Recently, Moviefone posted an article called “One Girl’s Guide to ‘The Avengers,’: What You Need to Know if You Know Nothing,” and geek girls everywhere picked up their torches and pitchforks and vilified the author.

The article takes the perspective that a gal has no interest in seeing a superhero movie unless her boyfriend persuades her to go.  And, to help with understanding the various characters in the film, she offers “cocktail introductions” to help the poor ignorant gals who know nothing about comics.  (I’m being sarcastic).

The article didn’t offend me, but by the time it came across my radar, the editor had already updated it with a note indicating it was satirical.  And I can kind of see how it was meant to be so.  Even if it were serious, I still doubt it would have offended me.  Everyone knows that women can like comic books, and female fandom is far larger now than it was in the days when I attended my first Dragon*con.  So why get so riled up about it?

I think, in general, geek fandom has mostly ignored females.  Marketing is usually directed at males, focusing on scantily-clad, big-busted women.  There are a lot more action figures than, say, Barbie dolls based on comic book movies.  (And yes, I know girls play with action figures, too, and boys play with dolls.  I’m just providing a possible marketing perspective).

And I know I’ve often had a lot more difficulties finding the female characters in a film than the male characters.  A lot of times this is because the manufacturers think fewer girls will buy the toys and therefore create less.  I never did own an April O’Neil action figure.  She was nowhere to be found, so I had to use cardboard and markers and created my figure when my brother and I played TMNT.  It was kind of sad, looking back.  But I think things are slowly changing.  I was in Toys R Us just yesterday and saw a Queen Amidala figure.  So either things are improving or that was just because The Phantom Menace came out in 1999.  Not sure which.

So, the article hit a sore spot with fans.  And I’m sure there’s a different reason for everyone who responded as to why it got them so riled up.  But it did open up some dialogue, and that’s usually never a bad thing.

Now, Film School Rejects has posted what appears to be a response to the Moviefone piece, and this takes the female ignorance of superheroes to a whole new level.  Written by a guy pretending to be a gal, it’s obviously meant to be humorous.  Again, people were offended, but I read some of the descriptions out loud and thought they were hilarious.  And there may be people out there, male or female, who are completely out of touch with the superhero world.   It’s scary to think that, but it can happen.   But even I, who rarely reads a comic book, am fairly familiar with the Marvel world.  And even DC.

So let’s be clear on one thing:  women can like geeky things.  We all know this.  Why, we have the Big Shiny Girlcast podcast that is made up entirely of the women of Big Shiny Robot!  We may not all like the same geeky things (I’m less into comics and video games and way more into Star Wars and books and TV shows), but it’s not a man’s world anymore at the conventions.  We are there, beating you at Dragon*con Star Wars trivia.  Twice.  (Not that I’m boasting or anything). We are making dresses that look like the TARDIS or R2-D2.  We are carrying cleverly painted Nerf weapons and wearing peace-bound swords and we are awesome because of it.

And no article on the internet, whether sincere or tongue-in-cheek, is ever going to change that.

So, forgive my “mistake” yesterday regarding the original Black Widow being in Joss Whedon’s Avengers film. Of course I knew that was the case, and just used it as an excuse to showcase an otherwise obscure and offbeat character. Now, when it comes to the “real” Black Widow, her comic origin is actually pretty convoluted. The movies thankfully make it incredibly succinct. Essentially, she was a Russian spy, met Hawkeye, and had a change of loyalties. The comics had her on a nearly 8-year journey to end up on the side of the angels full-time. As such, it’s really difficult to pin down an origin issue for her, per se. Instead, We’ll be looking at the moment where Natasha Romanov emerges from her cocoon and because the Black Widow we know today. Enough mixed metaphors, let’s get on with the Secret Origin (kind of) of The Black Widow!

