Articles for December, 2016

TCM Plans 24-Hour Debbie Reynolds Marathon in 2017
Debbie Reynolds is getting her due. Turner Classic Movies is joining networks like ABC and Logo by celebrating the career highlights of the acting legend, announcing a full 24 hours of...
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Last Call For MattyCollector.com – Website Closes TONIGHT! – Action Figure Insider

Last Call For MattyCollector.com – Website Closes TONIGHT!
Action Figure Insider
In it's time, Matty offered us action figures, display stands and prop replicas as well as opening the door for us to get even more convention exclusives each year. All of that new, monthly toy goodness delivered right to our mailboxes each and every ...

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Last Call For MattyCollector.com – Website Closes TONIGHT!
After offering toy fans 8 years of  over 300 original, unique products sold, TODAY is the last day of MattyCollector.com.  It was announced to fans back in July at San Diego Comic Con that MattyCollector.com would be scuttled at the end of the year.  Today 12/31/16 is the last day of MattyCollector.com. Over the past...
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‘Star Wars’ Action Figures Are Just As Cool As They Were 40 Years Ago – moviepilot.com

moviepilot.com

'Star Wars' Action Figures Are Just As Cool As They Were 40 Years Ago
moviepilot.com
When your movies are filled with alien gangsters and lovable robots, you'd be a fool not to pump out action figures based on every variation of each character. Luckily Lucasfilm didn't forget that, and Disney hasn't either. Both The Force Awakens and ...

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Follow the History of the Hulk Pt. 44

For over 50 years, the Incredible Hulk has been smashing his way through the Marvel Universe and into the hearts of fans. Whether you’ve discovered the tale of Bruce Banner and his other self through comics, TV, or film, get the whole story here…

The world’s premiere super hero family received a call for help in FANTASTIC FOUR #533, one that informed them of the Hulk’s latest rampage, this time outside of Las Vegas. The Thing and the Human Torch confronted the jade giant in FANTASTIC FOUR #534, and learned that The Hulk suffered from a direct gamma ray blast, which dredged up bad memories from his past.

The Hulk and Thing traded crushing blows in FANTASTIC FOUR #535, until Ben Grimm literally knocked some sense into the behemoth and the army then spirited him away on a helicopter. Later, in INCREDIBLE HULK #88, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent approached the Hulk in Alaska with a message from none other than Nick Fury.

Fury directed the green goliath into space to destroy a killer satellite in INCREDIBLE HULK #89, but when Hulk reached his destination in INCREDIBLE HULK #90, he found it impossible to stop. The satellite took human form in INCREDIBLE HULK #91, but Hulk won his battle, though discovered that he couldn’t return to Earth, thanks to Fury’s betrayal.

Incredible Hulk (1999) #88

Incredible Hulk (1999) #88

What is Marvel Unlimited?

Locked in a ship able to rocket through interstellar space, thanks to the combined efforts of Fury, Reed Richards, Tony Stark, and other, Hulk crash-landed on the far-off planet of Sakaar in INCREDIBLE HULK #92. There, he became a gladiator in the Red King’s arena, and forged a force from among the fighters in INCREDIBLE HULK #93.

When insurgents attacked the arena to disrupt the emperor’s games in INCREDIBLE HULK #94, Hulk and his fellows drew together to confront all enemies as one unit. After dueling with a captured Silver Surfer in INCREDIBLE HULK #95, he and the other slaves escaped with the Red King’s guard hot on the green gladiator’s trail in INCREDIBLE HULK #96.

Soon, the people of Sakaar began to believe that The Hulk fulfilled an ancient prophecy of freedom from bondage in INCREDIBLE HULK #97, but when the jade giant’s coalition started to splinter in INCREDIBLE HULK #98, it took one of the emperor’s greatest fighters, Caiera, to betray her liege and join the Hulk’s side in INCREDIBLE HULK #99.

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Taken to Task: History of Taskmaster

In CAPTAIN AMERICA: STEVE ROGERS #10—available January 25—Cap finds himself up against one of the most dangerous figures in the Marvel Universe: the tremendous Taskmaster. To prep our star spangled protagonist—and you—for the dustup to come, we have put together a generous dossier on the skull-faced scoundrel.

