Even though Rise of the Silver Surfer opens today, I doubt I'll even get to see it this week. Still, I'm looking forward to it, and have moderately high hopes; I liked the first movie regardless of what anyone says. Of course, I didn't think Daredevil was terrible either, and you've seen this blog, so you can draw your own conclusions about my taste.
Not to spoil Spider-Man 3, but I didn't like it as much as the previous two. Most of my complaints are probably typical: three villains is just two many, Mary Jane was kind of annoying this time, Peter was alternately a jerk or a crybaby. Also, while the plainclothes fight with Harry Osborn was great, I see we've reached the point in the series where Tobey Maguire is tired of wearing the mask the whole movie (yeah, I know Spidey's CGI or a stuntman 99% of the time) and has the clout to do something about it.
On my desk at work, I have the Unmasked Spider-Man Minimate--it came with Spider-Woman, and is subtitled Raft Escape or something, from the first storyarc of New Avengers. He comes with a little pseudo-cast, to commerate Spidey breaking his arm for two issues, and not mentioning it in any of his own books (that I know of) but it made me consider something. I think Bendis started the process in Ultimate Spider-Man, then imported it to the regular Marvel Universe: I'm positive I've seen Spidey unmasked or maskless more in the last couple of years, than in the twenty-plus years preceding. Maybe I'm giving too much credit, but it's almost like Bendis was laying the groundwork, like he knew any actor playing Spider-Man would eventually reach a point where he wants his face out there. Then, if you consider all the old issues where Spidey would make a mask out of webbing, scraps of costume, a paper bag, anything to keep his face covered; and the theory seems more plausible, doesn't it?
Well, maybe, maybe not. Anyway, have a good weekend: I think I might need to pick up the new Hellboy Animated (hopefully with the action figure) and comics tomorrow, and maybe Ghost Rider. Haven't seen it yet, but it has to be better than Man-Thing. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but Manny's one of my least favorite characters, yet I still rented that. My son wandered in about a quarter of the way in and watched part of it with me, then asked "Is Man-Thing even in this movie? All they've done is drive around the swamp!" Kids don't take that kind of crap, tell you what...
From Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #9, (maybe. Reprinted in Spider-Man: Doom with a View) "Doom with a View" Written by Sean McKeever, pencils by Mike Norton, inks by Norman Lee. I need to get more of the Target reprints of these. Read more!
