by Lennon George Like many of you I grew up on comic books and superheroes, Batman and Superman started it all for me; still favorites of mine to this day. Then a friend who gave me a set of comics back in grade school introduced me to the Marvel Universe and I was, as they say, hooked. I remember being awe struck when I first saw the Amazing Spider-Man issue 363 with Spider-Man, Venom, and Carnage on the cover.
As I was flipped through the pages captivated by the imagery, dreams of being a comic book artist floated around in my head; unfortunately it never happened. That was back in good old '92 when it was still cool to be a kid (lol)! Now 75 years have passed for Marvel and they are doing a lot of celebrating. A bunch of new Marvel toys were showcased at NYCC this past weekend -- and my favorite are the Marvel Groot Hikari vinyls made by Funko.
Speaking of Guardians, Marvel also announced an animated version of Guardians of the Galaxy to be released in 2015 on Disney XD during its “Marvel Universe” block. Check out this cool video containing scenes from the new upcoming series.
Marvel also announced a major event at this year’s New York Comic Con. There will be a year long Secret Wars written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Esad Ribic in 2015.
The new Secret Wars is being made to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original 1984 Secret Wars. The new story will begin at the end of the current Avengers story arc, “Time Runs Out.” According to USA Today Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort was quoted saying, “The scope of it is about the biggest thing we’ve ever done or attempted to do. It may not be the best thing to say but I don’t know how we’ll top it a year later.” They also reported that the new Secret Wars will be a company-wide event affecting the entire publishing side when it debuts next spring—and just like the original Secret Wars, which had ties with Mattel, the new series already has merchandising deals with Hasbro, Gentle Giant and Hot Topic.
If you’re a big Marvel fan than you know this is epic! Marvel.com recently released information stating there will be an hour-long primetime special on ABC hosted by Emily VanCamp, star of the hit ABC series Revenge and Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
The special will contain exclusive interviews taking us through the past 75 years of Marvel history from its beginnings as Timely Comics, the comics division of publisher Martin Goodman, the empire of pulp magazines, with heroes like the Human Torch, Sub-Mariner. It will cover others like the 1941 Captain America, to Atlas Comics in the 1950s and finally Marvel Comics in 1961. That was the same year that saw the launch of The Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the twin titans who largely built the Marvel empire and populated it with square-jawed heroes with relatable "hang-ups" and enduring popularity." The show airs November 4th (mark your calendars now) at 9PM EST.
All of us at Go Figure! want to say a huge HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Marvel with thanks for giving us all great childhood memories that have obviously endured and for making us want to be superhuman. May we get to live the Marvel way for at least another 75 years!
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