Comic Zombie Podcast #30: The “Ultimate Marvel” Comics

Issue 30: Ultimate Marvel

“Hulk Smash Freddie Prinze Junior!” – The Ultimate Hulk (The Ultimates #4)

Chris and Erik review the “Ultimate Marvel” Comics Line (2000-2015) – including: Ultimate Spider-man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, The Ultimates, and Ultimatum… 

Also On This Episode: 

  • Erik’s (spoiler free) mini-review of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
  • Quick thoughts on “Werewolf by Night” and “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special”
  • Artist Spotlight: Darwyn Cooke
  • Essential Reads: The Incredible Hulk

Check out our blog at ComicZombie.net for more! 

And buy Erik’s new sci-fi / noir novella, “2299” here! 

(Episode edited by Erik Slader)

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Essential Reads: THE INCREDIBLE HULK

On our latest podcast episode (Issue #30) we gave some recommendations for THE HULK!

Chris’s Pick: THE IMMORTAL HULK by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett

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A “Brief” Recap of the MCU Timeline (Part Four)

Reblogged from ProbablyWork.com

Click here for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of our MCU Breakdown!

Everything’s led to this – the Russo Brothers’ epic finale to the Infinity Saga: “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”! This two-part storyline builds on ALL the MCU movies that came before, from Phases 1 through 3, and works best if you’ve seen all the Marvel movies leading up to it, from “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Iron Man” to “Guardians of the Galaxy – Vol 2” and “Thor: Ragnarok”. And it all cleverly sets up where the MCU currently is in Phase 4, with all the new MCU movies and shows! (now streaming on Disney Plus)

If you somehow haven’t watched these two, be warned that there are some serious *spoilers* ahead!

The most ambitious crossover ever? Absolutely.
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Comic Zombie #18: Revisiting the MCU: Phase One (w/ Zack Derby!)

Issue 18: Revisiting the MCU: Phase One (w/ Zack Derby!)

“We have a Hulk.” – Tony Stark

To kick off Season 3, Chris and Erik are teaming up with Zack Derby the ‘Nick Fury of podcasting’ himself: radio host extraordinaire (from Podcasters Assemble, Effin Cultured, and The Neat Cast), to revisit the Marvel Cinematic Universe – starting with Phase One!

MCU Phase 1 Movies:

  • IRON MAN (2008)
  • THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)
  • IRON MAN 2 (2010)
  • THOR (2011)
  • CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011)
  • THE AVENGERS (2012)

Be sure to listen to the last episode for our “Spider-man: No Way Home” Review And check out our blog at ComicZombie.net for more – including Erik’s recent article on “Into the Spider-verse”!

(Episode edited by Erik Slader)

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A “Brief” Recap of the MCU Timeline (Part One)

Reblogged from ProbablyWork.com

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been going strong for over a decade, and has already become the biggest, most-expansive franchise in movie history! First starting in 2008, with Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man”, starring Robert Downey Jr., who’s story eventually culminated with 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” – the 22nd movie in the series. All of which was orchestrated behind the scenes by the one and only Kevin Feige!

The MCU continues with ‘Phase Four’ (including several new shows now streaming on Disney+). Most of these titles are intrinsically tied to the overarching narrative of the MCU as a whole, so where does everything fit in? If you’re not already a hardcore fan (like us), it can probably feel like A LOT to catch up on, so if you want to dive in and follow along in (mostly?) chronological order, the following is a *quick* guide to the MCU Timeline (so far), from Captain America: The First Avenger to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and beyond!

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Top 10 Comic Book Movie Villains

Part of making a good comic book movie is getting the hero correct. You have to make sure they look close enough to the source material, and you really have to make sure the character feels right. You can’t have Daredevil fighting on a seesaw, or Batman and Robin going to a social event with the media present and talking to reporters (I hate you, Schumacher).

But, just as importantly as all of that is getting the villain right. How many lame ass versions of cool characters have ruined (or at least contributing to the ruining of) movies? I’m looking at you, Jim Carrey’s Riddler, Danny Devito’s Penguin, Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face, Arnold’s Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy, Collin Farrell’s Bullseye, Jigsaw in Punisher War Zone, and every villain in every Superman movie (yes, even Terrance Stamp’s Zod).

Here are my top 10 examples of villains they got right.

10. The Abomination (The Incredible Hulk)

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This really shouldn’t have worked. They completely changed everything about the character except for his name, Emil Blonsky. He looks different, acts different, has a completely different origin, and somewhat different motivations. The only real similarities besides his name are the fact that he’s as strong as, or stronger than, the Hulk, he’s huge, and he’s a maniac who has no qualms whatsoever about massacring anyone and everyone that gets anywhere near him.

I like the fact that we saw Blonsky evolve from a regular man to a psuedo super soldier to a gamma monster. I like the design, despite the fact that he’s completely different from the version that’s been around for nearly 50 years. I like that he’s made with a combination of super soldier serum and Hulk blood, which is the worst nightmare of the Hulk, and something that would/will piss off Captain America to no end.

I think the fight(s) between Blonsky/Abomination and the Hulk are the highlights of this movie, and probably keep it from being a really average movie.

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Comiczombie’s Top 15 Comic Book Movies

15.  Watchmen

“Just a matter of time, I suppose.” – The Comedian

As faithful an adaptation as we were ever going to get, despite the fact that this movie probably never should have been made. The whole purpose of the story was to use comics to deconstruct comic book archetypes. It was never intended to be a movie. For years Terry Gilliam was attached to a possible adaptation, but eventually quit the project, supposedly saying it was an ‘unfilmable movie’. Surprisingly, Zack Snyder did a great job while remaining faithful to the source material (possibly even too faithful at times).

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RETRO SPOILER ALERT! – First Appearances Can Be Deceiving – SILVER AGE (2 of 4)

Continued from Part 1: The Golden Age!

THE SILVER AGE (1956 – 1970)

— “With great power comes great responsibility!” – Ben Parker (Spider-man comics)

This period from around 1956 to 1970 was a huge shift in the world of comic books. Prior to this comics were in decline, mainly because of the Comics Code Authority banning all the awesome shit that was actually selling, because they were afraid it was going to create a generation of delinquents, you know like rap music and video games! Thanks to douchebag of the century, Fredric Wertham, many comic books and pulp magazines were burned in massive bonfires around the country.

So the Silver Age is considered the point at which comics were rejuvenated after a lame stint of pure camp in the Atomic Age of the 50’s. It was the beginning of many a Marvel hero and was marked by a much more sci-fi focus than ever before. This was also notably the introduction of some of the industry’s best talent to date, both artists and writers, including Neal Adams, Denny O Neal, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita Sr., and of course Stan Lee. Comics of this era are seen as an extension of the Atomic Age, and are often heavily influenced by B-rated Science Fiction films of the time where flying saucers, and giant radioactive monsters ran amok across the silver screen. One of the earliest instances of this was with the devious BRAINIAC first invading Action Comics in issue 242 (1958). Much like the Children of the Atom (the X-Men), Comics began to evolve.

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