The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast

The Ghost! (Now with 100% more PUNS!)

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THE GHOST! (Now with 100% more PUNS!)

*An Ill Mac Joint*

The Ghost Logo

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Note: We like our language NSFW salty, and there be spoilers here…

This week Frank and Mac take a look at Iron Man Vol 1 issues 219-221, the first appearance of The Ghost, by legendary creative team David Michelinie and Bob Layton (and layouts by Mark Bright).

Discussion ranges from plot to art and even history behind the possible inspiration of The Ghost. Many of the panels discussed are uploaded to our Tumblr page! So check it out!

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/rolledspinepodcasts

Iron_Man_Vol_1_219capatom82

Captain Atom cover pulled from:

http://ripjaggerdojo.blogspot.com/2012/10/ghost-of-atom_28.html

Link to the Layton interview:

http://www.boblayton.com/interview-with-bob-by-dolmen-magazine/

As you can tell, we love a fierce conversation and a pretty picture, so why don’t you socialize with us, either by leaving a comment on this page or…

Published by rolledspine

3 thoughts on “The Ghost! (Now with 100% more PUNS!)”

  1. I share Mac’s frustration about the villains used in the Iron Man films–essentially two different takes on Crimson Dynamo that amounted to rock ’em/sock ’em robot fights in the third act, and then inexplicably an army of Iron Man drones vs. Human Fire Trolls. Meanwhile, Spy Master, Ghost, Living Laser, freaking Madame Masque, and a genuine Mandarin sit on the bench, fingers crossed that they’ll be put to mediocre use in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (I joke, but seriously, Spy Master, Ghost, and Madame Masque would be far better villains on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. than anything the show has done yet.) I think Ghost could be used without waiting for Vision to introduce the intangibility power; he could be formidable enough just being “the invisible man”.

    I don’t remember if I already did this rant on your podcast or someone else’s but here I go again…

    One (of many) problems with Iron Man 3 was that the villains really weren’t that different. When you get down to it, they were just more armor drones covered in flesh, but they didn’t truly attack Tony in a creative or unconventional way. This is why the villain needed to be a real authentic version of The Mandarin. I know Kevin Feige or John Favreau talked about how difficult it would be to incorporate the Mandarin’s magic into the hard science world of Iron Man, but by the time IM3 came around, audiences had already seen Thor and the Avengers and everyone accepted these other-dimensional powers.

    A truly terrifying and memorable villain attacks the fundamental core of the hero’s being. That’s what made the Joker so captivating and so dangerous in The Dark Knight, because he went to a place that Batman simply could not fathom. Doctor Doom is at his best when he incorporates black magic and sorcery into his technology because Reed Richards can’t think like a magician.

    Nobody in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a better technologist than Tony Stark. So the way to hurt him isn’t by building bigger and better machines; it’s by hitting him with a force he cannot comprehend: magic rings! Unfortunately, we probably won’t get this kind of threat/payoff until Infinity War Part 2.

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  2. I think Pepper and Happy were out of the book at the start of the Michelinie and Layton’s first run on Invincible Iron Man with John Romita, Jr. on art. At the time, Tony’s entourage at Stark Industries comprised of Rhodey, his secretary, Mrs. Arbogast, his security chief, Vic Martinelli, and occasionally Scott Lang.

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  3. Count, they might have been out of the book before then. But yeah, Rhodey, Bethany Cabe, Arbogast, Lang, Zimmer, those are all Dave/Bob’s crew, with Happy/Pepper never really appearing.

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