In the early 70s, with the Comics Code Authority weakened by a changing culture and publishers that were finally willing to stand up for themselves, horror comics finally started to make a comeback.
Not to be confused with the earlier pulp magazine, Chambers of Chills was published by Marvel from 1972 to 1976. It featured adaptation of horror stories from writers like Robert E. Howard, Edgar Allan Poe, and H.P. Lovecraft. The cover almost always featured monsters on the verge of attacking, the better to capture the attention and allowances of potential readers.
I’ve always felt that cover for Chamber of Chills #2 (which came out in October of 72, despite the January date on the cover) was one of the best of the series. Credit for this cover goes to Gil Kane, Tom Palmer, and Gaspar Saladino.
Yesterday, Disney+ released a trailer for all of the new Marvel shows that will be coming out later this year and in 2025. The majority of the trailer highlight Daredevil: Born Again.
Admittedly, we’ve gotten used to Marvel and its movies and its show and, as such, a new Marvel trailer is no longer the big event that it used to be. (The Marvel trailers that excite us usually involve characters like Deadpool, who comment on and satirize the conventions of the comic book movie. We love Deadpool’s jaded perspective because we’ve all gotten jaded ourselves.)
That said, the Daredevil: Born Again footage looked cool. The animated stuff was a bit of a mixed bag. (Jeff tells me that Marvel Zombies have been around for a while but I still laughed when they showed up in the trailer.) Ironheart looks insanely boring. But Daredevil, I’m cautiously optimistic about.
Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson) is a paramedic in New York City. Haunted by the fact that her mother died while giving birth to her while looking for a special spider in Peru (and I cannot believe that I just wrote that), Cassie struggles with showing her emotions and opening up to people. In fact, her only friend appears to be her fellow paramedic, Ben Parker (Adam Scott). Ben’s sister-in-law is pregnant and Cassie tells him, “You’ll be a great uncle, Ben.”
After a near-death experience, Cassie discovers that she has the ability to see into the future. She also discovers that a strange man named Ezekiel (Tahar Rahim) wants to kill three teenage girls, Mattie (Celeste O’Connor), Anya (Isabela Merced), and Julia (Sydney Sweeney). Cassie does what anyone would do. She kidnaps the three girls to keep them safe and then hops on a plane to Peru to find out how Ezekiel is connected to her mother’s death.
Madame Web is the latest entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Because Sony has the rights to Spider-Man, all of the MCU films featuring Spider-Man have been co-productions with Columbia Pictures and have been distributed by Sony. With Spider-Man emerging as one of the few characters to remain a strong box office draw for Marvel, Columbia has produced a series of Spider-Man-adjacent films that feature characters who have appeared in Spider-Man-related media. While Marvel and Disney have Tom Holland swinging his way through New York, Sony has to settle for Adam Scott and Dakota Johnson in an ambulance.
I always assume that the folks at Marvel and Disney probably groan a little whenever they hear that a new Sony film is coming out. The MCU Spider-Man films have been consistently strong, with all three of them proving popular with both audiences and critics. The Sony Spider-Man films, on the other hand, often seem like throwbacks to the bad old days of the early aughts, when most comic book films were still cheap and kind of embarrassing. Madame Web doesn’t do much to change this perception. In fact, the film is even set in 2003, complete with a Blockbuster Video store prominently featured in one scene, Britney Spears’s Toxic playing in a roadside diner, and a totally random reference to American Idol. (What’s funny is that the jokey reference to American Idol would really only work if the show were no longer on the air but actually, it’s still airing on CBS. No one ever seems to notice anymore but it’s still there. If the movie really had any guts, it would have had Dakota Johnson says that she was going home to watch Paradise Hotel.)
Slow-paced and featuring some of the most awkward line readings this side of a community theater production of Bus Stop,Madame Web is not a particularly engaging film. After a truly abysmal prologue set in Peru, the film spends about half-an-hour giving us a tour of Cassie’s not particularly interesting life as a tough New York paramedic before finally getting started on the main story. And even then, the film leaves the viewer feeling cheated because none of three girls — who we are told are all destined to become super heroes — actually become super powered over the course of the film. The film basically says, “They’re all going to be Spiderwoman …. BUT NOT TODAY!” The problem with that approach is that it’s hard not to feel that the only interesting thing about the three girls is that they’re eventually going to have super powers. Without the powers, they’re just kind of boring. Cassie is the only one who has a super power but being able to see three minutes into the future isn’t that much of a power. Dakota Johnson and the rest of the cast all seem to be bored out of their minds and who can blame them?
