The Greatest Comicbook Villain of the 90's

Now if the 90’s were anything for comic books they were all about experimenting with character deaths. Mentioned earlier was the death of Superman which by far and wide was a big deal but of course he was brought back at a later time now marvel tried the same thing by killing off their entire roster in a 6 issue series called The Infinity Gauntlet, now of course all the heroes did come back to life at the end but the whole death of all your favourite heroes factor was enough to make this cross over event a big hit with the fans.

The story begins with the villain of this entire event, Thanos who in his own comic which was aptly named Thanos Quest had collected all the ingredients he needed in order to construct the infinity gauntlet, a glove of immense power which gave its wearer omnipotent power. Thanos yearned for this glove because he needed it to be put on equal terms with the love of his life who was Death, the literal embodiment of death in the universe. His goal was to earn her respect by becoming her equal in terms of power yet when he finally takes the Soul, Power, Mind, Time, Space and Reality gems and puts them together to create the titular gauntlet he places himself on a level above death and thus cannot be her equal. Thanos then decides that the only way to gain Death for himself is to give her something that no one else can give her and with a snap of his fingers he kills half of the universe including most of the members of the X-men, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil and many other heroes. With all this happening our protagonists made up mainly of the Avengers, Spider-man, Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange try to find out what is happening under the guidance of Adam Warlock they discover Thanos’ plot and set out to stop it. This does not bode well though as each of the heroes fall one by one. Iron Man is decapitated, Captain America is crushed, Wolverine and Spider-man both end up incinerated to put it bluntly none of the heroes were able to put up much of a fight against Thanos which leads to the cosmic beings such as Infinity, Eternity, Galactus and such to step into the fray. The battle rages on and proves to be enough of a distraction for Thanos because in a  last ditch effort Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange and Adam Warlock were able to wrest the gauntlet from his hands and return everything to normal...So it seemed but Thanos escaped to hatch yet another plan to impress death but never again would he wield the Infinity Gauntlet.

This comic was impressive to me because it allowed for so much to happen, it literally asked me what would these heroes do against a villain that they couldn’t challenge? It also brought about the creation of characters like Thanos who is a recurring villain in the Marvel Universe and also put into the spot light characters like the Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock and Dr. Strange who for were a time considered over powered characters that were unneeded. At the end of the day this story opened up Marvel’s possibilities for storytelling and just to give you a little taste of how much of an impact this story has made, the Infinity Gauntlet actually made an appearance in the recent Marvel movie Thor, hinting that maybe a little time down the road we may see most probably one of the greatest villains of the 90’s Thanos on the big screen.

Excelsior,

Vieo

Sources:

Thanos Quest CoverRetrieved sept 25, 2011, from Wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thanos_Quest

Infinity Gauntlet Cover Retrieved sept 25, 2011,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity_Gauntlet

SDCC Gauntlet Retrieved sept 25, 2011,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity_Gauntlet

The Decade an Icon Died

Action Comics #1

        The 1990’s saw the Death of one of the most, if not the most, iconic comic book superheroes ever in Superman. Superman was introduced out in Action Comics #1 on June 1938 and instantly became the most highly recognized comic book hero in the world. An alien child from the dying planet Krypton sent to Earth and was found by a couple from a town in Kansas called Smallville and was raised as Clark Kent to become an honorable man in his own right. What set that small-town boy apart from others is that he is actually Kal-El of the planet Krypton who was faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive, can fly and has heat vision. Combine his power with the ideals he grew up with and you come up with Superman.

        

Superman

         

 Superman could do it all. No matter what trouble he faced or what evil plagued the world, you know that Superman will always be there to save the day. That is what actually brought about the decision to kill Superman. Sales were actually dropping from the Superman and Action Comics and they tried their hardest to bring readers back, even creating a love triangle in the form of Lois Lane, Clark Kent and Superman to try and attract female readers. Try as they might, fans simply saw Superman as too predictable and as one who will always triumph in the end. People were starting to take Superman for granted and so came the decision to kill Superman and to see exactly what a world without Superman would be like.

            

Doomsday

            The question was: how would they kill the Man of Steel? They enlisted the power of one of the most deadly beings to ever grace comic books. This monster is called Doomsday. Doomsday burst onto the scene like no other villain or monster ever has before. It decimated anything and everything that would go in its way including the Justice League at that time. If a collection of the world’s most trusted heroes at the time could not stop him, Superman would definitely have a run for his money. 

            

Doomsday vs. Superman

             When the two powerhouses finally met, each blow was earth shaking. Doomsday actually had the upper hand when it came to power but Superman had the advantage when it came to heart. They battled non-stop until Metropolis, Superman’s city, and that is where Superman would make his final stand. The two behemoths stood toe-to-toe with each blow stronger than the last and each blow taking a huge amount of force and energy to land. As the final blow was struck, the two combatants fell to the ground and their final breaths were let out but the ultimate thought was this: Superman gave his life to save his city, the people and most importantly, the world from the threat known as Doomsday. The aftermath of the battle resulted in this iconic image where Lois Lane held the Man of Steel in her arms.

