absent though. Â When discussing the super soldier serum a character is asked if there were any successes with the program.
The answer of course is a big yes (with interesting results) and all of us Marvel geeks know and excitedly elbow our non Marvel geek partners that the success was Captain America.
I’m actually a little relieved that they didn’t try and jam Cap into the film, for one thing they haven’t cast him yet and secondly I doubt the costume has already been designed.
Before you guys start waving various protestations at me, when I say you people I don’t mean YOU people, I’m talking about the general public.
I know people say this all the time, I liked “blah blah” before everyone else made it popular but I really stuck with the Iron Man character for years. Almost as long as I collected Batman comics (Batman being my first love in the comic book world).
So seeing people jumping on the bandwagon now and being big experts on Tony Stark and on the various Iron Man armours really tears me down the middle. Where were you people three years ago? Five years? Ten..? (you get the idea).
Just take a look at that footage above to see that they’ve done the character justice - I read that the director was adamant about making it believable and I can honestly say I never imagined what it would be like trying to fly as Iron Man the first couple of times but that really captures it!
It’s fantastic to see the character treated as I’ve always known he should be and it doesn’t get better than seeing him on the big screen in all of his Shell-head glory! Shell-head; that’s his nickname in the Marvel universe you know, Golden Avenger is another name (someone suggested he was also known as the Crimson Avenger but I doubt this as this is a DC character and I don’t recall him ever being called this).
So I want the film to do really really really well (I can’t wait to see War Machine in the sequel - yes I’m talking sequels already!) but I do wish to hang on to my snobbery at the same time.
Ahhhh what do I care as long as they continue to bring out kick ass toys (which I may add I put pretty much all of them on lay-by the other day thank you very much)!
Oh and I can’t wait to get my hands on the Iron Man game either:
If I had to choose my favourite comic character the answer is always going to come down to Batman. The can stuff around with the comic book series with weird crossover events (a giant earthquake turns Gotham into no man’s land?) but i’ll always come back to the fact that Batman is the coolest.
So the number one spot is reserved. That makes number two fight club for a whole bunch of characters. It changes all the time depending on my mood. Sometimes it will be Superman, rarely it will be Aquaman (there’s a whole post involved with that one - for another time), occasionally Spiderman but more often than not it is Iron Man.
Iron Man is not your A grade superhero although he’s been getting more and more attention of late. As a founding member of the Avengers and a key payer in the whole mess that is Civil War. He will gain more attention with the upcoming film staring Robert Downey Jr - whom I honestly believe is an excellent choice for the character (although had this film been made 10 years ago I would have argued for Tom Selleck!!!).
One of the cool things that I’ve liked about the comic book series is that Tony Stark is human, and human to the point of he has had a heart attack, been paralysed and he is an alcoholic. He just can’t cut a break!!! The character fuses technology and humanity, the ways that science can be great and it is never the technology that is evil but the people who use it.
Here is a quick sketch (I’ve been so busy of late) of the first generation Iron Man suit - Iron Man is one of the few characters that change of costume is an expected good thing!
It is a known fact that when Time magazine awards “The Man of Year*”, there is fine print on the bottom of the cover that says, ” *besides Jack Bauer.”
I don’t think I’m giving anything away by confirming that Captain America does not make an appearance in the new Hulk film.
It is a known fact that when Time magazine awards “The Man of Year*”, there is fine print on the bottom of the cover that says, ” *besides Jack Bauer.”