As our tale begins, Black Widow is observing Spider-Man swinging across the New York City skyline, as he likes to do. The Widow is apparently looking to re-invent herself as is looking to the wall-crawler for inspiration. I guess that makes sense. They’re both kind of spidery, after all. As such, she decides to learn the secret of Spidey’s powers so she can make them her own. Instead of actually going and you know doing that though, she swings into the apartment she apparently keeps for herself. It’s there where she laments on her convoluted past. This means we get a handy montage/flashback so I don’t have to explain it all to you guys!

Natasha continues to get her reminisce on, recounting her romance with Hawkeye, how Nick Fury recruited her on her first S.H.I.E.L.D. mission that ultimately resulted in the death of her husband… So um yeah, I’d probably be having a bit of an identity crisis myself. To wit: Natasha decides her jet-setting Madame Natasha persona isn’t getting her anywhere, so it’s time to focus on being the Black Widow. What better way to do that than an impromptu costume change!

And so, with an outfit from the Emma Peel catalog, Black Widow sets out to catch Spider-Man in her web. This is actually a bit odd to me. Her whole deal for hunting down Spidey is to find out his shtick, but she already seems to be aping it pretty well. In fact, she’s doing such a fine job imitating the web-head that a certain crotchety publisher makes a (chauvinistic) note about it…

Since this is a Marvel comic, and coincidence is the word of the day, it doesn’t take too long for the Widow to encounter Spidey. Not one for formal introductions, Natasha announces herself in a way only she can…

What follows is an interesting cat & mouse game between two spiders. Now, it should be noted that Spidey’s not exactly bringing his ‘A’ game here. Last issue the Kingpin knocked his keister around pretty good, and he’s having some performance issues due to grogginess. With the playing field relatively even, Spidey falls back on his other great tactic, talking. Once he finds out he’s up against the widow, he pretty much point-blank asks her why they’re fighting, seeing as she’s already teamed with the Avengers at this point. The Widow isn’t really one for giving up information like that though, so she kicks the webspinner around a bit more. Because of said grogginess, he doesn’t put up much of a fight so Black Widow ends up with one trussed up spider in no time flat.

Thinking she has the upper hand, she gloats about how the vaunted Spider-Man is such a pushover. At this moment, Spider-Man decides that maybe he shouldn’t let it get out that he’s in such a bad way, so he breaks out of the Widow’s snare and pours on the bravado. The Widow takes the bait, thinking Spider-Man has just been toying with her the whole time. Simultaneously, she realises that a hasty retreat is in order, because she’s not finding out what makes the wall-crawler tick today.

Returning to her loft, the Widow ruminates on the events of the day, and starts upon the path that makes her the prominent figure she is today…

After this, Natasha would join the Champions, eventually becoming their leader. Becoming more confident in herself and her abilities, she would be Daredevil’s partner/lover for a time. After that series of adventures, she became a full-time S.H.I.E.L.D. agent & would of course come to join the Avengers on a more permanent basis, even becoming leader of that illustrious group for a time. All in all, from KGB spy to honored member of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, ‘Tasha has certainly come a long way.

This story originally appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #86 July, 1970. It has been reprinted in Essential Spider-Man Vol 4. and Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 9.

In Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Marvel Animation’s X-Men Anime, recently released on DVD, the X-men must put their grief aside as they reunite to embark upon a mission that takes them to Japan to search for a missing girl.

Their travels reveal that far more is going on than a simple missing person case.  Mutants have been disappearing all over the area, and this knowledge leads the X-Men to the not-so-imaginatively-named U-Men, a group of lunatics intent on creating its own army.

I can’t compare this series to the comics, since I think the only time I picked up an X-Men comic was to read about Jean Grey and Scott Summers’ wedding, but I feel like I know the characters pretty well through watching the movies and the Saturday morning cartoon that aired years and years ago.  (That was when I realized how much I loved Mr. Sinister.  His sense of fashion is unparalleled).