Death of Superman

This has been your own personal Superman,

Mark Javellana

Sources:

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2011, from Whatilearnedbywriting's Blog: http://whatilearnedbywriting.wordpress.com/2011/01/15/death-of-superman-review/

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2011, from The Fire Wire: http://larryfire.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/alex-ross-reinterprets-the-cover-of-action-comics-1-in-action-comics-900/

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2011, from Superman Wiki: http://superman.wikia.com/wiki/Doomsday

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2011, from The Paradigm: http://greaterthanknowledge.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/superman-renounces-american-citizenship/

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2011, from My Exciting Life and Thoughts: http://www.pjmontgomery.blogspot.com/?zx=a919d9b635028322

Small but terrible?

    When I was around 8 or 9 years old, I was fond of small toys that are very colorful. I would collect the toys from kiddie meals and just keep it inside my toy chest until I think of playtime. One time, I saw my cousins, whom I lived with too, come home with a new toy that is digital. This was when internet games, or PSPs weren’t invented yet. I was so excited to see what that toy was, and I also got jealous actually. Because I was a bit of a spoiled little girl that time, I dragged my mother to go to the place where they bought it. It was the growing trend in the kid’s toy industry that time, and they called it “Tamagotchi.”

    The name sound foreign, right? That’s because it was made in Japan! It was created back in 1996 by two Japanese folks, and was first sold in their mother country – Japan. Tamagotchi has two root words which mean “egg” (tamago) and “watch” (uochi). So, basically, it means to watch the egg. It became so famous that almost every children’s store in Asia, at least, sold it. What was interesting about it is that once you buy the Tamagotchi, you have to take out a hard sheet of plastic from the side of the toy. By the way, the toy was less than the size of the palm, so it was really compact and easy to bring. Once you’ve taken out that hard plastic sheet, you need to set up the time and, from there, your Tamagotchi ‘comes to life’! A Tamagotchi usually has two to three buttons, and each button has a special function. Those buttons are used to feed, put to sleep, and clean your ‘pet tamagotchi.’ If you forget or get delayed in feeding your Tamagotchi, it can lead to its death, and ‘good-bye Tamagotchi! :(‘ That is why the kids, or the young at heart, have a collection of Tamagotchis because maybe it has died already over time or because of the lack of care. Tamagotchis are simply pets, only that it is digital (and more demanding).

    Over the years, because of the weaknesses seen in the first generation of Tamagotchi, there were better versions created, which included an added/enhanced feature. One of the good innovations of the Tamagotchi is it having a ‘Pause’ button, which could literally pause the life-time of your Tamagotchi. This resulted from incidents of students bringing their Tamagotchi toys to school, and taking care of it during class, causing the students to get distracted from school activities and lectures. That is why some parents started to complain and have the schools ban Tamagotchis.

    From last year’s record, there were already seventy-six million Tamagotchis that have been sold worldwide. And I wonder if that store where I bought my first Tamagotchi still sells one? hmmm...

Peace. Love. Smile.

Dom Manahan



Source for pictures:
Google


Source for figures and informaton:
Wikipedia (2011). Tamagotchi. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamagotchi

Dance Moves of the 90s!

Before we danced to Ciara's "1, 2 Step", Soulja Boy Tell'em's "Crank That", Beyonce's "Single Ladies" and before Cali Swag District taught us how to dougie, there were other famous dance steps which reigned supreme on the dancefloors in the 90s.




I remember watching kids who participated in noontime television shows dance to the Macarena by Los del Rio. I never really understood the lyrics so all I was able to sing was the "AHHH HAAA MACARENA!" Little did I know that the lyrics of the song contained something about the girl leaving town to party because her boyfriend is not present. Thank goodness it has that funky disco beat to mask the promiscuity haha! Here's the lyrics to the song: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/macarenalyrics.html 
More facts about the song: http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2402

Next would be Will Smith's "Getting Jiggy With It". I have it in my iTunes and it never fails to set you in a hyper mood! According to Jen Oda of e-How.com, the word jiggy was a demeaning word for African Americans, or what they call as "jigaboo". Will Smith, instead, turned the word to something which can motivate black people. The song was released back in 1998 and skyrocketed into the Billboard Top 100 Charts in the 14th spot. 




Lastly, the "Tootsie Roll" was also a huge hit during the 90s era. I don't recall the song and the moves as much as the others though. I don't think it reached the Philippines that much. But, it was apparently easy to follow because of it having instructional lyrics. It includes fast movement using the knees, bending a lot and simply enjoying freestyling to the song. If you're curious on what the Tootsie Roll is (not the candy! Haha!), then click the link showing two girls having fun with the choreography: THE TOOTSIE ROLL




Keep the past fresh!
Bien Tan


Sources:
Oda, Jen (2011, January 17). Top Ten Dance Moves of the 90s. e-How.com. Retrieved September 7, 2011. http://www.ehow.com/list_7801132_top-ten-dances-moves-90s.html