A Little Magnetic Humour
Growing up on the mean streets of Welland, I was maybe an average comic fan at best. My brother had a big collection that I’d often borrow from, but it wasn’t comics that really got me into marvel.
Marvel Trading Cards (series one) is what made me first realize that I could get really crazed about collecting. I was addicted! This led to a somewhat obscure view as to how the Marvel Universe might work.
Not only did most of my knowledge stem from power ratings and the little trivia blurbs at the bottom of each card, but the spectacular feature “Spidey Presents” let me understand the characters on a deeper level.
Although looking at these now, I’m not sure how spidey’s recording with only a microphone…not to mention in space! This however was the real Marvel in my eyes.
Frank preferred to be called Francis, Magneto had a “magnetic ” personality, Cap got his powers from what he thought was a glass of lemonade. These were all things that I not only naturally thought to be fact for many years, but would eventually come under fire for and bitterly defend!
You can find these cards and the whole set (holograms included) here.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:09 am
I seem to recall that Alex Ross experienced something similar. He got into comics through Spider-Man’s appearances on The Electric Company, where his secret identity was never revealed. Ross was disappointed to find out that Spider-Man was actually Peter Parker. That’s why he’s such a weasel in Marvels.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:38 am
I always loved how Puny Parker was portrayed in that book. You always know he ends up looking like a loser as Peter in the comics, but that scene really nailed it for me, seeing it from that reporter dude’s perspective.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:41 am
These read just like Spidey Super-Stories! Man, that is goofy, goofy fun.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Yeah! It was great going through the whole set again via that link. The second set is okay, the rest not so much.