So, I’m not an expert by any means, but I’m also not an X-Men newbie.  And I think the characterizations of Wolverine and Cyclops were great.  Beast, too, I’d say.  Wolverine (Logan) has a few great one-liners, and he’s sarcastic and has an attitude.  This is in line with how I perceive the character.  He’s always such a bad-ass.  Cyclops (Scott), in comparison, is the serious one, the leader of the group.  And as bland as a cupcake without frosting.

But I’m biased.  I’ve never liked Cyclops.  And at least for part of this series he’s like a depressed teenage boy, with  hair falling over his eyes and tantrums and deep silences.  In one scene, he stares up into a sky filled with stars, their light reflecting in his visor.  He has a flashback accompanied by the sound of the ocean, drenched in romance and nostalgia.  The ocean and music, along with the bluish tint of the scene reminded me of a scene between Yuna and Tidus in Final Fantasy X.  Maybe that seems completely random, but it’s what flashed through my mind.

Overall, I liked this series, but I think if I had to choose between it and Iron Man, I’d choose the latter.  Plus, I ended up watching it in English rather than in Japanese.  I kept hearing the word “mutant” in Japanese but it wasn’t written in the subtitles.  This annoyed me too much, and I wondered what else was being left out of the translation, so I had to switch.

In the English version, actor Scott Porter portrays Cyclops (The Good Wife, Friday Night Lights, Caprica). Bonus features include:

·      Re-Examining The X-Men takes viewers behind-the-scenes of creating X-Men’s mutant tales.

·      X-Men: A Team of Outsiders provides an in-depth exploration of Marvel’s most heroic and infamous mutants.

·      Special Talk Session round table discussion with the creators of Marvel anime’sX-Men and Blade.

If you’re an X-Men fan, you’ll probably like this series.  Even a casual fan like myself can easily enjoy it, at least a little, but if you go into it without any knowledge of the characters, then you probably won’t get much out of it.

For those of you not aware, Big Shiny Robot is based out of the great state of Utah. (You heard me!) And while a lot of our neighbors have dozens of options for an exceptional Free Comic Book Day, we’re limited to about half a dozen across the entire state who go the extra mile for comic book lovers. Gavin Sheehan over at the City Weekly has put together this quick go-to guide for all the FCBD happenings in SLC, Provo and even St. George (where Star Trek Voyager‘s Garrett Wang will be for some reason). Check out this complete guide to all the events happening tomorrow in Utah, and of course, get those comics!

Free Comic Book Day: Your 2012 Utah Guide

So, this week marks the debut of the Avengers movie. From all impressions it looks like it’ll be pretty great, awesome and (insert gushing adjective here). I was a little weirded out by the choices of characters to include, though. Sure, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man & Thor I can get. Heck, Hawkeye is a good fit too, but I don’t know why anyone would pick Black Widow over Ant-Man & the Wasp. I mean, the Black Widow is a character who has less than 20 appearances in her entire 70+ year history! So, in my never-ending quest to inform the public, I present to you the (balls-out crazy) origin of… The Black Widow!

Our story opens in the parlor (get it) of Madame Claire Voyant. At first I thought this was a stage name for the character, but no it’s the real name of a psychic medium. I love you, Golden Age. Anyway, Claire is going to help a well-to-do family’s widow see her dead husband. They all sit around the table, seance-style when all of a sudden, the image of Satan himself appears and freaks everyone right the heck out. You see this isn’t any of Claire’s psychic chicanery, it’s ‘ol Scratch himself! Not only that, he’s there to pretty much screw with everyone in the room. As you’ll see, when the widow starts accusing Claire’s antics as a farce, Lucifer does his thing and a bunch of lives are set on an odd course.

