The Real Life Tony Stark

Well May is at an end and with that so is our month of Iron Man related topics. We laughed, we cried...at least I did when I typed that last Easter egg blog and it all got deleted so I had to retype it and I hope we all had fun. So how do we end this month on an epic note? Well by showing you the real life version of Tony Stark, flying suit not included...for now.
His name is Everett Bradford, he's 22 and has created and incredible device. He calls it The Prometheus Device. Now it's not Iron Man's repulsors but it's the closest thing so far and really damn cool. Observe:



That's right it's a flamethrower! He's currently in development of a newer more efficient system as seen in the video below. This video also allows us a sneak peak at how it's made. Sit back an revel.



Now as I said before I find this completely awesome and with the intelligence Everett seems to have it may not be long till he's flying around New York dispatching villains and dispensing justice. Congrats Everett and thank you for opening my eyes to possibilities.

Thanks to all of you who read my posts this month and I hope you all enjoyed.

Iron Man 2 Easter Eggs

That's right ladies and gentleman, Iron Man 2 has finally arrived and I will soon be posting my review of it, but before I do that I wanted to post on the several Easter eggs in Iron Man 2. Now I have seen it several times and being a huge comic book nerd I have located several of these Easter eggs, now for those who don't know, these Easter eggs in particular aren't our usual, tie died poultry products delivered by a giant bunny that would more likely cause terror in children than comfort...especially the red eyed ones! Have you seen those?! They are so demonic looking! Any who, the Easter eggs I'm referring to is a term for items, props, jokes, or dialogue in a movie that is a reference either to the actors real life or career, the comic or book its based off of, a link to upcoming movies, or the original versions of the film i.e. Lou Ferrigno appearing in the new Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton. So grab your tacky baskets and faux grass and lets begin our hunt!
*CAUTION SPOILERS AHEAD*


-First lets start with the obvious ones like Captain America's shield, let me say I loved this scene especially the joke about it being the solution, but that raised a question with me, is the new element Tony created Vibranium? Vibranium is the special metal that makes Captain America's shield so unique and powerful and one of a kind in the comics so i don't know but it was worth the speculation. And for those of you who were wondering how Tony got Caps shield, it's because Howard Stark knew Captain America so either Tony obtained blueprints from him or is trying to recreate it I'm not sure.

-Next for everybody who stayed after the credits we found out that the incident in New Mexico that was continually referred to throughout the movie by Agent Coulson and Nick Fury was the arrival of Thor's hammer on Earth, this is not only a throwback to the comic of Thor's arrival but a tag to the upcoming Thor movie staring Chris Hemsworth. Now there has been a lot of speculation on when the Thor movie will take place in this Avengers time stream. Not many know but Norton's Incredible Hulk takes place during Iron Man 2, this is why Tony Stark is in the after credits scene in the Hulk, he's being a consultant. But since the Thor movie will take place in Asgard, which is before Thor comes to Earth, I assume Thor will end during Iron Man 2.

-Also when Tony is looking through Howard's personal belongings we can see a Captain America comic, also a map of Antarctica which is where i think the movies have decided to place the frozen Captain America, even though in the comic it's in the North Pole. Plus in the Incredible Hulk alternate opening also takes place in Antarctica if I remember correctly and in that scene you can quickly see a frozen Captain America.

-Now on to the less obvious Easter eggs, first how old is Nick Fury? In the movie we know he worked with Howard to develop SHIELD so he must have been pretty old then, how is he still alive? Well not many know but Nick fought in WWII and once wounded was treated by Dr. Berthold Sternberg who gave him "The Infinity Formula" this healed him and now slows his aging.

-In Monaco when Tony is trying to get a table and a man mentions he has an idea for an electric jet, this is a reference to the Avengers famous Quinjet.

-Now we get to The Mandarin. The Mandarin is Iron Man's arch-enemy in the comics, he is the puppet master behind many of the enemies of Tony Stark by use of the Ten Rings, which in the comic are ten magic rings The Mandarin uses, each with a different ability but in the movies it has been retooled to be the organization that contains all of Tony's villains. In the first movie The Ten Rings is the group that captures Tony, in Iron Man 2 a member of the Ten Rings is the one who gives the Russian Whiplash the passports and papers he needs when he sets out to destroy Tony. Another and very interesting Ten Rings reference is a ring has been worn by each of Tony's villains. In the first one Obidiah Stane wears one as well as Raza, and in the 2nd Justin Hammer wears one. Hammer was often a cohort to the Mandarin in the TV series. The Mandarin will be featured in Iron Man 3, Favreau has already confirmed.

Now to the last of the Easter eggs. In the end when Tony is being reviewed for the Avengers we can see references to every Avenger. On one screen you see the news report from Culver University from The Incredible Hulk movie(this is after the Blonsky/Ross fight) You can also see the crater in New Mexico.



The most showing is of the maps on the screens,all of them show circled areas. Each is a location of an Avenger. One shows New Mexico which is obviously Thor, one is Africa, more specifically Wakanda which is where Black Panther rules, NYC is The Hulk since that is where the final battle takes place, Los Angeles is Iron Man, the Atlantic is the location of Prince Namor, the Arctic is Captain America, and the other one is over Norway which is where Asgard is located.

