Big Blue Arndt: July 2006 Archives

It's common knowledge to regular readers that our bud the Continuity Cop plans to do a guide on Captain America.

I find that weak.

Yes, there's a lot of cool stuff about Captain America and for sheer volume of cool stuff it's an ambitious undertaking. But aside from the character having five successors and still being the current operating Captain America, two or three retroactive looks at his old Super-Soldier Project Rebirth, evil duplicates, extra-national counterparts, and three seperate events where he gave up being Captain America...

The Star-Spangled Avenger has a comparatively simple, straightforward, and linear canon.

I make a public challenge. One I could not possibly fulfill myself if left to my own devices.

Kistler must make a Kistler's Guide for Rick Jones.

That's right, Alan. You now have to do a guide about the Marve Universe's only consistent and current sidekick. The junior partner to Bruce Banner, the Hulk, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Rom, Captain Marvel, and.... others.

Cover it all... from Nega Bands to paralysis to gamma-rays to Jalopies... It's up to you.

Honestly though, the real reason that I am not up to the task is because I don't own any issues of Rom.

Even the Man of Steel has problems with big city newspapers and revealing journalism.

Recently there have been (well, are) various matters of controversy regarding how much rights and freedom and periodical has to publish information and whether our governmental institutions and protective services should have it secrets and confidential details kept from the general public consumption. This is not about that. I'm sure this cartoon was drawn in part with that in mind, just like this hilarious photoshop job was put into play.

The cartoon just triggers a giant flasback to the 1977 Superman movie, directed by Richard Donner, with a story by Mario Puzo! Bryan Singer's film mentions the moment. Lois Lane spent a night with Superman and in the course of the interview the Man of Steel, without yet a name actually, reveals a limitation: he cannot see through lead. He fully reveals a bunch of superpowers and abilities and where he is from. He discloses many things just to set the public's minds at ease. That's a service. She turns around and writes the story and Perry White approves the whole thing. What is in the story entitled "My Night With Superman"? The Daily Planet tells the world that Superman cannot see through lead. The suddenly most preeminent and powerful force for justice is instantly hampered (by evil) because the Daily Planet naively, innocently, and somewhat stupidly told the public, including all criminal elements, the one thing known at the time that could hinder Superman.

and because it appeared in a Daily Planet article Lex Luthor could use that to prevent Superman from sensing the mysterious deathtrap (not the object he believed he was reaching for) and because of that he could not stop both nuclear weapons.

If you have a weakness that it would be unwise for the bad guys to know about, don't tell it to the Big City Press. If it's newsworthy then everyone will know about it and it will be emphasized.

I wouldn't tell Lois my secrets no matter how smitten I am.

on his downtime....


Such hatred. Such malice. So much of the time....

So much for a religious icon!

That is all.

My fellow Monitor Duty folk refuse to post.

Superman Returns was released on Wednesday and I re-watched the original Donner film that night. So soon after I absorbed in one helping the awful process of getting a passable Supermovie past Jon Peters from 1987 to 2004 and I take in a not-so-delightful pair of Agony Booth reviews for Superman IV: the Quest for Peace and then for Superman III we get a speak-of-the-devil moment!

Tonight the television network formerly known as Pax is airing Superman III. That is at 8:30 PM EDT. They are also airing it at 8 PM EDT tomorrow.

It's an apropriate time for a Superman movie. However there is no apropriate time, not ever, for this particular one.

On the other hand, someone may enjoy Richard Lester's craptacular Superman film and this may help garne ratings for the micro-network. I also advise that recording this is probably cheaper, and more worthwhile, then purchasing a copy.

[update 7:35 EDT: Apparently the syndication of old Warner Bros movies is part of a deal made between Ion Media and WB. That Superman III is being released as a tie-in to Superman Returns was already obvious.]

Over at the Agony Booth Forum there's deep mourning that the Transformers live action film is being directed by Michael Bay. Actually the feeling reverberates across the internet. The occasion is that a teaser trailer has been released.

What the internet knows, and conversations at the IMDB boards support this, is that Peter Cullen is the man. Alright, obviously I am biased and twisted by my own mainstream boyhood. The fact remains that I read that the voice casting for the new Transformers flick is being available for the original voices. The original voice-makers will get a chance to audition. In a way that is wise. In another way I wonder what moronic fool bothers with an audition. There is no one else. Hire Peter Cullen. There is no one better to play that wonderful thirty-foot tall robotic John Wayne known as Optimus Prime!

The clip is a bit from some British-angled VH1 "I heart 1984" thing that focuses directly on Transformers. The important thing to me, and everyone else with class and taste is that we finally get to connect Peter Cullen's face and then his voice to Opimus' as he says those two magic words. I wondered what he looked like; what did he sound like in real life? Find out at four minutes and fifteen seconds in. It's fantastic.

Earlier in the clip is a presenter of Robot Wars that I always found adequately charming (Craig Charles), a few nobody so-called personalities from both sides of the pond, and Simon Furman, who sacrificed a massive career in mainstream comic books (you know, super-heroes; mainstream relatively speaking) to make really good comic book stories for specific liscensed properties' series in the UK and then US.

But the important thing is Peter Cullen.

Choosing another, lesser man to voice Optimus Prime would be a huge mistake.