I don't know...It just seemed appropriate to follow up last week's Just Doodling with this one.
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A Letter To Team Ultimate
While reading issue ten of Ultimate Spider-Man 2024, I started to notice something that didn't sit well with me. By the end of the book, I came across a blurb that encouraged readers to reach out to the team at ultimateoffice@marvel.com. So, I did, following the directions to add, "Okay to Print" to the subject line.
Hello Team Ultimate,
I stepped out of comics a long time ago, around 1998, and didn't return to the Marvel Universe until the buzz for Ultimate Spider-Man 2024 started to stir up the internet. Overall, I really dig the story, and continue to tune in monthly, sitting on the edge of my seat as things unfold. Something definitely feels like it's building, and I anticipate the slow burn will have a big payoff.
I did notice something with the artwork though, especially in issue ten of Ultimate Spider-Man that makes me have to ask a question. Is the artwork being reused? I'm noticing what seems like the same drawings in multiple panels, but altered ever so slightly, either by zooming in or out, changing angles, adding extra detail sketch or hash marks, changing mouths or the eyes to focus in a different direction, etc.
I hope this isn't the case, and the team behind the series is just that good to provide consistent artwork across every page.
Sincerely,
-Matt
Will they post my letter? I don't know. Will they email a response? Probably not. But, we'll see.
So, what am I talking about exactly? Well, let me show you.
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| (1) J. Jonah Jameson sitting in a car talking to Ben Parker (2) J. Jonah Jameson sitting in a car drinking coffee (3) J. Jonah Jameson continues his conversation with Ben (4) The conversation continues, but zoomed in |
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| (1) Ben Parker speaks to James Wesley (skip to 3) Ben Parker's mouth and eyes are slightly altered from 1 (back to 2) We see an unamused James Wesley (4) Looks like the same image as 2 with the hand removed, and glasses now glinting |
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| (1) Names on a bulletin board (2) Zoomed out and expanded, meaning that panel 1 is just a zoom in of this one |
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| Too many similarities from panel to panel - eyes and eyebrow are all the exact same and look at the nose in three of the panels. These even have the same sketch mark. The hair is also exact in some of the panels, but slightly altered in others. |
Mind you, this is just some of the examples I noticed while reading through the current issue. I really hope, as I said in my letter, that the team is just that good to provide this type of consistency from panel to panel because this looks sketchy to me, no pun intended.
As someone who came from an era of comics where the greats seemed to pour their hearts into every panel, it would be a real shame to see that this is where comics have come to (if the case). Especially when artists are paid per page. How could you be paid for a full page when fifty percent of your work is copied and pasted? Again, I hope that's not the case, but honestly, I have doubts. Are they valid?
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Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up 95
Title: Marvel Team-Up
Issue Number: 95
Release Date: July 1980
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Highlights
- First appearance of Carl Delandan, and Bobbi Morse as Mockingbird
- First time Mockingbird uses her battle staves
- Reference is made to Marvel Super Action 1
- None
Oddities
- None
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up 94
Title: Marvel Team-Up
Issue Number: 94
Release Date: June 1980
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Highlights
- Reference is made to Spider-Woman 20, and Marvel Team-Up 93
- None
Oddities
- None
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up 93
Title: Marvel Team-Up
Issue Number: 93
Release Date: May 1980
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Highlights
- First appearance of Dansen Macabre
- Reference is made to Spider-Woman 19, 20, and Werewolf By Night 9
- None
Oddities
- Editor's Day Off: Several panels the lenses of Spider-Man's eyes are red
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up Annual 2
Title: Marvel Team-Up Annual
Issue Number: 2
Release Date: October 1979
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Highlights
- First appearance of Nikolai Kutzov, and Colonel Alexei Vazhin
- Last appearance of Cissy Ironwood
- First appearance and death of Daniel Ironwood
- Cissy and Peter are dating - Well, for this issue anyway
- Boring
Oddities
- Editor's Day Off: Spider-Man's parachute backpack disappears from his back in multiple panels -While he's parachuting
- Editor's Still Off: Several panels with Spider-Man's eye lenses colored red
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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Peg People Wave 14
The joys of the rotating magic box (or bag) from George of G.I. Jigsaw. Today's wave has a mix of the old and the new, male and female. It's eclectic and fun! There's a lot of them, which is fine with me, but let's get into them all!
The mutant, Mindworm, made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man 138, and was killed decades later in the 2004 volume two of Spectacular Spider-Man 22. He made a handful of appearances in the pages of Spider-Man in the 70's and 80's, but really didn't get utilized all that much.
