#Mary J. Wilson

[thebaltimoreyoudontknow]

She's pictured here in 1966 petting a cheetah. I feel like that detail adds a lot of context, especially given that she was a zookeeper.

Mary J. Wilson, the first African American senior zookeeper worked at the Baltimore Zoo from 1961 to 1999, caring primarily for gorillas, cats and elephants. She’s pictured here in February 1966. 

(STACKS/Richard Stacks, Baltimore Sun)

[wwprice1]

These Disco Dazzler covers are phenomenal! So fun!

[desaturate-worlds]

everyone expected wade to be the overly affectionate one of the two, especially when it came to public interactions. logan was stoic, easily angered, even more easily annoyed. he would probably have a difficult time tolerating wade, much less showing affection towards him.

but everyone who thought this (wade included) did not take into account the fact that the wolverine was safe for the first time in what felt like his entire life. he had spent years burying his grief and loneliness under layer after layer of anger and alcohol - he needed to if he was going to survive it. emotions threatened to eat him alive, he could have gone insane with the grief. he almost did. and the only way he got back to himself (as much as possible, anyway) was to shove it all down as far as he could and cover it with harsh words and whiskey.

he’d never had anybody to share the grief with before. he hadn’t had anyone to make feeling worth while, hadn’t had a family. but here, in wade’s shitty apartment, he was finally home.

logan and althea had gotten along beautifully. sure, in the beginning he still had hard edges and bristled easily, but that wasn’t anything al couldn’t handle. she could hold her own, and each clever insult she hurled at the men had logan grinning privately to himself. as cold as her words could be, he knew she loved wade. and she was letting him stay, too, so he couldn’t be anything but grateful.

althea and logan were quick friends, walking the dog together in the mornings, watching shitty reality tv together, bullying wade together. logan decided very quickly that if anything happened to al, he would kill anyone involved in a way that was particularly painful and torturous.

and then there was the aforementioned dog. mary puppins (AKA dogpool, of course) was the princess of the apartment. logan could only pretend that he was grossed out by her for so long before he caved (you can only get caught kissing her head and calling her an angel so many times before people know that maybe you like her more than you admit). he had become the dad that didn’t want a dog, but was now obsessed. to be fair, everyone obsessed over mary. she got treats, pets, and love every time she walked into a room - with that adorably ugly little face, how could anyone possibly say no?

and finally: wade. wade wade wade. logan would be lying if he said that wade didn’t take up a decent amount of his thoughts at any given time. wade had offered him a home, offered him friendship. and he was quite possibly the only person alive who had the capacity to understand the wolverine. that was something logan didn’t know how badly he needed until he got it.

part two

[cheriboms]

i havent drawn anything in like a year UH but i still love bttf so have some random doodles ;;w;;

[red-hot-moon]

Me watching the Back to the Future trilogy as a child: Hee hoo funny time travel movie :)

Me watching the Back to the Future trilogy as an adult:

[comicwaren]

From Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 3 #001

Art by Marco Checchetto and Matthew Wilson

Written by Jonathan Hickman

[themuseinmuseum]

girls gold on film

[cuntiel]

Y’all I gotten bit by a spider as I slept on my Spider-Man pillows 😭

[citizenscreen]

Marie Wilson and J. Carrol Naish, stars of the hit CBS Radio programs, "My Friend Irma" and "Life With Luigi,” promoting their move to television in 1951.

[nerds-yearbook]

Doctor Brown was sent back into the old west to the year 1885 when the time machine he was in was struck by lightening. Brown was enjoying the simpler life, although that didn’t stop him from inventing things to make his life easier and was surprised when Marty McFly, his friend from the future, showed up. Marty explained he had come back to rescue the Doc from being murdered in this past. (Back to the Future III, Flm)

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #16: 1964

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: The Beatles (x2), Louis Armstrong, Roy Orbison, The Beach Boys, Dean Martin, Mary Wells, Gale Garnett, Frank Wilson, The Supremes. End description]

More information about this blog here

A lot happened this year. To get the obvious out of the way, this is the first time (and far from the last) we're seeing The Beatles featured on these polls. Like Elvis Presley in the previous decade, so much has been said about the cultural impact of these artists that I feel intimidated to give my two cents. At this stage in their careers, The Beatles offered a middle ground between their rowdier skiffle roots and the squeaky-clean look of teen idols at the time -- which clearly worked for teenage girls in the early 60's. Much like in the 1950s, we're seeing another rock and roll boom, but this time the genre is pulling from other contemporary influences. Especially doo-wop, as seen with The Beach Boys. Parallel to the British Invasion, surf rock will also become a major staple of the decade.