Of course, the Waglers don’t believe a word, which I would normally be 100% behind, but man, Satan was right there! On the way home the car hits an unexplained skid. and well, things play out as you might expect except for one small detail…

And so, the next step of Beelzebub’s wonderfully circuitous plan is unfurled. James is hell-bent (see what I did there) on getting revenge for his imagined slight, so he heads back to Claire’s home. The story doesn’t explain how James knows where she lives, or how he gets there when his only transportation has become a smoldering wreck. I am just going to chalk it up to “demonic intervention” and let it lie. Anyway, James in his oh-so stylish vertically striped pants guns Claire down in her home. Of course, it isn’t that simple…

James hoofbeats it out of there and Satan takes Claire’s corpse to h-e-double hockey sticks. When there, he places Clair on an altar and starts a “mystic rite”. He also invokes the “almighty evil”. Now I dunno, but since Satan is supposed to be the ruler of hell and all of its minions, you’d think that he himself is the almighty evil, but what do I know. Anyway, flames envelop Claire’s body as Satan commands her to rise again as…

So OK, let me get this straight. Satan goads a family into killing Claire so he can have her as his instrument on Earth? He should have cut out the middleman, he is freaking Satan after all. Maybe he had to do things the way he did to ensure that she’d have a proper mindset, but whatever. Anyway, Lucifer goes on a bit of a big speech about how awesome he and hell are, while giving Claire a tour. It shows some pretty graphic depictions of pain and suffering (for the Golden Age anyway), including the fate of people who commit suicide (turned into trees of suffering). He then goes on to tell the Black Widow that this is nothing in comparison to what he has in store for her. The Black Widow seems cool with that, though she does ask for permission to kill her killer. Satan is all like, of course, my dear, kill in my name!

So the scene cuts to the docks, where James is wallowing in his despair. You can’t really blame the guy, seeing as Satan completely screwed up his life. As a matter of course, the Black Widow shows up, and the results are what you may expect, that is, if you were expecting a flaming touch that equals instant death!

With that, Satan hits the “recall” button and the Black Widow returns to his side in a flash of flame. This attracts the attention of a local beat cop who finds the body of James lying on the docks. He is dead, of course, but he also has his forehead marked with a black widow insignia, adding insult to (grievous) injury. Now, cops then weren’t like cops now, so he easily puts two and two together and realizes James was killed by a person with a black widow motif. We’re left to wonder if he starts a manhunt though, because we’re brought back to hell. Here, Satan finally unveils what his actual plan for the Black Widow is, and wow, it is a doozy…

So you see, the Black Widow is a hero! Um, yeah tell me another one, guys. Anyway, as I mentioned before. Claire Voyant, aka the Black Widow had a total of only five Golden Age appearances and a couple of Silver Age cameos before returning in J. Michael Straczynski’s frankly amazing The Twelve. While I really enjoyed that series, I don’t see how that merits her inclusion in the Avengers movie. Oh! A thousand pardons. I guess I was misinformed and of course the Silver-Modern Age Black Widow is in Avengers, not this one. Well, I guess that means I owe you guys another Secret Origin tomorrow!

This story originally appeared in Mystic Comics #4, July 1940. To my knowledge, it has only been reprinted in the Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Mystic Comics – Volume 1.

With Avengers opening tonight and all of the (apparently well-deserved) hype surrounding it, it’s easy to forget there’s another Marvel hero getting the silver screen treatment this year. That’s right, the Amazing Spider-Man is also almost upon us. I’ll admit it. Spidey is my favorite Marvel character, but the trailers so far have me very ‘meh’ about it, but the newest one is definitely interesting with what it does reveal. Take a look, and I’ll elaborate afterward.

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OK, so first off, Gwen definitely knows that Peter is Spider-Man in the film. That’s an interesting way to go, and an avenue that was never explored in the comics apart from “What If?” tales. Second, I love wise-ass Spidey. The weakness joke is pretty funny. I do hope not all of the Spider-banter is super snarky, but it’s still better than total stoicism. Also of note, there is a subtle hint in there that Peter is already enemies with an Osborn. Could it be that this isn’t the origin movie that we were led to believe? I’ll admit that this is pure speculation on my part, but if so… I’m not a big fan of the quick shot action scenes. I know Spider-Man is a quick and nimble character, but there are ways to do it that don’t involve a lot of darkness and quick cuts. The same goes for the web-swinging scenes. Those get more of a pass because they still look cool, even though they’re dark.