Real Life Iron Man Suits

Continuing Mechanical May I thought we'd get into some Iron Man tech and I'd show you the real life Iron Man suits already in development. That's right Iron Man may not be as far away as we think. Several companies and one independent inventor have already created robotic suits that give there wearer enhanced strength or durability. Who are these creators well lets take a look.

Raytheon Sarcos

This is the first one on our list, not as glamorous as Iron Man but incredibly effective. Raytheon's research facility in Salt Lake City, Utah has developed this exoskeleton for the soldier of tomorrow. What are its capabilities? Well it allows the wearer to lift 200lbs repeatedly without exhaustion while still keeping him agile. How does it do this, a combination of sensors and controllers allow it to do the tasks the human pilot is trying to achieve by reading his movements and signals but it takes the strain for him. Below is a video of it being used, ignore the lame looking poster of the soldier wearing it.



HAL

Our next on the list straight out of Japan, HAL stands for Hybrid Assistive Limb and it uses the same principles and essentially the same tech as Sarcos but with slight variations. However this one looks much more Iron Man-esque and who's it developed by, why none other than Cyberdyne, that's right Cyberdyne, but fear not Terminator fans this is not the one and the same and Skynet is nowhere near completion. This suit is made not for war like Sarcos but for help. HAL was created to help train doctors and physical therapists, assist disabled people, allow laborers to carry heavier loads, and aid in emergency rescues. The suit itself weighs 50lbs and runs on a 100-volt AC battery(not an arc reactor) that gives it about 5 hours of energy depending on use and multiplies the wearers physical capabilities by ten times by reading and interpreting muscle signals and applying the appropriate force. Below is a video of it in action



Trojan

This suit is designed by an independent inventor in Canada named Troy Hurtubise(her-chew-bees) and is more made for soldiers and includes several gizmo's, contraptions and safety devices for our fighting men and women. But this isn't Troy's first attempt at protective suits, he had an earlier creation designed to withstand grizzly bear attacks, however Troys new suit, The Trojan, can withstand far more than that. With it primarily composed of ballistic foam as well as tech plastic plates it can withstand shrapnel, IED's(Improvised Explosive Device), shotgun fire, 12 gauge, small arms, it is hydraulic shock proof and knife proof. This ballistics suit weighs 50lbs and is loaded with gadgets to protect and aid in rescue for soldiers, but with to many features to mention such as a built in mini TV for viewing camera footage I'll let the video below do the rest.



So with these incredible suits in development it may not be to long till the Invincible Iron Man and War Machine are common place in our world.

It's Mechanical May!

With the release of Iron Man 2 only days away I have decided this month will be all about the red and gold guardian, Iron Man! Check in every week for Iron Man science, news, and my review of the new movie. So let's rev up for Mechanical May!

Spider-man Movies Review

As you have obviously noticed i love Spider-man, however i do not feel the same about the movies. Now i do like the story in each one, most of Spider-man 3 excluded, but i feel they could have been much better. Granted they weren't as god awful as Ben Affleck's Daredevil but they were just not that good.

Now after rambling way to long on my comic review i have decided to keep this shorter. The effects in this movie were great but the casting was weak. To its credit though i thought the villains, except for Venom were cast great! I loved Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, as well as Alfred Molina's Doc Ock and Thomas Haden Church as Sandman was a dead ringer especially in look. But the main cast was just way too off. James Franco definitely pulled off the daddy issues and the struggle with the i hate him i love him jazz but he didn't have Harry's friendship for Peter at all and also didn't play the rich boy well at all. Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane drove me nuts, but in the bad way. She had flat acting and came off more 'slutty' to me then anything. She makes it really seem all she wants is attention. Aunt May is good but i just feel like i don't know to be honest i just don't like her. If you've read my casting suggestions for the Spider-man reboot you know that i think the best part of this whole cast is J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. He is the only person i think is a more perfect match for his character than Robert Downey Jr. is as Tony Stark. With that lets move onto our main star Tobey Maguire.

To be honest i think Tobey Maguire is a great actor, in certain roles. He was great in Seabiscut and Brothers but he was not Peter Parker or Spider-man. He was not funny, and instead of being witty he seemed like a douche. He was to quiet and had a very very limited range of facial expressions not to mention that i laughed at his crying in the end of Spider-man 3 cause he just looked so awkward. He did have this though, he had intensity. His screams of anger and fear as well as the fight between him and Harry in Harry's place are great moments of intensity and emotion. Therefore i think Tobey Maguire is great but only as an angry guy or a jerk. Sorry Tobey. I hope the reboot does well and really brings the characters to life in the way Iron Man and the Hulk did.