This moment in the 1960s also marks the mainstream rise of another monumental cultural force: Motown Records. While the label was founded in 1958, this is the moment where more Motown acts start crossing over into the mainstream charts, as seen with Mary Wells and The Supremes. The significance of a Black-owned label achieving major crossover success can't be overstated. The Motown sound would soon become synonymous with the 1960s, and we will continue to see their influence (both direct and indirect) beyond.

As an aside, it's interesting to finally get to the years where my parents remember hearing these songs. Apparently Last Kiss was not the only "tragic teen love car crash" song. "Teenage tragedies" were a popular subgenre at the time, and cars became a more popular inciting incident for said tragedies as automobiles became a more prevalent part of teen culture. Here's an NPR interview about it (transcript included).

[theelectronicstranger]

Ultimate Spider-Man #4 Discussion

          If you have not read this issue, then PLEASE look away. I am talking and spoiling a lot of this issue, so if you have not read it and you want to read it, then read it first. I think this issue is very much worth your time and money.

This is the exact issue I wanted when we started this series! I just love the fact that we get to delve more into these characters and what they’re about. This issue not only progresses the story of Peter figuring out how to be Spider-Man/how to be a superhero, but it also expands more on their characters. Specifically, MJ. I have been talking about how Mary Jane has taken the back seat in the last 2 issues. We got to see a lot of her in the first issue, but we haven’t really seen much of her until now. Ever since this title started, I have been wanting to know what she was about. This issue gave us what she did for work; showed us her dynamic with Peter; and showed us how she handles/carries herself in general.

          This issue gave us a lot of really great MJ and Peter interactions. The one I kept thinking about even though it was a small thing was MJ squeezing Peter’s hand when Peter was trying to be humble after Gwen’s compliment of him:

I know it’s a small thing but it’s just nice to see these two, MJ and Peter, interact like this in the comic because it builds up more of their relationship. It makes their relationship feel more real rather than just a fact in this universe. Another interaction I really liked was the one they had on their walk home:

Once again, it’s a small interaction between the two but it does give us a sense of how they are with one another, which I really like. Also, as a fan of these two as a couple for years, I’m really just really happy seeing them interact like a loving married couple. Also, I’m not sure if this is where Hickman is going with this, but I feel like MJ knows about Peter being Spider-Man. I feel like she’s just waiting for him to tell her. I feel like these last two pages of this issue is her kind of giving him a hint that she knows about it.

          I really like that we finally know what this MJ does. It shouldn’t be important, but I just wanted to see how different she could be from the other MJs we’ve seen before, and she is pretty different in this area as well. This Mary Jane started a PR Firm:

I like how she talks about how she eventually started her PR Firm. It makes her life feel more lived and I feel like there’s a natural progression from her being a Model to becoming the owner of her very own PR Firm. I feel like in this universe, we’re going to see a more active and outgoing MJ or at least I’m hoping that we will. She’s pretty much going to be involved in Uncle Ben and Jameson’s Paper, which will definitely be getting a lot of enemies, and she will also seem to be involved in this universe’s Gwen Stacy, who we find out is a very important businesswoman and somebody that might want to be against the Kingpin. Her being involved with these people will most likely mean that there is going to be a target on her back. I feel like everyone in Peter’s life right now, except maybe his children, are all going to be in danger or has a target on their back.

