Nothing says Thanksgiving like a giant kaiju eating people.

Welcome to another Tokusatsu Thanksgiving, where we celebrate Thanksgiving by watching a giant monster movie.

Tokusatsu, for the non-enthusiasts, is a Japanese live-action film or television show that uses considerable amounts of special effects, usually dealing with science fiction, fantasy or horror. Giant monsters in rubber suits and the Power Rangers are all Tokusatsu.

War of the Gargantuas is one of the best. It was originally meant to be a sequel to a movie made the previous year, Frankenstein Conquers the World. Discarded cells from the Frankenstein monster mutated and grew into two giant, hairy behemoths. If you watch either the subtitled or the International dubbed versions of this film, the name "Frankenstein" is used fairly freely. Apparently, the American producer of the film, Henry G. Saperstein, soft-pedaled the Frankenstein connection for the US distribution.

As I said before, two monsters grew up from these mutant cells. One of the monsters lives in the mountains like a giant sasquatch, and is called Sanda. The other one dwells in ocean, and is called Gaira... and he eats people.

Most giant monster movies aren't really scary. There's just a lot of rampant destruction for the most part. But this movie actually has a few scary moments with Gaira chasing after people, so he can eat them. Plus, he's butt-ugly.

As an interesting aside, Brad Pitt revealed at an Oscar's ceremony a few years back that he got into acting because of this movie.

Isn't that scary?

JR

Before Marvel Comics were Marvel, they were Atlas.

The late 1950s weren't a great time for comics, and Atlas Comics lost a bunch of their books because of a bad distribution deal. Atlas would get comics onto the newsstands through a company owned by DC Comics (their top competitor). They could only publish eight titles per month, and lots of people lost their jobs.

And then, came the monsters...

Atlas wasn't really known for its innovation. They were trend followers, and giant monsters were the craze at the time.

Before creating the Marvel Universe, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were producing tons of wacky and fun monster stories in books like Strange Tales and Journey Into Mystery.

Here's a few memorable ones...

"I Challenged... Groot, The Monster From Planet X"
Tales to Astonish #13



Yes, that's the first appearance of Groot from the movies. Not so adorable here, but he definitely had a larger vocabulary. And a bad case of termites.

"Goom, The Thing From Planet X"
Tales of Suspense #15



I guess Planet X was where all the cool monsters came from. I wonder if Goom was Groot's neighbor.

A couple issues later, Goomgam, Goom's son, came to Earth... probably looking for the parental guidance he had been missing.

"I Learned the Monstrous Secret of Bombu"
Journey Into Mystery #60



Seriously, I can imagine Stan and Jack, sitting around their office, smoking cigars and drinking bourbon, trying to come up with these crazy names.

"Goliath! The Monster That Walked Like A Man"
Journey Into Mystery #63



This monster was later renamed Gigantis because Marvel would end up using the "Goliath" name for a superhero. They did that a few times with monsters originally called "Hulk" and "Magneto." Whether he was Goliath or Gigantis, he still walked like a man... which I'm sure irks someone somewhere.

"Zzutak, The Thing That Shouldn't Exist"
Strange Tales #88



"The thing that shouldn't exist?" Sounds like Zzutak had a massive inferiority complex. Hope he sought counseling.

"Fin Fang Foom"
Strange Tales #89



If you look closely, you'll see that this monster is wearing shorts or underwear. Lots of the monsters wore underwear back then. Not sure why. Maybe it had something to do with the Comics Code of Authority. If a monster "walked like a man," then I guess he had to dress like one, too.

JR
(likes to wear his underwear outside his pants, so he can pretend he's a monster)

So the Venom movie opened up, and what a magnificent steaming pile of crud it was.

It's a shame, too. Venom is one of the cooler characters at Marvel Comics, and definitely one of Spider-Man's better villains. Spider-Man has one of the best rogues gallery, but not all of them are winners.

Let's examine some of the lamer ones, shall we?

Hammerhead



Admittedly, this character isn't too bad. He just seems like he would be a better fit in a Dick Tracy comic strip than a Spider-Man comic book.

Hammerhead is a crime boss whose skull was mostly replaced by a steel alloy and is flat on the top. As a result, he goes around ramming things like brick walls with his head.

Seriously, anybody who goes around running into walls with their head... should have their head examined (see what I did there).



Gibbon



Martin Blank looks like an ape. While not very popular with the ladies, he does well in the circus as an acrobat. Being a fan of Spider-Man, Martin starts wearing a furry suit, and asks Spidey if he can be his partner.

Spider-Man laughs his butt off.