All in all, this trailer helps my anticipation of The Amazing Spider-Man leap from “total indifference” to “Hey, maybe I will see this movie opening weekend!” Tell us what you think in the comments!

Now available on DVD is the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Marvel Animation Iron Man Anime. This series originally aired on G4, but it is now available to own with bonus materials.  We recently held a contest to give away two copies of Iron Man as well as the X-Men Anime, and the winners Richard and Andrew have been notified.  Thanks to everyone who entered!

I actually don’t watch a lot of anime unless you count Sailor Moon, but I do love animation, period.  And the Iron Man series is very well done, in my opinion.  Tony Stark is wonderfully portrayed as a confident and wealthy American in Japan who also happens to be a superhero.  There is an ease and grace in the way that he moves that I find a bit more elegant than the portrayal by Robert Downey Jr. in the live-action feature films, but both are equally intriguing.

I also liked the use of occasional soft lighting in scenes.  I think it’s most often used when hinting at a romantic interest, but it was really done beautifully, and I have never really seen an animated comic adaptation just look so pretty.

If you choose to listen to the English dub, Adrian Pasdar (Heroes, The Lying Game) is Stark and Iron Man.  However, when given an option, I always prefer the original language and therefore read the subtitles and try to listen out for the little Japanese I know.  It’s easy to switch between the two, though, and I think both voice casts are great.

The plot centers on Stark as he arrives in Japan to build the Arc Reactor, which is a power plant that will provide free energy to the world.  He also plans to retire the Iron Man persona, but his plan is thwarted by the Zodiac group.  He must battle cultural differences, Mech monsters, and handle the press.  The latter isn’t too much of an issue, though, since sparks (forgive the pun) fly between him and a local newspaper reporter.

There are 12 episodes and the bonus features are:

·      Re-Imagining Iron Man explores the plot and themes of the anime series.

·      21^st Century Hero: The Technology of Iron Man introduces fans to Tony Stark’s high-tech suits and gadgets.

·      Special Cross Talk round table discussion with the creators of the Iron Man and Wolverine anime series.

·      Voicing Tony Stark, an interview with Japanese actor, Keiji Fujiwara.

I really enjoyed this series and would recommend it.

This first appeared on The Huffington Post…

The Avengers is going to be the biggest movie of the summer. There’s really no question about that. Sequels always do better than their predecessors (assuming the initial movie was well-liked), but never has a movie served as the simultaneous sequel to not one, not two, not three, not four, but five summer blockbusters.

The groundwork was laid in The Avengers by two Iron Man films, a Hulk film, and last years Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. None of those films grossed less than $100 million at the box office. Two, the Iron Man films, both broke the $300 million ceiling.

There’s very clearly different audiences that will be seeing this film, each from a different flavor of fandom.

Add to that the masses looking for a fun action movie, and you’ve got a recipe for success, at least on paper.

But what about the script and the filmmakers? Studio meddling? There are a thousand things that could go wrong on a picture of this magnitude.

I’m happy to report that we’ve averted disaster and Joss Whedon’s Avengers film is a home run. It’s been almost a full week since I’ve seen it and I’ve been going through withdrawals. I need to see it again.

The thing this film has going for it, more than anything, is that it doesn’t have to stop and take time to introduce each of the characters and tell us how they all got here. Marvel has done such a thorough job establishing the mechanics of this universe that you’re giddily anticipating the arrival of each of your favorite characters and they each get a welcome to the film worthy of their stature.

