SuperHeroStuff.com

Plain and simple, Iron Man was well done.  It was as true to the comic as they could be while taking minimal steps in the artistic license department. Robert Downey Jr. did a great job as Tony Stark, and held true to the playboy billionaire character.  Gwyneth Paltrow also did Pepper Potts justice. 

But most of all, the Iron Man suit itself was a great job.  See, what makes these SuperHero movies acceptable to the comic fans is if the hero is true to form.  Undoubtably, the directos always, always mess it up.  Let us review:

• Batman having automatic guns on the Batmobile.
• Batman having bombs for hubcaps in the Batmobile.
• Catwoman using dentle floss for an outfit.
• Catwoman being thrown out of a window and coming back to life.
• DareDevil fighting on a stupid see-saw!
• A black King Pin! (Not to appear racist, but if Luke Cage was white on screen or if Wolverine was Mexican I would still be criticle.  Lack of true conformation with the comics.)
• Stupid claws coming out of Spider-man’s fingers.
• Organic web-shoooters for Christ’s sake.  Organic.  Did these idiots ever read a comic?
• Superman wearing low cut (boy toy) briefs.
• Superman turning into a Peepin’ Tom. 
• Cyclops dying (unless I missed that in the comics).
• Stupid looking Batarangs.  Why, oh why do directors feel compelled to change something that works?
• Spidey’s high density webbing on his suit.  What’s the deal with that?  And it’s silver too.
• Superman ripping off a celephane sheet from the symbol on his chest.  With all due respect to the great and honorable Christopher Reeve … what the hell was that? And kissing Lois and making her forget? 
• And Michael Keaton is no Batman and Jack Nicholson is no Joker.  That’s right!  I said it.  I’m sick of all you pukes who worship Jack’s Joker.  One, he was too fat.  Two, he was a caricature of the Joker in the comics. 
• And since when does the Batjet (and the Batmobiel.. again) have 30 mm cannons for armorments?

The list goes on.  However, this is not to say that there are changes in the Superhero movies, under the guise of “artistic license,” that are acceptable.  Some of these items are:

• Batman’s electro-cape that gets rigid when a current is passed through it.  This is acceptable and actually makes sense.
• The grappeling gun.  Also a movie adaptation that is more realistic than throwing a batarang with a rope attached. 
• Venom dropping from a meteorite.  Of course we can’t have Peter, or even Spider-Man, go to outerspace in some huge superhero Secret Wars episode… so we bring Venom to Earth.  Totally acceptable.
• New Goblin’s scateboard glider.  When Harry took over the green mantle of Normon’s Goblin villainry, back in the comics, scateboards had yet to make an appearance.  Today, it’s a natural fit to have a young Harry alter the Goblin Glider into something that would better reflect the times.
• Superman’s subdued color tones.  At first I hated the new colors, especially the red.  But in hindsite, the colors don’t need to be as vibrant as in the comics. 
• Batman’s metal wing tipped gauntlets.  This was weaved well into the story line, how it came from the “ninja” type suits used in combat and were actually practically applied in the movie.  Totally acceptable.
• Bruce having two girlfriends bath with him in a fountain in a hotel restaurant.  Totally acceptable.
• Tony Stark going to Afghanistan instead of Vietnam.  Duhhh, no brainer, a change that HAD to have happened due to the times.

See, there are changes that can be done as long as they make sense. 

Back to Iron Man.  From start to finish the four different suits of armor we’re true to form.  First was the Mark 1, the suit made when in captivity.  Perfect.  Exactly like the original in the comics, even if it was in Vietnam.

Well… for his next two suits, I can’t find any images on line.  But they work.  We see the silver suit, the first of the new design. and then we see another briefly with true to form colors of the Iron Man in the comics.  The armor is actually a true red and gold instead of the red/magenta we see in all the images on line.  If I remember correctly that’s the one he fought the two Air Force jets in and Pepper comments on and asks, “Oh My God… are those bullet holes?”  Then we see the suit in all the trailers.

Good Superhero movie.  Probably more true to form than any other Superhero film made yet so far.  I can’t wait for the sequel.  I give this a 4.5 out of 5 with regard to honoring the comic story line and a 4 out of 5 for entertainment.  Overall, a 4.25 out of 5.  I suggest a strong see for everyone and a must see for all comic fans.

 To see a couple of the trailers, check out our Iron Man movie page.  Here is the official movie site.

… Jesus Christ!  First Heath Ledger, now Gary Gygax?!!  I can’t take much more of this.

