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Showing posts from August, 2018

View Master Spider-Man, Hulk, and a downtime story of the world's strongest man.

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My recent date at Putt Putt made me remember my visits there in 1981. Thinking of those times has taken me back to a special day that year. Dad asked if I'd like to go somewhere, just me and him. Off we went that afternoon to Riverbend Mall, during a spell his sister and her three kids – four, there was a baby!- had moved in with us. Mom thought I might be lonely to get a bit of Dad’s attention- I probably said as much, knowing me. I cried over garbage when I was three, because the things in the rubbish bin would no longer be part of our life, and wouldn't they be sad, to not be wanted anymore? > Here's the original page that inspired most of the Reel B battle, set up with Doc's tragic origin and Spidey's mysterious, almost sinister peep into the facility before the battle at the end of Reel A. I clicked through the story, bereft of Stan Lee’s script and captions, funky and quirky drawings so different than the usual commercial way I saw Spidey represe

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition- this day, 1985!

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Thirty three years ago, today! (That is, August 27th, 1985) Oh, the stories these opened up for me. Alphabetically, fans could find every character still living who'd made at least three appearances, as well as many brand new lights. Origins, major life events, stories from twenty-five years of great Marvel continuity. You could even find out how tall, how heavy, or what color eyes the character should have, which sort of personalizes them and makes them all the more easy to imagine. You could find some description of every single power a character has, and often, see an Eliot R. Brown- illustrated blueprint for their best known weapons, vehicles, and acoutrement. But what could ever be more fuel for debate than : STrength Level! I was eleven when the series started, so of course I still found this part cool and interesting. Fans have been debating the strength levels of their favorite heroes and villains since comics began, so here was the sometimes controversial but

Spider-Man cartoon's jamming background: the classic underscore, pt. 2

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I can almost here a Peter Parker voice-over on this one, plus that great Bernard Cowen narration about "born losers" As you will find on the channel, Struttin' Success, on YouTube: From the original master tapes from the KPM music library in Britain: 1) "Drive On" composed by Alan Hawkshaw; 2) "LSD" composed by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter; 3) "Quite Contrary" composed by Syd Dale. This middle track is really weird! So creative, though. That third number,"Quite Contrary," brings things back to Chill Mode. VEry nice. Another crazy way the cartoon's been reincarnated: a huge Reddit stream of memes, many composed and posted in real time during online viewing parties in recent years. I am really crazy for "Latin Gear," but I haven't found it listed alone. It's worth hearing "The Eyelash" again! Due to the similarity in their names, I've seen some confusion about "Beat Street&qu

Spider-Man: Amazing Background Music! (1967-69)

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My first favorite TV show was the reruns WGNX-ATlanta played about 2:30 each weekday afternoon when I was a little boy. Turns out, this was what professionals call "needle-drop music": composed for a library to be used in film and television as incidental music. All rights belong to the creators and I make no apologies for my utmost joy at re-discovering these songs again! I really don't think you had to grow up watching that crazy ol' cartoon to appreciate these as music. I dug them up under their original names, where applicable. You should leave a note of thanks if you feel so moved, for the people who dug up these rare tunes. Many of them had not been released to the public in decades! I'll start you off right: you get to see this drummer lay into "Powerdrive" ! (Who is Johnny Pearson? You know another of his composition for sure, "Heavy Action"- the NFL Monday Night Football theme! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p41_M_