Random Images of Awesomeness Part 3

It's been a really long time since I've done a Random Images of Awesomeness post (over two years in fact), and since I've amassed quite a collection of rad images since then, it's high time I displayed some accordingly. Without further comment, here are some pleasing images for the eyes. Artist credits are given when known. Enjoy!

Jaws by Scott Lava

Masters of the Universe by JP Valderrama

Wonder Woman by Kris Anka

For more cool images, follow my Tumblr site here. Thanks!

Saturday Matinee: Captain America Movie Serial Parts 12 and 13

Hello you, and hello August! I realized I let the entire month of July go by without posting any of the chapters of the current Saturday Matinee, Captain America. How gauche of me! That's pretty bad, July kind of being Cap's month and all. Time to make it up by posting the next two chapters of the 1940s serial here. I hope you enjoy!

If you haven't enjoyed this feature, please let me know that as well. I'd love to hear your feedback. I can't improve the blog if I don't know what you'd like to see, so don't be shy. You can answer my survey along the right of the blog, you can leave a comment, or email me at phillyradiogeek@gmail.com. Any way you'd like, let me know what you think.

Have a great weekend! Go and see Guardians of the Galaxy! And check out the sweet promotional art for Avengers: Age of Ultron above.

CAPTAIN AMERICA STATISTICS SONG!

This makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy Birthday, America!

Saturday Matinee: Captain America Movie Serial Part 11

Happy Friday everyone! We're just a week away from the July 4th holiday, so start getting in the patriotic mood by checking out chapter 11 of the Captain America movie serial. Enjoy!

P.S. Here in Philadelphia, we kick off our Welcome America celebration. It officially starts tomorrow and runs through next weekend. If you'll be in the area, give it a try. You can check out the events here.

P.P.S. How sweet is that Captain America painting by Alex Ross? Beautiful!

Saturday Matinee: Captain America Movie Serial, Parts 9 and 10

Continuing to catch up on the Captain America serial, here are chapters 9 and 10 for your amusement. Have a great first official weekend of summer!

You'll see that I went with Cap cosplayers for the opening image. This is in tribute to the fact that this Sunday, my kids and I are going to Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con! We're very excited, and the kids will compete in a kids costume contest. They're sure to be winners--everyone wins! I'll let you know how it goes next week.

Until then, enjoy Captain America, the movie serial!

Saturday Matinee: Captain America Movie Serial, Parts 7 and 8

Oh my stars and garters! I've been totally remiss by neglecting the Saturday Matinee for two weeks in a row! Time to rectify that now by playing some catch-up. Here are parts 7 and 8 of Captain America starring Dick Purcell. Enjoy! Happy Flag Day!

Saturday Matinee: Captain America Movie Serial, Part 6

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable time during the unofficial start of summer. For me, it doesn't feel like summer until the official start of summer, but that's a story for another time. Above all else, please take the time to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of our country this weekend.

Here is this week's Saturday Matinee, chapter 6 of Republic Pictures 1944 serial, Captain America! Enjoy!

Saturday Matinee: Captain America Movie Serial, Part 5

Welcome to another wonderful weekend! As we've been doing for a month now, we kick it off with another installment of the Captain America movie serial. Enjoy!

Intermission!

Saturday Matinee: Captain America Movie Serial, Part 4

Hello everyone! It's a bit early, being Friday morning as I write this, but here is this weekend's installment of Captain America, the 1944 movie serial from Republic Pictures!

But first, some kinda sorta related news. The TV series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which ties in closely with the movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier, has been renewed for a second season. Yay! Also, a second Marvel live action series, Marvel's Agent Carter, has been picked up to series. The show revolves around agent Peggy Carter, an ally of Cap's from World War II who was a prominent character in the first Captain America film. Actress Hayley Atwell reprises her film role as Carter for the series. I'm really looking forward to both these shows!

And now, back to the serial. Enjoy!

And as always, don't forget to grab some refreshments at the snack bar!

Saturday Matinee: Captain America Movie Serial, Part 3

It's Saturday, but not just any Saturday--today is Free Comic Book Day! I hope you have a great one! Get out there and get some comics!

After that, settle in right here for part 3 of the Republic serial Captain America!

Plus, here's some other great serials playing in the theater of your mind!

Saturday Matinee: Captain America Movie Serial, Part 2

It's the weekend, so here is our next installment in the latest Saturday Matinee! Picking up where we left off last week--which is how these serial things work--here is Part 2 of Captain America by Republic Pictures. Enjoy!

Saturday Matinee: Captain America Movie Serial, Part 1

Hello one and all! I hope everyone who celebrates has a Happy and Blessed Easter weekend. I'm taking the opportunity to "resurrect" (see what I did there?) an old feature of the blog. Please welcome the return of the Saturday Matinee!

For those who don't remember, I used to feature a classic movie serial chapter every weekend. Previous subjects have included Batman and The Crimson Ghost. This time, I'm hopping on the red, white, and blue bandwagon of the new movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier by featuring the Captain America serial produced by Republic Pictures in 1944!

Unfortunately, this version of the character bears little resemblance to the Cap we know and love. This Cap is not scrawny patriot turned super soldier Steve Rogers, but ordinary powered district attorney Grant Gardner (Dick Purcell), tracking down the not-so super villain the Scarab, a museum curator who is on the hunt for two dangerous items, "The Electronic Firebolt" and the, ahem, "Dynamic Vibrator" *snicker*. This Cap has also traded in his iconic shield for--a gun. How un-Cap like! Finally, the war doesn't feature in the plot at all; this is simply a straight-ahead crime caper with the hero and villain just happening to wear funny outfits.