They Take to It Younger and Younger These Days
Tony Masters grew up in Brooklyn, experiencing a fairly typical—for the pre-gentrification boom—childhood. One day, after watching a cowboy drama on his family’s television, he went into the yard and mimicked the hero of the show’s rope tricks, exactly. Not kind of got it. Exactly matched them. A doctor’s appointment and a bunch of tests later, young Masters received a diagnosis: photographic reflexes. Any physical action he observed, he could perfectly recreate.

With Great Power Comes Great Opportunities for Attention
Realizing the limitless potential of his power, the man who would be Taskmaster did the logical, if cynical, thing and set out to imitate the athletically talented. His favorite sport proved to be football and after taking in one game, he brought professional level quarterbacking skill to his high school team. Victory and adoration followed.

Whatever I Do, Crime Must Be in The Name
After graduation, Masters considered joining the ever expanding field of crime fighters. However, as he saw the potential for the public to turn on you and the lack of opportunity to make money, he decided crime committer might be a better choice. Sure, people would not love him, but he’d always have money to soothe those hurt feelings.

The Evolution of a Man Without Morals
Initially, Masters decided to go for unflashy theft. However, it also turned out to be too messy, too unpredictable. Yes, he always got his money and yes, he always got away but that kind of direct contact with the law—and with it the possibility of being shot or arrested—just did not sit well with him. So, instead, he took his money and parlayed it into a small business of sorts: he would train the criminals of the world, reap profits, and stay generally above the fray.e9b9ea57197106f1c475e0c14e6eac0d

Not Just for Crime Anymore
Sensing a revenue stream that heretofore had been unavailable, the now christened Taskmaster threw all sense of rules and structure to the wind and literally became available to the highest bidder. That meant for a time he might train super hero knockoffs like Blood Spider and Jagged Bow for criminal endeavors and then turn around and prepare John Walker—the now USAgent—for his brief time as Steve Rogers’ government sanctioned replacement.

The Only Value is Don’t Get Caught
Along with his stance on being easily bought, Taskmaster has one principle: never go down for a crime. He does not care if it makes him look like a coward. Dumb people can have pride, he’d rather keep his freedom, thank you very much. So, at the first sign of trouble, ol’ Tasky sneaks for the door. Who needs to prove themselves, really?

Still, Sometimes It’s Hard Not to Compete
His principles, like his morals, sometimes prove flexible. At times, the money becomes too high to be ignored, no matter the risk. At others, he just has to remind people that he could be the best, he would just rather count his cash. Almost inevitably, these moments where pride and greed got a little too much control of his decision making process, led to him being arrested and/or pummeled.

Cannot Keep Him Down
And yet, Taskmaster always seems to find a way back. He has been crushed in a bubble by Sue Storm, shot a bunch by Mockingbird, turned into the Avatar of the Abyss, dropped into a town of Hitlers, forever forced to forget his marriage, badly injured by Doctor Doom, had his oxygen cut by Norman Osborn, and nearly had his face cut off by Moon Knight. Still, before you know it, he returns, upright in pirate boots, swathed in blue, orange, and white, just as cocky and fashionable as ever.

Taskmaster takes it to the Star-Spangled Avenger in CAPTAIN AMERICA: STEVE ROGERS #10 on January 25!

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U.S.Avengers: All That Glitters

Ask any child, they will tell you: red might be a cool color but it doesn’t compare to gold.

Apparently, the newest villain of the Marvel Universe remembers those lessons of his childhood so while he shares a look with The Red Skull, he went the extra mile, sporting a bright shiny golden cranium.

Color sense, alone, however, will not conquer the modern Marvel Universe and The Golden Skull has no intention of not leaving the world tightly in his grip. U.S.AVENGERS writer Al Ewing reached out to us from his hidden bunker to let us know why the Golden Skull’s arrival may very well spell all our dooms.

Marvel.com: How does The Golden Skull differ in motivation and M.O. from the more well-known Skull, Red?