The main problem with Madame Web is that it’s just not much fun. The best super hero films are fun to watch. That goes for the Marvel films, the DC films, and even the Sony films. (Admit it, the first Venom was kind of fun.) Even with The Dark Knight films, Christopher Nolan understood that the villains had to be flamboyant to make up for Christian Bale’s rather dour Batman. In this film, we’re never quite sure what Ezekiel wants or even who he is. He’s just a random evil guy and not a particularly memorable one. Madame Web does make some attempts at humor but the sitcom-style jokes are negated by Dakota Johnson’s flat delivery. (Oddly enough, sitcom veteran Adam Scott is stuck playing a serious character.) Overall, there’s an overwhelming blandness to Madame Web. It doesn’t engage,. It doesn’t thrill. It doesn’t make you cheer or even jeer. It’s just kind of there.
The film sets up a sequel but, judging from how the film did at the box office and how not even the film’s cast has pretended to be happy with how the film turned out, I’d expect to see Morbius 2 before another installment of Madame Web.
Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula #49 (October, 1976) finds Dracula in a foul mood. Not only does he have the pesky vampire hunters still chasing him but also the leader of his cult, Anton Lupeski, is obviously plotting against him. Dracula just wants to spend some time with his wife but instead, he finds himself suddenly transported to the mansion of Angie Turner.
Angie is a recluse who has the ability to bring fictional characters into existence. She spends her time with the Frankenstein’s Monster, D’Artagnan, Tom Sawyer, and Injun Joe. Her favorite fictional character, though, is the title character from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The real Dracula is stunned and angered to discover that he’s been summoned by a woman who thinks that he’s the same as what calls the “inferior” who is featured in Stoker’s novel. Angie watches as Dracula not only kills all of her companions but also kills Robin Hood and Zorro when she summons them. Angie realizes that Dracula is not the tragic figure that she imagined but instead a vicious monster.
Dracula, who truly was a monster in Tomb of Dracula, taunts Angie and prepares to attack her, just to suddenly find himself back in his lair. Dracula may have claimed to have been real but Angie was not only able to wish him out of her mind but, as the final panels show, she was also able to bring back to life all of her other companions. The story ends by revealing that Angie is a mental patient who has been in a padded room ever since losing her family.
If this issue just featured Dracula dismissing Stoker’s novel, it would be an important part of Marvel’s vampire mythology. What makes the issues a classic is the suggestion that even the “real” Dracula is just a figment of Angie’s imagination. Since Tomb of Dracula regularly featured guest appearances by other Marvel character, one could argue that this one issue suggests that the entire Marvel Universe might just be an elaborate fantasy in the mind of a woman mourning the loss of her husband and children. Either way, this issue is a strong portrait of the power and comfort of imagination. Angie stands in for every comic book reader over the years.
Tomb of Dracula #49 (October, 1976)
“And With The Word Shall Come Death”
Writer — Marv Wolfman Penciler — Gene Colan Inker — Tom Palmer Colorist — Michele Wolfman Letterer — John Costanza Editor — Marv Wolfman
The trailer for TheMarvels dropped today. I got through about 30 seconds of it before I started to get a headache thinking about how insufferable the discourse around this film is going to be. Comic book films can be fun but, over the past few years, the discourse around them has become unbearable. Will this film be accused of being too woke or not woke enough? Probably both because that seems to be the way of the culture right now.
On a personal note, I have to admit that I’m at the point where I’m a bit bored with all of the Marvel films and TV shows. I was very much invested in the MCU for its first ten years but Endgamejust felt like the logical place to end the saga. Everything after that — with the possible exception of the Spider-Man films — has felt somewhat anti-climatic. The first ten years of the MCU worked because every film, in one way or another, was clearly a part of a bigger story. Post-Endgame, it’s hard not to feel like the films are lacking the epic feel that previously excited audiences.
Will TheMarvels reverse the MCU’s fortunes? We’ll find out later this year! For now, here’s the trailer:
I broke a few rules with Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse last Thursday at my local theatre. It was near empty, so thankfully, I didn’t disrupt things too much. I became that guy down in front that needed to be shushed because he was either finger pointing at something or exclaimed “Oh crap!” a little too loud. 2023 has given us many great films so far, but right now, Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse is the frontrunner for the any awards for animation. As the ending credits rolled, I took a deep breath & rose on shaky legs, an experience that only hits me when I’m up very high staring over a ledge or adrenaline kicks in. I lost myself in that movie.
Or perhaps I’m just growing old.
Either way, Across the Spider Verse takes everything great about the Academy Award Winner Into the Spider Verse and turns it up a notch. The best experience is to go in as blind as you can. There are no real spoilers here (or at least, only a few), though times are changing. Within 20 hours of the film’s release, we already had videos on YouTube to help understand the ending and tons of Tiktokers posting in-theatre video. There’s almost no real reason to ever have to watch a movie in the theatre or maybe even write about one, although the experience is worth it. I’m somewhat jaded, though writing about movies is still fun, at least. Across the Spider Verse and it’s message of doing one’s own thing is inspiring. This is less of a review and more of just my experience with the movie.