Here is part 1 of Republic Pictures' Captain America. Enjoy!


Don't forget to grab some snacks at the snack bar!

Virtual Comic Con 2012: Tuesday's Forgotten TV: Captain America Starring Reb Brown

Welcome to Day 2 of my first Virtual Comic Con. Today, I incorporate Tuesday's Forgotten TV with a look at Captain America--but obviously not the latest film incarnation courtesy of Chris Evans, nor the earlier film version from 1990 starring Matt Salinger (for an in-depth look at that film, go here). Today we're looking at the two TV-movies from the late 70s starring Reb Brown.

The two films offer a Captain America that is far different from the comic book version. In the TV-movies, he plays Steve Rogers, living in modern times, as the son of a noted scientist whose patriotism earned him the nickname "Captain America."  When Rogers is seriously injured, a scientist and agent administers a special serum to him, created by Rogers' late father, that not only repairs the damage to Steve, but gives him heightened abilities. The agent then recruits Steve to fight evil forces in both films (including Christopher Lee in Captain America II).

The movies are, to be honest, bad, but in that fun, kitschy way. They were certainly a product of their time, which I can easily forgive, and they entertained me, which ultimately is the point. I would be happy to own them on DVD, which I can easily do, as they are available from Shout Factory.

And yes, that is a plastic shield he's holding. A PLASTIC. SHIELD!



I hope you're enjoying the Con so far. Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

Spider-Man: The Capture of Captain America

Happy Independence Day everyone! I hope you all get a chance to relax and enjoy the day with your families, and appreciate the freedom we experience, because there are many others on the planet who don't have that experience. I also hope the day mobilizes you to act on the values you hold dear to continue to make America a great country.

My way of doing that--blogging about Spider-Man. God bless America!

I wanted to continue to keep the patriotic theme going this week, but with a brand new movie featuring my favorite superhero opening yesterday (and his 50th anniversary coming up next month), I wanted to acknowledge that as well. I think I've found the perfect solution to kill two birds with one stone.

Today I present to you an episode of the 1981 syndicated Spider-Man cartoon. This forgotten series existed for a year before the debut of the much more popular series Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends that aired on NBC Saturday mornings in 1982. In fact, I didn't know it existed until a few years ago!

In this episode, it's up to Spidey to locate the kidnapped First Avenger himself, Captain America! See where the patriotic theme comes in? Cap's captor--the Red Skull, of course. Can Spidey take on the Nazi menace and save ol' Cap from certain doom?

Of course he can.

Enjoy!

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! Marvel Action Universe: The Return of Captain America

I doubt this will be a surprise to you, but the long-awaited Avengers movie opens today, and to celebrate I present a much older uniting of Earth's Mightiest Heroes to hit the screen--the small screen, anyway.

Here is a presentation of Captain America's union with the Avengers as depicted by the Marvel Action Pack of cartoons that aired on ABC TV in the 1960s. The animation is notoriously limited, but it's fun nonetheless.

As a bonus, I also present the introduction of Hawkeye into the series as well as a Hulk feature. Enjoy! Go see the movie!

All the Hidden Endings to Marvel Comics Avengers Prequels in One Convenient Place

I've now seen all the Marvel Studios-produced films leading up to next year's Avengers movie (and my God, I hope it's awesome), and with the disappointing exception of Iron Man 2, I damn near love them.  Here, in breathless anticipation of the Avengers film, are the teaser scenes that appear after the end credits of the previous movies.

Iron Man:



The Incredible Hulk (I couldn't find the actual scene, but a piece of it was used in a TV commercial for the film)


Iron Man 2 (the worst of the films, but the best teaser scene):


Thor:



And finally, Captain America:



Avengers assemble!

The Origin of Captain America

As anyone who is even slightly paying attention knows, the new Captain America movie is being released in theaters today.  As a warm-up to the new film, here is Cap's origin story as told in the Marvel comics 60s TV cartoon series.  Enjoy!

Mego Superhero Doll Commercials

You know what I would've liked to have found underneath my Christmas tree this past Christmas? Some cool, good condition superhero dolls by Mego. Mego was a toy company, no longer in existense, that made some awesome superhero dolls in the 70s. Every member of Generation X I know had at least one, if not several; I had Spider-Man and the Hulk. They are highly sought after collectors' items today. Here are some commercials from back in the day displaying their awesomeness.







For everything you could possibly want to know about Mego, go to the Mego Museum here.

Thanks!

Iron Man Tribute 2

Well well well, looks like Iron Man had a great weekend. It grossed over $100 million! Nice work. So nice, Marvel Comics has already announced a sequel, along with several other new film projects, including classic Marvel heroes Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers. Check out this report from the Associated Press:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i6pUSbkR1IrnlbHe5nSJmn-ZKhZQD90FKS1O0

Thor appeared in an Incredible Hulk reunion TV-movie in the late 80s. Captain America appeared in a bad TV series in the late 70s as well as a bad direct-to-video feature film circa 1990; The Avengers had a brief animated series in the 90s on the UPN network. Hopefully these new projects will be bigger and better than what has preceded them. Fortunately, as with Iron Man, Marvel itself produced the film rather than licensing the character to outside forces, so that may help ensure quality control.

Getting back to Iron Man, here are the cover images I promised last week:

Lastly, here is what is technically a Captain America cartoon, but features Iron Man and the other aforementioned characters appearing together. Like my previously posted Iron Man cartoons, this is from the Marvel Superheroes Hour TV series from 1966.





Thanks! I'll see you this weekend.