I'm really looking forward to seeing the results of Project Rooftop's Spider-Man redesign. Of the various designs I've seen pop up so far, this one by JSM is my favorite (especially the crawling shot).
And in other Marvel toy news, there will be new Marvel Legends figures. "Wave 1 will be: Klaw (classic look), Hope Summers, Constrictor, Steve Rogers as the Super Soldier, Iron Man (one of his classic armors), what looks to be the new movie version of Ghost Rider, the Comic Con Thor and the Build-a-figure is Terrax." (That is a remarkably undesirable lineup.)
If I understand it right, these were costumes Peter Parker wore in the comics several years ago. As a bonus of questionable worth, you can use them in upcoming game Spider-Man: Edge of Time by preordering from GameStop.
Here's the trailer for Spider-Man: Edge of Time. I cropped a widescreen wallpaper featuring Anti-Venom:
Which all gives me a good reason to finally mention how much I liked the DS version of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. I picked up Shattered Dimensions ($20 at Amazon) and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (also $20) for my boys. But after they asked me for help with the Spidey game, I fell in love with it and claimed it for my own. The game is a lot like Metroid starring Spider-Man. He controls so well and has so many moves that for quite awhile I simply enjoyed swinging and crawling on walls. I highly, highly recommend it. (You can watch a full playthrough here.) I can't think of any game I've actually enjoyed replaying this much. My 4 and 6 year olds have also come to love it as long as I help them past the two or three tricky parts.
What's strange is that it and the Ben 10 game were both made by Griptonite. And Ben 10 was abysmal in every way - - the characters control terribly, it's difficult to see where to go next, the next platform is always off camera so jumps are blind and often fatal, save zones are too far apart, and cut scenes are long, boring and unskippable.
1. Gizmodo wants to hire a graffiti artist (and is actually inviting submissions by any type of artist). (It's a pay gig.)
2. Yet another great post by Jim Shooter about Marvel history, this time starring Bill Sienkiewicz. Click through to read about how he got his start at Marvel. Here's a taste:
Bill wasn’t invited to San Diego that year, but wanted to go. Bill was athletic—probably still is, I haven’t seen him for a while—and just the right size for the Spider-Man costume Marvel used for its character public appearance program (things like the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn).
I told Bill that if he’d wear the costume for a few events, Marvel would pay for the trip, all expenses. Save him significant dough. He agreed.
3. Nike estimates that LeBron James winning the NBA title could lead to a $4 billion bump in business in China. $4 billion approximates the entire NBA's revenues. Via.
A few of the finalists for the Vote for the Phoenix Comicon badge art contest. (Lando is by Steam Crow since Billy Dee Williams will be a guest.) You can vote for your favorite here.
UPDATE: The Spider-Man illustrations are by Tavis Maiden.
