Comments on: Comic Book Legends Revealed #210

By: Darren Ellis

Darren Ellis — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:11:08 +0000

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was not the first time that a Star Wars spoiler blew a major plot point. I remember back in 1980, I picked up the Marvel Graphic Novelization of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and found out that Vader was Luke's father before the movie was released. I remember hearing at the time that George Lucas was very unhappy with Marvel for letting that get out before the movie revealed it.

By: Luke

Luke — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:08:22 +0000

I'm loving the discussion in this week's column almost as much as the article itself. I never really thought about how many toy tie-ins should have had "SPOILER ALERT!" plastered on the bubble.

On a completely unrelated note, I have a legend suggestion. A buddy and I were talking about comic-based cartoons from the 90s, and he mentioned Savage Dragon. I said that Erik Larsen was so upset at the quality and children-targeted tone of the show that he refuses to allow it to be syndicated after the original broadcast run or released on DVD.

As we discussed it further, I realized that while it was plausible, I had no source or proof for the statement, and was just parroting something I'd heard years ago, probably in a similar conversation with someone else. So is there any truth to this one?

By: Comic Book Legends Revealed #211

Comic Book Legends Revealed #211 — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:06:23 +0000

[...] here to read [...]

By: dal

dal — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:21:11 +0000

i love comics

By: ninjawookie

ninjawookie — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:15:27 +0000

It was spoiled in Australia, due to us getting animated features way after America does (back in 1994) the toys came out before hand, and I already knew who phantasm was. I probably found out through the comic book adaptation too!

By: dal

dal — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:33:42 +0000

I LUV COMIX

By: yo go re

yo go re — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:59:11 +0000

The Terminator Salvation toy of Marcus Wright also reveal a spoiler for the movie before it was released.

But only after (way after) that same "spoiler" had been revealed by every trailer for the film, starting with the Super Bowl commercial on up. if it was meant to be a surprise, they really didn't do a very good job of it. It's just like in T2, where the film obviously wants you to think Arnie is the bad guy and Robert Patrick is the hero, but the entire ad campaign is based around the exact opposite. And Brian, I'm with Sijo: "Phantasm was based on the Year Two character Reaper" would make for a good legend...

By: Jason Geyer

Jason Geyer — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:35:14 +0000

"Jason, I honestly don’t know when they were released. I didn’t say when they were released in the piece, right? If you say April 94, I believe ya!

I’m just saying that they gave away the ending of the movie, that’s all, whenEVER they were released."

Brian, good point!

It was indeed a spoiler. I wonder of Kenner wanted to make a concrete point that they were featuring the "Mask of Phantasm" in the easiest way possible?

By: Tony Nichols

Tony Nichols — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:37:50 +0000

Larson also had another bit of nature named after him, sort of. The Thagomizer is the spikey thing on the end of a dinosaur's tail... no one ever thought to name it until 1993 when someone noticed Larson had named it quite nicely in his cartoon. One of my favorites, by the way. And, actually, it's not named after Larson, but rather the late, unfortunate Thag Simmons. May he rest in peace.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:24:37 +0000

That's what I imagine, Dan, that he was repeating what he was told by the family. And remember, he was the first one to discover the story, so he had less info to go on!

By: Dan Felty

Dan Felty — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:09:05 +0000

Great first legend, Brian--that's probably the most surprising thing I've seen in this feature!

Why did Gerard Jones get it wrong? Were his sources for that only the Siegel family, who might have repeated the family lore, as KentL intimates?

By: Agent of Chaos

Agent of Chaos — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:40:41 +0000

Just to buttress a few points about the BATMAN: TAS line, distribution for all figures that were NOT Batman was outright terrible. You'd go to a toy store and find layer after layer of Batman and... no villains.
They got better, but I'm pretty sure MOTP wasn't spoiled by the figure since the availability of the figure was pretty sketchy. These were days before the internet, too.