I love that we saw Gwen. I cannot believe that I didn’t think that Harry Osborn would be married to her. It was right there in front of me. It is so refreshing to see a version of Gwen Stacy that is mature and grown. I hope nothing bad happens to her but from the way she was talking with MJ it seems that she is setting herself up to be a target by some major players in this universe.  I love that she’s running Oscorp right now, which is probably why this universe’s Gwen is super intense because she has to run a whole company and a lot of people are having to look up to her.

Gwen’s Introduction:

I agreed a lot with what Gwen said in this issue about heroes existing for a reason that people might think that the existence of Spider-Man would mean that there is something wrong with it. I feel like they’re really hailing this Spider-Man as the Dawn of Superheroes in this universe. Like he’ll be the inspiration to the potential heroes of this universe to start questioning how this world works. Or at least he’ll be the reason why a lot of people might start questioning the status quo of this Universe. Although, the Ultimates title will probably touch a lot on this idea more. 

Gwen talking about the Masked Man/Spider-Man:

I also really like that Harry told Gwen everything. I felt like during this issue, Harry and Gwen have put massive targets on their backs because they’re both doing things that are going to upset the major players (Specifically, Kingpin) in this universe. Harry, as the Green Goblin, is attacking Kingpin directly. Meanwhile, Gwen is going to back The Paper, which is Uncle Ben and Jameson’s new newspaper company that will be going against Kingpin’s The Daily Bugle. I feel like these two are going to die at the end of the year. Specifically, Harry because he said the infamous line “with great power comes great responsibility” in this issue:

For the last few issues, I talked about how these two might have a Daredevil and Punisher type of relationship but now it feels like Harry is going to be Peter’s inspiration to keep going as Spider-Man. Yes, I’m saying this because he said the line, but I also feel that Hickman won’t just make him say this line for no reason.

Some Writing and Art Discussions About This Issue:

This is the first issue that Marco Checcheto isn’t doing by the way, but I think the art on this book is still so good that you won’t even notice that. Especially since Matthew Wilson is still the colorist on this issue so the look of this issue still kind of matches the last issues even though it’s not the same artist. Some people were being super nitpicky about David Messina’s art, so I kind of wanted to talk about his art a bit because it really worked for me in this issue. I really liked how he drew Gwen Stacy in this issue and how he drew Peter in this issue as well.

Also, there were a lot of people calling this issue “filler” and I couldn’t disagree more. This issue is not a filler. This issue not only progresses the story of Peter figuring out how to become Spider-Man but expands more on the characters of his supporting cast. Literally, this issue expands more on the personalities, motivations, and characters of Mary Jane, Harry, and Gwen. It’s moving the plot forward through the expansion and exploration of their character. I’m going to keep repeating myself until people get it. I feel like “filler” is one of those overused words that people just use without really thinking or knowing the meaning of it. When what they really mean is that they just do not like the issue, which is fine. In this case, most people are calling this issue filler, because it’s mostly an issue about people talking rather than Peter actively putting on the costume and actively trying to become Spider-Man. I understand why people might not like the issue because everyone is mostly talking. However, let’s not act like nothing pivotal or impactful happened in this issue; especially, since this issue: introduced us to Gwen Stacy, who we find out is now running Oscorp; connected Mary Jane more with the bigger plot of this title through her active connection to The Paper and soon with her connection to Gwen Stacy; revealed that Harry told Gwen everything, which means that she probably also knows that Peter is Spider-Man; and showcased this cast so we can get a better idea of who they are within this world. This issue pretty much intertwines a lot of the cast’s lives with one another.

Anyways, sorry for the long post and the mini rant towards the end. I’m really enjoying this book as you can probably tell. What do you think though? Do you like this issue? Do you have any theories on where this title is going? Do you think Harry and Gwen are going to die in this title? Thanks for reading once again. Have a good day!

[wwprice1]

Great moments from Ultimate Spider-Man this week…

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[abs0luteb4stard]

W A T C H I N G

I've watched these movies a thousand times. They never get old.

I cried after watching part one when doc wakes up.

[comicwaren]

From Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 3 #002

Art by Marco Checchetto and Matthew Wilson

Written by Jonathan Hickman