Morlun may look like your average vampire, but don't be fooled. He and his family are some of the deadliest enemies to Spider-Man across the multiverse. They're hunters, and Spider-Man is the prey, and their food source. For a brutal read, and first appearance of many Spider-Man iterations, including Spider Punk, check out the 2014 Spider-Verse storyline in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man.
Gibbon's story is kind of tragic. He didn't actually start out as a bad guy. Rather, he was an orphan, who after coming of age without being adopted, joined a circus. Throughout his whole life he was picked on, and when this continued at his new job, he quit. Seeing Spider-Man one day, he decided to approach the hero to engage him about becoming partners, to which the hero laughed in the man's face. This set in motion a fight, which was witnessed by Kraven the Hunter, who convinced Gibbon to join him in his quest to defeat the wallcrawler.
What type of woman could love Cletus Kasady, AKA Carnage? Answer - Shriek. Her characteristics include being criminally insane, an ability to manipulate sound, and she often goes on killing sprees. Wow, what a catch! Her biggest story arc to date came in the form of the Maximum Carnage crossover event.
George went with the red dress version of Delilah as seen in the first page of her first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man 414. When not undercover or in disguise, this assassin strikes in a very skimpy pink skintight outfit, rocking a long ponytail, because she was, after all, created in the 90's. An era of well endowed women in scant clothing.
One of the siblings of Venom, Scream was created in a lab by M.A.D. after kidnapping Eddie Brock, and extracting five symbiote seeds from him. These were then merged with humans, each creating its own violent form. Among the brothers and sisters are Lasher, Phage, Agony, and Riot.
In an era of social media, and the many people addicted to it, it only makes sense that a Marvel character would eventually come about. Enter Screwball, the first live streaming villain. Her sole goal is to commit crimes while streaming to increase views.
Amidst an era of clones was born the Grey Goblin. Harry Osborn spliced together with DNA of Norman Osborn and Gwen Stacy to create the clones Gabriel and Sarah. Though they died, Mephisto would reincarnate them again and again, with the sole purpose to use them to get Spider-Man's soul. Gabriel would eventually become the Grey Goblin. That's as un-convoluted as I can explain it, but there's more...So much more.
When George created this one, the thought it was Richard Fisk he was checking off the checklist. He wasn't wrong. Technically, The Schemer was Richard in disguise. However, when in this garb, he's known as his alter ego, The Schemer.
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Gotta love those 80's created villains! Slyde created a chemical compound which would stick to anything. However, after being fired by his employer, crime was naturally the next step. He created a suit coated in the substance, and found he could use it to slide across floors, and stick to anything.
Regent has the ability to abstract the powers from other heroes, and I suppose villains, and transfer them to his specially built suit. With the powers, he uses them to wage ware against super heroes, angry with them for the death of his family, who were lost during a battle between the Avengers and Masters of Evil. Revenge is a dish best served tacos! I like tacos.
Grizzly was a wrestler turned villain, turned member of Spider-Man's Revenge squad, better known as The Legion of Losers. Sometimes a villain can't even be taken serious to villain.
The early 70's issues of The Amazing Spider-Man have a very specific look to them. The covers look like the generic movie posters of the era, and during these years, many a doom and gloom villain came to be. Enter Gog, an alien creature, found by Kraven the Hunter as a small child after crash landing on Earth. Kraven would do what Kraven does, and manipulate the creature into becoming evil, only to use him for his plans.
If anyone could control the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, that would be his wife, Vanessa. With one word she could silence the man, stave his anger, and even stop him right in the moment he would have killed Spider-Man.
Panda-Mania is a relatively new villain to the Spider-Man universe, and one who was part of White Rabbit's team, The Menagerie. She didn't last long as a criminal, being arrested after an early heist, and being behind bars in the newly built Ravencroft Institute ever since.
Shathra is motivated by nothing short of jealousy for her sister who created the Great Web, which would become the Web of Life and Destiny, aka the portal to all worlds of the Spider-Verse. This was a result of her sister finding fault with Shathra's own Great Nest. Her hatred for her sister led her to want to destroy all Spider-Men in existence, do away with her sister's creation, and have her own take its place.
There are three versions of the Human Fly, and this one just so happens to be the villain and nemesis of Spider-Man. Don't panic, George, this is the one I was referencing when I made the checklist. But, do feel free to make the other two!
And that wraps up wave 14. George told me he actually ran out of male pegs, thus the heavy influx of female characters this time around. That's not an issue, as far as I'm concerned. These are all great additions to the ever growing cast of characters he's created to date. Speaking of which, check out the updated checklist!
There was no mystery figure this time around, but that's cool. Seventeen is more than enough to receive in one fell swoop. I'm just super happy that George is still all in, and keeps cranking these out.
