HOWARD........WHERE TO NEXT? ( SLIGHT SPOILER )

If you have seen Guardians of the Galaxy all the way you know that obscure icon Howard the Duck has made what seems like one off  appearance. What I enjoyed about that appearance was being reminded of that horrible attempt at a film that made me want investigate Howard's origins. Howard was a Marvel creation that was somewhat bastardized by the 1986 film. The cool thing about Howard is the fact that, according to his backstory, he is quite the badass. For the last 28 years I have wondered when Howard would come back, now he's back sort of. I wonder where Marvel will take him, if anywhere.   I hope that Disney doesn't decide to shit all over this foul like George Lucas did back in 86.'' We can only hope!

COMICS ON TV

I recently read that Agents of SHIELD is steadily losing viewers which brings to mind something I've always thought, extremes with comic book stories are not very good in television. When Batman came out in 1966 it was a lot of camp and not too much substance. That series worked because back in those days television was not a charged medium. The Superman series starring George Reeves was geared toward kids and it had been on air in the 1950's.

Superman was highly predictable and did not have much depth since it only had a 30 minute timespan in which to tell a full story. If you fast forward to the 70's you have shows like Shazam, Wonder Woman, and the ill fated Justice League, series.

All of these shows failed to get long runs out of the gate because by the 70's there were more shows chose from and comic books were not really as marketable as before. With films such as Star Wars it seemed like comic books would be doomed. Yes Superman was released in 1978 and it was a huge box office hit but beyond that it seemed like the genre did not really have a life in the small screen.

Fast forward to the early 90's and it was more of the same with failed attempts in shows such as the Flash, and Justice League. It wasn't until Smallville that there was a real success with heroes. Now we look at SHIELD and see what's wrong.

People expect all out action and special effects sometimes and SHIELD has not gone that route. SHIELD has taken to slowly telling a story that relies on depth mixed with action. A show like Smallville began to step away from the soap opera in order to bring in more comic book aspects and while that worked, it took a little bit of wind from the shows sails. As far as SHIELD goes there's a possibility that it can nail the right balance if given a chance. People should not view it as just another comic book show. Perhaps the show is lagging because it only has one so far compelling character in terms of Agent Coulson.

I hope the show stays on the air because I think it's a great show.

REMEMBER THOSE SHOWS?

I used to cherish the moments spent with family watching television shows. For some reason I don't quite understand my favorite shows usually revolved around unlikely hero figures. In my list of favorite shows were the following:

• JJ Starbuck 
• The Master
• Father Murphy
• Automan 

What these shows have in common is the fact that they were short lived series for the most part. JJ Starbuck was a vehicle for the aging Dale Robertson. The show was about an eccentric billionaire trying to solve crimes that were meticulously committed. Even with some good guest stars the show itself only had a single season run spanning a total of 13 episodes. The Master was similar to JJ in that the main character was an aging badass. 

Lee Van Cleef was the star of The Master, which was contemporary to the popular A Team. The premise of the series was an old ninja master (Van Cleef was 58) that gets into super cool ninja adventures with his young protege, Max. I found the fact that an old California guy would be a ninja master simply fascinating. 

I thought the best part of The Master was Van Cleef himself. My step dad would tell me about Van Cleef's work in westerns so I felt like I knew the guy. There's Father Murphy, a Michael Landon production that only ran a couple of seasons starring Merlin Olsen as the tittle character. 

I liked Father Murphy because it really tried to teach people about values while applying a historical context. The show centered on giving orphaned children some protection while prospecting in the old west. The show was slow in terms of pace and it wasn't much for action but it was interesting to look at. In part Father Murphy was the end of an era, as its cancellation, along with Little House in the Prairie signaled the end of western themed series on television. 

Yes, Father Murphy was good but the best, in my young eyes, was Automan. 

The series Automan was particularly high on camp but incredibly ambitious for its time. The series also ran during the 1983-84 season and aired 12 episodes. The series was about a nerdy computer whiz by the name of Walter Nebicher that creates a hologram able to leave the computer and fight crime. The thing that made the show great was not the stories so much as the visual appeal. The show took a lot of its visuals from the film Tron. The car was a souped up Lamborghini Countach, conditioned to look like a futuristic car. The series was produced by Glenn Larson, whom at that time was on a major hot streak with shows such as Fall Guy. 

That time was a time when shows were being cranked out in order to really entertain people. Since that point we've really lost that in television. Right now television is a bastion for imbeciles whose poor choices make them reality stars. Perhaps there will be a return to the glory days, when the audience actually mattered to some extent. 

AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

So I have seen two episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and I have to say I dig it. I think that the formula for a comic based series is really there. With the long run of Smallville and the apparent good reception of Arrow it seems like there's a new age for comic book stories in television. It doesn't help when people like Jim Steranko, the Warhol of Marvel, say that the stories are weak. Comic books have a broad base of material to chose from.

Marvel has a lot that they can incorporate but it does help to create certain characters, like they did with Firestar in the 1980 Spiderman and his Amazing Friends cartoon. I love the fact that they brought in Samuel L. Jackson and that they use foreshadowing as a tool to broaden interest. It may be a long time before they decide to hype up interest by attempting to bring in faces such as Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo for cameos.

I think the show deserves a chance because honestly it's one of the few good shows on TV, where entertaining the audience with a plausible continuing story is important.

FROM CLOONEY TO AFFLECK: BATMAN ADVICE

It's been reported, and I guess made official, that Ben Affleck is the new Batman and will star in the sequel to Man of Steel. I like Ben Affleck, I thought he was okay as Daredevil and I thought he did a great job playing George Reeves in Hollywoodland. I think that Affleck is not really the guy for the Batman role. Affleck just isn't that brooding, even when he did Daredevil it seemed like he was forcing his tortured portion. I am also assuming he got some advice from George Clooney and that advice was probably dispensed over drinks in a hot tub with Danny DeVito. I assume the conversation went like this:

Clooney: So they finally found someone worthy of my role.

Affleck: Yeah, wicked awesome.

Clooney: You have a challenge ahead of you, my nipple Batman was incredible.

Affleck: Irregardless I will be be the man.

Clooney: Who will be Superman?

Affleck: That Henry bastard, he's wicked good.

Clooney: Who will be Alfred?

Affleck: Either Mel Gibson or Bob Saget.

DeVito: Hey fuckers Rhea can be a great Catwoman.

Clooney: Remember the suits must always have nipples. Any word on Matt?

Affleck: He may play the part of The Demon.

Clooney: Hahahah, fantastic.

I'm sure that's not really what happened but when you think of the fact that George Clooney and Ben Affleck teamed up to bring back the porno beard, anything can happen. Batman is a popular character but it takes a special kind of person to pull it off. I thought Bale was good even though he gave Batman some serious throat cancer. Let's see what happens down the line, good luck to Ben Affleck.