By: yen4zen

yen4zen — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:20:14 +0000

"Michael Siegel became excited when three unknown Negroes walked into his store..." Why the heck promote the idea that black men were involved with his death? I understand that the police reports state that, but those same reports can't even verify the number of blacks allegedly in the store. According to the accounts given to the Siegel family, a neighboring merchant found the body after normal business hours. So who was in the store to tell the police that black men were there at the supposed time of death? And how did they know that Mr. Siegel didn't know them? (Mr. Siegel was dead and couldn't be asked.) A quick review of the reports shows inconsistencies that would make any armchair detective raise a flag or two, and I don't think repeating the least verifiable section of the story is pertinent to determining whether he died by gunshot or heart attack..

By: Biggles

Biggles — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:15:09 +0000

Brian, I have to back up James comment. I read the book this week and although i absolutely loved it it did feel strange without a title for each legend.

Great column as always

By: PB

PB — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:58:17 +0000

http://mystericale.com

http://www.mystericale.com/index.php?issue=073&body=file&file=like_em_tough.htm

Collins's novel was released to bookstores several weeks before the film was released to theatres, and the film's producers did not want the “surprise” ending ruined for moviegoers. Consequently, they decreed that the last chapter of Collins's novelization had to be rewritten so that the Blank's identity was not actually revealed. Only the final edition of the book (which went through several printings) included Collins's original chapter, in which the character who had been masquerading as the Blank was specifically identified, and, as that final edition never made it into bookstores, having been, instead, sold en masse to a school book club, relatively few people read it.

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 08:06:02 +0000

Oh, who didn't figure out the ending to Mask of the Phantasm while they were watching it?

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 07:26:44 +0000

Kenner DID NOT spoil the Phantasm reveal. The movie was released in Dec 1993, the toys in April 1994 in advance of the may 1994 video release.

Jason, I honestly don't know when they were released. I didn't say when they were released in the piece, right? If you say April 94, I believe ya! I'm just saying that they gave away the ending of the movie, that's all, whenEVER they were released.

By: James

James — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 05:12:51 +0000

I got that phantasm figure for christmas one year. I was a lot younger then so I don't think it spoiled the movie for me. Besides, I lived in Australia back then and mask of the phantasm didn't get a theatrical release, it was straight to video.

Hey Brian, I also have a question about your book. I just finished it by the way and really enjoyed it, but I was wondering why you didn't include the title each myth as you addressed it in the book? It read more like an interesting history book rather than the myth column.

By: Jason Geyer

Jason Geyer — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:34:38 +0000

Brian,

Kenner DID NOT spoil the Phantasm reveal. The movie was released in Dec 1993, the toys in April 1994 in advance of the may 1994 video release.

I was working at Toys R Us at the time and was already part of the rec.toys,misc USENET community, so I'm sure of this. I can't find a specific first sighting to back this up, but I came close:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.toys.misc/browse_thread/thread/9f96ad88df69ea4a/5289e803a0df6b4b?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=kenner+phantasm#5289e803a0df6b4b

The Dick Tracy Blank figure mentioned above WAS delayed for spoiler reasons, but the line tanked so it was never released in the US (only Canada and maybe some overseas markets).

And finally, Liam Neeson's figure was released as Henri Ducard along with a Ra Al Ghul /Ken Watanabe figure...but a few months after the movie was released Mattel issued a Neeson figure repainted in black and labeled Ra's al Ghul (I think it was a TRU exclusive).

http://i2.ebayimg.com/02/i/07/54/20/e8_1.JPG
http://www.superherotimes.com/assets/archiveimages/704/704_2.jpg
http://gofigureactionfigures.com/media/2005rasalghul(bb).jpg

By: Dalarsco

Dalarsco — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:34:16 +0000

@Justin: Ya, that was actually a twist ending that made me feel like an idiot. I was so pissed when Liam Neeson was there looking and talking just like Ras al'Ghul but not being Ras al'Ghul. Then the rest of the movie won me back grudgingly up until that big reveal, which made me love the movie. And feel dumb for not seeing it coming.
The Phantasm toy thing reminds me of the Dr. Claw action figure. His face was obscured in the bubble to keep the mystery. Never did get one.