Marvel turns over Captain America, Black Panther, Thor, Antman, Morbius, Iron Fist and more to ARTISAN

I opened up one of the first Comic Shops in the state of Texas in the early seventies when Harry was just a skinny little shrimp. Believe it or not it's true. Fandom was just rolling up it's sleeves. Bootleg merchandise was everywhere because the companies were unaware of the demand. Harry's Mother and I toured all over the country to conventions from Chicago and Detroit to San Diego and San Francisco to Dallas and Oklahoma City and Atlanta and all the spots in between. Harry was still in diapers then. I remember when Harry was about two and a half he set up in a lobby of a convention in College Station called AGGIE CON. He sat there and had opened a case of those MARVEL SUPERHERO CARDS (Stickers) and begin getting them in order. Making stacks of different characters, and then selling each card at 10 cents each, except for the Peter Parker card that he decided should be a dollar because it was his only one. He made over 3 dollars profit that day. Later Marvel comics would be responsible for his outward growth in girth. When Marvel Comics partnered with 7-11, and began producing plastic cups with the characters on them, Harry insisted on collecting them all. Well, the Seven Eleven wouldn't sell them to Harry empty so he filled them with Slurpees. He wound up with a collection of over 3000 plastic Slurpee cups with Superheroes (several series of both DC and Marvel and even Activision characters)

The point is, I raised Harry as a comic, sci-fi, and movie geek. In college I was introduced to the serious side of comics in 2 World War II and Korean War Propaganda classes where my instructor, who was a liason between the war department and the comic industry, worked hand in hand with many famous artists of the day to create a strong war psychology in this country. The fear was that WWII might turn into a multi-generational war where the children of the day would grow up to be the next line of defense when their fathers and/or older brothers passed on, and they needed to polarize these children into the concept that fighting the "Nazis" and "Japs" was important for the very survival of not only our way of life, but our families as well. In these comicbooks and newspaper strips they dehumanized the "Nazis" into strange brutish neanderthal-looking monsters, and the "Japs" were transformed into yellow-peril monkey-ish looking vampire-like creatures, thereby making it far easier and much more acceptible to 'kill' our sub-human enemies.

The superheroes of the Golden Age rose up and fought alongside America's Fighting men to pitch in to win the war for America, and Liberty and Justice for all.

Why the history lesson? Ol Father Geek is getting to it. You see Variety announced today that MARVEL and ARTISAN ENTERTAINMENT have signed a wide spanning plan to develop multiple characters for feature film properties, and as I was looking at the list of characters:

I saw CAPTAIN AMERICA. Now admittedly I love Hank Pym and his mad scientist equipment. And usually ol Father Geek would begin screaming about the potential THE MIGHTY THOR would have, except it's going to be for television, MISTAKE #1. But I saw CAPTAIN AMERICA.

CAPTAIN AMERICA is a tremendous character. FATHER GEEK would love to see this be a film set in the time of WWII. When Steve was a thin (Steve Buscemi-ish) character nearly passing out in soup and bread lines in depression ravaged America. A year into the war a scientist recruits Steve who is desperate, sickly and undyingly patriotic. A real 'rah rah' American, but a man turned down for service. He gets the formula and fills out, becomes that Perfect super-physique. His mind sharpened his body capable of amazing and great things. The Perfect American weapon. However due to Nazi sabotage the formula and scientist who created him gets destroyed and CAPTAIN AMERICA is the only of his kind.

Then it would be grand to see CAPTAIN AMERICA sent into World War II. Parachuting in for a secret mission in Berlin to turn the tides. Or a mountain castle fort. A mission. And to see him fight unlike any athletic man has ever fought before. Well, this has been ol Father Geek living up to his name and geeking out. I guess someone has to fill the place of ol Harry while he's off galavanting about.