Avengers Countdown: The Incredible Hulk

Today we countdown with the behemoth known as the Incredible Hulk! First appearing in The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962), the character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. After being bombarded with gamma rays, Dr. Bruce Banner found himself turning into a rage filled green goliath whenever he got angry. Although usually a loner, the Hulk helped form both the Avengers and the Defenders.

Avengers Countown: Thor

The countown gets struck by lighting today with the god of thunder, the Mighty Thor. The Marvel version of the character first showed up in Journey into Mystery #83 (Aug. 1962) and was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby. Thor is the hot headed and strong willed son of Odin. For a time Thor spent time in the body of Donald Blake a partially disabled human who, when he struck his walking stick would transform into the thunder god. This was all punishment from Odin in hopes of showing his son humility. Falling in love with his colleague Jane Foster, he disobeyed his father and refused to return to Asgard.  Thor initially regarded himself as a "superhero" like his teammates in the Avengers, but       Loki's evil deeds would routinely draw Thor into increasingly epic adventures that would require extended leaves of absence from the Avengers. He would go on to gain his independence from Donald Blake and rule over Asgard after Odin's death.

Avengers Countown: Iron Man

The countdown rolls on with the armored Avenger, Iron Man!  First appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963) and created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, billionaire playboy Tony Stark suffered a severe heart injury and created a suit of armor with the power to keep him alive. He later began using the armor to help people and became the hero Iron Man!

Avengers Countdown!!!

The biggest movie of the year...the decade...possibly ever is officially on its way in just a few days. That's right, the Avengers is finally here. If you haven't heard, you probably aren't from this planet.  This is perhaps the most ambitious superhero film ever undertaken. It all began with Iron Man in 2008 and ran through the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America and now it all culminates with the superhero team-up film The Avengers. So for the next week we countdown to the biggest movie of all time with a little background on the films heroes.

 Today, we start with the films villain, the trickster god of lies and mischief and brother of Thor, Loki.  He first appeared in Venus #6 (1949) and was created by Stan Lee,  Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby. Loki was a child of the Frost Giants taken by Odin after slaying his father and raised as his own. He grew up resentful of how Thor was treated better by the citizens of Asgard. As he grew older he honed his skills as a great sorcerer and as his power grew so did his lust for power. His penitence for mischief soon turned to evil and he began seeking vengeance on Thor for his greater favor. Loki would later cause the final conflict known as Ragnarök, sometimes referred to as "The Twilight of the Gods".  All the gods were destroyed and later resurrected...Loki in the form of a woman. Loki retained his male form after Ragnarok but hid himself inside the female body of Thor's reborn lover Sif in order to sell to Thor the idea that he wished to change. Combining his magic with Hela, Loki traveled to the past and set into motion events that led to his younger self being adopted by Odin. There's alot more of course but that should be enough to get you started..now keep checking back every day to learn more about the characters from the film.

Happy Birthday to the King!!!

Today marks the birthday of one of the greatest comic creators of all time, Jack  "the King" Kirby  (August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994). With writer Joe Simon, Kirby created the iconic Captain America for Timely Comics (later Marvel) in 1941. After serving in World War II, he returned to the printed page. After stints with other publishers he returned to Marvel and along with Stan Lee, he created the Fantastic Four, Thor, Iron Man, the Silver Surfer, X-Men, and the Hulk just to name a few. He left Marvel in 1970, after a falling out, and went to DC where he created the New Gods and worked on books like Superman, Mister Miracle(whom he created), and Jimmy Olson. He went back to Marvel in 1976 and left in 1978 to work in animation doing designs for Turbo Teen and Thundarr the Barbarian. Happy Birthday Jack! You will be missed.

Happy Birthday Spidey!

This month way back in 1962 the world was introduced to a familiar wall crawler in Amazing Fantasy #15. The story was by Stan Lee with interior artwork by Steve Ditko and a cover by Jack Kirby. The series was about to be canceled so the powers that be let Lee try out a crazy idea, a teenage superhero (not a sidekick) who had real life problems to deal with. The issue became such a huge success that ol' Spidey was given his own title, The Amazing Spider-Man in March 1963. Today he's one of the most popular characters in the world with movies, cartoons, horrible live-action tv shows, books, magazines, themepark attractions, and toys bearing his likeness. Happy Birthday to our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

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Until next time,
-Brian James Fichtner