Gary was the dude who created D&D.  He will be missed.  Sad to see him go.

The guys at Troll Lord Games were all bummed about it.  You can read up on dear Gary’s death here and here.   Here’s a good story on Gary with a little history of the D&D dice.  And another great interview with him in the Believer where Paul La Farge traveled to Lake Geneva with a college friend to talk with Gygax, and ended up playing D&D with him. It’s a clever piece and probably one of the most recent extensive interviews with the man himself.

If you haven’t had ever played D&D, you don’t know what you’re missing.  It’s a great opportunity to socialize with friends and create some unforgettable memories.  Give it a shot!  You will not be disappointed. 

For those of you have played, i HIGHLY URGE you to check out DM of the Rings!  It’s written by Shamus Young and is the perspective of a dungeon based on LOTR and how characters would really act in each of the situations.  Incredibly hilarious.

 Heath Ledger died today, Jan. 22, 2008.  He was only 28.

Visit our Tribute Page

Heath Ledger first came to the attention of the public in 1999, it was all too easy to tag him as a “pretty boy” and an actor of not much depth.  Heath Ledger was born on the fourth of April 1979, in Perth, Western Australia.  In junior high it was compulsory to do one of two electives, either cooking or drama, and as Heath could honestly not see himself in a cooking class, he tried his hand at acting. 

When Heath was 17, he and a friend, decided to pack up, leave school, take a car and rough it to Sydney. Heath believed Sydney to be the place where dreams are made, or at least, where actors can possibly get their big break. However, upon arriving in Sydney with a purported 69 cents to his name, Heath tried everything to get a break. His first real acting job came in a low budget movie called Blackrock (1997), a largely unimpressive cliché; a teen angst film about one boy’s struggle when he learns his best mate raped a girl. He did not have a large part in this movie. In fact, it was a very small one. The only thing of notice in his role is you get to see him get his lights punched out. After that small role, Heath auditioned for a role in a TV show called “Sweat” (1996) about a group of young Olympic hopefuls. He got offered one of two roles, one as a swimmer, another as a gay cyclist. Heath accepted the latter because he felt to really stand out as an actor one had to accept unique roles that stood out from the bunch.

It got him small notice, but unfortunately the show was quickly axed, which led him to look for other roles. He was in “Home and Away” (1988) for a very short period, in which he played a surfer who falls in love with one of the girls of Summer Bay. Then came his very brief role in Paws (1997). Paws was a film which existed solely to cash in on guitar prodigy Nathan Cavaleri’s brief moment of fame, where he was the hottest thing in Australia.

Heath played a student in the film, involved in a stage production of a Shakespeare play, in which he played “Oberon”. A very brief role, this did nothing other than give him a small paycheck, but nothing to advance his career. Then came Two Hands (1999). He went to America trying to audition for film roles, showcasing his brief role in “Roar” (1997) opposite then unknown Vera Farmiga. He could not find any American roles but then Australian director Gregor Jordan auditioned him for the lead in Two Hands (1999), which he got. An in your face Aussie crime thriller, Two Hands (1999) was outstanding and helped him secure a role in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). After that, it seemed Heath was being typecast as a teen hunk, which he did not like, so he accepted a role in a very serious war drama The Patriot (2000).

What followed was a stark inconsistency of roles, Heath accepting virtually every single character role, anything to avoid being typecast. Some met with praise, like his short role in Monster’s Ball (2001), but his version of Ned Kelly (2003) was an absolute flop, which led distributors hesitant to even release it outside Australia. The Order (2003) was absolutely terrible, and A Knight’s Tale (2001) was just light entertainment. Heath has had such a wide variety of roles that he seems unsure what to do with himself next. Despite being a very talented comedic actor, he seems to only want serious roles, which has hindered his career. He is by no means one of the greatest actors out of Australia, but in his brief career to date has suggested he could become one, if only he accepts the right role.

In 2007 Heath landed the role of The Joker for the Batman movie Dark Knight. In it, Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and D.A. Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker.

Right after taking out Ra’s Al Ghul, and the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Jonathan Crane AKA Scarecrow, Batman continues on his war on crime in the streets of Gotham. But this time, he meets his match when this crazed, murdering, psychopath called The Joker, starts bringinc complete chaos to the streets of Gotham making it a personal agenda to take out the Dark Knight, before Batman gets to him first.

Heath did a fantastic job as the new, dark, phychopathic, sociopathic criminal the Joker.  Absolutely fantastic.