You know you're a lame villain when your nemesis laughs at you.



Kangaroo



This guy was like the Jane Goodall of kangaroos. He hung around those bouncy marsupials so much that pretty soon he could jump like they could.

That was it. No powers. He could just hop around, punching things.

He was so inane that he gets disintegrated by radiation in his first appearance. But don't worry, he comes back eventually. Sadly, they always come back.



Grizzly



The Grizzly was a former professional wrestler with a grudge against good ol' J. Jonah Jameson. Along with some exoskeleton harness, he puts on a grizzly bear suit in attempt to get revenge.

Do guys like this ever think about how hot it is in New York during the summer, and maybe wearing a big furry suit isn't the most comfortable option?



Big Wheel



Jackson Wheele was a businessman who embezzled a bunch of money so he could buy this large mechanical wheel. That's it, pretty much. Just a large wheel.

Turns out, Big Wheel isn't such a bad guy after all. After getting defeated by Spider-Man, the guy joins Vil-Anon (the super-villain equivalent to Alcoholics Anonymous) and even attempts to help out Spidey as part of his twelve-step program.



That's it for this list. But trust me, there are plenty more lamebrained super villains out there. There's The Spot, Typeface, the Hypno-Hustler and lots more. Being a super villain isn't all glamor, baby.

JR
(wants to put on a furry suit now)

As you probably heard last week, Henry Cavill is out as Superman in the DCEU…

Or IS he?

There are some reports stating the whole social media uproar about Cavill’s fate as the Man of Steel is being exaggerated (some say, it’s being outright faked).

It is true the actor has expressed he is being underpaid for the role (some have countered that's because Cavill underperformed), but there’s no discussion about it right now… simply because there is no active Superman project.  Other than the proposed “Shazam” cameo Warner Bros wanted Cavill for (which the actor turned down), there is no Superman movie in the works.
 
Of course, there’s still a lot of speculation for the re-casting of Superman. Big name serious actors from Michael B. Jordan to Nicholas Cage have been dropped. But maybe Warner Bros should go in another direction…

Maybe the next Superman movie should be a musical.

JR
(was cast as Bizarro Superman)

O' Captain, my captain...

This past week, we got a peek at the production photos for next year's Captain Marvel movie, starring Brie Larson. Fans are getting excited for this film, and they haven't even seen a trailer yet. Captain Marvel has been hinted as the new face of the MCU, and people are enthusiastic...

even though most of them don't know who she is.

So... who the heck is Captain Marvel?

Talk about a loaded question...

Pre-Captain Marvel



Without going into the whole DC vs Fawcett Comics lawsuit about their Captain Marvel (that's Shazam! to you and me now), Marvel Comics acquired the trademark for the name Captain Marvel. In 1967, Stan Lee and Gene Colan created an alien Kree soldier named Captain Mar-vell... or Captain Marvel.

Carol Danvers



Carol Danvers was a security chief of a top secret military base and a supporting character in the Captain Marvel series. In one pivotal story, Danvers got caught in an explosion with Mar-vell, and her genetic structure melded with his.

Sounded like a fun date. And Danvers got super powers, so WIN!

Ms. Marvel



In 1977, Danvers got her own comic, and called herself Ms. Marvel. The creators wanted the character "to be a superhero that could empower women." The title didn't last very long, but Ms. Marvel eventually joined the Avengers.

However, in an unfortunate story, Ms. Marvel was kidnapped, raped and impregnated by a villain in an alternate dimension. Yeah, "empowering..." not so much.

Ms. Marvel ultimately returned to Earth, but was attacked by the mutant Rogue (when was still a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants). Danvers lost both her powers and memories.

Binary



Professor Xavier of the X-Men helped to restore Danvers' memories. Afterwards, Carol continued to hang around with the X-Men. During a crazy space adventure, Carol Danvers was experimented upon by the alien Brood but it resulted in her getting the powers of a white hole and calling herself Binary.

Still with us? You needed a scorecard to keep track of those nutty Chris Claremont stories back then.

Warbird

At some point, Danvers lost most of her cosmic powers, rejoined the Avengers and called herself Warbird. Why? Because she has a thing for planes.

Captain Marvel(s)



While this was going on, the original Captain Marvel died from cancer and, unlike a lot of comic book characters, he stayed dead. If Marvel Comics wanted to retain the trademark for the name, they had to find a new Captain Marvel.

In the 1980's, a woman named Monica Rambeau started calling herself Captain Marvel (even though she had different powers). She became a member of the Avengers, and went on to lead the team at one point. She eventually changed her name to Photon... and then to Pulsar... and then to Spectrum.

