1985 (2008)

Marvel’s 1985 collects issues #1-6 of the miniseries written by Mark Millar (Civil War, Fantastic Four) and art by Tommy Lee Edwards (Bullet Points, The Question).

The year is 1985 and a young boy named Toby loves all things Marvel. When super-villains from the Marvel Universe find a way into OUR world and begin to tear it apart , Toby doesn’t realize that he may be the key to finding the Marvel superheroes so that they can put a stop to the killing and destruction. With the help of his father, a divorced comic book nerd, as well as his intimate knowledge of the Marvel universe, he has a difficult task ahead of him.

I picked this up at the library the other day, The title spoke to me, as I’m very familiar with the comic books of those years in the 1980’s when I was first introduced to the medium. (I was born in 1981)

Mark Millar’s expert storytelling combined with the amazing, life-like (yet comic-book-styled) artwork by Tommy Lee Edwards makes for an almost cinematic-quality experience in the form of a comic book.

We get to see the Marvel villains and how truly horrible they’d be in “real” life, with no superheroes to quash their evil doings, as well as the touching and all-too-real modern relationship gone awry in the form of Toby’s parents.

What you end up with as the reader is something that’s hard to put down if you’re like me and you’ve ever wondered if the Hulk smells really bad (According to Toby….he does) or if it were possible for someone like M.O.D.O.K. to murder an entire town by leading them to their deaths like the Pied Piper.

JOE Rating: ★★★★★

Labyrinth (1986)

Original Theatrical Release: June 27, 1986
Director: Jim Henson

Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is a fifteen-year old girl who lives her life in a fantasy world after her mother dies. She is unhappy with her current stepmother (like in any good fairytale) and resents being left home to watch her baby brother Toby while her father wines and dines the would-be-replacement mother. In a fit of rage, she wishes for the Goblin King, Jareth (David Bowie) to take him away. When he does, she realizes the mistake she’s made and must traverse Jareth’s labyrinth and make her way to his castle in only thirteen hours or Toby will be gone forever.

When this movie first came out, I was five years old. Back then, Jim Henson was a god (and still is, I guess), at the height of his popularity. Sesame Street and The Muppets were king…along with Fraggle Rock and all those other Jim Henson vehicles.

This was a movie we watched every year, and I still do. Jennifer Connelly was as beautiful and talented as ever back then and David Bowie’s role in this movie is untouchable, even though at one point they were considering having Michael Jackson as Jareth. (That would be so weird!)

Some of the special effects, by today’s CGI standards, are outdated but still hold a certain charm not available to CGI characters. The sets are beautiful and Jim Henson’s creations really shine and come to life.

The characters are all amazing and even though the story is simple and sort of familiar, drawing on many fairy tale and fantasy tropes, everything else combined makes it stand out from a lot of other films and media with the same types of themes.

The music is where it’s really at, though. The mood. The relationship between Jareth and Sarah. It’s all very well-conceived and I think even if you didn’t grow up with the film you could still watch it today with your kids and let them enjoy it before they are indoctrinated with all the CGI effect-laden films and cartoons we have today.

This is one of my favorite films of all time. Can you tell? This is me, cosplaying as Jareth himself.

JOE Rating: ★★★★★

Movie Trailer For Labyrinth