To end Amazing April I'll leave you with my favorite Spider-man scene

The Amazing Spider-man Comic Review

Ever since I was a kid I've loved Spider-man, i thought he and Batman were the best. As time went on though i grew more disenchanted with Spider-man, not with the character so much but the way he was written. Spider-man is smart, caring, intense, bold, goofy yet suave, and the most sarcastic/witty Marvel character usually just ahead of The Human Torch. That's what i loved about him, but as time went on different comic series' starring our favorite Web Head appeared, as did different writers and Spider-man begin to lose it. He wasn't corny funny anymore he became more corny annoying, he would occasionally have drastically bipolar mood swings, and the witty sarcasm became dull, flat and trying too hard so i drifted away from Spider-man, especially with the release of the Tobey Maguire movies, but I'll get to those in another review. However within the past few months i have picked up Spider-man comics again and my hope and joy in the Wall Crawlers adventures have been restored. But what mad Doctor has brought this hero back from the dead, well lets find out in my review of all the Spider-man comics as a whole and my opinion of the best.




I have read many of the different Spider-man Series' such as The Spectacular Spider-man, The Web Of Spider-man, and Ultimate Spider-man and have found that the absolute best and most Spidey like is the Amazing Spider-man. Not only was this original series starring Spider-man(not counting Amazing Fantasy #15 where Spidey makes his 1st appearance to the world ever) but it has by far been the best and most representative. This series I've found has had not only the most interesting story lines but it adds the most depth to it's characters, heroes and villains as well as supporting cast with great credit to its writers. Now there have been many writers of this series over the years but none has more revolutionized the Spidey world then J. Michael Straczynski.

Upon picking up his works I laughed cried raged and feared over Spider-mans antics. Why is this man so good? Well its the way he gives his world meaning. In some of the early Straczynski's Spider-man meets a man named Ezekiel with abilities strikingly similar to his. He also knows a great deal about him, therefore they begin to chat. Ezekiel explains that Spider-man gaining his abilities from the spider was not a freak accident added by radioactivity but that the spider bit him of its own free will to transfer its abilities to Peter before dying of radiation, that it was destiny. This really gives the Spider-man origin story a interesting totem-like depth to it. It gains even more interest when he explains that that is why he has so many animal themed villains such as Dr. Octopus, the Rhino, The Vulture and the Scorpion. He says that these artificial animal human hybrids seek to destroy Spider-man on a subconscious level because he is a pure totem. Peter then begins to see his abilities differently. See he already has given this story more depth.

But what about the villains and supporting cast, well he gives them complexities. Especially the villains. They no longer become mindless animals but real people with issues. For example in Spider-man: Back In Black(the best Straczynski written Spidey series) Sandman comes to spider-man for help in finding the man who framed his father for murder. We hear the story that Sandmans father would be in and out of prison and that that was one of the reasons Sandman/Flint would go to jail. He kept the alias of Flint Marcoh while in prison and never told his father who he was but he would spend his jail time just talking to his father and getting to know him and live the life they never had, how touching. He also talks about the fact that he doesn't wear a mask like Spider-man because Flint knows hes a criminal and that's who he is and he refuses to hide who he is under a mask. Also he and Spider-man have several more moments mostly relating to the loss of loved ones and the toughness of life and they have great comedic scenes and awesome team fighting. As far as supporting cast, when Aunt May finds out about Peter being Spider-man she becomes depressed but then becomes very supportive of Peter. She writes to the newspapers whom trash Spider-man an says she is cancelling her subscription and subscribes to those who support him, on her to-do list it's written as "Unsubscribe to papers who are mean to Peter" haha adorable. However she still fears for him leaving her conflicted.

Now before i get into the way he has written Peter, i want to touch on Spider-man: Tribute to 9/11. After the trade center attacks the comic industry, especially those with New York based heroes, wrote tribute issues to the tragedy. I feel that there was none more passionate, heartbreaking, and triumphant as The Amazing Spider-mans's tribute written by Straczynski. He not only brings in Spider-man's emotions but other heroes as well as villains. I must admit i cried. Here is a link for a video where someone posted the pages of that comic set with music as a tribute to 9/11 watch if you want to see the emotion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcSlJqlq2yA

Now on to Peter. Straczynski gives Peter real struggle. In Spider-man:Back In Black, Peter has donned the black spider suit again, this time with the mission of finding the assassin who had shot Aunt May and put her in the hospital in critical condition. Throughout the comic Peter is pissed, he's no longer cracking casual jokes, he means business. He is constantly in a battle with his own ethics and morals and doing things like breaking bones to get information or theft. It especially hits its amazing apex when Peter enters the prison leading to a showdown with the Kingpin, this time with his mask off. Peter thoroughly thrashes the Kingpin in front of all the prisoners in a few awesome scenes, but Peter doesn't kill Kingpin, he does something much worse. He tells the Kingpin that he was beaten by a kid who didn't even get a scratch, in front of a whole prison of baddies and now that Kingpins lost the criminals respect he's also lost their fear and his power and then he leaves. Badass. He also brings the comedy back to Spider-man, especially in encounters with Aunt May.

Now Ultimate Spider-man is alright but it's very moody and cheesy, i do give credit to Web of Spider-man thought, it is hilarious and action packed but only during The Gauntlet series.

So in conclusion, if you are a fan of Spider-man or used to be one let this friendly neighborhood arachnid back into your heart by picking up The Amazing Spider-man.

Thanks for reading! Oh and by the way this and my next post were supposed to be added awhile ago but i have been busy with my own comic, sorry for the delay.