Afterwards, an assortment of aliens assumed the alias of Captain Marvel (yes, I want to be Stan Lee).

Finally, Carol Danvers decided "I'm Captain Marvel, dammit!" Exact words, more or less.

Nobody said reading comics was going to be easy.

JR
(also known as Jay-Arr)

I am Groot.

That was Flora Colossi for "WTF!"

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney has decided to halt preproduction of the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Postponed. Temporary. Hopefully.

Last month, Disney fired James Gunn, the director of the previous two films, because of offensive tweets he posted years ago. In spite of petitions and protests to put Gunn back in the director's chair, Disney has stood its ground.

So they have to look for another director, and that could take some time. Probably a lot of time.

I had more to say about this whole situation... I wrote and rewrote the second half to this blog, but I kept deleting the content. I was going to express my anger and distaste about the world we live in these days, but I don't want to get fired in the future for something I said today. So instead, I'll say this...

I am Groot.

JR

They don't make comic book covers like they used to...

There's nothing wrong with the covers being published today. In fact, lots of them are gorgeous masterpieces of art and design. But you just don't see covers with cool captions anymore. Especially missing are the covers with word balloons.

Here's a small sampling of classic (and corny) comic book covers with word balloons... sometimes with too, too many words.




According to master letterer, Todd Klein, the words (or cover copy) were usually written by the editor (sometimes with suggestions by the artist).

Sometimes, this copy could be used to great effect...



Sometimes, not so much.



Nowadays, comics don't use cover copy very often. The hope is that the artist will make an enticing image that will encourage you to buy the comic. Covers are like posters; no captions.

But, every once in awhile, you'll see a small word balloon or two pop up on a cover. A far cry from the days when it was hard to see the actual cover behind all those word balloons.



JR
(kinda wants to pick up some of these books now)

Who the hell is Jackpot?

So one of Spider-Man’s archenemies, Venom, is coming to the big screen in a solo film this October. It’s not just an attempt to do cinematic justice to the gooey symbiote after his less than stellar appearance in the disappointing Spider-Man 3 a few years back…

It’s also the hope of Sony Pictures that the movie will launch an interconnected universe of superhero films similar to what Disney has with its Marvel characters (and what Warner Bros/DC is trying to do with its hero and villains).

Sony Pictures owns the licensing rights to roughly 900 Marvel characters. If Venom does well at the box office, then Sony plans on making more movies. They are already in the process of developing films based on Morbius the Living Vampire, Black Cat, Silk, Nightwatch and Jackpot.

According to some muckity-muck president at Sony, “We’re focused on being faithful to the comics.”

And, within the studio, this is being referred to as “Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters.”

Not the best sounding name, to be sure. Kinda clumsy to say, actually. Sorta sounds like someone gargling with a bunch of marbles.

But what it does sound like is a desperate cash grab.

In recent years, Sony hasn’t been able to capitalize on the bonanza of superhero films even though they have one of the most iconic comic book characters in Spider-Man. The three Spidey films prior to Homecoming (including the reboots) were lackluster, at best.

A few years back, Sony made a deal for Disney/Marvel to make Spider-Man movies (Sony keeps movie profits, Disney gets merchandising rights) so we’re once again getting our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on the big screen in something that doesn’t suck.

Except Sony still wants to make superhero movies.

So now we’re getting Venom… without Spider-Man. And possibly Kraven the Hunter… without Spider-Man. Black Cat… without Spider-Man. And let’s not forget all those second and third string characters. Is the world really ready for a movie about Silk, Nightwatch and whoever the hell Jackpot is?

It’s been reported that Sony is opened to having other characters from its “Spider-Man” films pop up in Disney’s Marvel moves, and wouldn’t mind seeing an Avenger or two making guest appearances in their own movies.

Of course, Sony is opened to this. Who wouldn’t be opened to making extra money?

Marvel has built a pretty good track record with its MCU films over the last ten years. Every film has been fairly successful, financially and critically. What Sony seems like they’re doing is associating themselves with the Marvel brand. But, the fear is, they will be making an inferior product… and possibly lower that brand association in the movie goer’s mind.

Needless to say, if Venom is really good then we won’t have much to worry about. The latest trailer wasn’t so bad; the writing seemed interesting. Here’s a line:

We will eat both your arms, and then both of your legs, and then we will eat your face right off your head. You will be this armless, legless, faceless little thing, won’t you? Rolling down the street… like a turd in the wind.

J. Jonah Jameson help us.

JR
(was too lazy to google Jackpot)