Across the Spider Verse continues the tale of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore, Dope), the Official Spider-Man for his universe. Where the first story helped to flesh out the notion that anyone can put on the mask and use their abilities, this film focuses on the weight of responsibility that comes with it. Miles is doing great for himself. He’s come into his own with his powers, and does good with the city. He’s okay with his grades, but his relationship with his parents Rio (Luna Lauren Velez, The First Purge) and Jefferson (Brian Tyree-Henry, Bullet Train) could use some help since he’s keeping his other identity a secret . When Miles is visited by Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld, Bumblebee) on a mission of her own, he finds himself thrust into an adventure he’s not quite ready for. I missed the main trailers for this, which does give away some major plot points. That could also be a factor in why I enjoyed it so much. Everything, or most of it was new to me.
Three new directors are taking on the mantle for this sequel. This time around we have Avatar: The Legend of Korra’s Joachim Dos Santos, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Producer Justin K. Thompson (who also was a producer for Into the Spider Verse) and One Night In Miami’s Kemp Powers (who also wrote Disney/Pixar’s Academy Award Winner, Soul). The story still belongs to Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, who are best known for the 21 Jump Street , The Lego Movies and most recently, The Mitchells vs. The Machines. I still argue that Lord Miller’s version of Solo could have been magic, but that’s another story.
The story in Across the Spider Verse builds off of the original in a number of ways, and the cast helps to flesh things out. New additions include Oscar Isaac’s (Triple Frontier) Miguel O’Hara, a Spider Man charged with protecting the Spider Verse. We also have Issa Rae (HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, Little) as the motorcycle riding Jessica Drew, Academy Award Winner Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) as a punk rock Spider-Man named Brodie. As everyone’s seen in the trailers, Jake Johnson (Tag) is back as Peter B. Parker with a new addition in his life. The film is peppered with other cast members and cameos – much like the party sequence in The Lego Batman Movie, but ultimately, it’s Moore and Steinfeld’s characters that carry the most weight. It felt great and nerve wracking to worry about the fates of these characters.
My cousin would be particularly happy to find that the film passes what she refers to as the “Supernatural” Test. From her point of view, when Bela Talbot was introduced to the series Supernatural, Sam and Dean Winchester were rendered stupid in her presence. It was almost as if they just discovered hunting monsters. Miles and Gwen make for a great pair while still managing to be amazing at what they do separately. This doesn’t mean there’s a lack of vulnerability and/or quirkiness between the two, but when it counts, they both manage to bring something to the table.
There’s love and creativity flowing through every frame of Across the Spider Verse. Much like the original, colors are vibrant, and you truly feel as if you’re moving through the pages of your favorite comic book (dots and all). There are tons of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them moments thoughout the movie that warrant a 2nd (or 3rd) viewing or at least a major scrub through when the film reaches streaming. The cities are full of life and the action sequences are wonderful to behold. I can’t begin to wonder how any of it looks on an IMAX screen.
Composer Daniel Pemberton (The Bad Guys) also deserves a lot of love, as well as as the additional side music. He builds on the original themes, while adding some new ones in the process. If anything, some of the music may have been too loud.
Overall, Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse is a near perfect sequel that had me cheering on the heroes and biting my nails at the unfolding story.
It’s the little things that has Sony Pictures Animation and Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse working some magic.
Yay! That’s all I can say. Though I’ve gotten a bit bored with the MCU as of late, I still look forward to another chance to hang out with Guardians of the Galaxy!
To be honest, I’ve been a little bit bored with the MCU lately. I mean, the Spider-Man films were fun and WandaVision was certainly better than I was expecting it to be but, for the most part, it’s been hard to shake the feeling that, post-Endgame, the MCU has lost a bit of its spark. Endgame was such a logical place to stop that everything that’s come after it has felt a bit superfluous.
Still, if anyone can respark my interest in the MCU, it would be James Gunn and the Guardians of the Galaxy. And, fortunately, they’ve got a new film coming out next year! Here’s the trailer, which seems to promise that the Guardians will continue to poke subtle fun at the conventions of the MCU while also using those conventions to their advantage.
At the very least, it should have a good soundtrack.
In Tomb of Dracula #43 (April, 1976), a reporter named Paul Butterworth discovered the existence of not only Dracula but also the people (like Blade, Frank Drake, and Rachel Van Helsing) who were trying to stop his reign of terror.
Paul thought it would make a good story but he knew he needed proof so, when he met Dracula, he was sure to take a few photographs. The joke was on Paul because vampires can’t be photographed! When Paul’s editor sees the blank photos, he demotes Paul to doing the helpful hints column.
Not a bad story. Tomb of Dracula was always at its best when it brought in “normal” characters and allowed them to interact with Dracula and the vampire hunters. Paul Butterworth never made another appearance but he was still a part of the series’ overall mythology.
However, the thing that made this issue great was the cover. Illustrated by Bernie Wrightson, this cover may not have much to do with the story but it perfectly captures the feel of Tomb of Dracula.
Through the Shattered Lens 