MIKE GOLD: Perception
Yesterday, ComicMix’s Matt Raub wrote a story about the possibility of noted actor Samuel L. Jackson playing Nick Fury in the upcoming Iron Man move. I hope that’s true; he would be the perfect choice.
Matt noted that this would probably be the Ultimates version of Fury. I thought about that for a while. Clearly, the perception is that since both this version and Mr. Jackson are black and the Marvel universe version is white, the movie version is based upon the Ultimates. That makes sense, but if you think about it, the only differences between the two are the character’s race, his age, and his rank. It is unlikely the movie would burden itself with Fury’s World War II backstory, and it really doesn’t matter if Fury is a colonel or a general. And unless there’s a plot point that is relevant to the story, his race doesn’t matter either, outside of a much-needed superhero role model.
The fact is, movies exist in their own universe – not in the Ultimates universe or the Marvel universe. But since Jackson is black, we (including me) are likely to perceive this relationship.
I’m reminded of this because a couple blocks from this past weekend’s New York City’s Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) wonderful independent comics convention was Manhattan’s annual Gay Pride march. Over a million strong. And the focal point of the parade is the same-sex marriage bill that’s before the New York State senate. The governor already said he’d sign it.
Of course, there’s plenty of opposition. Some people – for reasons that completely defy me – feel their marriage and the entire “institution” of marriage would be threatened if this bill passed. That makes no sense. There is a perception on the part of some that this is true, but the only proof they offer is that “marriage is between a man and a woman,” which is asinine, or that the only purpose of marriage is procreation, which spits in the face of heterosexual couples who cannot conceive, either for reasons of health or age.
This is what we call bigotry. The Nick Fury story is not.
There is also the perception that churches would be forced to violate their principles by having to perform same-sex marriages. This is also asinine. Churches get to make such exceptions all the time. Some will not perform interfaith marriages. Some will not perform burials unless the deceased had met, in life, certain criteria. Religion, enjoying the privileges of the First Amendment, is exempt from performing functions that violate its principles.
As Jon Stewart has said, “You mean, I don’t have to marry a guy? Then what’s the problem.” Live and let live. Let’s not get bent out of shape about how the folks down the road want to live their lives.
Just as we hope the only criterion for casting Nick Fury is the quality of the actor’s work.
After about a week of watching what looks like another “Crispen Glover as Joker” rumor, we here at ComicMix have decided to go with the story that Samuel L. Jackson has been added to Jon Favreau’s Iron Man cast as none-other-than Nick Fury.
A pretty big outcome for the second day of the 2007 Licensing Show. Lots of movie pushes, of course with this being one of the biggest franchise summers in film history. Warner Bros was there in the same form as last year, showing off some of the new cars from their new flicks. We got the first peak at the The Dark Knight’s brand new BatPod (and no, you can’t play music on it, its just a cooler name than Bat-Cycle) also we got an up-close look at the new Mach 5 from next summer’s Speed Racer.
Also in the movie department, we got a bit of a tease over at Marvel’s booth for both The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man slated to come out next summer as well. Nothing too exciting over there, but the New Line booth was surprisingly pretty popular. To promote next year’s Golden Compass, there was a nine-foot armored bear, and despite popular belief, not only do I like girls, but I am also really looking forward to this film. Based of the series of His Dark Materials books by Phillip Pullman, this is the first of the series, and looks to be even better than last year’s underachiever in The Chronicles of Narnia. 
They also were promoting a film that I have heard absolutely no buzz about up until today entitled Inkheart starring Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, and Helen Mirren, based on the book by Carnelia Funke of the same title.
The BBC booth was also there promoting the hell out of Doctor Who, which I had absolutely no qualms with. This big push was due to the American release of series three to the Sci-Fi Network next month. Also coming to Sci-Fi in August, and came to me as a huge surprise was a remake of Flash Gordon. Now before I dusted off my Queen soundtrack and started to dance, I did a little bit of research, and the creative team consists of some of the minds that brought us Relic Hunter, Beastmaster, Young Blades, Andromeda, and oh, yes: Painkiller Jane. So before we all get excited and break out the champagne, I’d bet on this show being off the air before the bottle runs dry.
Finally, and by far my favorite part of today’s show was the news about Xip3, a new jacket company buying the rights to Transformers to release a “Transforming Jacket” that will be released with the DVD in November. I got to see first hand how this works, and it’s pretty cool. The jacket is black with silver accents, and can “transform” from a sports jacket to a backpack to a pillow in seconds. The unisex jackets will all be numbered and in sizes extra small to extra large. You can reserve your copy starting in July over at the 
It must come as quite a shock to you. We’re talking about a profound cultural shift for the betterment of mankind, People want this, Richard. They need the superhumans of the world to be responsible, properly trained, qualified…and ultimately held accountable. That’s what the initiative is all about. We’re trying to move out of the dark ages of masked vigilantes into a brighter future where tragedies like Stamford can’t ever happen again.
The Licensing Show in New York City is a three-day orgy of consumerism. I don’t mean like Las Vegas is an orgy of consumerism, or like Christmas has been debased into an orgy of consumerism. No, the Licensing Show is an entire Javitz Convention Center full of companies large and small, looking to expand their properties onto more properties.
There were lots and lots of Asian companies trying to be the next Sanrio (there was also Sanrio, for that matter). I was especially pleased to discover Aska Studio, a Taiwanese company with lots of properties. The best, IMO, was the Mouchoir Club, about a box of tissues and a roll of toilet paper that have adventures. As the handout says, "They bring hapapiness to people; heal them of broken heart. Moreover, at the same time, they found the meaning of life." I’d buy a pillowcase that could do that for me.
(If) you’re…young; you don’t remember a time when continued stories were rare. But until Stan Lee made them standard procedure at Marvel in the 1960s, they were next to unheard-of.
Which brings us to the pulp magazines, a publishing form that began about 1910 and was one with the dinosaurs by the middle 50s. A lot of these cheaply produced entertainments featured continuing heroes. (We’ve discussed perhaps the greatest of them, The Shadow, in this department 
Despite so-so advance buzz and a lack of screening for reviewers, 20th Century-Fox seems to believe in the Fantastic Four franchise. As reported in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, they are already looking to spinoff the Silver Surfer into his own film.
When we’re in a somber mood, which is an easy kind of mood to be in these days, we hope that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were not prophets. Joe and Jerry were, of course, the creators of Superman, and way back in 1938 they told what’s become known as Superman’s origin story.
, by Richard Dawkins.
