There's been a lot of controversy about the new Ultimate Spider-Man.
The sometimes-heated discussions about his ethnicity have been rather...revealing.
But, perhaps the most important question has been all but ignored...
Is Miles too young to be Spider-Man?
Look at this page...
Click on art to enlarge
He's apparently 12-14, and short for his age.
Now, Peter Parker was a high-school junior/senior, average height, but thin.
So 17-18 isn't unreasonable.
Even in disguise, he's not that imposing a figure, but obviously a young adult...
Even in costume, he looks almost as frail as the elderly security guard...
In the first year, before Ditko was told to "bulk him up", a number of foes would intitially snicker and make derisive comments about the "skinny twerp in the spider costume".
Then Spidey would kick their butts.
After Ditko left, Spidey's look became more muscular until he was on a par with most other acrobatic heroes like Daredevil or Black Panther.
How is a 12-14 year-old (even spider-enhanced) possibly going to look like anything but a kid in a Halloween costume when going toe-to-toe with characters who look like Schwarzenegger in a funhouse mirror?
Spider-Boy, maybe. Kid Spider, perhaps. Spider-Man, nope!
Try again when you grow up, Miles.
Ace test pilot Victor Torry and his aviation-enthusiast girlfriend Laura are testing a new jet when they encounter a flying saucer!
They pursue it and, when it lands in the desert, they also land, then go aboard the alien ship where they meet an elderly alien.
Unable to return to Mercury (his home world) in time to regenerate, he bequeaths the spacecraft to Vic and Laura, then disintegrates.
Exploring the ship, they accidentally activate the propulsion system and the ship, operating on automatic pilot returns to Mercury, with them aboard.
It lands, and a group of Mercurians greet the ship.
They are not pleased to see Earthlings instead of one of their own exiting the ship...
Script by Roy Ald, who also edited Fawcett's Captain Video!
Art by Golden Age great Bob Powell.
The final chapter of Vic Torry will appear here next Monday!
Whether doing Western, Film Noir, or Space Opera-themed art, Francesco Francavilla consistently astounds and amazes with his ability to capture the "essence" of the subject!
For proof, just look up!
And he's one of those rare combination penciler/inker/colorists! (Do you realize how few of them there are?)
...so we thought we'd look at the most comic tv episode she ever did!
Lucy Meets Superman!
Lucy competes with her friend Carolyn Appleby over invitations and scheduling for Little Ricky's birthday party.
When Ricky mentions that Superman is in town, Lucy tries to get Superman to come to Little Ricky's party, sure that this will make it a much bigger draw than the one Carolyn is hosting. Ricky tries, but Superman can't make the party. So Lucy disguises herself as "Superman", and much hilarity ensues.
Fortunately Superman does show up to save the day...
Trivia:
Though the episode was filmed and broadcast in black and white, George Reeves wore the "color" red/blue/yellow costume which looks almost monochromatic in b/w (as you can see)!
This was because the show was recorded in front of a live audience, and the high-contrast gray (for blue) and brown (for red) costume used in Adventures of Superman's b/w episodes wouldn't have looked "right" to the audience (or the kids on set)!
The promotional photo at left was shot in b/w and meant for b/w newspaper and magazine reproduction, so George wore the gray/brown costume to provide contrast between the "blue" and "red" costume elements.
Deliberately, George Reeves appears only in costume and everyone refers to him only as "Superman", not as "George Reeves" or "the man who plays Superman" or somesuch!
In one scene, a woman sees Lucy in her improvised Superman costume outside a window and screams! When her husband asks her what she saw...
Man: Was it a bird? Woman: No! Man: Was it a plane? Woman: No! Man: Then what was it? Woman: It was Superman!
The woman was played by Madge Blake, who several years later, was Aunt Harriet on the Batman TV series!
Now a special treat...the COMPLETE EPISODE "Lucy Meets Superman"!
For the record, besides this episode of her tv series, Lucille Ball has several genre credits including Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back, Blood Money, Five Came Back, and The Dark Corner,
In addition, the studio she owned with Desi Arnaz, Desilu Studios, produced the first two years of the original Star Trek before Paramount Pictures acquired the studio in 1967, forever placing her in the upper echelon of Fantastic Femmes!
"Theatre THREE is 'Cowboys and Aliens'? Not Theatre TWO? Damn dirty multiplexes!"
As you may have guessed, Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens today.
There's been a goodly amount of 'Net chat about the changes wrought to the storylines of the film franchise, and if this reboot will do for Apes what the "soft reboot" (which deliberately made the new version an "alternate timeline" from the original) of Star Trek did for that equally-long running property.
(Actually, Trekis a couple of years older! "The Cage" was shot in 1964 as opposed to 1967 for the first Apes film. Oh, let my geek flag fly!)
Like the revamp of BattleStar Galactica, which made the Cylons our own creations rather than homicidal alien robots, the new Apes puts the blame for our downfall on human arrogance and greed, rather than time-traveling simians!
Personally, I'm willing to see where it goes.
, Blood Money, 
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