The plot is basic, but it’s exactly what it needs to be. If you’ve seen a trailer you know the plot. If you know anything about Loki or saw Thor, you know why he’d be trying to subjugate the Earth. That’s it. That’s the movie.

The devil is in the details, though. This movie is about how the team comes together, overcomes their egos, and beats the odds to save the Earth.

And every moment is entertaining.

If you’re lucky, the superhero film you’re watching has at least one moment that I like to call a “Hell Yeah!” moment. Actually, I call them something else, but I self-censored just a little bit. In Spider-Man 2, you’ve got those “Hell Yeah!” moments on the subway, fighting against Doc Ock, and that moment in the boathouse when Mary Jane finally discovers Peter’s secret identity. Spider-Man 2 had more than most superhero films and it’s one of my favorites.

The Avengers gives each member of the team at least THREE of these “Hell Yeah” moments. Each.

This movie raises the bar so high for summer blockbusters that I feel awful for all the films that must follow (except for Prometheus, that movie will do fine.)

More than anything, though, is that this movie delivers on a dream we had as children, hoping one day we’d see a movie that brings all of our favorite characters together from our favorite comics on screen, fighting together. With the way Hollywood works, that never seemed like a possibility, but the stars have aligned and we’ve finally been given exactly what we wanted. Watching each character get added to the story, slowly and carefully, one at a time, we are able to get more and more excited with the thrill that A-list characters like this have never shared the screen together.

At no time does any character unbalance the film. (Though Hulk, played to perfection by Mark Ruffalo, steals the show with the best moments.) Each is in the story for a purpose and each fulfills it with flying colors. Each of the actors playing these iconic characters work in harmony to give us a movie we barely deserve. In this wasteland of horrible summer movies (*cough*Pirates of the Caribbean*cough*Transformers*cough*) we’re given a mature, well-told tale of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

It’s something to be grateful for.

Our prayers to God for a movie like this have been answered.

And our God’s name is Thor.

(Also: stay for the end-credits sequence. A lot of you won’t know what the final scenes portend, but get to your comic book store (Saturday is Free Comic Book Day!) and ask them to get you some books about the character you saw. It will be worth it.)

Bryan Young is the editor in chief of the geek news site Big Shiny Robot! and the author of the upcoming sci-fi, pulp novel Operation: Montauk.

Our good friends Jeff Vice and Jimmy Martin from The Big Movie Mouth-Off have their review of The Avengers!

Is it as good as we’re hearing? I think maybe it was. Watch their review to find out!

I, like many of you, are very excited for the impending May 4th release of Marvel Studios The Avengers. What you may be surprised to know though, is that the silver screen epic is actually a remake! Not only that, but this is the 2nd time it has been remade! While the original movies are lost to time due to not being available on home video, thanks to the internet we can at least see the trailers for these epic films. First, the movie that started it all: 1952’s The Avengers!

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The most amazing thing about this film, aside from the absolutely dead-on Hulk and cameos by no less than 18 Marvel characters is the fact that the film debuted 9 years before the dawn of Marvel Comics! How is such a thing possible? I’ll get to that, but first, here’s the campy made-for-TV remake from 1978: Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!

Man I swear, KISS was freaking everywhere in the late 70’s. Honestly I can’t say I’m too fond of this movie. Lou Ferrigno is still great as the Hulk, and this is was the best screen depiction of Tony Stark until Robert Downey Jr. However, I can’t abide by Reb Brown’s Captain America spending half the movie on a motorcycle like a low-grade Evel Knievel. Also, who’s idea was it to make Thor a beer-swilling viking? Thankfully, the new movie looks to erase the above movie’s bad memories, even if they aren’t using Skrulls this time out.

In all seriousness, these two clips are of course very clever fan-made YouTube offerings, but how cool would it be if they really existed? Well, the 50’s one anyway. Speaking of that masterpiece, the author actually has an annotated video to show all the cameos you may have missed. It’s pretty amazing how flawless it all looks.

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