Al Ewing: In motivation…not that much. The Golden Skull’s aim is to create ruin and make money from the rubble, and the more people he can cheat, lie to, and steal from along the way, the better. It makes him feel clever. I suppose The Red Skull might actually at least pretend to himself that he believes in something—as evil and monstrous as that something may be—but I’m not sure the same is true for The Golden Skull. He believes only in himself. If the Red Skull’s soul is a bleak, shriveled lump of bile and ash, the Golden Skull’s soul is a howling void surrounded by golden mirrors that reflect it back, and there is nothing else in him.

In M.O.—I don’t think The Golden Skull uses any methods The Red Skull wouldn’t. Although I don’t think The Red Skull likes pirates as much.

Marvel.com: Without spoiling too much, can you vaguely describe Skull’s goal and why the U.S.Avengers in particular are the force set up to stop him?

Al Ewing: The Golden Skull is here to make money, and if other people have to suffer and die to make that happen, well, he’s more than happy to sneer at them about it. He’ll probably stockpile his ill-gotten gains in the form of gold, since the eventual endgame is to take his haul somewhere else and start the process over again. and gold is relatively universal among the alternate dimensions. That’s the nice thing about the Marvel Universe: there’s always another Earth somewhere if you burn this one.

As for why the U.S.Avengers are involved—Captain America 20XX, the Cap from the Skull’s future, knows and trusts them, and she’s worked with them before. All the other heroes in this timeline are up to their eyeballs in drama; Black Widow’s always got some spy stuff going on, Vision is not exactly the Vision she met last time, and her parents have all manner of things going on, as seen in their own books. Roberto, meanwhile, has just set up a giant super-spy organization. He’s the obvious choice to come to for a helping hand.

U.S.Avengers #2 cover by Paco Medina

U.S.Avengers #2 cover by Paco Medina

Marvel.com: Given that Golden Skull comes from alternate future U.S. where Manhattan periodically floods and helium is in high demand, how much shock does he experience with the Marvel U’s mainstream modern NYC?

Al Ewing: Not much at all! Anywhere he can find a mark to con, he’s happy. If anything, this timeline is a paradise for him; the future timeline he comes from [has] learned a lot of hard lessons at great cost, and they’re currently in the “won’t get fooled again” phase. The Golden Skull can’t afford to wait decades for people to forget all about that, so he’s come back—and sideways—in time, instead.

Marvel.com: The solicits for U.S.AVENGERS #2 mention the death of Captain America—although not which one. Given that the only times we’ve seen Skull to date he was fighting or being beaten by a Captain America, what has his reaction been to the hero’s death?

Al Ewing: That’s at the start of issue #2, I believe. We kill off two of them! We don’t see his reaction, though, as presumably he’d have learned about it in history class, assuming he bothered to go. That’s right: we’re taking a close look at the mysterious Zero Day that started the world of 20XX!

Marvel.com: In general, how does Skull view and react to the heroes of the mainstream Marvel U?

Al Ewing: A collection of rubes, marks, and idiots, just like the heroes of his home dimension.

The fact that they keep beating him doesn’t change his assessment.

After all, how can anyone be on his level? He’s quite similar to Doctor Doom in that, although unlike Doom, the Golden Skull doesn’t “do” book learning; not even ancient tomes of mysticism.

Marvel.com: What is the single most important thing readers should know about Skull to understand him and the threat he represents?

Al Ewing: He is capable of anything—absolutely anything—in his own service. He will never reform. He will never change. And he will burn the world before he ever admits he’s wrong.

See the Golden Skull’s schemes begin to unfold in U.S.AVENGERS #1, available on January 4, and explode in issue #2, coming January 18, both by Al Ewing and Paco Medina!

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Lindsay Lohan Is Really Trying To Make Mean Girls 2 Happen
Lindsay Lohan wants a 'Mean Girls' sequel so much that she's even written a treatment for it.
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Greta Gerwig Got A Punk Education While Prepping For 20th Century Women
Greta Gerwig blasted punk acts like The Raincoats and The Slits to prep for her role as a punk photographer in the upcoming '20th Century Women.'
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What to Expect From the Bachelor Premiere: Dolphins, Sharks, and a Whole New Nick Viall
We're just a matter of days away from the premiere of one of the most anticipated seasons of The Bachelor, and we're here to tell you're right to anticipate it. If we can...
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