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Retro Spins: Randy & The Gypsys - Randy & The Gypsys
Randy & The Gypsys, AKA Randy Jackson's solo album debut, and single album credited to the youngest Jackson brother came and went during an era where all eyes were on older brother Michael, and younger sister, Janet. If you didn't know this album existed, I'm not surprised.
Randy Jackson is the second to youngest Jackson sibling, eldest only to Janet, and was never officially part of the original Jackson 5 lineup. He was, however, on tour with the group as of 1972 playing multiple instruments. An honorary member, if you will.
When the Jackson 5 left Motown Records, Randy would finally join his brothers as a credited member of The Jacksons, and would record with them from their 1976 self titled album through 1989's 2300 Jackson Street.
It was in October of 1989 that Randy would create his own band, The Gypsys, and set out for a short lived solo career. Though the album is peppy, and definitely has a beat you can dance to, it fails to deliver any noteworthy tracks that stand out as singles. As a whole, it's seemingly forgettable.
In fact, more interesting than the album itself was reading up on the man's destructive past, littered among convictions of domestic violence, getting shot at by Tina Turner for trying to break into her house, child custody battles that he never appeared in court for, and a woman who he had two children with, who would then go on to marry and divorce his brother Jermaine.
It appears that the often forgotten Jackson brother inherited a lot of demons from his father. Though he may have gone on to be a lucrative partner with his sister Janet as joint owner of the Rhythm Nation Records, doesn't have a past that screams, "Likeable guy!"
I wish I could talk more on the album itself, but it truly was forgettable. By track five, I didn't even care about it.
While I'm happy to have the album, it's more so to check that "Jackson" box I've been ticking away at. I don't know why I feel inclined to own every Jackson sibling album. Especially in light of the majority of them not being good. It's just something I "need" to have, so I have it.
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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.Just Doodling: Batman 89
My top two comic book movies would easily be The Crow, and Batman Returns. This picture captures the latter, with a smidge of the 1989 Batman mixed in.
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Comics Corner: Spider-Woman 20
Title: Spider-Woman
Issue Number: 20
Release Date: November 1979
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Highlights
- Reference is made to Spider-Woman 16
- Origin retelling of Spider-Woman
- Spider-Woman and Spider-Man meet for the first time
- Spider-Woman's origin is pretty dumb
- Overall, it's not a very interesting story
- Very pointless, and absolutely not essential to Spider-Man's chronological history
Oddities
- Jessica Drew, AKA Spider-Woman, is fired from her job because the company she worked at never filled her paperwork out
- Spider-Woman immediately results to stealing from her prior company, stating they owe her back pay as justification for her actions
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up 92
Title: Marvel Team-Up
Issue Number: 92
Release Date: April 1980
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Highlights
- First appearance of Mister Fear (Alan Fagan)
- Reference is made to Daredevil 91
- Ugh...The whole story is just a set up for a moral lesson - "Don't be afraid, kids!"
Oddities
- Editor's Day Off: Several panels with Spider-Man's lenses red
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up 91
Title: Marvel Team-Up
Issue Number: 91
Release Date: March 1980
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Highlights
- First appearance of Muck Monster, Amazing Six-Armed Spider-Man, and Gorilla Woman
- Reference is made to Marvel Team-Up 12, and a long awaited plot thread with the villainous Moondark finally comes full circle
- Spider-Man beats up three dogs
Oddities
- I know it says, "flicker" but it sure doesn't look that way with the lettering style...
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up 90
Title: Marvel Team-Up
Issue Number: 90
Release Date: February 1980
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Highlights
- Retelling of Modular Man's origin
- Reference is made to The Rampaging Hulk 1 and 8
- Death of Modular Man
- Peter takes a date, Cissy, to the science exhibit, and she immediately leaves him to chase after Beast
- Editor's Day Off: Spider-Man says, "I placed my spider on the Beast..." Should have probably been spider tracer
Oddities
- None
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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The Other Obligatory Halloween Post
A nod to 2 Minute Toy Break.
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Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up 89
Title: Marvel Team-Up
Issue Number: 89
Release Date: January 1980
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Highlights
- First appearance of Cutthroat, AKA Daniel Leighton
- A man in the crowd at the circus is wearing a Superman shirt
- Reference is made to Marvel Team-Up 67
- None
Oddities
- Editor's Day Off: Amanda Sefton says, "I want bath."
- Nightcrawler has a car at the airport to pick his girlfriend Amanda up, but then puts her in the trunk of Jardine's car thinking it's safer to keep her with him while he tails the villain - Um...Just give her the keys to your car, and tell her you'll meet up with her later
- Amos Jardine's plan is to have an assassin kill Spider-Man, and thinks posting a challenge in the paper for the hero to prove he's better than his high wire act would be sufficient to get him to appear at the show where his assassin waits in the rafters
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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