That 70's Show: The Mark of the Man-Thing! -or-Ashton Kutcher loves him some Man-Thing.

Readers of this blog may recall that I once posted an entry showing a clip of an episode of THAT 70's SHOW, wherein the character "Michael Kelso", played by Ashton Kutcher, is holding a comic book while talking with his friends.
In that earlier post, the comic in question featured DOCTOR STRANGE.
(See it HERE)


Well... today, I have another clip from THAT 70's SHOW, but this time the comic book featured has a guest-starring role (and cover appearance) by the MAN-THING!

Before I give it away, I'll show the clip so you can check it out for yourself.
(I'll show JUST the few seconds where the comic is featured - so FOX lawyers, cut me some slack. I promise to totally make it worth your while at the end of this post.)



I know it was a little hard to spot, but trust me... that cover, even in motion, leaped out at my eyeballs and smacked me upside my cerebral cortex.
The comic in question was ASTONISHING TALES # 13 (starring Ka-Zar) from 1972. One of the Man-Thing's earliest appearances.

Sadly, the comic is almost always in motion, and as such, getting a clean screen grab was impossible (at least with MY cobbled-together software). Here's something to use as a confirmation comparison.

The words "Ashton Kutcher" and "Man-Thing"are sure to bring some improper web-searches.

Hrmm... first I spot that episode with Doctor Strange on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man, now this Man-Thing appearance... if I EVER spot a ROM comic (or toy) in the background of that show (unlikely, though, since ROM # 1 was a late 1979 release) then 'That 70's Show' will have to be named the best tv show - ever.

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Hey, FOX legal department! Here's some "pay for play" for letting me use that clip:

That episode; "Punk Chick" is episode # 22 from Season 1 and can be purchased from this very blog (via AMAZON)!

So, hey readers... support your 70's flashbacks with more than just weed and old comics... buy a DVD boxed set today!

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"Tamam Shud!

~P~

That 70's Show : Enter... DR. STRANGE ! -or- Doc and Spider-Man -vs- Ashton Kutcher - in bed!

I've posted several entries of Dr. Strange being featured, in one way or other, on various TV shows (cartoons, news shows, teen angst shows, etc...) and today I have another to add to that list.

On an episode of THAT 70's SHOW, the character "Michael Kelso", played by Ashton Kutcher, is holding a comic book while talking with his friends.

That comic book featured a guest-starring role by Doctor Strange and he is also featured on the cover.

Before I give it away, I'll show the clip so you can check it out for yourself.
(I'll show JUST the few seconds where the comic is featured - so FOX lawyers, cut me some slack. I promise to totally make it worth your while at the end of this post.)



Ahhhhh!!!!... Did you see how he man-handled that comic?
The episode should have had an "parental guidance" tag for "Violence against Comics"!

The comic in question was AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 109 from 1972.

Strangely enough, they could just as easily used an issue of the reprinted version in MARVEL TALES # 88 from February 1978!

That would still be correct from a continuity standpoint, since the show takes place after the release of Star Wars in 1977 (as evidenced by all the Star Wars mania of Eric Foreman - as played by Topher Grace).

Such a swap would have been especially good because, while the original John Romita Sr. cover is nice, it fails in one major design aspect by having a major character with his BACK facing the reader!
The Marvel Tales version is "corrected", (albeit poorly,) so that Dr. Strange is now front-facing.


Besides, a copy of Marvel Tales # 88 would have been a much cheaper find and would be more acceptable for the kind of rough treatment given by Kutcher/Kelso.
...I'm just saying.

For those of you who came here while searching for some "sexy" images of Ashton Kutcher on a bed (that should bump up the google-search engine tally) here ya go:

That's the male version of a similar scene I featured  with Megan Fox lying half-naked while reading an issue of Doctor Strange (pic [HERE]).

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Hey, FOX legal department! Here's some "pay for play" for letting me use that clip:

That episode; "Who Are You?" is episode # 15 from Season 6 and can be purchased from this very blog (via AMAZON)!

So, hey readers... support your 70's flashbacks with more than just weed and old comics... buy a DVD boxed set today!

---
"Tamam Shud!"
~P~

Big Bang and Alliterative Aliases -or- I wonder why Stan Lee isn't "Lee Lieber" instead?

Image Credit: Cliff Lipson/CBS (taken from EW.com [HERE])

STAN LEE appeared last night on the The Big Bang Theory (Season 3, Episode 16 - "The Excelsior Acquisition") and while he really only put in little more than a short appearance, as anyone who has met the man will attest (yes. I have, but that's a story for another time) even a walk-on by Stan exudes a larger than life "presence".

I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone reading this blog that Stan Lee was one/half of the creative-team(s) - along with artists/writers like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko - who created the Marvel Universe (fairly out of "nothing" - like unto a "BIG BANG" as well).

In fact, as is very important to this blog, is the simple fact that Stan was the (secondary) creative force (Steve Ditko being the true "creative spark") behind Doctor Strange.
Mr. Ditko had the initial concept and plotted most of the early "Strange Tales" appearances, with Stan adding his own over-the-top dialogue and captions to the finished artwork.

Anyway, while Stan was only an extended walk-on (with a few lines of "angry" dialogue) his "presence" was felt throughout the entire episode as the rest of the cast of characters did little else but talk about him and his creations.

One key story aspect of the episode is the fact that one of the show's characters; Raj (which is short for Rajesh Ramayan Koothrappali), an Indian-born member of the nerd/scientist friends, will not let go of the fact that nearly all of Stan Lee's creations (and/or their alter-ego's) have alliterative names.

"Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Matt Murdoch, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, Reed Richards, Sue Storm..." all those and many more are listed off in rapid-fire succession during several parts of the show (along with oldies but goodies; Millie the Model and Fin Fang Foom).
But ONE name made my ears perk up:

STEPHEN STRANGE.

So, perhaps while neither as obvious an "appearance" nor as overt a "mention" as might have been received in other recent television fare (see this months-old blog post on those [HERE]), once again Doctor Strange has been introduced to the broader masses via pop culture television.
And on a hit show, to boot.

Still, while Raj's befuddlement on the reasoning for why Stan used alliterative names for his creations is obvious to those who have been reading of the behind-the-scenes early Marvel years (he did so because it was easier for him to remember the names that way), it does make one wonder, if Stan Lee (born Stanley Lieber, but chopping his first name in two to use as a pen-name) really liked alliterative names so much, he could have went by the pen-name of "Lee Lieber" instead.
I wonder how that might have changed the Marvel Universe.
"What if?" indeed.

"EXCELSIOR!"