Author: Robert Greenberger

Marvel: Season One, a line of all-new graphic novels, just got bigger as Marvel is pleased to add three titles to the highly anticipated line-up with Ant-Man: Season One, Hulk: Season One & Doctor Strange: Season One! These all-new complete stories offer fans a chance to immerse themselves in the Marvel Universe like never before. Journey into the unknown with Ant-Man, learn about the mystic arts with Doctor Strange and find out how Hulk balances humanity and monstrosity as each of these graphic novels offer new revelations for long-time fans and give new readers a fresh introduction to the character. With modern retellings of the world’s greatest super heroes seminal origins by some of the most critically acclaimed creators in the business, no fan can miss this! Each of these graphic novels also include a code to download each book for free, via the Marvel Comics app, making them must haves for every fan.

“As a result of the great response from fans and retailers, we realized we couldn’t just stop with one wave of titles” said David Gabriel, Marvel SVP of Sales. “We’re showing our continued support for this line by insuring that fans have a reason to come back into comic shops month after month to get the next volumes in the Season One line of original graphic novels.”

The complete second wave of Season One graphic novels includes:

• Ant-Man: Season One by Tom DeFalco (Spider-Girl) and Horacio Domingues (Incorruptible), on-sale in July 2012
• Hulk: Season One by Fred Van Lente (Alpha Flight, Herc) and Tom Fowler (Venom), on-sale in August 2012
• Doctor Strange: Season One by Greg Pak (Astonishing X-Men, Red Skull: Incarnate) and Emma Rios (Osborn, Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger), on-sale in September 2012

Whether you’re picking up a comic for the first time, or looking to add more to your comics reading experience, then it’s time to discover the world’s greatest super heroes all over again in Marvel: Season One!

For a movie based on a comic book set in the 1930s, The Rocketeer was actually ahead of its time. The movie was released as Disney’s big summer film in 1991, backed with tons of marketing, and planned as a big tent pole for their future.

The problem was, in 1991 there were precious few superhero movies creating a genre to support the fan following. When it opened that June there was nothing out there to support it and the groundswell of geekdom had yet to reach critical mass. Therefore, despite relatively positive reviews, the movie did minimal business, finishing 27^th for the calendar and largely forgotten. Its director, Joe Johnston, went on to make a number of other hits and misses until he scored big earlier this year with Captain America. Now, taking his fame and the 20^th anniversary into account, Walt Disney Home Entertainment has released [[[The Rocketeer]]] on Blu-ray and DVD today.

(more…)

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment releases the surprisingly satisfying Rise of the Planet of the Apes on Blu–ray and DVD Tuesday.

Check out this newly created interactive trailer.

Meantime, yesterday, Australian street artist and painter Anthony Lister began working on creating a fabulous piece of street art inspired by the Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Lister arrived in Southern California straight from Art Basel Miami Beach, the most prestigious art show in the Americas, where he painted several murals across the city. The mural is being painted at 7769 Melrose Ave in Los Angeles across the street from Fairfax High School, and Lister will be there until Monday afternoon.

We hope to share a timelapse video of the work from start to finish some time next week, after Lister’s work is complete.

Warner Archive has been doing an excellent job dipping into the vaults and finding films and television shows for all ages, producing them on-demand for the seriously interested fan. What seems baffling, though, is the time between some of their releases. Take The Jetsons, no, not the 1962 gem but the 1980s revival. Warner released season one from this Saturday morning show a while back and then offered up the first 21 episodes from season two in June 2009. Finally, The Jetsons Season 2, Volume 2 has been released, in time for the holiday season.

Originally, this futuristic situation comedy was modeled at the popular Jackie Gleason series The Honeymooners but found its own voice as the space age family of the future lived a life most families dreamed of: push button cooking, self-folding cars, machines to dress you and help with makeup. It was all far from perfect as we used to see during the end credits as the treadmill George Jetson used to walk Astro went haywire.

Despite a single season of prime time, the original show went on to syndication nirvana, appearing weekdays during the afternoons or weekends as part of the Saturday morning lineup throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The revival was purely kid stuff as you can tell from the more juvenile plotting and more outrageous situations the family found itself in. In addition, young Elroy befriended Orbitty, a fuzzy alien as a sidekick – a seemingly mandatory Hanna-Barbera touch and since they already had a dog, an alien was the next best addition. Also joining the extended supporting cast was Mr. Spacely’s brother Orwell whose inventions propelled more than a few plots.

The stories found in these two discs all have their moments of slapstick and warm humor along with moral lessons they all learn, although George seems to be the one most in need of help. We also get heavy doses of stories lifted from other works such as “Elroy in Wonderland” and “The Swiss Family Jetson” which kick off the set and “A Jetson Christmas Carol” which closes out the season. They also parody the popular ABC series Fantasy Island with “Fantasy Planet” although it just made me miss Ricardo Montalban. In “Jetson’s Millions”, George wins a lottery and suddenly is part of the same class as the Spacely’s and an unflattering rivalry ensues.

The characters are true to form with George lazy as ever, Jane occasionally giving in to her wild side with disastrous results, boycrazy Judy, and prototypical good boy Elroy. We see their fortunes rise and fall, success coupled with failure and an enduring optimism that keeps you coming back for more. The family housekeeping robot Rosie is nowhere near seen often enough.

The synthesizer sounds added to the score somewhat date the episodes along with the topical references which viewers today may find puzzling. The computer animation also makes things look a bit different than the original cel animated style. As you would expect, transfers from 1980s material are pretty clean but not perfect. The sound is fine and overall, it’s nice to have these for your home, even if they are inferior to the original series.